62 THE PLANT WORLD 



animals have ever been held as of greatest importance, laws and regula- 

 tions governing their disposition have been most prominent. Beyond 

 restrictions regarding forests and a relatively few plants of economic 

 importance, plants as they occur in nature were, and are even at the 

 present day, looked upon largely as common property. It is thus seen 

 to be difficult, indeed impossible, to estimate the impress that these 

 countless generations of license have left upon the present generation. 

 To stem the tide seems well nigh impossible, but as certain of our more 

 delicate or showy plants seem on the verge of extinction, as the result 

 of thoughtless, not to say wanton, destruction, it would seem that the 

 time had come when steps must be taken before they are numbered 

 with the relics of the past. The problem is how this end may be 

 accomplished. 



As already suggested, it is i^ractically only those plants and ani- 

 mals that enjoy a real or fancied economic importance that have been 

 the objects of protective enactment, and even in this respect laws for 

 the protection of plants have lagged far behind those safeguarding 

 animals. More or less rigid laws have been in force in England for 

 several centuries, having as their object the protection of the so-called 

 game mammals and game birds. When America was first settled by 

 European races, game of all kinds was found so abundant that its sup- 

 ply seemed inexhaustible, and it is only within the past two or three 

 decades that the public conscience has been awakened to the danger of 

 its total extermination, and as a result of this awakening every state 

 and territory in this country now has, for the most part, a carefully 

 drawn game law, and within the past year we have had the first effec- 

 tive national legislation — the so-called Lacey act — ^ which makes the 

 transportation of game of all kinds, or birds used for decorative pur- 

 poses, from one state to another a crime against the United States. 



Parallel with this, in large measure, is the case of our forests. 

 This country is so vast and the forest area was so enormous that the 

 supply seemed illimitable. But wise heads long ago foresaw the par- 

 allel between this country and the various European states regarding 

 forest denudation and sought to stay the tide of destruction. But it 

 was only when the actual end was in sight that remedial measures were 

 seriousl}^ thought of, and as a result forestry has gained more ground 

 within the past ten years than during all the world's history. As proof 

 of this quickening interest it may be stated that the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, through its bureau of forestry, which in 1898 offered to 

 take charge of and administer private forest lands along the lines of 

 scientific forestry, now has actually under its management 176,975 acres, 

 and has on file applications from private owners covering over four mil- 

 lion acres. Add to this the fact that the U. S. Government has set aside 



