FARM FORESTALL ]'' I ,:<?>. ^ 



CHAPTER I 

 THE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE WOODLOT 



BY the term Farm Woodlot is meant the tract of wooded 

 land which is maintained primarily to furnish fuel, posts, lum- 

 ber and other wood products for use on the farm. The term 

 is also used to denote larger tracts of forest land owned by 

 farmers which are cut from time to time to secure a revenue. 



Farm Forestry treats of the growing of forest trees in the 

 woodlot and with the utilization of the products of the wood- 

 lot. It has to do with the starting of the trees from seed or 

 from sprouts, with the tending of the trees as they grow, s(5 

 that they will put forth their best and fastest growth, and 

 with the harvesting and utilizing of the trees when ripe. It 

 aims to produce the greatest amount of valuable timber in the 

 shortest time possible. It accomplishes its purpose by growing 

 in the woodlot only fast growing kinds of trees, by growing 

 trees that will yield only a useful and valuable product, by 

 giving to each tree the right amount of space it needs for 

 growth and by protecting the trees from their many enemies. 

 Origin of the Farm Woodlot. Most farm woodlots have 

 descended directly from the virgin forest which originally 

 covered so large a portion of the country. This virgin forest 

 has disappeared for the most part in the eastern part of the 

 country. Only isolated patches of the old timber remain. 

 These forests were cut to convert the trees into lumber or to 



