letter, whether the devastation he speaks of refers 

 to us, or whether we were the absolute lack of civiliza- 

 tion he mentions, or both. Anyway, we sure prized 

 that phonograph, and thoroughly enjoyed all eight of 

 the records that went with it. 



Tree Planting in Minesota 



BY A. F. OPPEL 



Tree planting in Minnesota has been sadly neglect- 

 ed. The vast areas of idle lands, an ever diminishing 

 supply of timber, and a steadily increasing cost of 

 lumber with a corresponding decrease in quality, are 

 factors of vital importance. Population is increasing 

 with a consequent greater demand for housing facili- 

 ties. People must have suitable places to which they 

 may go for recreation. Most of our game, birds and 

 fish are dependent upon woodlands for their exis- 

 tence. Our forests have been exploited almost to the 

 limit, but little effort has been made to replace the 

 trees that have been cut down or destroyed by fires. 

 It is therefore very urgent that the State should take 

 the lead in various tree planting problems if we are 

 to guard against a timber shortage in the not distant 

 future. 



Since the spring of 1915, the State has planted ap- 

 proximately 1,200 acres (1,200.000 trees) in the State 

 Forests, as follows: 



Itasca Park 600 acres 



Burntside Forest 500 acres 



Pillsbury Forest 100 acres 



These plantings were not as successful as they 

 might have been, because they were more in the na- 



12 



