FARM OR FOREST 139 



From the preceding it appears : 



1. The gross income per acre in the well kept forests of Wurt- 

 temberg and Saxony with present prices of timber is larger than 

 the gross income from the field and meadow when the quality of 

 soil is considered ; and that it is about sixty per cent of crop income 

 even if no allowance is made for the difference of soil. 



In Prussia the gross income from forest is about thirty per cent 

 of the gross income from the fields, a difference fully accounted for 

 by the poor quality of the pinery sands devoted to forestry. 



2. The net income from forests in Wurttemberg, Baden, Sax- 

 ony, etc., state forests, is as large and often larger than the net 

 income from farm lands in the same districts. This, of course, is 

 chiefly due to the smaller cost of production since this cost is nor- 

 mally below fifty per cent of the value of the crop in forestry and 

 above sixty-five per cent in farming. 



3. The gross crop income and net crop income from farmland 

 in the United States is smaller than that obtained from the state 

 forests of Wurttemberg, Baden, Saxony, etc., and is but. little higher 

 than that from the poor pinery forests of Prussia. 



Even if only the improved lands of our farms are considered, 

 the gross income is little higher than that of the state forests of 

 Wurttemberg and Saxony and the net income is even lower. 



To some extent this condition is due, no doubt, to the fact that 

 farm products in the United States and abroad are not paid for at 

 a proper price in keeping with the value of soil and the cost of pro- 

 duction. If correctly adjusted the field with its better soil and large 

 amount of labor should produce at least twice the gross income ob- 

 tained from the forest. But the fact remains that the growth pro- 

 duced in the forest is very large and also that the forest, owing to 

 the large crop-capital in the form of growing stock is entitled to a 

 correspondingly large net income. 

 Summing up: 



1. The forest can utilize colder, frostier sites. 



2. It can use rough, steep, stony and poorly drained land. 



3. It can use poor soils, especially sands. 



4. It maintains the fertility of the soil and therefore is a much 

 surer crop than any farm crop. 



5. Bad seasons are averaged up in forestry, an excellent stand 

 harvested in 1914 may have been through many poor seasons but 

 their effect is no longer seen. 



6. Its products are enduring and generally gain in value by 

 storage. 



