ii6 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



is no better breed of man grown than 

 Henry Solon Graves. I do not know a 

 more loyal gentleman, a more devoted 

 friend, or a better forester in this 

 country or any other than Harry 

 Graves. I want the Forest Service to 

 stand behind him with the same loyalty, 

 and with more loyalty, if that is pos- 

 sible, (and I doubt it), than they have 

 given to me ; and I bespeak for him the 

 very 'kind of support in his office as 

 chief forester that you gave to me 

 while I was .there. I sincerely hope 

 he will have it. He is as worthy of it 

 as anybody can be, and there is nothing 

 that will advance this enterprise any 

 better than your standing behind with 

 the full force of your enthusiasm, and 

 this organization. 



"Now, that is what I wanted to say 

 to you. This movement has come up 

 through the years through self sacrifice, 

 and the vigor and determination of a 

 body of men scattered all over this 

 country, from Maine to California, and 

 from Florida to Washington. It has 

 taken a hold on our people, the capacity 

 of which for good it is practically im- 

 possible for any of us to estimate. It 

 was out of the work that this associa- 

 tion represents that the great conserva- 

 tion movement sprang; and it seems to 

 me, as I look ahead now, that if there 

 is any body of men anywhere in the 

 world that has reason to be sanguine 

 and hopeful and confident of the future, 

 not only ready for the work, but keen to 

 get at it, it is this body, which I am 

 proud to honor, the body of men who 

 are standing behind the cause of for- 

 estry in the United States." 



Jt' ^ fe' 

 Living on the Principal 



SECRETARY WILSON rightly says 

 that the great reason for the higb. 

 price of food-stuffs is that too many 

 people are going to the cities to be fed 

 and too few are on the farms to pro- 

 duce food. This is really the crux 

 of the whole question, and neither 

 boycotts nor temporary legislation will 

 settle it. The comment of the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, above mentioned, fits 

 well with the words of Senator Smoot 

 of Utah, in his address at the annual 



dinner of the American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation, to the effect that unless the 

 present situation were wisely handled 

 the people of the next generation would 

 suffer so heavily from high prices of 

 the necessaries of life that they would 

 be amazed at the incompetence of the 

 statesmen of today in handling our 

 natural resources. 



It all falls in the same category. The 

 good management of the great moun- 

 tain forests of the west to get the best 

 results in a large way, both in produc- 

 tion and in protection; the more in- 

 tensive forestry of the populous east, 

 to secure the maximum forest crops 

 and the indispensable protection that 

 the forest gives to land and water, on 

 the older and harder worked hills of the 

 Eastern country : the maintenance of 

 healthy and productive soil conditions 

 and the skillful utilization of the land 

 to produce the best and largest crops 

 and to maintain as many useful animals 

 as possible, — all of these are part of one 

 great scheme that must be developed in 

 its entirety if the American people are 

 to live and prosper on their wonderful 

 heritage. We have been squandering 

 our principal ; we must get down to 

 living on our interest, and learn to make 

 that larger year by year. 



5t' M^ i^ 



The Conservation Message 



THE President, to give greater force 

 to some of his recommendations 

 that he considered of particular impor- 

 tance to the country, reserved their 

 full presentation for special messages, 

 and in one of these messages, sent in 

 on the 14th of January, embodied his 

 thoughts and wishes upon the various 

 phases of the conservation program: 

 The improvement of our waterways; 

 the reclamation and irrigation of arid 

 and semi-arid lands ; the reclamation 

 by drainage of swamp lands ; the pres- 

 ervation of forests and reforestation of 

 suitable areas ; "the reclassification of 

 the public domain with a view of sep- 

 arating from agricultural settlement 

 mineral, coal, and phosphate lands, and 

 sites belonging 1 1 the Government bor- 

 dering on streams suitable for the util- 

 ization of water-power." The last 



