The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1920-07-14
THINGS YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR
WOODLAND

IHtiiE VI DAGb All
the farm woodland, as we'll as in all
tiAlbered tract, is to keep fire out.
This is generally practiced in the far
woodland and, in faes, is generally
done. Whenever timbered land ceas-
es to be pasture for cattle and sheep
fires give very little trouble except
along railroads. Nearly all forest
fires in the South are started by
stoekmen to make better grazing for
their stock and by sparks from loco
motives, but the latter is Of much less
Importance than the former.
Next in Importance to keeping fires
out is keeping stock out in the wood
land. This is especially true of goats
cattle and sheep. If there is a good
acorn crop, the hogs can be allowed
to gather most, but not al, of these
nuts without injuring the woods ma
terially.
The trees of the woodland, small
as well as large, must be treated as
plants. Roads must not be cut indis-
criminately and trees must be felled
with regard to what they fall on.
When brush pile is burned it should
be placed so as not to injure growing
trees.
Fallen and dead trees should be
taken out for fuel. When the need
for timber exceeds the supply of the
dead and fallen, mature trees should
not be cut If the cutting is done for
fuel, hollow and damaged trees
should be selected. The next thing
that should go is the species that is
least desirable. This may be black
gum, blackberry, sourwood, red oak
rather than white oak. The kind OF
trees that do we'll on the land and are
most valuable should be protected
Black walnut, white oak, poplar, hick.
DRY, Eastwood, cucumber, chestnut
oak and, on some soils, red oak are
among the more desirable kind. OF
trees to encourage. All kinds of
trees can be used but as some are bet
ter than others preference should be
given the better kinds. AT present
honey locust, blackberry, black gum
persimmon and black jack should bt
taken out when these kinds will meet
the needs and thereby more room i;
left for some of the other species pre-
viously mentioned.
In taking out mature trees il should
be done Systematically, The trees
that will do to be taken out should
be taken out clean, the brush SHOULD
be thrown so as not to injure young
trees and the area cut off in one sea
son should be left alone until all The
rest of the woodland is gone forever
If the tract is large enough, it SHOULD
be ten to twenty years before an.
more trees are taken from the sam,
place. This gives the remaining
trees chance to grow undisturbed
In cutting off trees only those
should be taken that have made a suf
ficient growth to be good saw timber
Really none of the trees should b,
Icut until they are eighteen inches
across the stump where cut If thi
plan is followed, in ten or twent.
years there will be another good crol
on the land.
Care should be taken not to Gu
the trees too clean, as the youn,
growth needs shade. If all of tn
trees are large enough to market
some of the thrifty ones should b,
left anyhow to afford shade and maxi
seed. The seed crop should b,
thought Of. If mature trees of The
species that are wanted are left ia
vorably located, they will do much Il
perpetuate their kind and make this
a leading variety in the crop Of tim
Der next started on the land. Carin,
for the woodland is just common
sense proposition mixed with with g
little knowledge of plant growth
Timber is crop just like corn ant
deserves as good care of its kind
The care of the large timber
tracts of the open forests should be
nearly the same but is harder to ex
ercise. The control of fire and live.
stock become harder, but as fires are
more destructive and arc caused
mainly because stockmen think that
burning is necessary to make pas
ture for stock. The passing of the
stock law should largely stop forest
! fires. In some sections this would
work too great a hardship on the peo
! pc but effective work by some en-.
erRetic fire wardens and only few
prosecutions would make it possible
ohave no stock law in some sections
and still not have so many forest
fires.
Another difficulty in getting the
large timber handled as a forest
should be treated is that it is bust
ness investment and the immediate
generation can get more out of it by
removing the timebr by methods that
have no regard for the future They
take it clean and sell every stick that
will bring a possible profit and leave
it weakened, wounded thing that
must lie for a century to yield a
worthwhile crop to posterity With
the ravages of fire and stock, that
become worse, in cut-over land, refor-
estation sometimes looks almost hope
less in timbered tracts.
L. r. NEEL.
In Bouthern Agriculturist.