THE STATE REVIE\Y. 



supervisor in the upper peninsula, for the pur- 



sovving some forestry seed in each 



ii-hip. I a-ked these official.- to do what 



tlu-v can in tlieir respective- districts and to 



bring the subject up at the tmviiship meetings. 



irestry literature. Many 



supervisors are old-time lumbermen 



and very inllncntial in their district..-. A num- 



.iiul encouraging replii 

 rs li:i\ e been reci 



Mr. Garhelcl ''My <|iieslion regarding this 

 :>lcd by tile recent report of 



Mr. i lire warden, who places the 



resulting from the great conflagration 



in the upper peninsula this year at about $475,- 



. re based on the destruction 



;,itnre stuff, \\hile nu attention what- 



i- given fi tlie loss of the babies, and all 



(rue forester- think most of the baby trees.'' 



Mr. liissell "In coming over to Grand Rap- 

 id- vr-tcnhiy I rode some distance with a 

 prominent railway oti'cial. who told me he had 

 been opening some bids on white pine, pattern 

 lumber, and the price quoted was $300 per 

 thousand. He told me that this made him sit 

 up and take notice of the rapid appreciation 

 nf timber values." 



"In those German districts where soils arc 

 poorest, or the forest region-. Forest and farm, 

 larm and forest, lay side- by side everywhere, 

 and this diversity is an important point. Tin- 

 belter snil is tilled and the farmers wb-i-i 

 partly t'hrongh the fore.-ts and the work re- 

 quired in their care. You will find there ! 

 industries, small manufacturers, small mer- 

 chants and thriving communities. It seems to 

 to appeal lo n- in Michigan. 

 Sonu- ol the newspapers of northern Michigan 

 been contending that tb.-y didn't want 

 to be in the backwoods forever, but where 

 could they be surer of greater prosperity for 

 their sections of country than in the preserva- 

 tion of these forests as feeders for factories 

 '.nd the varied industries' 



"Central Kurope has forests that yield a 

 permanent revenue, a public sentiment that 

 backs up its lire laws, and prosperous people 

 whose very existence depends on the forests 

 themselves. When Michigan comes to realize 

 that its non-agricultural lands should be grow- 

 ing trees, that every industry of the state 

 would be affected thereby, she will have fo.und- 

 ecl her future prosperity on a rock, not in loose 

 sands." 



Prof. Mulford's Experience. 



HE DESCRIBES THE CONDITIONS IN THE 

 STATE FORESTS OF GERMANY. 



Prof. Walter Mulford, of the University of 

 Michigan, was the next speaker, and he gave 

 a very clean cut and happy presentation of the 

 .subject, "What 1 Saw of Forestry in Ger- 

 many." Prof. Mulford said in part: 



"Germany and central Kurope have forests 

 wherever there are waste lands. In the eastern 

 part of Prussia is located a large area of sand 

 plains, with patches of better soil, the land 

 being analogous to parts of Michigan. The 

 climate is no better than here and the soil is 

 no better. Indeed, it is not so good, for Prus- 

 sia ha- soil that will never make agricultural 

 lands. The population of Prussia is far more 

 dense than here, therefore the temptation to 

 cut and the fire risk is greater. 



Similar to Michigan. 



''Similar to Michigan we find in Prussia 

 forests that are young, middle-aged and old, 

 and they are coming on in regular procession, 

 -Is which regulate the stream-How, which 

 furni-h water-power, supporting thriving 

 population- and yielding good incomes to their 

 owners. The net income of the forest land 

 ranges from $1 to JV> an acre annually, accord- 

 ing to circumstances, in Prussia's sand plains, 

 and you can readily figure what this would 

 mean to Michigan if such an income were ob- 

 tained from her waste laud-. The Zurich for- 

 ests have been managed since the ninth cen- 

 tury, and yield at least six per cent income 

 on the investment. These soils are better than 

 they were l.Hiii years ago. 



Xow, as to Tires in German forests. I in- 

 quired of many people as to what- special 

 measures are taken, and the almost universal 

 reply was that no special measures are taken. 

 and that they have no fires. Records show 

 that an average of only 191 acres in an area of 

 a million acres has been burned over in the 

 past fifteen years. Public sentiment is against 

 The people realize that their welfare 

 depends on the welfare of the forests. They 

 liavc good fire laws, and they are backed up 

 by strong public feeling. 



Question of Fires. 



"To refer for a moment to conditions in our 

 own country. In a pine township in Connec- 

 ticut they have not suffered from forest fire 

 in :;<> years while I know of another township 

 there that is half burned over every year. In 

 the pine township the timber is the people's 

 bread and butter, and is carefully looked after, 

 while in the other section tobacco-growing is 

 the leading industry, and the people pay no 

 attention to the timber. We must develop a 

 public sentiment in Michigan that will give 

 strong support to its fire laws. 



Prof. Filibert Roth. 



At tin- close of the Tuesday morning session 

 President Bissell appointed a committee on 

 nominations as follows: H. N. Loud, Au 

 Sable; Prof. Filibert Roth, Ann Arbor: H. I. 

 Armstrong, Detroit; C. S. Udell, Grand Rap- 

 its; John Ihlder, Grand Rapids. 



PROF. ROTH'S PLEA. 



WHY CERTAIN LANDS SHOULD BE DE- 

 VOTED TO FOREST RENEWALS. 



Beautiful chrysanthemums loaned fjr the 

 ion by local florists adorned the presid- 

 ing officer's desk at the opening of the after- 

 noon session. The attendance had materially 

 increased since morning, and wa- representa- 

 tive of the best thought and culture of the 

 state. 



President Hissell appointed as committee on 

 resolutions the following: Arthur Hill. Sagi- 

 iiaw; Henry G. Stevens, Detroit; Thos B. W'y- 

 nian, Munising; Mrs. ]. C. Sharp, Jackson. 



Prof. Roth was the first speaker, the topic 

 being "The Situation in Michigan." 



"] have always felt," said he. apologetically. 

 'that there should lie more doers than talkers 

 in meetings of this kind. The life of a nation 

 of people runs very much like the life of the 

 individual. Opportun : !i;s for good and bad 



to every people, just as they come to 

 every person, and. as with the individual, it is 

 the wise (perhaps the lucky, too) who seize 

 the opportunities for good and succeed. A 

 - nation like ours, like the child. 

 [litter of today, and with child-like prodi- 

 gality, use- up and wastes what it possesses 

 with an utter indifference to consequence and 

 future. And. like the child, it often fails to 

 see th unity for good and mistakes the 



opportunity for evil, and glories in deeds which 

 serious error. 



An old people, such as the Chinese, like the 

 old man. tired of his struggles and reluctant 

 to change, allows all opportunity to pass along, 

 progressing in a slow senile degeneration. 



Some opportunities for good come to a peo- 

 ple every day, but the great opportunities, 

 those which shape the future of a people for 

 centuries, are rare and far between, and to 

 miss them becomes historic error. Besides 

 being engaged in their private, corporate and 

 municipal affairs, the people of Michigan are 

 busying themselves today with primary re- 

 form, with questions of control or ownership 

 of public service corporations and other semi- 

 public enterprise, what is perhaps more im- 

 portant, we are on the eve of a revision of our 

 organic law. Here we have a number of im- 

 portant opportunities for good or evil; and 

 yet, if we fail in any one of these, it is merely 

 a matter of delay; if the Constitution of 1907 

 does not suit, we revise it in 1U10. 



Opportunity of Forestry. 



But the opportunity which interests us to- 

 day is that of Forestry. It has been recog- 

 nized for the nation by several of our presi- 

 dents, and notably President Roosevelt. This 

 opportunity, in other states, has led New York 

 to spend millions in buying back what she 

 threw away a century ago; it has led Pensyl- 

 vania to start a campaign of buying her de- 

 nuded lands at prices up to $5 per acre, and 

 it has led our neighbor state, Wisconsin, to 

 declare all her state lands Forest Reserve, and 

 even Indiana to establish forest reserves and 

 a state forestry system. 



The opportunity for forestry in our state is 

 not only by far the greatest opportunity before 

 the people, but, like real great opportunities 

 generally, it is one which will not return soon, 

 if ever, and the use of which will in part de- 

 termine the progress yes, the very life of our 

 people for centuries to come. 



This great opportunity for good, in the di- 

 rection of forestry, is a combination of circum- 

 stances. The principal factors in this com- 

 bination today are: First, a large area of 

 lands well suited by climate and soil and pres- 

 ent ownership to the growth of forest, and yet 

 not well suited to other forms of agriculture. 

 ' Second, a large home consumption, the best 

 of near-by markets, and the choicest system 

 of waterways to guarantee a steady and rising 

 market for all the forest can produce. And 

 the last but, perhaps, most important an 

 appreciation and a sentiment in favor of im- 

 mediate action in the direction of forestry 

 among all classes of our people. 



Some Considerations. 



As regards our climate, nothing need be 

 said: nature has tried faithfully and persist- 

 ently to heal over our fire-scarred wa-te 

 lands, and it is only through man's and the 

 state's perversity that all her kind efforts have 

 i-t at naught. 



The question of the lands is different. It 

 need- to be considered from two standpoints, 

 natural condition of the land and that of own- 

 ership. 



No doubt many a Michigan man envied 

 fowa her 95 per cent of excellent plow land; 

 but the story of Iowa is not yet finished, and 

 the day may come when most farmers in 

 Iowa wish that more of their land were forest 

 land and forest and they had a little home- 

 grown timber to use. 



In discussing this matter of land, much un- 

 necessary error and consequent feeling creeps 

 in and confuses the issue. The man who 



