The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1936-07-14
By c. L. FORSLING

eStry In Europe by G. L.. rors'
ling, director of the Appalachian
Forest Experiment Station of the
Forest Service, Department OF
Agriculture. He spent several
months in Central Europe last
year studying various aspects OF
forestry in relation to their ap,
/ plication in the Unite dStates.)
The profitable growing of trees
! as a cash crop in farm wood-lotS
or forests is no more complicated
and requires much les slabor OF
effort than most other crops
There is little reason why the
average farmer in Western North
| Carolina who owns some acres
! of forest land can not do as well
with it as many European farm
ers are doing with theirs. The
fact is that forestry on the farm,
as practiced in Central and North
ern Europe, offers a number of
worth while suggestions to farm
ers in this country. On the whole,
the Europeans recognize IN their
wood lands an important source
of yearly cash income, as well as
a source of disable farm material
which would otherwise have to be
bought.
: Just how important forest grow
! ing is considered in many parts
/ of Europe is reflected by gem
eral review of the land situation
as it exists today. In Germany,
for example, 46 per cent of the
total land is in cultivated crops,
IS per cent is in meadow and
pasture, and 27 per cent is IN for
! est. The total land area of Ger
many is little less than that OF
Texas. The density of population
is far greater than in the United
| States. On the average there are
/ 345 people per square mile IN
Germany as compared to an aver
age of 65 persons per square mile
in this country. 1t is interesting
| in this connection to note that this
figure for North, Carolina is the
same as the population density
! for the United States as whole.
| Right away an apparent discrep-
ancy shows itself in these figures
Why should a country like Ger
many, where, because of the dense
! population, every suitable acre Il
needed for cultivated crops anc
| intensive farming is am economic
and social necessity, still main
tain almost third of its tota
land area in forest? The answer
is simple. 1t is the outcome Of
the realization on the part of the
German people that it is fully a:
| important in the national econ
omy to have forest products as Il
is to have othercrops. 60,
By no means, however, do al
German farms have wood-lots OF
farm forests. Most of the farms
are very small : perhaps three.
! fourths of them are under OF
acres. About one-fifth of the to-
/ tai forest area is on tracts of less
than so acres = indicating thai
they make up parts of farm hold
ings. Here is a parallel between
the German farmer and the aver
age farmer of Western NORTH
Carolina in that both own small
farms which have forest land OIL
wood-lots on the m.
USING WOODLANDS FULLY
Because of the recognized high
value of forest products in Ger
many the smaller farmer puts ms
forest land to good use. In com
! munities where forests are scarce
many cooperative forests have
been formed, each farmer sharing
in it.. On a number of farms
! visited, the farmer was using nj:
wood-lot as a source of addltlonia
| income-he was cutting and sell
I ing enough wood each year to pay
taxes or to meet regular bill:
which he would have difficulty tc
meet otherwise. In other cases
| the woodlot was used as a sort OF
| savings bank where the farmer
| could have an immediate source
of cash to meet emergencies. ~.
| 1t is true that many small farm
ers in this country are doing
much the same thing whenever
given the opportunity, However
the intelligent treatment of thu
farm wood-lot or forest on the
basis of steady annual increase
| in harvestable volume has beer
widely neglected in this. country
A specific example of what intel
ligent wood-lot management cal
mean to the farmer will illustrate
j PAID FOR A NEW HOUSE
i In Sweden a farmer was visit
| ed who had recently completed
( comfortable, new home. He ex
1 planned that he had sold enough
saw-logs and pulp wood from nj
farm forest to pay almost the en-
| tire cost of the material used IL
his new home. For a good man.
wears he had cut only the infer
| Tor trees and made sufficient thin
nings to keep the better tree
growing as rapidly as possible
This thinning material provided
| fire wood and rough construction
material for use on the farm. RI
nally the better trees reached log
cling size and being of sound clea
wood they brought good prlce,
In the meantime young growtl
was taking the place of the Gu
trees and a new crop was estao
! hshed by the time he had cut tn
tree crop mentioned above. TN
new crop coming up will repea
the process of yielding fire WOOD
| farm construction material an
some pulpwood taken out in thln
ings until another logging of tn
stand is possible, and so in IN
definitely.
| Many European farmers aim t.