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3/5/35

This is now Occasional Paper No. 1

FORESTRY WORK FCE UMvIPLO'aiENT RELIEF
by

Victor S. Jensen, Assistant Silviculturist
Northeastern Forest Experiment Station*

The public forests present an excellent opportunity for the employ-
ment of men on desirable activities which will either increase the intrinsic
value of these forests or build up their usefulness to the people. The
forests serve not only for the production of timber for future use of
industries, but also for the protection of v/atersheds against erosion, for
the regulation of streaiji flow, and for public outdoor recreation in all
its forms, including caiuping, hiking, hunting, fishing, and nature study.

The value of the forest for all these purposes may be increased by the
judicious use of labor. Watershed and streamflow conditions may be
improved by reforestation, or by the construction of check dams and other
streaq;! improvements. Habitat conditions for the principal ^me fish in
the streams may also be improved by modifying the channels, constructing
breeding and resting pools, etc. The possibilities of improving conditions
for game animals and birds by controlling or modifying the character and
composition of the forest cover or by introducing and encouraging certain
food plants have not been thoroughly explored. But the requirements of a
few species are sufficiently well knom to justify some constructive
measures.

To increase the use of the forest for public recreation, much can be
done in the construction of woods, roads and trails, development and im-
provement of camp grounds, construction of fireplaces:, etc.

To reduce the danger from fire and so protect the forests for aH \ises,
much desirable 77ork might be done, in opening up old roads, developing water
holes as pumping stations, clearing fire lines, disposal of slash and other
debris along roadsides, etc.

Finally, to increase the intrinsic value of the forest for timber
p3X)duetion, a large amount of work along a number of li^es may be under-
taken. The public has little appreciation of what these operations consist,
and of what the results are likely to be, yet there is a grov/ing realization
of the need for more intensive and constructive handling of the vjoodlands
for timber production. This statoaent of the principal lines of work,
other than planting, and of the possible benefits from such work as illus-
trated by specific cases, may therefore serve to stimulate the use of unem-
ployment relief for the scientific improvement of the public forests for
future timber production. This statement has been prepared at the request
of the Northeastern Forest Reseai^eh Council, a board appointed by the
Secretary of Agriculture to advise the Northeastern Forest Experiment
Station and to coordinate and stimulate forest research by all agencies in

*l^intained by the United States Department of Agriculture at New Haven,
Connecticut, in cooperation with Yale University.

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the Northeast. The object of this statement is simply to show in a specific
manner the desirability of an increased use of labor, especially justified
at this time, to build up larger tiraber values for the future. It does not
consider wDrk to ihcrease or improve the other services of the forest as- out-
lined above.

Thinnings

The residual stand fo Hawing a thinning operation is made up of the
more valuable and desirable trees which as a result of improved graving
conditions are in a position to make accelerated height and diameter
growth. The material removed in making thinnings and other imtermediate
cutting operations has in most cases a limited market as fuelwood. The
disposal of this material resulting from e xtensive thinning operations
would at this time further glut the market, largely wiping out the profits
of other fuelwood operators in the saiu© locality. For this reason this
type of vjork if undertaken for unemployment relief should aim primarily at
the improvement of the stand rather than attempt to receive immediate cash
returns.

On the Yale Forest at Keene, New Hampshire, a stand of pine was im-
proved by a thinning, at the same time showing an average net return of
.$43.90 per acre for stumpag©.^ Sample areas indicate that the ultimate
yield on areas thinned will be more than twice that on unthinned areas.

Half of this difference in yield will result from the utilization of
material that would othervdse be wasted, and the remainder the result of
accelerated growth of the residual trees.

In the sprout hardwood forests of New York, imtermediate and repro-
duction cuttings redu-ited by about 40 years the period required to attain
merchantable diameters of the better hardwoods.^

Thinning operations, unless the material cut has an immediate market
value, should be limited to overcrovjded stands in which the residual stand
would have a relatively high value. If none of the material cut is re-

moved from the area thinned, the fire hazard, particularly in softwood
stands, is increased, a very important consideration on areas having a high
fire risk.

Cleanings or Weedings

Cleaning operations, that is, the removal of trees of undesirable
form or species from a stand not yet past the sapling stage, have, when
properly applied, a mpre beneficial effect on the make-up of a stand than
any other silvicultural treatment. The treatment is one that requires the
supervision or at least the advice of someone having considerable knowledge
of growing timber crops in order to avpid unnecessary expense and to
realize the greatest p^issible returns.

Tourney, I. W. The Yale Demonstration and Research Forest.
School of Forestry, Bulletin No. 33. 1932.

Yale University

t of

A

TREATED UNTREATED

WEEDED IN 1905 S. 1915

DEVELOPMENT OF A PINE UNDERSTORY WITH
AND WITHOUT A WEEDING OPERATION

PETERBORO. NEW HAMPSHIRE

PLATE I

Experimental work on the Harvard Forest at Petersham, Mass. , indicates
that the removal of the gray birch from a white pine stand at the proper
time would make certain a yield of at least 30,000 board feet of pine per
acre at the end of a 60 year rotation.^ If no such cutting were made, an
acre might at best produce 3 crops or a total of 54 cords of poor quality
fuelv/ood at the same time.

In 1906 the United States Foiest Service established a pair of sample
plots on an old field at Peterboro, New Hampshire, Both plots supported a
good stand of white and Norway pine 3 to 6 years old, overtopped by a sap-
ling stand of hardwoods, principally gray and paper birch. When established
four and one-half hours per acre were spent disengaging the pine on one plot;
the other plot remained intact for comparison. The treated plot was treated
again in 1915.

In 1930 the check plot supported a larger number of stems per acre in
spite of which the total volume of the pine was less than half that of the
treated plot. At this time, 24 years after the cleaning operation, the pine
on the treated area was healthier, of better form, and i^ every way superior.
On the treated plot the average tree had a D.B.E. of 3.8 inches and a total
height of 28 feet, while on the check area the average tree had a D.B.H. of
only 2.3 inches and a total height of only 9 feet. The treated plot will
produce a good stand of saw timber v/hile the stand on the check plot has
very little present or potential value except as poor quality fuelwood. (See
Plate l).

Before weeding operations are undertaken, the stand on the area to be
treated should be carefully examined. If a sufficient niunber of trees of the
more valuable species are making satisfactory development with little likeli-
hood of suppression, a cleaning operation would be unnecessary. But in
mixed growth there may be a scarcity of trees of valuable species and good
form to make up a full stahd. Cutting should be planned to release the
desirable trees but should be avoided where such trees are lacking. Only
enough work should be done to free the valuable trees from suppression and
crowding. In this vmy the expense v/ill be kept at a minimxim, more or less
proportional to the number of valuable trees per acre, and yet all desirable
elements in the young stand will be maintained.

Best results will of course be obtained vdiere there are a s\ifficient
number of valuable trees to make up a well stocked residual stand after
treatment.

Pruning

The pruning of white pine and possibly other conifers is, if properly
carried out, a profitable undertaking. It is the only mea-^s of producing
clear lumber on a short rotation and for this reason should be carefully
considered in making plans for the management of young stands of timber.

1 Spaeth, J. Nelson. Notes on Release of White Pine in Harvard Forest.
Journal of Forestry, X£:2, February, 1932.

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l^lany pruning operations have in the past been unsuccessful as the trees
for treatment were poorly selected and the v^frong methods used in pruning.

In some cases, stands suffered rather than benefited from the operation.

In a few cases a comparatively good showing has been made where a
careful job of pruning was undertaken solely as a commercial venture. In
the Northeast the outstanding example of such an operation is the work of
0. M, Pratt, of Holderness, New Hampshire, 1 Although it is impossible
to for see the value of lumber 30 or 40 years hence, 315r. Pratt’s work has
and probably will continue to yield a profit in addition to a return of 6
per cent compound interest on the investments in pruning operations.

As a result of the weevil damage, many of the white pine plantations in
New York and New England now have little or no prospective coiamercial value.

Experimental v^ork on the Harvard Forest virould indicate that in the
average badly weeviled stand the crop trees might he pruned at a cost of
#10 to #13 per acre and the undesirable trees girdled at a cost of $4 to
#8 per acre, 2 As a result of these operations, the stands vdll be made
up of only the straightest and best shaped trees pruned to produce hi^
grade lumber. At the end of a 50 to 55 year rotation, the value of
stumpage on treated stands should not be less than #400 per acre. In some
cases it might be profitable to cut and utilize rather than girdle undesirable
trees. An operation of this type required the close supervision of one
capable of making the proper selection of trees to prune and girdle.

Pruning is an operation that is necessary only in plantations or other
pure stands of softvroods. Natural pruning usually results ?dien softwoods
are grown in mixture with hardwoods. As a forestry measure the pruning of

any except the trees that are expected to make up the final crop is com-
mercially impractical as trees Tidiich must necessarily be marketed before
the stand matures 8j*e not improved enou^ to justify the cost of pruning.

Girdling

In the Northeast the spruce and northern hardvroods types are an
important source of spruce and fir pulpwood. Over much of the region the
hardwood species have little or no present value, consequently an increase
in the volume of the merchantable softwoods at the expense of the unmerchant-
able hardwoods increases the value of these mixed stands. In stands contain-

1 Cline, A. C, and Fletcher, S, D, Priming for Profit. F^ss, Forestry
Assn, Bulletin. March 30, 19E8.

2 Cline, A. C. and MacAloney, H, J, A Method for Reclaiming Severely

Weeviled White Pine Plantations. Mass, Forestry Assn, Bulletin 152,
July, 1931.

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25 YEARS AFTER HARDWOODS

WERE GIRDLED
1930

HARDWOODS NOT GIRDLED

1930

DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNDERSTORY OF
SPRUCE AND FIR IN SIMILAR STANDS
WITH AND WITHOUT TREATMENT

CORBIN PARK. NEW HAMPSHIRE

ing merchantable spruce and fir, the girdling of competing hardvjoods has
proved to be a very profitable cultural measure, - one in which it is
possible to realize on the girdling investment in a comparatively short
time.

Girdling experiments on the holdings of the iJ^astern I^5anufacturing
Company, in J^iaine, indicate the possibilities of such an operation* On
this area the merchantable spmce and fir showed a five-fold increase in the
grovrth rate over an eleven year period following release. At #4 per cord
the increase on this particular tract at the end of the period represents
an increase in stumpage value of $26.80 per acre. The Finch, li'ujm Company
in New York, finds that the average cost of girdling extensive areas is
about $2 per acre. Using this figure as a basis for computing costs, it
appears quite probable that the added growth put on the first tv/o years
following girdling will more than pay the costs of this operation. In
stands of this character the stimulating effect of girdling on trees in the
smaller size classes is also of considerable importance.

Girdling operations made primarily to benefit immature stands of spruce
and fir are financially less attractive than operations which release mer-
chantable material, as it is necessary to vmit forty or fifty years before
anything can be realized on the girdling investment. This is, however, the
type of work vjhich may v^rell be carried out at this time on public forests
where the increase in future values is highly desirable. On areas where
hardvroods have a potential market value, some of the better trees may profit-
ably remain with the softwood understory to make up the final crop.

At Corbin Park, New Hampshire, girdling experiments in hardv/oods
stands with an understory of spruce increased the growth rate of the latter
from 3 to 6 times. ^ Growth figures to date (25 years after the experiment
was initiated) would indicate that at a cost of #2.60 per acre a heavy
girdling operation should after 40 years result in a gain of at least 19
cords per acre. Assuming a stumpage value of #4 per cord, this operation
will yield excellent returns even as a long term investment. (See Plate II).

Girdling should be undertaken when the trees girdled have little o±
no market value and the trees benefited a relatively high value. In some
cases the stumpage value of v/olf trees is outv/eighed by the damage that
would result if an attempt were made to cut and market these trees. Ordinarily
girdling should nlat be undertaken where stands are developing satisfactorily
mthout treatifflent. l^ere it is impossible to profitably market large
decadent i/jolf trees, the value of girdling operations is unquestioned. Under
these circumstances, trees having little or no potential value should be
girdled in order that they may be replaced by more valuable individuals.

Only in this way will extensive tracts of badly abused forest land be improved
and eventually supp2)rt stands having some merchantable value.

1 Westteld, II. Girdling to Release Merchantable Sized Spruce and Fir.
Pulpwood, 4:3, 1931.

Westveld, M. Results of Experiments on the Release of Immature Spruce
by Girdling Hardvjoods. (Unpublished). „

2

f

The various cultural operations \vill, if properly carried out and
under favorable conditions, show a profit. Accessibility and market con-
ditions are practically always the detemining factors in considering the
financial practicability of any type of forest improvement work. Occasional-
ly the aesthetic may outv/eigh the financial considerations. It should,
however, be understood that these operations all have their limitations,
which in most cases have not as yet been clearly defined. Further ex-
perimental work will serve to clear up these limitations and demonstrate
the practicability of the vrork under various conditions.

In this report no attempt is made to definitely outline the procedure
for any type of vrork, as every operation presents a different set of con-
ditions. Agencies contemplating vjork of this character should consult
a forestar or someone having had considerable experience in forest improve-
rrjent work, in order to avoid impractical and costly operations. Ordinarily
it would be advisable to have the v/ork carried on under the direction of a
man with similar qualifications. 'Ihe variolas state forestry organizations,
the forest schools, and the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station will
gladly cooperate in initiating undertakings of this character. The latter
organization might well act as a clearing house for infoimation regarding
the proper technique, the accomplishments, and the shortcomings of all
cultural work undertaken in the region.

There are in the Northeast extensive tracts of land on which the
merchantable material has been removed, leaving little or nothing of any im-
mediate value. Rather than carry and pay taxes on these lands, the earners
often allovj such areas to become tax delinquent and revert to the towns.

Steps should be taken by either the states, the counties, or the towns to
obtain clear title to these lands. With these lands securely in public
ownership, the public would be justified in undertaking pjanting, girdling,
of such cultural me^Sufes as would be necessary to eventually restore them
from their present deteriorated condition to their former productive state.
Such improvement work would build up the economic value of these lands and
should prove a highly desirable and profitable public policy.

New Haven, Conn.
February 27, 1933.

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