FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



2265 



FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



The woods against a stormy sky 

 Their giant branches tossed, 



says the familiar poem that tells of the landing 

 of the Pilgrims in North America. And to 

 malfe themselves houses, to fit the land for 

 agriculture, they had to cut down the forests. 

 Then, too, extensive woodlands near new and 

 feeble settlements have always been a source 

 of danger, so easily might animals or savage 

 enemies lurk in their shadows. There were 

 other reasons, too, for cutting down forests 

 economic ones because wood was needed for 

 fuel, for furniture, for ships, for almost num- 

 berless things; and new uses constantly devel- 

 oped. In addition to all this, in every wooded 

 region which has been settled inestimable 

 quantities of wood have been wasted burned 

 just to get it out of the way; and the time 

 came in the history of almost every nation 

 when it became evident that sooner or later, 

 if the original policy were persisted in, there 

 would be a sad lack of forest areas. 



Value of Forests. Wherein lies the great 

 value of forests? Some points are so obvious 

 that they scarce need mention the fuel and 

 lumber aspects, for instance, and the use of 

 wood for a thousand other things. But if 

 there were no wood to be had its place could 

 now be taken fairly well by other substances. 

 Concrete is being used increasingly in build- 

 ing; the newest and finest ships and railway 

 cars are of steel; coal, gas and electricity offer 

 solutions of the fuel problem. 



The utility of forests is not confined to 

 their value as logs or lumber after they are 

 cut down; it is just as great when the trees 

 remain rooted in the soil. Everyone recognizes 

 the beauty of forests, every variety having its 

 special charm; and everyone realizes the pro- 

 tection which the sheltering trees give to flow- 

 ers, to birds and to other animals. The eco- 



nomic value, however, is not evident on the 

 surface, and for that reason men did not dis- 

 cover it for a long time in some instances 

 until it was too late to remedy the damage 

 done. 



First of all, forests prevent rapid evapora- 

 tion, and so tend to equalize moisture. In 

 perfectly open country the streams carry off 

 the water as soon as it falls, but in forest 

 country the heavy mat of dead leaves and 

 underbrush holds it and allows it to flow off 

 gradually. The streams which have no forests 

 near their sources and near the sources of 

 their tributaries are certain to be of the 

 type which dries up, wholly or partly, during 

 the seasons of no rainfall, but in the rainy 

 season is subject to sudden floods. Years ago, 

 before all this was understood, the trees were 

 cut from about the mountain sources of certain 

 rivers of Southern France, and now .the spring 

 freshets work great damage each year. 



Related to this is the part forests play in 

 preventing erosion by lessening the rapidity 

 of streams a work of great importance when 

 it is considered that in various parts of the 

 world millions of acres of once valuable agri- 

 cultural land have been literally eaten away 

 by rushing rivers (see EROSION). Then, too, 

 trees are a protection against wind, and also do 

 the farmer a real service by housing the birds 

 which are among his best friends because they 

 help to protect his crops from insect enemies. 



As stated above, almost every country in the 

 world at some stage of its history has come 

 to realize that it was wasting its forest wealth, 

 and first one and then another made more or 

 less formal and effective plans for forest preser- 

 vation. Gradually there was evolved a regular 

 science of the growth and management of 

 trees a science which received the name of 

 forestry. 



Forestry 



Aims and Methods. Though its object, 

 broadly stated, is very definite to care for 

 forests and make the most of their products 

 the problem of forestry presents many diffi- 

 culties. While it seeks to prevent the present 

 generation from despoiling the future of that 

 which is its right, it must avoid the opposite 

 error of saving for the future at the expense 

 of present welfare. That is, it is not simply 

 a matter of forest preservation. The govern- 

 ment of a country could not simply decree 

 that, no trees were to be cut, and so solve 



the whole question, for trees must be cut 

 constantly to meet imperative needs. But 

 there should be other forests growing up to 

 take the place of those which are being cut 

 down, and the work undertaken by the forestry 

 service in various countries includes the pres- 

 ervation of forests, the reforestation of areas 

 which have been cut over, the planting of 

 regions which have before been treeless, the 

 prevention of forest fires, the setting aside of 

 forest reserves and the reformation of wasteful 

 methods of lumbering. 



