The Forest in Farm Management 25 



had but little time to work on his own place. He had no 

 capital to start with, and must live. Clearing land is hard, 

 discouraging and lonesome work. He finds more imme- 

 diate returns and more congenial work in the logging 

 camps in the winter, on the drive in the spring and in the 

 harvest fields of the established farms in the fall. This 

 enforced absence from home makes it impossible for him 

 to keep stock of any kind or have a garden, the only 

 two lines of work open to him with the land at his dis- 

 posal. 



Should he stick to the place long enough to clear up ten 

 acres, he almost invariably plants it up to the grain crop 

 most popular in that section. Distance from market, 

 forced neglect and lack of facilities generally destroy the 

 possibility of profit; he cannot eat the crop himself and 

 is no nearer self-support and prosperity than he was be- 

 fore. 



In nine cases out of every ten the settler becomes dis- 

 gusted or completely discouraged, lets the so-called 

 "farm" go for taxes and moves on, probably to repeat the 

 performance at some other place. 



Such methods, or lack of method, have broken the 

 hearts and discouraged the lives of thousands of men. It 

 has delayed the development of our timbered cut-over 

 lands a half a century and has left our country burdened 

 with thousands of abandoned claims, worse than worth- 

 less waste lands which might just as well be producing 

 millions of revenue and supporting countless, prosperous 

 homes if the tree value of the land had only been con- 

 sidered in the first place. 



