216 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



quired. In considering methods of control for any of 

 these pests, it should be remembered, that prevention is 

 much better than cure, and that those conditions of 

 soil culture which tend to destroy the insect pests will 

 at the same time produce a strong, vigorous, early crop, 

 which will be well out of danger before the insects ap- 

 pear in very great numbers. These conditions may be 

 summarized: 



(1) Plow the land deep in the fall. 



(2) Select seed from early-fruiting plants. 



(3) Use fertilizers that "tend to produce vigorous 

 plants and early fruit. 



(4) Plant early and use plenty of seed to insure a 

 "stand" (not less than one bushel per acre). 



(5) Cultivate the land shallow and very thoroughly 

 during the early growth of the plant. 



THE WOOD CROP 



203. Forests of the United States. "The forests of the 

 United States cover an area of about 699,500,000 acres, 

 or more than 35 per cent of the surface of the country. 

 Before so large a part of them were destroyed, they were, 

 perhaps, the richest on the earth, and with proper care 

 they are capable of being so again. Their power of repro- 

 duction is exceedingly good. 



"In the northeastern states, and as far west as Minne- 

 sota, once stretched the great white pine forest from which, 

 since settlement began, the greater part of our lumber 

 has come. South of it, in a broad belt along the Atlantic 

 and the Gulf coasts, lies the southern pine forest, whose 



