218 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



peared. But even in the early days far-sighted men began 

 to consider the safety of the forest." 1 



205. The Relation of Forestry to the Nation. "The 

 great industries of agriculture, transportation, mining, 

 grazing, and, of course, lumbering, are each one of them 

 vitally and immediately dependent upon wood, water, 

 or grass from the forests. The manufacturing industries 

 whether or not wood enters directly into their finished 

 product are scarcely, if at all, less dependent upon the 

 forest than those whose connection with it is obvious and 

 direct. Wood is an indispensable part of the material 

 structure upon which civilization rests; and it is to be 

 remembered always that the immense increase of the use 

 of iron and substitutes for wood in many structures, 

 while it has meant a relative decrease in the amount of 

 wood used, has been accompanied by an absolute increase 

 in the amount of wood used. More wood is used than ever 

 before in our history. Thus, the consumption of wood 

 in ship-building is far larger than it was before the dis- 

 covery of the art of building iron ships, because vastly 

 more ships are built. Larger supplies of building lumber 

 are required, directly or indirectly, for use in the construc- 

 tion of the brick and steel and stone structures of great 

 modern cities than were consumed by the comparatively 

 few and comparatively small wooden buildings in the 

 earlier stages of these same cities. It is as sure as anything 

 can be that we will see in the future a steadily increasing 

 demand for wood in our manufacturing industries. 



206. Forest Policy for the Future. "When wood, dead 

 or alive, is demanded in so many ways, and when this 



iGifford Pinchot, Bulletin No. 24, Bureau Forestry, Part 2, pp. 81-83 



