10 



value of a wood which must be kept until the trees attain a good size. 

 The figures in the last column represent the annual returns from the 

 two plantations irrespective of their age, and are therefore directly 

 comparable. 



It is a well-known fact that the great majority of the forest planta- 

 tions made in accordance with the timber-culture act were failures. 

 Here, again, the unfavorable results were due to poor sites and ill- 

 adapted species, combined with a lack of care on the part of planters 

 and the dishonesty of entrymen, who regarded this law merely as a 

 means of obtaining title to public land without paying for it. 



Plantations made by specialists find designed for a special purpose 

 do not usually require very elaborate planting plans.. It is the small 

 woodlot plantation that is to serve many purposes in the economy of 

 the farm which calls for the most careful planning. 



PREPARATION OF A PLANTING PLAN. 



As a machine of production, a farm should have a plan which pro- 

 vides for the best use of its every part. The woodlot or forest plan- 

 tation should be in a position to contribute to the successful operation 

 of this plan, for the trees may affect the atmospheric drainage, the 

 wind currents, and the humidity of the air about the home. At the 

 same time a planting plan must provide for sites which will produce 

 the best possible growth. The arrangement of the fields and the loca- 

 tion of the fences, private lanes, drainage systems, buildings, and 

 farmstead should all be considered before any forest planting is 

 undertaken. 



Very rarely indeed have farmers deliberately planned the location 

 and make-up of their forest plantations with reference to the needs, 

 convenience and economy of their farms, and the relative value and 

 adaptability of the trees to be planted. Woodlots have sometimes 

 been so poorly located as to do actual damage to farms. Cases have 

 been observed in the northern half of the Middle West where wind- 

 breaks planted too close to the buildings caused the drifting snow 

 of severe winters to bury the houses 15 or 20 feet deep. In the winter 

 of 1899 a farmhouse in the Red River Valley, North Dakota, was 

 buried in a snowdrift for three months because a cottonwood grove 

 had been planted too near it. In other cases trees have been planted 

 near tile drains, which the roots clog. 



It is probable that not one-tenth of American farms are being 

 operated under any permanent system of management. Before forest 

 planting is undertaken some such system must be adopted, however, 

 in order to make the future existence of the forest plantations possi- 

 ble, for more than half the planting plans made since July 1, 1899, 



228 



