The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-06-20

Forest Husbandry.
the writer 81 popular tree book
once stated that The white pine d our
northwestern states was destined to
disappear except for ornamental pur-
poses. There are many reasons to be-
licye that that time viii never come,
yet TIE nature and habits Of the tree
and the short.sightedness Of the peo-
PIE make the statement more than a
mere suspicion.
Not a great many years ago within
tho white pine region, there were mag
nMlcent stands 81 old growth pine
Every old inhabitant today win tell
yon how they stood on his fathers
fern when he was boy, their clear,
straight trunks and gnarled fiat tops
high above everything else, Many an
old house back in the country has floor
boards and cupboard doors that are
more than three feet wide which were
made from such trees
These old monarchs Of the northern
forests are gone now, except for iso-
lated trees or clumps scattered widely
over the region A woodlot owner re-
Gently guided me several miles back
into the hill in order 10 point out three
magnificent pines which have been
standing probably for more than 250
years. One could never mistake them
from Others Of a later generation.
Before the advent Of the portable
saw mill, II was Improbable to cut
and haul logs any great distance TO
market.
The trees were felled, rolled. to-
gether and burned when new lands
were cleared LOG rolling days are
still pleasant memories to New Eng
lands oldest inhabitants Those were
the days Of the large farms with great
herds of cattle and many oxen Sheep
roamcd the hills IN far greater NUM-
beers than they ever do today. Im
inense areas were required for pastur
age, and extensive fields supplied the
Lay and grain for the winter feed. Ok
pastures are not known today, yet
they were common in the days gone
by,
Today, farming has moved westward
and large farms IN the hills have been
reduced OF abandoned entirely. II is
true, Of course, that men have learn
ed to cultivate small areas often as
probably as their fathers did large
tracts Of land Every industrious
farmer went over his pastures each
Year and removed every chance pine
that had seeded from some adjacent
tree. Now every wise farmer leaves
the young pines TO grow. Ii may not
be very strange 10 know then that to-
day there are more acres actually
growing trees than there were 50 Of 60
years ago. There IL not more timber,
TT course. for much 81 the valuable
forests have been removed within the
last fifty years Such land il now cos.
cred with a poor quality Of hardwoods
fields and pastures which have grown
up 70 pine,
Everyone knows That broadlcaf trees.
sgch as birch, maple and oak. usually
take the place Of pine when il is cnt.
The pines do not sprout as a rule. and
when pine forests has been cnt over
without leaving any trees FIJI seed.
there Is no chance for Young pines to
again occupy the lend Worthless
birch and maple. with their lighe seeds,
usually take possession Of the cut-oyer
hands.
This type becomes known Az spfout
growth and Il of little value To man
kind White pine, the predominating
tree Of the abandoned fields The
owners no longer cut down the Young
pines. but encourage their growth. In
4 suitable soil. Win sufficient light and
with occasional mature trees To supply
the seeds the abandoned fields alone
are providing fof our future commercial
timber
A southern New Hampshirt lumber
man recently stated Thea Ii he had LETT
j few sturdy pines for seed trees %
fine woodIots be has numbered during
{fe last thirty years the present
value Of the young growth would be
worth more than an the timber he has
eHt during his lifetime There are
thousands of acres 81 lard, once grow
ing pine. which are now producing
nothing better than gray birch and
maple Often fires have been allowed
70 burn ever the ground nutil me only
growth remaining ~ scruhhy and worth