e trees. Basswood, crab apple, wild plum, black walnut, ash,
hickory and hard maple generally indicate a fertile soil. White oak
indicates only a moderate soil; bur oak, a somewhat warmer and better
drained soil. Beech indicates a rather poor soil; a heavy clay,
lacking in organic matter. Certain species of elms, maples and oaks,
as red maple and the Spanish swamp oak, indicate wet soils.

The occurrence and vigor of certain herbaceous plants are especially
indicative of fertility of the soil, as, for example, ragweed,
bindweed, certain plants of the sunflower family, such as goldenrod,
asters and wild sunflowers. Soils adapted to red clover and alfalfa are
usually well drained and contain plenty of lime. Alsike clover will
grow on a soil too wet or containing too little lime for either of the
former. Soils that produce sorrel and redtop when red clover and
timothy are sown need drainage or liming or both. Sedges usually
indicate a wet soil, although certain species grow on dry, sandy soils.
The point of this paragraph, however, is not to give comprehensive
advice but to cause the young farmer to observe the conditions and make
his own applications, which will vary in different regions and under
different circumstances.

Perhaps the one feature that the young farmer is most likely to
overlook in the selection of a farm is the relative proportion of
tillable land. One farm of 200 acres, may, on account of stony land,
wet land, comparatively unproductive woodland, or because of the
arrangement of fences and roadways, contain only eighty acres of
tillable land, while another may contain 160 acres. This is one reason
why a 160-acre farm in the central West may be more valuable than a
farm of the same size in the northeastern United States.

Columella says with regard to the selection of land that there are two
things chiefly to be considered, the wholesomeness of the air and the
fruitfulness of the place, "of which if either the one or the other
should be wanting, and notwithstanding anyone should have a mind to
dwell there, he must have lost his senses and ought to be conveyed to
his kinfolk to take care of him."

In selecting a farm do not fail to inquire whether there has been any
recent illness, and if so the nature of it, either among the persons
living there or the domestic animals kept.

Aside from healthfulness, climate is a fundamental and controlling
factor, both in productiveness and economic farm management