Early Movement. 473 



tion of our forest supplies and the incredible waste- 

 fulness and additional destruction by fire with no atten- 

 tion to the aftergrowth, began again to sound the note 

 of alarm. Besides the writings in the daily press and 

 other non-official publications, we find the reports of 

 the Department of Agriculture more and more fre- 

 quently calling attention to the subject. 



In a report issued by the Patent Office as early as 

 1849, we find the following significant language in a 

 discussion on the rapid destruction of forests and their 

 influence on water flow: 



"The waste of valuable timber in the United States, to say 

 nothing of firewood, will hardly begin to be appreciated until 

 our population reaches 50,000,000. Then the folly and short- 

 sightedness of this age will meet with a degree of censure and 

 reproach not pleasant to contemplate." 



In 1865, the Rev. Frederic Starr discussed fully and 



forcibly the American forests, their destruction 



and preservation, in a lengthy article in which, with 



truly prophetic vision, he says: 



"It Is feared it will be long, perhaps a full century, before 

 the results at which we ought to aim as a nation will be realized 

 by our whole country, to wit, that we should raise an adequate 

 supply of wood and timber for all our wants. The evils which 

 are anticipated will probably increase upon us for thirty years to 

 come with tenfold the rapidity with which restoring or ameliorating 

 measures shall be adopted. 



And again: 



"Like a cloud no bigger than a man's hand just rising from 

 the sea, an awakening interest begins to come in sight on this 

 subject, which as a question of political economy will place the 

 interests of cotton, wool, coal, iron, meat, and even grain, be- 

 neath its feet. Some of these, according to the demand, can be 



