THE TREE PLANTERS OF AMERICA 23 



PUBLIC OPINION 



A. L. Martin, Director of Farmers' Institutes, Department of 

 Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pa. 



"The Tree Planters of America." This work gives to me a 

 new inspiration for the development of better forestry conditions 

 in the United States, and I cannot but commend the National Busi- 

 ness League of America. 



David S. Gray, Vice-President The Hayden-Clinton National Bank, 



Columbus, Ohio. 



Referring to the suggestion of a plan to reforest the country, 

 through an organization of farmer boys and youth, to be known 

 as the "Tree Planters of America," I beg to say that I have care- 

 fully read the plan proposed and believe it to be not only practicable 

 but highly desirable, and, if organized and put in operation on lines 

 indicated, it would be effective in the accomplishment of the 

 important end in view. 



Edward J. Parker, President State Savings, Loan and Trust Com- 

 pany; President Illinois Outdoor Improvement Association, 

 Quincy, 111. 



"The Tree Planters of America," I am glad the National 

 Business League of America has taken up this matter, and in a very 

 practical way. The intelligent and self-sacrificing work of the 

 Honorable Gifford Pinchot and others in the matter of conservation 

 and reforestation, should be supplemented with the co-operation, 

 not only of other citizens, but of organizations, both municipal and 

 state. The effort of a single citizen, namely, the Honorable Sterling 

 Morton, has made Arbor Day a very practical matter in the country 

 at large. Travelers over the transcontinental lines in this country 

 and Canada, are surprised at the vast natural waste from 

 cyclones, avalanches, fires, etc. Careless hunters, beginning with the 

 aborigines have laid waste the forests of mountains and plains. It 

 is thought by some scientists that the plains between the Missouri 

 River and the Rocky Mountains were at one time covered with 

 forests, and that they were burned by the Indians in their hunting 

 expeditions. 



In Japan, the permission of the state and municipal authorities 

 must be obtained to cut timber, and, when it is cut, the forests are 

 renewed by intelligent planting, as the traveler plainly observes. 

 The old forest lands of China, Italy and Spain have been denuded, 

 and the commerce and wealth of those countries are injuriously 

 affected thereby. On the other hand, Germany has carried on the 

 work of reforestation for generations, and it has been said that her 

 planting has been done with reference to the ultimate exportation 



