76 FORESTS AND MANKIND 



way, although within narrower limits, the forester decides 

 what he will grow. It may be best to grow oak for ties, cedar 

 for fence posts, pine for box boards, or hickory and ash for 

 tools and vehicles. Usually he chooses his species from among 

 the trees that naturally grow there. And if he finds it necessary 

 to plant, the forester will usually select a tree that nature has 

 already proved will grow successfully in that region. A forester 

 will not try to grow redwood plantations in New England, 

 or Southern pine in Michigan. Each tree species is best adapted 

 to certain localities and when taken out of their natural habitat 

 often grow very slowly or die before reaching maturity. 



The idea of managing a forest as a farmer manages a farm 

 is of relatively modern origin and in a sense forestry is a young 

 science. The care of trees however dates back into history's 

 misty beginnings. China had a Department of Mountain For- 

 ests nearly two thousand years ago. The ancient Greeks wrote 

 long treatises on the care of woodlands. Each country had 

 its legends and its more or less rules of thumb regarding for- 

 est lore. 



Yet all nations approach forestry with reluctance and only 

 when impelled by necessity. They are driven to forestry by 

 different paths. Some countries are forced to forestry by lack 

 of water supply, others to save their hillsides from being gul- 

 lied and beaten by the rains. Still other countries seek forests 

 to protect them from floods and drought, others to provide 

 their peoples with lumber and fuel. 



France took up forestry only when the destruction of most 

 of her forests was followed by heavy floods and the washing 

 away of her hillsides. Need for wood first caused the Germans 

 to think of forestry for there, where winters are long and 



