32 FOEEST PLANTING. 



might be sufficient to retain the good effects of forests, 

 especially if they are properly distributed over the 

 country. 



But if the question be how to determine the portion of 

 tlie wood-lands of a country to the not wooded areas, in 

 order to raise a quantity of wood for fuel, timber and 

 lumber, sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants, the 

 proper answer cannot be given without the help of a 

 statistical bureau for forest matters. 



The duty of such a bureau should be to ascertain the 

 quantity and quality of the wood which annually can be 

 cut without injuring the sustained growth of the forests, 

 and to compare this amount with the demands of the 

 population for the different kinds of wood. If the coun- 

 try be able to meet the requirements of the inhabitants, 

 we call the proportion adequate, otherwise there must be 

 importation. 



Entirely excluded from the question regarding the 

 proportion of the wooded area of a country to the not 

 wooded are the so-called "protective or shelter-forests," 

 i. e., such as would, when cut down, cause irreparable 

 damage to the public. These forests, which will be 

 treated of in the next chapter, must be preserved at all 

 events, and be managed in the public interest. 



CHAPTEE IV. 



RELATIONS OF GOVERNMENTS TO FORESTS. 



The necessity of forests to the permanent welfare of 

 the commonwealth on one hand, and the rapid destruc- 

 tion of the woods by private owners on the other, led in 

 the old world many economists to the assumption that it 

 would be better for the prosperity of a state if all forests 



