60 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [DEC. 9, 



ment ? The organization necessary for the proper administra- 

 tion of forests pays well with large properties, but not with 

 small ones. Furthermore, the seeding and harvesting times are 

 too far apart from each other: the forest-planter will never 

 reap the full benefit of his labors. It is therefore very natural 

 that the small farmer should have no more interest in timber 

 lands as soon as the timber is gone. Why should he trouble 

 himself with planting trees, the maturity of which he never will 

 live to see, and on a property, moreover, which may soon pass 

 into the hands of strangers ? 



The greatest difficulty, however, in the way of introducing 

 systematic forestry in this country, is found in the fact that a 

 comparatively large capital has to be furnished, Avhich will be 

 tied up for generations, and only at the end of a long period 

 pay accumulated interest. This kind of business does not agree 

 with the ''average American." He prefers to keep his capital 

 at his disposal, and when he uses it he expects high profits and 

 quick returns. 



And yet there are some features in the possession of well- 

 managed forests which should make them highly desirable both 

 for very rich men and for the government. 



First. The investment is as safe as in the most solid savings- 

 bank, and at a rate of interest which at least equals that at 

 present paid by banks. 



To prove this is not difficult ; but it would lead me too far 

 to-night if 1 should undertake to do it. I hope to have during 

 the next year an opportunity to show the correctness of this 

 assertion, and to demonstrate that the wealthier class of our 

 citizens cannot make a better investment for themselves and 

 their children, at the same time benefiting their country and 

 their fellow-men, than by buying large tracts of woodlands and 

 managing them systematically. 



Second. The other point favoring the tenure of forests lies 

 in this fact, that the labor bestowed upon them is much smaller 

 than the amount of labor required in any other business, 

 especially in agriculture. From the latest official reports about 

 the revenues derived from the State forests in Germany, I see 

 that the yearly expense for labor amounted to 13 per acre, and 

 that the income produced by that labor was $5, leaving an ave- 

 rage revenue of 13 per acre from soil Avhich is mostly unfit for 

 agricultural pursuits. 



But just these two points, — viz., the small amount of labor 

 required in the management of forests, and the great lapse of 

 time between planting and harvesting, — render the possession 

 of forests, although not desirable to private persons, yet very 

 acceptable to governments and certain kinds of corporations,. 



