Norwich bulletin., 1921-10-28
ADDS 72a ACRES TO
 NATCHAUG STATE TRACT


 NATCHAUG STATE TRACT
 An addition to the NNtchaug State
 Forest has juse been made through the
 purchase of about 725 acres in the town
 e Eastford by State Forester Hawes.
 This makes the total area of the Nat
 chaug about 1900 acress and it is there fore the Iarges- If the six forests. It lies in thrse towns: EHstford, ] Chaplin and Hampton and derives it's name from the Natchaug river into which the swamps and brooks of the forest drain This is a section which reached a condition of prosperity at an early date, but is now one of the most sparsely settled of any part of 1 the state Old stone walls and stone i piles in the midst of the forest gives evidence of the former cultivation of rocky fields; and ancient cellars and stone chimneys show that the houses
 were occupied by large and prosperous
 families
 As the state forester is limited by ! law in his purchases to land that can i be bought for $S an acre or less, it is l only possible to acquire forest land af- l ter the best of the timber has been re- moved. Naturally it is impossible to save the existing forests by such an ar ] | lumbermen who cut most conservative y, | the state forester is able to hold out a ivery practical inducement for lumber
 men to leave the younger trees stand 1 ing. An oak tree eleven inches in da-
 meter, and perhaps 30 years old, will produce but one railroad tie, while one l fifteen inches in diameter, and only 15 ! or 20 years older will produce four ties ! besides considerable top wood. By
 waiting another period of twenty years i the same tree may produce eight ties | instead of four. In a nutshell, this is ] the reason that public ownership of for osts is always more efficient than pri- |vate ownership.
 ! The lun1berman usually cuts every
 tree which WiF make a tie, while the state will cut the trees ony when they ! have reached their most productive age. | Instead of harvesting a one-tie tree in l 30 years, the state can afford to wait and harvest four ties after 50 years. or eight ties after % years. In this way 1 the average period of producing a tie i is reduced from SC to g years. If all ] ties were sawed i7 this way, from ma i ture trees the dra-n of the railroads upon their forests would not be seri- i ou,.
 l In the Natchaug State Forest are a great mnny weed treeS which are seri- ously interfering with the growth of Evaluable varieties like ash, hickory. oab and pine The latter will make lumber ties or other valuable products in a few years, while the weed trees will never 1 make anything but fuel wood The state forestry department recognizes two grades of fuel wood and has ar ranged to give away second class wood for home purposes to those who will cut the trees under the regulations of th= i department Since there are at least 500 cords available for cutting this win ter, and the average family consumes about 70 cords the state forester esti mates that at east 30 families can DC ! supplied this winter Tn season of unemployment there should be many men wEo would be glad of this opnor tunity to cut their own wood. A grour l of men could easily club together tr i bring their wood out to q public high i way and then transport if by auto tr11cI i or railroad to their homes. The condf ! ttons Of the gift provide not only tha | the trees are to be cut under the dfrec ton of the state forester, but that thr i wood is not to be sold.
 ] The forestry department is also in position to sell first cass wood to deal | CTS in wood at stumpage prices var, in,
 from 25c to g a cord