» INTRODUCTION. 



cattle, and this was taken from the forest area ; reckless 

 cutting and burning consumed more forest, until a time came 

 when it appeared doubtful wliether the natural woodlands 

 could continue to yield the required produce for any length 

 of time, if treated in the manner so far customary. This 

 caused proprietary ideas to be developed ; people claimed the 

 ownership of certain forest lands, ])roceeded to protect them 

 against outsiders, and thus the first signs appeared of that 

 branch of forestry which is called "Forest Protrction.'' The 

 protection, originally designed against man only, extended 

 gradually to measures which had for their object the preserva- 

 tion of forests from injurious attacks by animals, especially 

 insects, noxious plants, in particular fungi, natural phenomena 

 and other injurious agencies. 



By degrees, it was found that mere protection was not 

 sufficient, that steps must be taken to enforce a more 

 judicious treatment and to limit the extraction of produce to 

 what the forest was capable of producing ; in other words, to 

 determine the annual or periodical production, and to regulate 

 the yield accordingly. Thus that branch which deals with the 

 " Prejmration of Forest Worhiuci Plans " sprang into existence. 



Something more was, however, required. With increasing 

 demand it became evident that the ordinary natural regenera- 

 tion could not keep pace with the rate at which the mature 

 trees were removed. It became necessary to assist regenera- 

 tion by artificial means, either by arranging the cuttings so 

 as to favour and assist natural regeneration, or by artificial 

 sowing and planting. Moreover, the young ti-ees required 

 special tending in order to produce the most useful description 

 of produce. In this way, a fourth branch of forestry was 

 developed which is called " Sylricidture:' 



As time went by, forests rose in value ; they became articles 

 of exchange or sale, and it was found necessary to devise a 

 system for readily ascertaining their value. This produced 

 another branch which is called "Forest Valuation " or "Forest 

 Finance.'' 



