taken an 

 ems and 

 liile con- 

 oi)eration 

 ent. His 

 liidy com- 

 •d iiv the 



B. F. Kent, farm forester, Charfesfon, Coles tourtty, artd J. O. 



Howell, Crawford county farmer, select trees which are ready 



for harvesting. 



Timber Farming 



A Properly Managed 

 Wood Lot Will Grow Timber 

 Faster and More Profitably 

 Than Mother Nature 





-«* By B. F. KENT 



;»■- District Form Forester, 



Charleston 



P()01{ and destructive cutting juac- 

 tices arc followed 6n II.t per cent 

 of the farm woodlands in Illi- 

 nois. Seventy per cent of the i)ri- 

 vate forests are managed so that 

 limited or no means of re|)roducllon is 

 left on land when timlier is cut. If this 

 condition continues, returns from our 

 limlierlands will not |)av the taxes. 



A properly managed forest or wood- 

 land will grow hctter timher faster than 

 Mother Nature will grow it unassisted. 

 This is done liy selecting the kind of 

 trees hest ada|)tcd to the soil and clima- 

 tic conditions and liv growing the maxi- 

 mum nunilier of desirahle tree< on an 

 area to produce the largest volume of 

 usalile or mcrchantahle products and 

 still not cause stagnation. 



An example of what a farmer cati do 

 with good woodland management is to 

 he found on the Dick NoMe farm of 

 1110 acres located four miles south of 

 Charleston in doles countv. Sixty acres 

 of the farm is in timher and is fenced lo 

 keep out livestock. The timhcrland in 

 general is rough, cut hy many deep 

 ravines with stecj) hillsides. The trees, 

 mostly of the oak and hickory groups, 

 are of average size with the average 

 tree heing 1 f inches in diameter and 

 will cut out 21 lineal feet of saw logs. 

 The average tree will reach maturity 

 of 1!) inches diameter in ahout 70 years. 

 Here is NoMe"s ex|)erience in cutting 

 timher from his lot after he had secured 

 advice from the farm forester in his dis- 

 trict. For equipment he had two ruliher 

 tired wagons, a tractor. Mock and 

 tackle, saws and axes. His man power 



included himself, a hired man and a 

 iicighhor uilli whom NoMe I'xchanges 

 work. Work usually started ahout Vr.M^ 

 in the morning after the chores had 

 jieen done and contimied until 1 o'clock 

 in the afternoon. T\\o weeks were spent 

 logging and hauling: also, one-fourth 

 mile of fence uas rchiiilt during llii> 

 same perioil. 



The results of the two weeks" work 

 were: 1.11(1 feet of luniher cut. IH.I 

 fence posts and 2(t short cords of fire- 

 wood were harvested. The tractor [Mill- 

 ing two ruhhcr tired wagons hauled the 

 logs 10 miles to the saw mill. The 

 lumlicr was sawed for S2 per Inil Imard 

 feet. 



The lumher was used for the frami- 

 of a harn which NoMe rehuill. Now if 

 Nohle had purchased the I.l lH feel .it 

 lumber at a local mill it would June 

 cost him Sil()..iO. The fciKc jiiist- 

 would have cost him Sl<).>o. And he 

 would have had to ])ay Sf'O for the 

 firewood. The>e items total S1U>.!^^. 

 Now let s lake off the expensi-s. I he 

 sawing hill was SflM. lahor. SIOO. and 

 tractor expense. S■^0. making a total of 

 S2-):^ of expenses. Taking .?2'>'> from 

 the S I U>.'".T retail price of the ma- 

 terials secured in the logging opiTatioii 

 leaves a net income of ? 1!;'>.;'..t fiu' twn 

 weeks' work. 



How long can Nohle contiiuie lo cui 

 otr his lot at this rate? A growth study 

 was made on the GO acres of timher and 

 showed that each acre is jiroduciiig I.tI 

 hoard feet per year. Eighty per <cnt 

 of this can he harvested each year witji- 

 out depleting the stand. Twenty per 



cent is left to guard against insects, div- 

 ease aiul breakage. Tliis will make a 

 total of 7.2 lil hoard feet as the annual 

 growth wliicli Nohle can harvest from 

 his tindierlaiul. 



In short. Nohle can conliruie to cut 

 fore\er at his present rate of X.Ortri 

 hoard feel which includes 1.110 <(f 

 lunilier and r>]5 fe<-t of fence posts. 

 X'ery little of the firewood was cut from 

 gitod growintr tnTS. It was cut maiidv 

 from to|)s. defective and dead trees. 



MaTiv farmers are taking advantage of 

 till- rhaiice lo save money liv doing their 

 own cutlinc and logging and having the 

 log-; .-aw I'd into luniher for farm use. 

 Kach vcar the average farm will use *XV) 

 feet of wood for mainlenance. new 

 hiiilding» and fence post<. Those farm- 

 ers who have the rough land are 

 '_'row iiiL' their own wood, thenl.v savins 

 moncv . W ilh farm price> leveliiiL' "fT. 

 more and nnue farmer> are lonking for 

 \\a\^ to -a\e or make monev. Vk orkinu' 

 in till- limher is one wav of <loijig this. 



Till- (li-lrict farm fore>|ers. located in 

 nine (li-lricl< of the state, are anxiou- 

 til help the woo<llot owner manaL'c hi- 

 liinlicr 111 iticrca^^ hi-= iiroduction nl 

 woiiil iir wood products. If von dn 

 mil kimu where to locate your <li--triil 

 farm fnrc-li r. cori-ull your countv farm 

 ad\i-ii .!iid he will gel hi- addre-*. 



1949 Pig Crop Larger 



Till, ti.lal pig imp llii- \iar i> I'l 

 perecnt larL'cr than for 10 If!, hut 

 total pork sujiplies are expected lo l>e 

 only ahoiil Hi penenl larger. The 

 rea>oii i- that m> far this season hogs 

 are goiiii; to market at lighter weights. 

 Thi- report conies from \'.. J. Work- 

 ing. econi)mi>t in the Illiiiiii~ < College of 

 .\gricultiire. 



NOVEMBER, 1949 



29 



