FOREST SERVICE. 251 



sheds severely burned in tlie fall of 1919 have shoAvn more rapid 

 run-olF and <rreath' increased erosion resnltino; from the removal 

 of the cover. In some cases several inches of surface soil was re- 

 moved from the burned areas by heavy rains which caused little or 

 no erosion in adjacent unburned watersheds. Check dams erected in 

 the bed of one of the streams followino; the fire were completely filled 

 Avith debris, and measurements of the peak dischar<re showed that 

 detritus formed much the greater part of the run-off. Investigations 

 of methods of reestablishing the cover and controlling erosion are 

 being continued in cooperation with local interests. 



The study in cooperation with the Office of Farm Management on 

 the relation of woodland to the rest of the farm was practically com- 

 pleted and its relative importance in different regions and under 

 varying conditions established. The value to the farmer of his wood- 

 land is often much greater than he realizes. With the rapidly di- 

 minishing supply of old-growth hardwoods, farm woodlands may 

 assume much greater importance in the near future as a source of 

 commercial hardwood supply. 



Xecessary forest research has been handicapped seriously by the 

 reduction of 36 per cent in the appropriation for this purpose below 

 that of the preceding year. Three experiment stations previously 

 established in Colorado, Idaho, and Washington have had to be vir- 

 tually closed and current studies in important eastern forest regions 

 have had to be postponed or greatly restricted. To build up for- 

 estry practice in the United States adequately the four experiment 

 stations in the West should be fully equipped and manned and addi- 

 tional stations should be established in New England, the Allegheny 

 region, the southern Appalachians, the Southern Pine Belt, the Lake 

 States, and California. Sufficient funds to make a definite start 

 upon this program, as well as to maintain the economic and indus- 

 trial investigations, would be no more than a wise public outlay for 

 the perpetuation of one of our most essential natural resources. 



FOREST ECONOMICS. 



The steady depletion of our forest resources, coupled with the many 

 problems presented by the changed conditions following the war. has 

 accentuated the need for economic investigations relating to the forest 

 and its products and led to increased work in this field. Emphasis 

 was also given to this line of research by the passage in February 

 of Senate resolution 311 requesting the Forest Service to furnish by 

 June 1 such information as was available regarding timber deple- 

 tion, lumber prices, lumber exports, and concentration of timber 

 oAvnership. A number of other specific studies along economic lines 

 were undertaken. One of the more important dealt with the pulp 

 and paper industry. Since 191G the prices of various kinds of paper 

 have materially advanced, and in the fall of 1919 an unprecedented 

 demand for newsprint brought the paper question prominently be- 

 fore the country. Various bills were introduced in Congress looking 

 toward the relief of the publishers. A careful analysis of the situa- 

 tion by the Forest Service made it apparent that permanent relief 

 can be secured only by increasing jii-oduction and ])roviding an ade- 

 (|uate supply of raAV material from wliich newsprint is manufactured. 



Fundamentally the continuation of the newsprint industry, as of 

 other wood-using industries, is dependent upon the practice of for- 



