40 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



with tlie right of buyer and seller to malie 

 contracts on any terms that they see fit. It is 

 intended for use in case any disagreement on 

 points not covered by such contracts should 

 arise. 



Amendment to section 15: 



In line 4 — after the word "reinspection" in- 

 sert the words "for remeasurement." 



In line 7 — after the word "•invoice" insert the 

 words "or within one-half of 1 per cent of 

 the .Tmount invoiced." 



Add to section 15: 



"No claim or grade or measurement should 

 be considered ^■alid unless made within ten 

 days after unloading the car. This apphes to 

 all forest products except shingles." 



Section 9 as amended should read: 



Where definite date for shipment is not 

 specified on order, the buyer should not be 

 entitled to cancel such order inside of thirty 

 days from tlie date of the order without the 

 consent of the seller. Whenever shipments 

 are not made within thirt.v days, the seller 

 should forthwith notify the buyer, giving rea- 

 sons for failure to sliip. Buyers should then 

 or at any time within an additional thirty 

 days iiave tiie privilege of cancelling by wire. 

 Should he fail to so cancel, the seller should 

 have sucli additional thirty days in which to 

 ship. In the event of the seller's failure to so 

 ship within the additional thirty days, and in 

 the c^•ent the buyer has not received any addi- 

 tional information as to shipment within this 

 additional thirty days or ten days thereafter, 

 the buyer should have the privilege of buying 

 on the open market, and if the price shall 

 have advanced, the seller should reimburse 

 the buyer to the extent of sucii advance. Oth- 

 erwise the order sliould remain in effect until 

 cancelled. 



Tlie subject of arbitration was covered in 

 Article 12, Sections 2, 3 and 4, the spirit of 

 v.bich recommends arbitration of all disputes 

 between members upon demand of either one 

 and upon deposit of the proper fee. The cost 

 shall be paid by the party against whom the 

 arbitration committee shall decide. In case 

 one member shall decline to arbitrate, the mat- 

 ter shall be referred to the Board of Trustees, 

 who shall have ])oweT to determine whether 

 or not arbitration shall be required. 



The chair then introduced Henry S. Graves, 

 chief forester of the United States, who de- 

 livered the following address: 



Address of H. S. Graves 



While this is the first opportunity I have 

 bad to be present at one of your annual con- 

 ventions. I have, from year to year, followed 

 the work of the association as I could learn 

 about it from tlie printed transactions of your 

 meetings and through conversation with your 

 memlKTs. I have followed with special' in- 

 terest the reports which have been made by 

 your forestry committee. For several years 

 before assuming my present position, and while 

 I was still connected with the Forest School at 

 New Ilavon. your present president. Mr. Higbie. 

 and Mr. Lippincott. lectured before our classes 

 on practical subjects connected with the lumber 

 industry. 



It is very gratifying that the forestry question 

 has been taken up for serious consideration bv 

 the lumbermen of the country and that more anil 

 more they are coming to make forestry their 

 problem, with the full appreciation that in the 

 long run it is of more vital importance to them 

 than to any other class of people in the coun- 

 try. It is a great satisfaction to me that I 

 can now go before bodies of lumbermen and 

 many other audiences and discuss forestry from 

 the standpoint of wliat is needed for its prac- 

 tical application. Only a short time ago a 

 forestry address consisted mainly of an argu- 

 ment as to why forestry is necessary. We have 

 very distinctly entered upon a second stage in 

 the progressive de%'clopment of the forestry 

 niovenient. The country has accepted the idea 

 that forestry is desirable. Its practice is as- 

 sured if a practicable program can be presented. 

 My purpose today is, therefore, not to discuss 

 the need of forestry, but to outline certain 

 points which seem to me necessary to bring 

 about the practice of forestry. 



There are two fundamental aims of forest 

 conservation : The first is that which seeks to 

 secure those general public benefits which are 

 derived from the existence and continuance of 

 forests in any given region. 1 refer to the 

 benefits which come from the protection of 

 mountain slopes and of watersheds, and the 

 hencfits of the forests from an esthetic and 

 recreation standpoint. It is of interest to every- 

 one that there should be forests to serve these 

 purposes. The second aim of forestry and the 

 one which is of the most immediate interest 

 and Importance to you, concerns the maintenance 

 of the supplies of forest products. 



A practical forest policy must include three 



things: First, the prevention of the destruction 

 of our forest resources b.y lire, insects, and other 

 injurious agencies. Second, the economical 

 utilization of our timber supplies in order to 

 make them serve their highest use and go as 

 far as possible. And third, the production of 

 new supplies by growth in order that when the 

 timber which is now of merchantable size is 

 used up there will be new supplies to take 

 their place. These three things are fundamental 

 in any plan of forestry. 



The average man is apt to consider that it 

 is comparatively simple for the owners of forests 

 to practice forest conservation along these three 

 lines — to protect their lands from destructive 

 fires, to prevent needless waste in logging and 

 manufacturing, and to practice sylviculture, or 

 the raising of forests, so that wdien the timber is 

 cut it will be replaced by new growth. When^ 

 the forest owner is the public this can be doue 

 readily enough, provided ample funds are fur- 

 nished and competent men are put in charge. 



But the public owns only a small part of 

 the merchantable standing timber of the coun- 

 try. If it were a simple matter for private own- 

 ers to practice forestry, it would have been 

 done long ago. When we look over the field 

 to see just what is being done in the way of 

 forestry today, we find a tremendous interest in 

 the subject and a warm approval of its prin- 

 ciples ; and yet we have just passed through a 

 .season in which the loss of life and property by 

 forest fires has constituted nothing less than a 

 national calamity. Although an increasing num- 

 ber of men are endeavoring to do something on 

 their lands in the way of conservative cutting 

 or making actual investments in order to secure 

 a continiiance of forest growth, probably less 

 than 2 per cent of the lumber on the mark'^t 

 today has been cut with a view to the continued 

 production of the forest growth. 



It lias been my good fortune to have visited 

 practically every forest region of the country 

 and to have studied the different methods of 

 iiandling forests now in vogue, and their re- 

 sults. It is certain that the total production 

 of new material by growth in the country is 

 far below that which is actually used, lost in 

 production and destroyed by fire and insects. 

 When we examine the situation to see where the 

 trouble lies, it soon becomes perfectly clear that 

 there are obstacles which must be removed be- 

 fore forestry will be practiced on a very ex- 

 tensive scale by private owners. 



The first obstacle in the way of forestry is 

 the risk from fire. Those forests which are 

 owned by the public, such as our national for- 

 ests and our state forests, may be made secure if 

 the public will in the first place provide for 

 roads, trails, telephone lines, and other equiji- 

 mcnt to make it possible to protect them, and, 

 in the second place, provide for their proper 

 patrol. 



During the past season, although the national 

 forests have been under administration for some 

 years, we have lost a very large amount of very 

 valuable timber. The national forests are located 

 for the most part in the mountains of the West, 

 and many of them are still vast, undeveloped 

 wildernesses, in many cases with almost no roads 

 and very few trails. In some cases there are 

 areas where the trails are twenty-five miles 

 apart. While the forest service has been build- 

 ing trails, telephone lines, ranger cabins, fire 

 lines, and providing other equipment which is 

 necessary for fire protection, it has not been 

 passible witliin five years to put the forests into 

 condition to meet the extraordinary emergenc^■ 

 which occurred this summer when there occurred 

 the worst drought in the history of the West. 

 Congress has provided from year to year money 

 for this construction work. There has been pro'- 

 vided altogether since the forests were under the 

 administration of the forest service, .$2,10.5,- 

 GS6.02 for this purpose. I speak of this sum be- 

 cause it has been repeatedly stated that during 

 that time some twenty million dollars has beeii 

 provided which could be used for this. Not one 

 cent beyond this .$2,165,686.02 could be devoted 

 under the law for the construction of permanent 

 improvements. During the current year $27."i,00(i 

 may be spent on this work and no more. There 

 have been built n.218 miles of trails. 1,218 miles 

 of roads and 4.S51 miles of telephone, but this is 

 only a beginning of what will be required. I 

 have calculated by careful estimates that it will 

 take about $8,000,0(10 to lay out a primary sys- 

 tem of trails, telephone lines, and other perma- 

 nent improvements which are necessary for pro- 

 tection, and this includes very few roads. With 

 such a system and an adequate patrol the pub- 

 lic forests may be safe from fire. I make this 

 confident statement because it was clearly demon- 

 strated during the past season that where there 

 was a proper equipment and an adequate patrol 

 there was no difficulty in keeping the fire loss 

 down to an insigniflcent amount in spite of the 

 great drought. The large fires occurred in the 

 inaccessible regions where it was not possible to 

 reach them quickly on account of the lack of 

 communication. 



The fire risk is the greatest obstacle In the 

 way of private forestry. There is no question 

 but what an unfair system of taxation of grow- 

 ing timber prevents many owners from interesting 



themselves in forestry. In some regions where 

 the land is mostly in large ownership, the pri- 

 vate owners are associating themselves together 

 for organized fire protection, developing their 

 forests by trails, fire lines, etc.. as we are doing 

 on the national forests, and patrolling them dur- 

 ing the dry season. Where the land is in smaller 

 holdings and many of the owmers haven't the 

 same permanent interest in the forest as the 

 large proprietors, organized fire protection is 

 more difficult. A single tract which is not pro- 

 perly deviliped. in w'hich dangerous slash is left 

 on the ground, and where there is no patrol, con- 

 stitutes a menace to the whole region. It is 

 the duty of the private owners to organize their 

 forests for protection. But it is also the duty of 

 the public to assist in the protection not only of 

 the forests which it owns, but of private forests 

 as well. This must be done primarily through 

 the states. It will be possible for the federal 

 government to aid to some extent, through co- 

 otJeration with the states, to protect forests on 

 the slopes of important watersheds of navigable 

 rivers. The Appalachian bill recently passed pro- 

 vides for such co-operation with any state or 

 group of states, and provides $200,000 for such 

 co-operative tire protection. There should be, I 

 believe, in every forest region an organized fire 

 patrol. The main body of the state patrol force 

 would be employed only during the danger sea- 

 son. Tlie force would, of course, vary in size 

 atcording to conditions. There might be one 

 man for every 25,000 to 100,000 acres. Each 

 Iiatrolmau should organize all the owners within 

 Iiis district, who should provide such supple- 

 mentary patrol as is necessary to make the for- 

 ests safe. The state ranger would see that the 

 forest laws are carried out and would direct the 

 whole patrol service and the fighting of fires 

 within the district. 



The private owners should properly be made 

 to bear the iirincipal burden of protecting their 

 property, but tliey would have given to them 

 such assistance as will enable them to make their 

 lu-opcrty safe for a reasonable sum. Such a plan 

 would retpiire a considerable public expenditure, 

 much greater in most cases than individual states 

 hn\*(' sr> far bi'r-n willin"' to provide, but it is in- 

 significant compared with the results obtained. 

 'I " ' ' i-al pr'»(i|)le of inotecliou of private 

 timberlands is being widely discussed and the be- 

 ginning of its adoption will probably be made 

 iu se\-eral states iu the near future. 



The importance of economical utilization needs 

 no argument. Every timber owner for his own 

 profit desires to take out of the woods every- 

 thing which can be utilized at a profit. Every 

 manufacturer endeavors to waste as little as 

 fiossilde. The forest service is endeavoring to- 

 aid in the matter of close utilization through its 

 experiments and studies in developing new uses 

 of woods hitherto but little used or not used at 

 all. This work is conducted at our laboratories 

 \v. Madison and Wausau. Wis. 



Production of timber by growth does not ap- 

 peal to the ordinary private owner in the same 

 degree as the prevention of the destruction of our 

 timber by fire and the careful utilization of our 

 inescut supplies. Forest trees grow slowly, 

 many species requiring from eighty to one hun- 

 dred years or more to produce lumber of a high 

 grade. While many owners are willing to re- 

 serve for farther growth trees of medium size 

 which will become merchantable in a compara- 

 tively few years, they are not prepared to make 

 investments to secure new growth or even to do 

 much in the way of protection of small trees 

 and seedlings, which will require many years to- 

 reach merchantable size. A good many men in 

 the Northeast today cut only the oldest and 

 largest trees and reserve those of middle size, 

 where such a cutting is feasible ; and under con- 

 ditions where it is necessary to make a clear cut- 

 ting they are reserving for further growth those 

 stands of medium development and restricting 

 the cutting only to the oldest stands. There is. 

 however, even among such owners, little atten- 

 tion paid to reproduction. Some very large per- 

 manent corporations with enormous investments 

 in a permanent plant will doubtless endeavor to 

 provide themselves with enough land to supply 

 their mills indefinitely. For them forestry is not 

 only feasible but it is a necessity. As long as 

 present conditions obtain the majority of owners 

 will probably not voluntarily do much in the 

 way of growing trees. It is certain that there 

 will not be much accomplished until the fire risk 

 can be removed, and there is a reasonable sys- 

 tem of taxation of growing timber, so that all 

 possible profits from the forest production will 

 not be eaten up by taxes. 



W'hen these obstacles are removed private 

 owners will be able to handle their lands much 

 better than now and the production of new 

 grow-th will be much more enhanced than now. 

 They may be then definitely expected to use the 

 best methods of handling their forests with ref- 

 erence to tree production possible under the pre- 

 vailing conditions of markets and logging. 



At present there is a great paucity of public 

 forests in the East. Under the provisions of the 

 Appalachian bill, the federal government will ac- 

 quire some forests at the headwaters of navig- 

 able streams. There should be a very great ex- 

 tension of public forests in the East through 



