140 FARM FORESTRY 



If the woodlot is found to be too small to supply the farm 

 with all wood products needed its boundaries should be ex- 

 tended by planting trees, or wood products should be pur- 

 chased. 



Regulating the Cuttings in the Woodlot so as to Secure 

 an Equal Annual Yield. One of the objects of woodlot 

 management is to so arrange or regulate the cuttings that 

 an equal amount of wood can be removed from the woodlot 

 year after year or periodically without lessening the forest 

 capital. In other words, to put the woodlot on a business basis 

 with a sustained annual yield. 



One of the means of accomplishing this object in a wood- 

 lot where the stand of timber is fairly uniform throughout 

 is by the area method. This consists in dividing the woodlot 

 into as many equal areas as the trees are years old when 

 mature and cutting one part each year. The age at which the 

 trees are cut is known as the rotation. The rotation will vary 

 with the product desired, whether it be sawlogs, poles, ties, 

 posts or cordwood. Even with the same product the age at 

 which the trees will be large enough to cut for a certain 

 product will vary with the rate of growth of the trees. The 

 faster the trees grow the lower the rotation can be made. 



The age at which the trees are to be cut having been 

 established, the woodlot is divided into that number of equal 

 parts and the timber on one of them is cut each yean As 

 soon as the trees have been cut reproduction is established 

 by seedlings or from sprouts and a new stand of timber 

 started. In this way by cutting one area a year the entire 

 woodlot is finally cut over and the cut-over areas reproduced. 

 At the end of the rotation or the time it takes to cut through 

 the woodlot, the trees on the first area cut will be old enough 

 and large enough to harvest. The owner starts and cuts 

 through the woodlot again. Each year the timber on one area 

 becomes mature and is cut and reproduction is established.* 



* The rotation can also be divided into periods of 5 or 10 years 



