The Timber Crop
Categories:
FARM CROPS
Forest trees are not usually regarded as a crop, but they are certainly
one of the most important crops. We should accustom ourselves to look on
our trees as needing and as deserving the same care and thought that we
give to our other field crops. The total number of acres given to the
growth of forest trees is still enormous, but we should each year add to
this acreage.
Unfortunately very few forests are
so managed as to add yearly to their
value and to preserve a model stand of trees. Axmen generally fell the
great trees without thought of the young trees that should at once begin
to fill the places left vacant by the fallen giants. Owners rarely study
their woodlands to be sure that the trees are thick enough, or to find
out whether the saplings are ruinously crowding one another. Disease is
often allowed to slip in unchecked. Old trees stand long after they have
outlived their usefulness.
The farm wood-lot, too, is often neglected. As forests are being swept
away, fuel is of course becoming scarcer and more costly. Every farmer
ought to plant trees enough on his waste land to make sure of a constant
supply of fuel. The land saved for the wood-lot should be selected from
land unfit for cultivation. Steep hillsides, rocky slopes, ravines,
banks of streams--these can, without much expense or labor, be set in
trees and insure a never-ending fuel supply.
Before proper treatment]
The most common enemies of the forest crop are:
First, forest fires. The waste from forest fires in the United States is
most startling. Many of these fires are the result of carelessness or
ignorance. Most of the states have made or are now making laws to
prevent and to control such fires.
Second, fungous diseases. The timber loss from these diseases is
exceedingly great.
Third, insects of many kinds prey on the trees. Some strip all the
leaves from the branches. Others bore into the roots, trunk, or
branches. Some lead to a slow death; others are more quickly fatal.
Fourth, improper grazing. Turning animals into young woods may lead to
serious loss. The animals frequently ruin young trees by eating all the
foliage. Hogs often unearth and consume most of the seeds needed for a
good growth.
After proper treatment]
The handling of forests is a business just as the growing of corn is a
business. In old forests, dead and dying trees should be cut. Trees that
occupy space and yet have little commercial value should give way to
more valuable trees. A quick-growing tree, if it is equally desirable,
should be preferred to a slow grower. An even distribution of the trees
should be secured.
In all there are about five hundred species of trees which are natives
of the United States. Probably not over seventy of these are desirable
for forests. In selecting trees to plant or to allow to grow from their
own seeding, pick those that make a quick growth, that have a steady
market value, and that suit the soil, the place of growth, and the
climate.