58 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [DEC. 9^ 



to secure at once a proper after-growth under methods of 

 preserving the most favorable conditions for the development 

 of the young trees. 



You will thus perceive that, — without taking other reasons, 

 especially the economic importance of forests, into consideration, 

 — forest-culture is just as essential to the welfare of a nation as- 

 agriculture. Why is it now that, while American agricultur- 

 ists have taken every opportunity to advance the science of 

 cultivating and cropping the fields, and have for this purpose 

 always been in communication with the leading agricultur- 

 ists and chemists of the Old World, — why is it that here the 

 forestry interests, which are so intimately connected with the 

 agricultural, could be neglected in such a degree that, unless 

 the present devastation of our natural forests is at once arrested, 

 and means devised to restore the denuded woodlands, the end 

 of the second century of our republic will undoubtedly face a 

 real wood-famine ? 



The reason is simply this : — that the country at the time of its 

 settlement was blessed by a benign Providence with too many and 

 seemingly inexhaustible natural forests,, so that in some places 

 the superabundance of wood was often a hindrance to the efforts 

 of the farmers to increase their arable lands. This condition, 

 however, has changed greatly during the last fifty years, espe- 

 cially in our own State. Here Governor De Witt Clinton, in a 

 message to the Legislature, complained of the denudation of the 

 woodlands in the Adirondacks, and urged the fostering of forest- 

 planting as an object of primary importance. But after the 

 superabundance of woods and forests with us has gone long ago, 

 and now that for a quarter of a century almost the entire press of 

 the Union, public-spirited and disinterested men, and especially 

 the American Forestry Congress, have made the most vigorous 

 efforts to arouse public sentiment upon the subject and to bring 

 about a change in our forest policy all over the country, why 

 is it that we have made so little progress in this direction ? 



The reasons are twofold : One is the diversity of the condi- 

 tions in regard to the proprietary land system here and in 

 Europe ; and the other is contained in the very nature of 

 forestry. 



In order to conduct the business of forestr}^ — for it is a real 

 business, contemplating the continuous production of wood to 

 furnish material for the supply of fuel, timber, and lumber of a 

 nation, — there are required : — 



1. Large continuous tracts of land stocked with forest-vege- 

 tation. 



2. A considerable capital, represented by such tracts, and 

 tied up for a long time before paying accumulated interest. 



