THE \\^OODLOT: 



A HANDBOOK FOK OWNERS OF WOODLANDS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. 



INTRODUCTION. 



This handbook has been prepared for the use of owners of woodlands 

 in southern New England. Its purpose is to show how second-growth 

 woods should be treated in order to yield larger returns in the long 

 run than are possible under the present methods. There is now a 

 widespread demand for information of a practical, every-day kind, 

 which will enable the average owner to make thinnings and conduct 

 other kinds of forest work for himself. It is impossible to make 

 expert foresters through books; but it is entirely feasible to show the 

 principles of woodlot forestr}^ to men who already' understand some- 

 thing of the nature and habits of trees, so that by observation and prac- 

 tice in the woods they can learn to handle their property to the best 

 advantage. It is for the guidance of such owners that this book is 

 intended. It contains the results of extensive experience in handling 

 second-growth woodlands. The aim has been to use these results so 

 as to make them available to ever^^one. In order not to defeat this 

 object technical language has been avoided, nor has the classification 

 of cuttings commonly found in text-books of silviculture been followed 

 strictly. Methods of cutting are advised which can be applied most 

 simply and with the best results under the conditions now existing in 

 the region for which the work is particularly designed. 



THE WOODLAND OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND. 



In southern New England the woodlands are, for the most part, in 

 detached, irregular bodies. In parts of western Massachusetts and 

 Connecticut, where the country is hilly and comparatively inaccessible, 

 some thousands of acres of continuous woodland still exist; but else- 

 where the forest occurs in the form of wood lots, which alternate with 

 cleared land. This irregular distribution, and the fact that inferior or 

 abandoned lands in many localities are contmuall}^ growing up to 

 trees, make it difficult to calculate the percentage of forest land. The 

 United States Geological Survey places the percentage of forest in 

 Massachusetts at 52, in Rhode Island at 40, and in Connecticut at 39. 



