AMERICAN SYLVICULTURE 



forest planting should be, at least, as remunerative in this country 

 ^vhere soil values are low, as it is in the old country where soil 

 values are high. 



In Germany, too, the production of a second growth by human 

 aid was not thought of so long as timber and fuel wood had little 

 value. 



When the value of a product increases, arrives the time at 

 which it is wisdom to produce it. 



Sylviculture will be practiced in the United States, to begin 

 with, here and there, on lands where the conditions for it are 

 favorable. As the years go past it will . expand al! over the 

 woodlands of the L^nited States. 



Sylviculture considered as a branch of the science of forestry 

 comprises the following themes: 



A. Ecologic principles, facts and definitions. 



B. The genesis, or the birth of the forest. 



C. The pedagogic, or the tendance of the forest. 



D. The sylvical forms of the forest. 



"Genesis," in the true meaning of the word, is the act of 

 producing, or giving birth or origin, to anything. The term 

 " genesis " is also applicable to the theories, explanations or ac- 

 counts of the origin of anything. 



" Pedagogie " comprises the principles and rules pertaining to 

 the training of the young. 



The terms " forest genesis " and " forest pedagogie " have not 

 met with a favorable reception by the critics of the first and 

 second edition of the present book. The author continues to use 

 the two terms, for lack of better substitutes, in his lectures at 

 the Biltmore Forest School and in this third edition of his 

 " Sylviculture." 



In the discussion of themes B, C, and D, a distinction is made 

 between the treatment of: 



1. Seed forests. 



2. Sprout forests. 



3. Composite forests. 



Paragraph II. Ecologic factors and their in- 

 fluence on the sylva. 



A. Definition.— Plant ecology is a branch of botany show- 

 ing the dependence and adaptation of plant forms and plant life 

 on and to the surrounding local factors (climate, soil, etc.). 

 12 



