Proceedings of Seventeenth Normal Institute 195 



MAKING THE WOODLOT COUNT 



Peofessok Ralph S. Hosmer 



The qiiestio^n of how to make the best use of his woodlot is 

 one that faces every farmer, and hence, indirectly, every agri- 

 cultural instructor and farm bureau manager. At first blush 

 it may seem a different problem to make the woodlot a real asset 

 to the farm. Certainly the prevalent and time-honored way of 

 letting it grow up haphazard, and of cutting from it whatever 

 may at the moment be needed, is not the most efficient method of 

 handling this kind of farm property. But, like many another, 

 when the problem comes to be analyzed, it is found that its diffi- 

 culties are not so serious as they seemed at the outset and that 

 rightly managed the woodlot can be made as tangible and defi- 

 nite an asset as any on the farm. 



The wise use of the woodlot is essentially a matter of land 

 classification and of the application of business principles to a 

 business proposition. When to these are added a due considera- 

 tion of the rules of efficiency and a liberal share of common sense, 

 the trick is turned. 



AREAS adapted TO FOREST 



On every farm there is almost sure to be some land on which 

 it is not profitable to grow crops. Certain areas are too poor or 

 too steep even for scant pasture. But such land will grow trees, 

 and here is one great advantage of the forest crop. It will grow 

 where other crops will not; first, because trees do not make 

 such heavy demands on the soil for fertility, and second, because 

 trees will grow on slopes too steep to permit of tillage. Another 

 advantage which the forest crop has over other crops comes from 

 the very fact that it takes longer to mature. Trees are not so 

 seriously affected by unfavorable seasons because in the long run 

 the ill effects of drought or storm are offset by the years when 

 growth is vigorous and rapid. 



It is no part of the argument of the forester to urge that all 

 land should be devoted to growing trees. Ilather does he suggest 

 that forest growth, especially on the farm, be restricted to those 

 areas which will not grow other crops to advantage. In other 



