3^4 



General Botany 



The giant cedar is the leading shingle wood of the United States, 

 and the Sitka spruce is the leading source of paper pulp in the 

 Western states. 



Forest reserves and their uses. When the attention of lum- 

 bermen was turning from the Eastern forests to the timber on 

 the Western mountains, the United States government still owned 

 vast tracts of these forested lands. During the administration 

 of President Roosevelt, a definite policy was decided upon by 

 which many large areas of these forests were turned over to the 

 management of the United States Forest Service. By this plan 

 the forests are to be harvested as the trees come to maturity, 

 and the methods of harvesting are those which will insure a con- 

 stant supply of timber. Many of the forests in the drier regions 

 have an undergrowth of grass. It is highly desirable that these 

 grasses be utilized, and at the same time it is important that the 

 development of tree seedlings shall not be permanently prevented. 



Fig. 



U. S. Forest Setvtce 

 230. Typical section of a mountain slope in western North Carolina, after removal 



of forest. The binding effects of the roots have been removed, and the erosion of the soil is 

 so rapid that it is difficult for seedlings to take hold. When the forest was cut, enough young 

 trees should have been left to hold the soil and start a new lumber crop. 



