The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1901-08-23

tent. L ind abandoned farms grow:
ing up to wild growth of brush
and trees, where, in my boyhood,
there was free exchange of visits
between the parents and children of
large and thriving families. But /
have not found farm abandoned
that ought not to be abandoned.
What the end will be, where the de-
cline in population will cease, no
man can tell Somewhere, at some
point in time, there will be change,
an upward tendency will again set
in, or a stable equilibrium of popu-
lation will be established. Anyhow
the town has a history of which it
may well be proud In the STAN
dard of it's moral and religious life,
In its devotion to educational inter-
ests, in it's number of young men
and women-10 since 1850-who
have received college diplomas, in
the ability, character and influence
of its twenty-five men who have en-
tered what are called the learned
professions, Z clergymen, 9 physi-
clans and 9 lawyers, this town need
not fear comparison with any other
town, of it's size and population, in
this State or even in New England.
The town has only recently passed
its first century milestone.
There are two or three ways by
which it may be possible to reverse
the downward tendencies of this
town and many another like it in
situation and conditions. Maintain
interest in the moral welfare of the
community. Sustain the church life
with unity, with hearty and unself-
ish cooperation Let the town con-
tinue and, if possible, increase it's
reputation for devotion to a good,
thorough education of it's youth.
Seek not larger, but better, farms.
If you have farm of two hundred
acres, in the end, it may prove to be
true economy for you to give up
your exhausted pasture lands to for
est, to reduce your tillable lands to
about fifty acres, including pasture
lands. Bring every rod of these
fifty acres, more or less, under cul-
tivation. Rotate pasture and mead
ow. Dig out rocks, cart away stones,
underdrain the wet lands as the
conditions demand. Then let the
balance of your farm go to forest,
only do not leave it to wild growth.
Cultivate your forest as you cult
waite your tillable lands, that is, give
to each, the forest and the meadow,
the treatment suited to it. In your
forest, see that the right kind of
growth has the best chance. Never
strip the land devoted to wood of
its forest growth. Once in forest
always keep it in forest. Only cut
the tree that is fit for the purpose
for which you desire to use it, or to
sell it. and see that there is a young
tree ready to take the place of every
tree that is removed. A forest will
always take care of itself, fertilize
itself with its own LEAKAGE, the leaf
age of it's underground, and the de-
cay OF it's carpet of MOSES, ferns,
mushrooms and other plant life. It's
leaf mold will steadily deepen. 1t
will make great, wide, sponge-like
carpet to retain the rain water till it.
trickles down into the soil, feeds the
deep springs, and thus holds in
check, and yields in a steady flow,
the rainfall that otherwise would
quickly rush down the bare, hard
hillsides and mountain slopes, and
make flood wasteful always and
sometimes destructive.
At first thought, this system of
forest and farm culture may seem
impracticable and impossible to es-
tablish. I do not think SO. It can
not come about in day The gen.
GRAFTON that undertakes this system
will give it's life, it's energy and en-
terprise to it, as our grand-fathers
and grand-mothers gave their lives
to the clearing of these mountain
farms from the forests. But the
children of that generation will reap
She benefit, as our parents reaped
,he fruits of the pioneer farmer
sacrifices. Then the meadows will
7ield three or four times the ton
lage they now bear, and be three or
our times as easy to cultivate.
Then the forest lands will yield a
teady annual return and will be the
most profitable acres of the farm.
have just been told of farmer
Vho has farm for which he asks
1900. His neighbors price this