4 CIRCULAR 661, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
timber products which he harvests every year. Low income, real or 
imagined, leads the farmer to place a low value upon his timber enter- 
prise and to find no incentive to woodland management. Instead, he 
pastures this land, gives little attention to his method of cutting, and 
may even burn the woods; whereupon quality of timber and income 
from timber decline progressively. 
To improve the farm-woodland situation, this cycle of diminishing 
income and increasing mismanagement must be interrupted at some 
point. It is becoming more and more evident that the first step is not to 
attempt improvement of woods conditions, but rather to make possible 
greater returns to the owner. Forest stand improvement for its own 
sake or for a long-deferred income holds little appeal for woodland 
owners. ‘The incentive to woodland management lies in current re- 
turns—the dollars-and-cents revenue from the sale of timber, the 
forest products used at home, and the many indirect benefits of the 
farm woods. From this point of view, utilization and marketing 
should be improved immediately, even at temporary sacrifice of some 
silvicultural principles or of the most rapid physical regeneration 
of the farm woods. The farm-woodland problem is primarily the 
problem of making farm woodlands pay, and consequently first efforts 
should be directed towards better timber utilization and marketing. 
The next step in the solution, however, goes beyond a simple open- 
ing of the way to larger timber income. It must lead the timberland 
owner out of old ways of doing things—old customs and habits that 
tend to persist even after they have been proved wasteful and ineffi- 
cient. Farm forestry probably has more of such customs and habits 
to contend with than do most other branches of farm management. 
What is needed is a new concept of the importance of farm forestry. 
During the period of farm settlement, wooded land was regarded 
as a hindrance to agricultural expansion. In the time of relative 
farm prosperity before 1920, when visions of a rapidly growing 
population, land shortage, and high land values were foremost in the 
minds of farm people, it was thought that agriculture should expand 
not only into outlying regions but also into the unimproved lands on 
existing farms. Even under more recent conditions, farm woods have | 
been regarded by many as, at best, a reserve to be converted one day 
into cropland or open pasture. Farm owners still cling to the con- 
cept of the early days, when woodlands were abundant. In the more 
highly developed dairy and livestock sections of the Lake States, farm- 
ers desire to put their woodlands “‘to use,” not to let them “stand 
idle.” The injurious effect of grazing upon the woods, even if under- 
stood, is disregarded. An important part of the farm-woods prob- 
lem, then, is the attitude of farmers and of those whose thinking is 
reflected in the attitude of farm people. Thus viewed, the farm- 
woodland problem is a problem in education. This might take the 
form of extension, demonstration, or technical guidance and assistance. 
Finally, the farm-woods situation in the Lake States is complicated 
by the fact that the woods are the property of several hundred thou- 
sand separate owners, each of whom manages his part of the whole 
according to his individual judgment and ability, or lack thereof. It 
is becoming increasingly evident that the fate of basic resources— 
among them soil, water, and forests—cannot be left solely to the 
caprice of individual ownership. Some measure of community con- 
