ARBORICULTURE 



415 



leaves accumulate, and an ample space 

 be kept clear of inflammable debris. 



Lumbering. 



The usual method of lumbering is first 

 to cut and remove all good trees of suffi- 

 cient size to make boards. Trees of in- 

 ferior size are next made into ties, the 

 remainder being cut into cord wood. 



In proximity to pulp mills, suitable 

 trees are converted into paper. To fa- 

 cilitate logging operations, teamsters 

 and loggers are permitted to cut away- 

 much if not all young growth. In this 

 manner the entire forest is quickly de- 

 stroyed. 



If this should be rich agricultural 

 land it may bring a good price after the 

 timber has been sold; otherwise it may 

 be without material value. Now, this 

 property having been converted into 

 cash, some other investment must be 

 sought in order that the money may con- 

 tinue its earning capacity. 



The land has ceased to produce an in- 

 come. Has it paid the owner for his 

 time, trouble and use of the capital em- 

 ployed? 



Bather would it not have been better 

 if only a portion of the timber were re- 

 moved, leaving the younger trees for a 

 future ctuting. It the tract be a large 

 one, a twenty years' rotation would 

 make it a source of perpetual product- 

 iveness. There are many tracts of for- 

 est land which were cut over twenty 

 years ago, and which are now ready for 

 a second or even third harvest. 



Under proper conditions trees con- 

 tinue to grow, adding to their bulk each 

 year, until they are ripe or have become 

 mature. Then they decrease in value an- 

 nually until they have ceased to exist 

 and become a part of the soil from which 

 they are produced. 



To cut a tree in its prime, while in 



healthy, growing condition, is waste, and 

 to destroy younger trees which have re- 

 quired from ten to a score of years to 

 develop thus far is a useless sacrifice. 



On the other hand, to permit trees 

 to pass their day of greatest usefulness 

 and enter upon a decline is equally un- 

 wise. Just when to cut trees requires 

 judgment and careful observation. 



Often one mature tree, if left, will 

 prevent the development of many small 

 growths near by. Thrifty trees of great- 

 er value should always be preserved, re- 

 moving those of lesser worth where they 

 interfere with the development of more 

 valuable young timber. 



A proper stand of trees on the ground 

 should be maintained. When too thick- 

 ly growing, all are stunted, as they can 

 not maintain a vigorous existence. On 

 the other hand, land unoccupied is a 

 sources of loss which must detract from 

 the value of the whole. Therefore every 

 space should be growixig some tree; if 

 they do not exist naturally' or have been 

 cut away, other trees should be planted 

 in these vacancies. 



It has been the constant practice of 

 many farmers who own wood lots of 

 mixed varieties of timber to cut the 

 choicest for home use or to sell, as these 

 produced the most money at the time. 

 And thus we find, in many localities, 

 only the trees of least value are left. 

 This gives rise to the opinion that tim- 

 ber lands are unprofitable. A mixed 

 forest, while a beautiful object, is not so 

 sure a money-maker as where most of 

 the trees are of one variety. 



In the Middle States the forests were 

 of oak, basswood, sycamore, hickory, ash, 

 sugar maple, hackberry, walnut, yellow 

 poplar, beech, elm, etc., with paw paw, 

 haw, willow, and various shrub growths 

 filling in the gaps. In this way all these 

 trees are of value, but the lumberman 



