Better Farming - October 2016

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42 PROMOTIONAL SUPPLEMENT Better Woodlots October 2016
D uring 35 years of woodlot ownership,
my understanding of sustainable
forest management has grown
appreciably, thanks to the help of forestry
professionals. But the more I learn, the
more I think of my father and appreciate
what he handed on to me.
Farming was in his blood, but Dad’s
favourite place in all the world was the
woods. He grew up in a time when wood
was still used for everything from whistles
to wagon wheels, and he was familiar with
the importance of the farm woodlot in a
society without cash. No doubt every multi-
generational farm family has a story of how
the woodlot helped pay the mortgage during
the Great Depression.
My earliest memory in the woods is of
wearing rubber boots in the wintertime and
feeling like my toes would freeze and break
off. But I also remember my father stop-
ping the tractor to point out a “thrifty” tree,
which meant it was healthy with good form.
The finest specimens were “peelers.” He
didn’t elaborate on his harvesting selection
process, but I noticed that thrifty trees and
peelers weren’t cut.
I also noticed that he deliberated before
felling a tree when a nice sapling was near-
by. If, when the tree came down, it bowed
the sapling over, my father would chastise
himself as he tried to free the youngster
and straighten it back up.
Many trees were planted on the farm, in
fields too stony to be cultivated and too
remote to pasture. They had to be planted
correctly, and I remember, months later,
Dad taking time on the way back to the
hayfield to inspect the seedlings. In later
years, whenever I returned for a visit, we
would go back to admire the groves of pine
on the landscape. He was as proud of
them as he was with a bumper wheat crop.
Some of the things I learned from my fa-
ther’s time are now obsolete. Splitting fire-
wood with an axe was almost an art form in
his hands, but with hydraulic splitters, the
“twist of the wrist” isn’t learned and nor do
you need frost in the wood. I’ll never forget
his instructions on how to be an asset, as
one-half of a crosscut saw team, although I
doubt I’ll ever use that skill again.
However, there were many lessons that are
still valid today. Whenever I inspect a cant
hook, I know how to tell if the tip of the hook
has the correct angle. And when I’m wrapping
a skidding chain around a log, I still hear him
telling me how to set the slip hook.
Long before biodiversity was invented,
I learned that every type of tree had its
purpose. Species considered inferior by
some still had usefulness. Poplar lumber
was good as strapping under steel and,
used vertically, made decent barn siding.
Lessons from my Father
By Dave Sexsmith, President of the Ontario Woodlot Association
Willie’s woodpile.