12 OUR NATIONAL FORESTS 



year in Montreal the name was changed to the 

 American Forestry Association and since then has 

 been the center of all private efforts to advance 

 the forestry movement. In 1898 this association 

 began the publication of a propagandist journal 

 which is now called American Forestry. In 

 1884 the duty of making experiments with timber 

 was added to the functions of the Division. The 

 next year the collecting and distribution of valuable 

 economic tree seeds Avas begun. In 1886 the study 

 of the biology of some of our important timber 

 trees was taken up, while in the following year 

 silvicultural problems first engaged the attention 

 of the Division. 



THE FIRST FOREST RESERVES ESTABLISHED MAR.CH 30, 



1891 



The Situation Before 1891. Before 1891 the 

 Division of Forestry was simplj^ a bureau of in- 

 formation. In general the information supplied 

 was of a twofold nature. It was technical in so 

 far as it related to the management of private 

 woodlands and statistical in so far as the knowl- 

 edge of the conditions of our forest resources in- 

 duced the application of forestrj' principles. Up 



