54 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



an aiimial i-vop. liolding- yiiuiiy forests until 

 they reaeli maturity, auci, still more, the es- 

 tablishment of new forests, means financial 

 loss to anyone who attempts it. Such methods 

 of taxation are in the end ruinous to the 

 comnumity also, for they encourage devasta- 

 tion and the abandonment to the state of 

 lands which thereafter yield no revenue iu 

 the form either of products or of taxes. 



By suitable legislation the State can re- 

 move both of these obstacles now in the way 

 of private forestry. Tliey are artilicial 

 obstacles. 



CHEAP stump.w;e prices 



Cheap stumpage is the eliief natural 

 obstacle to the wide extension of private 

 forestry. Forestry involves an investment iu 

 growing timber. If the investment is to 

 show a satisfactory profit, the product must 

 not sell too cheap. As long as the product 

 sells cheap, expenditures will not be made to 

 produce it. and the timbernum will continue 

 to be the nomad and the speculator wliich 

 ])ast conditions have inevitably made him. 

 Jn order to hold out inducements to private 

 enterprise, forestry must ofl'er a reasonable 

 margin of jirofit above the cost of growing 

 the timber. 



This obstacle to forestry is being steadily 

 removed by the depletion of the virgin for- 

 ests and the consequent rise in stumpage 

 prices. Already, as the following examples 

 show, the scarcity of supplies has resulted in 

 a numner of cases in the holding of tracts 

 for more than a single crop. 



Examples of Private Forestry 



The heavy loss from fire has led to the 

 greatest progress thus far made toward the 

 practice of forestry on private lands. In 

 Oregon, Washington, and Idaho large tracts 

 have been placed under organized protection 

 by associations of timber-land owners, each 

 member of which pays pro rata toward the 

 eost. For example, the four fire protective 

 associations of northern Idaho expended for 

 fire protection in 1908 $52,284.11, protecting 

 directly 1,257,787 acres of forest owned by 

 members, and incidentally large areas of ad- 

 joining forest. The average eost of this 

 protection, including fire fighting, was a 

 little over i cents per acre. One of the 

 associations, however, lost far more heavily 

 than the rest, owing principally to incom- 

 plete patrol. Three of the associations pro- 

 tected their holdings at a cost, respectively, 

 of 3 cents, 2% cents, and 2% cents per acre. 

 The reports of the associations show that the 

 main emphasis was laid upon patrol. Thus 

 one association apportioned its expenditures 

 as follows : 



I'er cent. 



ratrol 49.23 



New trails . . . 16.98 



Cleaning old trails 12.98 



Fu-e fightins 10.157 



All other items 10.24 



ISText to patrol the chief expense was trail 

 building, which in the above ease was 29. 9G 

 per cent of the total protection cost. Pro- 

 vision was made for tool boxes nt convenient 



])laces, for tools, aud for horses, as well as 

 for lookout stations. 



Ecjually successful results have not yet 

 been acliie\'ed over large areas of jirivate 

 forest lands by either individual or asso- 

 ciated efforts iu other parts of the country. 

 But ninnerous small tracts in the East and 

 South are now fairly well protected at moder- 

 ate eost, and tlu^ owners report satisfactory 

 recuperation ami reproductions on the pro- 

 tected areas. A ca.se worth special nuMition 

 is that of an owner in the south-central 

 region, .'i co(>i)erator with the Forest Service, 

 who is applying a working plan in the man- 

 agement of large holdings. Difficulty was 

 found in keeping fires out of the cut-over 

 land, owing to the carelessness of neighboring 

 settlers. An experiment was therefore made 

 by the owner. A tract of 1,000 acres was 

 set aside and given special jn'otectiou. Fires 

 have been kept out of this tract for five 

 years, and tlie owner finds that full repro- 

 duction is now the reward of his efforts. 

 Wliere tljc business wisdom of ])rotecting a 

 large tract is in doubt, such a test may well 

 be tried. It is not costly, and tlie results 

 speak for tliemselves. In most cases an ob- 

 ject lesson of this sort, driving home the 

 truth about fire protection, will convince the 

 forest owner that he can not afford fires. 



At Corbin Park, in central Xew Hamp- 

 shire, some 17.000 acres of forest have been 

 carefully luniljered on the selection plan for 

 five years, in accordance with a working plan 

 made by the Forest Service. The park is 

 intended mainly for a game jireserve, and all 

 forest work is arranged with respect to its 

 effect upon the game. Nevertheless, the 

 revenue derived from the sale of live game 

 and of forest products more than covers tlie 

 expense of management and yields a satis- 

 factory profit on the investment, while the 

 future forest crop is steadily coming on. 



On one of the larger private estates on the 

 Hudson forestry is well practiced. The 

 property, which embraces 1,000 acres, has 

 about ."500 acres under forest, from which 

 cordwood from improvement cuttings sells 

 well in the local market. Good roads and 

 the easy accessibility of the tract nmkc it 

 possible to handle the forest in this way as 

 profitably as if large clear fellings were 

 made, so that the maximum financial yield is 

 secured with the minimum of disturbance to 

 forest conditions. Where the stand is sparse 

 planting is d(nu\ and the stock is raised in 

 a forest nursery upon the estate. This is 

 another example of what can be done by 

 forestry. The methods employed and the re- 

 sults secured are of great educational value 

 to the whole community, where many oppor- 

 tunities of similar management offer. 



That good management pays is strikingly 

 shown by the experience of the University 

 of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn. In 1900 

 the university undertook to manage its 7,000 

 acres of forest in accordance with recom- 

 mendations made by the Forest Service. Im- 

 mediate financial returns were desired, while 



exjienilitures for inipro\cmi'iit were not per- 

 mitted. In 1899 the uuivei-.^ity had con- 

 sidered an offer of $3,000 for the merchant- 

 able timber, and regarded it favorably. At 

 the time the working ]ilan was made fires 

 were injuring the forest by burning away 

 the humus and damaging the timber. The 

 ]ilan recommended took into consideration thj 

 probable rise in local stumpage values, and 

 embraced a series of fellings instead of an 

 immediate sale of the whole merchantable 

 stand. Since the plan went into effect the 

 sum of $18,101.76 above all expemses has 

 been received from the sale of timber. Mean- 

 time, fire has been controlled, and excellent 

 reproduction is the result, so that the per- 

 petuation of the forest is assured. 



A Connecticut water company furnished 

 another example of forestry. In this case 

 forestry was undertaken mainly because of 

 its value as a means of increasing the purity 

 of the water. But though forest growth was 

 needed on the reservoir catchment basin 

 primarily as a protecti\e co\er, it was seen 

 that this protection forest might safely be 

 made to produce also a yiehl of wood. Ac- 

 cordingly the existing forest was placed under 

 a conservative ]ilan of management. The 

 stand is perpetuated and improved, and also 

 produces an annual yield of cordwood, posts, 

 and cross-tics. Open ground is being planted 

 to a commercial forest, while around the 

 reservoirs protective belts of conifers are 

 being set out to protect the water from pollu- 

 tion and improve the scenic beauty of the 

 property. Several other water companies are 

 ]iractieing forestry along substantially the 

 same lines. 



In point of variety and scope the work 

 done on the Biltmore estate, in North Caro- 

 lina, is remarkable. The forests, which cover 

 130,000 acres, are made .self-sustaining by 

 the production of various forms of material. 

 i''our million feet of lumber, 5,000 cords of 

 tannic-acid wooil and fuel, a thousand cords 

 of tan bark, and several hundred cords of 

 ]ndp wood are cut every year. At the same 

 time the forest itself is steadily increasing 

 in value. Workmen employed along the 

 boundaries of the forest do duty as fire 

 guards. Thus fire protection is secured at 

 least throughout all the accessible parts of 

 the tract. In connection with all lumbering 

 operations permanent logging roads are built. 

 These minimize the pi'esent cost of trans- 

 ]portation, and will greatly reduce the cost 

 of marketing future crops. Thus the exten- 

 sion of the roads is steadily adding to the 

 investment value of the forest. Moreover, 

 they serve also as a network of fire lines, 

 l^rest planting is practiced where fire will 

 not threaten its success. The experimental 

 work in silviculture which is done at Bilt- 

 more is certain to make important additions 

 to the science and practice of forestry. 



Since extensive forest planting is to be 

 expected only when the conditions surround- 

 ing forestry are far more stable and ad- 

 vantageous than they are at present in most 



