DR. COMPTON'S fourteen POINTS 951 



ern yellow pine? When it is gone, we shall use Douglas fir. When 

 walnut, hickory, and ash are gone we may use in their places some 

 other hardwood species from our forests." Such optimism is not 

 warranted by facts. Our hickory is nearly gone and the vehicle 

 manufacturers have not yet discovered a fully satisfactory substitute 

 among our numerotis hardwood species. They are searching the 

 tropical forests of Mexico, South America, and even central Africa 

 for substitutes. We are afraid it will be hard to convince the users 

 of vehicles that the ruthless cutting out of the hickory was not detri- 

 mental to their interests. The same is true to a large extent of ash, 

 yellow poplar and black walnut. The difference between eliminating 

 certain species from forests managed by foresters, and the elimina- 

 tion of certain kinds of trees from our forests by present methods of 

 lumbering is that they work in diametrically opposite directions. The 

 foresters try to eliminate the inferior species, and build up a forest 

 of the more valuable kinds. The lumberman culls out the choicest 

 and best kinds, and leaves the inferior ones to form the future forest. 

 It will be a great economic loss to completely cut out the southern 

 pines, particularly the longleaf, because so far we do not know of a 

 single species that could do as well and be as valuable, both on ac- 

 count of its timber and resin, as the longleaf pine. While Euro- 

 pean countries are searching out our valuable species such as long- 

 leaf pine, walnut, Douglas fir, and introducing them in their own 

 forests, the "economists" of the lumber industry want us to believe 

 that their virtual disappearance is not detrimental to the public wel- 

 fare. 



4. "The cutting dozvu of old trees faster than new trees are grow- 

 ing up does not of itself signify public loss." 



If provision is made for replacement of the old growth by new 

 forests in amounts sufficient to meet the needs of the country for 

 forest products, the removal of the mature forest even at a more 

 rapid rate than the new growth comes up. may be justified. Without 

 such provision, removal of the mature forest can lead to nothing but 

 destruction of the forest resources, and that is where the lumber in- 

 dustry is headed. Dr. Compton is an optimist when it comes to our 

 future needs for lumber. He contrasts the per capita consumption 

 of lumber in the United States and in Germany and hopefullv pre- 

 dicts that some day we may come to Germany's level. Since that 

 would mean a n:reat reduction in our per capita lumber consumption, 



