Z2 Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 337 



In this connection it should also be pointed out that a marking 

 service would be an important supplement to education in getting 

 farmers started on a program of forest management. Taking the 

 owner into the woods when trees are actually marked for cutting 

 should bring about a better understanding of the basic principles in- 

 volved in sustained timber production. 



It has already been stated that the non-farm owner often needs 

 to hire woods labor for logging. This work is usually done by con- 

 tract and is not necessarily available to local people. The cooperative 

 could contract to carry on logging and make delivery to insure itself 

 adequate income to defray expenses and at the same time be of service 

 to members by arranging with them to do the actual work. 



Under the present system of cutting, most individuals market siz- 

 able amounts of wood at one time. A trucker can get employment 

 for himself and truck for a fairly long period by contacting a few 

 people. Consequently, he has been able to adjust charges to fit con- 

 ditions, contracting at lower prices for large jobs. But the situation 

 would be different if most people were managing their woodlands and 

 cutting something each year rather than periodically at relatively long 

 intervals. The majority would have to reduce greatly the amount 

 marketed in any one year during the build-up period and, because of 

 limited acreages, many farms would still have relatively small annual 

 cuts once growing stocks have been built up to the desired point. It 

 would appear that with transportation as unorganized as at present, 

 trucking cost to producers would be increased. Usually a farmer with 

 only a few cords would have to pay a premium unless the wood was 

 so located as to fit in well with the transportation of larger amounts. 



Sustained production, however, would permit better organization, 

 and hauling contracts might be handled through the central market- 

 ing agency. The cooperative could ask for bids on hauling all or any 

 part of its purchases. In this way the truck owner would need to deal 

 with only one person to get the desired employment and thus effect 

 the same economies as when contracting for large lots with individual 

 owners. 



A continuation of the intensive educational program now being 

 conducted by the Extension Service should materially aid in bringing 

 about many desirable adjustments. The forest management plans for 

 individual farms will serve as a definite guide for the farmer in man- 

 aging his woodland. Provided as it is with intimate knowledge of 

 ownership and forest conditions, the Extension Service might go a 

 step farther with these plans by pointing out to individuals with in- 

 sufficient woodland the lots near at hand that would fit in well with 

 their other enterprises to make the farm more nearly an economic 

 unit. 



Long-term credit at a low rate of interest is needed to facilitate 

 the buying of forest land. Loans made for only short periods at exist- 

 ing rates of interest do not meet the needs for buying woodland to be 

 managed on a sustained yield basis. Income at first is likely to be 

 small and only when lands are nearly fully productive would they 

 carry the load. In the meantime income from other farm enterprises 



