﻿TIMBER; 
  FORESTRY 
  111 
  

  

  104. 
  Meaning 
  and 
  importance 
  of 
  forestry. 
  Forestry 
  is 
  the 
  

   art 
  of 
  forest 
  management. 
  It 
  should 
  be 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  study 
  of 
  woodlands. 
  This 
  study 
  covers 
  all 
  such 
  topics 
  

   as 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  forests 
  over 
  the 
  earth's 
  surface, 
  their 
  

   dependence 
  on 
  soil 
  and 
  climate, 
  and 
  their 
  own 
  influence 
  upon 
  

   these. 
  It 
  also 
  discusses 
  their 
  composition 
  as 
  plant 
  communi- 
  

   ties, 
  their 
  progress 
  from 
  infancy, 
  through 
  youth 
  and 
  maturity, 
  

   to 
  old 
  age, 
  and 
  their 
  relations 
  to 
  the 
  animal 
  world. 
  The 
  utility 
  

  

  FIG. 
  93. 
  A 
  prostrate 
  log 
  of 
  sycamore 
  which 
  has 
  lost 
  its 
  bark 
  by 
  decay- 
  

   Note 
  the 
  extraordinarily 
  twisted 
  grain 
  O 
  f 
  the 
  trunk. 
  If 
  this 
  log 
  had 
  hern 
  sawed 
  

   into 
  lumber, 
  it 
  would 
  probably 
  have 
  shown 
  an 
  unusual 
  .strain 
  and 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  

   very 
  valuable 
  for 
  interior 
  finishing 
  

  

  of 
  forests 
  as 
  sources 
  of 
  timber 
  is 
  a 
  most 
  practical 
  forestry 
  

   topic 
  which 
  stands 
  foremost 
  in 
  the 
  estimation 
  of 
  the 
  public. 
  

   Forestry 
  is 
  so 
  extensive 
  a 
  subject 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  a 
  

   chapter 
  like 
  the 
  present 
  one 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  its 
  most 
  important 
  

   sub-divisions 
  can 
  be 
  briefly 
  discussed. 
  Every 
  well 
  informed 
  

   person 
  should 
  know, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  a 
  general 
  way, 
  what 
  forestry 
  

   is, 
  since 
  the 
  maintenance 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  best 
  timber 
  lands, 
  

   and 
  the 
  planting 
  of 
  trees 
  in 
  the 
  prairie 
  and 
  plains 
  region, 
  have 
  

   become 
  essential 
  to 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  and 
  the 
  keeping 
  

   up 
  of 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  timber. 
  For 
  about 
  t\vo 
  hundred 
  years 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  chief 
  problems 
  of 
  the 
  pioneer 
  farmer 
  in 
  North 
  America 
  

  

  