460 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



lick, George H. Wirt and R. Y. Stuart, of the State De- 

 partment of Forestry; Dr. Filibert Roth, Professor of 

 Forestry, University of Michigan; W. B. McCaleb, in 

 cliarge of water supply for the Pennsylvania Railroad ; 

 Major E. A. Ziegler, of the State Forest Academy ; Dr. 

 J. T. Rothrock, the father of Pennsylvania's forestry 

 progress; P. S. Ridsdale, Secretary of the American For- 

 estry Association, and others. 



What the foftstry situation in Pennsylvania has been 

 and is, is well told in a statement distributed at the meet- 

 ing, which says: 



"Pennsylvania's primeval forests were once the glory of 

 the State. They are practically gone today. The annual 

 forest product of Pennsylvania once exceeded in money 

 value that of any other State in the Union. It is no longer 

 a figure in the lumber market. 



"Because these forests have been destroyed, we suffer 

 a financial loss every year of not less than $8o,ooo,cxx). 

 Sum it up thus : 



For lumber which we buy elsewhere $50,000,000 



For freight on that lumber _ 25,000,000 



For loss in wages paid to labor _ 5,000,000 



$80,000,000 



"Add to this the annual loss from forest fires, the fre- 

 quent loss by destructive freshets, the closing of wood- 

 working industries, and it would be a conservative state- 

 ment to say that Pennsylvania's loss due to her vanished 

 forests is not less than $100,000,000 each and every year 

 as much as it has cost to conduct the State Government 

 for two years. 



"Until Pennsylvania again produces the timber re- 

 quired for home use, this drain upon the Commonwealth 

 will continue. The very best home grown timber for- 

 merly cost from seven to eight dollars a thousand feet. 

 We now pay $53 per thousand feet at the mill, and the 

 freight from Oregon to Pennsylvania in addtion. 



"It is estimated that Pennsylvania uses each year about 

 two and one-half billion feet, board measure, of lumber, 

 but is producing only about one-ninth as much. 



"Pennsylvania could produce lumber for home use and 

 have a considerable volume for sale to other states. 



"Without wood, every leading industry in the State 

 would be halted. 



"Six million acres in our State are producing no crops, 

 and are suitable for growth of timber only. To restore 

 them to growing timber, first prevent forest fires, then 

 replant them with useful forest trees. There is no other 

 way by which we can furnish the timber our industries 

 require, or can diminish the loss to our State that is caused 

 by lack of growing forests within State limits. 



"Our failure to begin restoration of our forests means 

 hardship for those who follow us. 



"The above is serious enough, but it is only a part of the 



forest problem. 



"If we had lumber of suitable kind, ni proper shape, 

 in sufficient quantity, given to us, without cost, and at the 

 points in the State where it was needed, it would not 

 produce all that we need for our comfort, health and 

 happiness. Without living, growing trees on these un- 

 productive lands, Pennsylvania would become progress- 

 ively poorer and life would become harder. 



"In ten years our supply of lumber from the Southern 

 States will cease. That from the Northwest will end 

 twenty years later and the United States must seek its 

 supply from some foreign country. Every industry of 

 this State is already suffering from lumber shortage due 

 to high price, which will increase at the years pass. 



"When a far-sighted organization like the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad sends aviators to South America to explore for- 

 ests for ties we know that the situation is serious. 



"It is hard to prove that trees increase the rain or snow 

 fall ; but there is no doubt that large bodies of timber aid 

 in saving what does fall. 



"In the absence of forests, our permanent supply of 

 water is becoming shorter. It is an established fact that 

 to obtain a steady supply of water in our wells, we must 

 dig deeper than formerly. And this is true over so wide 

 an area, that it indicates very serious conditions in the 

 future. 



"Land under cultivation here usually freezes so hard 

 in winter that most of the rain or melting snow runs off 

 of the surface instead of soaking into the ground. The 

 forest floor (if fires be kept off) is covered with leaves 

 which retain the heat of the earth, and which, by their own 

 decay, furnish heat so that the soil is not frozen. This 

 allows the water to soak into the ground. It is, therefore, 

 clear that our forests furnish most of the water that 

 comes to us during late autumn, winter and early spring. 



"There never can be a desert where there is a forest! 



"Every business interest in Pittsburg and in the valley 

 of the Allegheny demands that what water falls should 

 be, so far as possible, under control to guard against 

 damage from floods and to maintain navigation in periods 

 of drought. 



"Without an abundant supply of pure water, neither 

 health, comfort nor decency is possible anywhere, and so 

 far as we now see, the only possible aid that we can ren- 

 der in having and in retaining enough of it, must come 

 through the forest. 



"Forestry, therefore, concerns every home. A realiza- 

 tion of this fact has at last become general. Over our 

 entire State a new interest has been awakened. Your 

 need of a large State Forest for Pittsburg is as great 

 as that of Harrisburg or Philadelphia, and your claims 

 upon the State for it are as great as those of the East, 

 which have, in great measure, been granted. 



