258 



THE FOREST 



forest crop may be as important as other crops on the farm. 

 In hilly regions, practically all farms have forests, yielding 

 timber, posts, firewood and other supplies, and protect- 

 ing lands from washing, affording windbreaks, and providing 

 good use for lands that cannot be profitably devoted to 

 other crops. 

 There are many 

 planted wood- 

 lots in the West. 

 The manage- 

 ment of these 

 small forests is 

 called farm for- 

 estry. Every 

 good general 

 farmer should 

 be skillful in 

 the growing of 

 forest crops as 

 in the growing 

 of grain crops 

 or fruit crops. 

 The principles 

 of good plant- 

 growing may be 

 applied to the 

 forest, the trees 

 being planted, 

 cared for, the forest thinned if too thick (Figs. 432, 433) 

 or rilled if too thin, fire kept out, and the trees properly 

 harvested. 



435. What small forests contribute to the farm, the larger 

 public forests contribute to the nation or to all the people: 

 profitable utilization of remote, rocky and less fertile areas; the 

 holding back of the rainfall so that floods and serious erosions 



434. Absolute forest land, — unadaptable to other uses. 



