266 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



he to begin, however, with a forest such as exists even in New 

 Jersey, he could, even from the beginning, reap something every 

 year, and his forest would, at the same time, improve in quality 

 and productiveness. It is quite possible for a private individual 

 to sow the seed and reap at least three or even four crops of sal- 

 able materials in a lifetime. It is worthy of note that some of 

 the finest, that is the most productive, forests of Denmark are 

 under private control. A private forest does not always mean a 

 neglected forest and a short rotation. Many rich families in 

 Europe gladly avail themselves of this sure and permanent way 

 of investing their fortunes, which pass from father to son, as do 

 the date-groves of the East. In America the railroads, express, 

 telegraph and telephone are private. The finest institutions in 

 America are due to private enterprise. Great public reforms are 

 usually brought about by the energy and influence of a few pub- 

 lic-spirited people. After all, what is the state in America? It 

 is simply an organized community, the ruling powers of which 

 are only persons which the people have chosen temporarily from 

 their midst. The purchase of forest land, the management of 

 forest land, or the sale of forest land, depends upon what the 

 majority of legislators may think best, and they in turn are sup- 

 posed to comply with the wishes of the majority of their con- 

 stituents. The personnel of the legislature is constantly chang- 

 ing, so that the management of forest lands owned by the state 

 would be subject to many vicissitudes unless placed permanently 

 and absolutely under the care of one of our best educational 

 institutions or in the hands of other permanent and reliable 

 trustees. Since, then, the state control of forest lands is not 

 justifiable on the grounds that large timber cannot be raised 

 from the seed in an ordinary lifetime, let us consider briefly the 

 question of protection which it affords in South Jersey against 

 the destructive forces of nature. 



The effect of the forest on the climate of South Jersey, except 

 in so far as it breaks the force of the wind, is probably slight. 

 Owing to its insular position the effect on the precipitation of 

 moisture is probably not considerable. The effect of the forest 

 in these respects is in general disputed and not proven. The 

 effects of the forest on the run-off of water is also of small 

 moment because the country is so flat and the soil is so porous 

 that floods never have and probably never will occur. 



