tria, Norway, Sweden
and Italy have devoted much time, labor and money to the
development of practical systems of forestry. Turkey, Greece,
Spain and Portugal, all follow sane and sensible forestry
practices. Even Russia takes care of her national timberlands and
annually draws enormous incomes from their maintenance. France
and Germany both have highly successful forestry systems.
Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand are using their forests
in a practical manner and saving sufficient supplies of wood for
posterity.

History tells us that the forests first were protected as the
homes of wild game. Little attention was paid to the trees in
those days. The forests were places to hunt and abodes devoted to
wild animals. Scientific forestry was first studied and practised
widely in the nineteenth century. Its development and expansion
have been rapid. Germany still leads as one of the most
prominent countries that practices efficient forestry. German
forests are now said to be worth more than $5,000,000,000. France
has over 2,750,000 acres of fine publicly owned forests, in
addition to private forests, which yield a net income of more
than $2 an acre a year to the government. The French have led in
extending reforestation on denuded mountain sides. British India
has well-managed forests which cover over 200,000 square miles of
area. These timberlands return a net income of from $3,000,000 to
$4,000,000 a year. India now protects more than 35,000 square
miles of forest against fire at an annual cost of less than half
a cent an acre.

Forest experts say that the United States, which produces more
than one-half of all the sawed timber in the world, should pay
more attention to the export lumber business. Such trade must be
built up on the basis of a permanent supply of timber. This means
the practice of careful conservation and the replacement of
forests that have been destroyed. We can not export timber from
such meagre reserves as the pine forests of the South, which will
not supply even the domestic needs of the region for much more
than ten or fifteen years longer. Many of our timber men desire
to develop extensive export trade. Our sawmills are large enough
and numerous enough to cut much more timber annually than we need
in this country. However, the danger is that we shall only abuse
our forests the more and further deplete the timber reserves of
future generations as a result of extensive export trade. If such