FORESTRY AND ARBORICULTURE. 51 



Afternoon Session. 



The meeting was called to order at two o'clock, Mr. 

 Brooks in the Chair. 



The Chairman. We are to have first this afternoon a 

 lecture on Forestry and Arboriculture in Massachusetts, 

 by Prof. John Robinson, of the Peabody xVcademy of 

 Science, Salem. I have the pleasure of introducing Prof. 

 Robinson. 



FORESTRY AND ARBORICULTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY PROP. JOHN ROBESrSON OF SALEM. 



Ladies and Gentleynen, — It has been concisely stated in 

 the report of a forest commission of a neighboring State 

 that ' ' a wise economy in the use of the natural resources of 

 a country should recognize the fact that certain regions of 

 the earth's surface are adapted by nature to remain covered 

 with forests, and that any attempt to devote such regions 

 to other purposes can only be followed by failure and 

 disaster." * 



Through the work on the forests of the United States, 

 published in connection with the census of 1880, -f it is now 

 possible to form' a correct estimate of the immense economic 

 value of our forests. In this volume full accounts are given 

 of the four hundred trees which make up our forest flora, 

 and nearly every one is shown to possess some special value 

 or adaptation to special surroundings. 



A knowledge, too, of the physical importance of the 

 forests, as shown by a careful study of the effect produced 

 by their removal, both in this country and in Europe, is 

 becoming widely disseminated. 



With the destruction of the forests the springs disappear 

 and the flow of water in the rivers is often so much reduced 

 in summer that navigation is suspended and macliincry 

 stopped, while in the spring the rains and melted snows 

 pour down in destructive torrents the waters which the for- 



» Report For. Commis. State N. Y 1885, p. 5. 



t Forest Trees of N. A., Rep. U. S. Census, 1880, Vol. IX. 



