Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1847-01-14
agricultural Department
MODE OF CUTTING WOOD.

II is now generally admitted that the best mode
of treating lot devoted 10 wood is to cut all clear
as you 90 for you thus avoid nurinr the younp
growth, and you leave young stumps 10 send out
their sprouts instead OF old ones, that oitcner fail
TO produce any
A different practice has long prevailed in N.
England, Farmers have entered their wood lots
and feed the old trees that had begun TO decay
And in their fall one fthose would crush hundred
small shoots, and destroy all prospects Of a second
growth. BY singing out individual trees and
thinning your forest you improve not the growing Of
the remaining standards, and you encourage not
the growth Of young ones A few old trees will
keep the ground shaded enough to discourage
young set, and yet the grass will spring up and
prove nuisance to all other vegetation. Trees
in a tolerably thick forest are known to grow
faster than such as are sparse and have green
sward to contend with.
For timber you can leave sufficient number Of
trees apart from your wood lot. But you want no
large trees for fuel The labor Of splitting large
logs for our modern small fire places and stoves is
too expensive, and smaller wood is more saleable
than the largest logs.
In France, where necessity has taught people
to make the most OF wood lot the land is cut
over quite frequently, and none but small wood is
seen for fuel II is found profitable TO cut onener
there than we afford to in the country on
account OF the low price of labor. But some 70
our farmers here have cut their lots off with only
twelve years growth. Twenty or twenty-five years
will give pretty handsome growth many Soils
and It is doubted whether any lot ought to stand
longer for wood
II should be borne in mind that after repeated
cuttings the sprouts will shoot up sooner than after
second clearing, and that the closer you cut the
stump the more vigorous will be the growth All
the shoots have fair start when the lot is cut in
rio and all I'D car h.
seems an actual rivalry among young trees when
they have such an opportunity to show themselves.
In regard to the best time Of the year for cut
ting in order to insure growth in the shortest
period, there may be some difference Of opinion -
The winter months are most commonly devoted TO
this service, but June is the time when much wood
is cut off for coaIing. August is considered an
unpropitious month for cutting when the sprouts
are to be encouraged. And August is generally
considered The best month 10 destroy young sprouts
with a ucythe
Ten acres Of woodland will yield wood enough
for one family in case of prudent management
With ten acres you have the cutting Of half an acre
each year; and this growth Of twenty years
People who suffer their wood, or timber either.
TO out.stand its time are great losers.
have seen chestnut lot which was one half OF
II cut oil clean, while the other half was kept for
timber. In twenty-five years from the time of cut
"uBi the "noie ~, was appraised, IN consequence
ola DIVISION Of the estate. The lot which had
been cut off was valued higher than the part that
had not been touched. This amounted to a total
loss of the timber which was left standing
hive acre timber lot lies now in sight of my
dwelling. The wood on this lot would have
brought, standing one dollar per cord, aud |
should judge there were forty cords TO the acre
II that wood had been sold at that time and the
money put out at interest it would now amount
10 three hundred and sixty dollars for each acre
yet The timber now on it, though it has been
cared for with scrupulous attention, will not bring
two hundred dollars per acre.-Maine Cuhirntor