18 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 



must be left untouched to serve best as refuges for birds 

 and game. Really the opposite is true for deer are 

 larger and more plentiful where a part of the forest 

 is removed, and every boy who has ever gone hunting 

 with an air rifle knows that birds are most numerous 

 in the edges or in more open parts of woods. The most 

 blasting damage to the forest from the standpoint of 

 fish and game is inflicted by a forest fire. True, the 

 deer may find browse in a burn after a year or two 

 but other game and especially fish are greatly disturbed. 



For many years the continental forester has also been 

 in charge of the game, and in German forests shooting 

 privileges yield a round sum. 



In this country the intimate relation between the 

 forest community and its furred and feathered inhabi- 

 tants is becoming appreciated and the forester of the 

 next generation must be well versed in the art of game 

 propagation. 



Value of Forests as Conservers of Life. There is a 

 pretty legend current among the Arabs that to each 

 man at birth is given a specified number of days to live, 

 but that every day spent in the chase is not counted 

 against his score. This is merely a fanciful way of 

 conveying the idea that life in the open adds to the 

 length of our days, as well as to their enjoyment. 



John Muir, the eminent author-naturalist, used to 

 preach upon the text that every man should take time 

 to get rich, and when he was asked what it meant to 

 be rich, he explained his own theory of acquiring wealth. 

 His plan was to pack some meal, salt and bread in a 

 haversack and strike out for the wilderness, and far 

 up on the mountains close to the timber line, commune 

 with Nature. Here in close contact with the elements 

 he pondered upon the beauties of the forest, and moun- 



