A FORESTRY ENABLING LAW 505 



If on the average the cost of the land would be at least equal to 

 the cost of planting, then with a given outlay the Government could get 

 at least two acres planted under the plan here proposed to only one 

 if it had also to purchase the land. 



With the Government having a mortgage on the land and the private 

 individual owning it, in addition to the protection the Government 

 should give the plantation there would be the immediate interest in the 

 plantation which the owner would feel. 



For the Government to go to buying wild lands extensively would 

 force the price thereof up. The trouble with relying on private owners 

 is that the great majority look upon the maturing of a forest crop as 

 almost something that will occur in a distant geological age when there 

 will be no one living in whom they are interested and also the initial 

 expense which most of them feel they can not afford. 



Just at present the Government has outstanding a large amount of 

 bonds but those should decrease rapidly and the Government interest 

 rate should soon be back to a normal rate of 3 to 3^4 per cent, or at 

 the most 4 per cent. (One of the most cardinal considerations in any 

 reforestry plan is the great difference in ultimate cost between a low 

 rate of interest and a high rate of interest. For example $10 at 3 

 per cent compounded annually makes $106.41 in 80 years, but at 6 

 per cent $10 in 80 years makes $1,057.96.) There should then be a 

 good market for all the bonds the Government might issue under the 

 plan proposed. If desirable the interest might be made alternative at 

 a given rate payable annually or at a slightly higher rate payable at 

 the maturity of the bonds. 



It is assumed that the Government foresters would provide for 

 many tracts being set out to white ash or other tool-handle stuff and 

 fence-post material with bonds running for only 30 years or 40 years. 



It is also assumed that the Government would furnish the seedlings 

 free but if they preferred they could make a charge for seedlings at 

 cost which would increase the mortgage and the bond accordingly. 



Now let us assume if this opportunity was opened up to the people 

 in the districts where there is much idle land and a large percentage 

 of idle people, at least for a large part of the year, that is, of earning 

 as much as the current wage by doing something at which they would 

 be their own boss, that in a reasonable period of years 100,000.000 

 acres of land would be reforested. At the end of 50 years we could 

 expect 2,500,000.000 M. of white pine. At only SlO per M. it would 

 have paid our cost of the great war. 



Is not the best way of trying to get our forests back along some such 

 method as here outlined ? 



