The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-12-15
For 1.-THE UNION"
TIE FARMERS wooDLoT.


THE FARMERS WOODLOT.
Occupying, as it does the rocky sterile soil, or
the equally untillable swampy lands, the wood
lot is the most neglected part of the farm. Were
it not for the excellent natural conditions favor
ing forest growth in Maryland, our woodlands
would long ago have refused to yield their valu-
able products in retaliation for our neglect and
wanton waste of their resources. But new
order of things is coming into being. The farm
er is awakening to the fact that wood is just as
much crop as hay or corn, that intelligent care
will certainly bring better yield and will in
crease the value of the property. A good wood
lot is like good buildings, good fences-an i'm
provement with market value when it becomes
desirable to sell.
WHAT CONSTITUTES GOOD wooDLoT.
In order to have standard for comparison let
us consider what constitutes good woodlot.
The important considerations are these:
1. The woodlot should be well stocked. This
constitutes the capital the increase in growth
is the rate of interest yielded on the investment
2. The trees should be of good quality and good
kind. Diseased, scrubby trees are simply cum
berers of the ground. Only healthy, vigorous
ones of the valuable kinds, such as oaks, chest
nuts, poplars, hickory, etc., should be provided
for.
8. The growing stock should be of all ages and
we'll distributed. AS trees reach maturity and
are removed others of succeeding ages, down to
the tiny Seeding, should be coming on to renew
the forest. The larger trees should be SO dis
tributed over the area as to shade the ground
and at the same time give each sufficient room
in which to develop in the best form.
4. The soil should be porous, full of organic
matter and covered with good humus and leaf
litter to act as kind of mulch. Where the
trees are well distributed and fires are not allow
ed to burn the humus and litter, or cattle allow
ed to tramp the ground. this desirable condition
| of soil Is a natural consequence.
4 The forest should be free of dead trees and
branches lying on the ground. as these harbor
| insects and encourage disease as well as furnish
fuel for forest fires.
While the ideal condition is seldom realized,
the farmer should have constantly before him
such a standard in order to mould the woodlot
into the best form that is possible.
COMMON Deficiencies OF wOODLOTs.
In most woods the good trees have been cut
out leaving the crooked, scrubby, worthless
kinds as growing stock. Often these are not
only understood but diseased. Such trees are
more of hinderance than help. They would
be better on the wood pile than in the woods, as
the room they occupy might be growing better
well shaped chestnut or white oak than scraggy
pin oak, OF beech, and while one produces valna-
| BILE material worth dollars, the other only fire
| wood worth as many dimes.
Where a woodlot has been misused for many
| generations it will require several years of pa
TENT persevering effort to bring it up to good
| standard of productiveness. The inferior kinds
| Of trees must be supplanted by those of valua-
| BILE kinds such as oaks, chestnut, poplar, etc.
This can often be done by encouraging these
species where they exist, both in the matter OF
natural seeding and in thinning out other kinds
| where they interfere with the best development
of those to be favored. Where open places oc-
| cur the planting of few nuts, requiring but
| few hours work, will often accomplish a greaL
| deal in improving the composition of the woods.
| One of the serious mistakes that the farmer
makes is to use the woodlot for cattle, hogs and
| sheep. continuous use of it for such purposes
is disastrous. The hogs eat the nuts that are
needed for reseeding the forest; the cattle and
| sheep eat the young seedlings that happen to
come up, thus preventing reproduction The
result is that the woodlot consists only of older
trees, and as these are cut out open spaces are
left In the forest. The sun and wind get in to
dry out the soil. the litter is dried up and blown
| away leaving the ground, which is tramped by
the cattle, so hard that seeding is impossible In
this condition grass comes in and the appear
| ance is more like park than woodlot. The
| trees are limby and do not make the best tim
| ber and the woodlot without young growth
| coming in is likej the family without offspring
| doomed to extinction.
VALUE OF THE wooDLoT.
The most important function of the woodlot is
to supply the farmer with the needed fuel and
construction material needed on the farm.
| There is a constant demand for fence posts,
rails, stakes, and poles as we'll as an occasional
need of saw logs for making the necessary franz
ing material and boards for farm buildings. In
addition to this the farmer often finds that he
can sell timber for crossties, poles. piing, etc.,
| at good price.
The single item of fire wood is an important
one to the farmer. In one of the counties of
the State where the average rural conditions
exist, it was found, by careful estimate, that
the average annual consumption of fire wood
per family was about IA cords. If the farmer
had to buy this or haul coal from distant II. X.
station. it would be quite tax. He can cut his
wood at most convenient times when other
farm work is not pressing so that the fuel he
uses is practically that much gained. The fire
wood taken from the woods. If it is the dead
material as is generally the case, is really an
improvement to the woodlot and cannot be con-
sidered as reducing the growing stock.
The woodlot serves other purposes which,
though not so apparent as those that have been
given, are none the less of Importance. These
are in the nature of protection. A woodlot
| surrounding a home and farm buildings. or
located on the windward side Of them. affords
protection to both man and beast. This means
not only added comfort. but a saving of food
and fuel.
Woodlands at the source of streams or near
springs tend to preserve in them an even flow
throughout the year. 1t is a well known fact
that woodland springs live through periods OF
drought when those not protected by trees
dry up.
Windbreaks of trees also have avery beneficial
influence in checking evaporation of moisture
over adjacent cultivated fields during windy,
dry weather.
The woodlotis just as essential to well order
ed farm as buildings or anything else that con-
tributes to the comfort, convenience and beauty
of the surroundings.
The State Forester, F. W. Besley, whose adj
dress is Baltimore, Nd, will be glad to assist
woodland owners and those who wish to plant
forest trees by advising with them and making
plans for forest improvement. He is giving his
services freely in this work and invites cores
pondence with those who are interested.
A New Star in the Flag.
Baltimore Sun.
After several months, consideration the
officials of the War and Navy Departments
have agreed upon the following Encouragement
of the stars in the Union of the national flag
-. L.