THE FORESTER. 



June 



Mr. Graves' knowledge of the forest 

 work carried on by private owners is based 

 on the answers to a circular letter of in- 

 quiry regarding the prevailing methods 

 of handling woodlands that was sent out 

 by the Division. Answers were received 

 from about 2,000 persons, from forty-six 

 states and territories, "nearly 1,000 of 

 whom stated that they had done some 

 work which might be classed as forestry." 

 As but little of this was guided by a scien- 

 tific knowledge of methods and results, or 

 called "forestry," Mr. Graves early takes 



J ' J 



pains to justify his use of the word, and to 



comprising cases (i) of careful thinning: 

 (2) of careful cutting of sprout-land; (3} 

 of conservative lumbering ; (4) of protec- 

 tion against forest fires; (5) of fores' 

 planting. In the matter of careful thin- 

 ning it is of the first importance where 

 woodlands already exist that the owners 

 of small holdings should be able to take 

 good care of them. It appears that man} 

 small farmers have studied this probleir 

 and manage their woodlots with great in- 

 telligence. As might be expected a large 

 number of instances are from the oldei 

 Eastern States, and especially the more 



From the Yearbook of the 

 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture for l 



By Courtesy of the 

 Division of Forestry. 



r 



WHITE PINE GROVE IX WHICH THINNING AND PRUNING HAVE TAKEN PI.ACE, PLYMOUTH, MASS. 



make clear his idea of its meaning, by 

 saying that "wherever land is managed 

 with the intention that it shall yield re- 

 peated crops of timber, and is so treated 

 that the producing power is maintained at 

 a high point, there true forestry is prac- 

 tised." He then goes on to give a general 

 account of the attempts at forestry de- 

 scribed in the answers to the letter of in- 

 quiry, with occasional references to in- 

 structive examples. 



The material falls into five groups; that 



northerly ones. A Massachusetts farmer 

 for example is quoted as writing: "Ten 

 years ago I began to cut all trees except 

 White Pine. I trim the trees as high as a 

 man can reach easily, namely, 6 to 8 feet, 

 leaving all limbs on the ground. I leave 

 the outside trees, which are exposed to the 

 sun, as a protection to the trimmed trees. 

 I thinned and pruned the trees when about 

 twenty years old, leaving about 200 per 

 acre." But yet " this careful work is by 

 no means confined to the Northeast." 



