It is evident, therefore, that trees in the wood lot should be so crowded that the crown or top of each individual tree may be in contact with those of its nearest neighbors.  A crowded stand of trees produces not only a larger number but also a greater proportion of high quality sawlogs than an uncrowded stand.  So vital a matter is their forest shade that it does not do to set out young trees which have grown in the forest.  Ordinarily, the exposure to the sunlight stunts them and often kills them.  Nursery trees are best; the next best are trees that have grown at the edge of the woods.

The actual value of woodland as pasture is small.  One dollar per acre per year is probably a liberal estimate of the value of its forage.  Thrifty fully stocked stands of timber will grow at the rate of 250 or more board feet of lumber per year.  Adopting only 250 board feet as the growth and assuming the value of the standing timber to be from $5 to $8 per 1000 feet board measure, the value of the timber growth is from $1.25 to $2 per acre per year.

If the timber is given good care, moreover, the growth should be as much as 500 board feet per acre per year.  The larger value of the wood lot for growing timber, as compared to the value of its forage only, is therefore apparent.

It must not be thought possible to secure this growth of timber and utilize the wood lot for pasture at the same time, because the stock eat the seedlings and damage the trees.

If shade, however, rather than forage is the wood lot’s chief value to stock, it can doubtless be provided by allowing the stock to range in only a portion of the lot.  The remainder can more profitably be devoted to the production of wood

Owners are doubtless in some instances indifferent about fires in their wood lots, because they do not realize that these may do great harm without giving striking evidence of the fact.  They burn the fallen leaves and accumulated litter of several years, thus destroying the material with which trees enrich their own soil.  The soil becomes exposed, evaporation is greater, and more of the rain and melted snow runs off the surface.  The roots may also be exposed and burned.  The vitality of the trees is weakened and their rate of growth decreased.  Don’t burn leaves or waste growth:  it is dangerous and they are valuable for mulch and for manure.

It has been found in the prairie region that through the protection afforded by the most efficient grove windbreaks, the yield in farm crops is increased to the extent of a crop as large as could be grown on a strip three times as wide as the height of the trees.

At present the following states maintain nurseries and distribute young trees either free or practically at cost to planters within the state:  Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Dakota, and Kansas.

The names of nurseries which handle stock of certain trees and their quoted prices for all the more important species can be secured from the Forest Service, Washington, D. C.