480 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



creation of the National Forests was a very important step, but from 

 now on we must get money in liberal amounts from the public purse 

 if we are td advance this work as we should. 



Consider the methods we have used in our efforts to obtain appro- 

 priations for forestry from our State legislatures. Usually, at first, 

 the amount of money requested for a project is about one-tenth or less 

 of what we know is needed to do the job. It is too small to attract 

 the attention of the leaders in the legislature and too large to get by 

 the conservatives. The result is either a complete failure to secure 

 any appropriation, or a great reduction in the amount requested. It is 

 almost always too small to make a creditable showing in the field, 

 which is the most telling, and in fact, a necessary argument if appro- 

 priations are to be increased or continued. Furthermore, the pro- 

 ponents themselves having been baffled or at best given scanty consid- 

 eration in their first attempt, approach the problem of securing in- 

 creases with timidity. Again they ask for an insufficient sum and the 

 former experience is repeated. In the meantime, the forests are being 

 devastated by the lumbermen, fires are following in their footsteps, 

 regeneration is neglected, and the forest capital of the State is dimin- 

 ishing. A glance at the history of State forestry will show the ac- 

 curacy of this statement. The exceptions only prove the rule, because 

 the States that have made the greatest progress in this line are the 

 ones that have had the courage to make large demands. We have 

 not always stood by our convictions. A weak demand for legislation 

 is merely a signal to the politicians to kill it. On the other hand, a 

 bold front before a legislature is as necessary for success as in a 

 military campaign. 



To secure sincere and effective action is where the art of the sales- 

 man is put to the test. It is his purpose to drive as good a bargain as 

 to terms as possible and the ideal arrangement is cash, but he is pre- 

 pared to offer a part payment or even an extended credit plan. Curi- 

 ously enough with the experience of Europe to guide us, where money 

 is borrowed for forestry work, we have almost invariably insisted on 

 direct appropriations for the purchase and reforestation of lands for 

 National and State Forests. We have failed to profit by the example 

 of the business world. A very small part of the business of the coun- 

 try is done on a strictly cash basis, and there is no good reason why 

 the forester should not adopt this principle in his public work. 



