258 GENERAL SCIENCE 



unintelligent ways of planting, and an unwise choice of trees 

 to plant, result in unsightly growths of short-lived trees which 

 are all too often worthless for the purposes in mind when set 

 out. The same amount of effort well-directed might have 

 given long-lived trees that in beauty and service would have 

 been to all beholders a joy for generations. There is an 

 almost irreparable loss in those years of growth that have 

 been to little if any purpose. 



So many are the years represented in the growth of a fine 

 tree that it is almost unpardonable to harm it by mutilating 

 its top, by cutting off any great limbs, or by injuring its 

 protective covering of bark. As a home for the birds, as a 

 grateful shade for the traveler, and as a source of joy to every 

 passer-by because of the beauty they lend to the landscape, 

 it is no wonder that trees figure so largely in poetry, painting, 

 and song, as well as in the applied side of life's activities. 

 And it is to be remembered that all these blessings to man- 

 kind that cluster in trees belong to the passer-by as well as 

 to him who owns the title deed to the ground in which they 

 grow. 



SUMMARY 



Scientific forestry removes from wooded lands from time to time 

 only certain portions of the timber for lumber, wood pulp, fuel, etc. 

 It seeks to maintain continuously a sufficient growth of young and vig- 

 orous trees. 



There are large areas in different portions of the United States where 

 the land is unfit for tillage, but is admirably suited for timber growing. 

 When the timber is taken from steep slopes care should be taken not 

 to destroy the undergrowth, and not to allow erosion of the soil. 



Forest fires not only destroy the value of standing timber but by 

 burning the seedlings, and the decaying vegetation Which forms a rich 

 seed-bed on the surface of the ground, later forest growths are made 

 improbable. 



The national government is setting aside large tracts about the 



