6. Care and Management. It will be found that the care and management of the woodlot is relatively a simple matter after the forest is well established and that the character of the stock and the amount and quality of the products will improve materially with management. There are certain systems of management which recommend themselves for woodlots such as the (1) simple coppice (2) pole wood coppice (3) coppice with standards or variations of these. The three methods here cited are briefly described.
Simple Coppice. This is a system of management wherein all the stand is cut and the restocking of the area is secured by sprouts from the old stumps. Under this system the stand should be cut at an age not to exceed twenty-five years and preferably about fifteen years, although this is usually impossible from a commercial standpoint. The cutting should be done in the late fall, winter or early spring. The stumps should be cut low, smooth and slanting so as to shed water and prevent decay. After a time under this system the sprouting capacity of the stump is greatly reduced and arrangement must be made to secure new individuals either by direct seeding or by planting.
Pole Wood Coppice. This system involves the leaving of certain trees until they reach the pole wood stage and are suitable for such products as ties, poles, etc. It is a favorite method of handling woodlots.
Pole Wood Standards. This system involves the leaving of a certain few trees until they are of large size. Such trees should usually be from the seed.
In the management of the woodland, it will be necessary to make several cuttings before the final cutting at the end of the rotation, usually one or two. A thinning may early become necessary to give the best specimens a better chance for growth. Sometimes two thinnings may be required. Often a thinning may be required to secure reproduction by opening up the forest cover and exposing the ground so that young growth may have the opportunity to get started.
In the final cutting, when all or the major part of the crop is cut, the material should be removed from the ground as rapidly as possible and the brush disposed of when practical. The disposal of brush will usually take the form of lopping the limbs from the tops and scattering them, so as to secure early decay of the waste material. Sometimes the brush may be advantageously piled and burned.
CONCLUSION.
No attempt has been made in this bulletin to deal exhaustively with the woodlot problem. The desire has been to point the way for the improvement of the woodlots in Kentucky. Individual cases deserve specific consideration, and only the main features of the proposition have been touched upon. The State Forester will cheerfully answer by mail all questions relating to this subject so far as it is possible to do so, and will give such personal advice and direction as the time at his disposal and the circumstances warrant. A list of books, bulletins and articles treating this subject is appended for those who desire to go more deeply into the matter than is possible in a publication of this character. The illustrations are from photographs loaned by the Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
Akerman, A. Practical protection and improvement of the farm woodlot, illustrated. (Bailey, L. H. Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, 1907, v. 2: 330–33.)