The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-07-02
FARM FORESTRY EXTENSION
IN MARYLAND

BY F. B. Trenk, Extension Forester
The farmers of Maryland own ap.
proximately $50 of the total
torested area of the State, or about
100000 acres. The State De
partment of Forestry has wisely
recognized from the beginning that
| if the practice of forestry was ever
o become widespread throughout
Maryland, two important steps were
necessary means of tablishing
direct contact with farmers, the real
forest land owners of the State
and salesmanship, to convince the
farmers, once the contact was made
that farm forestry pays. Very
logically, emphasis has been put on
that word pays. Contacts were
made from time to time as results
of illustrated lectures, circular
letters and press articles which
pointed out the expert services
which were available for giving
irst-hand advice to the farmers, and
which OF course, also told in gen /
eral way what ought to be done
and the profits which would result
from doing So.
These contacts, naturally, laid tho
basis for some splendid work with
farmers, and this general method is
still followed but the enactment o.
the Smith-Lever law in 1914, result
ing in the placing of County
Agricultural Agent in every Mary.
land county, opened up new and
more. direct avenues of approach
Here was a system, capable of reach.
ing every farm home in the State
the State Agricultural
College and the U. S. Department
of Agriculture were endeavoring to
teach the principles of a well-round
ed, profitable agriculture for every
farmer. Recognizing that, funda
mentally, the tree crop is as truly 6
farm crop as any other, forestry
soon found its place in this agricul
tural program, and as early as 1918
the State Forestry entered into 9
agreement with the
State Agricultural Extention Direc-
tor, outlining and defining what part
the State Department of Forestry
would take in carrying to the far.
mers the gospel of good forestry
AS a result, an assistant on the State
Forester's staff has been assigned
to spend practically all of his time
working through the county agents
making direct contacts with farmers
and selling the forestry idea at
all times. The enactment of the
Clark -McNary law two years age
has very greatly strengthened this
method of approach, not only
in Maryland, but throughout the
nation.
Just few words as to what is
being sold, and how.
Good forestry begins with the
correct harvesting of the CROP is {
motto which the Extension Foreste,
repeatedly uses, and it sums up one
big objective of the extension
forestry program, namely, to appl.
the principles of good forestry l.
cutting the merchantable timber
which will insure new crop OF
valuable timber for future years.
Unfortunately, this applies only to
few farmers, for most farmers have,
woodlands which have long been
culled of their. best. For these
culled over woodlands, a program OF
improvement trimmings and cuttings
is urged cutting out large de-
formed, diseased, or overmature
trees; thinning out those which arc
severely crowded in a thicket; ane
removing the low quality species
where they interfere with those OF
high quality.
Waste land is liability to every
farmer, and the planting of waste
land to those trees best suited to thu
region of the State, where the waste
land occurs, is everiastingly preach
ed. The State Forestry Department
maintains a State Forest Nursery
where farmers may obtain tree
seedlings at very nominal cost
and during the spring of 1926, far
mers planted nearly 100000 trees
n waste or useless land.
In all of this work, the Extension
Forester works with the farmer
individually and yet the work i
40
making the successful results do
their own preaching to farmers ir
the neighborhood-to make each
niece of work be concrete demon
ctratinn of uhat 10 roal fnrnctru