Forestry on ^and^ 3oils. 



By Prof. JOHN GIFFORD, D. CEc* 



-™~ : .- — ■ ■ ■ . ; ■ 



T 



HERE are vast areas of sand 

 lands throughout the Eastern 

 United States, especially along 

 the coast and in the neighborhood of 

 the Great Lakes. They exist in such 

 quantities and are in such a deplorable 

 condition that their treatment should be 

 a matter of national concern. Sand lands 

 may for a time produce good agricul- 

 tural crops, but for reasons which I shall 

 explain more in detail later, they are 

 far more fit for the production of forests. 

 To maintain their fertility for agricul- 

 tural purposes by the application of 

 manures is difficult, and sooner or later 

 they are abandoned and left to nature. 

 The reversion of sand farm land to 

 forest is common even in the South, 

 where, owing to favorable climatic 

 conditions, it is capable of producing 

 several special crops for a considerable length of time. The term " reversion," as the 

 derivation of the word might imply, is not used here in the sense of a backward step; 

 for the abandonment of sand land to forest growth is rather a step in advance — a step 

 toward that ideal classification of land in which every acre produces the crop to which 

 it is best adapted. A great deal of our best land is still in forest, and on the other 

 hand, much of our farm land is unfit for cultivation. 



Sand land was cleared in early times because it was easy to clear. In the beginning, 

 owing to the large amount of humus which it contained, it produced heavy crops. In 

 the course of time its fertility was exhausted, and finally the farm was abandoned — 



Assistant Professor of Forestry, Cornell University. 

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