Connecticut western news., 1921-11-03
NEW ADDITION TO NATCHAUG STATE FOREST Land Furnishes Free Wood to People Short of
 Fuel

An addition to the Nntchaug State Forest has just been made through the purchase of about 725 acres in the Town of Eastford by State For ester Hawes. This makes the total area of the Natchaug about 1900 acres, and it is therefore the largest of the six forests.
 It lies in three towns; Enstford, 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 sec tion which reached a condition of prosperity at an early date, but is now one of the most sparsely settled of any part of the state. Old stone walls and stone piles in the midst of the forest give evidence of the for mer 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 be bought for $S an acre or less, it is only possible to acquire forest land after the best of the timber has been removed. Naturally it is impossible to save the existing forests by such an arrangement, but by purchasing from the lumbermen who cut most conservatively, the State Forester is able to hold ont a very practical in- ducement for lumbermen to leave the younger trees standing. An oak tree eleven inches in diameter, and per haps 30 years old, will produce but one railroad tie, while one fifteen inches in diameter, and only l5 or 20 years older, will porduce four ties besides considerable top wood. By waiting another period of twenty years the same tree may produce eight ties instead of four. Tn a nut shell, this is the reason that public ownership of forests is always more efficient than private ownership.
 The lumberman usually cuts every tree which will make a tie, while the State will cut the trees only when they have reached their most prodpc- tive age. Instead of harvesting a one tie tree in 80 years, the state can afford to wait and harvest four ties after 50 years, or eight ties after 70 years. In this way the average per iod of producing a tie is reduced from 30 to 9 years. If all ties were sawed in this way from mature trees the drain of the railroads upon their forests would ont be serious.
 In the Natchaug State Forest arc great many weed trees which arc seriously interfering with the growth of valuable varieties like ash, nick ory, oak and pine. The latter will make lumber, ties or other valuable products in a few years, while the weed trees will never make anything but fuel wood. The State Forestry Department recognizes two grades of fuel wood and has arranged to give away second class wood for home purposes to those who will cut the trees under the regulations of the Department. Since there are at least 500 cords available for cutting this winter, and the average family consumes about 10 cords, the State Forester estimates that at least 50 families can be supplied this winter. In season of unemployment there should be many men who would be glad of this opportunity to cut their own wood. A group of men could easily club together to bring their wood out to a public highway and then transport it by auto truck or railroad to their homes. The sondi- tions of the gift provide not only that the trees are to be cut under the direction of the State Forester, but that this wood is not to be sold.
 The Forestry Department is also iH a position to sell first class wood ts dealers in wood at stumpage prices l ,,n ,.,,;r,rr rrnr,n pEr An 70 n nnrd