Our Forest Trees ^ 



Carl Philip Dowell 



From the time when the first settlers came to this country up 

 to this time we have had an abundance of forest trees -or immense 

 tracts of forest lands, but now the forests are rapidly disappear- 

 ing. If the indiscriminate cutting of trees keeps on as it is, we 

 will soon have a forest famine. The most valued tree in the life 

 of the nation is of course the forest tree. The tree standing alone 

 in the schoolyard and along the road please the eye and cool the 

 air with shade, but the forests where wood is growing for homes 

 and fuel have many industries. There the litter is keeping the 

 water to quench men's thirst, to irrigate their lands, to drive 

 their mills, and to make the deep waters for inland traffic. 



Trees serve many useful purposes in the life of man, some pro- 

 ducing the litter so valuable for water. The litter sometimes en- 

 riches the soil ; a number of trees serve the purpose of shade and 

 ornament; the red cedar and white pine are fine trees for ship- 

 building; some trees are good for timber. Many uses have been 

 made of trees for the home and farm. General construction 

 wood comes from trees like the Scotch pine and others; white 

 pine makes good woodeiiware; house lumber is produced from 

 the red pine ; cabinet work comes from maple, mahogany, etc. ; 

 Norway spruce produces our paper pulp; sugar maple produces 

 sugar, beside wood for veneering purposes. For the farm shag- 

 bark hickory produces wood for agricultural implements, white 

 oak makes fine wood for vehicles, and locust produces suitable 



^ Essay written by a boy of thirteen and presented, together with a col- 

 lection of herbarium specimens of trees, in competition for the annual 

 prize in natural science offered by this Association to pupils in Curtis High 

 School and awarded June 28, 1909. (See Prog. Staten I. Assoc. 3: 49. 

 28 Ap 1911.) 



The publication committee has recently decided to include in the Pro- 

 ceedings such essays when they are deemed suitable for publication. 



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