The government also encouraged planting the seedlings in garden-like rows to ensure no patch of soil was left bare. This was because timber grown in grids of evenly spaced trees yielded more wood than scattered clumps. At least in theory. By filling in all the gaps, they figured they could grow more wood than occurred naturally. With every corner chockablock, they felt justified in bigger harvests, in anticipation of future yields. And logical rows made everything more countable. Same rationale as my Grannie Winnie planting her garden in rows, but she worked the soil and varied her crops over
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