522 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



of land in the United States, 550,000,000 acres are now covered with forests 

 (65 per cent of the original forest area) and 415,000,000 acres are devoted to 

 agriculture. Agricultural experts have estimated that within the next fifty 

 years the forest area of this country will have been reduced to about 

 360,000,000 acres, and that the present area of forest land held in the form 

 of farm woodlots (190,000,000 acres) will have diminished to 90,000,000 

 acres. So that with the exhaustion of virgin supplies of timber, the farm 

 woodlot will be relatively much more important fifty years hence than it is 

 at the present time. 



3. The indirect influences exerted by forest cover are much greater 

 than is generally supposed. Recent investigations have indicated that the 

 rains in the interior of a continent are largely dependent on the presence of 

 large bodies of timber situated in the track of prevailing winds. 



In some parts of the Middle West the value of windbreaks in checking 

 the force of hot southern winds may exceed their value as a source of timber, 

 fuel and fencing. The influence of forest cover upon run-off — the drying 

 up of springs, the increase in spring floods after extensive forest denuda- 

 tion — are well known. Water experts claim that the gradual lowering of 

 the water in the soil is dependent to a large degree upon the absence of 

 sufficient forest area. 



Value of the Woodlot. — The value of a good woodlot to a progressive 

 farmer is hard to measure in dollars and cents. It serves the following 

 ends : 



(1) It furnishes timber for home construction purposes, fuel, fence 



posts, etc. 



(2) It should now, as in the past, furnish winter employment to 



horses and men. Domestic timber, telephone poles or railroad 

 ties for the market, etc., can all be taken out during the winter 

 months to the vast improvement of the bank account and wood- 

 lot. 



(3) A good woodlot is like a bank account — it can be drawn on in time 



of need. After a fire, the barn may be largely rebuilt from 

 home timbers, and in case money is badly needed, some logs 

 or poles may be sold to tide matters over. A good farm 

 woodlot is a fine nest egg. 



(4) It vastly improves the appearance of the home place and makes 



it more salable. 



Aside from sheltering the homestead and barns from wintry blasts, 

 the woodlot covers the steep, rocky slopes or the marshy spots that would 

 otherwise be most unsightly. Viewed from every standpoint — revenue, 

 year-round farm management, appearance, real estate value and comfort— 

 the woodlot is a splendid asset to an up-to-date farm. 



Managing the Woodlot. — The average woodlot at present is suffering 

 from the wrong point of view. It has been grazed and grazed again, burned, 

 culled and culled again until in many cases the compact soil cannot suppor 



