PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 127 



The general secretary would report that he has within the year given about thirty 

 public lectures upon forestry, the results being very encouraging. The most frequent 

 calls for these lectures came from the farmers' institutes of the state. 



From 1888 to 1892, Michigan had a state forestry commission, and dur- 

 ing that time the interests in forestry made some progress. Since then, 

 little has been done, because an economic (?) Democratic legislature voted 

 the commission out of existence. Still, in some of the states and in the 

 United States as a whole, the comprehension of the importance of thef 

 subject has kept advancing. 



A few years ago Captian Eads was famous for the work he performed in 

 constructing jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi to prevent the over- 

 flow. He seemed to have had a comprehensive view of the forest prob- 

 lem. Joaquin Miller of California wrote as follows: "I believe it is 

 pretty generally conceded that our continent is being washed into the sea 

 by way of the Mississippi and its thousands of miles of tributaries on the 

 one hand, and at the same time swept naked of its native forests by annual 

 fires on the other. I spent some time with the late Captain Eads at the 

 mouth of the Father of Waters, inspecting his jetties two years ago. 'We 

 have begun at the wrong end, ' said this great man more than once to me. 

 One morning he threw a bucket over the side of the boat and drew up 

 several gallons of dark mud and water. 'There,' cried the great engineer, 

 'there is a mixture of one tenth Missouri, one tenth Illinois, one tenth 

 Iowa, one fraction Kentucky, and so on, through about fifteen states, with 

 an addition of about five tenths of pure water. ' 'And what would you do, 

 Captain Eads, to stop this washing away of the states?' 'As I told you,' 

 remarked the energetic old man, as he dumped the ugly mixture back into 

 the gulf of Mexico, 'we have begun at the wrong end. ' But the country 

 is not educated up to the point of beginning. It wants the other end for 

 wheat and corn. It only wants the mouth of the river kept open so as to 

 be able to sell its corn for the present generation and let the next genera- 

 tion look out for itself. The other end of the river has drowned out this 

 end; state after state is going to be drowned out until some day the coral 

 may again build its pretty castles where the people of Iowa are now dig- 

 ging wells for water. The United States is tearing away her very heart 

 with her gang plows and dumping it into the sea, sir. ' " Leaves of trees 

 and grasses would protect the sources of the river. 



Many experiments should be made for the benefit of the future. And 

 here comes in the difficulty. Our people are so impatient for great results 

 within a year or two after beginning, that they might be unwilling to 

 undertake experiments requiring many years for reaching reliable conclu- 

 sions. The details of the subject are too lengthy and comprehensive to 

 be enumerated at this time. A study of existing forests should be made in 

 many regions for a series of years, noting the changes that take place. 

 This involves the anatomy and physiology of trees and shrubs, the physics 

 and chemistry of the plant and of the soil, better methods of handling the 

 product after it is grown, the study of the peculiarities of each kind of 

 tree. For example, pines and beeches will endure more shade than black 

 walnut and white ashes. Then, there is the undergrowth to be consid- 

 ered, mixed planting in strips and in blocks; also thinning and trimming. 



The two words /ores/ ^?'es must strike a terror to many people of the 

 state. I have taken no time to collect details regarding the great loss of 

 life, and the suffering of those who lost their homes last summer, to say 



