184 AGRICULTURE. 



In the next place, the forests are the home of birds and 

 game, which are a source of supply of food and furs. 



Trees and forests also add to the fine appearance of a 

 country, whether found along the streams and rivers or on the 

 hill tops. Trees for all hilly country is a good rule to follow. 

 It is there that the streams take their rise. Land there is of 

 less value for grain crops. When we lay bare the hills we cut 

 down the wind-breaks, we dry up the springs and streams, and 

 we leave a poor soil, to be made poorer by the washing of the 

 rains and the blowing of the winds. We should remember 

 that the forest is a crop of the farm, and its nature should be 

 considered as carefully as that of any other crop of the farm. 



THE FOREST AS A PRODUCER OF CROPS. If the trees are 

 a crop, how should that crop be harvested? We cut down all 

 of a wheat crop at one time. If we are growing a crop of corn 

 for green ears we do not pick all at once, but go over the field 

 again and again, taking the ears that are full-grown and leaving 

 the small ears to grow larger. If we were to cut down a whole 

 forest or a wood, as we do a crop of wheat, we would have to 

 wait many years for a new crop. But if we take out each year 

 only the largest trees, and leave the others standing until they 

 grow to full-size, we can harvest a crop of trees every year, and at 

 the same time assist the smaller trees to grow more tapidly. 

 The cutting down of trees, large and small alike, is wasteful; 

 the proper cutting of trees, leaving the young forest to make 

 growth, is alone worthy of the name of forestry. 



There is only one way in which to become acquainted with 

 trees, and that is by studying the trees themselves as they are 

 growing. In studying a tree the following points are to be 

 noticed. First, as to whether it is an evergreen or whether it 

 sheds its leaves (that is, deciduous) ; second, the general shape 

 of the tree, whether it grows tall or spreads out, how it 

 branches ; third, the form of its leaves ; fourth, the nature of 

 its bark ; and, fifth, the nature and form of its seeds or nuts. 



