6 History of Forests and Forestry. 



forest areas for sustained yield — ^forest economy is in- 

 troduced. 



That the time and progress of these stages and the 

 methods of their inauguration vary in different parts of 

 the world is understood from the intimate relation 

 which, as has been pointed out, this economic subject 

 bears to all other economic as well as political develop- 

 ments. 



At the present time we find all the European nations 

 practicing forestry, although with a very varying degree 

 of intensity. The greatest and most universal develop- 

 ment of the art is for good reasons to be found in 

 Germany and its nearest neighbors. Early attention 

 to forest conservancy was here induced by densitj- of 

 population, which enforces intensity in the use of soil 

 and by the comparative difficulty of securing wood sup- 

 plies cheaply enough from outside. On the other hand, 

 such countries as the Mediterranean peninsulas by their 

 advantageous situation with reference to importations, 

 with their mild climate and less intensive industrial 

 development, have felt this need less. 



Again, the stiU poorly settled and originally heavily 

 timbered countries of the Scandinavian peninsula and 

 the vast empire of Eussia are still heavy exploiters of 

 forest products and are only just beginning to feel the 

 drain on their forest resources ; while the United States, 

 with as much forest wealth as Eussia, but a much more 

 intensive industrial development, has managed to reach 

 the stage of need of a conservative forest policy in a 

 shorter time. 



From each of the European countries we learn some- 

 thing helpful towards inaugurating such policies, and 



