94 FIRST BOOK OF FORESTRY 



all the more rapidly, and a whole forest may be destroyed. 

 Experience in Saxony, involving thousands of acres annu- 

 ally, shows that planting is not costly, for it costs there 

 only about two per cent of the total or gross income of 

 the forest. But even if it should not be well to clear off 

 large tracts of forest and then replant, it will be safe to 

 do so on better lands in a temperate climate and for small 

 areas ; and it is probable, also, that it will prove satisfac- 

 tory for larger areas situated near good markets, like some 

 of our spruce forests which supply pulp mills in their midst. 



Aside from this it will always be found not only help- 

 ful, but even necessary, to assist Nature in restocking the 

 forest ; for, however carefully dealt with, mistakes produce 

 fail places, and therefore every one who cares for a forest 

 should know how to plant and sow and should at all 

 times be ready to do so. 



It would be misleading, however, to infer that the 

 planting of forests is always profitable in the ordinary 

 sense of the word. Like the pioneer's clearing of forests 

 for plowland, and like the farmer's labor of raising the 

 bread and meat of the nation, so the planting and raising 

 of forests, though one of the most necessary of human 

 occupations, rarely produces those large returns which a 

 speculative age expects from a " paying " investment. 

 But like the conversion of the wilderness into productive 

 farms and pleasant homes, so the planting of the forest 

 is sure to reward in the end. 



