56 N. H. Agri. Experiment Station [Bulletin 298 



With a stable population the situation is different. One portion of the 

 country increasing in population may mean depopulation in another 

 area. Any large expansion of population in New England or New 

 Hampshire is questionable and can come to pass only if our resources 

 and opportunities outbalance those of other places. 



If we assume present population for New Hampshire and especially 

 present rural population, the trend again would be continuing read- 

 justment of people to the opportunities and resources of the State. 

 With many good farms in good locations not operated, the general 

 trend to be expected would be continuation of retreat in areas offering 

 little opportunity. To realign our people so that good lands are used 

 more intensively and the poor lands less intensively is progress and not 

 retreat. To save and develop good farms and divert poor ones to for- 

 est growth is a logical economic trend. 



7. From a local town point of view, if present population is as- 

 sumed, there is the same need for people to adjust themselves by mi- 

 grating from poor to good locations. But in a small unit such as a 

 town, assumption of present population is not sound. In the years 

 ahead the population of a town will depend on the relation of its oppor- 

 tunities to those in other towns in this and other states. The local 

 townsmen should realize that the problem is primarily one of people 

 and their opportunities, and that in the long period any particular 

 town is incidental to the larger objective. The purpose of government 

 is service to the people. Population must be related to resources and 

 opportunities; and if these have been exploited and diminished in one 

 town, the ratio of people to land has been disturbed and the new align- 

 ment may mean migration of families to resources elsewhere. There 

 is a social loss in holding people in a community for any long period 

 after resources have been dissipated or when better opportunities are 

 available elsewhere. 



8. A rural community must have something in the way of services 

 or products to exchange for the products of other communities. There 

 IS little in American political or economic life to suggest that the people 

 in a rural area can receive a fair share of the national dividend in any 

 other way than by this exchange of their products or services. Any 

 small community that cannot so organize itself as to trade its services 

 or goods is bound to have a rather low content of living. This rather 

 obvious statement is made because some of the local people even in the 

 more isolated places seem to be waiting for something to come to them, 

 and have given their situation little analysis. State-aids, relief, unem- 

 ployment funds, special road grants may bring temporary income but 

 are flimsy foundations on which to build for permanency and security. 



In considering the adaption of people to forest resources the changes 

 in technique of forest harvest and management made possible by the 

 truck and tractor and the development of good main roads should not 

 be overlooked. A few years ago the worker had to live reasonably 

 near the place of operation. Now it is possible to transport men a con- 



