FORESTRY AND THE FARMER 223 



very effectively helping the farmer market his wood crop more 

 profitably. Their trained foresters familiar both with local mar- 

 kets and with good forestry practice are giving him personal 

 advice regarding the value of his products and right methods 

 of cutting. They will tell him what he should cut in order 

 to leave the woods in the best condition, what he can most 

 profitably sell, and about what he should get for it. Some 

 states are doing more. Others supply free, or at slight cost, seeds 

 for planting and even seedlings for windbreaks or for plant- 

 ing up the open spaces in his woods. Even the Federal Govern- 

 ment has made provision in its forest legislation for distributing 

 planting stock to the farmers of the country. 



So the farmer is on the way to becoming a forester and his 

 woodland crop is destined to play no small part in the final 

 solution of our forest problem. In fact, if on every farm in 

 the country every acre of forest soil were today producing 

 wood to its utmost capacity, we should have little to fear from 

 a timber famine. 



In addition to the actual wood products that can be grown, 

 trees are beneficial to the farmer in many ways. They serve as 

 windbreaks, protecting his crops from drying out in the hot 

 winds of summer and sheltering his livestock and his farm 

 house from the severe blizzards of winter. Trees are contin- 

 ually building up the soil, adding to its fertility. They are mak- 

 ing the farm more healthful and better to live on. Some of 

 them are supplying nuts, some maple sugar, and all of them 

 are giving protection and friendly shade. 



The farmer who practices a few rudimentary principles of 

 forestry will be rewarded to a degree he never thought pos- 

 sible. Those woods of his will respond surprisingly to a little 



