THE WOODLOT 59 



Besides the fuel that the farmer must have he stands in 

 constant need of all sorts of timber for general farm pur- 

 poses, and there is no more reason why he should send far 

 from home for these when he can produce them on his own 

 land than that he should depend upon other regions, or upon 

 some other than his own country, for his food supply. It is 

 as much in the line of his interests to grow trees as to grow 

 hay, grain, or other farm crops. That he has neglected to do 

 this in many sections of the country, and is still neglecting 

 it, is due, no doubt, to the general and widespread belief 

 that there is an ample supply of forest products, and some 

 to spare, and that there need be no effort made to grow 

 them. But if he has not already learned the contrary he 

 soon will. Experience will be a dear school in this case, and 

 will teach him what observation should have done in years 

 gone by. Hereafter he must grow trees, else he will pay a 

 high price for his fuel and lumber, or go without. He must 

 accept one or the other horn of the dilemma, and it is for 

 him to choose. 



It is undoubtedly within the domain of fact that there are 

 not five farms in a hundred in our country that do not have 

 on them from one to twenty or more acres of land that are 

 practically unfit for profitable agriculture, land that is 

 unprofitable for cultivation for ordinary crops, but is well 

 suited for growing trees. Steep hillsides should never be 

 ploughed if it can be avoided. The erosion going on in such 

 cases in this country is a very serious matter. We hear 

 much of the conservation of our natural resources, but in 

 all the din and clamor raised over their destruction but 

 little is said of this greatest of all losses that of the fer- 

 tility of the soil by erosion, which is going on in the culti- 

 vated and barren fields of this country. Yet we know that 

 every year adds to the already large number of worn-out 

 farms in the older sections, and the loss of fertility from 

 erosion is far greater than exhaustion from the growth of 

 crops. Whenever a stream of roily water flows from a tract 

 of land it carries with it the most fertile portion of the soil. 



