» MODERN FOREST ECONOMY, 



the unit is the tree, and the wood is considered as the 

 collection of trees ; in the other the wood is the unit, and 

 the trees are considered only as its constituent parts. In 

 the former attention is given primarily to the sowing and 

 planting, and pruning it may be, and general culture of 

 the tree; nowhere, perhaps, has this arboriculture 

 been carried nearer to perfection than it has been in 

 Britain ; and the effects produced by the resulting woods 

 are wonderful. In the latter, attention is given primarily 

 to the wood or forest as a whole, capable of yielding pro- 

 ducts which can be profitably utilised; and the result 

 generally is to produce a much greater proportion of fine 

 trees than does even the arboriculture which has been 

 referred to. And not less different is the exploitation of 

 woods in Britain and on the Continent. In Britain the 

 pecuniary returns obtained from woods is considered a 

 secondary matter in comparison with the amenity and 

 shelter which they afford; but on the Continent the 

 material or pecuniary product, or other ecomonic good, is 

 made the object of primary importance. 



The arboriculture of Britain may seem to leave little to 

 be desired ; but nowhere, perhaps, are forests treated with 

 greater recklessness than they have been in some of our 

 colonies and dependencies. In India, however, and some 

 of our colonies, an endeavour is now being made to arrest 

 the destructive practices which have prevailed, and to 

 introduce a system of treatment of forests more in accord- 

 ance with the advanced forest science of the day. 



In the United States of America and in Canada there 

 have been effected extensive clearings of forest lands 

 resulting in injurious effects upon the climate, and in a 

 greatly diminished supply of timber, with no prospect of 

 this being compensated by the subsequent growth of trees 

 in the localities. In some of our colonies extensive forests 

 have been treated as are beds of onions, leeks, cabbages, 

 and turnips, in the kitchen garden. Trees deemed suitable 



