One man's forest

By Rockwell R Stephens

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0828902240
• ISBN13: 9780828902243
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: S. Greene Press
• Length: 159 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Backwoods primer

This book is an introduction to wood cutting for the beginner. The author describes how he and his wife retired to rural Vermont from the big city and discovered that they could make money from the wood lot that they had purchased. They called the county forest extension agent, who helped them identify which trees they had that could be harvested, and which should be culled to make room for more valuable trees. After working with the extension agent for several years, Stephens and his wife were able to continue on their own with an active forest management program that provided them with wood for heat, constructions projects, and cash. The book covers specific details about logging, such as felling trees, carving trees, moving trees once they're down, firewood, cash crops, and planting. At the back of the book there is a lot of useful miscellaneous information, such as the relative values of trees for cash or for heat, how to calculate board feet of lumber, and some great black and white photos for winter tree identification from bark patterns.My husband grew up on a farm where logging and splitting wood were everyday chores. He leafed through this book and said "Ho hum. It's all common sense. Why write a book about it anyway?" But I was a city kid, and I found the information in the book quite useful. After reading this book, I can understand much better what is involved in cutting down a tree safely, and I can have a much clearer idea of the steps involved in getting from a standing tree to wood cut and split for the woodstove. I even know the difference now between a bucksaw and a hacksaw, and which one might be useful in the woodlot. If you're standing on the edge of your new woodlot, and you're not sure whether you should take a bucksaw or a hacksaw in with you, then this book is for you.