CHAPTER I. 19 



and Australia. Canada has a fair forest system. In fact about the 

 only civilized country in the world today without a forest system is 

 the United States of America. 



SYSTEMATIC FORESTRY REQUIRED. 



The attention of Central Europe once attracted to the need of ra- 

 tional forestry the students of forest conditions commenced to note 

 the disastrous results of undue forest denudation in Persia, Palestine, 

 Macedonia, Greece and North Africa. Every series of observations 

 showed the need of rational forestry. It is now admitted to be estab- 

 lished that every country requires a certain proportion of its territory 

 to be reserved in forest for the highest productive agricultural results. 

 This proportion to preserve in forest varies with the topography and 

 climate of the country. As to Europe, it is now the accepted opinion 

 that the minimum forest area requisite for the largest agricultural pro- 

 duce of the whole country is one quarter. Southern California, like all 

 of our semi-arid territory, has far less than this proportion of forest 

 and has immense desert territory in proportion to its productive area. 

 We certainly cannot safely reduce our forest area at all. 



In the United States forestry has been discursively discussed since 

 1834 and even earlier. In 1885 California established a State Board of 

 Forestry. This was an attempt in the United States to deal practically 

 with forestry. This board did a great deal of good work. Amongst the 

 things it accomplished were the following: Making forest maps of 

 the State based on actual surveys; botanical and popular account of 

 all native trees of California; examination of lumbering; methods 

 and saw \alue of timber; presentation of results of torrent action 

 and reduced springs consequent upon forest fires in Southern California; 

 introduction of exotic trees suited to California, especially species of 

 eucalyptus; arrest and prosecution of those starting forest fires; 

 stopping of unauthorized timber cutting on public lands. 



Under Governor Waterman the Board of Forestry was used for 

 the reward of political partisans and neglected forestry entirely. The 

 Board was shortly after abolished and its experimental forest stations 

 and property were turned over to the University of California. Noth- 

 ing has been done for forestry by the State since, but the work done by 

 the State Board did great good. Its efforts helped the movement 

 which has resulted in the reservation by the Federal government of 

 nearly all the important mountain" water-sheds south of Lake Tahoe 



