104 



Canadian Forestry Journal, July, 1913. 



income of $4.00 per acre, which would 

 be considerably higher if sold for 

 special uses such as fence posts, poles, 

 square timber, etc. Add to this the 

 profits derived from tapping the 

 maples, frorn 50c to $5.00 per acre, 

 depending upon the number of maples 

 and the flow of sap, and it is safe to 

 say the annual income from a pro- 

 perly managed woodlot would aver- 

 age about $7.00 per acre. It should 

 also be remembered that the woods on 

 many farms occupy such waste areas 

 as steep stream banks and stony hill 

 sides, from which the returns would 

 not justify their being used for agri- 

 cultural purposes. 



There is no crop more sure than the 

 wood crop. Few woodlot owners, 

 however, have yet begun to look upon 

 their trees as a crop and although 

 they may realize that the rapid de- 

 crease in the supply of hardwoods 

 must increase the profits from their 

 property, there are still those who re- 

 tain an inherent desire to clear land. 

 It has never occurred to many that 

 it is possible to determine the amount 

 of wood that an acre will produce in 

 a year and that wnth proper manage- 

 ment this amount can be cut year 

 after year without deteriorating the 

 stand. 



The typical woodlot of today is not 

 producing anywhere near the amount 

 of material that it might and it never 

 will, until the farmer changes his at- 

 titude towards it. To- bring the wood- 

 lot to its highest producing capacity 

 it is necessary for the owner to keep 

 in mind a model woodlot and in man- 

 aging, his goal should be this model. 



The woodlot which is producing the 

 highest annual returns is one that 

 contains the greatest number of trees 

 consistent with the most rapid devel- 

 opment of the quality of wood desir- 

 ed. The trees should be close enough 

 together in their youth to force a 

 rapid height growth and produce 

 clear trunks. When about five years 

 old they should be from 3,000 to *5,000 

 per acre. This number will gradually 

 diminish until, at ten years of age, the 

 stand will contain from 1,500 to 3,000 



Showing two age — classes— mature and seed- 

 ling. This is an ideal condition for the owner 

 intenditig to cut clean and allow his starui to 

 grow up again. For the farmer^s woodlot the 

 presence of a great number of ages is desircU)le 

 so that a few trees may be harvested each year. 



trees, and at maturity not more than 

 150 of the oi'iginal trees will remain. 

 If left to itself this thinning would 

 come about in a natural way, but by 

 proper artifical thinning the growth 

 can be stimulated and weed-trees, 

 such as are undesirable and have low 

 market value, can be removed. The 

 crown of the trees should always 

 touch so that little light may reach 

 the ground and encourage the growth 

 of grass and weeds. The soil should 

 be prevented from becoming hard 

 and baked by the action of the sun. 

 In thinning, no opening should be 

 made in the tree tops which cannot 

 be filled in by the neighbouring trees 

 in three or four years. There should 

 be sufficient number of younger trees 

 which will rapidly fill in any opening 

 caused by the removal of, or accident 

 to, a mature tree. The growth about 

 the exposed margin of the woodlot if 

 kept dense will do much to protect 

 the trees within from being over- 

 thrown by wind. 



