HARVESTING THE PRODUCTS OF THE WOODLOT 159 



much for them. He gets out of them whatever he can. Trees 

 of that size, however, are growing rapidly, and will grow more 

 rapidly after the trees around them have been removed open- 

 ing up the crowns to the light. A lumber operation in a wood- 

 lot should be made to result ultimately in the establishment 

 of a better stand of trees than the old timber. 



Harvesting the Crop from a Large Woodlot. When a 

 woodlot is to be cut clean or when many trees are to be cut 

 from a large woodlot there are two general methods that 

 can be followed by the owner. The operation can be carried 

 on by the owner himself or the timber can be sold to a lum- 

 berman and removed by him. Where the owner carries on 

 the operation he can haul the product to a local sawmill and 

 sell it or have it sawed into lumber; he can purchase a port- 

 able sawmill and do his own sawing, or he can have a portable 

 mill brought on his tract to saw the timber. Which one of 

 these several methods would be best to use could be deter- 

 mined only by a careful study of the conditions on each wood- 

 lot and of the market. If there is a good and ready market 

 for the sale of all products from the woodlot, the owner 

 can usually make more profit if he is a skillful operator by 

 carrying on the operation himself and selling the products. 

 If the market is dull and lumber and other products are hard 

 to dispose of, it may be better to sell the stumpage outright 

 to a lumberman who has made a study of markets and can 

 usually dispose of the products at a profit. The advantage to 

 the owner of carrying on the operation himself is that he 

 can employ his help profitably throughout the winter, he can 

 exercise care not to injure young growth unnecessarily or to 

 break young trees or strip them of branches in felling other 

 trees, he can leave the younger trees to grow to larger size, 

 or he can leave seed trees to seed up vacant areas. It is not 

 necessary for him to skin the land. He can cut and sell 

 what he wishes and leave the rest. He can practice forestry 

 in the cutting of the timber. 



