PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



141 



The absence of timber prevents the establishment of adequate manufac- 

 tories, which might keep the people employed ; hence, idlness is the prevailing 

 condition. 



The Koreans are not a bad people at heart ; on the contrary, they are 

 gentle and kind, and were it not for their idle habits and false notions of reli- 

 gion, they would rise as rapidly as have their Japanese neighbors. 



THE BLACKSMITH, KOREA 



The presence of forests enables man to procure materials from which to 

 make things. It gives employment to the people. It increases the desire for 

 better homes, better methods of life, and is the great incentive to labor. 

 While the absence of trees make these things impossible, discouraging any 

 attempts at the betterment of human conditions. Thus idleness is begot and 

 national decadence follows in the natural course. 



