AN "ABANDONED" FARM 

 Deeply Eroded Gullies on a Slope Formerly Cultivated. Slowly Growing Up to White Pine 



left where its presence will invite fires 

 or in any other way endanger young 

 trees. The law provides likewise for 

 thinning timber stands so as to pro- 

 mote forest growth and prevent over- 

 crowding and deadening, but such thin- 

 ning is to be conducted under strict 

 regulations and is not to be taken as an 

 excuse for violating the spirit of the 

 law. The penalty for violations of the 

 proposed law is a fine of twenty-five 

 to. one hundred dollars for each ofTense, 

 to which may be added imprisonment ; 

 and each tree cut in violation of the 

 law is made to constitute a separate 

 offense. 



The proposed law not only defines 

 and delimits ofifenses and names penal- 

 ties, but also sets forth the reasons why 

 the law is thought advisable. Timber 

 is becoming scarce, it says, and ought 

 not to be needlessly wastel. Forest 

 destruction will carry with it other 

 evils beside a dearth of wood. It will 

 cause destruction, soil erosion, and in- 

 crease floods and drought to the dam- 

 age of the whole people. Furthermore, 

 the forests should not be wholly cut 



down, because they assist in obstruct- 

 ing the progress of disastrous torna- 

 does. 



A recent ruling of the Supreme Court 

 of Maine declares that that state may 

 lawfully restrict the clearing of priv- 

 ately owned forest land, if it is shown 

 that the general public would be en- 

 dangered by such clearing. While fol- 

 lowing the lines of the opinion rendered 

 by the Maine Supreme Court, Louis- 

 iana's proposed law goes still further in 

 the same direction. It is worthy of 

 note that the two states which have 

 been first to take so advanced a stand 

 in the matter of forest protection are 

 1,500 miles apart, and their forests are 

 not at all alike in character. They have 

 different soils, climates with few points 

 in common, crops of wholly different 

 kinds, geography and topography of op- 

 posite extremes ; yet to each of these 

 states has come a full realization of the 

 immense importance of the forests and 

 how absolutely essential their protec- 

 tion is to the continued prosperity of 

 the people. 



553 



