QUALITY OF TIMBER. 
305 
One consideration bearing on this subject lias received less 
attention than it merits, because most persons interested in 
such questions have not opportunities for the comparison I 
refer to. I mean the great general superiority of cultivated 
timber to that of strictly spontaneous growth. I say general 
superiority, because there are exceptions to the rule. The 
white pine, Pinus strobus , for instance, and other trees of sim¬ 
ilar character and uses, require, for their perfect growth, a 
density of forest vegetation around them, which protects them 
from too much agitation by wind, and from the persistence of 
the lateral branches which fill the w r ood with knots. A pine 
which has grown under those conditions possesses a tall, 
straight stem, admirably fitted for masts and spars, and, at the 
same time, its wood is almost wholly free from knots, is reg¬ 
ular in annular structure, soft and uniform in texture, and, 
consequently, superior to almost all other timber for joinery. 
If, while a large pine is spared, the broad-leaved or other 
the rate of interest high, it is profitable to till a large surface at the least 
possible cost; extensive cultivation is there the most advantageous. In 
England, France, and Germany, where every corner of soil is occupied, 
and the least bit of ground is sold at a high price, but where labor and 
capital are comparatively cheap, it is wisest to employ intensive cultiva¬ 
tion. * * * All the efforts of the cultivator ought to be directed to 
the obtaining of a given result with the least sacrifice, and there is equally 
a loss to the commonwealth if the application of improved agricultural 
processes be neglected where they are advantageous, or if they be em¬ 
ployed where they are not required. * * * In this point of view, 
sylviculture must follow the same laws as agriculture, and, like it, be 
modified according to the economical conditions of different states. In 
countries abounding in good forests, and thinly peopled, elementary and 
cheap methods must be pursued ; in civilized regions, where a dense pop¬ 
ulation requires that the soil shall be made to produce all it can yield, the 
regular artificial forest, with all the processes that science teaches, should 
be cultivated. It would be absurd to apply to the endless woods of Brazil 
and of Canada the method of the Spessart by “ double stages,” and not 
less so in our country, where every yard of ground has a high value, to 
leave to nature the task of propagating trees, and to content ourselves 
with cutting, every twenty or twenty-five years, the meagre growths that 
chance may have produced.” 
20 
