A FORESTRY PROGRAM 5 



When the wind 



Sweeps the broad forest in its summer prime, 



As when a master-hand exulting sweeps 



The keys of some great organ, ye give forth 



The music of the woodland depth, a hymn 



Of gladness and of thanks. 



— Bryant . 



'Tis merry in greenwood, thus runs the old lay 



In the gladsome month of lively May, 



When the wild birds' song on stem and spray 



Invites to forest bower. 

 Then rears the ash his airy crest, 

 Then shines the birch in silver vest. 

 And the beech in glistening leaves is drest. 

 And dark between shows the oak's proud breast 



Like a chieftain's frowning tower. 



—Scott. 



THE RIVER'S SUPPLICATION 



Now saucy Phoebus' scorching beams 



In flaming Summer pride, 

 Dry-withering waste my foaming streams 



And drink my crystal tide. 



Would then my noble master please 



To grant my highest wishes, 

 He'll shade my banks wi' towering trees 



And bonnie spreading bushes. 



Let lofty firs and ashes cool 



My lowly banks o'erspread, 

 And view deep bending in the pool 



Their shadows' wat'ry bed. 



Let fragrant birches, woodbine drest, 



My craggy cliffs adorn, 

 And for the little songsters' nest 



The close-embow'ring thorn. 



— Burns. 



4. NATIONAL FORESTRY 



The United States Government is practicing for- 

 estry in the 160 national forests, which have a total 

 net area of 158,000,000 acres. These forests are 

 widely scattered over the States, from Maine to 

 Florida and from the Pacific Northwest to the Mexi- 

 can border. Two are in Alaska and one in Porto 

 Rico. They are administered by the Forest Service, 

 a bureau of the Department of Agriculture. 



As long ago as 1891 the Federal Government, under 

 congressional authorization, began setting apart as 

 " forest reserves " some of the timberlands that re- 

 mained in Government ownership. The name " for- 

 est reserves " was later discarded in favor of " na- 

 tional forests," to indicate that the timber on these 

 lands was not being locked up for a distant future. 

 The actual purposes for which these areas were set 

 aside were the growing of timber and the protection 

 of the watersheds of navigable streams. 



Our lawmakers thus recognized many years ago a 

 principle that has yet to make its way into the 

 minds of many people in this country, although it has 

 been familiar to western Europe for generations — 

 that forests may be so managed that they will bear 

 crop after crop of timber without interruption and 

 without exhaustion. 



Timber growing is properly a part of agriculture. 

 The forester does not usually plant his crop. Nature 

 normally plants in a given area of forest land more 

 trees than can possibly grow to maturity there. The 

 life of a forest tree is from the first a struggle with 

 its neighbors for space, moisture, and sunlight. The 



