The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-09-22
State Forester Hastings
Gives Statement of Con-
ditiOns In this State
ABOUT 100000
ACRES PRODUCTIVE
Only % Per Cent Efficient - Another
Million Acres Need Replanting -
Sugar Naples Should Not Be Sacri-
feed.
Special to The Reformer.)
MONTPELIER Ser :


In response to request from the Re
former, State Forester w. G.. Hastings
makes the following statement on the
forest situation in Vermont.
Vermont is essentially a timberland
country. OF the slightly less than 6,OOO,-
090 acres of land surface within the state
fully two-thirds is land unsuited for gen
eral farming In other words 100000
acres Of land are available for the pro
duetion of forest products. We have not
100000 acres of productive forest, how
ever. Rather. these 100000 acres of
land may be divided into two classes of
equal or nearly equal area, namely
First, forest lands supporting a satisfac-
tory stand of timber; and second, forest
lands supporting an unsatisfactory stand
of timber or no timber at all. There are
100000 acres in each class
The first class containing 10000
acres, that is the well-stocked lands,
needs little consideration. 1t contains
practically no virgin stands. All timber
land in this class, excepting a few stands
so small in acreage as to be relatively
unimportant, has been more or less heav-
lily culled for the better grades of timber.
The resulting stands are therefore made
up of inferior species and individuals.
At best it is culled stuff, but the best
we have and / believe compares favor
ably with the best in other eastern
states These 100000 acres, the best ,,
goo 600, are probably 25 per cent efficient
in timber production as foresters reckon
efficiency. It is this area which is main
tanning the status quo of the forest of
Vermont. By this is implied that Yer
mont has reached bed rock in forest pro-
duction. The state appears to be re-
moving her actual increment only.
Neither over-cutting nor I'm !er-eutting is
going on, taking the state as a whole.
Only one-half of her forest area is pro-
ducing anything of value and that one
half, here classed as the better 100000
acres, is only about one-fOurth efficient.
The second half of Vermont's forest
lands, those lands here classed as sup
porting an unsatisfactory stand of timber
or no timber at all, this second 100000
acres is the rough, remote, abandoned
pastures and farms; the twice burned
over hillsides; mountain tops above the
zone of commercial timber and lands too
recently cut over to determine what the
future young stand is to be. These D
900 acres are the lands to which es-
pecial attention should be directed in
properly understanding the position of
Vermont before debating a forest policy
or attempting to control the cut of her
forests
In the first place much of this 2OOO,O 900
acres is not, potentially, forest soil. 1t
is incapable of producing a commercial
forest. Reference is made to the barren
, rock, the high mountain ops, to slopes
so excessively steep that logging is inn
practicable and to swamp lands of a non
! agricultural nature.
! In the second place much of this 3
| 100000 acres, this poorer half, is occupied
| by sugar orchards which yield a reve
nue. too large to warrant recommending
a change from old growth to reproduc
| ton of any kind. Sugar in the state
of Vermont is almost q sacred word and
nothing but i'll could come of any move
ment to cut an old maple to make room
| for a new one. Lands thus occupied will
| therefore remain non-productive of tim
! Der.
1t is estimated that these two sub
! classes, the lands incapable of growing
commercial timber and the over-maturt
sugar orchards, represent 100000 acres
each, and together make a million acres
of timberland upon which the practice
of forestry for numbering is unpractie
! able or impossible
In other words, there remains 1000, 0O(
acres of cut-over, burned over land il
\ the state of Vermont, which is not com
h ing back naturally to forest trees of de
sirabIe species This 100000 acres i
not increasing nor decreasing very rap
idly in extent and represents the ares
which must ultimately be artifcially re
I forested
If planting is to be resorted to, i
will take 4O.00O000 trees year 70
% years to accomplish the task Not al
impossible undertaking. Especially sine
over half of this needed work is quit
evenly divided among 25,000 farms.
the owner of an average farm were Il
plant enc acre per year the task woulc
be accomplished in % cars. The re
naming 100000 acres, held for the mos
j part by large timber owners, must eithe
come under public control or remain in
definitely in an mproductive state.
Il Following is a summary for Vermont
i I Practically no timberland exist
which has not been culled to some ex
tent
?. Two million acres are coming back
g. The present yearly cut on the bet
ter lands 100000 NJ feet and 10O0,00l
nords) is about equal to the yearly in
crement of growth.
Il A. One million acres of waste land j
/ IN need Of artificial reforestation.
Il 5. About 100000 trees are planted
annually. In other words about one
fortietb or two and one-half per cent 0
the work that should be done is yearl.