THE FORESTER. 



February, 



Some Opinions on American Forestry. 



Of the Utmost Importance. 



Governor Roosevelt of New York, in 

 his annual message, took occasion to de- 

 vote considerable attention to forestry. It 

 is not to be wondered at that one who has 

 hunted and toured through the depths of 

 the forest should see the necessity for pre- 

 venting forest denudation in the great 

 Empire State. The Governor says: 



" The subject of forest preservation is 

 of the utmost importance to the State. 

 The Adirondacks and Catskills should be 

 great parks kept in perpetuity for the bene- 

 fit and enjoyment of our people. Much 

 has been done of late years towards their 

 preservation, but very much remains to be 

 done. The provisions of law in reference 

 to sawmills and wood-pulp mills are de- 

 fective and should be changed so as to 

 prohibit dumping dye-stuffs, saw-dust or 

 tan bark in any amount whatsoever into 

 the streams. Reservoirs should be made ; 

 but not where they will tend to destroy 

 large sections of the forest, and only after a 

 careful and scientific studv of the water 

 resources of the region. The people of 

 the forest regions are themselves growing 

 more to realize the necessity of preserving 

 both the trees and the game. 



" Hardy outdoor sports, like hunting, 

 are in themselves of no small value to the 

 national character and should be encour- 

 aged in every way. Men who go into the 

 wilderness, indeed, men who take part in 

 any field sports with horse or rifle receive 

 a benefit which can hardly be given by 

 even the most vigorous athletic games. 



"There is a further and more immedi- 

 ate and practical end in view. A primeval 

 forest is a great sponge which absorbs and 

 distills the rainwater ; and when it is de- 

 stroyed the result is apt to be an alterna- 

 tion of flood and drought. Forest fires 

 ultimately make the land a desert, and are 

 a detriment to all that portion of the State 

 tributary to the streams through the woods 

 where they occur. Every effort should be 

 made to minimize their destructive influ- 

 ence. We need to have our system of 



forestry gradually developed and con- 

 ducted along scientific principles. When 

 this has been done it will be possible to al- 

 low marketable lumber to be cut every- 

 where without damage to the forests in- 

 deed, with positive advantage to them ; 

 but until lumbering is thus conducted, on 

 strictly scientific principles no less than 

 upon principles of the strictest honesty to- 

 ward the State, we cannot afford to suffer 

 it at all in the State forests. Unrestrained 

 greed means the ruin of the great woods 

 and the drying up of the sources of the 

 rivers." 



Yale and Forestry. 



President Hadley, of Yale, always pro- 

 gressive and quick to interpret the signs of 

 the times, has declared in favor of forestry 

 on broad patriotic grounds. In an address 

 before the Yale Alumni Association of 

 Cleveland, Ohio, as given in the J'ale 

 Alumni Weekly, Dr. Hadley said : 



" Of all the needs at present, the thing 

 we feel the need of most is the intelligent 

 teaching of forestry, which stands out 

 prominent. We need it for the sake of 

 the rainfall of the country, for the health 

 of the country, for the future life of the 

 country. I hope I shall see established at 

 Yale in the not distant future a school of 

 forestry, which shall be not a school of a 

 kind of botany as are some of the schools 

 at present in the country; not modeled on 

 German fashions, as is the case with the 

 remainder ; but as a school adapted to the 

 needs of America, teaching in the studio 

 and in the laboratory the principles of 

 botany and surveying, the law of economics 

 necessary to the understanding of the sub- 

 ject, and giving the men a chance to go 

 out into the fields and do practical field 

 work, and work into positions with the 

 United States government ; work into posi- 

 tions of private influence also, which are 

 bound in the immediate future to increase 

 very greatly in importance. Such a school 

 of forestry I believe we have at hand and 

 before us." 



