SOLVING OUR FORESTRY PROBLEMS 111 



Colorado, and Arizona. They devote the same de- 

 gree of science and skill to the solution of tree 

 growing and lumbering problems as the agricul- 

 tural experiment stations give to questions of 

 farm and crop management. Despite the fact that 

 these forestry stations did fine work for the sec- 

 tions that they served, recently a number of them 

 had to close, due to lack of funds. Congress does 

 not yet realize the importance of this work. 



More forest experiment stations are needed 

 throughout the country. Such problems as what 

 kinds of trees are best to grow, must be solved. 

 Of the 495 species of trees in this country, 125 

 are important commercially. They all differ in 

 their histories, characteristics and requirements. 

 Research and study should be made of these trees 

 in the sections where they grow best. Our knowl- 

 edge regarding tree planting and the peculiarities 

 of the different species is, as yet, very meagre. 

 We must discover the best methods of cutting 

 trees and of disposing of the slash. We must 

 investigate rates of growth, yields and other prob- 

 lems of forest management. We must study the 

 effect of climate on forest fires. We must con- 

 tinue experiments in order to develop better 

 systems of fire protection. 



