The gravelly and sandy land that is now occupied almost ex- 

 clusively by post oak and blackjack is a very poor type of land, 

 entirely unfitted for agricultural purposes. The post-oak land 

 is too gravelly and sterile to produce agricultural crops, al- 

 though when cleared it makes fair grazing land. When cleared 

 and farmed the blackjack land soon becomes exhausted of its 

 fertility and blows and drifts with the prevailing winds. Both 

 of these types of land are capable of producing excellent tree 

 growth when the right species are planted. The trees suitable 



FIG. 163. Clearing, burning brush, digging holes, and generally putting the land in 

 shape for tree planting. [Courtesy American Forestry.] 



for these soils are the red cedar, Austrian pine, and Chinese 

 arbor vitse. 



The kind of land and the character of the growth upon it 

 must determine the details of the method to be employed in 

 the improvement of the woodlot. However^ the general sys- 

 tem will be the same in all cases, and will consist of three dis- 

 tinct operations: 



First. Thinning: cutting out all mature trees that are 

 worth as much now as they will be at any future time, and 

 all undesirable trees of all ages or sizes. 



