Forestry.
For many years the cutting of valuable timber in various parts of the
United States has been carried to such an extent that there has been quite a change in climatic conditions in various sections and the denudation of the virgin forests has been seriously threatened.
For the purpose of checking the indiscriminate cutting of valuable timber and to provide a future supply of the principal woods required in the manufacturing industries the national government has established a bureau of forestry under the direction of the Department of Agriculture, and more recently Cornell University has been enabled to create a school of forestry for the promotion of the science of forest culture.
The
Cornell school has had placed at its disposal for study large tracts of forest-land belonging to the
State of New York and to private individuals.
As a means of educating the rising generation into a love for tree preservation, almost every State in the country now has its
Arbor day (q. v.), one day set apart in each year for the planting of young trees and for class-room instruction in the value of tree culture.
In 1901 official reports showed that the standing timber in the
United States covered an area of 1,094,496 square miles, and contained a supply of 2,300,000,000,000 feet. Timber was then being cut at the rate of 40,000,000,000 feet a year, and it was estimated that if that average was continued the supply would be exhausted in about sixty years.
