Textbooks on forestry have multiplied so rapidly in the past decade that an explanation is due the profession for adding another to an already long list.
The textbooks extant are either highly technical or else very elementary in their presentation. It seemed to the authors that there was room between these two extremes, for a condensed and simple treatment of the subjects included. Without impinging on the realm of such standard works as Graves: "Forest Mensuration," Chapman: "Forest Valuation," and others of the same class, there appears to be a real need for a treatment of these subjects, which, while comprehensive, is sufficiently condensed so as to be readily understood and used by the layman timber owner and manager. At the same time, the book should be of use to non-professional students of forestry in colleges and universities and in professional courses which are not of post-graduate grade.
Special acknowledgment is due Mr. C. H. Guise for his assistance in the chapters on Forest Organization and Forest Finance, particularly the latter. This chapter is modeled on Chapman's treatment of the subject in his "Forest Valuation," a relationship which is gladly acknowledged.
It is the earnest hope of the authors that this humble contribution to an ever-growing English literature on forestry may stimulate the practice of forest management by owners of timberland - large and small, public and private - to the end that this important natural resource may be systematically maintained and developed.
