MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 325 



been subjected to fire which may destroy its capacity to support, or 

 delay the establishment of, tree growth, it is reasonable to suppose 

 that it will again produce forest trees. The belief of the farmer in 

 the crop-producing power of his land leads him to continue to plow, 

 plant and cultivate a crop. The forester's belief in the continued 

 productiveness of soil leads him to start and tend a crop of trees, 

 using methods different from the farmer's methods only in the length 

 of time needed to mature the crop. The axe, instead of the hand 

 or hoe, is used in thinning and weeding, and the saw and wedge, 

 instead of the scythe and reaper, at the harvest. The difference is 

 in degree rather than in kind, 



Management of Forest Lands. 



If it is admitted that the lumbered areas are capable of again sup- 

 porting tree growth, we have but to start a new crop (in many cases 

 it is already started) and care for it until maturity in order to harvest 

 a second crop. With care this process may be carried on from gene- 

 ration to generation and the land need never be idle. 



The thought, however, of tending a crop that takes from thirty 

 to sixty years to mature is one that seldom appeals to private indi- 

 viduals. The farmer gets returns from his crop in a few months, the 

 orchardist in from five to ten years, while the forester seldom harvests 

 a crop under thirty years. Although this may keep many from plant- 

 ing trees for timber, it need not prevent owners of forest lands 

 with timber well along toward maturity from caring for and 

 improving their growing crops. The small holder should never 

 allow his forest to be completely cut over, if he is unwilling 

 to wait a long period for the second crop. It is best for him to 

 practice a selection system in which a certain amount of material is 

 marketed every year and the cutting so regulated as to improve the 

 condition of the remaining trees. For instance, if a farmer owns 

 100 acres of young Oak and Chestnut in a dense stand, thirty to 

 forty feet high, he may remove some of the trees that will make 

 posts, rails, or ties ; these trees should be selected from different places 

 in the stand not be taken from one spot. Single trees of suitable size 



