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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



DIGEST OF OPINIONS ON FORESTRY 



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 NEWSPAPER THE IMPORTANCE OF FORESTRY? WRITE TO YOUR NEWSPAPER 



BOSTON HERALD— The presence in 

 Boston of the New England Forestry 

 Congress reminds us of certain facts 

 whose bearing upon the industries and 

 prosperity of the land our people are only 

 beginning to realize. The relation of for- 

 ests to rainfall is a recent concept in phys- 

 ical geography. The older text-books con- 

 tain but slight reference to the subject. 

 Within the last quarter of a century science 

 has reached the conclusion that the conser- 

 vation of forests near the headwaters of 

 great rivers is essential to preserve the fer- 

 tility of the agricultural lands in the water- 

 sheds, to maintain the navigability of the 

 rivers and prevent destructive freshets and 

 to supply the waterpowers of which Mr. 

 Harriman spoke in his address before the 

 Congress. 



Chicago Daily Tribune. — It is doubtful if 

 there is in the whole Middle West a dis- 

 trict that lends itself more readily to the 

 purposes of a national park reserve than 

 the dunes at the south shore of Lake Michi- 

 gan. Why not the Roosevelt National 

 Park in the dunes of Northern Indiana? 



Chicago American. — If the Roosevelt me- 

 morial is to be in the forest preserve, why 

 not have a forest for a memorial? Let the 

 Park Commissioners set aside 500 or 1000 

 acres out of the 13,000 of the preserve and 

 plant a great forest as a Roosevelt me- 

 morial. 



Dayton News. — The Kiwanis Club, of 

 Washington, has sent to every other Ki- 

 wanis Club in America a request to join 

 in the planting of memorial trees for sol- 

 diers and sailors who lost their lives in 

 the great war. Each Kiwanis in the United 

 States is urged to see to it that a memorial 

 tree is planted for every one of its mem- 

 bers who died or was killed while serving 

 in the Army or Navy, and it is understood 

 that the recommendation has been received 

 with general approval. 



Grand Rapids Press.— "If the State of 

 Michigan would simply enforce the law re- 

 quiring railroads to keep spark arresters 

 upon the smokestacks of their locomotives 

 the northern counties would become refor- 

 ested within 25 years," said a Kent circuit 

 judge Tuesday. '"The law is plain, and I 

 have called the attention of certain State 

 officials to it several times, but no action 

 has been taken." 



Jacksonville Times-Union. — In this State 

 the law forbids the setting of fires, for any 

 purpose, except between the first of Febru- 

 ary and the last of March, and all good 

 citizens should try to have the law en- 

 forced. The fires allowed are only to be 

 started after due notice to people living 

 within two miles of the lands being cleared 

 or pasture lands, and public sentiment is 

 turning against any fires in the grazing 

 lands. 



Springfield (Ohio) Sun.— The idea of 

 planting a tree for every soldier who died 

 for his country, making an avenue of noble, 

 living things, which shade the wayfarer 

 for all time to come, is peculiarly fitting, 

 and Springfield seems about ready to adopt 

 this plan of commemorating the heroic sac- 

 rifice of her four-score and ten sons in the 

 war with Germany. The idea of memorial 

 trees would seem to make visible that glori- 

 ous immortality for which every soldier 

 laid down his mortal body. 



beauty of the city that they are being cut 

 down without legitimate reason or excuse. 

 No one should be allowed even to trim a 

 tree who does not know the business. 



Dallas (Texas) Journal. — The American 

 Forestry Association has suggested that 

 every community in the United States shall 

 take steps to make its community Christ- 

 mas tree permanent; that it shall use a 

 living, growing tree for Christmas pur- 

 poses; that trees for this purpose shall be 

 planted and cared for. Millions of trees 

 are ruthlessly destroyed at every Christ- 

 mas season to serve unnecessarily a tem- 

 porary purpose. 



Huntington (Ind.) Herald.— Our Ameri- 

 can boys ought to be remembered with 

 American trees — elms, maples, poplars, 

 gums, sycamores, hickories, walnuts, pines, 

 cedars, birches or one of the many others 

 that will be both ornamental and useful. 



Hillsboro (Ind.) Times. — Thousands of 

 city streets and country roads can be made 

 attractive at comparatively small expense 

 for trees and the labor of planting, and the 

 programs of the dedication can easily be 

 made as impressive as those of Decoration 

 Day. The plan also has merit in its possi- 

 bilities of indefinite continuance. 



New Rochelle (N. Y.) Daily Star.— Sen- 

 ator Walter A, Law, Jr., has introduced a 

 bill at Albany that will meet with the com- 

 mendation of every lover of nature in the 

 State. It amends the village law in rela- 

 tion to the planting, care and preservation 

 of shade trees. 



Christian Endeavor World. — Memorials 

 to those that have fallen are a natural se- 

 quel of war. The question is becoming a 

 frequent one whether stone and bronze fur- 

 nish the most fitting monuments. There is 

 a growing feeling that men ready to give 

 their lives for their country would be most 

 honored by being associated with some- 

 thing that is itself of service to their fel- 

 low-men. It is finding expression in me- 

 morial highways and bridges and parks. 

 One of the recent suggestions is that the 

 best reminder of a noble life should itself 

 have life. The American Forestry Associa- 

 tion has proposed that the heroism of our 

 soldiers be commemorated by setting out 

 trees. The reckless waste of our forests 

 has awakened the nation to the need of 

 systematic measures for replacing them. 

 The value, as well as the beauty, of trees is 

 becoming more appreciated. The observ- 

 ance of Arbor Day will doubtless be more 

 general this year than ever before, and in 

 many places it will be closely linked in 

 thought with Memorial Day. 



Boise News. — There is a good deal of 

 discussion current about the type of monu- 

 ment to be built to commemorate the men 

 who died for their country. The idea of 

 planting a tree for every soldier who died 

 for his country, making an avenue of noble, 

 living things, which shade the wayfarer for 

 all time to come, is peculiarly fitting. It 

 seems to make visible that glorious immor- 

 tality for which the soldier laid down the 

 mortal body. 



Moline Dispatch. — Women of Moline, 

 and some of the men, are becoming increas- 

 ingly incensed at the cutting down of many 

 of the city's beautiful trees — trees which it 

 takes two human lifetimes to grow, and 

 which are often of more benefit to mankind 

 than are some men and women. It is 

 averred by those most interested in the 



Ironton (Ohio) Register. — If the people 

 of this country do not at once begin plant- 

 ing black walnut timber they will make the 

 mistake of their lives. Now that the war 

 has developed the respective values of 

 foodstuffs, we are coming to understand 

 what we have annually wasted in the wal- 

 nut crop. 



