WOODLOT FORESTRY 



573 



the woods be open, it would be best to 

 plant several rows of such trees as 

 Norway spruce to act as a windbreak. 



Most woodlots are unfit for the im- 

 mediate application of systematic for- 

 estry. Improvement cuttings must be 

 made for the purpose of putting them 

 into order. These cuttings should re- 

 move all trees which the forest is better 

 without, but they should be made 

 gradually so as not to open the cover too 

 much and expose the soil to the wind 

 and sun. It is unwise to cut more 

 than 25 per cent of the poles and older 

 trees in a dense mature forest or to cut 

 oftener on the same ground than once 

 in five years. Particular care must be 

 taken to preserve the trees which are to 

 form the future crop. Remove the 

 spreading older trees over promising 

 young growth, poor trees which are 

 crowding more valuable ones, unsound, 

 decrepit or crooked trees whose places 

 will be taken by others of greater value. 

 Trees of undesirable species should be 

 cut wherever possible to prevent them 

 from reproducing themselves. 



Cuttings should he so planned that the 

 tops will just meet by the time the next 

 cutting is made, except in reproduction 

 cuttings where it is necessary to make 

 large openings to stimulate the g'owth 

 of the young seedlings. Reproduction 

 cuttings should follow only a good seed 

 year. 



Go over the woodlot before beginning 

 cutting and carefully determine which 

 trees are to be cut. Mark them with 

 yellow lumber crayon, or an axe, so 

 that the choppers will make no mis- 

 takes. Instruct the workmen how to 

 fell and remove the trees with the least 

 possible damage to the standing trees, 

 especially young growth, and see that 

 useless waste in stumps and tops is 

 avoided. Close supervision of the work 

 will add much to the profit of the cut- 

 ting, particularly in the matter of 

 working up the material into market- 

 able form. 



The result of improvement cutting will 

 be a fully stocked stand of rapid growing 

 trees of the best species. Systematic 

 forestry management may then be 

 applied. The selection system is best 

 adapted to woodlots. Under this sys- 



tem only the fully matured trees are 

 cut each year, the cut not exceeding 

 the voliime growth for the year. If the 

 cut is less than the annual growth a 

 reserve of larger timbers for cutting 

 at more or less definite intervals will be 

 accimiulated. 



Only in special cases should the woods 

 be pastured, such as turning in hogs to 



Small White Pine Seedling. 



this was dug in the forest, it has an excellent 

 root system and is well adapted for trans- 



PL.\NTING. 



root Up the ground just before the seed 

 falls in a good seed year, thus making 

 the seed bed conditions better. A piece 

 of land should be used exclusively either 

 for woods or for pasture . Well managed 

 for either use the return will be greater 

 than from use for both woods and 

 pasture. 



Fire prevention is an absolute neces- 

 sity. Fire injures a woodlot by destroy- 

 ing the litter and making the soil poor. 

 It checks the growth and reduces the 

 vitality of the trees, and causes wounds 



