132 JOURNAL OP FORESTRY 



more than any other branches of our Government have come to realize 

 the value of forest products, will probably be among the first to place 

 the timber lands in their control under forest management. The ten- 

 dency in this direction is shown in the case of the recently acquired 

 Gunpowder Neck Proving Ground, a forest tract of about 35,000 acres, 

 which it is planned to put in charge of a forester and manage as a 

 permanent resource. 



Farm forestry will be put on the map. The value of the farmer's 

 woodlot as a source of emergency fuel and of a supply of ordnance 

 wheels, airplane propellers, and other war material will forcibly drive 

 home to Government and State agencies concernd with the welfare of 

 the farmer the importance of the woodlot as a national asset. The 

 county agents who are now taking an active part in the wood-fuel cam- 

 paign throughout the country will after the war become the most effect- 

 ive agencies in the improvement of the farmer's woodlot. 



The value of the forests will stimulate interest in planting on the 

 part of the State and private individuals. 



If, with the diminished world supply of timber and higher prices for 

 lumber, private timber owners are still unable to safeguard this na- 

 tional asset from further destruction, enlightened public opinion may 

 demand some form or other of Government regulation of timber cut- 

 tings on private holdings. The lumbermen themselves, in the face of 

 the lessons taught by the war, will be more friendly to such Govern- 

 ment regulation ; and the Government, having learned how to handle 

 big enterprises, such as the equipment of a large citizen army, run- 

 ning of railroads, control of food production, and other national neces- 

 sities, will be better prepared to undertake such regulation. 



With the regulation of private timber holdings there must come also 

 more intensive forest management in the National Forests themselves, 

 which are merely a part of the timber resources of the country. 



Other factors which augur well for the better handling of our for- 

 ests in the future are the forest regiments now in France. In the 

 foresters and lumbermen who have worked shoulder to shoulder and 

 have learned first hand the French methods of forest regulation, the 

 country will have a body of men particularly fitted to adapt the utili- 

 zation of our forests to the changed needs of the time. 



Thus on the battle fields of Europe is being fought out not only the 

 future democracy of the world, but also the material foundation of all 

 democracies — the wise use of the natural resources. 



R. Z. 



