THE DESTRUCTION OF FARMING LANDS 



Alluvial Bottom, Ruined by F.'ooding. Soil Gone, Nothing Left but Gravel and Stones, land Worthless 



Swain County, North Carolina 



again be worried about ; she will pre- 

 vent the annual loss by floods of mil- 

 lions of dollars of real property and 

 hundreds of lives ; and she will do it 

 all at no actual cost to herself — the in- 

 come from the investment wiir pay the 

 upkeep and leave a handsome balance 

 ot profit. If the hard-headed business 

 men of Pittsburg would turn their at- 

 tention in this direction, instead of 

 toward the formation of billion-dollar 

 trusts and the upbringing of sons to 

 make a laughing-stock of Pittsburg and 

 America in general, or to fill Mattea- 

 H'sn and similar places, it would be a 

 better argument for their business 

 sense. 



&' 5^ «« 



Louisiana's Proposed Forest Law 



FROM recent expressions in the 

 Southern press it appears that an 

 erroneous impression exists in regard 

 to the proposed forest law now pending 

 in the Louisiana legislature. DifTerent 

 newspapers and periodicals in the South 

 552 



have interpreted the provisions of the 

 bill to mean that no timber whatever 

 under twelve inches in diameter at four 

 feet above the ground is to be cut un- 

 der any conditions. If this was the in- 

 tention of the bill, it would be well if 

 it were defeated, as no such provision 

 would be either just or practical. But 

 this is not the intention of the measure, 

 and the publications which have so con- 

 strued it have fallen into error. 



By the terms of the proposed statute 

 the cutting of trees under twelve inches 

 in diameter, four feet from the ground, 

 is forbidden, it is true but only under 

 certain conditions. The provisions of 

 the bill do not apply to those who in 

 good faith wish to clear the land for 

 agricultural purposes, those who need 

 the timber on the ground for roads, 

 ditches, or construction purposes, or 

 those who intend to use the wood for 

 domestic purposes. Furthermore, lum- 

 bermen will be required to fell trees in 

 such a way as to cause the least dam- 

 age to young timber, and the refuse 

 from lumber operations must not be 



