solation to the lands below them.

But in many cases the trees are already cut away. Here replanting
becomes necessary and should be done in every case where soil-wash is
beginning on the mountain tops. It is almost equally desirable to plant
small shrubs and bushes as an undergrowth, so that the roots may form a
thick mat below the ground to hold the water in the soil, and permit it
to filter through slowly.

In Massachusetts, the tracks of the Boston and Albany Railroad are
depressed so that trains may pass below the level of the highways. In
order to protect the banks from erosion, the sloping sides of this
roadway have been planted with trailing rose-bushes and other vines
which have thickly matted roots. These serve a double purpose in
preventing landslides and washouts on the tracks, and in adding greatly
to the attractiveness of the scenery along the railway.

The poorest land of a farm is always found on the hilltops, because even
with the greatest care there is always considerable waste of the
top-soil. This land, then, should never be used for field crops. It
should constitute the woodland, or if this is not possible, the
pasture-land of the farm, for the grass roots protect the soil and
prevent it from washing away, and the profits on the hay are at least as
great as any other crop which could be grown on hill land.

But when erosion has been checked and the top-soil preserved, when the
soil is thoroughly fertilized, and a proper rotation of crops
established, there are still other lessons to be learned in order to
make our country as productive as it might be, as it will _need_ to be
to support the population that we shall have by the end of the century.

As a nation we undertake to farm too much land and do it carelessly.
The invention of labor-saving machinery has made it possible to farm
hundreds and even thousands of acres together with little physical
labor. This has made farmers heedless of small amounts of land wasted.

A man often only expects to make a comfortable living on one hundred and
sixty acres of land, while in Europe he would expect to grow rich on two
or three acres. It is often said that a French family would live off of
an American farmer's neglected fence-corners. In France, in England, in
Holland and Belgium every bit of land is tended and made useful. We have
the best natural soil in the world, the most fertile river valleys,
watered by abundant rains. The fertility of our lands