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or less hard and compact. Water speedily runs over the surface, carrying 

 soil and debris, which it deposits in the beds of streams. Places which 

 wash badly are exceedingly common and cause the loss of much tillable 

 land. 



THE MODEL WOODLOT. 



After a review of the reasons for maintaining woodlots it is well to 

 consider the organization of a model woodlot. 



Number of Trees. — It should contain the number of trees consistent 

 with the most rapid development of the best timber. Trees should stand 

 close enough in youth to stimulate growth in height and to produce long, 

 clear trunks. As the stand approaches maturity more and more space is 

 required for each tree until at last probably only one hundred and fifty to 

 two hundred trees of the original three or four thousand remain per acre. 

 Thinning is brought about naturally by the struggle for supremacy. 



Distribution and Soil Cover.— Trees should be evenly distributed over 

 the entire area, always close enough together to prevent many direct rays 

 of the sun from reaching the ground in summer, since the large openings 

 give grass, a very dangerous enemy of forests, a chance to grow. The ideal 

 soil is loose, porous, rich in vegetable mould and is covered with a thick 

 mat of leaves and leaf humus to the exclusion of all grass and light-de- 

 manding weeds. 



Forest Cover. — The trees which should be found in a woodlot depend 

 upon two factors — (1) the economic value and (2) silvical characteristics. 

 Such trees as black walnut, black cherry, ash, oak, maple and poplar have 

 the greatest economic values. The other factor has to do principally with 

 the soil, moisture and light requirements. For example, sugar maple re- 

 quires rich upland soil and very little sunlight for its best development, 

 while sycamore will grow on any wet soil if it has plenty of light. Thus 

 we shall find in a model woodlot the species best suited to the soil, water 

 supply and the uses to which the timber is to be subjected. In no case 

 should there be any worthless species. 



Reproduction. — In order to maintain the desired acreage of our timber 

 producing area some efficient method of reproduction is necessary. This 

 is usually found in the presence of large and mature seed-bearing trees, 

 which scatter their fruits over long distances until they find lodgment in 

 places suitable for germination. Another method of reproduction is by 



