and thus grain, and
flax, and other very valuable crops can be raised upon it. They raise a
few trees in that part of the country, but not many."

"I never heard of raising trees before," said Rollo, "except apple
trees, or something like that."

"True," said Mr. George, "because in America, as that is a new country,
there is an abundance of native forests, where the trees grow wild. But
you must remember that every foot of land in Europe has been in the
possession of man, and occupied by him, for two thousand years. There
is not a field or a hill, or even a rocky steep on the mountain side,
which has not had sixty or seventy generations of owners, who have all
been watching it, and taking care of it, and improving it more or less
all that time; each one carefully considering what his land can produce
most profitably, and taking care of it and managing it especially with
reference to that production. If his land is smooth and level, he
ploughs it, and cultivates it for grass, or grain, or other plants
requiring special tillage. If it is in steep slopes, with a warm
exposure, he terraces it up, and makes vineyards of it. If it is in
steep slopes, with a cold exposure, then it will do for timber, provided
there are streams near it, so that he can float the timber away. If
there are no streams near it, he can use it as pasture ground for sheep
or cattle; for the wool, or the butter and cheese, which he obtains from
this kind of farming, can be transported without streams; or, at least,
such commodities will bear transporting farther before coming to a
stream than wood or timber. Thus, you see, whatever the land is fit for,
it has been appropriated to for a great many centuries; and it has all
been cropped over and over again, even where the crop is a forest of
trees. If we allow the trees even a hundred years to grow, before they
are large enough to cut, that would give, in two thousand years, time
to cut them off and let them grow up again twenty times."

"Here comes a steamer," said Rollo.

Just then the bow of a steamer came shooting into view, down the river.
On the forward part of the deck were several soldiers and laborers, with
women and children that looked like emigrants, and also a huge pile of
trunks and merchandise covered with a tarpauling. Then came the paddle
wheels, and then the quarter deck, with a large company of tourists,
most of whom were looking about very eagerly at the scenery, with guide
books