Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-12-27
What Constitutes A Good Wo0dlOt.

What Constitutes A Good WoOdiOt.
The important considerations are
these:
1.-The woodlot should be stocked.
This constitutes the capital, the in
crease in growth is the rate of inter-
est yielded on the investment.
2-The trees should be of good quail
ity and good kinds. Diseased, scrub
by trees are simply cumberers OF the
ground, only healthy vigorous ones
of the valuable kinds such as oaks,
chestnuts, 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 removed,
others OF succeeding ages down to the
tiny Seeding should be coming on to
renew the forest. The larger trees
should be distributed over the area
as to shade the ground and at the
same time give each sufficient room
in which to develop III the best form.
1.-THE soil should be porous, full
of organic matter, and covered with
Il good leaf litter to act rs a kind OF
mulch. Where the trees are well
distributed and fires are not allowed
to burn the humus and litter, or cat
tie allowed to tramp the ground, this
desirable condition of the soil is q
natural consequence.
5-The forest should be free from
dead trees and branches lying on the
ground as these harbor insects and
encourage diseases as well as furnish
fuel for forest fires. While the ideal
condition is seldom realized, the far
mcr should have constantly before
him such a standard in order to
mould the woodlot into the best form
that is possible. In most woods the
good trees have been cut out, leaving
the crooked, scruhby, worthless kinds
as growing stock. Often these are
only undcrsized and diseased. Such
tees are more of a hindrancc than
a help. They would be better on the
wood pile than in the woods, as the
room they occupy, might be growing
better trees. It takes no more space
or time to grow a well shaped chest
nut, or white oak, than scraggly
pin oak, or beech, and while one
produces valuable material worth dol
lars, the other only fire wood worth
as many dimes. Where a woodlot
has been miSuscd for many genera
tons, it will require several years of
patient, pcrscvering effort to bring
it up to a good standard Of produc-
tiveness. The inferior kinds OF trees
must be supplantyd by those of val
liable kinds such as oaks, chestnuts,
poplar etc. This can often be done
by encouraging these species where
they exist, both in the matter Of nat
uraI seeding. and in thinning cut
other kinds where they interfere with
the best development of those to be
favored. Where open places occur,
the planting of a few nuts, requiring
but few hours work, will often ac-
complish great deal in improving
the composition OF the woods. One
of the serious mistakes that the far
mer makes is to U.s. the woodlot for
cattle, hogs and sheep. A continuous
use of it for such purposes is disas-
trous. The hogs eat the nuts that
are needed for resceding the forest,
cattle and sheep eat the young seed
lings 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 and dry out the
soil, the litter is dried up and blown
away leaving the ground, which is
trampcd by the cattle, so hard that
seeding is impossible. In this con-
dition grass comesin and the appear
ance is more like a park than wood
lot. The trees are limby and do not
make the best timber and the wood
lot without young growth coming in
is, like the family without offspring,
doomed to extinction.