l66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



It is impossible in a short paper of this kind to go into de- 

 tail. A few general principles and hints only can be given, 

 but the Station stafi gladly offers whatever help regarding 

 details it may be in their power to give to anyone who is in- 

 terested. 



Let us consider, then, a few suggestions as to first steps 

 which might be taken to improve that wood lot. 



First. Try to give the property better protection from 

 fire. A whole afternoon could be taken up with discussion of 

 this point alone. There is time now for only two hints. 

 Avoid as much as possible all fire-tempters, such as piles of 

 brush left from lumbering. With proper care these can be 

 safely burned at certain seasons, so as not to furnish food for 

 a larger uncontrollable conflagration. And if the property 

 adjoins other woodlands keep a narrow strip next those prop- 

 erties cut clear of all woody growth. Such fire-lanes may be 

 used to cut up your property into sections if your tract is large, 

 so as to prevent accidental fires from gaining much headway. 

 The fire-lanes should be burned over under care once a year so 

 as to prevent the accumulation of inflammable material. In 

 many sections of the State they can be easily kept open by 

 plowing. 



Second. Practice improvement cutting; that is, instead 

 of favoring poor trees by continually cutting out the best 

 species and the best specimens of those species for supplies of 

 secondary importance, such as cordwood, try cutting in such 

 a way as to favor the best trees with light and growing space 

 until such time as they make good timber. Remove first the 

 unsound and poorly shaped trees and such as from having had 

 too much room when young are very knotty. Remove the 

 less valuable kinds, the " tree weeds," and give the better 

 kinds a chance to grow and reproduce their kind. Hurtful 

 changes in the composition of a forest are only too easily 

 brought about by indiscriminate cutting. Try to maintain a 

 good variety of the useful native species. 



Third. Practice thinning out of even the valuable trees 

 when they are crowding one another injuriousl3^ Experi- 

 ence only can determine how much this is to be done under 

 any given set of conditions. As a general principle, go slow. 

 Remember that a tree lays on wood largely in proportion to 

 the amount of light it receives. Cutting out one tree will thus 



