Black locust grove in pasture on poor soil. Seed sown in plowed land, in rows four feet apart. Nineyears ago cultivated one year, and since thinned twice. 197 trees on one-half acrewill make 514 posts (7′-3″). Photo by U. S. Forest Service.
The Farm and the Woodlot
By J. E. BARTON,
State Forester of Kentucky.
Published by the direction of the State Board ofForestry.
Governor James B. McCreary,
Chairman.
John W. Newman,
Commissioner of Agriculture.
Joseph H. Kastle,
Director, Kentucky Experiment Station.
Hon. Johnson N. Camden,
Versailles.
Hon. W. H. Mackoy,
Covington.
Mrs. Mason Maury,
Louisville.
Undoubtedly, one of the most important phases of theforestry work, so far as the individual States are concerned,is the question of the woodlot and its improvement. In theEastern States—that is, those east of the Mississippi River—avery considerable portion of the forested areas within eachState is in the form of woodlots which are a part of and anadjunct to the farm so that in any comprehensive forest policyfor the Eastern United States a great deal of attention mustbe focused upon this phase of the work. This is, undoubtedly,true so far as Kentucky is concerned where, as a whole, theland is held in fee simple by the citizens of the State as farmsfrom a few acres in size up to several thousand acres. By themajority of the owners of these farms, the value and importanceof the woodlot is little understood nor has the practiceof forestry as it applies to these woodlots any significancewhatsoever. The object of this bulletin is to make clear justwhat forestry is, the relation of scientific forestry to the improvementof the woodlot and the economical part which thefarm woodlot plays in the industrial and social welfare of theState. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most difficultfeatures of the work to present properly, because it is a hardmatter to make clear to the average individual just why awoodlot is an asset in connection with his property and howthe improvement and care of his woodlot concerns him closelyand means a proportional increase directly in the actual moneyvalue of the material on hand and indirectly in ways whichdo not present themselves readily unless the attention isfocused on them—as for example, the value of a woodlot asa wind-break in connection with an orchard or in connectionwith the farm as a whole, or the value of a wooded area on an[4]easily eroded hillside as a fixative for the soil and a preventativeagainst the deterioration of the cultivated areas belowit. The ef