CONCLUDING REMARKS. 233 



duce a systematic management of our forests with help- 

 ers who are nearly all crude lay hands, it devolves upon 

 us the more the duty of establishing experiment sta- 

 tions as the objects of our investigations are by far more 

 numerous and complicated than those treated in the Eu- 

 ropean stations. The principles of vegetable growth 

 being everywhere alike, we can obtain much useful 

 information by the instructions of the European forest- 

 ers. But as our climate and physical conditions differ 

 much from those prevailing upon the Eastern hemi- 

 sphere, and as these circumstances effect different results 

 in forest culture, we have to make careful observations 

 and experiments ourselves, in order to arrive at the 

 knowledge necessary to determine the most important 

 steps in the rational management of forests. See the 

 remarks on page 53 i. f. 



An experiment station in the Adirondack Park would 

 be the more beneficial for the whole country, as we 

 would be able to attach to it a large tract of woodland 

 and an extensive nursery ; thus combining the experi- 

 ments in the forest with those in the field (nursery). 

 We would be able in the course of time, by careful 

 measurements of trees, to determine: the rates of 

 growth in different species of trees, at different periods 

 of life, and could answer the question whether it would 

 pay to devote a certain area to forest culture. 



We could furthermore determine the technical and 

 financial value of the different species, their wood accre- 

 tions under different conditions, and at a certain age, 

 and would then be in a position to decide on the most 

 desirable selection of trees from a financial point of 

 view. We could then answer many questions which are 

 at present still entirely wrapped up in darkness, or very 

 doubtful, such as regarding the conditions under which 



