6 FARM FORESTRY 



crop is forest trees. On such situations the only thing that 

 would compete with the woodlot would be grazing. Even 

 where more might be made out of the soil in other ways, the 

 convenience of having wood material at hand whenever needed 

 is worth something to the farmer. The fact that a well stocked 

 woodlot is a valuable asset that is readily turned into money 

 or on which money can be borrowed in case of necessity, will 

 often outweigh other considerations in the confidence it gives 

 the owner. 



The Size and Location of the Woodlot. — The size and lo- 

 cation of the woodlot will depend on several factors such as 

 the home need of the farm, the character of the land, and the 

 market for the material from the woodlot. Most farm wood- 

 lots are the result of the clearing of the land for farm purposes. 

 As the land was needed for field crops the forest was gradually 

 pushed back until the present farm woodlots have resulted. 

 So there is rarely a definite relation between the size of the 

 farm and the size of the woodlot. The woodlot is not the 

 result of planning and calculation and is not the result of the 

 study of the wood needs of the farm. Usually the woodlot 

 occupies the poorest land on the farm and is large or small 

 according to the amount of such land. It is held by many 

 that one-eighth of the farm should be in woodlot, which should 

 supply the farm with all wood products needed and also fur- 

 nish some products for sale to help pay for taxes, interest and 

 protection. While such an area of wooded land might be 

 sufficient for some farms, for others it might be too large or 

 too small. Because of the great variation in the rate of growth 

 in trees on different soils and situations, the area of woodlot 

 that will just supply the right amount of material would have 

 to be determined for each farm. 



There is no definite relation between the location of the farm 

 woodlot and the farm buildings and fields. It is usually located 

 wherever the soil is too poor for cultivation. When the wood- 

 lot is on good soil, it will usually be found located at some 



