from forest fires in the United States is
most startling. Many of these fires are the result of carelessness or
ignorance. Most of the states have made or are now making laws to
prevent and to control such fires.

Second, fungous diseases. The timber loss from these diseases is
exceedingly great.

Third, insects of many kinds prey on the trees. Some strip all the
leaves from the branches. Others bore into the roots, trunk, or
branches. Some lead to a slow death; others are more quickly fatal.

Fourth, improper grazing. Turning animals into young woods may lead to
serious loss. The animals frequently ruin young trees by eating all the
foliage. Hogs often unearth and consume most of the seeds needed for a
good growth.

[Illustration: FIG. 223. WOOD LOT
After proper treatment]

The handling of forests is a business just as the growing of corn is a
business. In old forests, dead and dying trees should be cut. Trees that
occupy space and yet have little commercial value should give way to
more valuable trees. A quick-growing tree, if it is equally desirable,
should be preferred to a slow grower. An even distribution of the trees
should be secured.

In all there are about five hundred species of trees which are natives
of the United States. Probably not over seventy of these are desirable
for forests. In selecting trees to plant or to allow to grow from their
own seeding, pick those that make a quick growth, that have a steady
market value, and that suit the soil, the place of growth, and the
climate.

SECTION L. THE FARM GARDEN

Every farmer needs a garden in which to grow not only vegetables but
small fruits for the home table.

The garden should always be within convenient distance of the farmhouse.
If possible, the spot selected should have a soil of mixed loam and
clay. Every foot of soil in the garden should be made rich and mellow by
manure and cultivation. The worst soils for the home garden are light,
sandy soils, or stiff, clayey soils; but any soil, by judicious and
intelligent culture, can be made suitable.

In laying out the garden we should bear in mind that hand labor is the
most expensive kind of labor. Hence we should not, as is commonly done,
lay off the garden spot in the form of a square, but we should mark off
for our purpose a long, narrow piece of land, so that the cultivating
tools may all be conveniently drawn by a horse or a mule. The use of the
plow and the horse cultivator enables t