A BEGINNER IN FORESTRY 



By ANNE WARNER 



Paper Five 



IIjEGIN to wonder if, in tlie caring 

 for trees so that they may produce 

 raih-oad ties, houses, and other truly 

 artificial necessaries, we haven't lost 

 sight of the whole basic principle of 

 forestry. The real need of trees is so 

 that weary mortals may get out of 

 houses and off of railroad ties, and 

 back to one of the greatest pleasures 

 of life, — the pleasure of just being- 

 alive, — the pleasure of becoming a 

 child in heart, — the pleasure of being 

 happy without knowing why. 



The place where I am is small, not 

 nuich frequented, totally ignored by 

 Mr. Baedeker, and the most of the in- 

 habitants of the village are the simplest 

 peasant-folk, men and women who 

 work in the fields and go home at night 

 in long, uneven ranks, seven or eight 

 together, each carrying his or her rake, 

 hoe, or shovel. There is a domain, or 

 large landed estate, and the woods be- 

 longing to the estate come as strictly 

 under the forester's rule as if they were 

 government property. The whole 

 country-side is covered with beautiful 

 forests, mainly "self-planted." The 

 forester has explained to me that when 

 there is a good growth of young trees 

 after the cut they let them alone, only 

 concerning themselves with the thin 

 places, or the places where the soil is 

 evidently not fitted for the young trees 

 springing there. The soil in this vicin- 

 ity is chalky, and the lay of the land 

 makes me want to study geology — 

 wlien I don't want to study mushrooms, 

 botany, astronomy, or any other one of 

 the new-old primitive sciences which 

 ])ress ])Ower fully to the fore when one 

 comes oneself under the forest's 

 scepter. 

 6io 



The desire to know the answer to 

 the riddle is that the riddle here 

 is so big. The great plain of 

 northern (Germany lies straight out- 

 spread beyond me as I write. Wide 

 and flat, dotted with villages, fertile 

 with rich upper soil. The ocean once 

 rolled to the foot of this hillside, and 

 ages earlier all the rocks of which the 

 hill and all those around are made was 

 formed in its depths. Now this is 

 the riddle : all the rocks are strata 

 plainly defined, and without exception 

 they are all tipped almost perpendicu- 

 larly on end. The slant is invariable, 

 and the ends of the stratum have a 

 sharp little twist just beneath the soil. 

 Tlie soil on these rocks is only one or 

 two feet dee]) and is first sand and then 

 the rich black of vegetation. Such a 

 big riddle to me. 



The foresters interest me greatly. 

 Men who care for the growth of 150 

 years and who cherish the life in that 

 which will come to its end in 2050 or 

 thereabouts, must have some traits 

 which any American may well find in- 

 terest in studying. The forester here 

 tells me that he loves his vocation, and 

 I can understand that no man would 

 choose it who did not love it ; because. 

 of all professions, it would be the least 

 possible to give a living to an indififer- 

 ent follower. I went with him the other 

 (lay to see his knife mark out the super- 

 fluous saplings, and I soon learned the 

 two rules that saved or condemned : 

 health at the root, and whether or not 

 the young top formed part of the cover 

 overhead. The cover overhead must 

 be contiiuious or else grass grows be- 

 neath, and grass is not allowed in Ger- 

 man forests. I mean, of course, as a 



