162 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 
the aim of the owner to keep out fires, and so encourage the 
growth of underbrush and leaf mold, as this protects from dry- 
ing out in summer, which is important on such land. The large 
trees that are decaying had better be cut out, and the younger 
growth favored by occasional thinnings, where too much 
crowded. 
1g. A. has a meadow which is subject to overflow in the 
spring of the year. The stream which runs through it is liable 
to sudden rises, and has made many channels for itself, and is 
continually making new channels. The land affords fairly good 
pasturage, but the cutting of new channels by the river is a 
source of great annoyance and loss. Is there any way that this 
can be prevented by planting trees? 
Answer: Such streams may be permanently straightened out 
by planting willows across the cuts made, so as to confine the 
waters to a straight course. By this treatment a stream soon 
clears out a deeper main channel for itself, and the old high 
water channels gradually fill up with the sediment from the water 
which sets back into them from the river at times of freshet. 
The banks of the stream should also be protected from washing 
by planting willows on them. For this purpose willow cuttings 
of large size should preferably be used. They should be not less 
than two inches in diameter and six feet long, and be put at 
least three feet in the ground where exposed to erosion. 
20. A. has forty acres near Minneapolis, covered mostly with 
a heavy stand of Sugar Maple, twenty-five years old, and two or 
three acres of Tamarack, Elm, Basswood and Oak. What treat- 
ment would be more profitable than to clear up for pasture or 
other purposes? 
alnswer: Such land as this is probably much more valuable 
for agricultural purposes than for forestry, unless it is stony or 
on steep hillsides, for the tree growth indicates a strong, valua- 
ble soil, and its being located near a large city should enhance its 
value for dairying or similar purposes. 
2I. Some neglected lowlands have become partially covered 
with Cottonwoods and Willows, some of which are a foot or more 
in diameter. These trees are in irregular patches, covering per- 
haps two-thirds of the tract. The lowest places are quite wet 
and boggy. What income might be derived from a careful man- 
agement of the growing wood? 
