FORESTRY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. 23 



LAND CLASSIFICATION. 



The first step is to determine what lands should be devoted to 

 forest production. As a basis for this, it would be extremely desirable 

 to have a thorough classification of lands throughout the country 

 made by competent public authorities. This classification should 

 aim to point out the use to which the land is best adapted. Obvi-< 

 ously it is an economic waste to grow trees on the best agricultural 

 lands or to attempt to farm the poorest forest lands — so obvious, in 

 fact, that the mistake is seldom made. But between these two ex- 

 tremes are all sorts of cases in which the economic waste of putting 

 the land to the wrong use is less obvious but none the less real. On 

 such lands as these a classification is particularly needed. 



A great deal has already been accomplished in the way of soil and 

 geological surveys. These are valuable so far as they go, but they do 

 not go far enough. What is needed is not only information regard- ' 

 ing the origin, composition, and depth of the soil, and the topography 

 and climate of the region, but an interpretation of these factors in 

 terms of their usefulness to man. The best present use of the land, 

 furthermore, depends not only on the physical factors of soil and 

 climate, but also on such economic factors as the availability and 

 quality of agricultural lands elsewhere, the market for agricultural 

 crops, transportation facilities, and the like. In the last analysis 

 the problem boils down to such specific questions as these: Should 

 this piece of land under present economic conditions be devoted to 

 oak or to alfalfa ? Should that piece be used for growing white pine 

 or corn ? 



Such a classification as this, which of course should be conducted 

 by representatives of the State or Nation, can not help involving 

 many difficulties. Years ago it probably would have been imprac- 

 ticable; even to-day mistakes will be made. But that is no reason 

 why the work should not be undertaken as promptly and pushed as 

 rapidly as possible. A small start has already been made in this 

 direction. In the National Forests, for example, no land is opened 

 for entry under the homestead laws until it has been examined care- 

 fully to determine whether it really has agricultural possibilities. 

 In the last few years surveys have been made of entire Forests, and 

 on the basis of these surveys the land has been classified permanently 

 as primarily valuable for agricultural or for forest purposes. In 

 some of the State forest reserves agricultural settlement is not allowed 

 at all or only after a thorough examination to determine the value of 

 the particular tract of land for this purpose. 



Many areas in every region can be classified almost at once as 

 either agricultural (including grazing) or forest land. Many others 

 will have to be classified as intermediate, by which is meant that they 



