68 4 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



pany; Northern Pacific Railway; Penn- 

 sylvania Railroad; Seaboard Air Line 

 Railroad Company; Soo Line; South- 

 ern Railway System, and the Southern 

 Pacific Company. 



The railroad foresters, in a meeting 

 in Washington, D. C., in 1946, adopted 

 the following program to promote bet- 

 ter forestry practices: 



To identify the railroads as one of 

 the industries actively engaged in the 

 perpetuation of our forests. 



To encourage reforestation on for- 

 est lands not now producing revenue. 



To encourage forest-fire prevention. 



To promote forest conservation. 



To assist actively all forest agencies 

 in forestry education. 



To encourage use of proper grades 

 and species of wood by the railroads. 



A NEW POSITION in railroading is 

 that of the industrial forester, whose 

 work is to encourage the development 

 and better utilization of forest lands. 

 To that end, he cooperates with the 

 farm youth, the farmer, the forestry 

 associations, State and Federal, civic 

 organizations, State departments of 

 education, and the States served by 

 the railroad. 



The Seaboard Air Line Railroad was 

 the first to engage in such activity. Its 

 lines serve six Southeastern States, 

 which have more than 100 million 

 acres in forest lands and in which 

 numerous pulp and paper mills have 

 located since 1937. The Seaboard in- 

 itiated a forestry program in 1937. In 

 cooperation with the State forest serv- 

 ices, extension services, the United 

 States Forest Service, and State de- 

 partments of vocational agriculture, 

 this company has conducted woodland- 

 improvement demonstrations through- 

 out the Southeast. The demonstrations 

 have been well attended by adult 

 farmers, the veterans who receive on- 

 the-farm training, students of voca- 

 tional agriculture, and representatives 

 of wood-using industries. In them, 

 stress is placed on the proper marking 

 and cutting of the small farm wood- 

 lands and the use of varied types of 



equipment which can facilitate eco- 

 nomic efficiency in the farm woods. 

 Some of the equipment demonstrated 

 includes mechanical power saws and 

 tree planters. 



The Seaboard has given full cooper- 

 ation to wood industries and others in 

 forming associations to work for im- 

 provement in cutting practices and to 

 present facts on forestry to legisla- 

 tive committees. The need to protect 

 forests from fires, a vital part of the 

 program, is presented in exhibits, news 

 articles, contests, and meetings with 

 civic organizations, farm groups, and 

 railroad maintenance forces. 



The Seaboard operated a forestry 

 train over its system in 1941. At more 

 than fifty stops the message of better 

 protection and improved cutting prac- 

 tices was brought to people in the 

 Southeast. Menus in Seaboard dining 

 cars have featured information about 

 trees along the route. Radio broadcasts 

 on aspects of this railroad's forestry 

 activities have reached large audi- 

 ences. Since 1946 a forestry bulletin 

 has been published quarterly for 12,- 

 000 readers. It has featured articles on 

 various activities of Federal, State, and 

 extension forest services, departments 

 of vocational agriculture, and other 

 forestry associations. Outstanding work 

 in forestry by farmers, farm youth, and 

 others is given recognition in each issue. 



In cooperation with the vocational 

 agriculture departments of the six 

 Southeastern States, through the State 

 supervisors of vocational agriculture 

 and wood-using industries, the com- 

 pany has carried on a program with 

 young farmers since 1945. It includes 

 trips, scholarships to forestry training 

 camps, and bonds that have been 

 awarded to representatives of the na- 

 tional organization Future Farmers 

 of America for their work on their 

 own home wood lots. Classroom in- 

 struction and on-the-ground assistance 

 is a part of the plan. Plantings in Flor- 

 ida alone amounted to 1,000,000 seed- 

 lings during the 194748 planting 

 season, and in Alabama 1,400,000 seed- 

 lings were set out by students enrolled 



