Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. A RMAg es PAnge en SME re TERI YP, The ate ge ne ES NE prea ay Se Ty FIST fhe PE TW TUN ae PAS : Issued September 30,1920 "| | . FORESTRY LESSONS ON HOME WOODLANDS / ee My Reveed 3 WILBUR R. MATTOON, Extension Forester, Forest Service follows | and ALVIN DILLE, Formerly Specialist in Agricultural Education, States Relations Service Introduction . . . Sources of Information The Survey . lustrative Material The Home Project Lesson I. Forest Trees and Fordst Types. y Ii, Location and Extent of Woodlands Ili, Economic Value of the Forest . IY. Products Fromthe Home Forest V. Using Farm Timber . “ VI. Measuring and Estimating Timber VII. Marketing Farm Timber . VIII. Protecting the Woods Be i IX. Improving the Home Forest by Cutting X. Growth of Trees and Forests . -XI, Forest Reproduction . XII, Woodlands and Farm Welianulenk SHRIMP IRONING MR con.) Fle lod tS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1925 ~ 1913°—25t-———1 ASOLO] omy on 990!ds}}U044 OANyNABy JO JUsWBdeQ *S ‘N “£98 INA Washington, D.C. Issued September 30, 1920; revised February 13, 1925 FORESTRY LESSONS ON HOME WOODLANDS By WiLBur R. Marroon, Extension Forester, Forest Service, and Atvin D1uLE, formerly Specialist in Agricultural Education, States Relations Service CONTENTS Page Page LGA AROGIO OHIO ETS Si ae Seer pipe EN ee 1 | Lesson VI. Measuring and estimating timber_ 15 Sources of information______________________- 2 VII. Marketing farm timber___________ 17 AM EVS UVC Ves ear ee ey ee ees ee 2 VIII. Protecting the woods_____________ 18 Mlustraiivennatenial= iss 2a sya ees 3 IX. Improving the home forest by *Rhewnomesprojecien = 552 ee ee 3 CULbbin gy Ite Seren a ee YEE ES 21 Lesson I. Forest trees and forest types-_ _____- 4 X. Growth of trees and forests_______ 23 II. Location and extent of woodlands_ 9 XI. Forest reproduction_____._______- 25 III. Economic value of the forest ______ 0) XII. Woodlands and farm management 28 IV. Products from the home forest _ __- 2s Supplements koe wee ye ie a ee al 31 VesU sing farnittimberi2s sess oe 14 INTRODUCTION The right handling of the home forest has come to be a matter of recognized importance in farm management. Farming touches forestry at a number of different pots. The farm requires timber for the building and repair of houses, barns, sheds, fences, and tele- phone lines. It needs more or less wood for fuel, and it should have some woodland also for protecting the soil against erosion on steep slopes, for shelter for growing crops and livestock against the hot, dry winds of midsummer, the cold winds of winter, and likewise for the comfort of man and the home of game animals. A farm without some woods is less attractive as a place to live and usually less valuable than one with at least a little woodland and some forest trees scattered about. Thus woodlands have a place both in the management of the farm and in the development of the community. The lessons which follow present the subject of farm forestry from the standpoint of the important local kinds of forest trees and their uses, the proper location of woodlands on the farm, their economic value to ihe on the different farm timber products, measuring and marketing timber, utilizing timber rightly on the farm, protecting and improving woodlands, and planting young timber. A knowledge of farm forestry, applied along simple lines, should make farming more profitable. These lessons have been prepared to give to the ft 9 BULLETIN 863, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE organized school work in elementary agriculture additional impetus in forestry, to provide material for instruction that is within the range of elementary pupils, and to furnish a topic for home projects that may be worked out profitably to every community and with real educational value to the pupils themselves. . SOURCES OF INFORMATION Practically all the subject matter for class use and instructions for home projects will be found in bulletins available, either free or at a small cost. Almost every State agricultural college has pub- lished one or more bulletins on some phase of forestry, and in most instances these may be had for the asking. Address the dean of the agricultural college. ; The Farmers’ Bulletins of the United States Department of Agri- culture referred to in this bulletin will cover many of the topics to be studied. Bulletins in this list will be sent free, so long as the supply lasts, to any resident of the United States, upon application to his Senator, Representative, or Delegate in Congress, or to the - Office of Publications, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washing- ton, D. C. Because of the limited supply, applicants are urged to select only a few numbers, choosing those which are of special in- terest, and ordering but one copy of each. When the free supply has been exhausted, a number are yet for sale by the Superintend- ent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., at 5 cents each. Other publications of this department are also for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, but these are more often technical bulletins and of interest to those only who wish to special- ize in the subject. Frequently revised classified lists of department publications on different phases of agriculture, one of which is on the subject of forestry, are issued by the Division of Agricultural Instruction, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for teachers’ use. The teacher will find that a number of the textbooks on forestry are suited to his needs, and that some of the elementary textbooks may be used by the pupils. In addition to the Farmers’ Bulletins and other Department Bul- letins, the Forest Service issues a number of circulars on various phases of forestry which may be obtained directly from that bureau. THE SURVEY ‘One of the means by which the teacher may become informed about the forestry interests of the district is a woodland survey. The pupils may assist in obtaining this information, but a first- hand knowledge obtained by the teacher will be a valuable aid. This survey should include the kind of woodland, whether hard- wood, conifer, or mixed type, the important species of trees in the forest stand, in respect to their abundance and their use and com- mercial value, the ieedine rough timber products that have been sold, and the prices received in the woods or shipping point. This information may be collected and tabulated. A map of the district may be procured, or, if not available, one can be drawn on a large sheet by the pupils. On this map the homes and farms of the pupils are to be located. Place signs, emblems, or i j FORESTRY LESSONS ON HOME WOODLANDS 8 colored bits of paper to represent various facts from your tabula- tions; for example, colored circles to represent young, middle age, or mature woodland, squares to represent timber products sold, ete. Additional facts may be placed on this map, taking especial note of the acreage per farm, interest in taking care of standing timber, etc. ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL Construct a chart showing the relation in size of crown and trunk of a typical tree growing in the open (limby) and a tree in a close stand (long, smooth trunk). Illustrate by a diagram the maximum wood production per acre and quality production of good timber by a crowded stand of trees and a thinned stand formerly containing more trees per acre. Make drawings of the cross section of a tree trunk showing how the tree increases by a new ring of growth each year. Collect leaf specimens of the trees of the district and mount same on cardboard alter pressing and drying them. Collect samples of the wood of the trees of the locality of approximately uniform size and mount them on boards, or hang them in frames or racks especially constructed. If possible, obtain hke specimens of the woods of other localities. These samples may be classified and mounted into groups such as” hardwoods and softwoods, or oaks, maples, pines, etc. At least a small collection of such woods should be a part of the equipment of every school. Charts showing the relative importance and uses of the most abundant woods should be made. Write to the Division of Agricultural Instruction, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for list of lantern-slide sets with lecture syllabi on the different phases of forestry. These sets of slides are loaned to teachers free of charge. THE HOME PROJECT It is agreed by teachers of agriculture that instruction in that subject should follow certain definite lines: (1) It should be sea- sonal. (2) Itshould be local initsinterests and development. (3) It should meet the interests of the pupils. (4) It should be practical. The home-project plan affords the best means of meeting these con- ditions, especially the practical side. The pupil is working out for himself the principles and theories taught in the classroom. The term “home project,’’ applied to instruction in elementary and secondary agriculture, includes each of the following requisites: (1) There must be a plan for work at home covering a season more or less extended. (2) It must be a part of the instruction in agri- culture of the school. (3) There must be a problem more or less new to the pupil. (4) The parents and pupil should agree with the teacher on the plan. (5) Some competent person must supervise the home work. (6) Detailed records of time, method, cost, and income must be honestly kept. (7) A written report based on the record must be submitted to the teacher. This report may be in the form of a booklet. Type of forestry project.—A project in forestry must of necessity be of a much different type than a project in farm crops or animal production. . The slow growth of forest trees and other factors in- 4 BULLETIN 863, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE volved make it a project covering more than one season. However, forest projects can be conducted and made of much value to the student and community. Among the forestry projects that can be carried out, the following are suggested: The renovation of a farm - woodland, the replanting-of a woodland and subsequent care of the young trees, the planting of forest trees on some eroding lands or other waste ground on the farm, mapping and finding area of a forest tract, cutting and marketing farm forest’ products, giving especial attention to the proper cutting of trees and to the removal of the parts of the trees not marketed, a study and survey of forest fires, in- sect enemies, and the diseases of the common forest trees. Lesson I. FOREST TREES AND FOREST TYPES Problem.—To learn to know at sight the chief forest trees of the locality. 5 — Sources of information.—Bulletins of the State colleges of agricul- ture and State foresters on forest trees; Forestry Bulletin 17; forest tree key and description of 100 important forest trees on pages 40-48 ~ of Supplement. The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agricul- ture, Washington, D. C., 1s ready to identify leaves, fruit, buds, and wood that puzzle the young forester. Illustrative material:—The best illustrative material for this lesson is to be found in the woods, where the trees may be seen and their characteristics studied. In case this can not be done, pictures of typical trees may be used. Blackboard sketches showing the form of different trees are easily made and should be used in this lesson. Topics of study.—Getting acquainted with the important kinds of forest trees in your locality. Their various common names and other names. A few trees are known widely by the same common name, but many are called by different names in various sections of the country. The importance of botanical names for certain identifica- tion. Distinguishing the different kinds or species of trees by some well-marked characteristics of leaf, bark, fruit, seed, buds, or twig arrangement. Conifers: Trees bearing cones, such as the pines, spruces, firs, hem- locks, cedars, junipers, larches, and cypress. How do bald cypress and the larches differ from the others? Distinguishing characteristics of each group or genus, and something about its different members or species, particularly those that occur locally. Hardwoods: Trees, most of which have wood harder than that of the conifers and broad leaves which are deciduous, or are shed in the fall. Kinds of hardwood trees which are evergreen. Group the hardwood trees into general groups, such as the oaks, maples, elms, and others, and identify as many different species of each as possible. Kinds of trees which are associated together in different forest types, such as (a) ridge type, (6) slope or cove type, (c) bottom-land type, and (d) swamp type. What trees locally are associated to make (a) coniferous forest type, (6) pure hardwood type, and (e) mixed hardwood and conifer type. Practical exercises—Gathering leaves and fruit of the important local forest trees; press in wrapping paper, folded and labeled with place and date. FORESTRY LESSONS ON HOME WOODLANDS 5 Studying the shape and size of leaves; trace a leaf of each of the important kinds of trees, and label with name, place where found, and date. Fic. 1.—White oak, a woodland tree of wide distribution and high value, representative of the pure hardwood type Grouping trees by kinds of fruit borne—nuts, keys, berries, cones, etc. | Collect samples of winter buds from leading kinds of trees, label- ing with name of tree, place of collection, and date. OO 6 BULLETIN 863, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Study of winter buds, with drawings of buds and twig arrange- ment. Collect tree blossoms from red and silver maples, willows, catalpa, elm, oak, dogwood, tulip poplar, basswood, buckeye, and magnolia. Field study..—Now to the woods, that you may come into personal touch with the forest trees of your own neighborhood. Leaves: The leaf is the trade-mark of the trees. Gather the leaves, study and compare them to gain a first knowledge of the trees as individuals, then as groups. The tulip poplar writes its name 1 The sections on field study in Lessons I and III were contributed by Miss Lucy Kellerhouse, of the Forest Service. Fic. 2.—White oak leaf, flower, fruit, and winter bud: a, Pistillate or female flower; b, staminate or male flower; c, winter bud, FORESTRY LESSONS ON HOME WOODLANDS 7 plainly upon its square-cut leaf, but the boxelder has a leaf some what resembling the ash, though its seed is similar to the maple key. Wherein does the ash leaf differ from that of the locust or the hickory ? The oaks are divided into the red and the white oaks. What is a typical leaf of each class? You will probably begin this study in the autumn, so before the leaves fall and your memory of them fails press and either mount them or place in paper folders, and label with name, place where found, and date. If the foliage of the black gum is now reddening, that of the red gum will also soon begin to color, and presently all the woods will seem as if on fire. The autumn colors will help to identify your trees and beautify your herbarium.