AMERICAN FORESTRY 



475 



naval stores industry the shrinkage has been still more 

 marked, that industry having declined in productive 

 vigor 75 per cent in the last twenty years. 



Forest depletion, of course, is at the bottom of this 

 situation. There are twenty million acres of forest land 

 in the state, all of which has been cut over with the ex- 

 ception of about one million acres. The extent to which 

 these conditions have affected the wage earners of the 

 state is indicated by the fact that in 1900 the primary 

 forest industries of the state supplied employment to 

 38,827 wage earners and in 1920 to only 23,141, a decrease 

 of 40 per cent. In both 1900 and 1910, the forest indus- 

 tries of Georgia supplied employment to more persons 

 than all other industries combined, excluding the manu- 

 facture of cotton goods. 



Much more might be said about the inroads of forest 

 depletion upon the economic progress of this great 

 southern state. It is much more serious than the people 

 of the state appreciate. If its nineteen million acres of 

 cut-over land were being developed agriculturally t'le 

 future would hold out greater promise, but the area of 

 land in farms has actually declined in the past ten years. 

 The greatest enemy of the future of these cut-over lands 

 is the widespread public apathy and ignorance in re- 

 spect to the evil progress of forest depletion within the 

 state. 



But there are signs of a public awakening. The 

 Governor of the state is fully alive to the seriousness of 

 the situation, as is Dr. Soule, president of the State Agri- 



cultural College, and a number of other prominent men. 

 They are whole-heartedly supporting the forestry move- 

 ment in Georgia and with their help the Georgia Forestry 

 Association will do well to center its efforts on breaking 

 down the wall of public apathy which permits forest- 

 fires and other forms of forest depletion to proceed un- 

 restricted and uncontrolled. Opportunities for state de- 

 velopment and progress by enlightened utilization of 

 forest land are unexcelled in Georgia. Its wood pro- 

 ducing power is tremendous if only put to use instead 

 of being abandoned as an old mine. 



Speaking before the forestry meeting at Macon in 

 June, Mr. Austin Gary said : 



"My own belief is, and that has thirty years experience 

 behind it, during which I have worked in every timber 

 region of the United States and seen the forests in sev- 

 eral European countries, that no region in the world 

 probably has greater natural facilities for producing tim- 

 ber values than the district centering on the Oketinoke 

 swamp . . . Longleaf and particularly slash pine charac- 

 terize this region, the latter in my opinion a species 

 which will be recognized in the future for the combma- 

 tion of utility in its products, for its readiness of repro- 

 duction and rapidity of growth, as one of the most 

 valuable trees on the earth's surface." 



If the Georgia Forestry Association can inspire in the 

 citizens of the state some such appreciation and con- 

 fidence of the value of their forest soils and their native 

 species, it will have more than half solved the task be- 

 fore it. 



THE RETIREMENT OF ALFRED GASKILL 



f\^ July 1st Alfred Gaskill was compelled to give up 

 ^-^ his position as State Forester of New Jersey on ac- 

 count of poor health, after serving in that office for more 

 than 15 years. His retirement from the forestry work 

 in New Jersey marks the end of a career of oublic service 

 which has been rich in value not only to the State but in 

 larger national fields. His quick perception, clear fore- 

 sight and fearless championship of his convictions have 

 justly entitled him to the leading place he has often been 

 called on to take in forestry. 



Unlike most of the American professional foresters, 

 Mr. Gaskill entered the profession not as a fledgling fresh 

 from school, but with a previous considerable experience 

 '' business as a background. In August, 1898, he re- 

 tired i..^rn the glass manufacturing business in Southern 

 New Jersey ^.^j ^qqJ^ yp tj^g study of forestry with Dr. 

 Schenck at his Buu.ore School. After completing this 

 study in June, 1899, he was <utailed by the United States 

 Forest Service to special studies wd T)ropaganda on the 

 Pacific Coast. Returning in November hi, spent the win- 

 ter at Harvard University in special scientific -^^udy. In 

 May, 1900, he left for Europe, where he remained, study- 

 ing continental forestry and forest conditions and pursu- 

 ing special courses at the University of Munich, until 

 the fall of 1901. 



In January, 1902, he again entered the federal forest 

 service and did a great variety of work, including forest 

 fire, silvicultural, editorial and propaganda assignments. 

 He returned to New Jersey in February, 1907, in the in- 

 fancy of the forestry movement in the State. From then 

 until his retirement he has been the guiding genius of 

 forestry in New Jersey, first as State Forester and since 

 1915 as Director of the Department of Conservation and 

 Development, building up an organization and work 

 which ranks high among State Forestry Departments in 

 achievement and stability. 



Mr. Gaskill was a pioneer among American foresters 

 in his insistence that adequate fire control was the basis 

 of all forestry. From his earlier work in the Federal 

 service until the present, he has led in the movement to 

 put fire protection first. Likewise he has steadfastly 

 worked to check the widespread belief that all forestry 

 is summed up in tree planting and to urge clear thinking 

 about the questions of lumber needs, forest taxation, and 

 the relations between the public and forest owners. 



His work in New Jersey has typified his complete con- 

 viction that forestry must have the support of public 

 opinion to succeed, that without it progress would be 

 ^t '^st slow and continually subject to serious setbacks. 

 The um,.+f.rrupted and marked progress made in the 



