1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



71 



from the historian," Mr. Defebaugh 

 writes : "Despite this neglect, com- 

 merce has always been a controlling 

 factor in making the world's history. 

 It has always been more important 

 that men should live than that they 

 should live under any particular gov- 

 ernment or at any particular place." 

 * * * "Out of this new appreciation 

 have come histories of particular in- 

 dustrial movements and of numerous 

 branches of industry ; but notwith- 

 standing the influence of the forests on 

 the New World development and the 

 importance of the present lumber in- 

 dustry of the United States, Canada, 

 and the Latin countries to the south, 

 no comprehensive history of the lum- 

 ber industry of America ever has been 

 compiled." 



Chapter I, devoted to the discovery 

 and settlement of the country, empha- 

 sizes the dependence of civilized pion- 

 eers upon forest resources. "Civilized 

 man lives in houses, and as the house 

 that does not contain wood in some 

 form is practically unknown, the lum- 

 ber industry accompanies civilized 

 man in all his migrations and pro- 

 gress." * * * "A treeless world might 

 not be uninhabitable, but it is an his- 

 torical fact that migration, racial pro- 

 gress and growth of population have 

 been guided by the forest distribution 

 of the world modified, of course, by 

 other considerations, but having that 

 as one of their chief controlling in- 

 fluences." * * * "Whatever the cradle 

 of the Aryan peoples may have been, 

 their migrations led them by forest 

 routes to forest countries." 



Chapter II deals with the forest geo- 

 graphy of the North American conti- 

 nent. It includes a consideration of 

 the conditions which govern the 

 growth and distribution of tree spe- 

 cies, with the influence of past condi- 

 tions as shown by geology and known 

 climatic changes, and a list of the 

 commercial tree species of America. 

 Mr. George B. Sudworth, of the For- 

 est Service, is the authority which the 

 author follows, with due acknowledg- 

 ment, and in giving the names and dis- 



tribution of tree species Mr. Sud- 

 worth's "Check List of the Forest 

 Trees of the United States" (Bulletin 

 No. 17 of the Division of Forestry) is 

 reprinted in substance. 



Beginning now with Labrador and 

 Newfoundland, Mr. Defebaugh, in the 

 next succeeding chapters, describes the 

 forests and forest history of this re- 

 gion, of Canada as a whole, and of 

 Quebec, Ontario, New Hrunswick, 

 Nova Scotia, and the District of Un- 

 gava. In each case the value of the 



MR. J. E. DEFEBAUGH 



Author of History of " Lumber Industry 

 of America," Editor of the American 

 Lumberman, and one of the most prac- 

 tical and efficient exponents of Ameri- 

 can forestry. 



forest products is shown in historical 

 tables ; such legal provisions as exist 

 to regulate forest use and to secure 

 forest protection are sufficiently out- 

 lined ; and the development of the lum- 

 ber industry is traced. Naturally 

 enough, the American reader turns. 

 however, with some patriotic impa- 

 tience to page 272, at which the au- 

 thor takes up the forest resources of 

 the L'nitcd States. This opens Chap- 

 ter XXVI, in the first few paragraphs 

 of which Mr. Defebaugfh has ex- 



