well near
the water, has a heavy network of roots, and is valuable for weaving
into baskets and furniture.

For all hillsides and rocky places, as well as wood-lots, the hardwoods
which sell best for timber should be planted in the North and West, and
the evergreens near the sea-coasts and in the South. Forests of oak,
hickory, walnut, maple (especially the sugar maple, which yields a
steady return during the lifetime of the tree), elm, chestnut, and
locust will sell for a good price, and are always salable. It requires
many years to grow large timber, but by proper management several years
can be gained in its growth, and it is always a valuable investment for
a farmer to make for his children.

Not individuals only, but states and the national government as well,
should provide forests for the future, and this is the greatest duty of
all, for much of the most important work can only be done by a power
that can control the entire watershed at the head-waters of a
river-system.

For example, the Appalachian Mountains are the source of hundreds of
streams which flow east, west and south, and pass through many states.
These mountains were originally covered with a heavy forest growth, but
they belong largely to private companies who are cutting the forests at
a rapid rate.

The effect of this is seen in bare hillsides, washed by mountain
torrents which are causing disastrous floods on the lowlands, filling up
the streams, and carrying away much of the most fertile soil of some of
the southeastern states, and in the drying up of the small tributaries.

This can not be remedied by single companies nor by the states that
suffer most. The only remedy is for the government to buy the land at
the head-waters of the rivers and reforest it. The same conditions on a
smaller scale are to be found in every mountainous region where the
forests are cut away.

The United States owns a large amount of forest but not nearly enough to
insure a supply of wood for the future. The public forest lands are
nearly all in the West. They consist of national forests, national
parks, Indian and military reservations and land open to entry as timber
claims. In all they contain nearly 100,000,000 acres, or about half as
much as is contained in farmers' wood-lots and about one-fourth as much
as the amount owned by large lumber companies.

The United States, on its public domain, is setting about a careful
system of cutting and replanting. Thi