FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



391 



Many say forestry is not possible in this country while wood is so abundant and 

 cheap. When wood becomes scarce and the pinch of want is felt, then there is 

 time to begin. Transportation is so perfect and long-distance freight rates so con- 

 venient that the pinch of want will not be felt until the forests of the remotest corners 

 of this country, and perhaps also Canada and Mexico have been cut. Germany has 

 proportionately more wood than we have ; and, on the average, good wood costs 

 little, if any more. The difference is, Germany is using only the increment ; the 

 principal remains intact. We are spending our forest principal, just as a spendthrift 

 wastes his patrimony. The place to begin forestry is in the primeval woods, and 

 not after all the choicest has been cut. The lumberman chews the meat from the 

 bone, and then the forester is given the bone ; and even more, he is expected to get 

 much out of it. 



Many spruce forests are raised in Germany to furnish paper, on which the Ger- 

 man professor may give to the world the results of his thoughts and observations. 

 Saxony is the leader in this respect, and Leipsic, its capital, is a famous book centre. 

 The word "book" comes from the old German for beech, and the word "library" 

 comes from the Latin for bark. 



No. 21 shows the nature of a German spruce forest. This photograph was given 

 me by Mr. Carey of Maine. A forest of that kind contains some good wood. There 

 is practically no rubbish or waste material of any kind. Every splinter of it is used. 



The European spruce is a great tree. It is superior to our native eastern spruces. 

 Even botanists quarrel as to the identity of our species. No seed collector could 

 ever tell just what he is collecting. Our spruces have small cones, and the seed is 

 difficult and expensive to collect. The European spruce grows well in this country; 

 the seed is cheap and it is easily recognized. Strange to say, however, the Danes 

 are using our white spruce, and we shall soon be buying white spruce seed in Den- 

 mark. The same has already happened with the white pine. The place to buy 

 white pine seed is in Germany. The white spruce is the best tree which the Danes 

 can find to withstand the rigors of their tempestuous heathlands. No. 19 is a pic- 

 ture of the common European or Norway spruce. 



Our common black spruce in the Adirondacks, especially in the swampy districts, 

 is infested with witches broom, due to a small mistletoe. This mistletoe is extremely 

 abundant in northern Michigan. 



In Europe the mistletoes do an immense amount of damage. I have seen it in 

 France on the poplar and locust. It is collected and shipped in large quantities to 

 England. Its abundance is shown in No. 20. 



A very important European conifer, and one of universal reputation, is the Scotch 



