person responsible also usually loses instead of gaining.

Without deprecating in the least the importance of agricultural
development or of lightening the useful and not easy task of the
settler, it is still terribly true that the agricultural industry
and the settler suffer an annual loss through the destruction of
improvements, crops and stock by fires from careless clearing that
is far greater financially than the saving in clearing cost which
was the cause. In other words, agricultural development is retarded
instead of advanced by its present careless use of fire.

PLANTING FOR FUEL AND TIMBER

Great as are the timber resources of the Pacific Northwest, there
are extensive regions in central and eastern Oregon and Washington
where timber is a scarcity, and wood for fuel and farm repair purposes
for settlers and ranchers can be obtained only at heavy cost. In
such situations it will be a paying investment for the farmer to
set out a small plantation simply to produce his own wood for fuel,
fence posts and other purposes. It is true that some time must
elapse before plantations begin to be productive, but by choosing
rapid-growing species and planting closely, the thinnings which
will be necessary in a few years, even though the trees be small,
will do for the woodpile. Trees which grow rapidly and at the same
time produce good wood are, of course, preferable. If they also
sprout from the stump, a little care will maintain the supply
indefinitely.

The choice of species for a woodlot must be governed to a great
extent by the location. Many portions of the treeless areas in this