1902.] FORESTRY FOR THE FARMER. 165 



Forestry aims at making a man raise his skid of logs and his 

 pile of cordwood, not mine them, raise them in such a way as 

 to obtain a steady revenue at the same time that he is increas- 

 ing, instead of lessening, the value of his land. Many a farmer 

 has recognized the wisdom in the newer agricultural methods. 

 And it would seem the day should come soon when some of 

 these same men will begin to make forestry a part of their agri- 

 culture. Some day let us hope in every farmer's meeting to 

 hear something, not only of Ben Davis and York Imperial, 

 of Jersey and Guernsey, but also of white pine and chestnut, 

 of cedar and oak. 



But, you say, forestry is diflferent from agriculture. We 

 give our land better tillage, and it responds almost imme- 

 diately, repaying us in better crops, which are harvested and 

 turned into cash very quickly. But is not wood a crop of 

 such slow growth that expense bestowed on the wood lot is a 

 sowing where we will not reap? Suppose it is, suppose Mr. 

 Jones does not cut a stick of timber himself; suppose he has no 

 children to leave it to, or does not believe in amassing dollars 

 for them to spend, yet, day and night, whether he works or 

 plays, that timber is growing. And as it grows his farm is 

 increasing in value. Mr. Jones is a richer man for it even if 

 he never cuts a log himself. But, under most conditions, 

 given a fair wood lot to start with, he should be able to 

 himself cut enough more timber to well repay the added care 

 he has given it, and he will have the increased value of his 

 timber land as profit. Even should he have to start all his 

 trees from seed, it is in many localities very far from improb- 

 able that he should himself cut the trees at a good profit. 

 The Hon. Augustus Pratt of the Massachusetts Board of 

 Agriculture planted thirteen acres of bare land to white pine, 

 which, forty years from sowing the seed, he sold at a stump- 

 age value of about $160 per acre.* A pretty good life insur- 

 ance, considering the smallness of the annual premium paid 

 in the shape of taxes. 



Suppose Mr. Jones goes out, looks over his wood lot, and 

 decides he will try to do something to improve it, if it can be 

 done without much expense, and at times when he is not 

 rushed with other work. What shall he do? 



* J. D. Lyman in "The Forester", Vol. VII, No. 8, page 201. 



