120 



THE FORESTER. 



May, 



The Forester, 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 



The American Forestry Association, 



AND 



Devoted to Arboriculture and Forestry, the 



Care and Use of Forests and Forest 



Trees, and Related Subjects. 



The Forester assumes no responsibility for 

 opinions expressed in signed articles. 



All members of the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion receive the Forester free of charge. Annual 

 fee for regular members $2.00. An application blank 

 will be found in the back of this number. 



All contributions and communications should be 

 addressed to the Editor, 



100 Atlantic Building, Washington, D.C. 



Subscriptions and remittances should be sent to 

 41 North Queen St., Lancaster, Pa., or 100 Atlantic 

 Building, Washington, D. C. 



Copyright, 1901, by the American Forestry As- 

 sociation. 



Vol. VII. 



APRIL, 1901. 



No. 4. 



Growth of Inter- That the general pub- 

 est in Forestry, lie is coming to have 

 a better appreciation of 

 the value of forestry to the country at 

 large events of the past few months sug- 

 gest most forcibly. It has been but a few 

 years since the forester was almost an 

 object of pity. His warnings as to the 

 wholesale destruction of our forests were 

 often received with derision, and he was 

 looked upon as a mild sort of a crank. 

 Those were the days when our forests con- 

 tained l ' an inexhaustible supply of tim- 

 ber." 



With the enormous increase of business 

 in this country during the last twenty-five 

 years, especially in the lumber industry; 

 the tremendous amount of forest products 

 needed for home consumption, and the 

 rapid increase in the exportation of lumber 

 has suddenly brought many persons to 

 realize that something must be done to 

 insure the stability of our lumber supply. 



It is this sudden awakening on the part 

 of the people that will insure scientific 

 forest methods a fair trial. The public is 

 coming to know what forestry really is : 

 that it is good sound business, not a fad ; 

 that forestry does not forbid the cutting 

 of trees, but on the other hand, really 

 means that more trees may be cut and at 



the same time insure the future production 

 of the forest. 



One of the most notable changes on the 

 question of forestry is the attitude of 

 lumbermen. At first they were suspicious 

 of the forester and his methods, but at the 

 present time lumbermen in every part of 

 the country are showing a tendency to be 

 guided by expert advice, and to cut their 

 timber in a conservative manner looking 

 to the perpetuation of the supply. 



During the past winter there has been a 

 notable amount of interest shown in for- 

 estry. The national government as well 

 as the legislatures of a number of states 

 have given forest measures careful consid- 

 eration. Congress showed its appreciation 

 of the government's position on the ques- 

 tion of forestry by raising the Division of 

 Forestry to a Bureau and more than 

 doubling its appropriation for the coming 

 year. The legislature of Pennsylvania 

 voted to establish a Department of Fores- 

 try, and the same was done in Indiana. 

 California by an almost unanimous vote 

 of its legislature appropriated $250,000 

 for the purchase of the Redwoods in the 

 Big Basin of the Santa Cruz mountains, 

 and but recently Minnesota passed a law 

 which sets aside delinquent tax lands as a 

 part of the State Forest Reserve. In addi- 

 tion to the above measures the legislatures 

 of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennes- 

 see voted their consent to have the National 

 government establish a forest reserve in 

 the Southern Appalachian mountains 

 within their several boundaries. New 

 forest associations have been formed, and 

 the work of the older organizations ex- 

 tended. The press throughout the coun- 

 try has evinced much interest in forestry 

 and is responsible in a great measure for 

 the rapid spread of knowledge regarding 

 it. 



The practice of forestry is good busi- 

 ness; Americans are keen business men 

 and once convinced of the value of a plan 

 that energy so characteristic of them may 

 be counted on to push it to a successful 

 issue. There are decided indications that 

 forestry is beginning to appeal to men as 

 a sound business proposition, and there is 

 reason to predict that within a few years 



