332 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



June 



last year 1,250,000,000 board measure. A 

 simple mathematical calculation will tell us 

 that in twenty-two or twenty-three years, 

 at that rate, not one solid stick will stand 

 in the Empire State, although twenty-seven 

 per cent of our total area is now covered 

 with forests. 



"The state's agricultural lands are depre- 

 ciating in productive value, as has been 

 stated by the Secretary of Agriculture and 

 by Mr. Hill, and the water sources are dry- 

 ing up. The formation of New York is 

 such that most of the water comes from 

 the great upland plateau, extending from 

 the Adirondacks to the foothills of the Al- 

 leghanies. In such a state it is especially 

 imperative that the forests be preserved in 

 sufficient quantity, else our agricultural 

 lands will be depleted to such an extent that 

 it will not be practical to farm them. Sup- 

 pose that in an hour, by reason of some 

 great natural catastrophe, every tree should 

 be swept from the state of New York, what 

 would be the result? Chaos, desolation 

 everywhere, streams dried up, dry creek 

 beds and river beds in July and August, no 

 water for the farm, agricultural products 

 decreased fifty per cent, and price of farms 

 decreased as much, or more. 



"Therefore, for the benefit of agriculture 

 alone, to say nothing about the question of 

 a timber supply, which is so imperative, all 

 sensible men ought to read the history of 

 the countries that have demonstrated this 

 fact for a thousand years, and act upon the 

 teachings of that history. They should not 

 sit quietlj' by and see their forests wiped 

 away and the interests of their country 

 ruined beyond repair — for it takes one hun- 

 dred years to grow a tree that can be cut 

 down in five minutes. The most imperative 

 ihtng we have to do is to save the forests 

 of this country. (Great applause.) 



"Let me tell you what we are doing in 

 the state of New York. We planted last 

 vear t.ioo.ogo pine trees in the waste lands 

 of the Adirondac'tcs. Look at the history of 

 forestry in your states and in the Nation, 

 and you will see that New York has planted 

 as many trees as all of the states and the 

 National Government combined. Mr. Pin- 

 chot sent his forester to our gardens last 

 year, and he said that they are the best in 

 the United States. We have ten or twelve 

 acres, all told, of tree gardens. What of 

 other countries? German has fifteen or 

 twenty tree gardens of two hundred acres 

 each, and they raise 10,000 trees in one lit- 

 tle bed, while the Empire State has twelve 

 acres of tree gardens to furnish its trees. 



"Coal cannot be reproduced ; iron cannot 

 be reproduced : but the forests can be re- 

 produced, and if you preserve the forests by 

 planting, and by careful cutting, you will 

 have water courses, and your water courses 

 will save the forests and save the farms. 



"Last year we cut an acreage five times 

 as great as that which was replaced. The 

 rate of cutting is increasing every year, and 



I ask you what are we coming to? If we 

 cut last year five times the amount that was 

 replaced, and if we cut this year eight times 

 the amount replaced, and if next year we 

 cut ten or twelve times the amount replaced, 

 how long will it be until we have none left 

 to cut?" 



Governor Brooks, of Wyoming, 

 arose to ask the speaker if the work 

 of reforestation done in New York is 

 not entirely under the supervision of 

 the State Forestry Association; and 

 Mr. Whipple replied that such was the 

 case, stating that the New York State 

 Forestry Service has been in exiitence 

 eighteen years. Governor Brooks 

 asked if it was not a fact that in the 

 Adirondacks many sections have al- 

 ready been cut over three different 

 times ; and Mr. Whipple answered tn.at 

 no section in New York had been ctii 

 over three times, although some have 

 been cut over twice. Governor Brooks 

 stated that he was under the impres- 

 sion that in the reports of the V.ew 

 Yoik State Forest Commiss'on, is- 

 sued during Governor Flower's ad- 

 ministration, it was stated that certain 

 sections of the Adirondacks had been 

 cut over three times, trees cut being 

 twelve inches and upward in diameter. 

 To this Mr. Whipple replied: "Every 

 green tree on the slopes of the Hudson 

 of twelve inches, or eight inches, or 

 three inches, has been cut, and 

 throughout that entire area erosion 

 is taking place to-day. It has not been 

 cut over three times because after the 

 first and second cuttings nothing was 

 left to cut." Mr. Whipple continued 

 by calling attention to the fact that 

 natural re-seeding of cone trees in 

 American will never be a commercial 

 success. He stated that the hard- 

 woods will re-seed successfully, but 

 artificial propagation of cone bearing 

 trees is a necessity, because of the fact 

 that the planted tree or the transplant- 

 ed tree will grow in height twice as 

 fast as the tree naturally re-seeded in 

 the forest, this being due to the larger 

 root growth secured with every trans- 

 plantation. From the commercial side 

 alone, he said, the business of raising 

 coniferous trees is the most profitable 



