THE OEIGIN AND USES OF THE WOODLOT 7 



distance from the homestead. The area lying immediately 

 around the home and the barn would be the first to be cleared 

 and the woodlot would usually occupy the land farther away. 

 Where woodlots are in the nature of windbreaks or shelter- 

 belts there is a definite relation of position in reference to the 

 buildings, pastures, fields or orchards that are to be protected. 

 This position will vary in different portions of the country de- 

 pending on the direction of the cold or drying winds, the 

 shelter belts being placed to windward of the area to be pro- 

 tected. 



THE USES OF THE FARM WOODLOT 



The Production of Wood Material for Farm Use. — The 



woodlot should furnish each year all the wood needed on the 

 farm. It should provide fuelwood, fenceposts, poles, stakes 

 and lumber for repairing buildings. 



The Production of a Revenue. — The woodlot should bring 

 in an income each year. Besides furnishing wood material 

 for use on the farm it should pay for taxes, interest on the 

 investment, and other expenses of the woodlot, by growing 

 some products for sale as sawlogs, ties, poles, firewood or 

 posts. Idle land should be planted to forest trees. No land 

 on the farm should be unprofitable. 



Utilization of Teams and Help in Winter. — A good sized 

 woodlot will furnish work for both teams and help in winter 

 when it is often a problem to know how to employ them profit- 

 ably. Farming and lumbering make a good combination, the 

 one utilizing tlie teams and help when work is slack with the 

 other. It is easier to secure and keep good help when there 

 is work the year round. 



Windbreaks and Shelterbelts for Protection. — Woodlots 

 often take the form of windbreaks or shelterbelts for protect- 

 ing the farmstead, the growing crops or the stock from the 

 wind. On the great plains some protection from the wind is 

 necessary. Trees are planted to windward of the area to be 

 protected either in a single row or in two or more rows. Be- 



