502 BIOLOGY FOR BEGINNERS 



feeding on the limbs and leaves. Mice, porcupines, and rabbits 

 often girdle the trees by eating their bark, and some little damage 

 is done by birds and squirrels which eat their seeds. 



FOREST PROTECTION 



The value of the forests of the United States is evidently very 

 great, but only recently have efficient means been taken to pro- 

 tect them. 



Legal Protection. To begin with, one of the most important 

 means of protection lies in the hearty cooperation of every citizen 

 in observing and enforcing the present forest laws as to fire pre- 

 vention and proper lumbering. 



Careful Lumbering. The average lumberman harvests his 

 crop, but does not plant another. Hence we face the ever rising 

 cost of lumber, whereas, if the timber annually cut is regulated 

 so as not to exceed the year's growth the forest will continue to 

 produce like any other crop. 



Reforestation. Another means of protection consists in re- 

 planting, either by setting out small trees, or cutting only mature 

 ones and leaving young and seed-bearing trees so that nature 

 can attend to the replanting. 



Forest Reserves. The Government has established large forest 

 reserves which are kept by the Nation to protect drainage for 

 irrigation, to supply grazing areas, and provide timber under 

 supervised cutting. (See p. 496.) 



Forest Rangers. To protect these enormous tracts of Govern- 

 ment forest from fire or theft, there is provided a body of expert 

 Forest Rangers under Government control. 



These men patrol the forests, report and prosecute theft, and 

 organize to fight forest fires before they may get out of control. 

 This work has saved millions of dollars and many lives in the line 

 of fire prevention alone. 



Forestry Schools. Furthermore, there are established Forestry 

 Schools at Cornell, Michigan, Syracuse, Yale, and elsewhere, in 

 which the scientific methods of lumbering, planting, and pro- 



