THE WORK OF THE SPOILERS 



365 



During the first half of the last cen- 

 tury there was a large demand for tan- 

 bark to supply the needs of the grow- 

 ing leather industries of Cincinnati and 

 the neighboring towns. To meet this 

 demand, the oak timber was ruthlessly 

 slaughtered over an area of seventy- 

 five to one hundred miles radius. The 

 fine logs, then useless, were piled to- 

 gether and burned. These old-time 



would be better off zvithout a timber- 

 tree standing in it!" This is no doubt 

 an extreme case, but there is certainly 

 very little sentiment in the region in 

 favor of forest preservation or renewal. 

 The inevitable result of such an atti- 

 tude on the part of the people is being 

 reached at a rapid rate. Over most of 

 the region the first-class timber disap- 

 peared several years ago, and the 



WASTEFUL METHODS OF LUMBERING 

 Total Clearing of Land is Only Method in Use in Western Ohio 



log-rollings, with their attendant barbe- 

 cues, were the festival occasions of the 

 frontier communities. 



To the early settlers these forests 

 constituted the arch enemy, to be driv- 

 en back and destroyed by ax and fire. 

 Little did these men think of the value 

 of the forests. To them it meant only 

 a fight for life and success against the 

 forces and conditions of nature. Un- 

 fortunately, this instinct for timber de- 

 struction, born of necessity among the 

 pioneers, has developed among their 

 descendants into a blind, unreasoning 

 mania. One prominent landowner and 

 stockman of Drake County recently 

 expressed the view that "the country 



second- and third-class supply is rapidly 

 following. 



Immense damage to the timber of 

 this region has resulted from too close 

 pasture of the woodlands. The writer 

 had an opportunity to keep under ob- 

 servation for several years a tract of 

 fine oak timber in which were kept 

 large numbers of hogs. The soil was 

 constantly overturned by the hogs, and 

 many of the smaller roots of the trees 

 were exposed and destroyed. After a 

 few years the trees began to die at the 

 tops, and the owner was obliged to sell 

 the timber for only a fraction of what 

 it would have been worth at the present 

 time if it had been more carefully pre- 



