ly reducing the density and preventing tree repro- 

 duction, eventually destroy the forest or reduce it to 

 open, park-like stands of defective timber which has 

 little commercial value. Too little attention is gen- 

 erally given to maintain the proper balance between 

 grazing use and the production of timber. 



If the main object is to raise forage crops, it would 

 be more profitable, as a general rule, to remove most 

 if not all of the tree growth. On the other hand, if 

 the land is chiefly valuable for growing trees, it 

 should not be pastured in such a way as to make im- 

 possible the profitable production of timber. One of 

 the most serious abuses to which our farm woodlands 

 are subject is excessive over-grazing, or grazing with 

 the wrong kind of stock, or the annual burning which 

 is often practiced on the theory that it improves graz- 

 ing. A certain amount of regulated pasturage is in 

 most regions not incompatible with timber produc- 

 tion, and indeed may be the means of utilizing a very 

 important by-product of the woodlands, and so add 

 very materially to the revenue derived from them. 

 In some cases properly regulated grazing may even 

 be used as a silvicultural measure to improve the 

 wood crops. Once the individual farmer realizes the 

 value of the wood crop, if it is rightly handled, un- 

 derstands the conditions which must be maintained 

 to grow good timber, and grasps the nature of the 

 damage which overgrazing does, he can readily work 

 out for himself how to make his woodland best an- 

 swer his needs. 



From the standpoint of timber alone, most farm 

 woodlands as at present handled serve principally for 



8 



