FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 333 



No. II. 



Forestry. 



F70RESTRY is that business or industry which consists in the maintenance of 

 •* forests, and the gathering of their products. It is most successful when it yields 

 the largest possible income annually and perpetually. 



It is necessary that some part of our State should be kept under forest cover for 

 two reasons : 



First : To provide for our present and future supply of wood, which is needed for 

 our comfort and daily wants. 



Second : For the protection of certain physical conditions of the earth's surface, on 

 which depends the happiness and prosperity of the people. 



The first reason implies skilful forest management; the second calls for forest pre- 

 servation. If the first requirement is fulfilled, the second will be amply provided for. 



Forestry may be described, also, as the management of trees collectively or in 

 masses. Hence forestry includes tree planting at times ; but tree planting is not 

 always forestry. 



The planting and care of single trees, whether for fruit or shade, is termed arbori- 

 culture. The propagation and culture of trees in large masses is known as sylviculture. 

 The latter forms a part of forestry. 



As the products of the forest are indispensable to our comfort and happiness it is 

 necessary that a certain portion of our territory should be set apart for forest culture. 

 In the civilized countries of continental Europe the wooded areas include from seven- 

 teen to twenty-nine per cent, of the whole. Now, certain portions of our State are 

 not suitable for agriculture by reason of altitude, climate, mountainous surface, and 

 poor soil. Hence such lands should be utilized in supplying us with wood instead of 

 food. When one considers the many ways in which wood is used the need of forests 

 becomes evident. As there are several million acres of land in our State that are unfit 

 for farms, we should keep them under forest cover, and thus ensure a supply of its 

 products without being obliged to go elsewhere to buy, thereby saving transportation, 

 and, at the same time, maintaining our home industries. Forestry thus becomes an 

 important factor in our political economy. 



The State of New York has large forests which should be preserved and managed 

 under some intelligent system. But in order to maintain the proper proportion of 

 woodlands, and utilize the waste lands which are useless for other purposes, it may be 

 necessary, in time, to plant additional forests. Planting has already become necessary 

 in some places to properly reforest burned and denuded areas. 



