After germination of the seed in the forest the young seedlings have 

 protection which gives them a chance for a time. If an opening occurs 

 by the falling of one or more trees these seedlings spring up to fill it. 

 If the opening does not occur the seedling may be shaded out and die. 



The writer has passed through woodlots in May and early June 

 where thousands of young seedlings had made a start. By the end of 

 August these had all disappeared. What causes their disappearance? 

 Not always stock grazing, but often drying out from lack of protection ; 

 this lack of protection being usually due to the want of leaf litter and 

 humus as well as to the open condition of the woods. 



It is difficult to say of what value a denuded soil is in relation to tree 

 growth. On some sand formations in Ontario there stood in the original 

 forest some splendid trees. After clearing the land, a few good crops 

 were secured, but soon the sandy soil became weakened as it lost its 

 covering of humus. To-day some of these lands are waste sand dunes, 

 as may be seen in Fig. 21. 



Trees in the forest with tall, clean stems have passed through many 

 stages. We are apt to think that they always grew in their present iso- 

 lated surroundings. When young these trees grew with many com- 

 panions and passed from the seedling stage into the thicket or pole 

 stage. Frequently some were crowded out to die. The tall forest tree 

 we see to-day is the survivor of a long struggle and its roots may be 

 taking up ground which in its youth produced a few hundred saplings. 



The thicket or pole stage served its purpose. If the tall forest tree 

 had been growing in the open it would have large branches a few feet 

 from the ground and would never have reached the great height to which 

 it has attained. To survive in the struggle, the tree in the thicket has to 

 spend most of its energy in height growth during its earlv life, in which 

 time the side branches are shaded out and die while very small. This 

 cleaning of branches gives a clean stem on which a erowth free from 

 knots may be developed in the years to come. 



THE WOODLOT. 

 Introduction. 



The woodlot is a part of the farm which in too many cases has been 

 neglected and looked upon as of no real value in its relation to the farm. 

 It has furnished the owner with fuel and building material and frequently 

 revenue by the sale of a few logs to the local mill. In many cases, how- 

 ever, the woodlot has not been considered as being a permanent resource 

 or a necessary part of the farm economy. 



In early days the woodlot was considered important as being a source 

 of fuel, but when the farmer discovered the charms of anthracite coal 

 one of the most evident arguments in favor of its existence seemed to 



