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reap the bitter fruits of our wastefulness, short-sightedness, and 

 neglect. Nay, in the scarcity arid consequently high prices of 

 wood, lumber and timber, we have already begun to reap. 



Not less than a fifth, or a quarter of every country or state 

 should be occupied with forests. To-day, hardly a state in the 

 Union has more of forest area than it should permanently pre- 

 serve ; and most are sadly deficient in this respect. It is true 

 that we have wonderful forests in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minne- 

 sota, in the Sierra Nevada, and in Washington and Oregon ; but 

 we have also hundreds of thousands of square miles in the great 

 central portions of our vast domain, and other hundreds of thou- 

 sands of square miles on the Great Western Plateau between the 

 Rocky Mountains proper and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade 

 Ranges, where there is scarcely a forest or a grove. And no- 

 where in our country, west of the 100th meridian, is there a for- 

 est of tough, hard wood, suitable for wheelwright and other sim- 

 ilar purposes. 



When we consider these facts, and when we see how rapidly 

 the timber of Oregon and Washington is cut and shipped to South 

 America, to the Sandwich Islands, to China, to France, and to 

 England ; and when we see how rapidly the forests are felled in 

 Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, to supply the wants of the 

 Central and Eastern portions of our country, we shall see that 

 there is ample cause for anxiety in regard to the future of this 

 nation. 



In this connection, just consider, for a moment, the fact, that 

 extensive as were the forests of California when the .gold-seekers 

 went there in '49, one-third of the timber and lumber of that 

 vast area has already been consumed. Yes, California has used 

 about one-third of her forests in a quarter of a century ! What fc 

 will be her condition a century hence, as regards wood, timber 

 and lumber, unless the wisest and best of counsels prevail ? To 

 ask the question is enough ; we need not stay to answer it. 



It is true that it is not fully established that forests increase the 

 rain-fall of a region or a country : but it is sure that they are the 

 great conservators of the rain which does fall. They shade the 

 ground, and thus prevent a too rapid evaporation. The spongy 

 soil beneath the trees holds the rain that falls, and gives it up, 



