64 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE 



large tops and through clear cutting. A Forestry Com- 

 mission through a State Forester and by other naeans 

 should educate the people in the conservative manage- 

 ment of timber lands. 



Turpentine operations are nowhere practiced exten- 

 sively in the State. The greatest damage to the forest 

 in connection with turpentining is through fires. By the 

 use of a cup system, turpentining would undoubtedly 

 yield large profits when carried on in connection with 

 lumbering operations. 



The manner of harvesting tree crops has a very great 

 influence on the character and quality of the succeeding 

 stand. Where forest lands are more valuable for forestry 

 than for agriculture, a portion of the stand should be left 

 for seeding purposes, and the most valuable species should 

 be favored as against the undesirable species. 



Forest taxation has a great influence on conservative 

 forest management. The principle that the land should 

 be taxed annually apart from the timber growing upon it, 

 and that the timber crop should be taxed when cut, is 

 one which has been long recognized in the tax laws in 

 those European countries where forest management is 

 most highly developed. Such a law would be unconsti- 

 tutional in Mississippi, and timber land owners must look 

 for justice to the leniency of the assessor in estimating the 

 value of this class of property. 



School and tax lands should be managed conserva- 

 tively, in order to yield the highest returns possible and 

 to serve as practical object lessons in forest management 

 to the people of the State. 



LEGISLATION. 



Past Legislation. — Past legislation concerning the for- 

 ests was enacted at a time when economic conditions in 

 the State were quite different from present conditions, and 

 when the chief problems seemed to be in connection with 

 the theft of timber. The fire law has proved to be quite 

 inadequate, because it did not provide for a definite organ- 



