PREFACE 
In the ensuing pages I have made simple 
inquiries into the sources of beauty and at- 
tractiveness in American forest trees and 
sylvan scenery. In the concluding chapter, 
by way of contrast, I have given a short ac- 
count of the esthetic effects of the artificial 
forests of Europe. The system which shaped 
these forests and gave them their present ap- 
pearance should, however, possess more than 
a comparative interest for Americans. It 
has, in fact, a further connection, though a 
slight one, with the subject, and therefore 
requires a few words of explanation. 
It is well known that in many parts of 
Europe the forests have long been subjected 
to a systematic treatment known as forestry. 
The term, at first strange, is gradually be- 
coming quite familiar to us Americans, for 
the application of this comparatively new 
science has already begun in many sections 
v 
