PKOPORTIO^ OF WOOD-LAKDS. 19 



advocated only one side of field culture, viz., the agri- 

 culture ; but now it is also vindicating the natural rights 

 of the other side, viz., the forest culture. The combina- 

 tion of these ideas is expressed by the principle that 

 wherever agriculture does not prove remunerative, while 

 the cultivation of forests would indicate material profits, 

 there is the proper place for sylviculture. 



Finally, it may not be amiss to call attention to the 

 fact that fine forests, besides giving inexpressible charms 

 and attractions to the country, and thereby exercising a 

 refining influence upon the moral and aesthetical senti- 

 ments of the people in general, serve as a resort for in- 

 valids, owing to the air which imparts vigor to the re- 

 cuperative powers of those who are weak of nerve and 

 broken in health. This is especially applicable to the 

 Adirondack and Catskill mountain forests, whither every 

 year hundreds of thousands of those who have lost their 

 energy in the daily battle of city life flee to seek restora- 

 tion by inhaling the invigorating mountain air, and 

 enjoying out-of-door life. 



CHAPTER III. 



PROPORTION OF THE WOOD-LANDS TO THE TOTAL 

 AREA OF A COUNTRY. 



THE influence of forests upon the climate of a country 

 is undoubtedly important, and it cannot be denied that 

 forests exercise also a marked effect upon the aqueous 

 conditions of a certain territory. But, as far as experi- 

 ence in this State goes, the devastation of the forests 

 on the plains has not essentially diminished the an- 

 nual quantity of rain, although the general decreasing 

 depth of the Hudson River convincingly tells of the 



