STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 341 



THE USE OF FOEESTS. 



By Chas. Luedloff, Carver. 



The forests are the most beautiful ornameuts of a country. 

 Even if their use for mankind and their signification in the econ- 

 omy of nature need to be proposed, still they remain the most 

 beautiful pictures in the country; the most magnificent construc- 

 tions of the vegetable world, the graceful halls in which one will- 

 ingly tarries. The living monuments of the fathers, the stately 

 trees, they have another purpose than merely to become a source 

 of income. The hearts of the travelers and invalids rejoice as 

 they throng the threshold of the forest, and the multitude would 

 rather celebrate their festivals under the canopy of the worthy 

 old trees than in moist halls or under tents. It will be entirely 

 suitable to show how the forest has both a direct and an indirect 

 use, inasmuch as very many people are still under the influence 

 of the tradition of the claim period, and feel themselves justified 

 in destroying the forest although the circumstances have very 

 much changed. The nearer the people are to those primitive 

 circumstances, the more inconsiderately is the forest made use 

 of, not only, indeed, in an improper, but also in a proper man- 

 ner. The latter takes place where the frequently misunderstood 

 idea of freedom and the misunderstanding of the peculiarities of 

 the forest have united to enable the possessors of the forest to 

 dispose of it as they please — a mistake against which the Swiss 

 have guarded themselves. There the owners of the forest, when 

 they make use of it, are obliged to reflect upon the effect that its 

 destruction will have upon the country. 



An indirect use of the forest is the compacting of the soil. 

 The roots of the trees become united with the surface soil, which 

 prevents the washing away of the fine soil. Whenever this is 

 exposed it is washed away into the valleys. Gutters are formed 

 which become deeper and wider from time to time, so that finally 

 only the bare rocks are to be seen. The earth and gravel that 

 has been washed away remains in the valley and renders it un- 

 productive (vide California), or they are carried still further and 

 fill the beds of streams. They cause inundations, and in order 

 that they may be averted a great expense for dams and for their 

 repair is entailed. The forest serves to compact a loose, sandy 

 soil and make it useful, which would otherwise be unproductive. 

 The sections of cultivated land contiguous to forests are pro- 



