PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION 323 



public and private lands in this state of New York 

 abou t4 1, 000,000,000 feet of timber, board measure. 

 Last year there were cut and manufactured in the 

 state 1,500,000,000 feet of lumber, taken, of course, 

 from private lands, since a clause in the Constitution 

 prohibits the removal of timber from state lands. 

 But at the same rate of cutting, all the timber in the 

 state, public and private, would not last more than 

 thirty years. To be sure, there is considerable 

 growth going on hi the forest, but this is more than 

 offset by the increasing demand for lumber on 

 account of the rapidly growing population, and the 

 increasing use of wood in manufacturing. : 



The first settlers along the Hudson knew some- 

 thing about practical forestry, and the necessity of 

 forest preservation. They had learned it in Hol- 

 land. On their arrival here they found a great, 

 deep, dark forest stretching westward, how far they 

 did not know. They found it a hindrance and 

 constant threat. It hid their enemies. In order to 

 build, to plant, and to make a place to live, it had to 

 be cut down and removed. It was about this first 

 cutting that the poet wrote, 



His echoing axe the settler swung 



Amid the sea-like solitude, 

 And rushing, thundering down were flung 



The Titans of the wood. 



The early settlers soon forgot their forestry prin- 

 ciples, and the second generation knew little and cared 



