172 



Canadian Forestry Journal^ November, 191S. 



WHY EVERY WESTERN FARMER 

 SHOULD GROW TREES. 



By Mr. J. J. Ming, Crystal City, Man. 



Protection is one of Nature's first laws, 

 and seems to be the first law of nations. 

 Then, why not protect our homes by plant- 

 ing trees for windbreaks and shelter belts. 

 They add to the comfort of the home by 

 providing surroundings of a restful and 

 beautiful character. 



We can not over-estimate the value of 

 tree planting in the prairie provinces. The 

 economic value of the shelter belts cannot 

 be expressed in dollars. For many reasons, 

 an ample, properly located windbreak 

 should be grown around the farm home. Its 

 protecting arms embrace the dwelling house, 

 and the barns, stables and sheds. The 

 strong, hardy, beautiful trees are set for 

 defence, and when the winter blizzards come 

 charging across the prairies and find the 

 farm home intrenched behind a living ram- 

 part of trees, the fierce breath is robbed 

 of power to worry and destroy. The wind 

 rolls over; the snow is held back in the lee 

 of the shelter belts; the farm-yards are free 

 of snow banks. Who can put a money value 

 on the shelter belts? 



If possible they are of more value in the 

 summer. When the dry, blighting hot winds, 

 and the fierce cutting sandstorms attack 

 our homes, we are comparatively safe be- 

 hind the invicible, swaying home-guard of 

 trees. Can a price be put on the comfort 

 and enjoyment our families and friends re- 

 ceive from the cool refreshing shade and 

 shelter of trees? 



The farm animals, poultry and our wild 

 birds enjoy the protection. We find from 

 long experience that we can raise better 

 and finer flavored garden vegetables in the 

 shelter than in the open. To get the best 

 results from small fruits, flowers and shrubs, 

 we must have shelter. 



TREE PLANTING IN NORWAY. 



The western coast of Norway was heavily 

 wooded a few centuries ago, but now this 

 coast strip has become bleak and desolate 

 with the passing of those forests. To restore 

 the forest glories of the west coast the Bergen 

 Tree-Planting Society was founded in 1900. 

 It has set itself a tremendous task demanding 

 vast expenditures of money, time and labor 

 but, nothing daunted, the society has en- 

 listed the aid of the Government and wealthy 

 citizens and has already made substantial 

 progress. In the thirteen years of work 

 carried on this society has planted nearly 

 37,000,000 trees, two-thirds of them on a 

 tract of 10,000 acres in the two Bergenhua 

 counties. Stimulated by such an exanaple 

 144 smaller societies have been organized 

 in these counties, and last year they set out 

 2,276,00 trees. 



THE UNTHINKING MATCH. 



A match doesn't think with its head. 

 When you use it, your head has to do all 

 the thinking. Don't trust the match to fall 

 where it cannot start a fire and thus make 

 you responsible. The progeny of matches — 

 cigarette or cigar stubs and camp fires — 

 have no heads at all. Do not trust them, 

 either. Do the thinking. Put them out. 



RAILWAYS AND FORESTS. 



Every acre of forest land in North Caro- 

 lina is worth more to the railroads for the 

 timber value than the people who own the 

 land. The railroads get more from hauling 

 the timber than the man who owns the tim- 

 ber receives from selling it. . . . The 

 railroads try harder to prevent forest fires 

 than the people do. — Mr. B. E. Bice of the 

 Norfolk Southern Railway at North Carolina 

 Forestry Conference. 



REVENUE FROM FORESTS IN U. S. 



Receipts from the national forests of the 

 United States were nearly $2,500,000 for 

 the year ending June 30, 1913. About half 

 of the receipts were for timber. During the 

 year the Government let contracts totaling 

 $4,000,000 for the sale of timber to be cut 

 at once or in the future. Of the gross forests' 

 receipts, 35 per cent, go to the States in 

 which the forests are located, to be used for 

 schools and roads. 



WASTE FROM WOOD. 



The possibility of more thoroughly util- 

 izing the enormous quantity of waste re- 

 sinous wood produced in the lumbering 

 industry has been disclosed by an investi- 

 gation just completed by the bureau of 

 chemistry of the United States Agricul- 

 tural Department. The annual waste, it 

 is estimated, is not less than 8,000,000 

 cords. This, according to the investiga- 

 tors, can be manufactured into paper pulp, 

 turpentine, resin oils, pine oils, wood al- 

 cohol and other products to a value of 

 nearly $300,000,000. The investigation 

 shows that the industries of paper making, 

 wood distillation and resin oil production 

 can be developed in combination. 



'Their development not only will open 

 a profitable field of industry,' says the 

 bureau '^s report, 'but should prove a big 

 factor in the conservation, of natural re- 

 sources. In addition, by the utilization of 

 waste and fallen timber, the injury to the 

 forests by fire and insects will be ma- 

 terially reduced.' 



