314 



FORESTS 



FORESTS 



Within the last ten or fifteen years, since not 

 only the stores of the farm woodlots, but the for- 

 est resources of the country in general, have begun 

 to show signs of exhaustion, there has been more 

 attention paid to the woodlots, and the propriety of 

 treating them as crops rather than as storehouses 

 or mines, has been frequently discussed. Besides, 

 their value to the farm, aside from furnishing the 

 domestic supply of wood, is also more fully recog- 

 nized. 



In this connection it may be proper to point out 

 that wood prices have risen in the past, and will 

 rise still more rapidly in the future, and hence the 

 neglected woodlot may become a more important 



Kg. 426. Steep rocky slope supportmg forest growth, but 

 unfit for agriculture. Absolute forest land. 



rent-producer, if properly used, than could have 

 been supposed a short time ago. This rise in prices, 

 to be sure, affects mainly the better kinds and cuts. 

 In some regions, as in Massachusetts, where the 

 good timber is cut out and poor fuel-wood is plen- 

 tiful, there is naturally no such rise noticeable, — 

 a good inducement to pay attention to the woodlot 

 and to improve the character of its product. 



One point that the average farmer raises against 

 timber-cropping is that it takes time to grow wood, 

 and one must wait twenty, thirty, forty or more 

 years before one can harvest. This is true. Never- 

 theless, we insist that it is good policy to bestow 

 the patience required, considering that this crop is 

 frequently growing on soil otherwise useless ; that 

 each year it grows nearer to a realizing value, and 

 hence increases the value of the farm, even though 

 it may not admit of harvest,— and all this without 

 any expense, or, at most, very little. 



Moreover, with a woodlot already in existence, 

 the time at which the results of improvement in 

 the methods of its treatment are reaped are by no 

 means so distant. The response in increased incre- 

 ment will be soon experienced; with little expendi- 

 ture, the rate of growth may be doubled and the 

 result reaped within five or six years. This is one 

 of the places where, again and again, mere care 

 in the use has produced astonishing results. 



On a well-regulated farm of 160 acres, at least 

 forty to fifty acres could be advantageously kept 

 under wood, even if only the home consumption is 

 to be satisfactorily supplied by the annual growth, 

 and the waste land to be made productive. 



Importance of the woodlot. 



As to the importance of the woodlots and their 

 value to the nation as wood-producers, we can gain 

 an idea from the Census statistics. For the year 

 1900 the Census shows that over $100,000,000 

 worth of wood was cut on farmers' woodlots, and 

 that in round numbers about one-third of the area 

 held in farmers' hands is under wood, or waste fit 

 only for wood production, namely, about two hun- 

 dred and eighty million acres. 



The value of the woodlot to the farmer we may 

 place in four categories : 



(1) As a wood -supply. — In many cases, the 

 obvious value which lies in the supply of wood 

 materials may be the least important one, and, if 

 there were no other advantages to be derived, the 

 farmer might very well dispense with it. The de- 

 velopment of means of transportation and improve- 

 ment of roads have made coal accessible to many 

 farmers, so that the fuel-supply, to these at least, 

 is not now so important a question as it once was. 

 Again, wire fences are better and often cheaper 

 than the wooden fences. The wood trade in many 

 regions is so well developed that the farmer can 

 buy wood -supplies of any description from the 

 lumber-yard. 



But, aside from the fact that these new ways 

 require expenditures of ready cash, the length 

 of haulage and the consequent waste of time and 

 energy often make it economy to rely on home 

 supplies. There come times, also, as in continued 

 snow-blockades or during coal strikes, when in- 

 dependence from such market supplies is appre- 

 ciated ; many farming communities deficient in 

 woodlots have suffered fuel-famines which set 

 them a-thinking about their waste places that 

 might have furnished the needed fuel. 



Yet we must admit that, with the exception 

 of such rare occasions, the wood-supply question 

 frequently may not of itself be a sufficient reason 

 for maintaining woodlots. 



(2) As a poor-land crop. — The greatest value of 

 the woodlot is that it is capable of producing more 

 returns from certain parts of the farm than any 

 other crop, from those parts which are not fit for 

 farm use because of soil conditions or topography. 

 We have heard a great deal about unprofitable 

 farming. We feel sure that, in many cases, lack of 

 proper adaptation of crop to soils and lack of con- 

 sideration for the small matters, neglect of the 



