168 ~ REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



appropriation of forest and agricultural soil has not yet apjjeared 

 pressing. There are still millions of acres of unoccupied agricultui-al 

 land. But this is being settled at the rate of nearly 17.000,000 acres 

 per year; and thus we may go on till the end of the present century 

 before the readily available farm lands are disposed of. Then only 

 will the necessity for a more careful use of our soils and agricultural 

 resources become fully apparent, and the need and true value of sci- 

 entific forestry make itself felt. 



The ideas underlying our proprietary system are decidedly unfor- 

 tunate with respect to the requirements of forestry as understood 

 abroad and to some extent as conditioned in its very nature. The 

 prevailing public sentiment which is opposed to the holding of land by 

 Government, except for the purpose of national defense, &c., and the 

 popular aversion to restrictive legislation in regard to the use of pri- 

 vate property, conspire with other causes to interpose great obstacles 

 to the adoption of any known forestry system, or, indeed, of any 

 conceivable system possessing the characteristics essential to an effi- 

 cient prosecution of the great public ends which forestry is designed 

 to promote. 



Forestry proper — that is, an industry contemplating a continuous 

 production of wood to furnish material for the lumber supply of a 

 nation, an industry which, like any other well-conducted business, 

 aims to reap only the yearly or periodical interest, i. e. , in this case 

 the yearly accretion on the forest area — involves — 



(1^ Large contiguous areas stocked with forest growth. 



(2) A capital, represented by such area, tied up for a considerable 

 time before paying accumulated interest. 



(3) A careful management, yielding full results only after a term of 

 many years. 



(4)_ Considerable risks in sparsely settled countries from fires, which 

 are liable to destroy capital and interest alike. 



(5) In conclusion, a business in which the inaugurators have less 

 interest than their successors, and which, therefore, according to 

 human nature, will be neglected longer than any other, unless Gov- 

 ernments or other continuous corporations engage in it or foster it. 



Whatever the laws of supply and demand may do to regulate pro- 

 duction in other directions, forestry as an industry is an exception, 

 which needs the fostering care of a far-seeing governmental policy 

 whenever demand begins to equal the supply from natural sources; for 

 the adjustment of these economic forces in the production of lumber 

 requires too long a period of time to be left entirely to itself. Mean- 

 while we should not disregard the hopeful view of forestry presented 

 in the following table, showing the percentage of forest area held by 

 farmers. While in Europe the .small farmer is rightly considered 

 the least desirable forest owner, in America we can proudly show 

 that the mainstay of our country is in the conservative class of farm- 

 ers, and that in their hands forest projDerty is at least safer than in 

 those of large holders or even of corporations. 



To the farmers, holding nearly 38 per cent, of the total area of 

 forest and much of the waste land capable of reforestation, we must 

 look, therefore, for forest preservation and improvement, and their 

 interest in forestry matters it will most benefit us to study and to en- 

 courage. 



In the following table an attempt has been made to arrange the 

 States in groups representing as far as possible an average of similar 

 agricultural, forestal, and climatic conditions. It is to be regretted 



