24 X. II. Ac.H. ExPERTMEXT Station [Bulletin 318 



volume with consequent reduction in charges. Such reduction would 

 benefit both those who sell their lumber at the mill and those who have 

 it processed on a custom basis. Other reductions in cost would come be- 

 cause of improvement in collection and transportation. Some of these, 

 however, might be offset by the necessity of hauling longer distances with 

 fewer plants in the area. 



All told, the possibilities of increasing income by increasing the effi- 

 ciency of the market structure seem to be considerable, though possibly 

 not as large as those opportunities offered by assembling whole lots of 

 particular products and marketing all products to better advantage with 

 consequent increase in bargaining power on the part of producers. Were 

 all these factors to be added together, there would be a substantial in- 

 crease in the possible returns from marketing forest products by farmers 

 in the Carroll county area. 



Up to this point, increasing farm incomes from the marketing stand- 

 l)oint has been discussed. Perhaps of equal importance are changes in 

 production methods. The nature of the crop, however, makes it impos- 

 sible to realize any appreciable increase in revenue from this source ex- 

 cept over a long period of time. 



The present farm woodland of the area has a fairly good distribution 

 of age classes, although there is some shortage in the middle age groups. 

 It lends itself readily to the type of management that should give the 

 greatest return over a period of years. Here several methods of increas- 

 ing future income suggest themselves. The first has to do with the mer- 

 chantable acreage. In order to insure continued productivity and the 

 maximum return from the acreage, cutting practices should, insofar as 

 market conditions permit, be improved. To accomplish this, in most 

 cases, neither additional labor nor cash outlay would be necessaiy. but 

 present labor and cash would be employed in a different manner. 



In considering stands not yet merchantable because of size or quality, 

 there are also possibilities of increasing future income. In the older of 

 these stands, improvement cuttings could be made to remove undesirable 

 trees which are overtopjiing species suitable for forming a saxrtimber crop. 

 If this woodland were allowed to grow to maturity without treatment, it 

 would in many cases contain very little marketable material. The 

 younger of these stands of pole size and under are now fairly well stocked 

 with desirable species but contain a significant percentage of undesirables. 

 Periodic treatments such as weeding and thinning would both increase 

 growth rate and bring about a good stocking of trees of definitely superior 

 character at maturity. 



The intensity of silviculture to be practiced on these young stands and 

 those species favored should be deteiTnined, technological factors permit- 

 ing, largely by markets. When treating young stands, it will be possible 

 to retain many desirable individual trees which wiW not appear in the final 

 crop. At the time of future treatments market conditions may indicate 

 more clearly what combination of species should make up the ultimate 

 stand. 



Increase in income, as a result of better forest practices and consequent 

 j)roduction of higher grade material, might come from two sources. One 

 would bo from greater possible utilization of timber and the other from 

 a larger amount of the total product going in the higher price bracket <. 



