PREFACE 
In a word, forestry interests us here be- 
cause, having already obtained a foothold in 
our country, through it forest beauty stands 
on the threshold of a new relationship. This 
relationship, which is to grow more intimate 
with time, appears to justify a certain dis- 
crimination in the choice of the trees and 
forests herein described, and an occasional 
reference to some of the less technical mat- 
ters of forestry that may incidentally suggest 
themselves as being of some interest to the 
general reader. To have attempted morethan 
this would have detracted from the unity of 
the subject. While the reader may, there- 
fore, find in these pages some facts that are 
new to him, he will notice that these facts have 
been made subordinate to the leading object 
of the book, an appreciation of the esthetic 
value of some of our commonest forest trees. 
The illustrations have been derived from 
various sources. The plates facing pages 38, 
58, 62, 64, 66, 116, 120, 130, are reproductions 
from original photographs that were furnished 
vii 
