REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. ol 
_ site for success would have shown beforehand that the enterprise would 
~ fail. , 
There are also from time to time various economies proposed in the 
use of forest products, some of which would prove of great advantage 
if generally known. In other cases opportunities now neglected might 
_ be improved, if pointed out; and, generally, an able, diligent, intelli- 
- gent, and impartial study of the various subjects having relatign to For- 
estry cannot fail of resulting in lasting benefit to the country, and to all 
classes having occasion to produce, sell, or use forest products. This, 
either, directly or incidentally, may be said to include all classes of our 
citizens, and to affect in greater or less degree every interest in the 
country. 
I subjoin a few extracts from very many commendatory notices of the 
volume on Forestry, which show the estimate in which the reportis held 
m and the desirability, not to say necessity, of the continuance of effort in 
‘this direction. |. 
The New York Times, of date July 10, 1878, after noticing the efforts 
made by the Secretary ae the Interior. ‘o prevent timber depredations 
throughout the United States, says of this report: 
The subject is a broad one and well worthy the attention of all thoughtful men. It 
rises above politics, and should not, as it was last winter, be discussed in a partisan or 
sectional spirit ; the whole country is vitally interested in the cultivation of the forest 
lands of the West and South. 
| The St. John’s Printers’ Miscellany, of June, 1878, says: 
| Report upon Forestry is the title of a very valuable work laid upon our table through 
the kindness of the Hon. W. G. LeDuc,.United States Commissioner of Agriculture. 
The author, Dr. Hough, has certainly fulfilled his commission on this important sub- 
ject in a very painstaking and exhaustive manner, and from the nature of the informa- 
tion conveyed in its pages the work should be placed in the hands of every farmer, at 
least, on this continent. 
. It might not be amiss to suggest here that the Dominion Government should appoint 
a like commission, for this is a subject which affects the most vital interests of the 
country at large. 
| The Western New York Ruralist says 
> Of this report we do not know how the newspapers could do the country better sery- 
ice than by scattering broadcast among the farmers of the land portions of the informa- 
tion here gathered. The timber resources and timber needs of different parts of the 
country, the methods of tree-planting and tree-pruning, the sanitary and climatic 
effect of woodlands, the need of timber-belts for farm and fruit protection, valuable 
forest products, and many other important subjects are treated at length. 
The Maine Farmer says: 
Those who are acquainted with the great acquirements of Dr. Hough, with his 
familiarity with almost every subject of historical and scientific inquiry, with his great 
diligence, and his fine, clear style, need hardly to be told that the entire work has 
been well done. It is much to be regretted, however, that from want of a sufficient 
appropriation, a vast collection of statistical information of great historic and economic 
value, as well as many useful illustrations and diagrams, were obliged to be wholly 
omitted, while the work was so limited in size that much matter of importance had to 
be entirely left out. But as it is, it is one of the most important works ever issued by 
the government. 
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