MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



11 



Considerations ought to govern the decision of 

 this question. 



First, the location of this land. If there be 

 hnl a small isolated area of land lit for farming 

 in a great body of unfit, it ought not to be 

 recognized as suitable for use in agriculture, 

 because of its isolation. In exploring a certain 

 tract, which must be nameless here for evident 

 reasons, we ran across a veritable oasis in an 

 otherwise too sandy tract of large area. The 

 land was productive. Corn and the cereals, 

 upon the one side, clover and legumes on the 

 other, with promising fruit. The family was 

 dwarfing mentally and socially by reason of 

 the very isolation. Again, the owner of thi^ 

 pearl -et ill sand was a living opponent, a force 

 lul and successful preventive of the proper rise 

 of forestry in that whole region. We insist 

 therefore, that the environment must be con- 

 sidered as one factor in deciding whether ; 

 given quarter section shall be utilized as a 

 farm. 



Second, the quality of the soil. The measure 

 of the real fertility, the permanent productivity 

 ot" the soil, is the yield of crops. No chemist 

 nor physicist can determine with test tube anc 

 scales the permanent crop producing power 

 The sole sure way is to grow the crops. For- 

 tunately, however, \\ e have certain signs which 

 are more than prima facie evidence, certain 

 indications of productivity which fail so seldom 

 that we are reasonably safe in these times oi 

 uncertainty in relying upon them. 



Water the Universal Solvent. 



We note that the great requirement of crops 

 is water. All plants require certain salts to 

 supply their needs, but water is the universal 

 solvent and the salts must be in very dilute 

 solution. All the water in circulation at any 

 time in the plants or remaining in the stems, 

 leaves and fruits at harvest must come from 

 the soil and must remain in continuous supply 

 throughout the growth. This means that the 

 ,-oi'K nui-t be so constructed as to retain a 

 large quantity of water from the spring rains 

 through the summer drouths. The real differ- 

 ence, the primary and fundamental difference, 

 between good soils and poor is found in this 

 matter of water holding. 



The water holding capacity of the land re- 

 es upon two liases, one the size and ar- 

 rangement of the particles, the other the quan- 

 tity of digested or partly decayed organic mat- 

 ter present. A very coarse sand may be made 

 productive by the continual addition of barn- 

 yard manures or by the application of organic 

 matter in other forms. Nature has made it 

 possible for coarse sands to gradually fit them- 

 selves for growing maple and other hardwoods 

 by a first practice course in smaller plants, then 

 lierrabouts trees and finally maples, if we may 

 believe Dr. Lane and his coadjutors. Xature 

 lias considerable time in which to do her work 

 and i.-, not economical as to war-tes. \Yhal 

 nature has done man can do. but it takes time 

 and money, time and organic matter, time and 

 grey matter as well. 



Does it pay nature? Xo answer. Does it 

 pay the man? Quite often, no. Where nature 

 lias stored a layer of organic matter at the 

 surface of the soil, even with coarse sand be- 

 low, there will be good water holding capacity 

 temporarily, but not to endure when the trees 

 are stripped off, the stumps removed and the 

 hot sunshine and the winds let in. Potatoes 

 are the crop invariably put on such .soils. 

 Large crops come for a few years, fertility dis- 

 appears and the soil itself blows away. The 

 plow forces in air and out goes the humus. 

 The particles are too coarse to restrain and 

 the decaying organic matter vanishes into thin 

 air. Then away goes a sample to the college 

 for analysis. Plenty of lime, magnesia and 

 perhaps potash, and even phosphoric acid. 

 The nitrogen content small. What is to be 

 (lone; 1 Hack comes the answer: Apply barn- 

 yard manure. None in the neighborhood. 

 What else? Plow under green crops. Which 

 one? Clover is the best of all, and clover i> 

 coming to be the salvation of lands which 

 would otherwise lie on \hc ragged edge of the 



timber proposition. Clover has come in in 

 these later years to rescue some farms which 

 you and I would pronounce too sandy for agri- 

 cultural purposes. I must express my surprise 

 at the growth of this valuable crop on many 

 sands quite typical of the plains. Good crops 

 of seed are gathered above ground, while be- 

 low the -surface the roots and rootlets are- 

 adding, when decay strikes them, the best kind 

 of raw material for the manufacture of humus. 

 There are sands, then other sands. The for- 

 mer will grow clover, the latter will not. Trial 

 is the sole discriminating force. Where clover 

 will grow, profitable farming is possible. 



Barnyard manure or clover or other legum- 

 inous crops plowed under are the salvation of 

 those lands which ought to be reserved for the 

 farm. All others should be turned over to the 

 tender mercies and the as yet untried possibili- 

 ties of the forester. 



It may be and is unwise to go into extremes 

 in this matter of assignment to forest areas. 

 Where a whole region is made up of coarse 

 sands without clay foundation, let it be given 

 over and become one great forest reserve. 

 Outside of these areas, where some good farm- 

 ing lands are found, let us have large farms, if 

 you will, with the bulk of the land given over 

 to the crop of trees, while the remainder pro- 

 duces crops enough to support the settler who 

 cares for the forest area, introducing, to do 

 away with the loneliness of remote farm life, 

 the village idea of Germany. 



Stock Ranches Are Encroaching. 



The stock ranch is creeping up toward lands 

 which ought to be reserved for forests These 

 ranches should be welcomed on all lands 

 which can be induced to yield some pasturage, 

 but should be kept within reasonable bounds. 

 If the land is to be used for farming purposes, 

 it is better for the state and' for the individuals 

 that a rotation of crops be introduced. For 

 such rotation I beg' to suggest one that in- 

 volves very infrequent plowing, very infrequent 

 disturbance of the surface soil, with consequent 

 introduction of air. Such a rotation would 

 have clover as its base, clover two years in 

 succession, followed by corn for stock feeding. 

 The corn should be followed by oats, in which 

 the seeding of clover should be done, or the 

 seeding may be done without nurse crop, or 

 even directly in the corn. If the clover is not 

 sown in the corn, some other legume like crim- 

 son clover should be sown therein to occupy 

 the land during the winter and to prevent the 

 effects of the too hot sun. After clover has 

 been thus used for a few rotations, grasses may 

 be introduced. These sandy loams are not 

 good grass lands and we have few species of 

 grass that will do well upon them. 



Naturally, upon the clay ridges and even 

 upon the loam side hills, orchards may be set 

 but, and are set out now, in some instances. 

 These orchards are succeeding beyond the 

 lopes of the adventurous owners. Apples free 

 "-om scab, largely the disease which make the 

 growing fruit seem a chance in other sections, 

 are wanting here. I cannot understand, nor 

 can I explain, the soil problems involved. I 

 simply know that apples are succeeding on 

 amis condemned by our friend Roth and oth- 

 ers, as .totally worthless. 



Settlers an Aid to Foresters. 

 To me it seems that the plan ought to be to 

 settle on the clay lands in northern Michigan 

 md to put thrifty inhabitants on even the 

 sandy loams that give promise of agriculture, 

 hat these inhabitants may aid the forester, not 

 under him. To be sure. I would withhold 

 rom settlement a single i.-olated quarter sec- 

 ion far distant from other agricultural lands, 

 int I should encourage the coming of settlers 

 who will help forestry and not hinder it. Xo 

 matter what people filled with one idea may 

 say, northern Michigan is hound to be settled 

 vith thrifty farmers. The per cent of land 

 eft in the hands of the state is very gradually 

 >ut very certainly declining. The map shown 

 is yesterday is exceedingly misleading, from 

 ny point of view. On a question of such mo- 

 nentons importance as the one under discus- 



sion, I do not propose at this time to project 

 upon this audience any particular form of in- 

 coherent ideas. I simply wish to protest 

 against the statement that the whole of north- 

 ern Michigan is fit for nothing but forests. 



The Experiment Station proposes to enter 

 a very vigorous campaign in forestry in south- 

 ern Michigan, urging first, decent care of the 

 present woodlots; secondly, taking the bold 

 stand that it is wise to increase the acreage 

 devoted to forestry, even on good soils. It is 

 nonsense to assume that trees differ from olhcr 

 crops and that they do as well on poor soil 

 as on good land. My own experience in west- 

 ern New York is a sufficient contradiction on 

 this .point. 



Let us combine in doing away with the fake 

 advertising which attracts to northern Michi- 

 gan that temporary host of Chicago tourists, 

 but let us not go to the other extreme and con- 

 demn all of northern Michigan to eternal wil- 

 derness. 



Mr. Chapman: I think I thoroughly under- 

 stand Dr. Roth's position on this question 

 which Professor Smith spoke about. You will 

 find that the law of the Michigan forest re- 

 serve prbvides for taking out of any lands 

 which are to be reserved, such lands as Pro- 

 fessor Smith described as being better for 

 agriculture. No one understands that better 

 than Dr. Roth, and if he were here he would 

 put an O. K. on every word Professor Smith 

 has said. The fundamental principle is that 

 lands which are better for farming should be 

 used for farming. 



President Bissell: The map used by Profes- 

 sor Roth was drawn with the idea of density 

 of population, not to condemn lands or im- 

 prove them, but to exhibit the population in 

 different areas. Having no other map, he used 

 that for the purpose of illustrating his position 

 in regard to forest lands. Under this subject, 

 the program provides for a discussion, led by 

 Dr. Fcrnow. 



THE FARMER A FACTOR. 



Dr. Fernow: I was particularly gratified at 

 the accent which Professor Smith put upon 

 the proposition not to consider only the forest 

 lands but the forest soils; to talk about "abso- 

 lute" forest soils to be segregated from the 

 agricultural soils. And I am very glad to 

 know his position. The absolute forest soil 

 is a soil that will not grow any forest. It 

 grows trees, but no forest. I want to say, 

 as I approach this subject academically, that 

 there are three factors which determine agri- 

 cultural value. We will take it for granted 

 that whatever cannot be agriculturally used 

 is forest soil. That does not depend only 

 on the physical condition of the soil or the 

 climate, but this character depends upon the 

 time and place where this physical condition 

 is situated. In other words, whatever may 

 be agriculturally undesirable now may become 

 agriculturally desirable by the development 

 ot the surrounding country. You know even 

 of timber lands that some are of no value, in 

 a district where the products cannot be trans- 

 ported to market. 



Coming back to the physical- proposition, 

 Professor Smith pointed out that there are 

 sands that are and sands that are not agri- 

 cultural. You would hardly believe that I 

 found a very good and thrifty farm in the 

 Paint desert of Arizona. We were coming 

 over a hill, and, looking down over the plain. 

 I said to my companion, who was a man of 

 the desert. "11" I had not been fooled the la<t 

 two days with mirages I would say there is 

 a corn field." He smiled and said, "That is 

 where I am living; you can see whether there 

 is any, and you don't need to go out of your 

 way very much." What I saw was eighty 

 acres of sugar cane, corn, potatoes, beans and 

 peas, and whatever you might mention. This 

 was in a country where there was no rainfall 

 for eight months. And it was sand. The year 

 before I had been south in a desert of sand. 

 \\ e had no water. I scratched away the sand. 



