12 The Farm Woodlot 



When the forest is already standing on the waste land, 

 as is usually the case in natural forest regions, the handling 

 of the woodlot becomes a question of proper management 

 to improve its sylvicultural condition and to increase the 

 growth. In a prairie region, or where the original forest 

 has been cut away, it is a question of selecting the proper 

 species for planting and caring for the plantation so as to 

 get the greatest profits. All those operations are described 

 in the chapter on sylviculture. 



Products of the woodlot 



As already stated the woodlot increases the value of the 

 farm in many ways. Probably the most important feature 

 of the woodlot in most sections is its production of fuel. 

 Most farmers use wood entirely for fuel. If this fuel is 

 not produced on the farm, it usually must be bought at 

 cash outlay — we are considering a settled community 

 in which all the wild lands are under private ownership 

 (for that will soon be the condition everywhere through- 

 out the country) — and in addition will have to be hauled 

 for long distances. The bulkiness of the material makes 

 this hauling alone very expensive. A woodlot under 

 proper management will easily yield a cord of wood to the 

 acre yearly for an indefinite period. 



Besides the production of cordwood, proper handling 

 will produce a limited amount of sawlogs. The profit 

 from these is usually very high, because only selected logs 

 are taken and the quality of the timber is very high. 

 Usually the market is close at hand and the cost of logging 

 consequently very low. Even now the woodlots of the 



