14 THE AMES FORESTER 



for its timber value. This rule was given publicity out of all 

 proportion to the region of its applicability, and it took some 

 time to give equally widespread vogue to the fact that this 

 rule applied only where all the physical and economic factors 

 were the same as in the special region for which it was intended. 

 Since then rules have been worked out for other regions; 

 sometimes fixing the minimum of farm value which in a given 

 region justifies cutting into a forest unit; sometimes naming 

 the altitude in a given region above which, with a given slope 

 and exposure, agricultural success cjannot be expected; some- 

 times, for a given soil and precipitation, giving the maximum 

 slope on which permanent agricultural success may reasonably 

 be expected and beyond which the clearing of the slope will 

 probably result in a gullied hillside of little value for either 

 forest or farm. In short, all rules have been restricted in their 

 application to a limited region within which the relation of the 

 determining economic factors are found to be fairly constant. 

 Yet, even with this restriction, it has been found necessary to 

 provide for exceptions to take care of any special cases where 

 some economic factor, because of some special condition, has 

 changed the equation for a particular tract. Economic princi- 

 ples have been given precedence over all rules. In fact, each 

 rule has been only the expression of the application of economic 

 principles under certain fixed conditions. Therefore, whenever 

 a rule is found to be inapplicable, the policy has been to fall 

 back upon the original economic principle and be governed ac- 

 cordingly. In this way it has been possible to make rapid pro- 

 gress and to be both consistent and just. 



The classification study and work of the Forest Service is 

 constantly bringing out more and more clearly the importance 

 of community influence as a factor in agricultural development. 

 Probably no^offief^economic factor has greater power in de- 

 termining the future and highest use of land than the fact of 

 the necessary relation of the land to the development of com- 

 munity life. Pioneering played such a large and necessary 

 part in the development of our Nation that we have not always 

 viewed it with the right perspective. The first settlements in 

 every community have necessarily encountered pioneer condi- 

 tions. Therefore, when a homesteader goes back into some re- 



