62 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



for the interests of those owning large timber areas to guard against 

 fires and cutting down half-grown trees, that as a matter of dollars 

 and cents we may reasonabl}- expect them to protect their own 

 interests. 



Of the forest area in Maine it is estimated that 22 4 per cent is 

 located upon and forms a part of the farms in the State, and it is to 

 the owners of those farms that the following suggestions may appl}^ 



CUTTING OUT THE OLD TREES. 



There are many wood-lots containing an old growth, that has 

 reached its maturity. The natural process of decay has begun ; the 

 trunks are hollow and the winds have gradually shattered their tops. 

 To some extent the farmers have made it a rule to cut out the old 

 trees first, but there are many who in a laz}-, shiftless manner either 

 cut when it is easiest for them or else do not cut half enough. Re- 

 move the old trees for fuel or lumber. In most parts of the State 

 this will be worth more than enough to pay for the marketing, while 

 their removal gives the younger trees a better chance. The sun- 

 shine comes in without obstruction, and the forests having yielded of 

 their full grown trees a profitable crop of wood and timber, are now 

 at work producing another crop for the benefit of their thrifty owners, 

 and in a few years the same process may be repeated and the wood- 

 land will be all the more valuable for it. 



CUTTING OUT AND PRUNING YOUNG TREES. 



The 3'oung forests are not receiving the attention they are entitled 

 to. It is so easy for us to let Nature have her way undisturbed, 

 that when the returns are so remote as in forestry, we have not inter- 

 fered with the natural course of events. When the old growth is 

 cut away Nature quickly begins the restoration of her forests. 

 Thousands of tender leaves shoot up from seeds mysteriously sown 

 by the wild winds, and if protected from grazing animals, in a few 

 years they become an impenetrable jungle. If the stock is allowed 

 to feed here when the leaves are tender, our young forest is likely to 

 be completely annihilated by them or so dwarfed as to be nearly worth- 

 less. Again, if the trees are allowed to grow without interference 

 they become so dense, that aside from growing tall they grow very 

 slowly. Go through them with a bush scythe, leaving alternate 

 spaces covered with the young trees, and you will be surprised at 

 the results. The sunshine comes in, warms up the soil, and a rapid 



