368 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



interest seems for the most part to be 

 only short-lived and ineffective. The 

 trees most commonly planted for shade 

 and ornament are soft maple, American 

 elm, and Carolina poplar. Fortunately 

 most of the region has gotten over the 

 craze for the unsightly Cafalpa higno- 

 nioides. Evergreens are but little 

 known, except for cemetery and lawn 

 decoration. Jimipenis comumnis grows 



give any attention to preserving and 

 making the most of the farm wood-lot. 

 No precautions are taken to prolong 

 the usefulness of fence posts and tim- 

 ber. From sheer necessity, substitutes 

 for wood in house construction are be- 

 ing introduced. Brick, stone, and con- 

 crete blocks are slowly coming into use 

 for this purpose. Fences, until recent- 

 ly built of rails, are now more com- 



MIXED SECOND GROWTH 

 Honey Locust, Ash, Hickory and Walnut. Eighteen Years Old and Five to Seven Inches in DiameJer 



native to some extent as an insignifi- 

 cant shrub. No doubt the more useful 

 oaks and walnuts would be more gener- 

 ally planted if the people knew how to 

 handle these less tolerant trees success- 

 fully. 



In no region is there more urgent 

 need of popular education in matters 

 pertaining to forestry and timber sup- 

 ply. For generations these people have 

 been learning and practising the art of 

 forest destruction. Before they can be 

 expected to show an active interest in 

 the preservation and renewal of forests, 

 there must be created in their minds a 

 totally new conception of the whole 

 problem. Very few of the land owners 



monly made of wire. Yet, the shortage 

 of timber and the consequent incon- 

 venience are growing more apparent 

 every year. 



The area which we have chosen for 

 study represents in cross section, as it 

 were the conditions of the entire Ohio 

 Valley. For more than a hundred years 

 the people have been striving to get rid 

 of the finest hardwood forests in Amer- 

 ica. Success has all but crowned their 

 efforts, and they have sc ircely begun to 

 realize at what tremendous cost their 

 victory has been bought. Reforesta- 

 tion would be a comparatively easy 

 matter, but the high agricultural value 

 of the land is practically prohibitive. 



