. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. FORESTS FORESTS 313 Farm Woodlot: Its Place in the Farm Economy. By B. E. Fernou: When the first settlers in the northeastern Uni- ted States hewed their farms out of the forest, turning into pasture and field the larger part of their holdinss, they left parts uncut for their domestic wood - supply,â the farm woodlot. This was to furnish fence-posts and rails, repair wood for buildings and implements, and, above all, fuel. It wpn natural to clear the better land first and to leave tor the woodlot the poorer parts; and this is proper. Unsui
. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. FORESTS FORESTS 313 Farm Woodlot: Its Place in the Farm Economy. By B. E. Fernou: When the first settlers in the northeastern Uni- ted States hewed their farms out of the forest, turning into pasture and field the larger part of their holdinss, they left parts uncut for their domestic wood - supply,â the farm woodlot. This was to furnish fence-posts and rails, repair wood for buildings and implements, and, above all, fuel. It wpn natural to clear the better land first and to leave tor the woodlot the poorer parts; and this is proper. Unsuitableness of the ground for farm use and intonvenience of location were probably the main or only considerations by which the woodlot was reserved. It is not likely that the idea of a timber crop, which could be reaped and re-grown at will, iike other farm crops, had been present either in locating or in using the crop. It was con- sidered Merely a storehouse of material from which the farmer might draw at any time to supply his needs, if the intention had been to make it serve its purpose continuously, it was certainly, in most cases, treated most improperly,âculled and cut without any regard to reproduction. Instead of using first the dead and dying, the crooked and inferior trees, the limbs and leavings, for fire-wood, and thus improving the condition of the remaining growth, body-wood of the best trees was considered none too good for the stove, and the best trees of the best kind were chosen for posts, fence-rails and other inferior uses. As a consequence of this culling system, which left only undesirable kinds and trees,âthe weeds among tree-growth,âmany woodlots have become well-nigh useless, mere weed patches. Many have ceased to supply even the domestic fire-wood. The soil, which was of little use for anything but a timber crop, is rendered still less useful under this --d^*^- («â¢-' â ^ â¢.f* :=*^:s Fig. 424. A typical Vennont woodlot (sugar-bush) showing
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
