626 president's address. 
a division of rural economy which ought to be the basis of a 
large national industry. 
It is under this aspect that we have chiefly to consider it, and 
though we may look upon the conservation of our forests with 
respect to their influence upon health and climate, and upon the 
soil itself, we are perhaps still more interested in them as a 
possible source of direct commercial profit on account of the 
valuable material they furnish. 
On the other hand we must not forget that they confer an 
indirect benefit by protecting the soil and altering the conditions 
of temperature. 
Much lasting injury is done to forests by allowing the pasturing 
of sheep and cattle in them. Young seedlings which should take 
the place of those cut down are trampled, browsed down or 
otherwise so bruised and injured as to be worthless. 
Firing of the undergrowth is an evil which is much misunder- 
stood. It is often done by settlers to promote the growth of 
grass; the fire spreads outside the limits of their land, and much 
devastation follows. The immediate effect is not only to destroy 
the promising young growth, but also to char the humus and 
spoil the fertility of the soil. 
It will be well to consider shortly the climatic and hygienic 
influence of forests. For those who wish to investigate the 
matter in some detail, I would recommend the perusal of a 
pamphlet published by the Forestry Division of the United States 
Department of Agriculture in 1893, entitled "Forest Influences." 
We have here a series of reports on the different branches of the 
subject, and there is an able summary of the whole case by Mr. 
B. E. Fernow, Director of Forestry. As the results are undoubt- 
edly applicable to a considerable portion of this colony, I will 
refer to them in some detail. 
Two classes of effects are to be noticed — namely, those on the 
general climate and those on the local climate. When we build 
a house we alter the temperature and humidity conditions of 
the space covered, and so it is with forest cover, but the question 
