THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART X. 593 



vision of Forestry in 1898 inaugurated the policy of co-operation with the 

 owners of forest land. This was done in order to instruct owners in the 

 best methods of handling their property. The two points considered in 

 giving advice are first the present interest of the owner, and second the 

 protection and improvement of the forest. It has been the aim in this 

 co-operation to show that improved methods of handling timber land are 

 advantageous both for the owner and the wood crop. It was thought that 

 by assisting a few owners and publishing the results it would be beneficial 

 to the public at large. In 1899 the co-operation between the owner and 

 Bureau of Forestry was extended to that of establishing of forests. The 

 reasons for this arose from the many failures of those attempting to start 

 forest plantations. In this the plan of the government is to give expert 

 advice and prepare planting plans. The growing of forest trees for eco- 

 nomic purposes cannot be successfully undertaken without some knowl- 

 edge of the habits of the species and their adaptability to the place where 

 they are to be planted. The owner must know how and what to plant as 

 well as how to give his trees proper care after they begin to grow. There- 

 fore we can plainly see the need of expert advice in the establishment of 

 forests. 



Although forests that have a protective value concern the state rather 

 than the individual, our government, unlike European countries, does not 

 exercise any control over forest land, whether protective or not; after it 

 has passed into private hands. 



Trees require a long time to come to marketable size, and in this 

 country they are very subject to fire and other injury. So it seems there 

 is everywhere a strong inducement for the owner to cut all of this timber 

 that is of any value. Even taxes are a great detriment to forestry because 

 the assessment is not made on the yearly productive capacity of the land, 

 but on the standing crop of timber. Thus the owner of timber land may 

 pay a heavy tax for a number of years previous to harvesting a crop. This 

 tax may amount to almost as much as the value of the increment of his 

 forest during that period, and he has gained very little in allowing his 

 timber to stand. 



In trying to develop good methods for carrying out economic forestry 

 principles, we have constantly met such obstacles, but American ingenuity 

 has gradually and completely overcome many of these obstructions, and our 

 progress in the last quarter of a century has been rapid. 



The plan of co-operation with farmers in the planting of forest trees 

 is explained in Circular 22 of the Bureau of Forestry. This plan has not 

 appealed strongly to Iowa farmers because of the exceedingly low per 

 cent of non-agricultural land in the state. However, since October, 1899, 

 1,859 acres of land has been examined by agents of the Bureau, and eight 

 planting plans covering about 43 acres have been made. The largest area 

 covered by any one of these plans is 19 acres on the farm of George O. Clin- 

 ton near Mallard. Palo Alto county. The other areas are small and are 

 scattered through Sioux, Johnson, Hancock, Pottawattamie, Howard and 

 Iowa counties. Twenty-seven different species have been used in these 

 plantations. From this fact alone we would at once infer that they have 



