REFORESTATION THAT WILL PAY DIVIDENDS 



BY ARTHUR NEWTON PACK 



'T'HERE is hardly a newspaper or magazine in the couu- 

 * try that has not at some time or other in the last 

 year or so proclaimed the rapid depletion of our timber 

 resources. We are told that if the present rate of con- 

 sumption continues without the creation, through refor- 

 estation, of vast new sources of supply, within the life- 

 time of a child born today we will have only great treeless 

 .vastes to contemplate, the lumber and paper industries 



One of the largest manufacturers of wood products an- 

 nounces that it has now permanently established itself in 

 Louisiana. It will never again cut out the last of its tim- 

 ber and pull up stakes in the old way to follow the ever- 

 receding forest, because through reforestation its own 

 supply is to be made inexhaustible. In common with 

 most other lumber manufacturers, the management of 

 this company once looked askance on the idea of reforest- 



LOCATIOX OF THE REFORESTATION PROJECT 



This is a view of Bogaiusa, Louisiana, showing in the distance the plant of the Great Southern Lumber Company, which is a 

 pioneer in the application of reforestation by lumber compani es, and expects to grow enough trees to supply its needs forever. 



will be dead, and wood the most high priced of all build- 

 ing materials. The remedy is there ; but who is willing 

 to apply it? 



Federal and State governments can and will expend 

 great sums of money for example and encouragement ; 

 private individuals may undertake smaller projects ; but 

 every year our wood-using industries continue to denude 

 an acreage about as large as the State of Massachusetts, 

 and the situation can be but little improved. Ultimately 

 it must be those great industries themselves, which, with 

 an awakened consciousness of the emergency confronting 

 them, and with the cooperation of public opinion as well 

 as governmental agencies, .will meet the issue. 



ation. Their hope was to build up, co-incident with the 

 lumber industry, a great agricultural center based on the 

 cut-over lands, which, when the mill had done its work, 

 was to give profitable occupation to all. After several 

 years of experimenting, however, it was evident that the 

 returns were hardly sufficient to form the basis of in- 

 dustrial permanency. It was then that the natural re- 

 growth of certain cut-over sections began to direct their 

 attention to the idea of reforestation, and the new policy 

 was the result. Instead of the usual group of ugly un- 

 painted shacks, this company has built a handsome town, 

 each building a model of its kind. Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. 

 A., hospital, hotel, offices, parks, schools and homes are 



THE RESEEDING CREW AT WORK 

 By fostering instead of hindering natural propagation the company plans to eliminate the necessity of artificial reseeding. 



