100 White Pine

[SwampDonkey]

One thing you may not realize Cfarm, is your cutting those big trees that were around before those pests appeared. Weevils don't bother the tops of 130 foot pine and the rust does not often infect them either because they get into the needles first where the humidity and dampness is high in the shade of other trees, and by now the canopy of them huge pines is 50+ feet up. It's not going to be as easy the next crop. Maine is just an extension of NB to the bugs, that man made boundary line is insignificant. And them bugs didn't originate in the Maritimes. ;)

[thecfarm]

The next crop is growing now. It's only about 10-12 feet tall now. I still have some that need to be cut. Saving them for the next time the tax man comes a knocking.
There is always something to fight.

[SwampDonkey]

You've indicated at one time about selling lower grade pine. I couldn't sell a pine here unless it was about perfect, unless I want to work for nothing. :D

[thecfarm]

That was some of the 20. Man those trees was UGLY. Just like the ones that I cut for fodder for the OWB,just add about 40 years of growth. The reason I remember them so well my Father came for the same school as what you said,the pines had to just about perfect to make money. There was one pine that grew right where we wanted the wood yard. It grew up about 7 feet and crotched out into some good logs. The 8 foot crotched was pushed over to the side.The guy that trucked for us saw the crotch and said that they would buy that for Pallet Pine grade. They cut out the bad areas and knots and dovetail the lumber. My Father had a fit and started to tell him that he don't know nothing about wood,he was my age,so how could a young kid,30 years old know anything about logs.  : My Father would of been about 70.I got a word in and asked they will take that and he said yes. I jumped on the tractor while they was dukeing it out and got it next to the truck. That was the only 8 footer on that load. Off it went. I heard about THAT log for a week. They will take it,but we won't get paid for it. He'll have to dump that log somewheres.I'm not taking it back.
He got the scale slip and there was a 8 foot pallet grade on it. I can still hear him say,They took it. And they PAID us for it. We started to chase down the other 19 ugly trees, As he said,you can sell good logs anytime,but you can not sell bad logs all the time. They brought quite a few more crotches and even a couple that had 3 leaders out of them.That got my Father going,but they took them. We was getting more than double the price of pine pulp and we did not have to saw them down to 26 inches wide either. As I said some was more than 40 inches and some even was 50 inches. That was a good market than. Now that pallet grade does not pay much more than pulp. They must of been hard up for some of the stuff we sold them. Knots a foot across on some of them.
That pine blister rot and Weevils scare me. When I had that logger come in and I got a letter that the pine could not be cut in Franklin County. I'm on the County line. Most of the pine was in Androscoggin County and being brought over the line into Franklin. A phone call to the state and we was all set.

[Ken]

Unfortunately thecfarm you most certainly already have weevil and probably blister rust as well.  You indicated in one post that your pines in the field developed many leaders.  Typical indication of weevil.  The white pine that are doing well in the woods are probably growing underneath an existing overstory.  That seems to keep the weevil at bay.  Any of the industrial land in NB that is being managed for white pine usually employs a silvicultural technique that leaves a mature overstory as a "nurse crop"

[thecfarm]

Ken,could be.The pasture is about a ½ mile from the woods that had the big ones growing. I can remember that pasture just starting to grow up. This land has been in the family from about 1930. They swapped houses and land with another family and than about 20 years after brought the place back from them. I really can't tell you about the under story,but it does sound good. The land was never cut off until I called in the logger. We only cut firewood off it and my Father would need a truck and he would cut some off. When my father and me was doing it we was slow,but steady.