18 THE BOOK OF FORESTRY 
must be left untouched to serve best as refuges for birds 
and game. Really the opposite is true for deer are 
larger and more plentiful where a part of the forest 
is removed, and every boy who has ever gone hunting 
with an air rifle knows that birds are most numerous 
in the edges or in more open parts of woods. The most 
blasting damage to the forest from the standpoint of 
fish and game is inflicted by a forest fire. True, the 
deer may find browse in a burn after a year or two 
but other game and especially fish are greatly disturbed. 
For many years the continental forester has also been 
in charge of the game, and in German forests shooting 
privileges yield a round sum. 
In this country the intimate relation between the 
forest community and its furred and feathered inhabi- 
tants is becoming appreciated and the forester of the 
next generation must be well versed in the art of game 
propagation. 
Value of Forests as Conservers of Life.—There is a 
pretty legend current among the Arabs that to each 
man at birth is given a specified number of days to live, 
but that every day spent in the chase is not counted 
against his score. This is merely a fanciful way of 
conveying the idea that life in the open adds to the 
length of our days, as well as to their enjoyment. 
John Muir, the eminent author-naturalist, used to 
preach upon the text that every man should take time 
to get rich, and when he was asked what it meant to 
be rich, he explained his own theory of acquiring wealth. 
His plan was to pack some meal, salt and bread in a 
haversack and strike out for the wilderness, and far 
up on the mountains close to the timber line, commune 
with Nature. Here in close contact with the elements 
he pondered upon the beauties of the forest, and moun- 
