WOODLOT FORESTRY 



For the Instruction of Owners of Farms and Country Estates 



By R. ROSENBLUTH, M. F., 

 Director of Forest Investigations New York State Conservation Commission 



THE woodlots of the farms and 

 country estates have, for the 

 most part, been treated with 

 mistreatment . 



Neglect and abuse have been the 

 keynotes by which the owners have 

 been guided in managing this valuable 

 resource. Even the progressive farmers 

 of the country who pride themselves on 

 crop rotation, intensive methods, alert- 

 ness and business on the rest of their 

 farm, are following the old careless, if 

 not ruinous, methods in their woodlots. 



While the percentage of improved 

 land on the farms has remained about 

 the same from 1880 to the present, the 

 amount of unimproved land has more 

 than doubled and the woodlots have de- 

 creased about one-third in other words, 

 not only have the woodlots themselves 

 deteriorated in condition, but a large 

 area has been actually destroyed and 

 made worthless, nonproductive land. 



To point out the importance and 

 value of the woodlots to the nation and 

 the individual owners; to stimulate the 

 owners to the practice of forestry in 

 their woodlots, securing for themselves 

 and to the nation the many benefits and 

 great profits which well-managed wood- 

 lands yield ; and to point out clearly and 

 simply the principles and methods of 

 correct forest practice these are the 

 aims of this bulletin. 



IMPORTANCE OF WOODLOTS. 



The woodlots of the nation represent, 

 in the aggregate, an enormous source 

 of natural wealth. 



Statistic show that of the 1,903,289,- 

 600 acres net land area in this country 

 878,798,325 acres are in farms. Of this 

 farm area we find : 



478,451,750 acres (54.4%) improved 

 land. 



190,865,553 acres (21.7%) woodlots. 



118 



209,481,022 acres (23.8%) unimproved 

 land. 



878,798,325 acres (100%) in farms. 



Studies show a conservative estimate 

 of the amount of unimproved land in 

 farms, which is best suited to forest 

 productions, to be at least 70,000,000 

 acres; which, in connection with the 

 area now in woodland, makes a total of 

 261,000,000 acres, or 30 per cent of the 

 land holdings in farms best adapted to 

 forest growth. This total area is held 

 in comparatively small holdings, on 

 which all necessary work can be done 

 by the permanent labor force at times 

 when it cannot be otherwise profitably 

 employed. 



Conditions thus are ideal for intensive 

 management of this great forest area. 



At present it represents one of the 

 least intelligently used assets of the 

 nation. 



The total value of the forest product 

 of farms is $195,306,283, or roughly 

 $1.00 per year per acre of farm woodlot. 



Under intelligent and intensive man- 

 agement the owners should earn from 

 these areas a fair share of the farm 

 revenue, where now they produce almost 

 nothing. This profit in money value 

 should net about $500,000,000 a year 

 and pr duce for the industries of the 

 nation between seventy-five and eighty 

 billion board feet of lumber each year. 



To the owner, the value of this wood- 

 land is made up of many factors. 



The most common products are lum- 

 ber, poles, ties, fence posts and firewood. 

 Besides these, many special uses may 

 be had in different localities, such as 

 pulpwood, implement wood, etc. There 

 are also m ny special products which 

 may be developed thus, gathering seed 

 of desirable species often will yield a 

 good profit. The value of these pro- 

 ducts is sufficient, under good manage- 



