The New York Forest Owner - Volume 23 Number 5 by Jim Minor

.,rr楼 0 ~orest wner A PUBLICATION

OF THE NEW YORK FOREST OWNERS

Federal Taxation You said you wanted something more definitive relative to the small woodlar.d owner and federal tax codes, since most materials seem to be written for the large forestry business. On my 150 acres, had I not been able to deduct expenses (vs. capitalization, as proposed), it would have been all outgo and no income, just comparing sales with expenses the way the big companies do. 1980 included a $1,000 timber sale and 1984 inluded a $500 firewood sale. Figures on my chart are taken from the partnership tax returns and capital gains do not even enter the picture. While I did not have a net profit, the fact that I could deduct my share of theloss from my personal income makes it seem like a profit.

Association Officers ASSOCIATION

Richard E. Garrett, President 1261 Apulia Road, Lafayette, NY 13084 Norman E. Richards, 1st Vice President 156 Westminster Ave., Syracuse, NY 13210 Harold Petrie, 2nd Vice President RD 1, Box 117, Parish, NY 13131 Robert M. Sand, Secretary Cotton Hanlon, Inc., Cayuta, NY 14824 Stuart McCarty, Treasurer 4300 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618 Howard O. Ward, Assistant

IN THE ... le t t e r s posted

MAILBOX &

passed

... along

- Frank Lesniewski Northeost Market Manager Southern Forest Products Assoc. 242 May Ave., Schenectedy,NY 12303 518-355-4455

240 Owego Street, Candor, NY 13743 George Mitchell, Membership Secretary Box 69, Old Forge, NY 13420 Thomas A. Conklin, Director 10 Artillery Lane, 路Baldwinsville, NY 13027

- Howard O. Ward Candor, NY

More on Penta I noticed in the August issue a question about an alternative to Pentachlorophenol and use of treated wood for foundations. The sale of Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)treated wood has been booming across New York State, sold under the brand names of Osmose, Wolmanized, Oxcel, Greenwood, Supatimber, to mention a few. Uses of treated wood are limitless, save for countertops, cutting boards andbee hives. The chemical used to preserve the wood is non-leachable; however, please keep in mind that scraps should not be burned, but disposed of via trash collection or burial. Due to the lack of competitive block suppliers and masons in rural New York State, coupled with the desire of rural New Yorkers to do their own carpentry (eliminating the masonry trade),we've seen a boom in Permanent Wood Foundation sales. This treated lumber and plywood foundation system is approved by the New York State Building Code and requires only carpentry labor to build. For more information, please write me...

Treasurer

Richard J. Fox, Director RD 3, Dresserville Road Moravia, NY 13118

Vacuum Flow For several years, the Miner Institute at Chazy, New York, has cooperated in a research project comparing gravity flow sap collection to one which operates on vacuum. Once again in 1985 the vacuum operated system outperformed the non-vacuum syste to a considerable degree. We averaged 20.9 gallons of sap per tap on the vacuum system and 10.6 gallons on the gravity system. Sugar content was somewhat higher with the vacuum system, too.

cumulated growing degree days from May 1 through August 16 were 1,327 for 1985; 1,480 for 1984;1,490 for 1983;and 1,504for the ten year average.

- Loren Parker Ev Thomas William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institure Chazy, NY

Horse Logging A seven-day advanced course in timber harvesting for people with some background in forestry andlor draft horses will be held Sunday October 20 through Saturday October 26 in Massachusetts. The $300 registration fee pays for sessions on woodlot-management felling, skidding and decking with horses, scaling, marketing, use and maintenance of chainsaws and hand tools, selecting and training horses, and safety. It also covers room and board and all necessary equipment and transportation. The progrm is limited to ten people.

Seed Handbook We do have the book entitled Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States, USDA Handbook Number 450 (Forest Service)Stock Number 001-000-02902-9, however it costs $24 and advance payment is required. -Superintendent of Documents US Govt. Printing Office Washington, DC Growing Degree Days We continue to remain about 200 growing degree days behind the long term average at Ithaca. Ac-

- Joseph C. Dell, Jr. Regional Extension Specialist Ithaca, NY [Editor's note: I wonder what this means to oaks, hemlocks, ragweed or even mourning doves or deer.]

- Toby Bashaw Cabot Farm 110 Larch Row Wenham, Mass 01984 (tel. 617-468-2310)

John H. Hamel Box L, 3805 Sweet Road Jamesville, NY 13078 J. Morgan Heussler, Director 900 Porterville Road East Aurora, NY 14052 Allen F. Horn, Director 3978 Pompey Center Road Manlius, NY 13104 William H. Lynch, [r., Director 100 Whitestone Drive Syracuse, NY 13215 Earl Pfarner, Director Allen Road, Chaffee, NY 14030 Alec C. Proskine, Director 9370 Congress Road Trumansburg, NY 14886 A.W. Roberts, [r., Director 981 Route 222, Cortland, NY 13045 Evelyn Stock, Director Ike Dixon Road Camillus, NY 13031 Lloyd C. Strombeck, Director 57 Main Street, Owego, NY 13827 Wesley E. Suhr, Director Ranger School. Wanakena, NY 13695

Materials submitted for publication should be addressed to: Alan Knight, Editor, ny Forest Owner, 96 Targosh Road, Candor, NY 13743. Written materials, photos, and art work are invited. Please address all membership and change of address requests to membership secretary.

n.y. Forest Owner

EDITORIAL A fine, old tree has fallen in the forest. Dave Hanaburgh is dead. It seems like only yesterday that he and I shared hotel rooms in the Alpine countries of Europe and hiked the streets of Munich, searching for souvenirs for friends back home. It was then that I learned one of his first clients as a consulting forester had been the Roosevelts of Hyde Park. It was then that I learned he had suffered the horrors of the Anzio beach invasion. He didn't talk about those things much. You had to be around him awhile so that it could come out gradually.

NYFOA tour to the United Kingdom. Dave Hanaburgh gave that to us, just a year ago. Indeed, Dave Hanaburgh gave us NYFOA. He was one of its founders, twice president, ever involved. There are those who lately say that NYFOA must become more than a social club if it is to ever achieve its potential of stimulating private forest management. I, myself, have been one to say that. But the passing of Dave Hanaburgh is a sad reminder that NYFOA is and must always be to some degree a social club, bound tight by the vines of friendship.

and woodcock ("Alder Ground") are available and would make fine companions on your wall. Prices include first class postage

Order Form Yes, please send me ...

[ 1 print

of "Bitternut Ridge" $65

OUR COVER

David

Hanaburgh

That is, of course, one of the chief values of the New York Forest Owners Association: taking time to be with those who share your interest in forests. Without NYFOA, I would never have known Dave Hanaburgh. Without NYFOA, there would be no scrapbook on the table commemorating the

If Stephen R. Smith isn't as famous as John James Audubon or Roger Tory Peterson, just wait. He will be. Readers of the Forest Owner can order prints of this other works by the talented Mr. Smith by using the coupon below. Here are the details: 'Bitternut Ridge,' (this illustration of the turkeys), signed and numbered, 20' by 26', is $65. A 'remarked' print, retouched to give it a one-of-a-kind characteristic, is $115. Add $80 for optional mounting and framing. Equally excellent paintings of ruffed grouse ("May-Apple Prince")

[1a

"remarked" print of "Bitternut Ridge" ... $115

[ 1 Please

have my print mounted and framed ...$80 extra

Total amount

included ... $

[ 1 please send me information about your other wildlife paintings. Send your check, payable to Stephen R. Smith, to 47 Ellis Avenue, Jamestown, NY 14701 Name

Phone Address

City State/Zip

OCTOBER

1985

A report from Evan and Betty James ...

Notice We must announce that the NYFOA tour to New Zealand must be postponed. We had no idea that Halley's comet would cause New Zealand's hotels and airlines to fill so. We will notify all members and especially those who have indicated their interest just as soon as new plans jell. -Alan and Nancy Knight

Woods Walks 'Something New at Each One' Thirty-nine enthusiastic woods walkers gathered at our tree farm on July 20th, 1985, for the third NYFOA woods walk of the year. The delegation was headed by then-president Mary McCarty, Treasurer Stuart McCarty, and Directors Morgan Heussler and Earl Pfarner. Bruce Robinson, a private forestry consultant and former DEC woodlot management specialist, led the morning walk through plantation stands of spruce, red pine and Scotch pine. Although acknowledging that the Scotch pine plantings originally recommnded by the State were a mistake, he said that such plantations could still have a beneficial result, for as the Scotch pines give out, they furnish an ideal starting ground for black cherry and maple, the 'home' trees of western New York. In the afternoon, Bruce led the walk into hardwood stands of maple, beech, and ash, pointing out the need for wise woodlot management: the removal of wolf trees to afford sunlight and air to new growth; the selective thinning of clump trees to expand and grow; the encouragement that can be given to future

growth while reaping the benefits now of timber and firewood harvests; or to secure greater wildlife abundance. Those attending this woods walk, in addition to those already mentioned, were Ed Slocum, Don and Ruth Munson, Bill and Jane Bernatovich, Art and Bessie Kibbe, Jean and Rich Fishburn, Pat Schuse, Tom Graber, Dick Fletcher, J.Y Hamilton, John Knight, Paul Manning, Oliver Williams, LaVern Frey, Sandy and Judy Vreeland, Edwin Smith, George Blackburn, Rita Hammond, John and Anne Hojnacki, Rose Anne Hojnacki, Terry Thomas, Norm Gilbert, and four unidentified woods walkers who left at the lunch break before signing in. The woods walk is a valuable tool of the New York Forest Owners Association, and as Mary McCarty expressed it, 'Even though we have been on a dozen woods walks, we have learned something new from each one.' In addition, there are new faces at each walk, new conditions, and lots of great outdoors! .:.

Forest Owner Signs Now Available These rugged metal signs are ideal for tacking on your barn door or on gate posts by your tree farm driveway. They are twelve inches by twelve inches, bright yellow with green lettering. Cost is $2 apiece, plus handling. Send your check, payable to NYFOA, to Stuart McCarty, 4300 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. Please send me signs. Enclosed is my check for $ . (Number of signs times $2, plus $1.75 for postage and handling) Name Street Town/City

Zip

n.y. Forest Owner

Markets Report

lbmorrow's Forests

BegIn Here.

This is the sign of the future for American Forestry. It indicates one of the more than 50,000 Tree Farms being managed by private landowners for the growing and harvesting of forest crops. A Tree Farm is not just a matter of planting trees, or having 10 acres or more of woodland. Tree Farmers actively manage their forests growing and harvesting crops of trees; protecting the land from fire, insects, disease and destructive grazing. They provide watershed protection, better food and habitat for wildlife, and opportunities for outdoor recreation. And it is the Tree Farmer who will make possible the lumber, wood fiber and other natural resources Am~rica needs for tomorrow's growth. If you have 10 acres or more of woodland, why not send for information on this valuable program? Tree Farms payoff for their owners and for our country.

r-----------------, Alan Scouten, Chm. c/o Georqia-Pacific Corp. Center Street, Box 338 Lyons Falls, NY 13368 I am interested in additional information on how I can manage my woodlands to meet Tree Farm Standards.

Address

City

Miriam C. Rider Albany, NY

Francis Benton Cato, NY

Troy Ramage Masonville, NY

Charles Hatfield Freeville, NY

Esther Becker Holland, NY

Murray Wagner Colden, NY

Glenn Morse Auburn, NY

Dennis Perham Schenectedy, NY

John and Marie Hojnacki Buffalo, NY

Phil Munson Croton, NY

John Weissinger Etna, NY

Robert Bevier Moravia, NY

Camp Director YMCA Auburn,

Jim Sollick Locke, NY

Keith Hatfield Scipio Center, NY

John Schramm Moravia, NY

Wagner Millwork Owego, NY

Gary Hill Whitehall,

George Lawrence, Groton, NY

best advice for those who have marketable timber may be to wait.' Since red oak seems to be the barometric species, here is a range of prices reportedly paid. Vermont, June: a low of $75 a thousand (International Rule); most prices in the $100 to $200 range; a few as high as $240, $348, and even $425. New York, July, quoting International rule, and only the most common prices: a low of $120 in the Herkimer County area; not much better in the belt from Steuben County north to Lake Ontario; $200 through Tug Hill and north to St. Lawrence County; strongest ($248) in extreme western New York. Forecon consulting forestry company reports 1985 averages (in Doyle Rule)of $100 for red oak in western New York, $250 in central and northern Pennsylvania, and $150 in central and northern New York. Forecon's figures show much stronger prices for black cherry in 1985. The Catskill Forestry Association quoted red oak prices in its September newsletter, in International rule, of $225 to $325 for sawlogs and $475 to $625 for logs going for veneer. +

New Members

David Palmer Union Springs,

Name Phone

After a late spring and summer of sluggish demand, timber prices seem to have been picking up again by late September. Forestry consultant Carl Bauer, who maintains offices in several locations in western, central, and northern NY, as well as in PA indicated that 'recent Forecon timber sales demonstrated a renewed interest for stumpage ... Red oak was the largest export item in both sawlogs and lumber. The ash market, which generally follows red oak trends, stagnated due to a tremendous amount of logs available. An upward trend in demand and price of timber is expected.' Nonetheless, an August report from the University of Vermont says, 'The trend of pessimism that began a year ago continues. Nearly half those buyers and consultants who offered an opinion of the future say that prices will likely decline this fall Why? No one seems to know exactly, although a strong dollar on foreign markets, Canadian imports, and a stalled economy have been implicated. Although it is likely things will pick up somewhat this fall due to seasonal demand, the view of those who know the market is particularly bleak in spite of this. The

Jr.

Farms

Bruce E. Robinson Jamestown, NY

-----------

L~~~~ OCTOBER

1985

J 5

WOOD CHIPS Can Heat, Earn More for Farmers by Alan Knight

Tree farmers might be dollars ahead if they burned wood chips instead of cordwood. And if Rainer Langstedt has his way one day, they will be selling chips profitably, too. Of course, Langstedt wants to sell more of his Finnish Valby chippers. He runs Northeast Implement Corporation in Spencer, New York. But even if you take away the sales pitch, the idea is intriguing. According to Finnish research reports translated by Langstedt, wood chips burn at 65% - 70% efficiency while cordwood burns at only 50% efficiency. Some boiler manufacturers claim as high as 80% efficiency for chips. This higher efficiency rating is due to the increased surface area, says Langstedt. Efficiency in burning isn't half the story. The real gain may lie in the ease with which wood burning with chips can be mechanized. The Langstedt home has a new chip-fired boiler mechanically fueled by an auger. Every 12 hours the Langstedts fill the 30 cubic foot bin, burning as little as 130 pounds of chips per day in mild weather, about 200 pounds in cold weather. The fire will actually go for 18 hours on one binful.

;;.!'.,,'

Rainer Langstedt says small chips from this chipper can burn more efficiently than cordwood and can be mechanized. too.

A thermostat tells the auger when to feed the boiler more chips, while a timer switch stands ready to override every five minutes with a small dash of chip fuel, just enough to keep the fire burning if the thermostat hasn't called for more chips. Another auger or conveyor through the exterior wall of the building can be used to load the chip bin, again with the idea of mechanizing the wood handling as much as possible. Langstedt says it takes two people about three hours to chip one month's supply of chips from slabwood. The Valby chipper will take chips down to a size of slightly less than one-half inch and blow them into his old roof-covered dump truck. Then he parks his truck outside his boiler room. These small chips are best for the auger, he says. The Valby chipper is what is called a disk chipper, as opposed to the more common drum chipper. Wood is rammed against the face of the disk, rather than the circumference. 'It is the same difference as that between a disk sander and the cutting edge of a table saw. The drum chipper cuts chips that are curved banana shaped, Longstedt calls them - and prone to bridging in the bin, causing flow problems.

What excites Rainer Langstedt so much about a woodchip burning system is that farmers are uniquely suited to it, in his opinion. They have woodlots. They have tractors and many have self-unloading wagons. Many people who now balk at fiddling with wood stoves and having sooty living rooms, burn-scarred knuckles and splinters might take a new look at wood fuel that is neat and mechanized. He envisions a group of about ten farmers getting together to buy one chipper. Each farmer would have his own set of chipper knives, though, to use and care for. The farmers could produce their easilymechanized chip fuel in this way and even sell chips to nonfarm neighbors and small businesses. The imported boiler (a Topi Pamppi, from Valmistaja, 27100 Eurajoki, Finland) cost Rainer Langstedt about $2,000, but he thinks equally good and cheaper ones could be made here. He has another $300 invested in electronic controls it could cost $4,500 for the chipper. That's not cheap, but the chipper is not intended to sit around. It is intended to work and earn money for the farm.

,"""o~:'", The chip bin and auger can be rolled back

to allow for servicing or cleaning.

n.y. Forest Owner

Administration's Tax Axe Unpopular With Many Forestry Officials

It Is Not Enough To Own a Forest.

from the Forest Industries Committee on Taxation ... For timber growers the Administration's tax proposal is neither fair nor simple. And rather than encouraging growth, it would result in a decline in our nation's timber resources. The proposal would change current law, which permits a taxpayer to deduct annually the costs of (1) management of timber after the seedlings are established, (2) property taxes, and (3) interest, to require the capitalization of all such costs. Further, it would repeal capital gain treatment for timber, which for more than the last 40 years has been available to timber growers regardless of how they dispose of their timber. Finally, it would repeal a current law provision that permits small timber owners to amortize over 84 months up to $10,000 of reforestation expenses annually and to claim a 10% investment tax credit thereon. These proposals ignore the

'For the smaller timber owner, records and computations would increase exponentially. ' historic response that the timber supply has shown federal tax policy. Prior to 1944, the year in which the capital gain provisions that the Administration is now proposing to repeal were enacted, the annual supply of timber was decreasing annually. Since that time, however, the nation's inventory of standing timber has increased by more than 195 billion cubic feet, with new planOCTOBER

1985

ting now in the hundreds each year.

of millions

It is ironic that the Administration's proposal would restore the tax treatment of timber to that which existed prior to 1944 at a time when our nation's timber needs are increasing. Indeed, the United States Forest Service has projected a shortage beginning in the late 1980s that by 2030 will increase to 3.9 billion cubic feet. Additionally, adoption of the tax proposals would further jeopardize the role that forest products play in international trade and our balance of payments. Historically, timber has been one of our nation's leading exports. By making investments in timber less attractive, the proposals would further jeopardize this role. It is difficult to attract capital investment to timber ($15 billion are needed) because of the low rate of return and the unique risks involved. The proposals would make it even more difficult. And the proposal is unfair to the hundreds of thousnds of timber owners who planted timber relying on capital gain treatment upon its harvest. Requiring the capitalization of timber management expenses and carrying costs unfairly singles out investments in timber from investments in all assets for onerous treatment. Finally, the Administration's proposal does not promote simplicity. Especially for the smaller timber owner, the required records and computations would increase exponentially. Therefore, we recommend retaining the existing timber capital gains treatment, the present treatment of timber management expenses and carrying costs, and the present incentives for reforestation. -:.

The challenge is to nurture it, to fulfilla destiny of beauty, productivity, and family pride ... while turning enough dollars over to hang on to it. But how? There are no easy answers, only ideas to ponder by the woodstove. That's what NYFOA is all about: ideas, family pride in forest management, and sharing of dreams. Through regular issues of The Forest Owner magazine, frequent seminars and woods walks in one another's woodlots, and extended tours to extend the fellowship and learning in foreign lands, members of the New York Forest Owners Association are growing as surely as the trees in their woodlots.

loin!

Check your preferred membership option: [ 1 Regular - $10 [ 1 Family - $15 [ 1 Contributing - $16-100 [ 1 Supporting - over $101 Send checks payable to:

New York Forest Owners Association Post Office Box 69, Old Forge, New York 1342()-()()69 Yes, I'd like to learn more about The New York Forest Owners Association and how to get more out of my woodlands. Name

Phone Address

Oty

State/Zip

,-.-

Ben Franklin's Favorite Hollywood is a long way from the hills of New York's southern tier. Maybe that explains how the wild turkey came to be such a derisive term for a fool. Norman Lear and the sitcom writers of California never tried to stalk Meleagris gallop avo on Cross country skis. Alan AIda must never have drawn a bead on a Tom as he rocketed through the beeches of Shindagin Hollow. Indeed, a day of pitting the human mind against Ben Franklin's choice for the national bird, and the choice of words becomes laughable. Call me a turkey and I shall thank you for the compliment for I must be handsome, cunning, and adaptable. GLISTENING I remember well the day I finally overtook a flock on my skis. Three miles from home, beyond the last cornfield unharvested in clay soil, my tracks crossed theirs. It looked like ten or it looked like fifty. The way their tracks crisscrossed one another like those of chickens in a pen, these birds had been roosting here in the white pine. Their droppings gave that away, and their tracks seemed to go nowhere but in circles. I circled, too, in a spiralling circle from the pines, trying to find a route they had taken away from their yard. By trial and error, by guess and by gosh, I zigzagged through the second growth aspens and thornapples to the slope that ran up through the oaks and beeches to the higher hay field. The flash was as bright as the noon sun on the pond, jerking my eye up the logging road to where they were browsing. Sunlight flickered, showing off the most beautiful blacks, blues, and purples I will ever see. The turkey has to be smart to survive with those flashing feathers. He is quick, too. Before I could even whisper to the dog, they were gone, silently trotting through the heavy, wet snow and out of danger. The dog, her eyes four feet lower than mine, hasn't seen them yet. My feet, two feet slower than hers, hasn't 8

caught them yet. HISTORY The department of natural resources at Cornell University says the eastern wild turkey ranged throughout New York State south of the Adirondack Mountains in early colonial times. It was eliminated by the mid-1800s because of agricultural developmet, extensive logging of hardwoods, introduction of domestic poultry diseases, and unlimited hunting. As agriculture developed and gave land back to forest, especially across the New York - Pennsylvania border, turkey habitat regrew. Turkeys first reappeared in Cattauraugus County

Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. These birds have done remarkably well, with birds becoming well established in what had been considered maginal habitats. Wild turkeys are now firmly established in every county south of the New York thruway from Buffalo to Albany and east of the Hudson River from Washington to Putnam County. HABITAT Forestland owners will want to know something about habitat. What sort of woodland environment favors the wild turkey?

The Turkey

in the late 1940s, natural immigrants from Pennsylvania. The New York Conservation Department released over 3,000 birds in the 1950s, but this effort was later considered a failure. The birds were reared in captivity and seemed unable to cope with the wild environment. Since then, another 1,325 wild turkeys have been trapped in the wild and moved to potential ranged in New York, Vermont,

The adaptability of wild turkey to a wide range of conditions in New York was unexpected. Until recently, wildlife biologists assumed that turkeys could only survive in extensive stands of fully mature hardwood. Now it seems turkeys can expand into range that is only 30% forest. Hardwood stands need only be mature enough to supply nuts (mast, biologists like to call it) and have a closed canopy that shades out n.y. Forest Owner

most ground cover. Turkeys will avoid ground cover. At least 10% of the total range may need to consist of forest openings that can provide insect food for young birds, Grasses and clovers also can produce nutritious shoots, flowers, and seeds. Active agricultural land can be an important component of turkey range. Unharvested corn and fruits are readily eaten during winter shortages of natural foods. Turkeys will eat a wide assortment of mast foods, and a wide variety is also desirable from the standpoint of insuring against a crop failure of any one species. MANAGEMENT Certain land use practices can improve or maintain good turkey range. Selective logging is not harmful to turkeys if enough young, mastproducing trees remain. Clear cutting small blocs of timber within

large stands can be good by providing forest openings where poults can find insect foods. Thinning dense, pole-size stands opens up the understory which increases visibility and promotes faster maturity of remaining mast trees. Trails, abandoned roads, utility rights-of-way, and logging headers can provide enough open habitat in many cases. Where practical, mowing these clearings every three to five years will set backsuccesssion and promote the growth of perenials that provide seeds and berries. When necessary, new clearings should be a least a half acre and round or square in shape to allow maximum sun penetration. Sites with disturbed ground cover generally must be limed and fertilized before planting grasses of clovers. Hens like to nest within a few hundred yards of clearings, so widely dispersed clearings reduce competi-

tion for nesting sites. Authors of the Cornell University pamphlet on the wild turkey write, 'A strutting tom pompously displaying for the attention of hens is one of the most thrilling and beautiful performances found in nature. The setting; a quiet, mature hardwood stand; the season: mid spring, as the forest stirs back to life after a long winter; the time: early morning on a mild, calm day. It is a truly memorable experience for all who witness it.' As forest owners, you own the stage, and you've already paid for the tickets. Nature provides the actors. Hope you enjoy the show! +!+ Adapted by Alan Knight in part from The Eastern Wild Turkey by Cornell University staff members Gary Goff, Daniel Decker, John Kelley, and Ronald Howard.

POSTED HUNTING, FISHING OR

TRESPASSING FOR ANY PURPOSE

STRICTLY FORBIDDEN VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED YOUR NAME

Signs are 11" x 12". Printing guaranteed not to rub off. Call or write for free sample. Colonial Poster Company 620 So. Columbus Ave. Dept. FO

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Mt. Vernon, N.Y. 10550

OCTOBER 1985

Drafthorsernen

Learn Logging by Gary Sargent

On June 1 and 2, 1985, a logging workshop was held at the Arnot Forest, near Ithaca, New York, as a joint venture of Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources and the New York State Draft Horse Club. The Arnot Forest is a 4,000acre teaching and research facility. Different areas of forest are managed to demonstrate different things: woodland management, wildlife, sugarbush, and timber management, as well as soil conservation. Located at the site are a lodge and cabins where students, faculty, and 4-H youngsters may stay for seminars. Several members of the Draft Horse Club had expressed an interest in having a hands-on session to demonstrate the feasibility and limitations of using draft horses in the woods. A suitable place had to be found that could accommodate the horses and the people, and the Arnot facility proved to be ideal, pro-

vi ding the terrain Northeast.

so typical of the

The prime mover in organizing the event was Bill Tutton, of Lansing, NY, and his friend and logging partner Dierk TerLouw. SMALL GROUP The group, limited to 15 students to allow adequate hands-on experience, met Friday night, May 31, to register and to get acquainted. Saturday morning, after a 7 a.m. breakfast ably provided by Bob Conley and family (as were all our meals), we assembled to see in the forest the equipment we would be using - two wagons, a sled, a forecart, a logging cart, and several types of hooks and chains. As an example, our instructors use a choker chain, a 1/4 inch high-test chain about 7 feet long with a 2 inch ring at one end and a 1/4 inch rod about

8 inches long at the other end, acting like a needle to spear the ring. The rod pushes under the log easier than a hook. Female links or grab hooks are attached to the evener; the chain is set into the grabhook on the evener after being wrapped around the log. BELGIANS There were two teams of Belgians, one provided by Bill Tutton and the other by Loran Waite; three Percherons owned by Dierk TerLouw that were used as a pair by Dierk and as a single by Omar Gleason. Three mules were provided by Tom Hewitt and driven singly or as a team by him and a helper, Jim Sollie. Two or three students were assigned to an instructor and his horses. David Parmiter also assisted the teamsters. We worked two different locations during the workshop. One area was a 50 year old stand of red pine that

Veterinarian Jeff Jamison from Guelph, Ontario, skidding a red pine log with Dierk TerLouw's Percheron.

,--

Tom Hewitt with his mules and Loran Waite and his Belgians pulling a 41 foot ash log weighing approximately 4,400 lb. up a 15% grade.

had been thinned twice in recent years. This spring, high winds and an ice storm uprooted most of the pines in a five acre area. Our job was to skid the logs out to a yarding area for later loading. The terrain was relatively level or a slight downhill skid. However, there was a tangle of trees and slash, so part of the training was to devise the best way to skid logs out of the jumbled mess. Under normal horse logging, the cutters would have felled the trees in a better pattern for skidding. The other area we worked was a typical hardwood stand of ash, maple, basswood, beech, and hickory in which some blowdowns had occurred with some additional thinning. The terrain here was more hilly, with the skid road on a 20 degree of greater up-grade. To obtain diverse instruction, the students were rotated through the different teams and instructors. We were able to note the differences between the teams in their manners and ability to maneuver the logs.

Saturday morning, Beth Rose and I worked the mules in the red pines and in the afternoon we worked the Belgian and Percheron teams in the hardwoods. We were instructed on proper harnessing and driving, proper ways to approach and prepare the logs to be skidded, and then the actual hooking and skidding, always with the idea of safety foremost. We were shown how to assess which side of the log to stand on when skidding and to constantly be looking ahead for obstacles and problems in order to remain on top of the situation. We loaded ash and maple logs on the wagon and then used four horses to pull the wagon up the grade. Logs were skidded using a sled, a logging cart, and on the ground to demonstrate the differences in power needed to skid logs each way. EVENINGS Saturday night after dinner, Glen Izard, the president of the New York Draft Horse Club, welcomed the logging students and several other speakers who preceded a panel discussion with a briefing on the role of Cornell Cooperative Extention and Arnot Forest. During the panel discussion, many of the questions had to do with conformation of draft horses, proper feeding, costs involved in starting a horse-logging business, and the

economics of logging with horses. The concensus of the panel was that horse logging would only pay if skidding were kept to less than 1,000 feet and done in conjunction with mechanical skidders for longer hauls. Horses could work in the woods, skidding to the logging roads, where mechanical skidders could take over. Next day, after more training sessions, some of us with Loren Waite's Belgians and Tom Hewitt's three mules in tandem pulled out an ash log that had been blown over but had hung up in some other trees. We cut the tree through at the base. With the animals hooked to it, it was pulled free of the stump, but it went into the ground about a foot. We cut it through again. With the three mules in the lead (about 800 pounds each) and the Belgians behind (1,800 pounds each), the log was pulled down, kidded out to the skid road, and then pulled up a grade to the landing. The ash tree was 41 feet long, averaged 18 inches in diameter, and was calculated to weigh 4,400 pounds! By the way, a 28 minute video tape showing all the horses and equipment working at the various areas of this training session is available by contacting Jim Baldwin, Morrison Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, telephone 607-256-4503 .â&#x20AC;˘ !. n.y. Forest Owner

OCTOBER

1985

Dick

Fox on Cayuga

Chapter

Chapter and Verse -

tion a humans can muster regardless of the person's rank or file. Therefore, any comment to this topic will be gratefully acknowledged, if forwarded to: NYFOA, Inc. Cayuga Chapter Box 1107, Moravia NY 13118 Att: TreesnBeesnWe

And then there's -

Some Smoke From Boonville The Greeting A short time ago the Migrants displaced the Natives from the forests by the use of civilizing Ownerisms of Aryan retempered Mediterranean genesis. The strange homina enthusiastically saved Native souls from spiritual and natural wildernesses by cover sing and convincing with magical and powerful sights and sounds. The Natives vacated their ancient estates or tried to make the apparitions go away, or learned. By way of re-versing and with a thought to the third alternative, the ny Forest Owner may be of service: Humanoids and trees have fared well together in water and fire harmony from some icy beginning on this latitude/longitude of the planet. Natives have become Owners, and Owners have become Natives, and both are welcomed into NYFOA's learning and economic community. Currently, the terrestrial description of New York includes much strange stone and many new grasses at the expnse of the forests. Extreme variation in combinations of ecological parameters could in short or long time yield all sand or all trees or ...? The most urgent and difficult topic of conversation is the civil planetary balance of new and old, plants and animals, chemical magic, spiritual conceptions, time, place, and us. The complexity of this equation demands as much communal atten-

We talked about the smoke, shoveling snow from the funny sidewalks, what kind of wood fueled the fires, too many dancing elbows, the price of saw chain, the girl's age and other data, the town's friendliness, the best man and/or machine, hurting heads in the late morning sun, a dead logger too young for many Boonvilles, and thoughts of ancient campfires too much for speech. The campfires, Saturday Nite, layered the Boonville Fairgrounds with a heavy haze of smoke despite the gentle breezes. No matter what carcinogens may be discovered in the combustible tree, our ancestors inhaled the tree spirits all their lives. I declare, therefore my genes are well programmed to tolerate some smoke. I'm not sure about mice. That programming does not necessarily include 20th century chemistry, and, of course, we live longer, some of us. Statistically, the question is moot, when we discount the value of modern medicine and appreciate the value of human neurosis. Chemistry kills some, saves others; spirits we drink or breathe will get us or won't sooner or later and, on balance, ... ? Many natives and owners were there from all over the place, even a farmer, just for Sunday, in between milkings. Wonder what spirit moves him to drive five hours every year? Thank you, Boonville. (I bet you're also glad it's only once a year.) ••.

FORESTRY • RECREATION CONSERVATION ECOLOGY SERVICES

OFFERED

FORECON'NC. •.• Timber Management Plans for the forest •.• Timber appraisals •.• Timber inventory •.• Timber marking •.• Timber marketing and sales •.• Capitol gains assistance an timber sales •.• Tree planting •.• Recreational development •.• Assistance with timber trespass •.• Boundary marking •.• Christmas tree management •.• Silviculture and timber stand improvement

•.• Logging engineering and harvesting •.• Cost and economic studies of forest operations •.• Environmental impact studies

Offices • 5 Genesee Street Avon, New York 14414 716/226-8330 • Rm. 311, Cortland Savings Bank Cortland, New York 13045 6071753-3113

• 109 Erie Street Edinboro, Pennsylvania 814/734-7051 • Crown Building 100 E. Second Street Jamestown, New York 716/664-5602

16412

14701

• 229 State Street Lowville, New York 13367 315/376-7758 • P.O. Box 48 8 Bridge Street Towanda, Pennsylvania 717/265-7055

18848

NEW IN THE WOODLOT Polaris ATVs Now an American manufacturer has entered the battle for the hearts and pocketbooks of the American ATV enthusiast. Polaris Industries, Inc., usually thought of as a snowmobile manufacturer, has now created a different concept in ATVs: the PVT, the Polaris Variable Transmission. Polaris says the PVT also gives its ATVs faster acceleration than any other all-purpose 250cc ATV and more pulling power for hill climbing and utility chores such as pulling a trailer, sprayer, or cut logs. For more details, write to Polaris at 1225 North County Road 18, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55441.

New Off-Road

Truck It is called the 'Shrunkette' and this unusual vehicle is designed for off-road recreational use, greenskeeping, and general utility. The interesting feature for farmers may be that this 4WD (option) vehicle has soft tires like an all-terrain-vehile. It is only four feet wide and has a 68 inch wheelbase.

The Shrunkette is available as a fully assembled and ready to roll vehicle. The standard model has a fully enclosed cab which seats two adults. The Shrunkette costs between $2,500 to $3,800, depending on the configuration. The company suggests calling or writing to obtain their complete technical literature and pricing information. Contact MFC Inc.,10 Pleasant Street, New Rochelle, NY 1801. Telephone 914-636-3834.

FMC Small Spray Booms FMC introduces six new spray booms for its line of small engine driven and PTO drive DP sprayers. Four of these booms are horizontal, each in five sections, with lengths of 20', 26', 32', and 39'. The brass nozzles discharge spray material in a fat, fan-shaped pattern, providing excellent coverage for such row crops as Christmas trees. The other two are vertical cane and trellis booms, also ideal for spraying grapevines, dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit trees and nursery stock. To get full details, contact FMC Corportaion, 5601 East Highland Drive, Jonesboro Arkansas 12401. Telephone 501-935-1970.

OCTOBER

1985

Classified Advertisements: There is a simple formula for placing a classified advertisement in the NY Forest Owner. Write or, preferably, type your advertisement. Count the words (this ad is 52 words), multiply by $.25 per word, and send a check payable to NYFOA to: Editor, NY Forest Owner, 96 Targosh Road, Candor, NY 13743. Display advertisements: They cost $5 per column inch, flat rate. There are three lO-inch columns per page. Ads should be submitted camera-ready or in negative form. Ads can be designed and laid out for you at a flat rate of $25. Any black and white glossy photo in the ad will cost $10. Please inquire for circulation and demographic information. Contact the editor at 96 Targosh Road, Candor, New York 13743. Telephone 607-659-5275 evenings. For sale: 22 acres of forestland near Oxford, NY. Much merchantable timber. Borders trout stream, some road frontage but private, very close to state lands. Sugar bush. $14,500 with terms. Contact Jerry Cibelli, Box 258, RD 1, Middetown, NY 10940. Telephone 914-386-5394. For sale: 3,644 acres of forest, 85% hardwood, 15% conifers. Twenty miles southwest of Plattsburgh, NY. Carefully managed by forester-owner. Asking $343 per acre: Contact Roy Perry, P.O. Box 155, Peru, NY 12972. Telephone 518-563-350. 14

For sale: Christmas trees are a good cash crop. We have the planting stock. We also have deciduous shrubs, ground covers, and trees, including nut trees. We do planting in nearby counties. Booking orders for spring, 1986. W.C. Cottell, 5577 South Geneva Road, Sodus, NY 14451. Telephone 315-483-9684.

For sale: Forest-All Firewood Processor, 5 slasher saws 54', 40' Cornell belt conveyor; firewood shaker/screener (6' x 7') with 20' belt conveyor, 3 strand 40' live deck; Cornell 60' barn cleaner. Also, Ideal Arc 250 Lincoln arc welder Gary Haines, Bridgeport Hydraulic, 835 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT 06601. Telephone 203-367-6621.

For sale: Christmas tree seedlings. Special 5-8' woods plants, $95 per thousand. Superior Balsam woodsplants 8-15', $200 per thousand. Balsam woodsplants 8-15' transplanted in trenches at least one year and fertilized, $400 per thousand. Contact Walker's Tree Farms, East Burke, VT 05832. Telephone 802-626-5276.

For sale: Three black walnut trees: 24 inches, 17.5 inches, and 17 inches d.b.h. Six feet, eight inches, eight feet, and fifteen feet, respectively, to first limb. Also, six smaller ones. Virginia H. Keith, 166 Harding Place, Syr acusn NY 13205. Telephone 315-469-6533 or 315-432-4205.

For sale: Red pine standing timber suitable for cabin logs. Alternate rows marked for harvest on seven-acre tract. 987 marked trees averaging 10.5 inches d.b.h., for a total of 26,384 linear feet to a 7 inch top. Contact W.C.Craig, R 1, Sherburne, NY 13460. Telephone 607-674-4845.

Wanted: Hardwood sawlogs, highest prices paid for logs delivered to Newfoundland, PA, on Route 191. Jim Vitale, Cadosia Valley Lumber Co., Inc., Box 297, Newfoundland, PA 18445. Telephone 717-676-3400.

Wanted: Need unlimited quantities of prime veneer logs: red and white oak, cherry, walnut, and hard maple. Brad Ferman, United Pacific Trading, Box 151, East Smethport, PA 16730. Telephone 814-887-5405.

For sale: LaFont Wood processor, model SSMI00. Used 18 months. $20,000. Zoning forces sale. Contact Paul Baratier, RD 1, Parish, NY 13131. Telephone 315-963-8410.

For sale: Wooden crates for boxing small firewood bundles or other products for sale. Call for sizes and prices. 315-265-3549.

Got a question?

ASK A FORESTER I s it possible to plant seeds or seedlings of valuable species in a forest after a TSI operation or after a timber sale where trees have been removed? Iask this because it seems to me to be an ideal way of transforming a rundown forest to one with good species and with good genes. -Iames N. Martin Muenster , West Germany Your suggestion of planting seedlings after a timber harvest has been tried experimentally, but natural sprouting and seeding overwhelms the planted seedlings and smothers them out. -A.W.Roberts, Jr. Retired DEC forester

Haiku So for Spider Hangs At the Of the

so long silk leaf and time edge eyp..

Wayne Oakes

n.y. Forest Owner

All Your Forestry Needs Under One Roof Count on Agway for great values on all your forestry needs. We also specialize in farm supplies, lawn and garden products, patio accessories, pool care supplies, power equipment and more. So count on Agway for sound advice and solid values.

Professional Woodcutting Supplies • Homelite Chain Saws • Didier Log Splitters • Made in America axes, splitting mauls, sledge hammers, peavies, log jacks, etc. • String Trimmerlbrush

cutters

Proven Quality Fencing • Snow Fencing • Heavy gauge woven wire fencing • Welded wire fencing • Electric Fence Supplies

Fertilizers, Insecticides and Weed Controls Available in convenient commercial sizes

PllYATE PROPERTY

IU.,... FISIIIIIG. TlAPPlIIG 01 TIESPASSIIIG FOR AI' PUlPOSE IS STIICTl' FOR_I VIOLATORS WIll. PIOSECunD

• Insect and disease sprays • Tree and shrub fertilizers

..•...

• Weed killers and growth inhibitors

And More • Tree Wrap • Full line of pruning supplies.

POSTED

Tree Guards.

Rope • Power sprayers • Posted signs

an Agway Store

Non profit org. bulk rate U.S POSTAGE PA!D Camillus, NY 13031 Permit No. 57

Dtt\l 1:0 !,J

RDl HILLIARD RD GROT(.J!~.' I\ .. !"j' 'I-I~-....:) J ,....:.) ---~------.---

Drag In The Profits VALBY WOODCHIPPERS

SMALL KNUCKLEBOOM

In a crowded field of woodchippers, the Valby chippers stand out by producing exceptionally uniform chips. In addition to traditional uses of chips, one can use Valby chips in gasifiers and chip stokers which demand high uniformity. The . uniform chips enable inexpensive chip transport methods such as grain augers to be used. The chip size is continuously adjustable between 114 and I". Maximum slab size is 10" wide or 8"'in diameter for roundwood. Three knives on a 41" disk do the cutting. The Valby chippers can be supplied with V-belt pulleys for electric motor hookup or with a PTO hookup for farm tractors.

The Farmi 1800 is the loader that firewood and pulp producers have been waiting for. The loader is affordable and big enough to get the job done. The loader can be mounted directly on most Farmi winches and other frames, The winch loader combination is a universal machine which can be used for a multitude of jobs. Pre bunching, forwarding, loading of pulpwood and firewood can all be performed with this machine combination,

Send us your name and address. We will send you the FARMI TREE HARVESTING METHOD booklet and the name of your nearest Farmi dealer. NORTHEAST IMPLEMENT CORPORATION P.O. Box 402, Spencer, NY 14883 Tel:(607) 589路6160