30 FOREST CULT0KE AND 



Taking in view the conditions so favorable for tree- 

 planting in California, and the great necessity of for- 

 est protection, the only wonder is that something as 

 I have suggested was not commenced several years 

 ago. The reasons are so many and so obvious that 

 there is not a question as to the necessity ; and if a 

 necessity, it becomes the duty of every land-owner to 

 begin at once to plant trees. It is also clear that in 

 whatever it is our duty to act it is our duty to study. 

 I have therefore thought it worth while to present to 

 you in this lecture a few sketches, which cannot but 

 prove useful till they give place to something better. 

 If the effort creates in the minds of the people an inter- 

 est in the subject, all that could be hoped for will be 

 accomplished. No one disputes the importance of 

 planting on the plan suggested ; neither can the feasi- 

 bility be questioned. Contemplate the beauty, the 

 grandeur, the productiveness of the great valleys of 

 the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, the Salinas plain, 

 and of every strip of arable land in the State, with 

 belts of Eucalyptus - trees planted as I have recom- 

 mended. With such shelter California would become 

 the paradise of the world. 



How is this to be brought about ? By convincing 

 owners of land that financially it will be a great suc- 

 cess. Individual effort alone must accomplish the 

 work. We cannot look to the State for either aid or 

 protection, as, in this independent, free Republic, the 

 Government or the State is powerless in the execution 

 of any measure that would compel land-owners to 

 plant trees, no matter how urgent the necessity or 

 how important the duty. What we have therefore to 

 do, as individuals, is to begin at once to plant. It ia 



