12 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



which, if import. -A, would cost the State over $25,000,000. Of its northern half, a laud surface of over 18,000,000 

 acres, only 7 per cent is cultivated, the rest forming one continuous body of forest and waste land. From this area 

 there have licen cut during the last sixty years more than 85,000,000,000 feet B. M. of pine lumber alone, and the 

 annual cut during the past ten years exceeded on the average 3,000,000,000 feet per year. 



The lumber industries e\-ploiting this resource represented in 1890 one-sixth of the total taxable property in 

 the State, paid to over 55.000 men the sum of over $15,000,000 in wages, and the value of their products was equal 

 to more than one-third the entire output of agriculture in the State. Of the original stand of about 130,000,000,000 

 feet of pine about 17,000,000,000 feet are left, besides about 12,000,000,000 feet of hemlock and 16,000,000,000 feot of 

 hard woods. The annual growth, which at present amounts to about 900,000,000 feet and of which only 250,000,000 

 feet is marketable pine and over 500,000,000 feet hard woods, is largely balanced by natural decay of the old, over- 

 ripe timber. In almost every town of this region logging has been carried on and over 8,000,000 of the 17,00(1,000 

 acres are "cut-over" lands, largely burned over and waste. It would not bo overstating it to say that 4,000,000 

 acres of these cut-over lands are for the present and must be for a long time in the future a desert, useless for any 

 purpose. The wooded area proper is steadily being reduced by logging and to a smaller extent by clearing. 



At present nothing is done cither to protect or restock the denuded cut-over lands, of which fully 80 per cent 

 are now unproductive waste land, and probably will remain so for a long time. This policy causes a continuous and 

 ever-growing loss to the Commonwealth, amounting at present to about 800,000.000 feet per year of useful and much- 

 needed material, besides gradually but surely driving from the State the industries which have been most conspicu- 

 ous in its development, depriving a cold country of a valuable factor in its climatic conditions, and affecting 

 detrimentally the character of the main drainage channels of the State. 



The second reason for the establishment of the Division of Forestry is based on a considera- 

 tion of the broad interest which attaches to the forest cover on account of its influence on water- 

 How, soil and climatic conditions, and is of even more moment than the question of material 

 supplies. 



In spite of the facts, which have become clear to most other civilized nations, namely, that a 

 forest cover on the slopes of mountains" prevents erosion and equalizes waterflow, reduces danger 

 from floods, and decreases extremes in high and low water stages, in spite of these well known 

 observations, the Government of the United States has persisted in allowing its vast public timber 

 domain on the .western mountain ranges to be destroyed by fire and otherwise, and spends millions 

 of dollars annually in river and harbor bills to dig out the eroded farms, which have been swept 

 into the river for lack of the protection of the soil at head waters and along shores. 



Untold misery and poverty is inflicted upon tire settlers in the lower vaileys by this inatten- 

 tion. Instead of curing the evil by rational forest management, recourse is had to river improve 

 incuts which can only be temporary, and are excessively expensive. Even the celebrated 

 inaugurator of the jetty system, Captain Eads, came finally to the conclusion that the cure of the 

 Mississippi floods was to be applied to the head waters and upper river shores rather than at the 

 mouth of the river. 



The Division has not failed to bring together all the available information, both of experience 

 and experiment, which goes to confirm the relation of forest cover to waterflow, soil, and climate, 

 presenting it in various reports, a final and full discussion of the subject being contained in 

 Bulletin No. 7, Division of Forestry. 



Since this relation, the influence of forests on surrounding conditions, is rightly claimed to 

 impose upon the Government the duty to protect and preserve the forest cover on mountain 

 slopes, a resume of the present status of this question of forest influences is appended to this 

 report. 



The knowledge of the amelioration of climatic conditions which it is possible to secure by tree 

 growth has induced the Federal Government to encourage the growing of groves on the forestless 

 plains and prairies under the so-called timber culture act. If that act had been framed with more 

 knowledge of the requirements of tree growth, in other words, if the Division of Forestry, with 

 expert advice, had been in existence and had been called upon to frame the regulations, the law 

 would have proved less of a failure than it has; less waste of energy and less disappointment 

 would have been the share of the deluded settlers who were trying to satisfy the requirements of 

 the law. It is well known that the law was abolished owing to the unsatisfactory results. 



Nevertheless, tree planting in the forestless regions for the sake of ameliorating climatic condi- 

 tions is and will be one of the occupations of the settlers of those regions. To assist these efforts 

 has also been one of the objects for which the Division was established. 



The third reason for the establishment of a Government agency to study and report on 

 forestry was that this art was until that time entirely unknown in this country; even the very 



