FORESTRY MOVEMENT IN UNITED STATES. 375 



States, to say nothing of firewood, will hardly be- 

 gin to be appreciated until our population reaches 

 50,000,000. Then the folly and shortsightedness 

 of this age will meet with a degree of censure and 

 reproach not pleasant to contemplate." 



The report of the Department of Agriculture 

 for 1860 contains a long article by J. G. Cooper on 

 "The forests and trees of northern America as 

 connected with climate and agriculture." 



In 1865, the Rev. Frederic Starr discussed fully 

 and forcibly the " American forests, their destruc- 

 tion and preservation," in which, with truly pro- 

 phetic vision, he says : 



" It is feared it will be long, perhaps a full cen- 

 tury, 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 ques- 

 tion of political economy will place the interests 

 of cotton, wool, coal, iron, meat, and even grain 

 beneath its feet. Some of these, according to the 

 demand, can be produced in a few days, others in 



