FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 327 



3l)ort Tal^s on Forestry and Fjindred 3abjeCfs. 



By WILLIAM F. FOX. 



No. I. 



Wf)v/ Oar Forests yShoald be Preserved and Protected. 



^ TN the development of our State the lands fit for farming 



1 purposes have all, or nearly all, been placed under culti- 

 vation or are held in wood lots as necessary adjuncts to farms. 

 The remaining lands, which by reason of altitude, short 

 season, or poor soil are unfit for cereals, may be maintained 

 under forest cover without detriment to our agricultural 

 resources. 



In European countries, with their older civilization and 

 centuries of experience, forest planting has been found neces- 

 a silent companion. sary. Such work is now carried on there at an immense 



expenditure of labor and money, but with profit, the wood- 

 lands of those countries yielding large revenues, both public and private. How 

 evident it is, then, that in our country, where large areas of forest are still standing, 

 these woodlands should be preserved and protected from further diminution or injury. 

 On the existence of our forests depends our future timber supply, one of the 

 greatest factors in our national prosperity. The annual value of our forest products 

 far exceeds the combined annual value of our gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, coal and 

 petroleum products. We must go to the forest for the material for our houses and 

 furniture, barns and fences, railroad ties, bridges and cars, wagons and boats, barrels, 

 boxes, baskets and willow ware, tanning material, turpentine and resin, tool handles 

 and agricultural implements, pianos, organs and other musical instruments, and many 

 articles of necessity or comfort. Two-thirds of the people in the United States use 

 wood for fuel. It enters everywhere into our daily needs; even the newspaper we 

 read is printed on wood. The use of wood has been dispensed with for some purposes, 

 other material having proved better. But new uses for wood are continually develop- 

 ing, which, with an increasing population, results in a still increasing demand. 



In the manufacture and transportation of our forest products over half a million 

 people in the United States find profitable employment. Shall the source of all this 

 wealth and industry be destroyed, or shall it be preserved ? The rapid consumption 

 of our forests by fire and axe makes this question a timely and important one. 



