THE WOODLOT THAT PAYS. One might think the farmer's woodlot unworthy of mention in a grave conference over the forest problems which now con front the American people. Yet a recent census report gives 63o,000,000 acres of land in farms in the United States. Of this, 200,000,000 acres is wooded, almost one-third of the whole.
From this vast acreage the farmers get cordwood to burn and to sell. They haul logs to the sawmills and get cash or lumber in return. Telegraph and telephone poles, posts, railroad ties, nuts, Christmas trees—all these are sold from the woodlot. Beside fuel and fencing, the farmers get timbers for their barns, sheds and corn cribs. Their wagon tongues, axe handles and whiffletrees are largely made from sticks of seasoned timber. furnished by the woodlots. If strict account of sales were kept and credit were given for things sold and used at home, the wood lot would often prove itself the most profitable part of the farm.
The passing of the virgin forests is but a matter of a few years. The work of the big lumber companies is about done. Dearth of lumber is already felt in a marked rise of prices. The supply of pine in North and East is practically exhausted. The South is sacrificing its pine forests at a suicidal rate. White oak, black walnut and other valuable hardwoods are alarmingly scarce. The question of the lumber supply for the future has reached a critical stage.
The reservation of public lands began in 1891, when Congress authorised the President to withdraw tracts of forest from sale and occupation by settlers. Fifty million acres of Western lands have thus been set apart. States, too, have reserved lands, with the aim of saving forests on mountains where rivers take their rise. They have undertaken to reforest denuded areas. Pennsylvania furnishes a notable instance of this.
It is not surprising that the Department of Agriculture, fully realising the close relation between agriculture and forestry, and the dependence of the farm upon its woodlot, has, through the Bureau of Forestry, attacked the problem strongly on side. It is proposed to prove in a very practical, convincing way that it pays a farmer to raise wood. No radical change,
such as introducing the intensive forestry methods of European countries, is contemplated. The gradual introduction of improved methods suited to varied American conditions is the plan. This means an educative process that must move slowly. Every woodlot is a miniature forest. The smaller the forest the more simple and definite the problem of making it pay. That forest husbandry pays in America is proved by numberless examples of farmers working out plans of their own devising. Large profits have been realised on very slight investments of time and money, often by people who did not know that they were practising scientific forestry. The plan is to substitute good for bad methods, to make the wood harvest pay a good interest on the plot as an investment, and at the same time to keep the forest in good condition, and year by year to increase its pro ductivity.
Any farmer, or other owner of a woodlot, may place it under the supervision of the Bureau of Forestry, free of cost. The Bureau sends an expert forester to go over the land carefully. With data thus obtained, a working plan is formulated and sub mitted to the owner. If it is accepted, the owner carries it out under the supervision of the forester who has it in charge. The owner does the work, or hires men to do it. He receives all money returns. The Bureau asks only that the plan be carried out and accurate records kept. pays the expenses of its agent's visit, and asks nothing for his services.
The agreement entered into is very simple, and may be abandoned on ten days' notice by either party. It is binding, therefore, only as long as it is perfectly satisfactory to both.
The owners of woodlands need instruction in the manage ment of their property, down to the least detail. They need definite, typical examples of what has been accomplished in their own section of the country. A balance sheet is a very con vincing argument. The forester's method of tackling the problem is an eye-opener and an inspiration to the average farmer of intelligence.