298 FOKESTBY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGBICULTUEE. 



and carrying thein off under ground and giving them up gradually, thus extending the time of 

 their usefulness and preventing their destructive action. 



In order to be thoroughly effective, the forest growth must be dense, and, especially, the forest 

 floor must not be robbed of its accumulations of foliage, surface mulch, and litter, or its under- 

 brush by fire, nor must it be compacted by the trampling of cattle. 



On the gentler slopes, which are devoted to cultivation, methods of underdraining, such as 

 horizontal ditches partly filled with stones and covered with soil, terracing, and contour plowing, 

 deep cultivation, sodding, and proper rotation of crops must be employed to prevent damage 

 from surface waters. 



THE FOREST SUPPLIES THE FARM WITH USEFUL MATERIAL. 



All the benefits derived from the favorable influence of forest belts upon water conditions can 

 be had without losing any of the useful material that the forest produces. The forest grows to be 

 cat and to be utilized; it is a crop to be harvested. It is a crop which, if properly managed, does 

 not need to be replanted ; it reproduces itself. 



When once established, the ax, if properly guided by skillful hands, is the only tool necessary 

 to cultivate it and to reproduce it. There is no necessity of planting unless the wood lot has been 

 mismanaged. 



The wood lot, then, if properly managed, is not only the guardian of the farm, but it is the 

 savings bank from which fair interest can be annually drawn, utilizing for the purpose the poorest 

 part of the farm. Kor does the wood lot require much attention; it is to the farm what the 

 work basket is to the good housewife — a means with which to improve the odds and ends of time, 

 especially during the winter, when other farm business is at a standstill. 



It may be added that the material which the farmer can secure from the wood lot, besides the 

 other advantages recited above, is of far greater importance and value than is generally admitted. 



On a well-regulated farm of 160 acres, with its 4 miles and more of fencing and with its wood 

 fires in range and stove, at least 25 cords of wood are required annually, besides material for 

 repair of buildings, or altogether the annual product of probably 40 to 50 acres of well-stocked 

 forest is needed. The product may represent, according to location, an actual stumpage value of 

 from $1 to $3 per acre, a sure crop coming every year without regard to weather, without trouble 

 and work, and raised on the poorest part of the farm. It is questionable whether such net results 

 could be secured with the same steadiness from any other crop. Nor must it be overlooked that 

 the work in harvesting this crop falls into a time when little else could be done. 



Wire fences and coal fires are, no doubt, good substitutes, but they require ready cash, and 

 often the distance of haulage makes them rather expensive. Presently, too, -\\ hen the virgin woods 

 have been still further culled of their valuable stores, the farmer who has preserved a sufficiently 

 large and well tended wood lot will be able to derive a comfortable money revenue from it by 

 supplying the market with wood of various kinds and sizes. The German State forests, with 

 their complicated administrations, which eat up 4 per cent of the gross income, yield, with prices 

 of wood about the same as in our country, an annual net revenue of from $1 to $4 and moie per 

 acre. Why should not the farmer, who does not pay salaries to managers, overseers, and forest 

 guards, make at least as much money out of this crop when he is within reach of a market! 



With varying conditions the methods would of course vary. In a general way, if he happens 

 to have a virgin growth of mixed woods, the first care would be to improve the composition of the 

 wood lot by cutting out the less desirable kinds, the weeds of tree growth, and the poorly grown 

 trees which impede the development of more deserving neighbors. 



The wood thus cut he will use as firewood or in any other way, and even if he could not use 

 it at all and had to burn it up the operation would pay indirectly by leaving him a better crop. 

 Then he may use the rest of the crop, gradually cutting the trees as needed, but he must take care 

 that the openings are not made too large, so that they can readily fill out with young growth from 

 the seed of the remaining trees, and he must also pay attention to the young aftergrowth, giving 

 it light as needed. Thus without ever resorting to planting he may harvest the old timber and 

 have a new crop taking its place and perpetuate the wood lot without in any way curtailing his 

 use of the same. 



