230 TRANSACTIONS OF ROVAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIEl'Y. 



an epoch in the development of a rational policy in the treat- 

 ment of the American forests. The seven hundred delegates 

 coming together from every part of the United States, and 

 representing, as they did, every kind of industry which is 

 dependent directly or indirectly on the forests, indicated by their 

 presence that, at last, the nation appreciated that the time had 

 come when active measures for the conservation of what remained 

 of the forests, and for the reafforestation of such areas as had 

 been denuded, and which are unsuit^d for agriculture, were to be 

 undertaken. 



A feature of the Congress was the very able address delivered 

 by President Roosevelt, on Thursday afternoon, on " The Forest 

 in the Life of the Nation." Speaking of the uses of timber, he 

 pointed out that, notwithstanding all the substitution of wood 

 by steel, cement, brick, and stone which has taken place in 

 recent times, it was, nevertheless, a fact that the use of 

 wood was not only on the increase, but greatly on the 

 increase, and that if restorative measures on an adequate 

 scale were not immediately undertaken, a timber famine was 

 inevitable, " and," he added, with masterful emphasis, " the 

 period of recovery from the injuries which a timber famine 

 would entail would be measured by the slow growth of the 

 trees themselves." 



Another feature of the meetings was the spontaneous gathering 

 together of the foresters in the evenings, in a very informal way, 

 for the discussion of practical forest problems. These evening 

 meetings gave the foresters a chance to discuss the day's doings 

 together, and made up in a measure for the notable lack of 

 opportunity for discussion during the regular meetings of the 

 Congress. 



The matter of paramount interest in the present American 

 forestry situation is the Bill now before Congress for the 

 transfer of the nearly 70,000,000 acres of forest reserves from 

 the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture. 

 There is every reason that the transfer should be made, and the 

 prospect is that it will be. This will place a large area, exhibit- 

 ing a very great variety of forest conditions, in the hands of the 

 Bureau of Forestry for administration, and will make the real 

 beginning of professional forestry in America. — Abridged from 

 The Farmers Advocate, January 19, 1905. 



