June, 1942] University of New Hampshire 19 



and in some cases equipment such as trucks in off-the-farm work. In 

 this connection, the forest resources of the area offer possibilities. 

 Timber products can be harvested in the late fall and winter when 

 they do not compete with other crops for the use of labor and equip- 

 ment. 



Time in which to carry on cultural treatment of the woodland is 

 not nearly as limited as is the case with other crops. Although weed- 

 ing-s, improvement cuttings, and the like must be made to get maxi- 

 mum production, it is not necessary to complete the operation in any 

 one year or growing season. Rather it may be spread over a period 

 of several years as the individual case may indicate. Even by doing 

 nothing more than making cuttings to fit the needs of specific stands 

 to insure natural regeneration, woodlands can be kept in relatively 

 continuous production. Granted that growth rates would be less than 

 under more intensive management, there would still be something 

 produced to market each year. 



The fact that up to a certain point timber continues to grow even 

 though no work is done is highly important. If for any reason it be- 

 comes impossible to harvest during any year or few years, it can be 

 stored as growing timber until such time as it becomes possible to 

 market it. This is a decided advantage over other crops common to 

 the area which must be harvested each year and can be stored for a 

 limited time only. Market conditions prevailing over the last 20 years 

 also indicate that pulpwood is the most saleable asset on the farm. 



Many farmers in this area would do well to give some considera- 

 tion to forest management as a means of increasing farm income. 

 A few have attempted to increase earnings by- buying tracts of tim- 

 berland. For the most part, these have been exploited with hired 

 labor and have become a liability rather than an asset once the timber 

 was removed. 



The size of woodlands on most farms is governed as much by 

 historical as by economic factors. An operator has a certain acreage 

 (jf woodland because that much of his farm either was never cleared 

 or has reverted to tree growth when abandoned for agricultural uses. 

 Farmers have attempted to adjust the size of the dairy herd and the 

 acreages of crops to fit their situation but seldom, if ever, have thev 

 done so with woodland. A number of alternative methods of making 

 better use of existing forest resources warrant consideration here. 



One alternative applies to those farms now having sufficient acre- 

 age and growing stock to utilize most or all of the available labor and 

 equipment. In the past the predominant policy has been to remove 

 all merchantable growth from an area without particular regard to 

 the future stand. Often stands are dense and even-aged with little 

 or no advanced reproduction at the time of cutting. Consequently, 

 after logging, these areas have been taken over by such light-prefer- 

 ring species as birch and aspen. Because of their rapid growth, these 

 species have been able to dominate for several years. The result has 

 been a lengthening of the rotation period for a quality crop and low 



