78 HISTORY OF FARM 



stratification of their crowns at two levels, with scattering 

 low shrubs nearer to the ground. This is the way in which, 

 left to themselves, each "finds its level" and its proper 

 situation. Too much interference of the axe may keep down 

 some of them and may make unusual opporttmities for 

 others: but it does not change the nature or needs of any 

 of them. 



||Let us study the wood-lot first to see what nature is trying 

 to do with it, and to find out what kinds of woody plants she 

 is endeavoring to maintain there. There will be time enough 

 later to find out which of them are the best producers of 

 fuels, posts and timbers, and which are the "weed species." 



Study 10. An Examination of the Farm Wood-Lot 



This study presupposes sufficient acquaintance with the 

 superficial characters of trees, so that the principal kinds 

 may readily be recognized. A small piece of woodland not 

 more than a few acres in extent with both forest cover and 

 brushwood undergrowth remaining, should be mapped out 

 and the map subdivided into a number of plots. The 

 boundaries of the lot and of its subdivisions should be plainly 

 marked out. The accompanying diagram indicates such 

 preparation for a wood-lot study made on the Cornell Univer- 

 sity farm. There, the boundaries of the plots were made 

 plain by white twine strung across the area at shoulder height. 

 The tools needed will be a lens and a pocket knife. 



The program of this study will consist in a slow trip over 

 the wood-lot, and a careftd examination of its population of 

 woody plants: 



1 . To see what they are. 



2. To see their relative abundance, and 



3. To see what relations they bear to one another in the 

 adjustment of the place. 



