3 82 



The National Geographic Magazine 



From Gifford Pinchot, Forester 



A Mixed Forest in Need of an Improvement Cutting 

 The crooked old chestnut in particular should be removed 



service now has nearly 300 superior offi- 

 cers and over 10,000 rangers and forest 

 guards. It has charge of about 200,000 

 square miles of forest, and produces a 

 net revenue, after all expenses have been 

 paid, of about $3,000,000 a year. In 

 addition, the forests furnish to peasant 

 holders of forest rights products whose 



value is estimated to be considerably- 

 greater than the whole cost of the forest 

 service. About 30,000 square miles are 

 effectively protected against fire, at an 

 average yearly cost of less than half a 

 cent per acre. These admirable results 

 are especially interesting because India- 

 is like the United States in the great 



