TREES AND THE GARDEN. 



219 



SECTION XXXI. FORESTRY. 



By PROF. LYMAN CARRIER, 

 Department of Agronomy, Virginia Polytechnic Institute. 



The American people have been wasteful of their 

 forests. A century ago forests were looked upon as 

 a nuisance, as it required a large expenditure of labor 

 to clear the land for the cultivation of other crops. 



- -' 







THE EFFECTS OF FIRE AFTER LUMBERING. 



The timber did not pay for marketing in many locali- 

 ties there was no demand for it at all. For this rea- 

 son forests that would be worth untold fortunes at 

 the present time were cut down and burned. As the 

 demand for timber increased, its value rose until lum- 

 bering became a profitable business. Prospectors 

 searched the continent over for the best tracts of tim- 

 ber. But no effort was made to conserve this valuable 

 resource. The best trees were cut and the tops, brush, 

 and other rubbish left where they fell. As a result, a 



