ELEMENTS OF FORESTRY. 



CHAPTER I. 



DEFINITIONS. 



1. Forestry, in its most comprehensive sense, is that branch of 

 knowledge that treats of woodlands their formation, mainte- 

 nance, and renewal, the influences that may affect their welfare ; 

 the methods employed in their management, the removal, prepara- 

 tion, and use of their products, and the economies that may be 

 gained by skillful operation. 



2. Sylviculture 1 is that part of Forestry which relates to the plant- 

 ing and cultivation of groves and collective bodies of forest trees. 



3. Arboriculture' 2 treats of the cultivation of trees. It is some- 

 times limited to the cultivation of fruit-trees, but the term may 

 properly be extended to include the planting and care of trees gen- 

 erally, whether for fruit, ornament, or other use. 



4. Forestry involves the application of many branches of science : 

 (a.) From natural history it derives the description and classifica- 

 tion of trees, and of the animal and vegetable life that affect their 

 welfare. 



(6.) From geology and mineralogy, it learns the origin and com- 

 position of soils and sub-soils, and of the rock formations from 

 which they are derived, their constituent parts, their permeability, 

 and their fitness for the successful growth of particular kinds of 

 trees. 



(c.) By the aid of chemistry it determines the elements of the 

 soil, the composition and changes that take place in the growth and 

 decay of wood, the methods that may be used for increasing its du- 

 rability or improving its quality, and the various operations con- 

 cerned in the production and use of its chemical products. 



(c?.) From mathematics it derives aid in all processes of measure- 



(1) From syha. " a grove." (2) From arbor, "a tree." 



