THE FOREST INTERESTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 31 



sufficient to cover the value of the buildings connected with them. 

 There is a well understood significance in the term " land-poor," 

 as applied to a man even in this good old Commonwealth, which 

 is so prosperous in commercial and manufacturing enterprises, and 

 furnishes ample markets for all farm products. But the naked 

 truth is that the lands are not productfve ; the fertility is gone, and 

 to keep them in heart requires about as much expenditure as the 

 value returned by them. Of eour?e it is evident that land will be 

 wanted in the vicinity of our cities and thiiving manufacturing 

 centres, both for homesteads and also for cultivation, without re- 

 gard to the question of profit. And there are special lines, as 

 for example the i)roduction of milk, where there is an encouraging 

 prospect of remuneration. Indeed, we may say that, with capital, 

 improved machinery, improved methods, near and excellent mar- 

 kets, and a large amount of energy and brain, most of our 

 farms may be made to pay, — still the very statement implies that 

 the lands are now in a low and exhausted ^tate, and are suffering 

 from neglect. The same causes which have operated to change 

 Palestine and other countries of the old world from lands " flowing 

 with milk and honey " to regions of extreme sterility have been, 

 and are now, operating in our own land, and we are sitting by as 

 idle witnesses. 



It is, indeed, an ungracious task to report the poverty of the 

 land. But the fact stares us in the face, and it is folly to shut our 

 eyes upon a situation so serious. And especially is this so, if by 

 wise effort it is possible, in a good degree, to ameliorate this condi- 

 tion. It is true we have a long and difficult problem, in attempt- 

 ing to change not only the soil, but also the very climate of a 

 State. But a reversal of the processes which have caused the 

 changes in the past would surely, if followed for a sufficient time, 

 restore the original condition of both. If left in undisturbed 

 possession Nature would, herself, in the course of ages bring 

 Ijack tlie stately growth of the forests, and restore the pristine 

 richness of the soil. But, obviously, this is not what we seek. 

 No one desires to reduce Massachusetts to the condition of a 

 howling wilderness. What we do desire is to restore a fair 

 balance between field and forest, — to devote certain sections, 

 which are unfit for other purposes, to their own legitimate end. 



There are thousands of acres of rough hills and of barren coasts 

 and sandy plains in different parts of the State, which are unfit 



