DIGEST OF OPINIONS ON FORESTRY 



881 



DIGEST OF OPINIONS ON FORESTRY 



WILL YOU NOT CO-OPERATE WITH US BY IMPRESSING UPON THE EDITOR OF YOUR 

 NEWSPAPER THE IMPORTANCE OF FORESTRY? WRITE TO YOUB^NEWSPAPER 





ONE of the most remarkable examples 

 of service to their readers is shown 

 by the editors of the country in their 

 endeavor to present to the readers stories 

 having to do with outdoor life. To the 

 editor, perhaps stronger than any other 

 man, comes the call of the great outdoors. 

 And the editors in a vast majority of cases 

 answer that call less than any other set 

 of workers. But they have the great oppor- 

 tunity to present the beauties of nature and 

 they never weary in this well doing. Col- 

 umns upon columns are being printed in 

 the various publications of the country 

 today in regard to trees and the value of 

 forestry as a result of the suggestion of 

 the American Forestry Association that 

 memorial trees be planted in honor of the 

 men who lost their lives in the great war 

 and in honor of those who offered their 

 lives. The comment goes into other fields 

 and is here condensed for the readers of 

 the American Forestry Magazine with the 

 request that they in turn keep the import- 

 ance of forestry before their local editors. 

 There never was such an opportunity for 

 the members of the Association to do a 

 great work and the editors will welcome 

 anything you have to say of a constructive 

 nature. 



state forest reserve while an editorial in 

 another number says: 



"Practical forestry is being presented as a 

 line of work to interest returned soldiers who 

 have grown to love an outdoor life." 



Commenting upon memorial tree plant- 

 ing the Milwaukee Journal says: 



"It is not enough to build good roads through 

 the country side. We should beautify them." 



Then the editor goes into the possibili- 

 ties and beauties of trees planted along 

 these roads. According to the New York 

 Evening Mail there are "Excellent possi- 

 bilities for a great national work of for- 

 estation presented by a movement started 

 by the American Forestry Association for 

 the planting of victory oaks or victory elms 

 to commemorate the soldiers who laid 

 down their lives on the battlefield." 



The importance of forestry is so great 

 in the eyes of the editors of the Dallas 

 Evening Journal that in an editorial they 

 suggest that it be taught in the public 

 schools. The Journal adds: 



"The destruction of timber in the last half 

 century has been little short of criminal. The 

 way of the father has been foolish and theif 

 sons should be pointed the wiser way." 



The Realty Magazine of New York gives 

 the lead position to the value of tree plant- 

 ing in home making and uses many pic- 

 tures. The Farm Journal of Philadelphia 

 has an article by Charles P. Shoffner who 



writes: 



"Now and then a suggestion is made that 

 strikes thirteen. Here is one by the American 

 Forestry Association that rings true. They say: 

 *Iet a tree be planted in memory of each fallen 

 hero.' Could a finer tribute be paid? There 

 is something so beautiful, so noble and so up- 

 lifting about a tree that makes it a memorial 

 worth while." 



The Florida Times-Union of Jackson- 

 ville points out that Florida's prosperity 

 depends on its rescuing of the forests far 

 more than most persons are aware. A 

 dispatch to the Philadelphia North Ameri- 

 can dated at Harrisburgh, by H. G. An- 

 drews, points out the immense income that 

 is possible through the forests of Pennsyl- 

 vania. The article goes on to show those 

 possibilities, how the chestnut trees have 

 been killed by the blight and points to much 

 constructive work that can be done. 



The Christian Science Monitor quails at- 

 tention to the fact that the Maine Legis- 

 lature will take up the question of a 



Memorial Tree planting is a move in the 

 right direction, says the editor of the 

 Metropolis at Jacksonville, Fla., who goes 

 on to say: The announcement that the 

 Women's Clubs of Florida intend to urge 

 the planting of trees, as memorials to brave 

 men who entered their country's service 

 in the world war, is a move in the right 

 direction. It indicates a move that has 

 everything to commend it. It is both 

 patriotic in spirit and leading the way to a 

 greater and more general appreciation of 

 trees. 



Trees in themselves are a thing of beauty 

 and of utility in the Creator's design of 

 the universe as a place fit for human habi- 

 tation. 



The work of the foresters in France has 

 always been an interesting subject to the 

 editors, and they have carried many feature 

 stories on this work. That a Frenchman 

 knows how to grow a tree while an Ameri- 

 can knows best how to cut it down, and 

 turn it into lumber, is the conclusion of 

 Captain J. K. deLoach of Atlanta, Georgia, 

 who has been in charge of the machinery 

 of the mills operated by the United States 

 Army in the vicinity of Vourges, France, 

 where the Twentieth Engineers (Forest) 

 have been producing large proportions of 

 the lumber used. 



"Before we came into the bourges region," 

 says Captain deLoach, in the Baltimore Sun, 



"there were nine French mills operating, getting 

 out a total of 10,000 feet a day. Under pressure 

 recently, one of our American mills turned out 

 70,000 feet in three days. A hurry call cama 

 through for road plank to be used in the Argonne 

 so that artillery and transport could be kept 

 moving forward without sticking in the mud. 

 This one mill, planned to produce 10,000 feet a 

 day, averaged more than 22,000. 



"Under normal conditions we use culls for 

 road plank, but there was not time to select or 

 choose in this emergency. We went through every- 

 thing as it came. The planks were all five inches 

 thick and we turned out some more than 12 

 inches wide as fine, clear stuff as I ever saw. 

 War is certainly wasteful. 



"The French lumbermen come close to tears as 

 they see the speed with which we fell and cut 

 their trees which they have carefully tended for 

 decades. There is small chance of their adopt- 

 ing our methods. They say we are too fast; 

 that it takes too long to raise a tree to cut it up 

 so quickly. 



"The American foresters have done wonderful 

 work under difficult conditions. Away oT in 

 lonely camps they have had none of the stimulus 

 which comes with excitement and it has been 

 hard for them to keep going with enthusiasm at 

 top speed. The Young Men's Christian Asso- 

 ciation has helped greatly. It establishes huts 

 and tents out in the camps, gets supplies, en- 

 tertainment, motion-pictures, reading matter, 

 athletic supplies, writing material and even 

 pianos to the men, makes life bearable and so 

 keep spirits up." 



A survey of the forests in Cook County, 

 Illinois, furnished a very interesting and 

 amusing story for the Chicago Tribune. 

 The picture of the beauties of the woods 

 in winter is well told and the whole story 

 tells the trip of the Armour Club and the 

 Prairie Club. The expedition was under 

 the guidance of Dr. Jorgenson, director of 

 Armour Gymnasium and the Chicago Tri- 

 bune gives nearly three columns to the 

 discoveries made by the two clubs. In these 

 days of paper conservation it will be un- 

 derstood that it takes what editors call a 

 "Corking Good Story" to get that space. 



The Trenton, New Jersey, Times in an 

 editorial says there is a special message 

 for Trenton because of the suggestion of 

 Dr. Frederick of the Art School, in regard 

 to a civic center. This is to include the 

 site of the city's new hotel and a proposed 

 war monument. This special message 

 means much to Trenton, the Times points 

 out because: 



"The President of the American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation and the head of the National War Gar- 

 den Commission, misses no opportunity to get 

 things planted and it will be well if people gen- 

 erally will follow his lead. He urges the plant- 

 ing of trees and the planting of gardens par- 

 ticularly during the coming spring and summer. 

 There is need for united and persistent effort in 

 both directions. Just now Mr. Pack is especially 

 interested in the planting of trees as memorials 



