CHAPTER X 

 CARING FOR THE GROWING WOODLOT 



WHETHER a woodlot is started artificially or naturally, it 

 will need care and attention throughout its life, if it is desired 

 to grow the greatest amount of valuable wood material in the 

 shortest time possible. Nature must be assisted in her efforts 

 by giving to each tree the conditions necessary for its best 

 growth and development. When a growing woodlot is left 

 entirely to nature the result will be what nature would be 

 expected to produce, a stand of slowly growing, irregular and 

 usually defective trees. A stand of growing timber is a crop 

 the same as any farm crop, and will need oversight and atten- 

 tion. If this is given the results are surprising, not only in 

 the character of the trees, but in the much shorter time it 

 takes to grow them. 



Cultivation in a Forest Plantation. Cultivation of the 

 ground around the trees after planting is advisable. It is neces- 

 sary in the treeless regions of the Prairies and Great Plains 

 and wherever the conditions for tree growth are not favorable. 

 Transplanting is a severe shock to trees and even under the 

 best of conditions many often die. With proper care and 

 cultivation during the first few years after planting a much 

 higher percentage will live. Cultivation of the soil will con- 

 serve the soil moisture, will prevent the growth of grass and 

 weeds, will help the trees to become established early, lessen 

 the mortality among the planted stock and shorten the rota- 

 tion. All these points are of particular importance where trees 

 are being grown for fence posts or other material for sale. 

 In the Eastern Region under more favorable conditions of 



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