The St. Johns herald., 1890-01-09
VOLUME 6.
Forestry.

to their attention many person; think chiefly of tree-planting, o- the effect of forests on rainfall, and other things which are not essen
 tial or of the greatest practical i'm portance. Their first impression are likely to be superficial and in adequate. The question of the ef- feet of forests on rainfall has not been determined. It is matter for accurate and continued scien- tifc investigation, without which all opinions and theories regarding the subject are alike worthless, be- cause they cannot be verified. The point of general practical interest here is the function of forests, es- pecially of mountain forests, in the distribution of the water that falls upon them as rain or snow. The doctrine of rational and practical forestry regarding this matter is, that forests retain the water in the spongy mass of their floor, retard- ing its descent to the channels of streams, and thus prevent or modi- fy both freshets and drought. This effect of the forest upon the streams which have their sources in them Is of great practical value; it is not beyond the range of popular appre- ciation, but can be verified, without special scientific training, by any observing person who will go into the woods in hill-country during a heavy rainfall. This is one of the essential facts or fundamental principles of forestry, and it should be urged upon popular attention it is "in the air" everywhere, a part of the universal thought and es- tablished knowledge of the time.
 Tree planting on 2 small scale, if intelligently and carefully done, would be useful almost anywhere as an educational experiment. II would help to awaken and increase interest in subjects connected with the care and uses Of trees, and 1t should everywhere be encouraged. But it is not forestry, is not neces- sarily any part or feature of it, and it is not best that people should take one thing for another without Knowing 1t. In all the eastern part of our country the trees will come in again, and the forests reproduce themselves, if they are cut off in the right way, and the land is after ward guarded from fire and pas turage, and this natural perpetua- tion of the forest is of far greater importance here than planting trees.
 Looking at forest interests in this country in a practical way, it is plain that the care of individual holding of timber lands, and the methods best adapted to perpetu- ate the growth and production of trmber on the farms of the United States, are matters of great and in- creasing importance. The existing condition and practice are unsatis- factory, because there is, generally very little system, plan or manage ment. The future is largely left to chance, or to tGke care of itself. This branch of forestry is obvious ly part of agriculture. It is chief 1y an economical subject, and there is not much need orroom for senti- meat or mystery connected with it. It has not yet begun to receive adequate attention among the tarm- CTS of our country. The diffusion of knowledge and propagation of sound and practical ideas regard ing the care of fam woodlands, and the value of timber as perma- nent crop, should be a prominent feature of the work of the Oranges and other organizations of farmers, as we'll as of local and state forestry associations.
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