THE USES OF THE FOREST 317 



snow slides, moving sands, or especially against the 

 dearth of water in the streams. A forest used in this 

 way is called a protection forest, and is usually found 

 in the mountains, or on bleak, open plains, or by the 

 sea. Forests which protect the headwaters of 

 streams used for irrigation, and many of the larger 

 windbreaks of the Western plains, are protection 

 forests. The Adirondack and Catskill woodlands 

 were regarded as protection forests by the people of 

 the State of New York when they forbade, in the 

 constitution of 1895, the felling, destruction, or 

 removal of any trees from the State Forest Preserve. 



A farmer living directly on the produce of his land 

 would find his woodlot most useful to him when it 

 supplied the largest amount of wood for his peculiar 

 needs, or the best grazing for his cattle. A railroad 

 holding land which it did not wish to sell would 

 perhaps find it most useful when it produced the 

 greatest number of ties and bridge timbers. In 

 both cases the forest would render its best service 

 by producing the greatest quantity of valuable 

 material. This is the central idea upon which the 

 national forests of France are managed. 



The greatest return in money may be the service 

 most desired of the forest. If a farmer wished to sell 

 the product of his woodlot instead of consuming it 

 himself, his woodland would be useful to him 

 just in proportion to its net yield in money. This 

 is true also in the case of any owner of a forest who 



