Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1870-03-18
ACRICULTURAL.


The question of cutting of the woodland is
lust nov attracting good deal Of attention, not
only from the " book farmer" but from that
class who own hesry timber l4ud, end are
anxiou-.y Debating whether it VII. be the more
profitable to LEI it remain or clear of the lani
and use r. for other agricultural purposes
There is perhaps d. grel, Zeal more involved IN
his than st first appears. The qu ston, not
only of profit, but Of comfort comes in, depend
ing - we DO in a great degree. upon our wood
land for wind and storm breaks. II is argued.
and with p good deal OF force, that a great deal
Of actual discomfort in winter Is saved by cur
woods. betting IS they do the whole country ami
that to cur them down. is to render the ps-rimo-
ny OF the next generation less comfortable and
valuable, to possibly augment the wealth Of the
present. On the other hand, it is urged that
grea; deal Of the timber, In certain sections, Is
growing worse Instead OF better, -a.t il is grad
uauy dying OUT. sut Of course les valuable for
As it becomes more deesyei one thing is GER
tain, the practice INDUCED in by perhaps the
majority Of farmers, OF allowing their stock the
freedom of the WOOD lot, certainly has p tendency
20 keep the young timber stun;ei and hroWsei,
thus cutting oil the increase Of timae- th,t might
take the place Of rha; cur of.
The question does not lie, as we understand,
II the farmer shall entirely trim oil his wool but
If the fpIus shall be drawn to market. When
wood is worth s. per corr staining. IS il really
iu the interest Of the farmer to leave it uncut,
thus comparatively losing the use Of the land il
occupies One important featuie in this dis
cussion is apparently overlooked Facts aud
figures bear Us out in the assertion tla, a large
portion Of the meadow and pasture lands are
bearing testimony to the constant drain upon
their resources. The crop Of hay, for one thing,
is much lighter than formerly, and is growing
more So each year. The steady moving OF more
than half q century has weakened the land The
question uov arises. would it H0y be wellt1 con-
vert some of tie woodland, usually The richest
portion Of tie farm, into meadows OF grain
.and, giving the ether portions tie benefit of
rest, and the increased quantity Of manure that
a larger section Of cultivated land would ueoes-
ssrily produce Ia other words, does il qsy 80
let the wood remain standing upon l4ni that is /
worth, without it, SO OF 500 per acre; while /
tie 90 or 100 cords TO the acre would bring = |
rer cord as it-tauis, One thing sc-r;air, there
must be . largely increased use Of fertilizers If 4
the same land Us stu employed for grass ard I
grain. or farmers must couteu, themselves with
small crops
Suppose thai 800 per acre ret could be tn
ken oil in wood. The land that remains will sill
be worth the market value Of good farms, be-
sides giving the owner IA opportunity 10 cul-
tiyate the strongest land on bis farm The Sc
cret oftbe lack IN crops Of his old land, lies 10
the fact that TOO much manure has TO be appl-
ed upon very small portion Of his cultivated
or grain growing lands The soil hiss become
80 f,r exhausted that this has TO De done, ora
great portion of labor is lost Take those por-
tons that grow the heaviest kinds of beech and
maple, such us grow in the Chsmpain Valley,
aud tire soil will reward him as it did his fore
fathers. who used IT, grow such fabulous
grains while It was get uuexhsustei.
The money procured from the sale Of wood,
can De so used that the interest vii supply tie
farmer with ecll fuel, leaving him the strong
soil upon which TO reap abundant aar7es'e
Perhaps the facts in the case would not war
rant the adoption of such course, out Ne
would ask the farming community to examine
the matter, and see if they are not showing
4 large amount of capital TO remain useless,
when a ohaneein the programme would belc-
it all concerned