Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 297, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1916 — FARM WOODLOTS [ARTICLE]

FARM WOODLOTS

Value of Forested Areao Frequently Overlooked —Timber In Some Cases the Moat Profitable Crop. A permanent woodlot la an essential part of a well-equipped farm. In heavily wooded States especially farmers are likely to overlook this fact and reckteqaly cut, misuse, or cleat up their forest areas. It does not oc- - cut to them s that it may be advisable to allow 'thrifty, immature timber to mature rather than to remove It at a loss; and that it is often better to practice Intensive agriculture on areas already cleared than to clear adc Atonal areas which are in growing timber. The one direct economic reason for the use of land as woodlot is that on some areas timber is the most profitable crop that can be grown. This, of course, is especially true of pool and rough land. Where ajl the land is adaptable to more valuable crops the woodlot should occupy only a small part of the farm area. There are a great manr indirect considerations, however, which justify the maintenance of a permanent woodlot on the farm. The important ones, a number of which are usually active in any particular case, are; (1) For convenience of home use for fuel, posts, and other farm needs; v 2) as a windbreak, for buildings or crops; (3) as a shelter for stock; (4) for protection of land from erosion; (5) to furnish work for men and teams during spare time; (6) for purs-, ly osthetic reasons and for recreation purposes, for which reasons alone a farm with a well-located grove of trees, however small, wilT sell for more than one without. Thus a woodlot may at the same time increase the general prosperity of the farm, add to its comfort as a home, and enhance its value as an Investment. The reason farmers have not given as full consideration to the woodlot as it deserves Is that they have not had complete enough knowledge of the market possibilities of various woodlot products and of the rate of growth and possible yields per acre of properly cared for stands of dofferent species and ages, or that they have considered only the present need and have not looked 1 ahead. Special attentibn is now being given by the Forest Service to these questions and to the question of improved methods of marketing, Information about the tides of various kinds of wood and the markets for them has been compiled for a number of States. In some cuses this information has been published by the State Foresters in WoodUsing Industry Reports and in Handbooks for Marketing Woodlot Products. A new bulletin prepared by the Forest Service (Farmers' Bulletin 715, Measuring and Marketing Woodlot Products) is a handbook of practical information for farmers regarding the measurement of timber, the forms in which wood lot products are sold, the methods of sale, and the way to find a market. Another just published (Fanners’ Bulletin 711, The Care and Improvement of the Woodlot) contains information intended to assist tne farmer in managing his woodlot so that it will yield the best quality and the largest amount of timber of which it is capable. The farmer too often considers only local and Immediate uses of a woodlot, overemphasizing them and disregarding other functions that might ultimately prove to be more important. For example, where agri** culture Is entering heavily wooded regions, tiipVer is likely to be considered ofily an incumbrance. In long settted fasting regions, where most of wmher has been cut and only a few i trees are left, the fanners may prefer to save the remnant for the shade it gives to stock or buildings or because it improves the appearance of the farm. In prairie country, protection to grain crops, orchards, stock, or buildings, together with service as a convenient supply of wood for farm consumption, may cause owners to place a high value on their woodlots. In mountainous regions near thickly populated manufacturing centers the woodlot may be valued for its wood-producing capacity alone. The temptation is to forget or underestimate those functions which are not obviously and immediately beneficial. As a matter of fact, the loss obvious functions are often the very ones which are. ljlwJi. .in rnktßsL value in the long run. For example, many of the Minnesota farmers who totally cleared their lands would be glad to have their woodlots back again for protective and other purposes; and farmers in the Central States already regret the abuse which has robbed their woodiota of the capacity to yield a wood crop of Increasing value on the poorer soils of the farm. It Is, therefore, greatly to the Interest of all farmers to consider not nniy the present but the possible future usefulness of a farm woodlot.

The boys and girls get enough hard knocks out in the world without your being stern and harsh them. Let your home be to them a shelter and a refuge from the storms of- the world.

L Do not try the patience ot the good wife by giving her green wood to bum.