THE FORESTER. 



Janua 



Sounding the Tocsin. 



" In the history of the world there has 

 never been such reckless and criminal 

 wastefulness as the American people have 

 displayed in dealing with their forests. 

 The early settlers, of course, found it nec- 

 essary to clear the ground in order to 

 carry on the work of farming; but they 

 often proceeded in the most thoughtless 

 and extravagant manner imaginable. 

 Whatever excuse there may have been for 

 the policy which they adopted, there cer- 

 tainly can be none for men of the present 

 generation, who, in their mad rush to make 

 money, have absolutely desolated vast 

 tracts of land, not only cutting down the 

 merchantable timber, but burning and de- 

 stroying all the younger growth. 



"Within twenty-five years Walnut and 

 Cherry, once so abundant, have become 

 exceedingly scarce. The best grades of 

 Poplar are difficult to obtain ; in whole 

 districts the Pine is exhausted ; Oak is be- 



ing used up at an amazing rate. All t 

 would not be so bad if any effort wi 

 making to provide for a future supp 

 Tennessee has millions of acres of moi 

 tain lands that can never be cultivati 

 If they are stripped of their primit 

 growth, the danger is that they will 1 

 come as barren as the mountains of Pal 

 tine. Why should not our Legislati 

 have the wisdom to see these things and 

 act with reference to them ? 



" If some steps are not speedily taki 

 our descendants of the second general: 

 will be fully entitled to charge us w 

 having robbed them of their natural he 

 tage. Some of the States, notably N 

 York and Pennsylvania, are already she 

 ing a disposition to repair past ravages 

 far as possible. Let all the rest foil 

 the good example they have set. In i 

 meantime let every American count it 

 udtv to set out a tree somewhere ev< 

 year."- Nashville (7enn.) Advocate. 



Recent Publications. 



"The Trees of Vermont," by Anna M. Clark 

 (Bulletin 73, Vermont Agricultural Experiment 

 Station), is a pamphlet of 52 pages describing 

 and figuring: seventy known indigenous species 

 and twenty-seven introduced and cultivated 

 species in that State. 



The general character and importance of the 

 families represented are briefly given. The 

 species are distinguished by means of keys, 

 short descriptions, and reduced original draw- 

 ings. The conception of this work is highly 

 commendable, and its execution is sufficiently 

 comprehensive and detailed to give the casual 

 reader or layman student definite knowledge of 

 the trees considered. An admirable departure 

 of the author from the beaten track of botanical 

 writers is the presentation of the subject in in- 

 telligent uutechnical terms. There is no doubt 

 but that the local need of such treatises is great ; 

 for few people have time or opportunity to be- 

 come familiar with plants through technical 

 books. The illustrations are for the most part 

 well chosen, clear and truthful. If space could 

 have been given, it is believed the characters of 

 the Ashes, some of the Maples, Elms. Oaks, 

 some of the Birches and Hickories would have 

 appeared still more clearly, if the fruits had 

 been illustrated natural size. To many students 

 of Vermont trees, this little treatise may be the 



only authority, and the characters of the fri 

 named are perplexing to beginners. It is 

 lieved also that the author should have gi 1 

 uniformly the general distribution of fami 

 and species, adding for the latter available c 

 ical notes on exact range in Vermont. 1 

 local range of some species is excellently 

 fined, and if all could have been treated ali 

 a great value would have been added to 

 work. Accurate broad treatises on plant < 

 tribution are made possible only through 

 critical notes of local investigators. Uniforn 

 in the following general statements seems 

 visable. Under " The Pines " we are told th 

 are nine species in the "eastern United State 

 while under " The Spruces '' we learn there 

 seven species in "North America." (If 

 " eastern United States " the author means 

 states east of the Mississippi, it may be remarl 

 that there are thirteen Pines.) On page 47 

 find the " Hickories are quite generally disti 

 uted throughout the United States." So fai 

 we know the Hickories are indigenous only 

 of the Rocky Mountains. Certainly the aut 

 did not mean to infer that our western frie 

 are not in the United States. As previou 

 suggested, uniformity of description would 

 crease the general value of the pamphlet v 

 much. 



