51-2 FIELD-CROPS IN FOKKSTS. 



iiinount (»f niiiiiuie aviiiliil)lc for ji^rririilture. Tlieso advantages, 

 however, depeiul in the first place, on conditions of climate and 

 soil heing favourahle to agriculture; secondly, on sufficient 

 facility in the cultivation of the soil, and the possiljility of 

 ohtaining a sufficient sui)ply of lahour. 



Field-crops make greater demands on hoth climate and soil 

 than forest plants ; in order, therefore, that they may thrive, 

 suitahle climatic conditions are essential, and this, experience 

 has fully proved (as in the Rhine-valley, Switzerland, Bohemia, 

 and s(mie districts hordering on the Danube). The demands 

 which field-crops when continued only for a few years make on 

 the fertility of the soil are more easily met, for only a moderate 

 and superficial supply of nutritive soil is requisite, which every 

 forest soil possesses, provided it has not been dei)rived of litter 

 and its degree of compacity does not offer too great obstacles to 

 cultivation. As regards locality, the gradient of the area to be 

 cultivated is often steep, and deep cultivation cannot bo efiected 

 without danger of denudation by rain-water. It is therefore 

 essential, if field-crops are to be grown with profit, that the 

 area be level, or only slightly inclined. Another condition is 

 that the land shall be not too remote from the labourers' houses, 

 a liigbly important point now that wages are so high. The 

 amount of labour involved in the cultivation naturally varies 

 with the stifiiiess of the soil, the amount of herbage which 

 binds it together, and whether the roots of the woody plants 

 have been extracted or not beforehand. The duration (»f the 

 agricultural treatment also greatly influences the question, for it 

 can hardly prove remunerative to remove the stumps and roots 

 of felled trees for the purpose of cultivating a piece of ground 

 for one year's crop only. 



Scarcity of Land for Cultivation and a Dense Population are 

 also necessary conditions ; where sufficient cleared land is 

 available for agriculture, and plenty of other work is available, 

 the peasants cannot be induced to cultivate remote forest areas. 

 If the forest owner attempts to cultivate at his own expense it is 

 evident that labour nmst be plentiful, or he will not get sufficient 

 workmen. ^Matters of late years have greatly altered in this re- 

 spect. Formerly it was only possible for the dense population of many 

 mountainous districts to obtain sufficient food by supplementing 



