6(> A PRIMER OF FORESTRY. 



provokes and feeds fires, and does harm of many other 

 kinds. In many cases its result is to annihilate the 

 productive capacity of forest land for tens or scores of 

 years to come. (See fig. 62 and PI. XXXIV.) 



CONSERVATIVE LUMBERING. 



The methods of forestry, on the other hand, maintain 

 and increase both the productiveness and the capital 

 value of forest land 5 harvest the yield far more com- 

 pletely than ordinary lumbering-, although less rapidly; 

 prepare for, encourage, and preserve the young growth; 

 tend to keep out fires; and in general draw from the 

 forest, while protecting it, the best return which it is 

 capable of giving. 



The application of these methods is the third possi- 

 bility for the crop just described. There are still many 

 places in the United States where transportation is so 

 costly that, as yet, forestry will not pay from a business 

 point of view. Elsewhere right forest management is 

 the wisest, safest, and most satisfactory way of dealing 

 with the forest. It is briefly described in Part II of 

 this primer. 



