PREFACE 1X 
and national parks. These reservations cover an area 
of about fifty million acres, a territory so large and 
varied that it is worthy some space in even primary 
geographies. They cover an area much larger than 
the whole of New England, three times as large as 
Greece, and almost five times as large as Switzerland; 
yet the establishment of these reservations has appar- 
ently only just begun. 
The author desires to thank Dr. Joseph Rothrock, 
Forestry Commissioner for Pennsylvania; Dr. b. FE. 
Fernow, Director of the New York State College of 
Forestry; and Prof. W. W. Rowlee, Assistant Pro- 
fessor of Botany, Cornell University, for many sug- 
gestions and favors. 
Acknowledgments and thanks are due to Col. 
William F. Fox, Superintendent of Forests for the 
State of New York, Prof. Mark V. Slingerland, E. A. 
Sterling, and John C. Phillips for some of the photo- 
graphs used in this volume. 
If this book serves to convey practical informa- 
tion and to arouse interest in the subject through- 
out this country, and helps to produce a better treat- 
ment of our woodlands, its mission will have been 
fulfilled. 
Joun GIFFORD. 
Irnaca, N. Y., January, 1902. 
