1916 



Canadian Forestry Journal, November, 1918 



Using Farm Woodlands Without Abuse 



By G. R. Tillotson, U. S. Forest Service 



Farm woodlands are to-day being 

 drawn upon for large ciuantities of 

 timber for war purposes. 



Farm woodlands are also furnishing 

 perhaps double the ordinary amount 

 of wood for fuel. This increased 

 demand may result in considerable 

 and lasting damage to the woodlands 

 unless certain precautions are taken. 

 On the other hand, the cutting of 

 cordwood affords each owner of wood- 

 land an opportunity to clear his land 

 and put his timber in better condition. 

 To accomplish this the idea to keep 

 in mind is to remove for cordwood 

 the poorer, less valuable trees, leav- 

 ing the better ones to stand. In 

 removing the fuel wood the greatest 

 precaution should b6 taken not to 

 injure the more valuable trees or 

 the young growth. Briefly, the ma- 

 terial which should be removed is as 

 follows: 



1. Sound sticks lying on the 

 ground. This will include tops which 

 have been left in logging operations, 

 and trees which have been blown over 

 by the wind, crushed down by snow, 

 or otherwise toppled over. If left 

 on the ground these tops and trees 

 are a serious fire menace, will event- 

 ually rot, and are then of no value 

 for any purpose. 



2. Dead trees which are sound and 

 still standing. They are usually dry, 

 make good firewood, and are of no 

 account in the woods. 



3. Trees which are diseased, or 

 are so seriously injured by insects 

 that they will probably die; and also 

 trees which are specially subject to 

 serious disease or insect attack. By 

 cutting them out the spread of the 

 disease or insects may be checked. 



4. Crooked trees which are crowd- 

 ing out straight ones. The former 

 will not become valuable timber 

 trees while the latter may. 



5. Large old trees unsuitable for 

 lumber, and having big tops which 



shade out numerous smaller trees 

 growing beneath them. 



6. Small trees which are overtop- 

 ped and stunted by larger and better 

 ones. The former are not likely 

 to develop into trees of any value. 



7. Trees of the less valuable kind 

 which are crowding good trees of 

 the more valuable kinds. Thus a 

 black oak or a beech which is crowd- 

 ing out a white oak or a hard maple 

 of equal size and health should be 

 removed. 



8. Trees which by some chance 

 are growing on ground unsuited to 

 them. They will not grow into val- 

 uable lumber trees. Thus a yellow 

 poplar on a dry ridge should be cut 

 out in preference to a hickory, an 

 oak, or a pine in its locality. 



9. Slowly growing trees which are 

 crowding out equally valuable kinds 

 that grow faster. Thus a white oak, 

 hickory, or sugar maple should be 

 removed in preference to a yellow 

 poplar, black walnut, or ash. 



10. Trees badly fire-scarred at 

 the butt. These are of less value 

 for lumber than sound trees. They 

 usually become rotten, and are a- 

 mong the first to be blown over by 

 heavy winds. 



11. The ideal trees for cordwood 

 are those which range from 4 to 

 about 10 inches in diameter. The 

 yield of cordwood from trees smaller 

 than 4 inches in diameter is very 

 slight, and trees larger than 10 

 inches in diameter are usually more 

 valuable for some other purpose, 

 unless they are defective. 



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