for the future.
Consequently, operators are handling the woods better than ever
before. They now are trying to increase both the production and
permanent value of the remaining forests. They aim to harvest
the tree yield more thoroughly and to extend their cuttings over
many years. They appreciate that it is necessary to protect and
preserve the forest at the same time that profitable tree crops
are being removed. They see the need for saving and increasing
young growth and for protecting the woodlands against fire. If
only these methods of forestry had been observed from the time
the early settlers felled the first trees, not only would our
forests be producing at present all the lumber we could use, but
also the United States would be the greatest lumber-exporting
country in the world.

[Illustration: WHAT SOME KINDS OF TIMBER CUTTING DO TO A FOREST]

It will never be possible to stop timber cutting entirely in this
country, nor would it be desirable to do so. The demands for
building material, fuel, wood pulp and the like are too great to
permit of such a condition. The Nation would suffer if all forest
cutting was suspended. There is a vital need, however, of
perpetuating our remaining forests. Wasteful lumbering practices
should be stopped. Only trees that are ready for harvest should
be felled. They should be cut under conditions which will protect
the best interests and production of the timberlands. As a
class, our lumbermen are no more selfish or greedy than men in
many other branches of business. They have worked under peculiar
conditions in the United States. Our population was small as
compared with our vast forest resources. Conditions imposed in
France and Germany, where the population is so dense that more
conservative systems of lumbering are generally practiced, were
not always applicable in this country. Furthermore, our lumbermen
have known little about scientific forestry. This science is
comparatively new in America. All our forestry schools are still
in the early stages of their development. As lumbermen learn more
about the value of modern forestry they gradually are coming to
practice its principles.

The early lumbermen often made mistakes in estimating the timber
yields of the forests. They also neglected to provide for the
future production of the woodlands after the virgin timber was
removed. Those who followed in their steps have learned by these
errors what mistakes to avoid. Our lum