A F0RE;ST policy for LOUISIANA 505 



eventually, when placed before the public in final and simpler form, 

 may work to spare us some of the puttering which a clouded public 

 vision has forced older State forestry departments to indulge in. 



The aim of forestry is to secure a continuous production of forest 

 crops. To translate this from an academic proposition into a practical 

 reality is, of course, the central object of a forest policy in Louisiana 

 as in every other State. Such a translation requires an answer to the 

 two questions : Where and hoiv are we to secure this continuous pro- 

 duction ? 



Ideally, no land should be devoted to the growing of forests, either 

 permanent or temporary, which is capable at the time of more produc- 

 tive use. Let us consider the lands of Louisiana from the standpoint 

 of their value for agriculture, live-stock production, and forest growth. 

 The small areas more valuable for mineral use may be left out of con- 

 sideration. Louisiana was classified by Hilgard, and later by Dr. W. C. 

 Stubbs, many years ago, on the basis of vegetation, into eight types, 

 and these were reduced by combination to six by J. H. Foster, in his 

 examination of our forest resources, in 1912.- These latter are as fol- 

 lows : Sea marsh, of course treeless ; prairie region, likewise nearly 

 treeless ; alluvial region, including the cypress and tupelo deep swamps, 

 permanently wet, and the swampy areas, originally periodically over- 

 flowed, bordering all the large streams ; bluff region, intermediate in 

 topography and soil value between the alluvial and shortleaf-pine re- 

 gions, and characterized by hardwood growth chiefly ; shortleaf-pine 

 uplands, where the dominant species are shortleaf and loblolly pines 

 and upland hardwoods ; and the longleaf-pine region, including both 

 flats and hills. A rough estimate of the percentage of each type now 

 cultivated or in permanent, fenced pasture, and of the percentage capa- 

 ble of cultivation, if judged solely from the standpoint of soil fertility 

 and topography, has been obtained from the officials of the co-opera- 

 tive farm-extension bureau at Baton Rouge and is given in the follow- 

 ing table. These officials would be the last to claim exactitude for their 

 figures, which will nevertheless serve in the absence of any more careful 

 estimate. 



The question of fitness for range grazing may be covered in a sen- 

 tence ; there is scarcely any portion of the State that does not now 

 afford range grazing and could not be made into at least fair pasture, 

 good for 6 to 9 months of the year, by a systematic policy of seeding 

 to valuable species of grass, legumes, etc., followed by fire protection. 



Bulletin 114. Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, hy J. H. Foster. 



