290 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



with game, fish and^berries often constitute the whole food of 

 the natives. 



If the one hundred acres referred to is perfectly square, a fire- 

 lane two hundred feet wide around it would contain about 

 thirty-five acres as much as one man can comfortably till. 

 There would be left in the center a forest containing about 

 sixty-five acres to which the principles of silviculture I have 

 already mentioned may be applied. 



If the whole area of woodland in Southern Jersey were treated 

 in this way, sixty-five per cent, would be left in wood, and the 

 whole would be cut up in such a way that extensive fires would 

 be impossible. The sixty-five acres of forest should be divided 

 into about four blocks of fifteen acres each, by lanes or avenues 

 wide enough to permit a wagon to pass. These lanes should be 

 kept clear of litter during the fire season. If part of the land is 

 swamp-bottom the owner is fortunate. He can easily have a 

 white-cedar hurst, a cranberry-bog and an osier-holt, which will 

 add materially to the profits of his farm. 



Owing to the fact that these swamp-lands shrink and become 

 lower and damper on being tilled, unless assiduously drained it 

 is better to plant crops which need little or no cultivation, such 

 as forest crops, willows for baskets, the high-bush-blueberry and 

 the cranberry. 



Willow culture is destined to become an important industry 

 in this region. The first to begin it on damp pine-barren land 

 was the Baron de Hirsch Colony of Russian refugees. The 

 willow has been righty called the Cinderella of trees. It will 

 grow on land which for other purposes is almost hopeless. Its 

 pliant twigs are excellent for trunks, boxes, crates, etc., besides 

 baskets. It furnishes work at a season of the year when there 

 is little else to do. It is a good plan, as is common in Europe, 

 for one member of the family to learn the trade of basket- 

 making. In this way a local industry is produced. 



In addition to these industries, if progressive, the owner of 

 the " forest-farm " could keep both bees and poultry with profit, 

 even in the most remote and barren part of this whole region. * 



* Every enterprising farmer should have in the corner of his garden a permanent seed-bed. It 

 should be boxed on the sides and ends with wide strong boards and covered with fine poultry netting 

 which should be nailed to a frame so that it can be easily removed. The soil of the bed should be a soft, 

 rich, sifted loam. Whenever the farmer in his travels finds seeds of trees which are desirable he should 

 sow them in this bed. While the trees are still small he should transplant them to his wood-lot. In this 

 way, little by little, and with the expense of only a little labor, he can supply himself with seedlings and 

 gradually improve the condition of his forest. 



