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easily sweeps awa.y every vestige of soil and leaves only the bare rocks 

 as ttie basis of agriculture and the sources of streams. The soil thus 

 carried away chokes up the streams and liuishes the work of destroying 

 their navigable character, whicli was so surely begun when the disap- 

 pearance of the forests changed their broad and equable currents into 

 mountain torrents. 



Forests^ moreover, have a powerful influence upon the sanitary con- 

 ditions of life, owing partl}^ to their elfect on temperature and moisture, 

 and partly to their effect on the purity of the atmosphere. Careful ob- 

 servations have proved that if the moisture of the atmosphere rises 

 above or falls below a given degree certain diseases become more prev- 

 alent and fatal. Forests act as regulators to diminish excessive and to 

 increase insufficient moisture. The beneficial influence of pine forests 

 on pulmonary diseases is universally recognized. 



In a word, then, the forests are an absolute necessity. If we would 

 ha\ e the advantages referred to, with many others not discussed, we 

 must have the forests near us. • Mild winds, humid atmosphere, equable 

 climate, regular rivers, a flourishing agriculture, an expanding industry, 

 are things we can not import, and they are all things which depend for 

 the very possibility of their existence on the presence of forests, and 

 extensive forests, within the bounds of our own countr^^ and distrib- 

 uted where they will do most good. 



The experience of the race and the investigations of science agree in 

 testifying that there is a certain ratio which the forest land of any given 

 country (varying of course with the country and even with different 

 parts of it) should bear to its other lands, and that if the forested re- 

 gion is allowed to sink below that ratio, either through carelessness or 

 a selfish desire to get all the advantage out of the resources of a coun- 

 try for the present generation, regardless of the interests of posterity, 

 the result can be only an impaired industry and declining prosperity. 



Even if all the land of a country were good agricultural land, the plan 

 of clearing it entirely off in order to put it under cultivation Avould be 

 strikingly like the old folly of killing the goose that laid the golden egg ; 

 for not only would no increased yield of agriculture occur as the result 

 of such a policy, but a greatly-decreased return would probably be the 

 result, diminished to the lowest point and ending in the utter destruc- 

 tion of agriculture and all other industry in one common ruin. 



The importance of forests then for the national welfare being admit- 

 ted, the question remains to be considered. What is the condition of our 

 forests, and what action should be taken in their behalf? It must suffice 

 in regard to this to refer to the facts contained ^in the various census 

 reports, the bulletins of the Department of Agriculture, and the numer- 

 ous other publications in which the past condition, present state and 

 future prospects of our forests are discussed. The evidence is ample 

 and conclusive that we are making fearful inroads on our forest stores. 

 We are cutting off a much larger crop than can possibly be replaced by 



