Pew OteAL MORKSTRY 
Toro or 
TENTH ODU CLO TY 
CHAPTER <i 
MEANING OF FOREST AND FORESTRY, AND OTHER INTRO- 
DUCTORY NOTES 
‘«The forest and water problems are perhaps the most vital 
internal questions of the United States.”—President Roosevelt. 
Forestry treats of the formation, care, purpose, 
and utilization of forests. It is founded on the 
natural sciences, the most important of which to the 
forester is botany. Forestry is primarily an art, or 
the skilful application of knowledge gained from 
many years of experience and experimentation. The 
purpose of a forest may be to check the destructive 
forces of nature, to yield timber and other products, 
or to beautify the earth. The term utilization re- 
lates to the process of harvesting, converting, and dis- 
posing of forest products. A forest is something 
more than a mere clump of trees. It includes not 
only trees, but other plants and many animals which 
play parts of more or less importance for good or bad. 
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