POSSIBILITIES OF THE FARM WOODLOT. 63 



add to the wood supply along these lines, but also will mean added 

 income to the owners of the lands. 



Before concluding-, a word should be said with regard to the creation 

 of new woodlots where none now exist. It has already been intimated 

 that in some regions of the State land is now ranked as improved land 

 which cannot be made to produce crops which return a fair profit for 

 the owners, that is, the land is maintained in the improved condition 

 at a positive loss. If Michigan were the only State' in which this is true, 

 and there were no other experience than our own to turn to. it would 

 not be quite safe to discuss the matter at this time, but in the older parts 

 of the country and in Europe we see that land which was cultivated at 

 an earlier time is now abandoned as plow land, and rightly so, because 

 under existing conditions, it is impossible to make the crops which will 

 grow upon it pay for the culture given the land. So with us there are 

 barren spots and steep hillsides, ravines and undrainable hollows, which, 

 if their owners were wise, they would convert into tree bearing areas. 

 There are many steep hillsides in the vicinity of Ann Arbor upon which 

 so much gullying has been done by rainwasli in the past five years that 

 it is doubtful if the attempt were made to replace the earth in the ravines 

 formed, if it could be done for the value of the whole farm. In such 

 jjlaces hundreds of cubic yards have been washed out of the hillside 

 and deposited over the flatter areas at the base of the slopes, thus often 

 badly damaging these as well as the slopes. In the case of barren hills 

 or sandy tracts, again the cost of handling is i-ather more on the average 

 than the returns, and such lands are best left alone, and more intensive 

 farming done on the better soils by the owner, and the poorer steep 

 tracts covered with trees which nmy be seeded or planted in, and which 

 would soon begin to return a ])rofit from what is now unprofitable land. 

 For planting the hillsides, the locust is excellent, since it is hardy and 

 a rapid grower, and makes a most excellent and durable post timber. 

 With the locust other species might be planted, the kinds depending 

 upon the exposure, the steepness and dryness of the slope, and the kind 

 of soil. The planting should be carried up over the brow of the slope 

 and made at least several feet wide, on the flatter land above the slope. 

 At the bases of such slopes the hardy catalpa may be planted to ad- 

 vantage, and if it were considered undesirable to plant the locust alone, 

 both the black and the white oaks are able to make good growth in 

 such places, and should give excellent results, especially if handled as a 

 coppice with the locust. If coniferous trees were desired, the red cedar 

 will grow upon the most barren and exposed slopes, but makes poor and 

 slow growth, and in most cases it will probably be possible to establish 

 the Norway spruce .or the white pine, either pure or as a mixture with 

 the locust and oaks. 



It will be seen from the foregoing discussion that the solution of the 

 problem of the woodlot in Michigan is not a simple matter, nor one that 

 is to be lightly put aside, but on the other hand it should receive full 

 and careful consideration, especially from the farming population of the 

 State, and from those who have an interest in forestry. 



While it is probably not the place here to take up the question of 

 markets, it may be pertinent to say that as the natural woods of the 

 State are exploited and exhausted, more and more of the timber used 

 will be derived from farm woodlots and farm plantations. A marked 

 tendency in this direction is already in evidence, in the efl'orts made 



