20 PRACTICAL FORESTRY 
a quick, hot fire, and produce a thick, rich crust on 
bread and pastry. In the course of about twenty 
years these poplars are cut and sawn by hand into 
boards, often by the very man who stuck the cuttings 
into the soil. The same is so of the willow through- 
out Europe, especially in the Low Countries, where 
the twigs yield fuel, withes for basketry, wood for 
sabots or wooden shoes, and all the while the roots 
are holding the soil in place along their boisterous 
rivers. 
In Italy, where there is an abundance of sunshine, 
the fields are planted with rows of trees, between 
which a crop of grain or potatoes is planted. These 
trees consist of olive, walnut, willow, poplar, and 
mulberry. They are extensively cut back or pol- 
larded, and serve as props to grape-vines. The willow 
yields twigs with which to tie the vines, and the lop- 
pings furnish fuel. The leaves of the mulberry fur- 
nish food for silkworms. The leaves are often pulled 
off and put in a silo in the ground to furnish fodder. 
Thus, an acre of land produces grain, olives, nuts, 
grapes, fuel, twine, wood for constructive purposes, 
and even fodder. 
As one moves southward, the possibilities of com- 
bining silviculture and agriculture increase, until, in 
fact, in many instances, it becomes a necessity. There 
is such an abundance of sunshine in the tropics that 
