162 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



climate. It supplies vegetable mold which is an in- 

 dispensable element in fertile soil. And it affords 

 recreation, and the highest forms of enjoyment to 

 those who can get access to it. In short, the forest is 

 one of man's greatest blessings, and yet it is the one 

 which he has abused with most recklessness and 

 ignorance. And in no part of the world has this reck- 

 less waste been greater than in the United States, and 

 especially in the North Central states. 



THE EDGE OF THE FOREST. 



Destruction of the Forests. The forest was in- 

 tended for use, but it was meant to serve man for 

 ages, and not to be destroyed in the lifetime of a man. 

 The great causes which have wrecked the forests and 

 wiped them from the earth to so great an extent are 

 (i) unwise and unregulated cutting by lumbermen, 

 and (2) the prevalence of forest fires. These fires, 

 occurring in seasons of drouth, are fed and made 



