882 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



suits may be expected from that quarter, if for no other reason than the 

 naturally inimical attitude of the forest owners. 



We say naturally, because of the inherent unsuitableness of the 

 forestry business to private enterprise. Without arguing this position 

 at length, we have formulated twelve simple, fundamental, common- 

 place truths which lead to our conclusion : 



1. Forestry — the growing of wood crops as a business — is based upon the pre- 

 sumption that wood will be always a necessary raw material in our civilization 

 and that its present uses and methods of use will continue. It is a speculation 

 in futures. 



2. Forestry — the growing of wood crops as a business — requires a small 

 amount of labor, a large amount of capital, and a long time for its product to 

 mature. This last requirement distinguishes it from all other industries. It 

 involves compound interest calculations for a long time, speculations for a long- 

 distant future. 



3. Forestry as a business may be profitably carried on only on large-sized areas, 

 tinder one management, in order to furnish a sustained yield of sufficient amount 

 annually. This applies especially where home markets are not developed. 



4. Proper economic considerations demand that agriculturally fit soils be re- 

 served for food production, leaving the poorer sites for forestry use. This con- 

 dition reflects disadvantageously upon the unit-area production and also on all 

 the financial aspects of the business. 



5. Financially, forestry means foregoing present revenue or making present 

 expenditures for the sake of future revenue. Forestry is profitable only in the 

 long run, and the long run means on so-called absolute forest soils, as a rule, 

 not less than 50 and up to 150 years. 



6. These fundamental conditions of the business of forest-growing render it 

 unattractive to private enterprise, which looks for immediate or near-by results. 

 Only large, long-lived corporations and industries, like paper manufacture, with 

 heavy investments in operating plants, relying on a continuous supply of raw 

 material, may be an exception. 



7. The interest in forestry of the community, of the municipality, and of the 

 State is threefold, namely, in the assurance of continued supplies for wood-using 

 industries, in the influence of forest cover on water conditions, and in the utili- 

 zation of all land areas to the best advantage. 



8. This threefold communal interest estabhshes the right of the community to 

 prevent misuse and to control the handhng of private forest property at least to 

 the extent of protecting itself against damage in the three directions just named, 

 of preventing its abuse and turning productive into waste lands, and possibly, also, 

 but questionably, enforcing silvicultural measures. 



9. Silviculture — the art and operation of securing reproduction of wood crops — 

 is based largely on empiricism, and its methods vary according to local con- 

 ditions and judgment. No two foresters may agree on procedure in a given 

 case, and yet both may be successful. It is therefore impracticable to prescribe 

 silivicultural procedure with assurance and it is also difficult to impose and con- 

 trol such procedure. 



10. Silivicultural success depends on the combined effect of soil, climate, 

 weather, and size of operation. While financial considerations favor large con- 



