MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



conceal idle stone heaps or decrepid walls, 

 which are as sightless as the exterminated 

 bush; and their foray leaves a vigorous crop 

 of harsh stubs, which, with the next season, 

 shoot up with more luxuriance than ever, and 

 leave no more available land within the 

 farmer's grasp than before. Wherever it is 

 profitable to remove such wild growth, it is 

 profitable to exterminate it root and branch. 

 Half doing the matter is of less worth than not 

 doing it at all. But it is well to consider be- 

 fore entering upon such a campaign, if the end 

 will justify the labor; and if the recovered 

 strips of land will carry remunerative crops. 

 If otherwise, let the wild growth enjoy its wan- 

 tonness. It may come to be a little scattered 

 range of wood in time, and so have its value; 

 it may offer shelter against the sweep of winds ; 

 it will give a nursing place for the birds, — and 

 the birds are the farmer's friends. 



I am loth to believe that the natural graces 

 of woodland and shrubbery are incompatible 

 with agricultural interests; and a true farm 

 economy seems to me better directed in making 

 more thorough the tillage of the open lands, 

 than in making Quixotic foray upon the bushy 

 fastnesses of outlying pastures. 



When a dense population shall have ren- 



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