652 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cise this function. As this was not 

 realized a century ago by the framers 

 of our Constitution, the forester now 

 asks that the same step be taken as 

 in all other business — to stop and in- 

 ventory our methods, in an attempt to 

 reiuedy the evils that will no longer be 

 glossed over. As a first step to this, 

 we are to set aside certain lands that 

 we can still obtain, as a temporary in- 

 junction to further abuse. Where 

 President Taft has erred, with all good 

 intentions, has been that after certain 

 lands had been closed by a free inter- 

 pretation of an act which gave the 

 President power to close those lands, 

 he threatened to destroy the entire for- 

 est policy of the nation by returning 

 them upon a technicality. Technically 

 and literally, he was probably right, but 

 no technicality could restore the land 

 to us, once it were lost. 



Coincident with this movement for 

 technical and scientific forestry has 

 ])een another quite as important which 

 has taken its initiative in the practical 

 commercial world of affairs — conserva- 

 tion by conversion of waste into by- 

 ]-roducts. Not all oi the forest trees 

 are considered valuable for commercial 

 purposes and as we have weeds spring- 

 ing up among the lower plant life of 

 the soil, we have weed trees. Examples 

 of this of recent date are the use of 

 beech, and tupelo, and the treatment of 

 discarded species of pine with preserva- 

 tives such as creosote. Some twenty 

 years ago, not more than half of the 

 trees were taken down at the first cut- 

 tings, as the rest were considered use- 

 les •, Of the trees that are taken from 

 the forest, not one-half of the original 

 volu re goes into the final product. The 

 roots and branches make up one-third 

 or more of the woody volume, but are 

 left in the woods, while the dust taken 

 out by the saw, the slabs and trim- 

 mings reduce the volume an additional 

 fraction. Just recently, we have found 

 that all or part of these unused pieces 

 yielded paper pulp, alcohol, resin, tur- 

 pentine, tannic acid, and the day is 

 doubtless very near when the sawdust 

 burner will be considered a public dis- 

 grace, when no saw-mill can be run 

 profitably without working up its waste ; 



or we may see the day when a saw- 

 mill will find it profitable to burn coal 

 under the boilers in order to utilize the 

 sawdust. 



From conservation it is not a great 

 step to the exercise of forestry as a 

 science. The final idea of forestry is 

 to treat trees as a soil crop, as grain is 

 treated, with this difference — the time 

 of rotation. Ordinarily the time of 

 rotation for a soil crop such as grain 

 or fruit is one year, but in forestry this 

 is increased by one hundred or more 

 fold, or three natural generations. This, 

 however, is coimterbalanced by the sta- 

 bility of the crop and the certainty of 

 return, for the forest has but three ene- 

 n^ies, fire, wind and vermin, reduced 

 under scientific forestry to an absolute 

 mininunn. By certain technical and 

 not very complicated methods, forestrv 

 keeps a continuous growth of trees of 

 all ages from seedling to mature trees 

 in its forest, and endeavors to cut each 

 year only a number of large saw-log 

 trees corresponding in volume to the 

 amount of woody material put on by 

 the entire stand for the year; it keeps 

 the ground shaded, and finding out the 

 pecularities of the soil, favors those 

 species most fitted to it. It would prob- 

 ably be impossible to get a private in- 

 dividual to engage in such an under- 

 taking from a purely commercial view- 

 point, as the amount of capital tied up 

 at compound interest for a rotation of 

 even sixty years would be very con- 

 siderable. We must look to the gov- 

 ernment to come forward and, if not 

 take charge of such an undertaking, at 

 least to encourage it by beneficent laws 

 that will overcome the present handi- 

 cap of imscrupulous business over pub- 

 lic spirit. \\'e have given protection to 

 develop man\- unworthy infant indus- 

 tries by a protective tariff', and yet here 

 the most worthy of all industries, in the 

 n^ost need of protection, receives no en- 

 couragement. The least the govern- 

 ment can do is to relieve those who 

 have placed their forests under scientific 

 management, of the burden of taxes 

 diu'ing the first crop rotation. 



