No. 4.] FARM FORESTRY. 295 



work to do in his wood lot. ' Another government publica- 

 tion of great value, and which is sold for a nominal sum, is 

 the " Primer of Forestry, Part I." Neither of these works 

 deals in any language which cannot be understood by tlie 

 average man. Both are written by practical and skilled 

 foresters, and are among the best works on the subject for 

 the use of farmers. The " Forestry for Farmers" tells how 

 trees grow, al)out soil conditions, rate of growth and repro- 

 duction, how to plant a forest, what kinds of trees to use, 

 the best methods of cutting in the wood lot, and something 

 about the economic relation of the wood lot to the farm. 



The most valuable woodland growths of our State to-day 

 are doubtless the white pine and the chestnut. There is no 

 trouble in keeping a chestnut growth perpetual, owing to 

 the strong sprouting proclivities of the tree. With pine it 

 is different. Cut a pine lot clean, and a hardwood growth 

 follows. Forestry proves that this is needless. A pine lot 

 can be kept continually in pine, if enough old seed-bearing 

 trees are left in suitable locations, and all fires and cattle 

 kept out. A pine seedling is a very delicate plant, and 

 the trampling of cattle or a light leaf fire will kill it at 

 once. 



Again, there is a great deal of white pine in this and in 

 neiohborins: States that is o-rowino; under conditions which 

 are most unsuitable and unprofitable. It is common enough 

 to see an old pasture, for instance, growing up thickly to 

 white pines. Few owners of such growth think of going- 

 near it to study the condition of the trees. For the most 

 part they grow up as best they may, and at the end of forty 

 years, say, they are cut and sold for cheap box boards. 

 Where they stand thickly, at the end of the forty years the 

 trunks are small, and covered with dry branches from butt 

 to crown. Where they stand in comparatively open ground, 

 they are larger in diameter, shorter, but covered with limbs, 

 though these are mostly living. Now, every one knows 

 that every limb, whether alive or dead, means a knot in the 

 lumber which runs clear through to the heart ; it is equally 

 well known that clear lum])er is worth many times more 

 than knotty lumber ; but it is not generally known that it is 

 an easy matter to grow clear lumber, and thereby to produce 



