24 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



A majority of our people have had no 

 occasion to study these matters, and, 

 consequently, are not informed, and do 

 not realize the dangers which threaten 

 us. It is estimated that the timber sup- 

 ply of our country at the present rate 

 of cutting cannot last longer than 

 twenty years, and yet little has been 

 done to avert the calamities which must 

 follow, and which we already have to 

 contend with. Experience is usually the 

 best teacher, and we may in a measure 

 avoid the disasters and perils through 

 which other countries have passed by 

 adopting similar measures for our pro- 

 tection. There is no reason why we 

 should suffer as other nations have ; 

 from their experience we should derive 

 wisdom and act accordingly. 



While our forests have already been 

 badly damaged, we still possess suffi- 

 cient forest land to grow timber enough 

 to meet all our needs. Our forests are 

 one of our renewable resources, and, 

 when rightly handled, go on producing 

 crop after crop indefinitely, yielding 

 safe returns on the investment. The 

 countries of Europe and Japan know 

 this, and their forests are daily growing 

 more and more productive. 



The countries which to-day manage 

 their forests on sound principles have 

 passed through four stages of forest 

 experience. At first the forests were so 

 abundant as to be in the way, and were 

 neglected or destroyed. Next, as set- 

 tlements sprang up and the forests re- 

 ceded farther and farther from the 

 places where wood was needed, the ques- 

 tion of local wood supplies had to be met, 

 and the forests were protected. Third, 

 the increasing need for wood led to the 

 recognition of the forest as a crop like 

 agricultural crops, which ' had to be 

 planted, cared for and harvested. Fi- 

 nally, in order to benefit the general 

 welfare, forests were safe-guarded and 

 controlled so as to yield a crop year 

 after year, and from one generation to 

 another. 



So, our country, having had the ex- 

 perience of other nations upon which to 



predicate its plans should not have to 

 experiment with untried theories ; al- 

 though in order to meet local conditions 

 we may find it necessary to inaugurate 

 some new methods. However, the gen- 

 eral principles of forestry are the same 

 the world over.^ 



In this country the forests are already 

 on the ground. All that is necessary is 

 to bring them to a full state of pro- 

 ductiveness: It does not take a wise 

 man, a senator, a president, or a mem- 

 ber of Parliament to tell you that a 

 crisis is at hand. Go to the forests of 

 the South, and the employees of the 

 lumber companies will tell you that tim- 

 ber supplies will not last over twenty 

 years. The surveyors, mill owners, tim- 

 bermen, and speculators will tell you 

 the same stories. Already the em- 

 ployees of sawmills are saving their 

 earnings and buying a few acres of 

 land, looking forward to the time when 

 sawmilling will be a thing of the past, 

 and they must provide for a home. Go 

 to these people who are nearest nature, 

 and they will tell you how rapidly our 

 forests are being exhaused, and how 

 they dread to think of the calamities of 

 the future. 



LOUISIANA OUTPUT GREATEST 



Louisiana is to-day producing more 

 lumber than any state of the Union, ex- 

 cept Washington, and will continue to 

 do so for many years to come, and why 

 not for centuries? Our forests of pine, 

 gum, cypress, oak, hickory, and other 

 hardwoods are the most magnificent 

 of any in the world, and it seems as if 

 nature designed these to be protective 

 forests owing to the fact chat mighty 

 rivers flow through our state to the 

 Gulf, which is our southern boundary 

 line. Forests were intended to protect 

 us from soil erosion, cyclones, climatic 

 changes, and hurricanes. Shall we 

 destroy the protection that nature has 

 given us ? We are doing it, and so rap- 

 idly that inside of twenty years Louisi- 

 ana will be the poorest state in the 



^Mr. Hardtner gave a brief review at this point of the forestry methods and results of 

 Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, China, Japan, and England, showing in this 

 connection the influence of denudation in causing floods and erosion. 



