158 



purpose. The value of woodland for pasture is unquestionably in- 

 creased from 100 to 200 per cent when totally cleared of forest growth, 

 or improved. When the forest is completely destroyed this land should 

 bring in a revenue from pasturage of about $3.00 per acre. 



By comparison, it is seen that the stumpage value of the products 

 now being taken from the average wood-lot per acre, without care or 

 management, are valued at $1,688 per year, and that these products 

 bring $4.76 per acre when sold. But when it is realized that the greater 

 portion of these products are used on the farm and take the place of an 

 equal quantity of wood or wood substitutes which would otherwise have 

 to be purchased, the economic value of the farm woodland begins to be 

 evident. 



A rough comparison of the values of these home-grown products 

 and their substitutes is shown below : 



Product 



Fuel, per cord 



Fence posts, per post. . . . 

 Lumber, per M. ft. B. M. 



When it is considered that the labor expended in the harvesting 

 of the wood crops can be distributed over the slack seasons and that this 

 tends to give steady all-year round employment, the actual value to the 

 farmer of the crops from his wood-lot must be placed considerably 

 higher than the net stumpage value which he would obtain if he sold 

 the wood in place and did not receive any of the benefits of using it for 

 farm needs. At a conservative estimate, the average acre of farm wood- 

 land is worth as much in annual income to the farmer as this same acre 

 would produce if totally cleared for grazing. But can this income be 

 obtained and at the same time the land be used for grazing and thus 

 a larger total revenue be obtained? Universal observation and experi- 

 ence in the hardwood forests of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois answer this 

 question in the negative. To be sure, the timber which the land has al- 

 ready produced will continue to live in most instances until felled and 

 removed, hence will yield its value to the owner. But this value does 

 not necessarily represent net annual income, and will not. unless a quan- 

 tity equal to that removed is being added to the forest by growth. 



The rate of growth of the standing trees diminishes noticeably on 

 areas heavily grazed, and some trees die from trampling. But even in 

 this way the efifect of grazing upon income is not brought out in its 



•stumpage $12.86 plu.s cost of logging .ind profit. $12 14. 



