CHAPTER XIII 

 FORESTRY 



THE study of forestry is a branch of botany that has attracted 

 a great deal of attention in recent years. When America was 

 explored and settled by white men, millions of acres were cov- 

 ered with virgin forest. The land was more valuable for culti- 

 vation than the forest was for any use that the settlers could 

 make of it. Therefore, enormous quantities of these wonder- 

 ful forests were cut and burned in the course of settlement. 

 But with the increasing population and decreasing forests, lum- 

 ber and wood became more and more valuable, until the United 

 States Government found it necessary to set aside large areas 

 of land as forest reserves. These conditions naturally led to the 

 study of forestry, a subject which involves the planting and 

 care of forests and proper protection and economic handling of 

 our natural forest products and the planting and care of shade 

 trees. (Fig. 85.) Many woodland areas have been denuded 

 which are of little or no value for other crops. (Fig. 86.) The 

 United States Government and the various state governments 

 employ a large number of professional foresters for this work, 

 and many cities employ foresters to attend to the planting and 

 care of shade trees. Forestry is now recognized as one of the 

 most important studies in our large institutions of learning. 

 The principles of forestry are also practiced on many individual 

 farms throughout the land. 



Although we cannot take a course of forestry in connection 

 with this brief course in botany, we can learn something of the 

 life of the individual trees of which the forest is composed and 

 some general principles of tree growth. 

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