SELLING WOODLOT PRODUCTS ON MICHIGAN FARMS. 25 



is allowed, however, for green, fresh-cut, or water-soaked material which 

 must come up to, or exceed, the full diameter specifications. 



"Sweep" or crook, one way, is allowed, but must not exceed 4 inches 

 for posts and for poles up to 16 feet long. For 18 and 20 foot poles a 

 4 inch crook, one way, is allowed, and it may be measured from a point 

 4 feet from the butt. For larger poles, a one way crook of 1 inch for 

 every 5 feet in length is allowed, and it may be measured from a point G 

 feet from the butt. The crook is measured by tightly stretching a tape 

 line from top to bottom or other specified point (4 or 6 feet from the 

 butt) on the post or pole, on the side where the sweep is greatest, and 

 then measuring the distance, at the point where it is greatest, between 

 the tape and the pole. 



Poles must be reasonably sound and well proportioned for their length. 

 Large, sound knots are allowed, if trimmed smooth. "Wind twist" is 

 no defect unless very unsightly and exaggerated. 



Prices of cedar poles and posts vary, and should be learned im- 

 mediately before the sale. 



Practically all the Michigan species are used for posts, the values of 

 the difllerent kinds depending on durability. Next to cedar, white 

 oak is probably the most durable of the more common species. Where 

 obtainable, black locust makes extremely durable posts; and black wal- 

 nut, also, is a good post tree. But since these species are usually of 

 much greater value for other uses, it is a mistake to use them for posts 

 except as a means of utilizing rough or small material good for nothing 

 else except fuel. The greatest consumption of posts cut from woodlots 

 is on the farms themselves. Considered as a source of posts alone, a 

 small, thrifty woodlot often proves a valuable adjunct to the farm. 



Small rough products 



In the northern part of Michigan the industries which draw their 

 supplies wholly or partly from farm woodlots are much less numerous 

 and less specialized than in the southern part of the State. The prices 

 are lower, since the supply is greater, the demand less, and the length 

 of railroad haul to the consumer so great as, in many cases, to impose 

 prohibitive freight charges. The products used are apt to be in the form 

 of relatively short bolts, though considerable quantities of logs are also 

 taken. Among the industries which take quantities of rough products 

 otherwise of small value are pulp mills, excelsior factories, wood- 

 distillation plants, and lime kilns. The market is not, of course, limited 

 to the northern part of the State. With the possible exception of wood 

 distillation, these industries are represented also by firms in central or 

 southern Michigan. One of the features of these markets is that they 

 afford a means of disposing not only of small trees but also of large, 

 straight, sound branches of big trees cut for other purposes. This is 

 especially the case with hardwood trees, whose tops often afi'ord large 

 quantities of cordwood, salable for fuel and distillation, and some- 

 times for excelsior and pulpwood. 



The importance of these markets to woodlot owners in northern 

 Michigan lies in the fact that they present a source. of income during 

 the period in which the lands are being cleared and put on a productive 

 basis ; a period often of great financial hardship. Eiven when the farmer 

 can get only the equivalent of day wages for his products these markets 



