Report of Committee on Natural History Survey . 597 
manent roads and streets will appeal to every community. This, 
it will be noted, is one of the special objects for investigation. 
Soils .—The soils of the state were considered only in the most 
general way by the previous survey. The men doing the geo¬ 
logical and natural history work can collect the soils from var¬ 
ious parts of the state. These can be sent to the state agri¬ 
cultural experiment station for its use. Thus, at comparatively 
small expense there can be furnished to the farmers important 
information in reference to the qualities and capacities of the 
soils of the various districts of the state. 
Work of Previous Survey .— In what has been said there is 
no intention of criticising the previous state survey. In the 
amount of work accomplished and systematic results published, 
the reports of the Wisconsin survey can be compared favorably 
with the reports of any other state survey. Within the brief 
time allotted for this survey, from 1873 to 1879, with the 
amount of money furnished, and considering the inaccessibility 
of the northern part of the state, it was absolutely impossible 
to do more than was done. 
Our Forest Wealth .—The forest wealth of the state is rapidly 
diminishing and care ought to be taken to utilize the forests 
which remain so that they may be at the same time most profit¬ 
able to the state and most valuable for commercial purposes. 
Moreover the decrease in natural forest areas renders desirable 
the protection of the young trees which spring up on stripped 
lands, and the replanting of so much of such lands as is not 
available for agriculture. By such care otherwise worthless land 
can probably be made to yield to the state a steady revenue 
and to furnish annually a large quantity of lumber. But though 
some of the general principles of forest culture have been already 
worked out in other countries, notably in Germany, the exact 
conditions which confront the forester in Wisconsin, and the 
modifications from European practice necessary in this state are 
not known and cannot be guessed at profitably. They must be 
discovered by examination of the particular region involved. 
Unless this is done, any attempt at forest culture is likely to 
result in wasteful expenditure, and ultimate failure or delayed 
success. 
40 
