needham] the lay of THE LAND 17 



It is no small part of the glory of many charming inland 

 valleys that is contributed by the noble woods that climb 

 the side of its bordering steeps. The clearing of such land 

 should never be allowed; for rightly managed, it will go on 

 raising trees forever (and probably there is no better use for 

 it), and the scenic beauty, the restfulness and charm which 

 it contributes to the landscape is a valuable public asset. 

 Steep slopes may be tilled permanently if the tiller of the 

 soil will take a hint from nature and regard the law of 

 gravity — if he will run his culture lines horizontally, break 

 the slope with terraces, and hold the front of these with 

 permanent plantings. Some of the most beautiful land- 

 scapes of the old world are found among terraced hills that 

 have been cultivated for centuries. But the simpler method 

 of holding the soil together by untilled crops — pastures and 

 tree crops — is probably more suited to American conditions. 

 Fortunate is our outlook, also, if in the midst of thriving 

 farms and forested hills, there be left a little bit of land here 

 and there that has not been too much "improved." A bit 

 of wildwood, where the brush is not cut nor the swamp 

 drained — a place, preferably near the school, where the native 

 life of the land may be found — a sanctuary for the wild birds 

 and all the other wild things, plants and animals, to which 

 the youth of the rising generations may go in order to see 

 ■ what the native life of his native land was like. The wild 

 things are rapidly vanishing. Where would one find even 

 now a bit of the rich unaltered wild prairie that once over- 

 spread the interior of this continent, with its tall, waving 

 grasses and all its wealth of wild flowers? 



The landscape belongs to all. Its smiling slopes, or their 

 forlorn tatters, affect the public weal. Men have attained 

 to profitable co-operation in many lines of enterprise. May 

 the time come when they will be able to co-operate in 

 organizing for their best use all features of the larger units 

 of their environment; when they will preserve for public 

 use the things that meet the common social needs; when 

 they will begin to. correct the ills that grow out of arbitrary 

 and artificial boundaries, by following the lines of nature; 

 when they will learn to put all fields to their best use, securing 

 productiveness, convenience and beauty. 



