UNITED STATES SHOULD PRACTICE FORESTRY 117 



For many years, the United States and China 

 were the greatest wasters of forest resources 

 under the sun. Now this country has begun to 

 practice scientific forestry on a large scale so that 

 China now has the worst-managed forests in the 

 world. Japan, on the other hand, handles her 

 forests efficiently and has established a national 

 forestry school. Austria, Norway, Sweden and 

 Italy have devoted much time, labor and money 

 to the development of practical systems of for- 

 estry. Turkey, Greece, Spain and Portugal, all 

 follow sane and sensible forestry practices. 

 Even Eussia takes care of her national timber- 

 lands and annually draws enormous incomes 

 from their maintenance. Prance and Germany 

 both have highly successful forestry systems. 

 Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand are 

 using their forests in a practical manner and 

 saving sufficient supplies of wood for posterity. 



History tells us that the forests first were pro- 

 tected as the homes of wild game. Little atten- 

 tion was paid to the trees in those days. The 

 forests were places to hunt and abodes devoted 

 to wild animals. Scientific forestry was first 

 studied and practised widely in the nineteenth 

 century. Its development and expansion have 



