THE CARE OF THE FARM WOODLOT. 



1!V PROFKSSOR GORDON E. TOWER. 



The woocllots of Maine form an important adjunct to the 

 farm. The income which the farmer derives from the woodlot 

 and the material it furnishes in the way of fuel, fence posts and 

 building material for use on the farm greatly enhances the value 

 of the farm. The general treatment which the woodlot has re- 

 ceived has not led to its improvement or produced an increase 

 of the total wood product, but on the other hand has resulted in a 

 deterioration of our woodlands, so that today the wooded areas 

 of the farms are not producing more than one-half or three- 

 fourths as much wood as they are capable of growing. Many 

 of the woodlots contain naturally a mixture of many different 

 kinds of trees. When material was cut to supply a market de- 

 mand, the best was taken, and even when fuel-wood was cut for 

 home consumption the same practice has been followed as a rule. 

 Such a culling process repeated again and again leaves the poor 

 and worthless growth which frequently is of a decidedly inferior 

 <}uality even for cordwood. Such growth encumbers the ground 

 and seriously interferes with the production of a better crop of 

 trees or may even prevent their starting at all. 



No farsighted farmer will deliberately till his land in such a 

 manner as to reduce the fertility of the soil to a point where it 

 will produce only one-half or one-fourth of a crop and yet that 

 is the condition into which the woodlot has been brought. Not 

 only has its worth depreciated but the value of the farm as well. 

 To convert the woodlot at this stage into tillable land is not an 

 alternative because as a rule it occupies the poorest part of the 

 farm ; neither is it prudent to turn it into pasture land for the 

 farm stock. Run-down land if properly treated and well culti- 

 vated can be made to yield better crops ; so can the woodlot be 

 improved and the wood which it will produce be increased in 

 quantity and quality if it is given the proper treatment. To 

 improve the woodlot and bring it into a condition to produce a 

 larger and better crop, does not necessitate the introduction of 



