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A Primer of Forestry - Part I The Forest
The object of forestry is to discover and apply the principles according to which forests are best managed. It is distinct from arboriculture, which deals with individual trees. Forestry has to do with single trees only as they stand, together on some large area whose principal crop is trees, and which therefore forms part of a forest.
88 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1899
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 6, 2022
2014
This is the book for anyone who wants to understand what it meant to "manage" a National Forest when they were first established. Not a gripping read, but not deadly either. Lots of photos.
mainly about trees -- structure & anatomy, physiology, basic needs, growth, competition
2022
I'm reading this again, intending to keep in mind the date this was written and paying particular attention to the attitude toward fire. (I just finished The Big Burn 1910.)
The text is dated, from beginning to end. Sometimes it's the science, often it's the tone, but it's obvious that Pinchot had a passion for the subject. I noted quite a few examples, but am listing only a few here.
p. 8
The forest is as beautiful as it is useful. The old fairy tales which spoke of it as a terrible place are wrong. No one can really know the forest without feeling the gentle influence of one of the kindliest and strongest parts of nature.
From every point of view it is one of the most helpful friends of man. Perhaps no other natural agent has done so much for the human race and has been so recklessly used and so little understood.
- several reference to man/men/boys, none to woman/women/girls
- "helpful friends of man" - this is just one example of where Pinchot measures value by usefulness to 'man'
p 14
... it is believed that in some cases food taken up by the roots can be used without first being digested in the leaves.
- whew! This is loaded w misconceptions ... the food 'taken up' and being 'digested.'
- I wonder how long this belief persisted.
- There are four other statements that reenforce this mistaken belief.
p 18
The new twigs grow in length by a kind of stretching ...
- stretching? seriously?
These explanations made me doubt everything I read that pertained to trees and forests (which is pretty much the whole book).
On page 81, he mentions the Peshtigo fire of Oct 1871.
It covered an area of over 2,000 square miles in Wisconsin, and involved a loss, in timber and other property, of many millions of dollars. Between 1,200 and 1,500 persons perished, including nearly half the population of Peshtigo, ...
In this section, Pinchot seems to lament the loss of lumber more than the loss of lives. (Of course, that may be because this book is about forests, not the dangers of fire.)
Concluding thought:
If I were teaching Botany or Forestry, I'd be tempted to have students re-write (and update) chapters of this book. Could they explain the science in basic English and accurate science?
ref to Colo: one picture of antelope on rolling hills
This is the book for anyone who wants to understand what it meant to "manage" a National Forest when they were first established. Not a gripping read, but not deadly either. Lots of photos.
mainly about trees -- structure & anatomy, physiology, basic needs, growth, competition
2022
I'm reading this again, intending to keep in mind the date this was written and paying particular attention to the attitude toward fire. (I just finished The Big Burn 1910.)
The text is dated, from beginning to end. Sometimes it's the science, often it's the tone, but it's obvious that Pinchot had a passion for the subject. I noted quite a few examples, but am listing only a few here.
p. 8
The forest is as beautiful as it is useful. The old fairy tales which spoke of it as a terrible place are wrong. No one can really know the forest without feeling the gentle influence of one of the kindliest and strongest parts of nature.
From every point of view it is one of the most helpful friends of man. Perhaps no other natural agent has done so much for the human race and has been so recklessly used and so little understood.
- several reference to man/men/boys, none to woman/women/girls
- "helpful friends of man" - this is just one example of where Pinchot measures value by usefulness to 'man'
p 14
... it is believed that in some cases food taken up by the roots can be used without first being digested in the leaves.
- whew! This is loaded w misconceptions ... the food 'taken up' and being 'digested.'
- I wonder how long this belief persisted.
- There are four other statements that reenforce this mistaken belief.
p 18
The new twigs grow in length by a kind of stretching ...
- stretching? seriously?
These explanations made me doubt everything I read that pertained to trees and forests (which is pretty much the whole book).
On page 81, he mentions the Peshtigo fire of Oct 1871.
It covered an area of over 2,000 square miles in Wisconsin, and involved a loss, in timber and other property, of many millions of dollars. Between 1,200 and 1,500 persons perished, including nearly half the population of Peshtigo, ...
In this section, Pinchot seems to lament the loss of lumber more than the loss of lives. (Of course, that may be because this book is about forests, not the dangers of fire.)
Concluding thought:
If I were teaching Botany or Forestry, I'd be tempted to have students re-write (and update) chapters of this book. Could they explain the science in basic English and accurate science?
ref to Colo: one picture of antelope on rolling hills
Displaying 1 of 1 review