264 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



covered mountains, now that the forests have been cleared off, are 

 abandoned because of a lack of water supply at certain seasons of the 

 year. Again in many instances the government forest reserves are the 

 fiummer ranges without which much winter range could not be used. 



Mining operations, too, in many parts of the we'st, have suf- 

 fered from the depreciating supply of timber. The exploitation of 

 the mines requires large quantities of timber, and, in many cases, 

 successful mining is impossible without it. Thus irrigation, grazing, 

 mining, and forestry are large questions now confronting the west, 

 and they are so interlinked that they must be settled in combination. 



The sanitory influence cf trees is coming more and more to be 

 recognized and appreciated. The woods were anciently regarded as 

 the abode of spirits, fit only for the habitation of ugly beasts. Ed- 

 mund Spencer refers to the forest as "a gloomy shade." How differ- 

 ent the modern conception when the woodlands are everywhere con- 

 verted into health and pleasure resorts. 



Even more vital is the relation which forests sustain to the 

 water supply of the large cities. The water suply, to be pure, 

 should have its source in uninhabitated woodlands. Recognizing 

 this fact, some of the large cities, notably Boston and New Haven 

 in the east und Los Angeles in the west, are now i)lanting up their 

 watersheds to forest trees. This is an important move, and one that 

 no doubt will be widely extended, involving as it does the health of 

 many millions. 



It is but natural that there is general concern to know what is 

 the present status of forestry in this country — whether there is 

 ■enough timber to supply the present and future demands at reasonable 

 prices, and what is actually being done for the preservation and ex- 

 tension of the forest lands. 



Statistics to show the amount of available timber are wanting. 

 A few estimates have been made, but these can hardly be said to be 

 more than mere guesses. One authority says, "Our annual wood con- 

 sumption which is increasing exceeds our annual production which 

 is decreasing." In general, prices have appreciated in the past thirty 

 years. Not uniformly so, for some classes of lumber are cheaper 

 now than then. The supply cannot be judged by the prices altogether, 

 for through the development of railroads, as the timber becomes 

 scarce in one region additional timber from new centers is brought 

 into competition with the former supply. The lumber industry first 

 centered in the northeastern states, then it moved to the Lake states, 

 and now the center of lumber operations is in the south and oa 

 the Pa-i'^c coast. As the supply diminishes new kinds of timber 



