PREFACE. 



THROUGHOUT America and especially in the eastern United 

 States there has been a rapid awakening of interest in forestry 

 ^during the past few years. The disappearance of old forests, 

 together with increased prices of lumber, has made ready converts 

 to the forestry ^propaganda of the federal and state governments ; 

 but up to the preserrTHmFne^Tl^rih^^nly^available literature on 

 the subject is in the form of government bulletins. There are, 

 to be sure, a number of good books on the trees written from a 

 botanical standpoint, and several books dealing with forestry 

 in a general way, besides a very few advanced textbooks. There 

 is now such widespread interest in the subject, that a book 

 dealing with the specific forestry problems of New England will 

 not only be of interest to the nature lover but of real assistance 

 to the land owner who wishes to adopt approved methods of 

 forest culture, or to the student of forestry. Books are legion 

 dealing with specific agricultural problems, and it is intended that 

 this work shall be for the woodland owner what these are for 

 the agriculturist. Every year more people are moving from 

 the cities and acquiring country places. Many owners of this 

 class cannot afford their personal time for farm supervision, and, 

 without this supervision of the owner, farming is apt to be too 

 expensive. Forestry particularly appeals to this class of owners 

 because it requires less frequent attention than any other land 

 culture. 



It is gratifying to find that the farmers are taking up forestry 

 in the same practical way in which they are accustomed to 

 handle other problems, and the authors frequently have been 

 asked by farmers to recommend some good book on forestry. 

 Practical problems, such as the planting of an old hill pasture 

 to pine, or the advisability of pruning pine and spruce; the 



