-C5- 



Take plenty of time to pre-bait, a r/eek if necessary. As far as possible, 

 remove all sources of food for rats before exposing baits. Cover grain bins, 

 empty self-feeders, protect garbage, etc. Do not disturb the environment any 

 more thcai necessary as this tends to nake the rats suspicious. 



The best bait for your farm can only be determined by trial. Some suggested 

 baits are as follow; 



Ivieats: Fresh hamburger, ground bacon, canned dog food, dried dog food, 



Fishj fresh ground fish, caimed fish as salmon, tuna, sardines or cat food, 



MAW AG I! :G THE SIIaLL FOREST 



(since many fruit farms in Massachusetts include a farm woodlot, the following 

 suggestions from an experienced forester v/ill be of interest to fruit growers) 



In this issue of Fruit Notes I v^ish to discuss the management, protection, 

 estimating, cutting, and selling of the forest crop, taken from the farm v/oodlot. 

 The farm ivoodlot is a small forest, but v-^ry important in the mcjiagement of a 

 well run farm. The farm woodlot provides many items needed on the farm. It is 

 not possible to ignore this source of supply. 



Let ne describe a small forest and how it is possible for you to help it 

 grow. The small forest should have trees suited to the soil, climate, and locality. 

 If you watch this very inportont condition, you \/ill have a good 'salable crop 

 later on. Poor or surplus trees must be thinned out and taken out to give the 

 gold ones more room to dovelop. Such a forest should have no over-ripe trees, 

 past their best grov/ing years, nor should there be any diseased or damaged trees 

 and no very branchy or badly shaped trees, 



You will find the forest floor covered with needles, leaves, ti'dgs, and small 

 branches. This covering permits the soil to absorb large amounts of water needed 

 by the trees and also prevents erosion. Beneath this litter is a moist fertile 

 layer of riumus covered with sub-soil. Over-grazing and fires should be controlled. 

 Over-grazing will ruin viha.t otherwise v.ill become a well managed and v/ell kept 

 forest on the farm. 



If the trees are all of the same age, the crowns almost touch to form a sort 

 of ceiling of foliage, called a canopy. In a nixed aged stand, there is no 

 continued canopy, but in either case crovms are healthy and usually ma.ke up about 

 a third of the total height of the tree. 



How con you help the forest grow? l;/e all knovif that a forest grows by itself, 

 but we also knov; that it will grov/ faster, and bring more profit if the owner 

 helps it along. The oivner wants to have as many trees as ho can of the best 

 quality possible in his forest, and he has these by good management and good 

 management alone. 



In your v/oodlot you will find trees that are crooked, treos that arc forked, 

 trees that arc diseased, some that are dying, and others that stand too close 

 together. Those aro the trees to concentrate on at the time of cutting, whether 

 you are cutting for saw logs or for cordwood. Every time you do any cutting in 

 the v/oods you should be making an improvement cutting. From these harvestings 

 you will be able to get some firewood, possibly some puJ.p,wood, and bean polos or 



