FORESTRY ABROAD. 75 



X 



of government forest policy more worthy of our atten- 

 tion and imitation than any other in Europe. In Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand forestry has already made im- 

 portant advances. In Canada the English have made' 

 real progress in forestry; the government sells the 

 timber from its forests, but retains possession of the 

 lands and employs fire guards; at the Cape of Good 

 Hope they have an excellent forest service; in British 

 India they have met and answered many questions 

 which still confront the American forester, and in a* 

 little more than thirty years have created a forest serv- 

 ice of great merit and high achievement. The United 

 States has scarcely yet begun. 



THE FOREST IN EARLY TIMES. 



In very early times the forest was preserved for the 

 game it contained. Forestry then meant the art of 

 hunting, and had very little to do with the care of trees. 

 Even the word forest, which really comes from the 

 Latin foris, meaning out of doors, was thought in 

 England to be derived from the fact that it was a place 

 given up to wild animals for rest. But gradually the 

 forest came to be considered more than the game, and 

 the serious study of forestry began. 



MODERN FORESTRY. 



Forestr} T as a science is of comparatively recent 

 origin, although a work in which all the European 

 trees are described was one of the earliest printed 

 books. Until the end of the eighteenth century for- 

 estry was discussed chiefly by men who were either 

 scholars or practical woodsmen, but who were not 

 both. Then appeared Hartig and Cotta, two men who 



