40 



ration in a direct consequence of the neglect and abuse of the 

 forests. These two cardinal facts reach far and wide and are in- 

 timately related with conditions and results of many kinds. Every 

 industry of the State is concerned with these matters, and the 

 correction of abuses which have so greatly injured the forests 

 comes as nearly being a State-wide question as anything can be. 



Many persons look upon forestry as something new, the latest 

 fashion, so to speak. Nothing be farther from the truth. It is 

 .somewhat newer in this country than in Europe, but it is as prac- 

 tical as anything can be, and it comes as close home to the people 

 as any question of the day. 



The vital point toward which all efforts ought to be directed is 

 the timber supply. It is going. Though somewhat late in the day 

 to take that matter up, it is not too late. Had the people realized 

 the importance of the matter fifty years ago, there would be no 

 crisis now, but they did not realize it, and the crisis confronts us, 

 and we must face it, and avert it if we can. 



Forestry in its technical sense stands among the sciences as 

 poetry among the fine arts — the easiest to dabble in and the hard- 

 est to master. But it is not necessary to master it in all its tech- 

 nicalities in order to understand what it means and get practical 

 results. At any rate, the chief problems confronting West Vir- 

 ginia are not such as require immediate resort to the complicated 

 and expensive methods of forest management practical in Germ- 

 any and France. If we postpone the matter a few decades longer 

 we may have to do it that way or abandon many of the mountain 

 regions to ruin ; but if a beginning is made now, and in dead earn- 

 est, there remains a short road to the solution of most of the prob- 

 lems, and without the enormous expense which some countries 

 have been compelled to shoulder because they would not begin in 

 time, 



A good forest fire law well executed will solve half the prob- 

 lem. The other half includes a larger number of details, but prin- 

 cipal features are the following : More care in cutting timber so 

 that the young trees will be left to grow, together with a few 

 seed trees. The planting of timber trees by individuals on rough 

 corners of their farms. 



That sums up West Virginia 's forest problems in a nutshell. Of 

 course, it is easier said than done, but a great deal of it can be 



