FORESTRY AND ARBORICULTURE. 57 



in its nature, and yet leave in the bands of the individual 

 States the power to regulate forest matters not inconsistent 

 with the welfare of the country as a whole. 



We Americans do not like to be hedged about with legal 

 restrictions. The land in a great measure, especially in the 

 older States, is in the hands of the farmers. Outside of New 

 York but very little of it is in the hands of the State govern- 

 ments. It therefore becomes evident that the people must 

 be educated to their necessity, before sufficient and satisfac- 

 tory laws can be enacted and carried out to protect and 

 preserve our existing forests, or to reforest regions already 

 stripped of their cover. 



The forests of this country are its most valuable property. 

 They are perhaps the most important as they are the most 

 accessible forests in the world. They are of the utmost 

 value physically and commercially, and their destruction is 

 imminent. We have no forest policy, no school of forestry, 

 and but few educated forest experts to look to for advice or 

 to direct a forest policy, provided one is ever adopted. 

 What then is to be done ? We must have a national forest 

 policy and establish a national forest school. 



Much has been said and written of late in relation to 

 forest schools and instruction in forestry in our colleges and 

 agricultural institutes. As far as this may serve to give the 

 student a general knowledge of the underlying principles of 

 the subject, and through him diffuse a sense of the impor- 

 tance of governmental action and the reasons therefor, it is 

 well and good that such instruction should be given. With 

 a majority of students, however, the time devoted to their 

 college work is so short, and their desire for other courses of 

 study is so great, that any attempt to produce skilled 

 foresters by the system now in vogue, or with the present 

 available corps of instructors in any of our colleges, or in 

 connection with other courses of study, must inevitably 

 result in miserable failure. 



One very important factor in connection with the study of 

 forestry is too often overlooked. Taking it for granted that 

 it is possible to produce an expert forester in this country 

 by a course of study in any of our institutions of learning, 

 or that a fully equipped forest school should be established, 



