A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1491 



and its inherent value will therefore be increased. In such instances 

 the cost of planting becomes a charge against the entire operation 

 rather than against the individual areas planted. The cost is a capital 

 investment that does not have to stand alone, but is justified by pro- 

 viding continuity and improvement to a going operation. 



One lumber company in the South became convinced that reforesta- 

 tion of its unproductive land by planting would permit it to operate 

 its sawmill and its pulp and paper mill on a permanent sustained-yield 

 basis. This company to date has planted more than 28,000 acres. 

 In the Northwest one company, to assist in building up a permanent, 

 sustained output, has maintained a forest nursery with an annual 

 capacity of 2 million trees and^ has planted 8,000 acres to date. In 

 the redwood region of California redwood operators in the interests 

 of permanent operation have planted more than 26,000 acres, using 

 some 13 million trees, this planting being more for the purpose of 

 improving the density of the natural restocking than to reforest 

 completely denuded or barren areas. These few examples indicate 

 the possibilities of commercial planting as a part of going operations 

 where there is a desire to operate on a permanent basis. 



Planting by private agencies to create stands independent of natural 

 timber growth under favorable conditions has been profitable in the 

 past and will continue to be so. When divorced from the financial 

 support of natural forest growth, plantations established by private 

 agencies, to be profitable, should be confined to the more fertile, pro- 

 ductive, and accessible sites. Rapid growth on such selected areas 

 and a ready market for small material removed in thinnings and for 

 the main crop will largely remove the financial risk that may other- 

 wise be present. 



There is no question about the desirability of greatly increased 

 forest planting on farms. The farm woodlands, because of their ac- 

 cessibility and the purposes they serve, can be far more intensively 

 managed than the average forest properties. Land submarginal and 

 not suited to agricultural crops constitutes a part of many farms. 

 Experience has repeatedly shown the possibility of disposing of wood 

 as a cash crop at times when other sources of farm income have been 

 seriously curtailed. Planting stock in most States can be secured at 

 cost through Federal and State cooperation. Much of the cost of 

 planting can be charged to otherwise idle time. The home demand 

 for the timber is ordinarily present just as soon as the trees reach 

 fuelwood size. These conditions together with the fact that farm 

 woodlands make up more than one fourth of our total commercial 

 forest area, indicate very extensive opportunities for effective and 

 profitable reforestation by farmers and other small property owners 

 for the purpose of reviving and extending farm woodland areas. 



AID IN THE SOLUTION OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 



A discussion of the causes and probable social effects of wholesale 

 agricultural and cut-over forest land abandonment and of widespread 

 unemployment is outside the scope of this section of the report. It 

 is pertinent, however, to point out the possibilities of forest planting 

 as an aid in meeting the situation. 



To the extent that present unemployment is due to technological 

 causes, such as the replacement of man power by machines, the over- 



