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of trees, became fitted for its final occupant man. Then, and then 

 only, almost as an afterthought, the possibilities of lumber and fuel 

 appeared. 



The object of this preliminary statement is not in any sense to 

 undervalue the importance of either lumber or fuel, for they are 

 most important portions of the foundation upon which human pros- 

 perity has been built, but to emphasize the fact that forests had a 

 history of development before there was a man upon earth, and that 

 they have been largely instrumental in preparing it for his home. 



In further discussing this subject it will be convenient to con- 

 sider: 



First How forests came. 



Second What they have done in the past. 



Third What they may and should do in the future. 



Fourth Can they be spared? 



1. How Forests Came. Any conception of the early history of 

 our globe involves ideas which are strange to some persons and in- 

 credible to others. Briefly stated, however, the earth is regarded 

 as a ball which has cooled down from a molten or semi-molten con- 

 dition, and that in its interior there still remains a core of fire. Such 

 we assume to have been in part the history of the other bodies 

 floating around us in space. The process of solidification and cool- 

 ing was not only a gradual, but a very slow one. The first plant life 

 was probably in the water which collected in the depressions on 

 the earth's surface. Later those gray, scale-like masses, which we 

 call lichens, or rock moss, appeared on the dry surface of the rock. 

 The reproductive bodies of these lichens are microscopic in size and 

 of the simplest character, so far as a structure is concerned. Cast 

 loosely upon the rock, any blast of wind might carry them away. 

 Indeed, many of them are thus transplanted. But they have the 

 power to dissolve the substance of the rock, form a minute nest for 

 themselves, such as befits their size, and then to produce threads, by 

 growth, which eventually unite with small green bodies, likewise of 

 microscopic size, and form a living crust on the surface of the rock. 

 The growth of such a lichen is exceedingly slow; and, therefore, ita 

 life is correspondingly long. When, however, it does die, there is left 

 behind a thin stratum the beginning of a soil the nest in which 

 another lichen may begin an easier life, or where, possibly, some 

 plant of higher organization may appear. It is not to be supposed that 

 there was no other force at work in forming the first soil. The weight 

 of a falling raindrop may loosen a stony particle. Snow, when it at 

 length could remain on the earth's surface; ice and frost each did 

 their share in rending the rocks, and in proportion as these solid 

 masses became smaller, the work of soil production became easier 

 and more rapid, because an increasingly greater surface was ex- 



