WESTERN WHITE PINE AND LARCH-FIR FORESTS 29 
stands afford an excellent opportunity for a second profitable cut in 
20 to 40 years. There is little or no stumpage value in a 25 or 30 
foot cedar pole, while a 35-foot pole is worth $0.75 to $1. A cedar 
tree should grow from a 25-foot to a 35-foot pole in about 25 years. 
These instances have been cited as examples of the possibilities of 
reasonably quick returns from timber growing. Growing a new crop — 
from the seed after an average mature stand has been cut takes a 
matter of 70 to 100 years, and the returns can not be certainly pre- 
dicted. However, if cut-over land can be left in a productive condi- 
tion with a new crop started, it certainly will have a greater value 
than completely burned and denuded land, and if such results can be 
attained without too great an expenditure the advantages are ob- 
vious, whether the owner expects to hold the land himself or to 
dispose of it. The value of young growth is not generally recognized 
now, but the experience of all older countries indicates that as timber 
grows scarcer young growth will have a value. 
GROWTH AND YIELD 
The timber owner planning to reforest his land or to hold young 
growth for development is primarily interested in knowing how long 
he will have to wait for a merchantable crop and what yield he may 
expect at various ages of the stand. 
A preliminary normal yield table has been prepared by the North- 
ern Rocky Mountain Forest Experiment Station, based on measure- 
ments of 57 sample plots (Table 5), classified according to three sites 
representing the general range of soil and growth conditions in north- 
ern Idaho. The yields given are based on the Scribner Decimal C 
rule and include only trees 10 inches and over in breast-high diameter 
and logs 6 inches and over in diameter. 
Taste 5.—Normal yield table for the western white pine in northern Idaho; 
volume in board feet per acre for three sites by Scribner Decimal C rule 
[Based on preliminary studies] 
Age Site I Site IL Site III 
Years Bd. ft. Bad. ft. Bad. ft. 
40 4, 750 4, 000 3, 250 
60 22, 800 15, 300 8, 500 
80 41, 100 30, 000 19, 500 
100 58, 100 42, 300 26, 500 
120 68, 400 49, 500 30, 500 
140 75, 200 54, 100 33, 000 
It will be noted that on Site II the timber begins to reach mer- 
chantable size at 60 years, with a yield of 15,300 feet to the acre. 
At this stage the trees are growing rapidly, and many of the smaller 
trees are coming to merchantable size, so that the yield approxi- 
mately doubles between 60 and 80 years, which would indicate that 
in most cases it would not pay to cut a stand as early as 60 years. 
The mean annual growth culminates at about 110 years, which would 
theoretically indicate the age at which the greatest volume in board 
feet per year would be produced. 
The yields given in the table are for approximately fully stocked 
stands. It is to be expected that yields over considerable areas would 
