266 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 
he to begin, however, with a forest such as exists even in New 
Jersey, he could, even from the beginning, reap something every 
year, and his forest would, at the same time, improve in quality 
and productiveness. It is quite possible for a private individual 
to sow the seed and reap at least three or even four crops of sal- 
able materials in a lifetime. It is worthy of note that some of 
the finest, that is the most productive, forests of Denmark are 
under private control. A private forest does not always mean a 
neglected forest and a short rotation. Many rich families in 
Europe gladly avail themselves of this sure and permanent way 
of investing their fortunes, which pass from father to son, as do 
the date-groves of the East. In America the railroads, express, 
telegraph and telephone are private. The finest institutions in 
America are due to private enterprise. Great public reforms are 
usually brought about by the energy and influence of a few pub- 
lic-spirited people. After all, what is the state in America? It 
is simply an organized community, the ruling powers of which 
are only persons which the people have chosen temporarily from 
their midst. ‘The purchase of forest land, the management of 
forest land, or the sale of forest land, depends upon what the 
majority of legislators may think best, and they in turn are sup- 
posed to comply with the wishes of the majority of their con- 
stituents. The personnel of the legislature is constantly chang- 
ing, so that the management of forest lands owned by the state 
would be subject to many vicissitudes unless placed permanently 
and absolutely under the care of one of our best educational 
institutions or in the hands of other permanent and reliable 
trustees. Since, then, the state control of forest lands is not 
justifiable on the grounds that large timber cannot be raised 
from the seed in an ordinary lifetime, let us consider briefly the 
question of protection which it affords in South Jersey against 
the destructive forces of nature. 
The effect of the forest on the climate of South Jersey, except 
in so far as it breaks the force of the wind, is probably slight. 
Owing to its insular position the effect on the precipitation of 
moisture is probably not considerable. The effect of the forest 
in these respects is in general disputed and not proven. The 
effects of the forest on the run-off of water is also of small 
moment because the country is so flat and the soil is so porous 
that floods never have and probably never will occur. 
