204 



AGRICULTURE 



life. It is the patriarch among plants. The life of a 

 young tree ought not to be taken except for good cause. 

 The farmer who makes firewood out of saplings is de- 

 stroying the property of his children. When trees mature 

 or reach the point where their growth is very slow, they 

 should be cut and used, so that they may yield a profit 

 and make room for younger and more rapid-growing trees. 

 Saplings or young trees should be removed only where 

 the growth is too thick. 



Forest fires. The long-leaf or yellow pine tree may be 

 six years old before it becomes one foot high. A single fire, 



Court**/ Foratt Scnricv, U. 8. DrfH. Agr. 



Fio. 13*. DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF FIRE m A FOREST OF LONG-LEAF PINE 



started by some careless hunter or other thoughtless per- 

 son " to burn off the grass," may kill a thousand of these 

 and other valuable kinds of trees on every acre that it 

 invades (Fig. 132). Besides this, fires make the soil of 



