Philosophy of Botany. 247 



charge of ]3irector of the Forestry College of Cornell Univer- 

 versity, Ithaca, N. Y. 



The other gentleman is G. Pinchot, a private citizen, a de- 

 scendant of an old, distinguished New England family. In 

 his travels through Germany he had made the observation of 

 the agricultural and economic condition of the latter country 

 an object of close and extensive study. The still preserved 

 productiveness of its soils, and the marvelous preservation of 

 its forests impressed him so profoundly that he concluded, 

 after his return, to bring to public benefit the conclusions 

 which he had drawn from his observations. Assisted by his 

 friends, he succeeded in the foundation of several forestry 

 associations in the New England States, and holds now the 

 position of Consulting Forester to the National Forestry Asso- 

 ciation, with offices in New York and Boston. He speaks 

 German very fluently, and most cordially receives any visitor 

 who wishes to call on him to either receive or impart infor- 

 mation. 



These societies initiated their movements with petitions to 

 Congress, as well as to the State Legislatures, for the enact- 

 ment of laws for the protection and preservation of the forests 

 in general, and the national domain in particular. 



It had also been noticed that the frequent conflagrations had 

 not only reduced the extent of the timbered area, but also fear- 

 fully depleted every kind of game. Thus repeats itself in the 

 new continent the ancient experience of the necessary and nat- 

 ural correlation of the existence of the game with the protec- 

 tion of the forests. Numerous associations of sportsmen and 

 hunters joined in with petitions for protective hunting laws 

 and restriction of the chase within limited periods. Individ- 

 uals convicted of willfully setting fire to the woods were made 

 liable to severe punishments. 



This was all very good theoretically, but practically the 

 laws were dead letters only, there being no provisions made 

 for their execution bv persons specially appointed and in- 

 trusted with the execution of the same. There was but little 

 S3'mpathy as yet among the masses for absence of comprehen- 

 sion of the subject. In various States, foremost in Wisconsin, 

 where the numerous German population had considerable po- 



