10 



pass away. At the present time many farmers in older Ontario depend 

 almost entirely upon the supply of coal for fuel. Local mill operators 

 have frequently been allowed to go through the woodlot and take out 

 the best timber, leaving only a slash. The owner has felt satisfied with 

 the ready cash that such an operation left him and quick returns is a 

 strong argument in favor of denuding the land. 



No arguments are advanced in these pages to show that the use of 

 the land for wood crop production would give greater financial returns 

 than its use for other farm purposes. Neither will we discuss the per- 

 centage of land which should be under trees, as this is a question which 

 must be settled by the individual owner. Many farmers in Ontario find 

 that from the standpoint of labor and management they are limited in 

 the amount of land which they can profitably cultivate. 



The following pages take it for granted that the owner desires to 

 make the woodlot a permanent and paying part of the farm. 



Ground Fires as Related to the Woodlot. 



Injury to Soil. Fire should 

 never be allowed to run through the 

 woodlot. By burning off the leaf 

 litter and vegetable mould or humus 

 the soil is greatly weakened. As 

 was pointed out in previous pages, 

 the healthy development of the for- 

 est tree is dependent upon the 

 humus condition of the soil. 



Injury to Reproduction. Ground 

 fires also destroy the seed and young 

 growth and make it much more dif- 

 ficult for seeds to germinate in the 

 future. The natural seedbed of 

 humus soil covered with the leaves 

 gives a protected, natural seedbed 

 which is necessary for reproduction. 



Injury to Old Trees. Ground 



fires frequently pass through the 



woods in spring and by the middle 



of the summer the woods seem t 



have recovered. This is not the 



case, for usually large trees, which 



seem to have bark thick enough to 



withstand the small amount of heat 



of a ground fire, are injured in a 



manner not at once visible to the 



T? . „ „„ , „ , _. „ M . _ , observer. The heat from a ground 



Fig. 3-Fffects of Ground Fires on White Oak. fif ._ „,u- t, ;«. „ Q _ • * « . 



tire, which it seems is too small to 



injure a tree with heavy bark, frequently affects the tree very seriously. 



The injury is of two kinds. 







u 



