FORESTRY. 137 



to my reports, as I may not take the time here to enlarge upon this most 

 important theme. 



While the efforts to enlarge the forest area, especially for protective 

 purposes, naturally interest the horticulturist foremost, he must not 

 overlook that the manner in which the natural forest cover is treated, 

 concerns him as much, both in his capacity as a citizen and as an or- 

 chardist. 



It has been shown repeatedly that horticulture has suffered by opening 

 up large sections of country to unfavorable winds. The receding culti- 

 vation of the olive in northern France is a familiar example. 



In Michigan, I believe, the cultivation of the peach has been hazarded 

 by forest destruction. 



In another place I have shown that many of the insect pests which in- 

 jure our orchards, can be traced to the improper treatment of our forest 

 areas, the dead timber from the burnings furnishing a favorable breeding 

 place for hosts of orchard destroyers. 



I have called your attention to the fact that the forest resource of Min- 

 nesota yields a product worth twenty millions a year. That means em- 

 ployment to many men and material development of the state. Is it not 

 desirable to keep in perpetuity such a resource? This can only be done by 

 not wasting the forest area with the scourge of fires, and by using it in 

 such a manner that it may re-cover itself with desirable timber. Hence 

 some knowledge of forestry principles is necessary. 



Now let it be understood that in a wooded country, forestry is carried 

 on by the use of the axe. There is only this difference between the lum- 

 berman and the forester; that the former cuts for present gain without 

 regard of the future, while the latter, without losing sight of the present 

 gain, cuts in such a manner, that instead of leaving a waste of brush for 

 nature to do with as it pleases, reforestation with desirable kinds will 

 take place under man's direction and will. 



How is this reproduction secured? To understand this it is necessary 

 to realize that, as in the animal world, so in the vegetable there is a con- 

 stant struggle for existence and supremacy going on among the different 

 species as well as among the individuals of the same species. All struggle 

 for the occupancy of the soil. The weapons with which this struggle is car- 

 ried on are various, offensive and defensive. This species seeks to gain 

 foothold by prolific annual seed production, aided perhaps by the light- 

 ness of the seed, which is wafted by the winds for miles in all directions; 

 the ubiquitousness of the aspen wherever an open space affords light is 

 accounted for by this capacity. 



Another species, by its dense foliage, shades the ground so that no rival 

 can find favorable conditions of existence underneath, such as firs and 

 spruces. Others, again, maintain themselves by developing a vigorous 

 root system, which enables them to endure the shade of the superior 

 growth, vegetating poorly, but biding their time until other agencies 

 have decimated the enemy, ready then to occupy the field. The oak is an 

 example of this kind. 



The alternation in forest growths, so often looked upon as a mystery, is 

 thus accounted for. Man, by Are and axe, nature, by tempests and insect 

 pests, removing the superior growth, the species which persisted under the 



