OUR FORESTS 141 



which bore into the wood or destroy the leaves, and grazing animals, 

 particularly sheep. Wind and snow also annually kill many trees. 



Forestry. The American forests have long been our pride. 

 In Germany, especially, the importance of the forest has long been 

 recognized, and the German forester or caretaker of the forests is 

 well known. In some parts of central Europe, the value of the 

 forests was seen as early as the year 1300 A.D., and many towns 

 consequently bought up the surrounding forests. The city of 

 Zurich has owned forests in its vicinity for at least 600 years. In 

 this country only recently has the importance of preserving and 

 caring for our forests been noted by our government. Now, how- 

 ever, we have a Division of Forestry of the Department of the 

 Interior; and this and numerous state and university schools of 

 forestry are rapidly teaching the people of this country the best 

 methods for the preservation of our forests. The Federal Govern- 

 ment has set aside a number of tracts of mountain forest in some 

 of the Western states, some sixty reserves in all, making a total 

 area of over 63,000,000 acres. New York has established for the 

 same purpose the Adirondack Park, with nearly 1,500,000 acres 

 of timber land. Pennsylvania has one of 700,000 acres, and many 

 other states have followed their example. 



Methods for Keeping and Protecting the Forests. Forests 

 should be kept thinned. Too many trees are as bad as too few. 

 They struggle with one another for foothold and light, which only 

 a few can enjoy. In cutting the forest it should be considered 

 as a harvest. The oldest trees are the " ripe grain," the younger 

 trees being left to grow to maturity. Several methods of renewing 

 the forest are in use in this country. (1) Trees may be cut down 

 and young ones allowed to sprout from cut stumps. This is called 

 coppice growth. This growth is well seen in parts of New Jersey. 

 (2) Areas or strips may be cut out so that seeds from neighboring 

 trees are carried there to start new growth. (3) Forests may be 

 artificially planted. Two seedlings planted for every tree cut is a 

 rule followed in Europe. The greatest dangers are from fire and 

 from careless cutting, and these dangers may be kept in check by 

 the efficient work of our national and state foresters. 



A City's Need for Trees. All over the United States the 

 city governments are beginning to realize what European 



