146 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



Forestry, 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Free Lumber. — According to what we gather 

 trom the Chicago Tribune, the interests involved in 

 the "free lumber" question lately before Congress 

 are chiefly of pretence only, the real object being the 

 final destruction of the whole protective policy of 

 the nation. We thought so, and as our magazine 

 is not a political one, we treated the endeavors to 

 draw us into a discussion of this " duty-free lum- 

 ber" question somewhat coldly. 



We can only say in a general way, that the talk 

 about " preserving our forests " in the way the 

 matter is being introduced in these political discus- 

 sions is clearly of no practical value, and if our 

 forestry associations are to be made mere tenders 

 to the vessel of general " free trade " or other " po- 

 litical nostrum," the sooner those of us who do not 

 wish to mix up party politics with our forestry 

 work understand it the better. It was always a 

 wonder how many old and mere politicians cap- 

 tured the American Forestry Association at Chi- 

 cago ; but the milk is beginning to ooze through 

 the shell. A forest is bound to rot away after one or 

 two hundred years. If a good market price cannot 

 be obtained for the lumber, the occupant will cut it 

 off and plant corn. To cheapen your own forests, 

 and increase the value of your competitors' is the 

 surest way to hasten your own forest destruction. 

 It is amazing to us that any one can believe that to 

 render your own fprests valueless is the way to pre- 

 serve them ! But the truth is that no one believes 

 it. It is only used for general political purposes. 



Canadian Lumber. — Our excellent New York 

 neighbor, the American Agriculturist, has the 

 following in its March number : 



"Those who have looked into the subject most 

 carefully, are confident that the interests of our 

 country require that all lumber be admitted free, 

 and such a bill has passed the Senate. Canada is 

 the only country from which we receive lumber, 

 and it is held that every inducement should be 

 given to the Canadians to cut down their forests to 

 supply our consumption, while we preserve our 

 own and allow them to grow." 



If the last line read "allow them to die," instead 

 of " to allow them to grow," it would have about 

 covered the case. Does our contemporary really 



believe that if we render a tree worthless it will be 

 " allowed to grow ?" All experience shows that it 

 is because trees are worth nothing for the timber 

 market, that the land is cleared and put into farm 

 crops. ^ Surely there is far more timber then "left 

 to grow " when it is made profitable to grow it, 

 than when there is "nothing in it." 



And then we have heard that so much of the 

 "forestry anxiety " is on account of the " influence 

 of trees on the climate." We heard this from Ca- 

 nadians at Montreal last year. But it appears 

 from the extract above that the Canadians are . 

 willing to risk their country becoming an "arid 

 waste " if the Americans will only give them a big 

 price for their logs. 



It is becoming clearer every day that the "anx- 

 ious foresters " who captured the Forestry Associa- 

 tion at Cincinnati are simply free traders, and as a 

 rule have no interest whatever in forestry in itself. 



Now whether free trade or protection is a benefit 

 to our country is none of our business here. There 

 are plenty of channels through which it 'can be 

 better discussed. But it is our duty to show that 

 the pretended interest which so many show in for- 

 estry is only a cover for something else. 



The Locust Borer in Ohio. — At a recent 

 meeting of the Summit County (Ohio) Horticultu- 

 ral Society, Mr. M. C. Read, of Hudson, noted 

 that "the history of the Clytus, a beautiful beetle, 

 whose larvae bores the body and limbs of the white 

 locust, illustrates the law of change. Some thirty- 

 five or forty years ago the white locust, because of 

 its rapid growth and beautiful appearance when 

 young, was extensively planted as an ornamental 

 tree. For many years it seemed to be without an 

 insect enemy ; but after a time this elegantly 

 marked insect was occasionally observed upon 

 and in the neighborhood of these trees. Its mem- 

 bers steadily increased, until the bodies of most of 

 the locust trees were honeycombed with the galle- 

 ries formed by the larvae, and the sickly appear- 

 ance of the trees foreboded their destruction. In 

 later years, apparently without cause, the number 

 of these beetles has been so reduced that a collec- 

 tor, in many places where they were abundant, can 

 obtain but a few specimens in a season. I do not 

 know what particular insects are to receive credit 



