ARBORICULTURE. 347 



The Interest of the Farmer in Forests. 

 Address of John P. Brown before Gathering of Farmers at Richmond, Ind., Aug. 10, 1907. 



Whatever conduces to the happiness of 

 tlje family ; whatevoi- relieves the farmer 

 (.M a portion of his labors; whatever tends 

 to in-rea^e his wealth, and especially anv- 

 thino- which conduces to national prosper- 

 ity" and the well Ijeiug- of the human race, 

 sliould be aiven due con si d; -ration by all 

 thoughtful Americans. 



I wish to present for your deliberations 

 1 matter which affects all these interests, 

 and more, the very life of the nation. The 

 world to-day faces a condition Avhich 

 tbreatens to cripple and perhaps extenni- 

 nate many of the industrial and conuner- 

 c'al interests on account of the scarcity 

 of wood. European scholars have recent- 

 *■ ly stated that the only remaining source of 

 sa]>]jly for timber was Canada and the 

 United States, while the Department of 

 Agiiculture has depicted the condition as 

 verv grave from the excessdve clearnings 

 \v],k]\ hi[\e been and still are being ear- 

 ned on. 



Seven years ago I published an estimate 

 of the area of forest and fpiantity of tim- 

 I er then ( xisting, wl.'ch I showed to be 

 >ss than one-third the quantity supiio^ed 

 to exist, and time has proven the correct- 

 iiess of those conclusions. 



The great bodies of land on which there 

 are 3'et forests, are owned l)y s])eeulating 

 lumbermen, and are being rapidly clearefL 

 The forest reserves of the government, 

 large in aggregate acreage, are infinitesi- 

 ]u;d when compared with the country's ex- 

 lent and requirements for wood. 



Theie is but one way to avoid a timber 

 famine within the next twenty year=! or 

 even less, and that is for the farmer: of 

 America to begin the extensive plant: ng 

 of forests at once. 



The Fnited States, which was original- 

 ly very densely covered with forests, ex- 

 ce])t the rainless belt in the West, has dis- 

 posed of nearly all this valuable and neces- 

 sary production. A century of forest clear- 

 ing, the hardest work farmers were ever 

 called to perform, an unprofitable labor, 

 as the logs must be rolled on heaps and 



burned, since there was no demand for the 

 buge logs of walnut, hickor}', oak, poplar, 

 ash and similar timbers. Yet all this was 

 necessary before your comfortahle homes 

 and profitable farms could be provided. 



When the frosts cut the leaves and they 

 began to fiitten toward the earth, and as 

 ih:- snow began to fall in great flakes, 

 ycur fathers ground their axes, prepared 

 wedges and mauls, and commenced their 

 arduous .task of chopping down trees, 

 trimming up the branches and with yokes 

 of oxen these were dragged and rolled into 

 great heaps, where they were burned, in 

 C]-der that a few more acres of land could 

 i'P brought under cultivation. 



This was no child's play. l)ut harder 

 work than you have ever been obliged to 

 perform. A few sheep were kept and the 

 vrool mu:^t be carried sixt}' miles to fac- 

 tory, awaiting their turn for the yarn to 

 l.^e spun and again the sixty miles through 

 wilderness of foiest and over roads of 

 mud the return home. An equal distance 

 mnst be traversed to the little water mill 

 to have the corn ground into meal. 



There is no wonder that the impression 

 v;as formed and handed down to several 

 generations suc:-eed'ng, that the forests 

 were worse enemies than re'lskins or wild 

 beasts. 



In later years it has been the universal 

 practice when a stick of timber was 

 wanted, to go to the wood lot, select the 

 best, ash, walnut, oak or catalpa trees 

 which could most easily be split tnto rail-s 

 or worked into the required articles, or 

 possibly sold for highest price to the lum- 

 berman. The result has been that only 

 fjie beech and more inferior trees remain; 

 these have a very slight value and the 

 wood lot is considered an un)u-ofitable i)ai-t 

 ->i the farm. 



Then the attitude of the state officials, 

 most of whom oppose a reduction of tax- 

 ation upon forest lands; the (iwner must 

 Tiay as high, or even higher, taxes upon his 

 trees as upon productive and profitable 



