488 STATE AGRICULTUKAL COLLEGE. 



the back fields are devoid of any sylvan embellishment? I know a farm 

 upon which is one of the most productive orchards in Michigan, upon 

 which the trees are not massed at all; they are along the margins, about 

 the barns, on either side of the lanes and scattered here and there in the 

 corners of the fields, just out of the way of the plow. Aside from the 

 profit secured from the sale of fruit, the farm is beautiful, embellished, and 

 never in my life have I seen orchard trees so well developed, so healthy 

 and so productive. 



But you say the lines of trees so planted would steal so much fertility 

 from the fields which they border, that the profit therefrom is reduced. 

 You enforce your argument by exhibiting to me the fact that no crops, 

 except grass, will grow with any satisfaction for a long distance from the 

 trees, so that the value of the farm is thus reduced by cutting off its crop- 

 ping ability. You argue that this method of planting trees is sentimental 

 and that a hardheaded, sensible farmer will never think of it, and if he 

 did such methods would bankrupt him. 



A"v^ay with such arrant nonsense. The fence row may be thus trans- 

 formed into a source of income to the farm, and the land devoted to the 

 lane which was hitherto begrudged, because used only occasionally for 

 travel, is metamorphosed into a debt-paying area of land as profitable as 

 the best upon the farm. 



The most beautiful landscapes in the world today, as they may be seen 

 all over England, would have been sacrificed to the growth of wheat, oats, 

 barley and roots, had not a broader policy prevailed. Do not tell me that 

 you cannot afford the fertility that goes into the growth of trees, that may 

 perhaps have no use above the embellishment of your farm. Eugland 

 with her denser population has afforded it, and her farmers have been, and 

 are prosperous communities. We have been tree-slayers in this country 

 long enough. Let the epoch pass with its debts and credits; its monu- 

 ments of wide areas devoted to the successful cultivation of farm crops are 

 of value in so far as the cultivation is not a despoiling process. The man 

 who clears the ground of every bit of wood, who steals the virgin fertility of 

 the land to swell his bank account, is not a benefactor. I will not breathe 

 too serious a criticism upon him. Let him go. He has done his work 

 according to his intelligence. But now let a new epoch of tree-planting 

 be inaugurated; let our vast areas swept by ruthless winds, be dotted 

 with protecting shields of timber; let our wide stretches of open land- 

 scape be embellished again with the attractions of woodland beauty. 



I trust the logic of experience in older countries may find a lodgment in 

 our own minds, and we may begin early to rectify the errors into which 

 the inertia of tree-destruction has lead us. This means you and me, not 

 some other fellows in other states. 



Have we a bit of waste land along a creek border, let us plant it to forest 

 trees and shrubs. Have we a corner of the farm that will be beautified by 

 the addition of a few trees, let us plant them. Can we put a grove about 

 the barn as a protecting living shield for the stock, can we place a group 

 at the entrance of our premises that will tower grandly by and by, a pride 

 to our grandchildren, a monument to our good sense and thoughtful con- 

 sideration, let us do it. 



By the way, have you ever thought about the value of trees as monu- 

 ments? If well chosen, they will stand the changes of years better than 

 marble or even granite. Look to the older graveyards that are within 

 your area of vision. Are the slabs of marble standing at various angles in 



