FRANKLIN B. HOUGH~A TRIBUTE 



\ S July 20th of this year is the centennial anniversary 

 -^*- of the birth of Dr. Franklin B. Hough, the ac- 

 knowledged "Father of American Forestry," it is be- 

 fitting that we note in this issue something of his per- 

 sonality and the thoughts which started him in a ca- 

 reer which resulted in interesting the United States gov- 

 ernment in the care of its forests. For his unselfish de- 

 votion to this cause qptil accomplished the American 

 nation will always owe him a debt of gratitude. 



We learn from his biographer that as a young man he 

 was of a studious nature, and that he acquired an ad- 

 vanced education in spite of the hardships which young 

 men have to encounter who work their way to a college 

 degree. 



He graduated from Union College in 1843, and from 

 the Western Reserve Medical 

 College in 1848. 



His enthusiasm in scicntihc 

 research from boyhood up was 

 boundless. It was of the kind 

 ivhich inspired others with whom 

 he came in contact, and while he 

 appreciated enthusiasm in others 

 in all branches of science, his 

 special interest lay in the fields 

 of geology and botany. 



His extensive journeys afield 

 in pursuit of these studies doubt- 

 less did much to build up the ex- 

 ceptionally good physique with 

 which he was endowed, for he 

 was wont to refer to his jour- 

 neys afoot of twenty or more 

 miles in a day, and carrying, 

 perhaps, as many pounds of pre- 

 cious mineral specimens, as 

 merely incidents. 



He amassed considerable col- 

 lections, and his articles in the 

 press on his early observations 

 in various fields of natural 

 science were full of enlighten- 

 ment and interest. 



They naturally came to the attention of others of kin- 

 dred interest elsewhere, and acquaintance would result 

 which sometimes ripened into friendships waxing 

 stronger and of more mutual interest as time went on. 

 Among the strong personal friendships thus formed in 

 early days were those with Louis Agassiz, John S. New- 

 berry, Spencer F. Baird and others who have left last- 

 ing influence in their respective fields of science. 



After his return from service in the Civil War as a 

 surgeon he devoted himself entirely to scientific and lit- 

 erary work, and in the years which followed wrote 

 many books and articles of importance. His biographer 

 in referring to them states : 



"There is probaljly no son of New York whose biblio- 



graphical record shows so many, so varied, so extended 

 and so valuable a contribution to the literature of the 

 state." 



In referring to Dr. Hough's characteristics this biog- 

 rajjher, after a long personal acquaintance, writes : 



"He had a very remarkable power of concentrating his 

 mental energies on one subject, and therefore made him- 

 self master of it with unusual rapidity. He made him- 

 self, in this way, successively, a good botanist, a good 

 mineralogist, a good compiler of history, a good statisti- 

 cian, a good forester. 



"He had a good working memory, so that new facts 



with him fell easily into place with others he had gained. 



"He was conscientiously thorough in his work. He 



spared no labor himself to bring his statements down to 



the last degree of certainty." 



Such was the make-up of the 

 man who was destined, in the 

 self-imposed task, to efifectually 

 stem the tide of public senti- 

 ment regarding the use of our 

 forests, and to formulate and 

 carry into execution plans which 

 resulted in the commencement of 

 their management by the gov- 

 ernment the establishment of 

 the United States Division of 

 Forestry (now called the Forest 

 Service) of the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



To understand some of the 

 obstacles he had to contend with 

 we must appreciate that from 

 the commencement of settle- 

 ment by white man the policy 

 had been to destroy all the for- 

 ests possible and make ready for 

 agriculture. That became a 

 maxim which governed gener- 

 ations and was still being blind- 

 ly followed by the masses of 

 landowners ; but thinking men 

 had begun to reason that such measures should not be 

 continued indefinitely. 



In those days Dr. Hough was twice Superintendent 

 of the New York State Census, for the years 1855 and 

 1865, and while comparing these two census reports he 

 noticed a great falling oflf of timber supplies in certain 

 localities during the period of ten years. "It did not 

 take much reasoning," quoting his own words, "to reach 

 the inquiry, 'How long will the supplies last and wliat 

 then?'" 



He was convinced that wanton destruction of the for- 

 ests must stop as soon as possible, and provision be made 

 for the proper use and perpetuation of those that are 

 left. He reasoned that it was a matter in which the gov- 



FRANKLIN B. HOUGH 



