142 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



when harvested. Such a system, as applied to timberlands, is far 

 more just and equable than the methods now employed in this 

 country. Another European custom which we would do well to 

 adopt is that observed in certain- parts of Germany where forest 

 areas are extensive. Private owners are required to deposit the 

 cost of replanting their land at the time of cutting the timber, and 

 in case of failure to replant within a certain period, the work is 

 done by the government and the deposit forfeited. This is in 

 line with the very general policy of the German provinces to keep 

 the total forest acreage at the same figure and to replace such 

 lands as may be required for agriculture with newly reforested 

 tracts. This is a wise and beneficent use of natural resources 

 and is in strict conformity with the principle of true conservation. 



Finally, let me urge the importance of educating public opinion 

 and of guiding it in the right direction. 



Civic organizations can accomplish much good among the peo- 

 ple, not only by means of public meetings and contributions to 

 the press, but through direct personal influence. I do not think 

 the most earnest advocate of conservation fully realizes the value 

 of individual effort. So also our museums can wield a mighty 

 influence if their curators will devise methods of teaching the 

 lesson of conservation through the medium of exhibits. A con- 

 servation, exhibit has been planned for the Staten Island museum 

 consisting of four models, on a suitable scale, showing a moun- 

 tain slope in the southern Alleghenies under successive changes 

 as a result of human interference with nature. The original 

 forest will be seen, in miniature ; then the area will be shown after 

 the trees have been girdled, and subsequently fire-swept; and the 

 last model will exhibit the final results of denudation, burning, 

 and exposure to heavy rains. These models will be supplemented 

 by colored photographs showing native wild flowers, the weeds 

 that follow cultivation, and the vegetation that occupies recently 

 burned tracts. These are intended to appeal to the esthetic side 

 of conservation, just as the more realistic model will appeal to 

 the utilitarian. 



