524 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



species, and the weeds as usual, should be exterminated. The laws of 

 plant growth, as understood by the average farmer, apply to trees in the 

 forests as well as to the plants in the field. There is only so much growing 

 energy — light and heat, moisture and plant food— available for each acre 

 of forest. This energy should be confined to a few valuable trees and not 

 scattered among the several hundred additional weed trees that stand 



Field and Woodlot. 



Upon the fertile, level lands field crops should be raised, while the steep, rocky hillsides 

 unsuited to agriculture should be made to yield corps of timber. 



upon each acre. It should be the aim to raise a crop of valuable timber 

 and not forest weeds. 



Improvement Cuttings. — Under ordinary circumstances no improve- 

 ment cuttings are attempted until the material to be cut is large enough to 

 pay the cost of removal. Cuttings to improve the composition are some- 

 times made in very young stands where intensive management is possible. 

 Such cuttings, or cleanings as they are called, are ordinarily beyond the 

 pale of woodlot management, as the average farmer cannot afford to make 

 the investment ($1.50 to $3 per acre in young sprouts) which such cleanings 



