1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



333 



ship, since a policy which would be 

 advisable on one particular portion 

 would not be advisable in another por- 

 tion of the same township. A wise 

 decision of the method of management 

 and treatment that should be used for 

 the different localities can only be 

 made by men who are not wedded to 

 some favorite theory, but are willing 

 to adopt the method which is most de- 

 sirable for the particular locality upon 

 which they are engaged, who can lose 

 sight of self and theory entirely, and 

 after carefully looking over a tract, 

 decide impartially and wisely what 

 will be the best course to pursue with 

 that particular tract, using any or all 

 of the methods best calculated to bring 

 about the desired result on that espe- 

 cial tract, or, if there have been none 

 formulated that will serve the purpose, 

 they should have a sufficient knowl- 

 edge of the effect of treatment and 

 consequent results to be able to de- 

 cide with a certainty that the result 

 will justify their decision, what course 

 would be most advisable to pursue in 

 the treatment of the tract in question. 



There is to-day upon state land in 

 the Adirondacks, a large amount of 

 timber which should be removed and 

 marketed, for the very apparent rea- 

 son that the more mature trees are 

 constantly dying and going to decay, 

 and the state is unwisely losing money 

 by allowing them to thus become un- 

 salable. It would be a better policy to 

 utilize such timber when it is possible 

 to do so without serious injury to the 

 forest. The moneys derived from the 

 sale of timber could be placed in a 

 separate fund and used only for the 

 purpose of purchasing forest land to 

 consolidate the park, for replanting 

 waste or burned areas, or other de- 

 sirable work for the improvement of 

 the state forests. The sale of the tim- 

 ber when advisable and the use of the 

 revenue derived from the sale to pur- 

 chase forest boundary lines of the Ad- 

 irondack Park, would be a long stride 

 toward consolidating the state forest. 

 Any system of public forest man- 

 agement should have as its foundation 



the perpetual maintenance of the for- 

 est to conserve and regulate the 

 streamflow. The conservative re- 

 moval of the mature timber should be 

 considered as of secondary import- 

 ance, and be done only in such man- 

 ner that no serious damage be caused 

 to the remaining forest, nor should 

 the natural beauty of the forest be 

 marred more than absolutely neces- 

 sary, nor its capability of natural re- 

 production injured. In no place in 

 the Adirondacks should so much tim- 

 ber of any species be cut as to make it 

 necessary to replant, since this method 

 will so open up the forest and break 

 the sheltering foliage by removing the 

 large-topped trees as to allow the un- 

 obstructed rays of the hot summer sun 

 and the summer wind to dry up the 

 moisture of the unprotected earth in 

 a far greater degree than in those por- 

 tions of the forest where but few trees 

 are selected, and the protecting cover 

 remains practically unbroken. 



The marked difference in the earth's 

 moisture between the too extensively 

 thinned forest, and that portion from 

 which but few trees per acre have 

 been selected, is, in comparison, like 

 the difference between a "fallow" cut 

 for the purpose of clearing up the 

 land, and the wise farmer's treatment 

 of his maple sugar orchard, from 

 which he removes only the old and 

 defective trees for his fuel supply, 

 or to make room for the growth of 

 younger and thriftier trees in their 

 stead" The general principles in- 

 volved are the same, only in a lesser 

 degree. 



Forest fires are unquestionably the 

 worst enemy of the forests through- 

 out the United States, and they have 

 done more to impair the beauty of the 

 Adirondacks as a health and pleasure 

 resort, and to lessen their efficiency as 

 a regulator of the water flow, than all 

 the other causes combined to which 

 the destruction of the forests are us- 

 ually attributed. 



No system of forest management 

 can ever bring them to the highest de- 

 gree of usefulness and beauty com- 



