160 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



What is the reason that we have made so little progress in our 

 attempts at reform? Why should this important subject not 

 have found more attention, and why is there not more effort in 

 bringing it to an issue? There are many reasons for it. The first 

 reason is that the men who are engaged in bringing about this 

 reform have been and often still are at fault. There are many of them who 

 are simply enthusiasts without sufficient practical knowledge of the sub- 

 ject. They are indignant at seeing the havoc and destruction that is 

 wrought by improper practices of the lumbermen, and all they do is to 

 denounce the lumbermen, instead of suggesting to them practical methods 

 of overcoming the difficulty. Now these friends ought to understand that 

 the lumbermen are not alone to blame and that their case has some reason- 

 able background. These same enthusiasts have talked about forest in- 

 fluence on climate and waterflow in a loose way. As to the existence of that 

 influence there can be no doubt, but as to exactly how far that influence 

 is felt and in what directions it is all powerful, there are a great many 

 varying opinions, all based upon good reasons. Therefore, we must not 

 generalize on this matter too fast. Whenever there was a flooding of the 

 country, our enthusiasts urged that the destruction of the forests is the 

 cause. That is not necessarily so. Very likely, nay, assuredly, there is 

 some such influence upon waterflow exerted by the forest areas, which 

 tends to lessen the dangers of floods, but there are many floods that would 

 occur, forest or no forest. 



So I say our forestry friends are to be blamed somewhat for represent- 

 ing things not in their true light, and for not addressing themselves to 

 those men who ought to be most interested in the subject, the lumber- 

 men, with arguments and demonstrations of the advantage to be derived 

 from changed methods. 



Forestry statistics are avaong the most difficult to get, as every lumber- 

 man who has timber-lookers under him very well knows. Even the tim- 

 ber-looker, who makes it his business to go out and determine how much 

 wood there is per acre, will often make a mistake of fifty to one hundred 

 per cent one way or the other. If that is the case when referring to small 

 areas, how much more difficult is it to get an answer to a question as to 

 the forest resources of the United States, as to the supply compared with 

 the consumption. The lumbermen say we have more timber than we 

 need, that our timber resources are inexhaustible; that is, they used to 

 say it. There are a good many lumbermen now who will agree with me, 

 that, as far as the supply of one kind of lumber at least is concerned, the 

 white pine, we begin to see the end. Not necessarily within ten or 

 twenty-five years, because that depends upon many contingencies which 

 nobody can foretell— the substitution of other woods for white pine, and 

 therefore less consumption; the substitution of iron, which will lessen the 

 consumption, etc. But comparing our present consumption of white pine 

 with the areas we have, it will be but a few years comparatiA'ely before we 

 reach the end. 



Some of you perhaps do not know that it takes from one hundred 

 to two hundred years to grow those fine trees which we cut every 

 day; in fact, we are cutting mostly trees that are older. In the South 

 any pine that is below two hundred years of age was until lately not con- 

 sidered worth bringing to the saw-mill; it was not worth the cutting. 



