12 MICHIGAN FORESTRY. 



direct growth and by indirect benefits through our special industries and gen- 

 eral industrial life of our commonwealth. 



WOODLOT FORESTRY. 



BY DR. JUDSON P. CLARK, BUREAU OF FORESTRY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



The discovery of silvicultural characteristics of our American forest trees, 

 together with the dissemination of this knowledge among the owners of wood- 

 lands for practical purposes, has long been the most important feature of 

 the work of the National Bureau of Forestry. During the last five years a 

 special effort has been made to reach and solve the problems of the farmer. 

 This effort has been induced because of a general lack of information on the 

 part of the farmers in the management of woodlands and the increasing im- 

 portance of the product of the woodlot. 



Few appreciate the importance of the farmer's woodlot in the national 

 economy. To emphasize this point, I shall quote a few statistics from the 

 twelfth census (1900). The average farm in the United States contains 

 147 acres, of which seventy-two are recorded as "improved" and seventy- 

 four "unimproved." This "unimproved" area of American farms foots up 

 the enormous total of 426,000,000 acres. The unimproved areas consist of 

 woodlands, treeless swamps and barren lands. A very conservative esti- 

 mate of the amount of unimproved lands in the United States capable 

 of producing timber is 300,000,000 acres. A vast empire of actual 

 and potential woodlots ! The value of the total product of the lumber camps 

 of the United States (including logs, bark for tanning, charcoal, rived shingles, 

 ships' knees, posts, ties and all other products of the lumber camp) was, in 

 1899, $174,000,000. The value of the products of the woodlots of the United 

 States (including "only the wood, lumber, ties, etc., which the farmers cut in 

 connection with their ordinary farming operations, ") and not including maple 

 syrup or sugar, was $110,000,000. In other words, in 1899, the farmers' 

 woodlots of the country produced an amount very nearly equal to two- 

 thirds of the value of the product of the regular lumber industry as it was de- 

 livered at the mills. 



Not only is the present product of the woodlot of very great economic im- 

 portance, but it will certainly be increasingly so as the natural supplies of 

 virgin timber disappear. The following statistics from the twelfth census 

 illustrate the increasing importance of the woodlot as development progresses 

 in the different states: 



TOTAL VALUE OF PRODUCT. 



Of Lumber Camps. Of Woodlots. 



Washington $11,332,000 $1,002,000 



Wisconsin 18,112,000 6,116,000 



Michigan 20,462,000 7,530,000 



Indiana 4,058,000 5,235,000 



Ohio 4,384,000 5,625,000 



New York 4,364,000 7,671,000 



Connecticut 493,000 1,276,000 



