516 Our Surroundings 



land is made useless. The deltas of great rivers, like the Missis- 

 sippi and the Nile, are made up largely of soil brought down by 

 the streams from the land through which they flow. 



Forest Aid in Making Soil. The leaves and branches that 

 fall on the forest floor decay and become mixed with rock parti- 

 cles, thus constantly forming new soil and improving that already 

 made. In consequence, forest soil does not require the use of 

 fertilizers, for nature has already enriched it. 



Forest Products. The most important product of the forest 

 is lumber, needed for the building of our houses, the laying of 

 our railroads, and for countless other uses. Oak, elm, Douglas 

 fir, birch, maple, walnut, mahogany, and pine are among the 

 trees which yield material for the making of furniture, for the 

 ornamentation of rooms, and for many other purposes. 



The forest supplies us with most of the fuel we burn. From 

 the living forest trees we get our wood, and from the buried 

 remains of long dead forests we get our coal. We get paper and 

 rayon from wood pulp, which comes from trees, chiefly the coni- 

 fers, the poplars, and the basswood. Tar, turpentine, and resin 

 are derived from the pines and the hemlocks. In several sections 

 sugar and syrup are obtained in large quantity by boiling the sap 

 of the maple. The forest also supplies us with many valuable 

 medicines, such as quinine and camphor. 



Preservation of the Forests. As forests are of so great 

 importance to the welfare of man, it is essential to the develop- 

 ment of a country that they be preserved. To this end, it becomes 

 necessary for the government to protect them from their enemies, 

 among which are man himself, fire, insects, and fungi. 



Man. Since the value of forests to a country is so apparent, 

 one would think that man would be reluctant to waste them. Such, 

 however, is not the case. In his desire to accumulate wealth he 

 recklessly cuts and uses the trees for various purposes without 

 replacing them with new growth. Seldom does he stop to think 

 that he is rapidly exhausting the supply of lumber, as well as 

 exposing the land to the ravages of flood, drought, and erosion- 

 He is the most dangerous enemy of the forests. He not only cuts 

 them, but he is needlessly wasteful in doing so. Parts of the 



