By these means the German forests of to-day have been 

 produced, which, while they may lack in picturesqueness, are of 

 superior economic value, producing, on soils which are not fit for agricul- 

 ture, in half the time, double the useful material that nature's forest has 

 produced. This is done by reserving the soil for useful species only, by 

 thinning out from time to time, and thus benefiting the remaining stand, 

 securing the largest amount in the most useful form on the smallest num- 

 ber per acre. And, finally, the harvest is made, as thoroughly as the farm- 

 er makes it, to make room for a new crop, and thus successive crops are 

 harvested and reproduced. , 



On this continent for the present, and for some time to come still 

 owing to our peculiar economic and populational conditions our na- 

 tional forest resources will be to a great extent merely exploited ; the lum- 

 berman will continue, for some time, to treat his forest property as an ob- 

 ject of speculation, possibly treating it more carefully. The forester, who 

 looks at the forest as an investment, to be perpetuated and renewed forever, 

 comes when civilized permanency, stability of conditions warrants it, when 

 he can make his home in the woods. 



The first step towards making his business possible is adequate protec- 

 tion of forest properties against fires, a subject of legislation and morals. 

 The next step is the possibility of a more thorough utilization of what we 

 cut, and care in not unnecessarily destroying young growth, a matter de- 

 pending on the development of cheap means of transportation and distribu- 

 tion of population. 



Finally, the application of the skill of the forester is called for, such as 

 you propose to educate in this institution. 



