these fields are good for is the growing of timber. Campaigns are
now under way to increase tree planting and develop the
production of lands adapted for forestry which previously have
been idle.

The United States of the future will not be a desert, tree-less
country. However, immediate measures to save our remaining trees
must be developed. The greater part of our virgin timber has
already been felled. The aftermath forests, which succeed the
virgin stand, generally are inferior. Our supplies of ash, black
walnut and hickory, once abundant, are now seriously limited.
Formerly, these mixed forests covered vast stretches of country
which today support only a scant crop of young trees which will
not be ready for market for many years. These second-growth
stands will never approach in value or quality the original
forests. Over large areas, poplar, white birch, and Jack pine
trees now predominate on lands which formerly bore dense stands
of white pine. In many places, scrubby underbrush and stunted
trees occupy lands which heretofore have been heavy producers of
marketable timber trees.

Generally speaking, farm lands should not be used for forestry
purposes. On the other hand, some forest lands can be profitably
cleared and used for agriculture. For example, settlers are
felling trees and fighting stumps in northern Wisconsin,
Michigan, and Minnesota. Some of these virgin lands are valuable
for farming purposes, others are not. It is preferable that they
should produce farm crops instead of tree crops if the land is
best adapted to agricultural use. It is an economic necessity
that all lands in this country best suited for farming purposes