152 Proceedings oe the 



basis. One can see the stages of growth from a few 

 inches in height to the tree of sufficient size for market. 

 We may be compelled to take a lesson from our Portu- 

 guese friends if we continue to demand from the 

 forests without contributing to future growth. 



Lumbermen, as a rule, do not spend time with 

 theories which are not practical. The winning of 

 bread by cutting wood is an old-time vocation, and 

 the one is quite as difficult as the other ; the application 

 of energy or brawn will obtain an equivalent to pur- 

 chase bread, and no thought is expended on a possible 

 plan to make two trees grow where there was but one. 

 Yet our minds are turning to the reproduction of that 

 opportunity of winning bread, and this Congress is 

 an evidence of that trend of thought. 



Recently the beneficial results of having waste lands 

 adjacent to cities covered with a growth of fir trees, 

 have been discussed by professional men who believe 

 that dusty cities can be improved from a sanitary point 

 of view by having the outlying districts covered with 

 pine trees. They realize that the trees will hold the 

 sandy soil, bring back its fertility and- give to the 

 atmosphere the properties of the woods. Invalids seek 

 the woods ; why not bring the forests to the cities and 

 benefit those people who cannot go thither? 



Bulletins issued by the Bureau of Forestry under 

 the wise, intelligent, and practical direction of Mr. 

 Gifford Pinchot, have created a desire to demonstrate 

 on the part of progressive lumbermen, that the fact of 

 reforesting lands is important. This Congress will 

 broaden the sphere of practical forestry. It is the 

 nucleus of a movement that will take root in the soil 

 of every State, and, like the proverbial mustard seed, 

 spring up and wax into a great tree. 



