41) 



Tin- I. 'Mirth of thr n volution may depend on many tilings; such as the kind 

 , t - tree, :ml tin- method of IV-.-M. 'ration to ho followed subjects which are fully 

 .iiiiiin'<l in books ..n s\ 1\ irulture and the special objects of the proprietor. 

 Tin- principal ohjrcts of the latter may be classed as follows: 

 T. obtain from the l:md the largest possible average annual return, (1) of 

 material, 2) of money, (3) f interest on his capital invested; or, to adopt the 

 involution besl suited to (4) natural regeneration, or some (5) special, technical 

 purpo-r. U, volutions tixed with a view to make such special requirements are 

 calli-d, respectively: The revolution of the largest mean yearly yield, (1) in 

 o.l and (-2) money, <:!) the financial revolution, (4) the physical, and (5) the 

 t. chnical. 



CHOICE OF A REVOLUTION. 



For private owners there can be no doubt as to the most favorable revolu- 

 tion the financial. "But when it is a question of forests belonging to the State, 

 it is i'ivt|Uently urged that cost what it may, it is the duty of a government to 

 providr for all possible requirements of the community, and to prevent a diminu- 

 tion of the supply of any kind of material. No doubt a good deal may be said 

 in favor of this view. In the first place, it is undeniable that forests that can be 

 cut lo\vn any day may take years or even centuries to replace, and that it would 

 never do to rely on private enterprise for the supply for the largest timber, more 

 particularly as it seldom pays to grow it. Again, experience teaches that 

 private individuals cannot be relied upon to provide even small timber, or fire 

 wood, which does pay; the temptation to exceed the capability of the forest, or to 

 convert all the standing stock into gold, whenever money is required by the 

 proprietor, is irresistible, and not to be restrained by other people's ideas of moral 

 obligations to themselves and posterity. 



Xow, without denying that circumstances (as in the case of protective forests) 

 are conceivable which would render it advisable for a State to keep a forest 

 standing after it had reached financial maturity, advocates of ths financial revo- 

 lution may reply as follows: As a general rule, it is the business of a govern- 

 ment to make the most of the property entrusted to its charge, rather than to 

 anticipate and provide for highly improbable contingencies which, if they ever 

 did threaten to arise, would certainly not in these days take everybody by 

 surprise. 



The government timber forests of all civilized countries are of vast extent, 

 Spain perhaps alone excepted. They are are all systematically managed, or in a 

 fair way to be so, and could npt therefore, be swept away as if by magic, nor the 

 uding stock suddenly reduced to a great extent, because that would involve 

 the sale of largely increased quantities of wood, which could not be quickly dis- 

 posed of without greatly depreciating its value. In a well-regulated forest, 

 therefore, the financial revolution would act as a self-adjusting measure of the 

 requirements of the people, and act as a regulator of the supply in sympathy 

 with their most pressing wants. 



NATURAL REGENERATION OF WOODS.* 



In forests naturally regenerated by seed, the mother trees are only gradually 

 removed, and several cuttings go on at once. In every rational method of working 

 a forest, reproduction ought to be the result of the cuttings themselves. 



*Bagneris: Elements of Sylviculture. 



