292 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 
Jersey, for instance, owing to the exhaustion of saw-stuffs there 
are many deserted hamlets and silent sawmills. It is true that 
on the whole the population is on the increase, but this is due 
to another class who have come from elsewhere with other 
abilities and other objects in view. Many of the natives, how- 
ever, who were born and bred in the forest and earned their 
livelihood in the woods have been forced to leave for other 
regions and engage at a disadvantage in other work. The few 
who have remained of this class are in a state of stagnation, and 
in many instances, were it not for the berry crop and the game 
in the woods, would die of starvation. Owing to the fact that 
they are idle a large part of the year, that they are far from 
neighbors except of their own class, that they are often insufh- 
ciently fed and clothed, there is little wonder that many are 
outlaws. The backwoodsman without work is the man who 
sells his vote. ‘The common schools of America are endeavoring 
to educate such people, but much of the good influence is offset 
by the industrial depression which follows the wasteful destruc- 
tion of wood in a country where the majority of the people are 
woodsmen. Just as reckless deforestation inevitably leads to 
idleness, want and moral degeneration among those dependent 
upon the woods, so does afforestation have the opposite effect in 
the same if not greater proportion. 
Then, too, the value of forests from a hygienic standpoint on 
swampy soils has been underrated. I believe the malarial con- 
dition of our South is due to the ill-treatment of forest lands and 
the formation of stagnant marshes in consequence. It is a note- 
worthy fact that the Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North 
Carolina is free from malaria and perfectly healthy, while the 
adjacent fire-swept pine-lands are famous for their unhealthful- 
ness. Just as the Landes of France were rendered healthy by 
tree-growth and drainage, so is it possible to improve the 
sanitary condition of the Atlantic Coast Region. , 
