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--------=_MB4064A131-8B8A-41EE-B9B6-E57EC2F88656 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear All, In the winter of about 1942-43, when dad was just back from overseas= =20 with a hernia and medical discharge, he started cutting firewood in an=20 area now still in woodland with the intent to break it for farmland. He=20 cut what he could with an axe and I went down after school and on=20 Saturdays to work one end of the crosscut saw. At my urging he reserved=20 about 2 acres of this as woodland. The SE 3/4 of this is former=20 farmland on which tree growth was and still is impressive. We=20 selectively cut White Pine that winter using horse and snig road. A=20 brother cut everything worth cutting and extracted logs by tractor and=20 bunt in about 1954 and I had it selectively logged in 2002 and again in=20 2017 so the remaining trees could grow well. And after being logged four times since 1942 there is still a fairly= =20 dense stand of Pine there as well as a smattering of mostly young=20 hardwood and a dense windbreak along the exposed south side. It has gradually dawned on me that the combination of Cornwallis=20 Sandy loam for deep rooting, upper profile disturbance (cleared at some=20 point in the past) and intensive management may explain this impressive=20 productivity. [By way of background this patch, and much more, was woodland when=20 Grandfather Webster, born 1854 hunted there when young because he told=20 dad how surprised he was to find, in woods, remnants of a sled road=20 which led to a small clearing with a very large apple tree on the south=20 side. So that upper profile disturbance goes back to at least 1820. That=20 clearing {a dooryard} was still there in 1939 and the apple tree remains=20 were then becoming soil.] By way of contrast the very good Morristown Loam soil at North=20 Alton, when limited by bonsai profile conditions, can take 50 years to=20 grow a runt spruce of zero DBH. Consequently I have become a fan of forest soil improvement/ upper=20 profile disturbance with priority given to sites where most improvement=20 at minimum risk/cost can be expected. Happy New Year yt, DW, Kentville --------=_MB4064A131-8B8A-41EE-B9B6-E57EC2F88656 Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <?xml version=3D"1.0" encoding=3D"utf-16"?><html><head> <style id=3D"css_styles"><![CDATA[ blockquote.cite { margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 10px;= padding-right:0px; border-left: 1px solid #cccccc } blockquote.cite2 {margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 10px;= padding-right:0px; border-left: 1px solid #cccccc; margin-top: 3px; padding= -top: 0px; } a img { border: 0px; } ol, ul { list-style-position: inside }=20 body { font-family: Segoe UI; font-size: 12pt; } ]]></style> </head> <body>Dear All,<div>=C2=A0 =C2=A0 In the winter of about 1942-43, when dad= was just back from overseas with a hernia and medical discharge, he started = cutting firewood in an area now still in woodland with the intent to break = it for farmland. He cut what he could with an axe and I went down after sc= hool and on Saturdays to work one end of the crosscut saw. At my urging he= reserved about 2 acres of this as woodland.=C2=A0 The SE 3/4 of this is for= mer farmland on which tree growth was and still is impressive. We selective= ly cut White Pine that winter using horse and snig road. A brother cut ever= ything worth cutting and extracted logs by tractor and bunt in about 1954 a= nd I had it selectively logged in 2002 and again in 2017 so the remaining t= rees could grow well. <br />=C2=A0 =C2=A0 And after being logged four times = since 1942 there is still a fairly dense stand of Pine there as well as a= smattering of mostly young hardwood and a dense windbreak along the exposed = south side.<br />=C2=A0 =C2=A0 It has gradually dawned on me that the comb= ination of Cornwallis Sandy loam for deep rooting, upper profile disturbanc= e (cleared at some point in the past) and intensive management may explain= this impressive productivity.<br />=C2=A0 =C2=A0 [By way of background this = patch, and much more, was woodland when Grandfather Webster, born 1854 hun= ted there when young because he told dad how surprised he was to find, in w= oods, remnants of a sled road which led to a small clearing with a very lar= ge apple tree on the south side. So that upper profile disturbance goes bac= k to at least 1820. That clearing {a dooryard} was still there in 1939 and= the apple tree remains were then becoming soil.]<br /><br />=C2=A0 =C2=A0 B= y way of contrast the very good Morristown Loam soil at North Alton, when l= imited by bonsai profile conditions, can take 50 years to grow a runt spruc= e of zero DBH.<br /><br />=C2=A0=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Consequently I have become a= fan of forest soil improvement/ upper profile disturbance with priority giv= en to sites where most improvement at minimum risk/cost can be expected.=C2= =A0</div><div>Happy New Year</div><div>yt, DW, Kentville<br />=C2=A0</div><= /body></html> --------=_MB4064A131-8B8A-41EE-B9B6-E57EC2F88656--
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