LECTURE II. 



WHAT IS FORESTRY? 



DEFINITIONS AND PRIMARY CONCEPTIONS. 



At this time, when the necessity of preserving the forest wealth of the 

 world arises to prominence, general interest in Forestry should be aroused. 

 Canada, on account of climatic conditions and the extent of non-agricul- 

 tural land, is, and will continue to be, one of the great forest countries of 

 the world, and rational management should succeed the mere exploitation 

 hitherto practiced in her forests. 



The word "Forestry" in its present sense is of recent usage, but in its 

 origin a Latinized Teutonic word, originally meaning a portion of the land 

 of a tribe held by the king or first man the "Furst." From such use come 

 the old definitions of the forest as a large, uncultivated tract of country, 

 wooded in places, under certain laws a legal term. The English kings 

 thus reserved the right to hunt on stretches of country, over which forest- 

 laws prevailed, and in charge of "Foresters," who were more properly 

 the game-keepers of the king and his nobles. As understood now, we 

 may call "woodland" the natural condition, land covered with woody 

 growth, while in the term "forest" we add economic considerations, namely 

 a woodland under man's care for forest purposes and exhibiting forest 

 conditions. 



As they supply different purposes, forests may be classified ais Luxury 

 Forests, for Park Purposes, reserved for game protection, Protection For- 

 ests, for the protection of mountain slopes and watersheds from erosion, 

 and Supply Forests, which furnish material for the lumberman. This 

 last forest purpose is the most important and direct one, while the second 

 function is of moment only in certain locations, and all three can be sub- 

 served simultaneously. 



In the pioneer days of a country there is first a rapid destruction of 

 forests to clear the land, but, when the natural timber supply has diminish- 

 ed beyond a certain point, Forestry the rational treatment of the forests 

 as timber producers, becomes necessary, under which they are used and cul- 

 tivated continuously for a wood crop as agricultural land is for food-crops. 

 The technical side of forestry is based on natural science, the economic 

 side on mathematics and on political economy. The technical art of forest 

 crop production, silviculture, calls for knowledge of botany and especially 

 dendrology, or the physiology and biology of trees, as well as a knowledge 

 of soil physics and chemistry to make the art an improvement on nature's 

 methods producing the best form and largest quantity of wood in the 



