The Rural Voice, 2003-10, Page 22A truckload of rock elm, some trunks 90 feet long, is on its way to the
Collingwood Shipyards in 1952.
that are ready to be cut whenever a
harvest is taken. Even a couple of
trees per acre at 300-400 board feet
each provides a good per acre
income, he says.
Scott stops by one of his favourite
maples that stands tall and straight,
stretching up perhaps 50 feet to the
first limb. He takes out a caliper that
shows the tree measures 29 inches at
18 inches above the ground. Taking
out a chart he shows that at that
measure, there would be 508 board
feet of lumber. "At veneer log rates
this could be a $1,000 tree," he says.
The extra girth of the tree shows
the value of letting trees reach their
potential past the minimum -diameter
cutting limits in municipal tree
bylaws, he says. A 20 -inch diameter
tree would yield only 370 board feet.
Often a tree can put on much more
wood per year after it reaches the
minimum diameter limit than before.
Being a beef farmer used to
measuring performance of his
1. Do you have a woodlot on your farm?
2. Would you like to meet others with similar interests?
3. Would you like to learn more about how to care for
your woodlot?
4. Would you like to learn more about how to use your
woodlot for better financial rewards?
The Grey and Bruce Woodlot Associations
are here to help private landowners
manage their woodlots
by providing information to members.
Further details are available by contacting:
Joe Watson
519-371-8468
Grey County
Woodlot
Association
Forest
for the Future
Craig Todd
519-371-8465
Bruce County
Woodlot
Association
18 THE RURAL VOICE
animals, he has always had a goal to
select a number of trees and measure
them regularly to track their
performance.
"I think you'd find that there are
trees that perform and trees that don't
perform," he says.
He has taken a lot of advice on
management over the years from
Alan Craig, who operated Craig
Sawmill in Auburn until it closed two
years ago. From him he learned that a
Yield from Scotts'
100 -acre woodlot
Year
of cut
1964
1966
1969
1972
1977
1981
1988
1992
1995
1998
2000
Total
Yield in
board feet
8,433
7,860
2,036
18,817
157,197
Sold as bush lot
71,532
175,446
13,849
31,849
49,588
536,018
Buyer
Craig's
Craig's
Craig's
Dungey
Dungey
Craig's
Craig's
Craig's
Craig's
Craig's
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SERVICES
• Buyers of standing timber
l,
• Tree marking and
woodlot management
Firewood...
..large or small amounts.
Log length or split.
519-229-8685
1st Choice
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• Woodlot management
planning
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• Experienced in theory
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