WHAT IS FORESTRY?
To the average individual, forestry as a science does not mean very much. The impression is that it has to do with the trees, but to what extent and how it deals with this question is by no means thoroughly understood. In the first place, forestry deals with trees as a community and not as an individual—that is, it deals with them in the bulk and in this respect differs from kindred sciences where the individual tree is a matter of concern. The forester is often called upon to answer questions and discuss matters with relation to shade trees or ornamental trees, but this is not a matter within his province properly, but is a matter for the landscape architect or horticulturist. Forestry primarily concerns itself with the planting and growing of trees for sale at a profit. Occasionally forestry may concern itself with the growing and raising of trees for purposes where the money value of the crop, while it may not be as evident as where the trees are placed on the market and sold, is nevertheless, a real money consideration. This is the case, where certain areas are planted for the purification and conservation of a city water supply. Here the actual worth of the forest is the value to the people of the city or community of pure drinking water. This will be the case in the Catskill Mountains where enormous expenditures are being made for supplying New York City with pure water and where the purity of this water supply depends upon the maintenance of certain areas in forest growth. Forestry then, so far as it relates to the farm and woodlot, may be defined as dealing with trees as communities and the growing and marketing of these trees for a profit. It is a simple proposition, the same as raising corn. In raising corn, the ground is prepared, the seed is planted at a certain time in the spring, the necessary attention is given during the growing season and in the fall it is harvested and sold. A certain price is obtained for the grain and a certain price for the stalks, usually in the form of fodder for stock. The chief value of the corn crop depends upon the number of bushels per acre of corn (grain) that have been produced and the kind and quality of corn there is to market. The kind and quality of the corn crop depends on the selection of seed. All this is accomplished within a year’s time—the planting, the harvesting, the cultivation and the sale of the product. Forestry is exactly the same proposition. The stock is selected, the trees are planted, the necessary attention is given them during the growing period, and eventually the crop is harvested and marketed for the best price obtainable. The value of the timber crop depends on how much material you raise to the acre, the kind and quality of the product you have to market and the demand in the market for the class of material to which the timber crop is particularly adapted. The chief difference is this: that, whereas, the corn crop has been planted, harvested and marketed within one growing season, a forest crop takes a period of growing seasons before it is ready to market. The precise length of this period depends on the kind of material you are to raise, as fence posts, ties, lumber, etc.