188 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 



states, and money lenders there consider this matter as impor- 

 tant when placing a loan; for while the increase on such land 

 cannot be gathered at all for perhaps sixteen or twenty years, 

 and then only a small amount, yet a certain increase in woody 

 tissue is being stored up each year which will later on be har- 

 vested. It should be regarded as being worth at any time a cer- 

 tain proportion of its total value at maturity, which perhaps will 

 not come for twenty years, but if a forest is reasonably protected 

 from fire, it is almost as sure to earn a certain increment as that 

 the conditions on the earth will remain as they are for eighty 

 years. And if a, forest is twenty years old, it may be in such 

 condition that it would be wasteful to try to derive any income 

 from it for perhaps twenty years more, yet it is worth perhaps 

 one-third of what it will be worth twenty years hence. Thus, if 

 at forty years it will yield ninety cords of paper pulp per acre, 

 worth five dollars per cord, it should at twenty years be worth 

 about $140, after allowing for compound interest at six per cent. 

 Unproductive Forest I/and. In almost every range of for- 

 est there will be some land that is quite unproductive. This will 

 generally consist of ledgy land, or that which is elevated above 

 the tree line, or perhaps may consist of extended swamps. But 

 on this account it should not be thought worthless, but should 

 be allowed to produce what growth it can, especially where it is 

 valuable in protecting the sources of streams, and in the case 

 of elevated mountain sides the scrubby growth of no value for 

 timber may be very valuable in preventing land slips or snow 

 slides. Of course, in the case of individuals having small hold- 

 ings such considerations do not apply, but they are important and 

 should be encouraged in any comprehensive forestry scheme. 



European Systems 'of Forest Management have been 

 frequently referred to as being applicable to our conditions, but, 

 while we can learn much of value from the history and practice 

 of European forest administration, our conditions are so very 

 different from those existing in Europe that much discretion 

 must be exercised in adapting their methods to our conditions. 

 The chief difference between their conditions and ours is in the 

 higher price of their timber and their cheaper hand labor, which 

 makes possible very different methods than could be profitably 

 used here. The conditions in the remote parts of Russia are 

 much more like those in this country than are, perhaps, to be 



