l62 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



upon it. Forestry includes the establishment of a forest, and 

 its care and protection. But it goes further, and herein is 

 where it is widely misunderstood. I have said that forestry 

 is " the rational management of a forest in such a way as to 

 best subserve man's needs." Except in those regions where a 

 forest must be maintained intact for purposes of protecting the 

 soil, or where game and fish or natural beauty are the only 

 objects sought, this definition requires that there be a utiliza- 

 tion of the product. The tree must be cut when it is ripe, just 

 as a stalk of wheat must be. Timber will come to be regarded 

 as a regular crop and managed as such. 



On the other hand, forestry is not lumbering. The lumber- 

 man as a rule cuts ruthlessly, and then goes elsewhere. The 

 forester cuts carefully in such a way as to obtain a perpetual 

 income from one piece of property. 



Forestry does not say: "Woodman, spare that tree.". 

 It says cut that tree when it is ready to serve the purposes for 

 which it was designed, and then see to it that another tree 

 replaces the one you have cut. 



Forestry is a business, and must be made to pay. This is 

 not mere theory, for it has been made to pay in other 

 countries. The ideal forester must be a good business man. 

 He must be a student of nature and of human nature. 



But, it will be said, how does all this concern the farmer? 

 Granted the forest is a necessity and should be cared for. 

 Will present conditions justify the farmer or small timber 

 holder in giving more attention to his wooded property than 

 he now does? Should not experimentation in this direction, 

 if you will call it such, be left to governments and large 

 capitalists? Will it pay? That is the relentless question 

 which must be squarely faced. 



Shall the Connecticut farmer go out and put good money 

 into planting bare land in order that fifteen, thirty, fifty, or 

 one hundred years hence some one else may reap what he has 

 sown? No, certainly' not on lands which are adapted to 

 better paying purposes, and not on other poorer lands if he 

 sees no profit in it, though the indications are that the day will 

 come when many will to good advantage thus utilize their 

 waste lands. 



Mr. Jones owns a farm somewhere, anywhere, in the state. 

 On that farm is some tillable knd, some good pasture land. 



