Forest research and Tiiii war 271 



where. The necessity for forests and for forests at home, of independ- 

 ence of foreign supphes, if possible, even assuming that the sea routes 

 can be kept open to secure them and that tonnage will be available for 

 transport, of supplies of species which will answer the needs of war as 

 well as of peace is clearer than ever before, and let us hope that this 

 knowledge is not confined to foresters. 



If forest research in the United States lacked justification before the 

 war, it does not now. The background secured by the work of the past 

 20 years, the force of trained experts on hand, results used over and 

 over again, the possibility of so much additional work during the war 

 itself, have saved to the Government many times over the entire cost 

 of all the work since its initiation, without taking into account results 

 which cannot be so directly measured, such as the saving of time or the 

 ability to do things well instead of poorly, or the possibility of doing 

 them at all. The war alone has proven the wisdom of the work time 

 and time again and has justified in a year and a half all that has been 

 done. 



The war has broadened our conception of the investigative field. 

 There are many more things to do now than there were in April, 1917, 

 and there is greater emphasis on man}- things which we have known 

 should be done. The advisability of being independent, so far as pos- 

 sible, of foreign supplies does not lessen the need of knowing what and 

 where foreign supplies are the world over, the properties and utiliza- 

 tion of these woods, and of economic and trade considerations which 

 influence their production and import. Future wars may be as full of 

 surprises as the present one has been, and all such information has 

 sufficient peace use fully to justify accjuisition. ]\Iore and more the 

 supply and production of wood is becoming an international question. 



We ought to know much more definitely what our own forest re- 

 sources are ; how much timber is actually being grown and the possi- 

 bility of production. We need the foundation in economic knowledge 

 for a wide extension in our national policy in forestry and the part that 

 should be played by the Federal Government, the States, municipali- 

 ties, and private interests. As rapidly as possible the foundation should 

 be extended for technical practice in the growing of forests. I doubt 

 if we can have it ready as soon as it will be needed. Lack of knowl- 

 edge of materials, rule-of-thumb industrial processes, and ignorance of 

 economic considerations in our forest industries have been made more 

 glaring by the war than ever and call for a greatly expanded endeavor. 



The war has emphasized over and over again the need for research 



