B. F. Kanf, farm foretter, Chorfasfon, Colas twtnty, and J. O. 



Howell, Crawford county farmer, select frees wliicfc <ve reorfy 



for harvesting. 



Timber Farming 



A Properly Managed 

 Wood Lot Will Grow Timber 

 Faster and More Profitably 

 Than Mother Nature 



POOR and destructive cutting prac- 

 tices are followed <5n 85 per cent 

 of the farm woodlands in Illi- 

 nois. Seventy per cent of the pri- 

 vate forests are managed so that 

 limited or no means of reproduction is 

 left on land when timber is cut. If this 

 condition continues, returns from our 

 timberlands will not pay the taxes. 



A properly managed forest or wood- 

 land will grow better timber faster than 

 Mother Nature will grow it unassisted. 

 This is done by selecting the kind of 

 trees best adapted to the soil and clima- 

 tic conditions and by growing the maxi- 

 mum number of desirable trees on an 

 area to produce the largest volume of 

 usable or merchantable products and 

 still not cause stagnation. 



An example of what a farmer can do 

 with good woodland management is to 

 be found on the Dick Noble farm of 

 180 acres located four miles south of 

 Charleston in Coles county. Sixty acres 

 of the farm is in timber and is fenced to 

 keep out livestock. The timberland in 

 general is rough, cut by many deep 

 ravines with steep hillsides. The trees, 

 mostly of the oak and hickory groups, 

 are of average size with the average 

 tree being 14 inches in diameter and 

 will cut out 21 lineal feet of saw logs. 

 The average tree will reach maturity 

 of 18 inches diameter in about 70 years. 

 Here is Noble's experience in cutting 

 timber from his lot after he had secured 

 advice from the farm forester in his dis- 

 trict. For equipment he had two rubber 

 tired wagons, a tractor, block and 

 tackle, saws and axes. His man power 



By B. F. KENT 



District Farm Forester, 

 Cliarieston 



included himself, a hired man and a 

 neighbor with whom Noble exchanges 

 work. Work usually started about 8:30 

 in the morning after the chores had 

 been done and continued until 4 o'clock 

 in the afternoon. Two wedcs were spent 

 logging and hauling; also, one-fourth 

 mile of fence was rebuilt during this 

 same period. 



The results of the two weeks' work 

 were: 4,140 feet of lumber cut. 103 

 fence posts and 20 short cords of fire- 

 wood were harvested. The tractor pull- 

 ing two rubber tired wagons hauled the 

 logs 10 miles to the saw mill. The 

 lumber was sawed for $2 per 100 board 

 feet. 



The lumber was used for the frame 

 of a barn which Noble rebuilt. Now if 

 Noble had purchased the 4,140 feet of 

 lumber at a local mill it would have 

 cost him $310.50. The fence posts 

 would have cost him S46.35. And he 

 would have had to pay $60 for the 

 firewood. These items total $416.85. 

 Now let's take oflf the expenses. The 

 sawing bill was $83, labor, $100. and 

 tractor expense, $50. making a total of 

 $233 of expenses. Taking $233 from 

 the $416.85 retail price of the ma- 

 terials secured in the logging operation 

 leaves a net income of $183.85 for two 

 weeks' work. 



How long can Noble continue to cut 

 off his lot at this rate? A growth study 

 was made on the 60 acres of timber and 

 showed that each acre is producing 151 

 board feet per year. Eighty per cent 

 of this can be harvested each year with- 

 out depleting the stand. Twenty per 



cent is left to guard against insects, dis- 

 ease and breakage. This will make a 

 total of 7.248 board feet as the annual 

 growth which Noble can harvest from 

 his timberland. 



In short. Noble can continue to cut 

 forever at his present rate of 4.655 

 board feet which includes 4,140 of 

 lumber and 515 feet of fence posts. 

 Very little of the firewood was cut from 

 good growing trees. It was cut mainly 

 from tops, defective and dead trees. 



Many farmers are taking advantage of 

 the chance to save money by doing their 

 own cutting and logging and having the 

 logs sawed into lumber for farm use. 

 Each year the average farm will use 900 

 feet of wood for maintenance, new 

 buildings and fence posts. Those farm- 

 ers who have the rough land are 

 growing their own wood, thereby saving 

 money. With farm prices leveling off. 

 more and more farmers are looking for 

 ways to save or make money, forking 

 in the timber is one way of doing this. 



The district farm foresters, located in 

 nine districts of the state, are anxious 

 to help the woodlot owner manage his 

 timber to increase his production of 

 wood or wood products. If you do 

 not know where to locate your district 

 farm forester, consult your county farm 

 adviser and he will get his address. 



1949 Pig Crop Larger 



THE total pig crop this year is 15 

 percent larger than for 1948, but 

 total pork supplies are expected to be 

 only about 10 percent larger. The 

 reason is that so far this season hogs 

 are going to market at lighter weights. 

 This report comes from E. J. \^'ork- 

 ing, economist in the Illinois College of 

 Agriculture. 



NOVEMBER, 1949 



29 



