8 FORESTRY 



as practicing forestry. It stands to reason that no lumber- 

 man can be practicing forestry who does not definitely in- 

 tend to cut a second crop of timber from his land, after the 

 first cutting. And at least part of the value of this second 

 crop should be obtained from the growth, or increased size 

 of the timber he leaves at the time of the first cutting. 

 At present it is the almost universal custom of lumber- 

 men to cut every stick of merchantable timber and then 

 sell or abandon the land. If a second cutting is obtained 

 it has usually been because at the time of the first cut 

 it did not pay to take out small, knotty, or defective timber, 

 or timber of certain species was not saleable. As the value 

 of all timber became greater, the lumberman found he 

 could return and conduct a second operation profitably. 

 Often, when considerable time elapsed between the first 

 and second cut, the small timber had really grown much 

 larger and more valuable. But the chief increase was al- 

 ways in the price. This may be forestry, but it is not in- 

 tentional, and does not in any way cause the lumberman to 

 depart from his working principle, which is, to remove ev- 

 ery stick of timber now, provided it can be done at a profit. 

 When the timber owner holds forest lands to profit by the 

 actual growth of the timber, or logs it in such a way that 

 he deliberately and purposely leaves an investment of seed 

 trees or young timber which must grow to give him returns 

 on his money — then and not till then, can he be said to be 

 practicing forestry. 



The truest conception of forestry is that of devoting 

 land permanently to forest production. Successive crops 

 of trees are grown upon the same land and these crops are 

 either cut clean and replanted or are made to reproduce 

 themselves naturally by seeds or sprouts. In European 

 states, where forestry has been thoroughly established for a 

 century, there has grown up a very definite classification of 

 lands into forest land and agricultural land. Upon the 

 forest soils, considered too poor for agriculture, can be seen 



