NOTES. 451 



orest area, each 4000 acres of these furnish employment for 

 one man in the harvest alone, for twice the number in the 

 mills, and three times the number in woodworking establish- 

 ments. 



Pp. 116 and 131. The Farmer's Wood-lot. — The farmer's 

 wood-lot has its unquestionable value to the farmer and to the 

 farm, not only in furnishing fuel and repair material, and in 

 giving occupation during the leisure of winter, but also in 

 producing values from those portions of the farm which are 

 unfit for agriculture, if he owns such, and in the indirect 

 benefits from preventing soil washes, and from its wind-break 

 effects, if properly placed. 



Silviculturally the farmer's wood-lot is at a disadvantage, on 

 account of its isolation and small size. It is, therefore, con- 

 stantly wind-swept, and unless particular care is taken to 

 maintain a wind-mantle on the outskirts, the soil is apt to 

 deteriorate, reproduction is made difficult, and danger from 

 windfall is intensified. 



The time-element involved rules out the wood-lot from 

 timber production ; the coppice and standard coppice manage- 

 ment for the production of fuel wood and small dimensions 

 alone fits the small farmer's condition, and if in reach of a 

 market for these, may prove very profitable. Timber produc- 

 tion is practically not a business for small areas, although 

 theoretically and under peculiar conditions in practice is not 

 impossible. 



P. 122. 'Provided the Litter is Left.' — The fallen leaves, 

 twigs, bark, and other litter, decaying, form a mulch, which, 

 covering the soil, preserves the soil water from being evapo- 

 rated and keeps the soil in granular, permeable condition, 

 most favorable to water conduction. Besides, the largest 

 amount of the mineral constituents which the trees have 

 pumped up from the soil is stored in these youngest parts, 

 which are returned to the soil as the litter decays and forms 

 tlie humus. In the average there are annually returned by the 

 fall of leaves and litter in a dense forest from 1800 to 4500 



