MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 461^ 



business. All forests of the country are systematically inspected and 

 reports made concerning their condition and needs. The inspector acts as 

 "a paternal adviser" to all owners of forests. In the words of a recent 

 American Consul to Austria-Hungary, " The owner of forest land in 

 Austria must exercise extraordinary care not to be guilty of trespass upon 

 his own lands." How different the feeling of owners of land in any one of 

 the United States! In the country above referred to a formidable array 

 of forest officials of various grades is maintained, numbering nearly 

 32,000 persons. 



In all of these particulars we must not loose sight of that wages are 

 much lower, and interest on investments much less remunerative than in 

 our country. So far. as I can learn, there are no bounties paid for tree 

 planting. 



The large number of qualified officials who must pass rigid examination 

 make it possible and even necessary to maintain numerous schools to keep 

 up this supply of skilled men. The encouragement of profitable employ- 

 ment induces pupils to patronize the schools, which give laboratory or 

 practical work, often in the forests . as well as lectures in the class room. 

 To some extent these subjects are taught in other schools than those for 

 the special object of educating foresters. These officials are uniformed 

 and act with the discipline of a well managed army. They usually serve 

 for life and are pensioned when too old or otherwise disabled. 



By dint of great energy of a very few persons in this country, attention 

 has been called, and often repeated to the greed and dishonesty of men 

 who steal the timber from the public lands — to the evil effects of removing 

 vegetation from mountain slopes. Many instances of the same kind have 

 been enumerated in Europe, where the evil effects remain as a warning to 

 newer countries. The cost of reclaiming some of these waste places has 

 been great. In this reclamation seeds from the scattering trees cannot be 

 relied on to furnish seedlings for the new growth, but nursery-grown stock 

 must be well set and afterward properly cared for. Experience has led to 

 the formation of many rules in relation to forest management. On sandy 

 soil and on steep mountain slopes, timber can only be cut in narrow 

 strips or thinned out. Grazing among timber is never * permitted. 

 Stringent rules in regard to igniting fires in or near forests have been 

 enacted and executed. 



From 1860 to 1887, France reforested over 250,000 acres of mountain lands 

 at a cost of $30,000,000, the State paying one-half. In 1887, the total 

 annual appropriation for the forestry department of France was S5,000,000. 

 Here we may well take warning. How much more economical it would be 

 to spend a little money now in preventing devastation, than to suffer the 

 consequences for a time and then possibly spend enormous sums in restor- 

 ing the forests to the mountain slopes! 



In Germany about 25 per cent of the entire area is devoted to forests. 

 Of this amount, about 82 per cent is government land, 15 per cent belongs 

 to communities, 1.3 per cent belongs to charitable and other institutions, 2 

 per cent belongs to corporations, 48 per cent belongs to private parties. 

 Without the supervision of state officials, " a reckless devastation of forests 

 would be the consequence," just the condition of things we are experienc- 

 ing in most regions of our own free country. 



In Germany a written permit must be obtained even to gather a few 

 leaves, to pick berries, herbs or to gather mushrooms. 



In the Eifel district, the mou^ntain slopes were reforested and otherwise 



