THE WORLD OUT OF DOORS 89 



forests. The revenue from shooting permits has 

 often been found to pay the taxes on such woodlands 

 and completely maintain them until they reach ma- 

 turity and are ready to be cut and replanted. In- 

 deed, when the submarine menace and the transport 

 of American troops resulted in a serious curtailment 

 of British food imports, that game, long before 

 planted and carefully preserved, saved the lives of 

 countless people. 



Hunting may be either a benefit or a menace, de- 

 pending upon the character of the huntsman, or the 

 regulations enforced. It is certainly of benefit, how- 

 ever, in that every year it brings six or seven million 

 men and women into contact with the Out-of-doors ; 

 and if the lives of great men remind us truly, con- 

 tact with the forces of nature thus engendered, has 

 been one of the broadening Influences of the world. 

 In molding public opinion to save the forests, nature 

 lovers have led the way, and there is for them a 

 great present opportunity, not through mere un- 

 founded criticism of supposedly heartless lumber- 

 men, but through such an understanding and knowl- 

 edge of the whole problem as will permit coopera- 

 tion in a common cause, 



