Why Trees And Forests Should Be Planted And 

 Protected In Minnesota. 



BY MINNIE SPLITTSTOESSER, 

 Wood Lake, Minn. 



The primitive forest ranks almost with the moun- 

 tains in its effect on man, on his mode of livelihood, 

 and consequently on commerce. 



The lumber supply is decreasing 

 more and more every year and if 

 no trees are planted in the places 

 of those cut away there will come 

 a time when there will be no lumber 

 and we will have to import every 

 bit we use. This will make the 

 lumber very expensive. 



In the earlier times there were 

 fifty-four thousand square miles of 

 forests. To the earlier settlers, forests seemed mere- 

 ly a hiding place for Indians and wild beasts. They 

 thought the sooner they could cut them away the bet- 

 ter. They also cut them and burned them so they 

 could cultivate the land. The forests were decreasing 

 so fast that the people thought that there would be 

 a depletion of our forests and a timber famine in the 

 near future. But our increased transportation facili- 

 ties made it possible to get lumber from other places 

 and that together with what we had prevented the 

 timber famine. 



. If no trees and forests would be planted and pro- 

 tected what will we do when they are gone? Wood 

 is used for so many things that it would be very ex- 



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