278 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURA.L SOCIETY. 



they are in a position to do that more efifectually than any one else 

 almost. The danger from forest fires was made too manifest bj'- the 

 fires we had in '94, and there has been tar less destruction from tire 

 since the precautions were taken than before. 



You will find that the lumbermen are quite favorably inclined 

 toward giving- the cut-over lands to the state. As j^ou all know, the 

 lumbermen are perfectly willing to give over to the state the greater 

 part, perhaps all the lands, a very large portion of them at any rate, 

 after they have gone over them; they do not much care after the 

 timber has been cut off. They let them revert to the state for taxes 

 by sections and whole townships at a time. Thej'^ feel a good deal 

 about it like a Wisconsin farmer, living in central Wisconsin, who 



once said to a friend of mine, " Mr. , what will you give me for 



this farm?" My friend said, " Why I don't care to buy it from you." 

 "Just make me an offer." "I don't want your farm, — I don't want 

 your farm." The farmer looked at him a minute, and said, "Well, 



Mr. , you don't want it, and I don't want it, and the devil don't 



want it. I believe I will give it to the state of Wisconsin." That is 

 about the way the lumbermen feel concerning a good deal of this 

 land that is cut over. So, that as far as that question is concerned 

 you will find them all in favor of any practical plan in that 

 direction. 



There are some other suggestions I should like to make. One is» 

 the clearing away the debris in the woods. Now, mention that to the 

 lumbermen, and they will tell you it cannot be done in the next fifty 

 years, not until lumber is very much higher and labor very much 

 cheaper can it be done. They say that could it be as far as the ex- 

 pense was concerned, it is almost an impossible thing to do without 

 endangering the standing timber. The only time it could be done 

 would be when it is very green or when it is rain-soaked; that would 

 be the only time it could be burned, and every one knows what it is 

 to burn green pine or wet wood. It is almost an impossible thing 

 to do this. Then, the expense of clearing away the debris would be 

 so great as to banish any thought of it being done. It would cost, 

 they say, more to clean up the tops of the trees than to get the logs 

 out. All know, perhaps, about what it costs to get logs out, and 

 with the added expense, four or five dollars a thousand, such a thing 

 would be altogether impossible, at the present time at least. 



There is another thing which should be done, and which should 

 be taken into consideration. The lumbermen all admit that the 

 lumber is cut too close. Timber six inches in diameter ought not 

 to be cut. There are hundreds and thousands of logs in the saw- 

 mills of Minneapolis, that will hardly cut into a 2x4, That kind of 

 logging is destructive, is killing off our forests, and the lumbermen 

 would be only too glad to stop it. But you ask them why they do 

 it, and they will tell you for this reason, that their timber lands are 

 taxed so high, and even their cut-over lands are taxed so high, that 

 the only thing for them to do is to cut off the timber as quickly as 

 possible, sweep the land as clean as possible, and then have the 

 land go back to the state, so they will have to pay no more taxes 

 upon it. They have suggested that if the taxes on the cut-over 



