176 College of Forestry 
in his individual interest cannot remain wholly unimpressed 
by the force of public opinion and by the more rational sense 
ot obligation and opportunity. But no doubt a good deal of 
our land has been reduced to so low a state of productive 
value or ability to regain this, that its restoration to a pro- 
ductive capacity can take place only by combined effort either 
of all the people of the State or by different communities or 
associations over the State. ‘There are agencies enough if 
well organized and effectively put in operation to work quite 
revolutionary changes in the plant producing power of the 
land. To be counted among these agencies are: the small 
land owner who wants to utilize all the available knowl- 
edge there is, based on experience and investigation, in the 
handling of low-priced hill lands to get fair return on his 
investment — especially of labor — in field crops or pasture 
or timber and perhaps a well balanced arrangement of all 
three; the large owner of timberlands who believes that pres- 
ent knowledge and economic conditions warrant him in 
undertaking to keep his lands permanently at work yielding 
timber, and the vegetation cover effective in increasing the 
yield power of his land as well as its protective value for 
water supply; the societies that have aims of social service 
such as the preservation of wild flowers, or natural scenery or 
the reservation of recreation parks, or camping sites for peo- 
ple generally; the clubs which aim to promote outdoor life 
and the sports of fishing and hunting; and finally, the appli- 
cation of the already effective State policy in these connec- 
tions, whether through its special Commission or through its 
technical institutions of instruction and investigation. 
In this land allotment or classification with regard to its 
capacity to produce farm crops, or a forest cover and timber 
crops, previous experience and financial returns should be a 
euide, but these items will not always furnish a basis for 
final judgment as to whether any given tract is better for the 
one thing or the other. Hill farms may have been aban- 
doned as not yielding a return by methods practiced, while 
another system of farming might make them pay — particu- 
