PRESENT CONDITION OF THE FORESTS 13 



only a temporary relief and would not be used were not 

 the better species nearing exhaustion. Like the others 

 these less valuable species will, in due time, be exhausted 

 and that day is not far distant and what then? Because 

 we can and do use inferior woods shall we conclude that 

 these, too, cannot be exhausted? It is fortunate that we 

 can use them, and we should take advantage of that use 

 while they last, and grow better ones in their stead. In 

 whatever direction we turn we shall see that the future of 

 our timber supply is, at best, precarious, and that only by 

 growing new forests can we save posterity from our greed 

 and negligence. 



Probably our forests are in no worse condition to-day 

 than were those of Germany and France two hundred 

 .years ago, when those nations began reforestation. Success 

 crowned their efforts and should ours, if we put forth the 

 same endeavors. It is true that our civilization demands 

 more wood per capita than has ever before been consumed 

 by any other people ; but that shows the need of greater 

 effort. However desperate our case may appear to be, there 

 is one thing to encourage us : European forests have been 

 restored and made productive, and so may ours be, espe- 

 cially as we are blessed with more valuable species than 

 they possess. 



