la ordinary conditions, a rain gauge on the | 

 ground receivfis more rain than on a house top, 

 and the latter more than one placed on a 

 lofty tower. This can only be explained by 

 admitting that rain drops increase in volume 

 as they fall through an atmosphere saturated 

 with vapor. Yet nothing is more common ; 

 than a fall of rain on hilly vroodlands, -while 

 "all signs fail" on the open plains below, and 

 the rainless clouds pass over — showing to the 

 anxious observer abundent streaks and fila- 

 ments of falling rain from their under sur- 

 face, which dry up and dissolve in air, long 

 before reaching the parched and needy soil. 



Such being the consequences of an impro- 

 vident and indiscriminate clearing off of the 

 timber, the inquiry naturally arises : "What 

 shall we do to be saved?" The answer .is 

 plain and obvious : "Plant Trees." 



A considerable area of the soil must, of | 

 course, be opened for cultivation, but there 

 are many places where nothing but trees can 

 grow to advantage, and many more where 

 timber would yield a larger profit than 

 any other crop, and with far less expense 

 of labor, regarding only the value of the wood 

 grown, without reference to the ameliorating 

 influences of woodland upon the adjacent 

 fields. If our hill-tops, steep hill-sides, ravines, 

 road sides and waste places were planted 

 with timber adapted to the circumstances of 

 the place ; if our existing timber lands were 

 spared by taking out only the trees of mature 

 growth, and by protecting the young trees, 

 and if worn out and exhausted lands were 

 sown and planted with trees, and fenced 

 against cattle, we might as reasonably expect 

 a return of profits from the investment, as 

 when we sow in seed time, in soil properly 

 prepared. 



The return may be slower, and one genera- 

 tion may plant for the benefit of the next, 

 . yet the growth would in most cases be worth 

 more than the interest of the money invested, 

 and the value of the timber crop at any stage 

 of its growth, like the interest on a bond, at 

 any time after its date, could be readily de- 

 termined. 



In some European countries, vast forests 

 are kept up by government. In England, in 

 1871, about 40,000 acres were planted in oak 

 for the wants of the navy a hundred years 

 hence, and more is being done every year to 

 guard against coming wants. Upon the con- 

 tinent we find even a dozen schools of 

 Forestry, where special instruction is impart- 

 ed to the youth who are to take the future 



care of the public forests, and private plan- | 

 tations. The graduates of.these schools go 

 to their duties thoroughly instructed in every 

 detail of forest management; are able to 

 compute the present worth of a given piece 

 ' of Timber land, its rate of increase in value, 

 the amount that may be taken annually with- 

 out permanent injury to the forest, and the 

 various scientific details upon which success in 

 management depends. 



I am not aware that in the United States, 

 attention has hitherto been more than inci- 

 dentally given in any college, to the applica- 

 tions of science to forest-culture, or that the 

 student cananj'where in this State listen to a 

 ' single lecture upon this exceedingly practical 

 subject, in the whole course of his studies. 

 Lands owned by the government may be re- 

 served, or sold subject to conditions, as the 

 future interests of the nation may indicate 

 to be wise and proper. Whatever is done in . 

 this way must come within the jurisdiction of 

 Congress, and of States that own lands. The 

 State of New York has already parted with 

 most of these titles. 



As for the planting of timber upon lands j 

 already sold, this must begin with the ow- ' 

 ners, who, under our tenures, are the sole 

 judges of how these lands shall be cultivated, ^ 

 ! and what crops they shall produce. The i 

 j profits of tree-culture must be widely taught, 

 and thoroughly believed. Our State aud | 

 local Agricultural Societies should in every 

 way possible, disseminate correct informa- 

 tion upon the subject, and encourage emula- 

 tion by premiums for greatest amount of 

 tree planting, and best methods of manage- 

 ment. A young grove should be looked upon 

 by its owner with pride, and a tree as a thing 

 of beauty and of promise, to be cared for 

 and cherished both for present ornament and 

 future use. 



I will vftnturo to notice some of the bene- 

 fits which it may be within the power of our 

 State government to confer upon the future, 

 in the care of timber lands. A considerable 

 amount of waste land exists in various parts j 

 of the State, and especially in the great 

 northern wilderness, and much of this is re- 

 turned annually to the Comptroller for non- 

 payment of taxes. Should the proposed 

 State Park find favor with the Legislature, 

 as I earnestly hope it will, to this extent, it 

 will secure the preservation of our timber 

 lands. But there are also other tracts of 

 waste land in various parts of the State of 



