HARDWOOD RECORD 



41 



at the forks of the river below Elkliorn City. Tliis gorge is 

 strewn witli .rocks as big as an ordinary liouse, and the clilVs on 

 either side of it are in jilaces 1.500 feet high. 



■j'here tliey gn — a million dollars' worth of poplar logs! 



MORNING SESSION, FEB. 2 



'lliis session of the convention was not called to order until 11: 30 

 owing to the vast amount of committee work that had to be accom- 

 plished in advance. 



President Carrier introdueed \V. B. Townsend, of the Little 

 liiver Lumber Company, Townsend, Tenn., wlio delivered the follow- 

 ing most interesting and instructive address on Forestry. 

 FORE.STR'i 



For sonic reason best known to our good president, I have been 

 named on the Forestry Committee and not long since I received a 

 letter from him advising me that a report to this association at this 

 meeting would be expected. I liave written each member of the 

 cnnniiittee and have had an expression from practically all of them, 

 •as also we have had a rather infiu-mal meeting since coming here, 

 and are happy indeed to be honored with the privilege of submitting 

 a report on a question that is beyond doubt of very great importance, 

 not only to this association or this generation, but of even greater 

 importance to future generations. And that, too, in the city where 

 the First American Forestry Coxcress was held in 1SS2. 



The theory of forestry as taught in the schools and as practiced 

 by a good many foresters may be said to consist largely of the 

 general principles of silviculture, or planting, regeneration, and 

 conservation constituting re-forestry. All of these, pleasant to teach, 

 nice to talk about and theorize on, but none of them practical to a 

 practical lumberman, except perhaps conservation. 



And no man of common sense would be willing nor would it be 

 expected of him to practice these things in America unless they 

 would be remunerative, or at least promise to bo. 



So I take it that you as practical lumbermen do not want to 

 waste much time on theories, but rather want something that will 

 be of real benefit, and will help you as mill men with a view of 

 increasing your proiit3 and prolonging the life of your operation. 



The public press and sensational magazine writers, with their 

 grossly exaggerated articles about the willful wastefulness of saw- 

 mill men generally, are trying to so inUame the public mind as to 

 regard the lumber operator or sawmill man as the arch conspirator 

 of Iiis race, and more destructive to human welfare than any other 

 known agency. 



But listen — and stick a pin here — have any of you ever read an 

 article treating this subject written by these muck-rakers that con- 

 tained a word of recommendation for improvement that was prac- 

 tical? And of course, criticism, destructive or otherwise, without 

 any suggestion or recommendation for improvement is nothing more 

 than fault finding, and is doubtless published by the great magazine 

 trust from a mercenary point of view only. And I am sure that 

 few, if any, of these demagogues or common scolds would bo com- 

 petent to superintend the falling of a tree with a view of saving 

 it from breaking, or manipulate it on the mill so as to get the 

 largest possible percentage of high grade and wide stock out of the 

 logs, or could distinguish the diilerence of the various grades when 

 made. And these are the questions that appeal to the intelligent 

 manufacturer and rightly so. 



However, while it is admittedly true that the sensational articles 

 on forestr.y that appear in the public press and magazines are 

 published with a view of selling the paper, yet it is also true that 

 lumbermen are not as economical in preventing waste or wasteful 

 methods as they might be, but my experience is that they are as a 

 rule honest and sincere in their endeavor to improve their methods, 

 and wonderful improvement along these lines has been accomplished 

 within the last decade. 



Our worthy president, in the splendid message you have heard 

 read, refers to the absurdity of a possible lumber "trust, so I pass 

 that. 



I will not burden you with statistics as I am satisfied you do not 

 want anything that dry. Many of j'ou living in dry towns when 

 at home will naturally want something else when in a town as 

 damp as this is supposed to be. Besides that you can get all the 

 statistics you can digest in a lifetime by subscribing for these 

 splendid trade journals represented here (if you are not already 

 a subscriber), or by request of your congressman for copies of 

 governmental reports. 



The same is true of the proposition for governmental control 

 and regulation of standing timber left in the United States, and 

 not included in the National Forest Reserves. This you are all 

 more or less familiar with from the governmental reports which I 

 have no doubt you all get, as also much is published in the press 

 on the question. 



Therefore, it seems to me that the only practical side of 

 forestry to lumbermen is that of conservation. Conservation has 

 been ai>tly described as the application of common sense to 

 coraniou problems for the common good, and for the time being, 



low prices, high taxes, hot fires, cold logic, and many ther tilings 

 do not allow of much of this. 



Reforestry or regeneration, as these terms are understood by 

 us, are not only not practical, but unnecessary. The argument 

 that the standing merchantable timber is necessary for the pro- 

 tection of the water sheds is ridiculous. Nature will take care 

 of all this herself if we but give her half a chance. She will take 

 care of our water sheds not only better than we, but far more 

 rapidly than any known system of reforestry now being taught. 

 It is our duty, however, as lumbermen to assist nature in every 

 possible way, not only from a pecuniary point of view, but from 

 patriotic motives as well. 



And in all the hardwood belts of our country especially, there 

 is perhaps no more effective way than the fighting oi fire. Many 

 of the larger concerns to-day are spending a good deal of money 

 along these lines with satisfactory success. And after all is said 

 this is real conservation and reforestry and can be sutccssfiUly 

 applied. If the states and counties were not so shortsighted along 

 these lines and would eliminate politics from it, you can scarcely 

 estimate the value of what could be accomplished at a minimum 

 cost. But the everlasting publican, the tax gatherer, the selfish 

 politician, is in the way, and it looks now as though help from 

 these sources need not be expected until the millennium. 



Practically all the large timber landowners of the country 

 to-day are eager to assist in preserving our natural resources as 

 w'ell as our timber supply and the protection of our water sheds, 

 and the philosophy of forestry in its last analysis can mean no 

 more than this. 



Waste 



The eliminating of waste was referred to by our president in his 

 message by the various improved methods in manufacture. There 

 is uniliiubtedly much room for improvement not only as suggested 

 by him, but by more closely watching and improving our present 

 methods at the edger, trimmer, and slasher. Yet this is not real 

 conservation, but it should and will increase the output of lumber 

 from a given quantity of logs and thereby correspondingly increase 

 profits. 



And now, referring to the waste products of the mill and woods, 

 as this is becoming more scoree the chemist becomes more active, 

 and he is successful to-day in producing by-products from the 

 slabs, sawdust, and other waste material that Avere never even 

 dreamed of a few years ago. But he too is being handicapped in his 

 cllorts by adver.se legislation because by dum])ing his fully spent 

 and harmless acids in the streams he changes somewhat the color 

 of the water. This cry comes, as a rule, from the same people, 

 at least the same class of people that cry out against the lumber- 

 man, accusing him of destroying the natural resources of their 

 great states and nation, and in the same breath insist that he be 

 punished if he attempt to work up closely all offal and waste 

 witli a view of perpetuating an important national industry, and the 

 supply of a very much needed product at a price very much less 

 tlian it could otherwise be produced. 



These, gentlemen, are conditions well worthy of our most serious 

 attention in wliich we should heartily co-operate with a view of 

 awakening the people to the conditions as they really exist, and 

 thereby endeavor not only to stop adverse legislation, but strive to 

 obtain legislation favorable to the real conservation of our national 

 and timbered resources. 



The conditions generally are much aggravated by the calamity 

 howler, as to what will become of us in a short time when the 

 timber is all gone, etc. This need concern us but little, for the 

 reason that if we keep everlastingly at it favorable legislation 

 is sure to be obtained, and through this, more than any other 

 agency, rapid and consequent wasteful methods of manufacture 

 and lack of care of lumber and timber will be largely abolished. 

 It pains me much every time I learn of a really large capacity 

 sawmill being built, or present capacity increased. This is really 

 suicide. Better far restrict production than increase it. even 

 at the risk of the muckraker, who, with assumed sincerity, will 

 cry out trust, trust, etc. And in almost the same breath the 

 calamity howl of ruthless destruction of our resources. 



Supply 



The fact is, gentlemen, there is much more lumber being 

 manufactured these days than is really needed, for the reason 

 (now this is among ourselves) that lumber is not necessarily the 

 best suited article for every purpose for which it is used. But 

 its use is and has been so general because of the extremely low 

 prices at which it can be bought. And the reverse is also true, 

 viz.: when lumber commands the price it should, commensurate 

 with the cost of production, then and not until then will its use 

 be restricted, production reduced, and we will then be approach- 

 ing the eve of the real millennium of conservation. 



I think all of you will agree that a good, lively rig, well 

 handled and carefully looked after in every small detail, cutting, 

 say 25.000 feet hardwood daily, will make as much money daily 



