Canadian Forestry Journal, December, ipij. 



323 



Woodlot Improvement 



Every farmer needs fuel; every 

 farmer needs fertilizer; and every 

 farm woodlot needs improvement. 

 Why not kill all three birds with one 

 stone? By judiciously planned thin- 

 nings the condition of the woodlot 

 can be greatly improved; the ma- 

 terial removed in the thinnings can 

 be burned as firewood and the wood 

 ashes left are so rich in potash as to 

 make a valuable fertilizer. 



The woodlot is, perhaps, the only 

 farm crop to which the farmer has 

 not considered it necessary to de- 

 vote any care. His grains are sowed 

 on carefully prepared soil ; his vega- 

 tables are cultivated, and his fruit 

 trees are pruned and sprayed; his 

 forest trees alone are left to look out 

 for themselves. This is the more re- 

 markable when it is taken into con- 

 sideration that any labor expended 

 on the woodlot not only improves 

 the final crop, but ordinarily pays 

 for itself as well. No detailed tech- 

 nical knowledge is required for the 

 work, all that is necessary is the ex- 

 ercise of common sense. 



It is obvious that the trees in any 

 woodlot are not all of equal value. 

 Some are taller, straighter, thriftier, 

 and of species which yield more 

 valuable wood than others. It is 

 also obvious that there is a constant 

 struggle going on between the trees 

 for light and growing space. The 

 object of thinning is simply to give 

 the best trees the advantage in this 



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struggle by removing the poorer 

 ones which interfere with their de- 

 velopment. 



First of all defective trees should 

 be removed. This includes trees at- 

 tacked by insects or fungi ( conks), 

 trees with fire-scarred butts, with 

 tops broken off by wind or lightn- 

 mg, and in general all trees which 

 are unthrifty from any cause. Next 

 come the trees of poor form, such as' 

 very crooked or very branchy ones, 

 which are interfering with the 

 growth of better formed neighbors. 

 And finally are the trees of less valu- 

 able species, such as dogwood, iron- 

 wood, and horn-beam. These not 

 only take up space that might bet- 

 ter be occupied by such species as 

 oak, hickory, and ash, but also, as a 

 rule, produce seed more abundantly 

 and so reproduce themselves at the 

 expense of more desirable trees. 



While the wood removed in these 

 thmnings is frequently of no value- 

 tor other purposes, it can practically 

 always be used to advantage for 

 fuel. In this way the work can be 

 made to pay for itself, particularly 

 when the future use of the wood 

 ashes for fertilizer is borne in mind. 

 Ihe essential point to remember in 

 making such thinnings is that the 

 T°°u^°^ is a tree society, in which 

 the best trees should be given every 

 chance to attain the greatest possi- 

 ble development by the removal and 

 utilization of the unfit.— "American 

 rorestry. 



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Dealers write 



