FOREST PLANTING AND FARM MANAGEMENT. 



rOEESTRY AND FARM DESIGNING. 



Although agriculture stands first among American industries and 

 our production of farm products is greater than that of any other 

 country, the ;possibilities of the art of agriculture have hardly begun 

 to be understood. That scientific farming will vastly increase the 

 productive power of the land in the United States is beyond doubt. 

 With the advance of knowledge through the discovery of new truths 

 and the advance in practice through the better application of what 

 science has already found out, improved utilization of the country's 

 resources will make room for a future rapid growth in population and 

 wealth, as expansion in territory has made room in the past. Making 

 the same land twice as productive as before is as good as doubling the 

 amount of land, if not better, and we have as yet scarcely scratched 

 the surface of the agricultural resources of the country as a whole. 

 One of the ways in which present methods of farm management may 

 be greatly improved is by better recognition of what may be called 

 farm engineering, or farm designing ; and this in turn must give an 

 important place to the consideration of farm forestry. 



The farm designer, or farm architect as he might be called, can do 

 much to improve the efficiency of farm operation. Economical man- 

 agement may be attained by a scientific adjustment of the parts of a 

 farm, just as the utility of a great building may be increased by the 

 careful planning of a qualified architect. Several agricultural col- 

 leges and experiment stations have recognized this fact, and have 

 given a distinct place to this as a part of the great problem of how to 

 get the most out of the soil. The best opportunities to apply these 

 principles are found in those parts of the West where new farms are 

 being taken up. Generally it is also in these regions that forestry 

 can do most for the farmer, for in the treeless regions, especially, 

 the full development of the country depends in no small degree on 

 the establishment of forest plantations. 



From the fact that trees take so much time to grow, the forester 

 who seeks to advise a farmer how he can make trees contribute most 



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