THE PRINCIPLES ; 

 HANDLING WOODLANDS 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION 



The American Forest 



AT the time of the first settlement of America the 

 forests were unexcelled anywhere in the world. They 

 stretched practically unbroken from the Atlantic Ocean 

 half across the continent to about the ninetieth meridian. 

 They covered a large portion of the Rocky Mountains 

 and a broad strip on the Pacific coast. In the aggregate 

 these forests comprised about 850,000,000 acres. 



The original forests of this country were remarkable 

 not only for their vast extent, but also for the great num- 

 ber of valuable species composing them. The richness 

 of our forest flora is due in part to the fact that the coun- 

 try includes several climatic zones, in part also to the fact 

 that the climate and physiography have favored the devel- 

 opment and continuance of tree life. 



Another characteristic of the original forests in this 

 country was the enormous yield in valuable material. 

 The greater part of the country is comprised within the 

 temperate zone, whose climate favors rapid growth and 



