148 



RECREATION. 



that of a professional forester of the high- 

 est standing? 



Inquiry into the methods pursued to bring 

 about this report of the Committee, this ac- 

 tion of the Governor and the attacks on 

 the College and the University, preceding 

 these, reveals an interesting situation. The 

 money power of a set of aggrieved bank- 

 ers, who did not like to have their hunting 

 privileges curtailed by the operations of 

 the College, private selfish interests and not 

 public policy, are the background of this 

 veto ! 



If the Trustees of Cornell University had 

 caught the true spirit of the citizens of the 

 State, they would not have yielded to the 

 pressure, but would have gone on with 

 dignity to carry out their part of the agree- 

 ment, trusting to the justice of their posi- 

 tion to have the matter righted when better 

 counsels might prevail. 



PRIVATE OR STATE FORESTRY? 



In the face of the frightful havoc brought sud- 

 denly to the homes of thousands of our citizens 

 throughout the Eastern States in the shape of 

 millions of acres of devastated forest land, one 

 stands aghast that such destructive forest fires, 

 with all their ruinous consequences, are,, still a 

 matter of possibility at the beginning of the 20th 

 century. 



For 2 decades or more a strong propaganda has 

 been made for a more careful and conservative 

 exploitation of the timber resources of the country 

 through the application of scientific forestry rules, 

 as adopted by other civilized nations. What has 

 been accomplished? 



Instead of the inauguration of a healthy forest 

 policy, having as its foundation adequate protec- 

 tive measures, the very protection of invested cap- 

 ital, without which scientific forestry becomes a 

 farce, we see the government, both federal and 

 State, catering to the wants of a few influential 

 and wealthy persons by assisting them to enrich 

 themselves at the general public's expense in the 

 management of their respective properties. 



While the original intentions and aims of the 

 Bureau of Forestry, at Washington, for instance, 

 to disseminate general knowledge of the practical 

 application of scientific forestry rules by giving 

 free advice and doing private work gratis, may 

 have been good and honest, there can be hardly 

 any doubt that paternalism in the management of 

 private forest lands by government officials has 

 been and always will be an utter failure. 



The policy pursued so far has had the deplora- 

 ble effect of putting our citizens to sleep in the 

 belief that the future welfare of their forest hold- 

 ings and their proper development and manage- 

 ment would be safe in the hands of government 

 employees; as if private and government interests 

 ever did run in the same channels. 



Forestry in the United States will never amount 

 to anything as long as the people will not awaken 

 to the necessity of doing something themselves. 

 Success of private forestry demands individual and 

 independent exertion, without which it can not 

 bring satisfactory returns to both employer and 

 employee. » 



In many instances, such as the Whitney and 

 Rockefeller tracts in the Adirondacks, hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars could have been saved had 

 private enterprise and exertion been given a 

 chance. 



The experiences just gone through are a grim 

 awakening to the undeniable fact that private in- 

 terests and private property are safest in the hands 

 "of responsible private persons instead of govern- 

 ment employees. — Exchange. 



THE HISTORICAL NOVEL AND TREES. 



A decade ago the psychological novel enthralled 

 us; recently it has b een the judiciously advertised 

 historical novel. The newspaper tales of the enor- 

 mous editions of historical novels are by no means 

 so fantastic as they may read. A list, carefully 

 compiled from publishers' returns which are abso- 

 lutely without reproach, shows that the sales of 

 9 recently published novels have reached astound- 

 ing proportions. Of one book, over 400,000 copies 

 have been sold. Another is in its 325th thousand. 

 Less successful books have attained only a paltry 

 sale of 100,000, while a few minor ones hardly 

 exceed a disappointing 80,000. 



Books are made of paper. . Paper in turn is 

 made of cellulose, of which the chief source of 

 supply is timber. In order to describe the ro- 

 mantic career of a 17th century gentleman of 

 the rapier, it is necessary to fell a few hundred 

 trees. The publication of many narratives in 

 which the exploits of other cavaliers are dwelt on, 

 may therefore entail the destruction of a forest. 



The 9 novels referred to had a total sale of 

 over 1,600,000 copies. Since the average weight 

 of each book sold was probably 20 ounces, a little 

 calculation will prove that these 1,600,000 books 

 contained approximately 2,000,000 pounds of paper. 

 The average spruce tree yields a little less than 

 half a cord of wood, which is equivalent to about 

 500 pounds of paper. In other words, these 9 

 novels swept away 4,000 trees, and they form but 

 a small part of the fiction so eagerly read by the 

 American public. Some books are worth more 

 than 4,000 trees. What may be the tree value of 

 the modern historical novel? — Exchange. 



SEEDLINGS. 

 We appreciate highly your effort to create 

 a public opinion in favor of preserving the 

 remaining forests and wild game from total 

 annihilation. The majority of the people 

 believe in you, from the poorest farm la- 

 borer up to the millionaire. We should 

 have immediately an efficient forest fire 

 brigade, such as other countries have, to 

 watch for fires in the forests, and to see 

 that fires do not get beyond control. Such 

 a fire brigade should consist of regularly 

 enlisted men, armed with carbines and uni- 

 formed in khaki. 



M. H. Cole, Wellsburg, N. Y. 



An article in the February number of the 

 Indian Forester on "Progress in the United 

 States" opens with the following para- 

 graph : 



How is it that the States have made more moral 

 progress in forestry as a cause in 10 years than 

 India has made or will make in a century? There 

 are various reasons, but the fundamental one is 

 that the President, Congress, and an increasing 

 section of the people mean ; forestry, whereas in 

 India the progress of the department has been a 

 continual struggle with the people, and often with 

 the local authorities. The other important reason 

 is that the people of the States are educated to 

 conviction. 



Stranger (in Kansas City) — I want to go 

 from here to 7th street. Which is the 

 quickest way to get there? 



Native Boy — Go right there to the edge 

 o' this street an' fall off, mister. — Chicago 

 Tribune. 



