1900. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



'33 



*' Letters were received from nearly every 

 state to the effect that a very large num- 

 ber of farmers endeavor to use conserva- 

 tive methods in cutting their wood lots." 

 Among others a farmer in California is 

 quoted: "In the winter season, when 

 time will admit from farm work, I cut out 

 all the poorest growth, leaving only thrifty 

 trees, about 200 to the acre. I draw all 

 brush to some clear ground and burn it. I 

 burn all chips and trash and obtain a large 

 amount of ashes, which I throw around 

 my apple trees." 



The article next states that on sprouting 

 from hardwood stumps small owners have 

 based a great deal of work with refer- 

 ence to a later forest crop. "It is com- 

 mon to hear this practice vigorously con- 

 demned, but as a matter of fact it is one 

 of the established systems of forestry used 

 in Europe as well as in this country. For 

 the production of fire wood it has many 

 advantages ; and, if the cutting is done 

 carefully, the growth will frequently 

 amount to one cord per acre per annum. 

 Thus, New England farmers calculate that 

 about twenty-five years are required for 

 cleared sprout land to produce twenty-five 

 cords of wood per acre. This system has 

 been in practice since the early settlement 

 of the country, and in many cases old Oak 

 stumps may be seen from which repeated 

 crops of sprouts have been cut and which 

 have become, under the treatment, gnarled, 

 misshapen, and covered with irregular 

 knobs." * * * " A number of correspon- 

 dents stated that they are accustomed to 

 cut the stumps close to the ground, so that 

 independent roots will be formed and the 

 wind will not break off the sprouts, as 

 would often be the case with high 

 stumps." 



Mr. Graves next takes up the owners of 

 large tracts of timber land, and begins by 

 saying that " The most extensive work in 

 forestry by lumbermen has been done in 

 the Spruce forests of New York and the 

 New England States." "A large num- 

 ber of owners," following the example 

 of E. S. Coe, of Bangor, Maine, have 

 " limited the cutting of Spruce to a certain 

 size, but, so far as the writer is informed, 

 the cuttings have not been regulated in a 



systematic way, except on the tracts be- 

 longing to Dr. W. S. Webb and Hon. W. 

 C. Whitney, in the Adirondacks, where 

 the land has been lumbered under a sys- 

 tem devised by the Division of Forestry." 

 Several specific examples of conservative 

 lumbering are cited and described. One 

 interesting method is that used near Lake 

 Winnepesaukee, "where the lumbermen, 

 in a number of cases, have left White 

 Pine trees for seeding purposes. The 

 trees are usually spreading, scrubby spec- 

 imens which are of no great value, but 

 which, nevertheless, would bring a small 

 price for box boards. The lumbermen 

 calculate that about two to five good seed 

 trees of Pine per acre, evenly distributed, 

 usually secure an excellent natural repro- 

 duction. It is the custom, therefore, to 

 leave standing not less than two or three 

 spreading trees per acre." In Maine some 

 of the lumbermen who cut second growth 

 White Pine, " leave standing all trees un- 

 der twelve inches in diameter, and calcu- 

 late that they can return for a second crop 

 in about twenty years." After describing 

 certain methods which have been used in 

 the South, and which, in some instances, 

 have been adapted with much elaboration 

 to a combination of forestry and stock 

 raising, Mr. Graves concludes of the at- 

 tempts at forestry on the part of lumber- 

 man : "The instances of conservative 

 lumbering described in the preceding pages 

 are but examples of work which has been 

 carried on by a large number of lumber- 

 men. The systems have been devised by 

 the owners themselves, and, while in many 

 cases improvements could be made, the 

 work shows that much more has been 

 done in the way of forestry than is gener- 

 ally supposed." 



In many parts of the country the prob- 

 lem of protection from fire is the first one 

 which the forester has to solve. In the 

 farming countries the small and well-sepa- 

 rated holdings can usually be protected by 

 some care in watching, and by taking cer- 

 tain further precautions which are *'now 

 coming into use, such as clearing wood 

 roads, burning fire lines, piling and burn- 

 ing tops, after cutting, etc., " but on large 

 tracts the case is different. It is often im- 





