FOREST CONSERVATION AND AGRICULTURE 



47 



FOREST IN THE UNITED STATES IN WHICH A FIRE IS RAGING. THIS SHOWS 

 THE HEAVY UNDERGROWTH WHICH FURNISHES READY FUEL TO THE FIRE 

 AND HAMPERS THE FIRE-FIGHTERS IN THEIR WORK. 



pie of the United State.s for the annual 

 appropriation ; and what is true of the 

 Forest Service applies to many of those 

 States which have organized State 

 services. 



FOREST SOILS. 



One of the most important steps 

 which any Government has to take is 

 to decide what land is most valuable 

 for agriculture, and what areas should 

 be retained permanently under forest 

 cover. It is hard to lay down general 

 ])rinciples, because not even a financial 

 criterion is a fair basis upon which to 

 decide this question, for the proper de- 

 cision will vary in different localities ; 

 but I am certain that it is an error n« 

 public policy to give to the agricul- 

 turist those soils which may be culti- 

 vated only temporarily, and which, 

 after the humus left by the forest has 

 been exhausted, become waste. 



There are examples of this class of 



soil in the United States, which have 

 been settled tlirough railway or real 

 estate speculation, and where many of 

 our best type of citizens have been 

 ruined, because they tried to cultivate 

 soil which should have been retained 

 under forest cover. Similarly, such 

 soils as are found in the Jura must 

 without doubt be retained under forest. 

 They now yield a handsome revenue in 

 f( crests, but if they were to be de- 

 nuded for agriculture, they would soon 

 become valueless. 



On the other hand there are many 

 forest stands in the West of the United 

 States on land covered with timber 

 which must some day be cleared and 

 devoted to agricultural use, partly be- 

 cause the soil yield will be greater from 

 agriculture, but also because many of 

 these timbered valleys are not required 

 for water-shed ])rotection. Rut whether 

 land is chieflv valuable for agriculture 

 or not cannot be judged solely from 



