TREES AND CIVILISATION 195 



followed suit. The vital water sheds of the country 

 are gradually being withdrawn from private ex- 

 ploitation. It looks as though we have begun to 

 solve the problem of adequate rainfall distribution, 

 if not the almost equally important problem of 

 timber conservation. 



Up to 1916, the federal government had under 

 its control 156,114,895 acres of forest land, in which 

 is included one-fifth of the country's standing tim- 

 ber. Some of this is in the form of national parks, 

 where all private cutting is forever barred. A large 

 part is in the form of reservations where private 

 tracts exist but are subject to government regu- 

 lation. 



The United States Forestry Service is now an 

 important bureau of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. It maintains large bodies of forest rangers 

 and fire wardens on the public lands and makes ex- 

 haustive studies of improved forestry methods. 

 With the various state bureaus, it is gradually 

 teaching private owners the proper way to handle 

 woodlands. 



Forestry has become such a live issue in the 

 United States, that many colleges, notably Yale, 

 have established schools devoted to the subject. 



It may be interesting to briefly consider some of 

 the principles governing the scientific care of trees. 



