The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1906-12-21
What Constitutes Good Woodlot.

The important considerations are these:
I-Thewoodlot should be we'll 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 kinds. Diseased, scrubby trees
are simply cumberers of the ground, only
healthy vigorous ones of the valuable
kinds such as oaks, poplars, hickories,
ETC., should be provided for.
3-The growing stock should be of all
ages and we'll distributed. AS trees reach
maturity and are cut, others of succeed
ing ages down to the tiny Seeding should
be coming on to renew the forest.
The larger trees should be so distributed
over the surface as to shade the ground
and at TIE 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 distrib
uted and fires are not allowed to burn the
hunius and litter. or cattle allowed to
tramp the ground, this desirable condi-
ton of soil is natural consequence.
5-The forest should be free of dead
trees and branches lying on the ground
as these harbor insects and encourage di
sease as we'll as furnish fuel for forest
fires.
While the ideal condition is seldom
realized, the farmer should have constant
" before him such 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, scrub
by, worthless kinds as growing stock
Often these are not only understood but
diseased. Such trees are more of hind.
erauce than help. They would be bet
ter on the wood pile than in the woods,
as the room they occupy might be grow
ing better trees. 1t takes no more space
or time to grow we'll shaped chestnut or
white OAK, than a scraggly pin oak or
beech, and while one produces valuable
material worth dollars, the other only fire
wood worth as many dimes.
Where woodlot has been misused for
many generations it will require several
years of patient persevering effort to bring
it up to good standard of product
iveuess. The inferior kinds of trees must
be supplanted by those ofthe valuable
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 in
terfere with the best development of those
TO be favored. Where open places occur,
the planting of few nuts, requiring but
a few hours work, will often accomplish
a great deal in improving the composition
of the woods.
Oue Of the serious mistakes that the
farmer makes is to use the woodlot for cat
tie, hogs and sheep. The hogs eat the nuts
that are needed for reseeding the forest
the cattle and sheep eat the young seed
ling that happens to come up, thus pre-.
venting 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 con-
dition grass comes in aud is more like a
park than a woodlot. The trees are
limby AID do not make the best timber
and the woodlot without a young growth
coming in is like the family without off
spring, doomed TO extinction.
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