THE VALUE OF OUR FORESTS. 185 



involved in the case, and their far-reaching relations. It is a matter 

 not of present or local exigency merely, but of general and abiding 

 importance. The future of the whole country is involved in it. 



Champollion is reported as saying in reference to the great desert 

 of Northern Africa : " And so the astonishing truth dawns upon us 

 that this desert may once have been a region of groves and fountains, 

 and the abode of happy millions. Is there any crime against Nature 

 which draws down a more terrible curse than that of stripping Mother 

 Earth of her sylvan covering ? The hand of man has produced this 

 desert, and, I verily believe, every other desert upon the surface of this 

 earth. Earth was Eden once, and our misery is the punishment of 

 our sins against the world of plants. The burning sun of the desert 

 is the angel with the flaming sword who stands between us and para- 

 dise." 



An awakening of general interest on this subject is needed. To this 

 end the most important step is to get before the people as widely as 

 possible the facts showing the importance of the forests in their rela- 

 tions to climate, to water-supply, to floods and droughts, to commerce 

 and manufactures, to agriculture and to health ; the rapidity wdth 

 which we are destroying our forests and bringing upon ourselves the 

 natural and inevitable results of that course. The history of other 

 nations, as related to their treatment of the forests, should be made 

 widely known, and the danger that this land, or portions of it, by the 

 reckless destruction of its forests, may be converted into a desert, as 

 other lands have been. Thus may we hope to arouse a general inter- 

 est in the trees, and a disposition to cherish them as our best friends. 

 Meanwhile, let tree-planting be encouraged. Let it be shown, as it 

 has been again and again, that much of our poor and what is com- 

 monly regarded as waste land can be made to yield a handsome profit 

 by being devoted to the growth of trees ; and that our rough hills and 

 mountain-sides can thus be made of direct pecuniary value, while at 

 the same time they are rendered objects of beauty and the means of 

 protecting our springs, maintaining the flow of our streams, and pro- 

 moting health and prosperity. With this awakened interest in the 

 forests, sylviculture will come to be one of our arts. We want an 

 intelligent and scientific observation of the facts in regard to trees -as 

 related to our various soils and situations. The adaptation of trees to 

 one climate or another, their comparative value for one purpose or 

 another, the obstacles to successful planting these, and many other 

 things, need to be known as they are not yet known. Some things we 

 can learn from the experiments which have been made and the knowl- 

 edge which has been gained in Europe. But so different are the trees 

 there and here, and so different the conditions of soil and climate, 

 that the problem set before us is virtually a new one, which must be 

 worked out carefully and patiently on our own ground. The most 

 important advance in this direction yet made here, so far as we know. 



