26 Forestry Quarterly. 



From the dual character of forestry, namely as a technical art 

 and a business, its fundamental basis is found in two different 

 sets of portions of science. The technical side, to which we give 

 the name of silviculture in the broadest sense or forest crop pro- 

 duction, necessarily relies upon natural sciences, while the busi- 

 ness side, which we comprise under the name of forest economy 

 relies mainly upon mathematics, and political economy, and prac- 

 tical knowledge of industries, markets, and other business con- 

 cerns. 



While in all other branches of production human labor is the 

 most important factor — even in agriculture and horticulture — in 

 forestry the factor of nature plays the most prominent part ; the 

 materials and forces of nature are the source of the mighty pro- 

 cesses of organic life, which find expression in forest growth ; 

 and during the long period of accumulation of annual product in 

 the growing tree, there is but limited chance to interfere and in- 

 fluence the result. Yet some knowledge of natural history can 

 be brought to bear to direct nature's forces into more useful pro- 

 duction than its unguided activity would secure for us. Nature, 

 taking no count of space or time, or the needs of man must be 

 improved upon to secure economic results. 



The field of natural sciences, which the forester must survey 

 is quite extensive, but the different parts are of very unlike rela- 

 tive importance, and hence, since he does not study the sciences 

 for their own sake, he must exercise a wise limitation, whereby the 

 depths of his knowledge, as has been intimated, will be very un- 

 even, to be sure, but located at the right places. 



This does not exclude occasional expansion and deepening in 

 certain portions beyond the immediate necessities, and such ex- 

 pansion has led foresters usefully to specialize and develop science 

 in the direction most interesting to them. Thus economic ento- 

 mology and economic and physiological botany, and especially 

 ecology, have experienced considerable advances by specializing 

 foresters. 



Inherent disposition and exterior conditions combine to pro- 

 duce the results of growth; all measures which the forester em- 

 ploys to secure the largest, most useful and most valuable crop 

 are based upon the knowledge of these two biological factors, just 

 as in agriculture. Hence, being engaged in plant production, 



