30 
trees as possible. This also may be done from a variety of motives, as 
when done by government or corporations with a view of affecting the 
climate and preserving the rivers and soil of the mountains, ete. The 
difference consists chiefly in the fact that in the one case tree-planting is 
done as a mere incident with a view of enhancing the value of other 
forms of property with which it is intimately connected, while in the 
other case it is the chief business, and the ground is given up entirely 
to this one crop and is managed with reference to its prosperity. The 
former can be done, of course, by every farmer or owner of a lot which 
he devotes chiefly to other uses, while the latter can be done only by 
those who give up their whole land to this one purpose. Tree-planting, 
however extensive it may become, can never take the place of forest 
cultivation. The former would, of course, be done only by people in 
places where they live and cultivate the fields, while the forests must 
be kept up often on sterile and, for agricultural purposes, good-for-noth- 
ing soil, where no farmer could make a living. To secure, moreover, the 
meteorological advantages of forests and the indirect industrial benefits 
which flow from their regular maintenance, it is absolutely necessary in 
certain conditions that they should cover a large extent of contiguous 
ground, stretching often for miles. It is evident that such work cannot 
be done by a small farmer in the time and with the means usually at_ 
his command. | | 
Another point must be insisted upon, and that is that forest preser- 
vation does not at all mean that trees shall not be cut down, but simply 
that they shall be cultivated just like any other crop, and not wasted; 
that they shall not be taken away before they are ripe for use, except 
for some special reasons, and that the conditions necessary for repro- 
duction shall be steadily maintained from year to year. This means, 
oftentimes, that care must be exercised not to allow the stand of trees 
to be cut off entirely or all at once, since this sometimes so changes the 
whole character of the soil and climate as to make it impossible to re- 
cover the ground with any reasonable expenditure of effort. It is from 
this wholesale and inconsiderate cutting that such immense damage is 
being done in all mountainous regions by the clearing of the forests 
from the hill-sides. The soil is left exposed to the free action of the frost 
and rain and is carried off in such quantities as to leave only the bare 
rocks, on which nothing can take root. Even if the soil should not be 
carried off, the beating rain and driving storm, the scorching sun and 
biting frosts will dry up, freeze out, drown out, or sweep away what- 
ever seedlings might spring up there. The judicious cutting of a for- 
est in a climate like that of the Atlantic or Pacific coast regions, says 
Dr. Sargent, entails no serious or permanent loss. A crop ready for 
the harvest is gathered for the benefit of the community. Trees which 
have reached their prime are cut instead of being allowed to perish 
naturally, and others take their place. In this way the permanence of 
forests is secured while their fruitfulness is kept at the maximum, if we 
consider, say, a century as the unit of time. : 



