DR. SARGENT'S CONTRIBUTION TO FORESTRY 



687 



aggregating in area more than twenty-one million acres. 



This action caused a storm of protest from the West 

 and precipitated a controversy in Congress that put to 

 test the sentiment of the country regarding the conserva- 

 tion of our public forests. This is not the place to dis- 

 cuss the many interesting incidents of that controversy 

 or the excellent work of the different persons responsible 

 for bringing about a settlement. Dr. Sargent himself 

 played a prominent part in sustaining the policy 

 of additional forest reserves. The proclamation setting 

 aside the reserves was issued by President Cleveland 

 just before the completion of his term of office. The 

 pressure upon Mr. McKinley, the new President, to 

 annul the action of his predecessor was very great. 

 Shortly after President McKinley's inauguration the 

 Commission of the National Academy of Sciences called 

 upon him to discuss the situation, and afterwards Dr. 

 Sargent himself had a long private interview with the 

 Prisident, with the result that the latter decided to take 

 no action in the matter but to let the reserves stand. This 

 was a critical point in the history of forestry, for at these 

 conferences Mr. McKinley frankly stated that he had 

 mtended to return the reserves to public domain. 



The controversy over the forest reserves set aside by 

 President Cleveland resulted in the enactment of the Act 

 of June 4, 1897, which provided for the administration 

 and the uses of the public reserves. Thus was laid the 

 real foundation for the system of National Forests which 

 now aggregate more than one hundred and fifty million 

 acres. , 1 1 



Dr. Sargent was also a prominent advocate of National 

 Parks. His first proposal in regard to National Parks 

 was in connection with the region included in the Glacier 

 National Park. In 1882 and 1883 he had charge of the 

 forest work of the Northern Trans-Continental Survey 

 which was organized by Mr. Villard, President of the 

 Northern Pacific Railroad, for the purpose of ac- 

 quiring information about the resources tributary 

 to the railroad. The most important expedition 

 was that in 1883 when Dr. Sargent was asso- 

 ciated with Prof. Pompelly in a reconnaissance 

 of Northern Montana. The glaciers were discovered at 

 that time. After Dr. Sargent returned to the East he 

 wrote an article in The Nation advocating that the gla- 

 cier country should be made into a National Park be- 



cause of its scenic grandeur. In the reports of the Forest 

 Commission of the National Academy of Sciences, al- 

 ready referred to, recommendations were made for the 

 establishment of two National Parks, one to include Mt. 

 Rainier in the State of Washington, and the other the 

 Grand Canyon of Arizona. Dr. Sargent's views regard- 

 ing parks were further expressed in different issues of 

 Garden and Forest. He was an ardent advocate of Na-" 

 tional Parks, but believed in their establishment only 

 where there were unusual scenic features. 



Since that time Dr. Sargent has devoted his efforts 

 chiefly to his scientific work in the study of trees and 

 other woody plants. His research has added greatly 

 to the world's knowledge of forest botany. His most im- 

 portant published work, The Silva of North America, 

 will always remain one of the great classics in botanical 

 literature. His Manual of the Trees of North America 

 is the handbook of every student of American forests, 

 and his other publications, constituting a long list based 

 upon studies made throughout the world, enrich our 

 knowledge of trees. 



Dr. Sargent has already erected a great monument to 

 his scientific work in building up the Arnold Arboretum. 

 It was the original purpose to have at the Arboretum 

 specimens of every tree and shrub capable of growing 

 in the climate of eastern Massachusetts. During nearly 

 fifty years of careful experiment Dr. Sargent has al- 

 ready gone far in carrying out this plan. Upon the two 

 hundred and forty acres at his disposal, he has planted 

 thousands of specimens of trees and shrubs both of native 

 and foreign species. The student can find at the Arnold 

 Arboretum one of the best special libraries on forest 

 botany in existence, an herbarium equally rich, and a 

 collection of living specimens of the trees and shrubs 

 that shows their adaptibility to the local climate and their 

 natural habits of life and growth. Students come to the 

 Arboretum from many parts of the world. In many 

 cases they find the trees of their own country brought 

 together in a way more advantageous for study than at 

 home. As a piece of scientific work in one branch of for- 

 estry the Arnold Arboretum stands as the most thorough 

 and most nearly complete of any that has been undertak- 

 en in the United States. It is of immeasurable impor- 

 tance in laying a sound scientific foundation for Ameri- 

 can forestry. 



T> G. MERRITT, a technical forester for ten years as- 

 sociated with the United States Forest Service and 

 more recently assistant secretary of the North Carolina 

 Pine Association, has been appointed an assistant in the 

 Natural Resources Production Department of the Cham- 

 ber of Commerce of the United States, with headquar- 

 ters in Washington, D. C. Mr. Merritt's activities with 

 the Chamber have to do directly with the work of the 



National Forestry Policy Committee. His work with 

 the Forest Service took him into eight states in differ- 

 ent sections of the country, and this wide experience, to- 

 gether with his training in lumber production and lumber 

 association work, eminently fit Mr. Merritt for his present 

 duties. He is a member of the American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation and a senior member of the Society of American 

 Foresters. 



