38 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [DEC. 3, 
nothing more than getting the largest present profit out of the 
forest lands of the Adirondacks, in utter ignorance or disregard 
of consequences;—and third, there should be an agitation of the 
question of establishing a Forestry school at Cornell University. 
Very much is said in this country about ‘‘the development 
of our natural resources.” There are some of our natural re- 
sources than can be just as well developed ten years hence or a 
generation hence; but in the matter of tree-culture we are losing 
constantly; whatever precious metals are hidden in the rocks 
can wait; there will be just as much of them hereafter as there 
is now; but it is not so with our forests—they are being denuded 
and removed year after year. We are beginning to see the con- 
sequences—the effect which the cutting-away of our forests has 
upon the rain-fall and the climate, in the alternation of summer 
droughts and spring floods, with all the destruction of life and 
property which these entail. This is the harvest that we are be- 
ginning to reap from the denudation of our hill-tops. It is im- 
perative that all who are at all alive to these subjects should take 
up the cause strongly and earnestly against the army of men, 
thoughtless and unprincipled, who are employed in cutting the 
wood from our mountain slopes. This is the greatest and most 
immediate need of this country. We shall probably in time 
profit by the lessons thus dearly learned; but meanwhile, on the 
slopes of the Adirondacks and the Alleghanies, and in both pe- 
ninsulas of Michigan, there is this persistent wood-cutting in 
progress, which means the devastation of the whole region. He 
hoped the matter would not expend itself in mere discussion; it 
is well for us to talk, but the Academy should take up the 
subject actively, and present a petition to the State authori- 
ties, in conjunction with the State Forestry Association, in be- 
half of immediate legislation. 
Rev. J. 8. SPENCER remarked that, in travelling through 
Spain, one would find the roads lined with fruit-trees in every 
direction, which fruit all travellers (men, women, and children) 
were at liberty toeat. This growth of fruit-trees throughout 
Spain is due to the fact, that, in eating the fruit, it is a habit to 
take the seed or stone and plant it by the roadside for the future 
benefit of travellers. One of the greatest evils of the bom- 
