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Amendment Number Nine 





A MENDMENT NUMBER NINE should be clear to every 

 j~\ member of the Minnesota Forestry Association. The 

 entire situation with regard to the passage of this im- 

 portant amendment to the constitution should be well in mind. 



Naturally, the friends of forestry will be the hardest work- 

 ers for the amendment this fall. With an active campaign 

 already starting for this amendment, it is well for every mem- 

 ber of the association to ask himself this question: "Do I 

 fully understand what this amendment will do? Can I answer 

 intelligently questions that may be asked of me?" 



The time is at hand when every friend of forestry must 

 rally to the cause. Now the time has come when real, con- 

 structive work can be done. Study the subject of state for- 

 ests. Talk state forests and the advisability of using the 

 state's non-agricultural lands for the planting of trees. 



A few points on Amendment No. 9 are presented herewith. 

 They will bear careful study and enlargement: 



There are eleven amendments on the ballet this year, and 

 the state forests amendment is the ninth in the list; therefore, 

 it is called "No. 9." It provides that all those state lands 

 which are unfit for farming shall not be sold, but be retained 

 by the state as state forests, and be managed according to 

 the economic principles of forestry. 



The state originally owned 8% million acres of land; 2 l / 2 

 million are left. Much of the best is gone, and of the remain- 

 ing 2y 2 million acres thousands of acres are entirely unfit for 

 tillage. 



If these thousands of acres are managed according to for- 

 estry principles, they will eventually provide steady employ- 

 ment for 10,000 men in the various branches of planting, log- 

 ging and milling. 



If these non-agricultural lands are sold as the present laws 

 provide, they will bring perhaps $5,000,000 provided they can 

 be sold. 



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