228 



RECREATION, 



of a century old. Beyond these were 

 young and seedling spruce, which soon 

 gave out entirely, their places being taken 

 by alder brush, dwarf cottonwood, grasses 

 and mosses. The surface between these 

 and the glacier was composed of clean 

 boulders, gravel and sand, showing but 

 slight signs of disintegration and support- 

 ing no growth except mosses. 



The forest record and data available for 

 study from the Puget Sound region to 

 Yakutat bay are highly instructive, not 

 only to the students of forestry, but to 

 those of geology and climatology. — Mars- 

 den Manson in the Forestry Quarterly. 



NATURE NEEDS PROTECTION. 



Few men realize how important the ques- 

 tions of game and forest preservation have 

 become. Today we face a great danger and 

 scarcely realize it, though every person in 

 our country feels, directly or indirectly, the 

 effect of the terrible destruction. 



Our Western prairies are now the home 

 of millions of cattle. Once herds of buf- 

 falo, or bison, were without number on 

 these same plains. In the river valleys we 

 see large fields of grain, and vineyards, and 

 orchards, where a generation ago was a 

 dense growth of forest. Such has been the 

 advance of the new civilization into our 

 natural wealth and treasures that we have 

 drawn too heavily. Nature grows weak. 

 Would La Salle have believed the great 

 forests of his day could ever be so de- 

 pleted? 



That we have fabulous wealth to show 

 for this destruction, is the defense some 

 put forward. True, our wealth is great 

 and our resources are still enormous ; but 

 we must not wait for our fortunes to fall 

 in ruins before we act. A wise man builds 

 carefully rather than hastily. We are 

 warned by the terrible floods of the last 

 few years to desist. The depletion of our 

 forests has made these floods possible. 

 These warnings have been emphasized by 

 the wind storms and tornadoes. 



New blights have smitten our crops, new 

 worms swoop down and destroy the vege- 

 tation. These are scarcely new, save in 

 their strength, but now they center their 

 energies in the cultivated fields instead of 

 on the wild vegetation. We have cleared 

 away the wild creations and planted our 

 own choice. 



We were made lords and masters of the 

 world to improve, not to ruin it. Discrim- 

 ination is necessary to any successful busi- 

 ness. We must discern which to leave of 

 our timber, which to destroy. Cleared 

 ground is obviously a necessity ; but is it 

 required of us to waste the timber that is 

 cleared away? We could often see, a few 

 years ago, possibly now, large tracts of 

 land with tree trunks lying prone on every 



acre; not a few crooked logs, but a whole 

 forest of straight, good timber. This was 

 "new ground." Or else there stood a dead, 

 blighted army of primeval giants. A ring 

 had been chopped around each trunk. 

 Again we saw the "new ground." 



We have grown more careful, but still 

 there are many who are reckless. Our for- 

 ests are our protectors, our reservoirs for 

 moisture, our safety from winds, our pleas- 

 ure for relief from the naked fields. 



The game birds and beasts have their 

 homes, generally, in the forests. Our riv- 

 ers are dependent on the trees, our fishes 

 are dependent on the purity of these rivers. 

 Legislation must be made to protect our 

 forests, and such laws must be enforced. 

 Who is to be the leader in this movement? 

 Who will center his energies in such a 

 grand undertaking? 



How can we plead for our game? How 

 defend the weak? Chivalry teaches us to 

 defend a woman because she is weak. A 

 deer, with its helpless, startled eyes, plead- 

 ing for a home, deserves protection. The 

 lives of the hunted must be indeed unhappy. 

 Fierce hawks and eagles swoop down on 

 the rabbits and hares, the owl comes in the 

 dark of the night and kills; but worse than 

 these are the men who come with theii 

 guns. Where can the birds go? . To fly 

 is to plunge into the faster flying bullet; 

 to stay is surer death. Where can they 

 hide? The fields are open corn or stubble; 

 the forests are scant protection. Here, 

 again, we need laws, that are enforced. 



Can anyone say that a park made by man 

 is more beautiful than a forest? Aside 

 from the necessity of our forests we have 

 the pleasures they give us. The dwellers in 

 our forests are interesting and necessary. 

 To study the habits of the birds and beasts 

 is to admire them. The cunning of some, 

 the ingenuity of others, and the innocence 

 of most of them appeal to us. We are told 

 to go to the ant for wisdom, but it would 

 be good to take a post-graduate course in 

 the forests. There the busy bee is found, 

 the warlike hornet, the cunning fox, the 

 guileless squirrel, the crow, the raccoon and 

 innumerable representatives of our wild 

 friends. 



The coming generations will curse us if 

 we deprive them of the forest and animal 

 world. It is our duty to preserve some of 

 the beauties for posterity. To doom them to 

 a habitation of iron and steel and glass is 

 unfair. There is hope ; there is still time 

 to act. People are becoming interested in 

 Nature. Let us all ecourage this interest 

 Thos. H. W, Kyle, W. Va. 



Legislation has been passed appropriating 

 $5,000 to establish a forest nursery in con- 

 nection with the Agricultural College, for 

 the purpose of distributing plant material, 

 —Editor. 



