AMERICAN FORESTRY 



531 



Forest Values and Public Sentiment 



If the citizens of New Jersey, or any other state for 

 that matter, could foresee the values which will attach 

 to timber crops in future years, the whole public atti- 

 tude toward forest fire and forest perpetuation would 

 change over night. Every good citizen stands for the 

 upbuilding of his state. He wants to see it prosper. He 

 wants to see it developed and enriched for the benefit 

 of his children and his children's children. He wants 

 to see it, as a commonwealth, seize its opportunities and 

 go forward shoulder to shoulder with other states. And, 

 above all, he wants to see it conducted in a business-like 

 and fore-sighted way. 



The Family Skeleton of the Commonwealth 



The average citizen feels pride in the sight of richly 

 producing farms, developed waterways, thriving indus- 

 tries within his state. But he never boasts of or calls at- 

 tention to barren and burnt over forest lands. They are 

 the family skeleton of the commonwealth. And yet it is 

 within his power to clear the closet of those bones by 

 merely demanding that the state spend enough money for 

 fire protection to permit nature to grow timber on the 

 lands chiefly valuable for timber production. The want 

 of that sentiment in New Jersey is yearly adding black, 

 barren acres to the New Jersey landscape. About one- 

 third of the state's forest area now contains merchantal)le 

 timber. The other two-thirds have been wrecked by 

 fire. 



More Money Less Fire 



The Department of Conservation and Development has 

 long called attention to the need of more effective fire 

 protection. I'he state is spending only about $35,000 for 

 the purpose and while the department has rendered very, 

 distinguished service in reducing fire losses, the amount 

 is only about one-half of the minimum required for 

 effective fire protection. Both the legislature and the 

 governor of the state recognize the need of more funds. 

 A year ago, the former passed a bill, which was signed 

 by the governor, providing for a material increase in the 

 state's fire-fighting organization, but the appropriations 

 committee failed to make the necessary money available. 

 A Penny Wise and Pound Foolish Policy 



It is mighty poor statecraft which persists in burning 

 up the state's growing crop of timber, knowing that by 

 so doing the people will have to haul lumber three thou- 

 sand miles from the west coast to make good the loss. 

 That soon becomes a far heavier tax upon the public and 

 the industries of the state than a few cents an acre 

 spent in protecting growing timber right at home. It is 

 a policy which in order to save a few pennies today, 

 would pauperize the state for a hundred years to come. 

 The husbanding of its forest resources on the other hand 

 enriches the state and renders it independent as a home- 

 building, wood-using commonwealth. The people of 

 New Jersey will have an opportunity to express their sen- 

 timent at the primaries this fall. Surely, they will not 

 stand longer for the "penny wise and pound foolish" 

 policy. 



THE EARLY USES OF THE YAUPON 



By C. D. Mell 



fyHOSE familiar with the use of the leaves of yerba 

 -- mate (Ilex paraguayetisis) will not be surprised to 

 learn that a closely related species native to the United 

 States possesses almost similar properties and uses. The 

 leaves of the yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) were used more or 

 less extensively as a substitute for tea in the pioneer days. 

 While the tea prepared from this native plant rarely ap- 

 peared on the table of fashionable society, the extent 

 to which it formed a part and parcel of the daily food 

 of the great majority of the people along the South 

 Atlantic seaboard, seems to point to the existence of 

 salubrious qualities in the leaves of yaupon when proper- 

 ly collected and prepared. 



The plant yielding this once important product belongs 

 to the holly family of plants. It is a shrub or low tree 

 growing plentifully along the Atlantic coast from Vir- 

 ginia southward to Florida, and attaining its best devel- 

 opment on the edges of sand dunes and fringing the 

 swamps along the coast, where it is easily accessible. 

 The leaves are quite small and dark glossy green; the 

 flowers, which are white and conspicuous, are succeeded 

 by numerous small bright red 1)erries which persisit on 

 the bushes for several months. 



The Indian tribes taught the early white settlers the 

 use of the yaupon leaves for making a tea, which they 

 called black drink, and which was said to enliven them. 

 The white people soon became accustomed to it and many 

 preferred it to the imported tea. A number of the early 

 travellers and writers in .America eulogized it and recoin- 

 mended it as a most agreeable beverage. The Creeks em- 

 ployed it at the opening of their solemn councils, sending 

 regularly to the seaboard for supplies. They prepared 

 a very strong tea and during certain periods of the year, 

 they drank it to excess so as to cause vomiting, which 

 they regarded necessary in order to purify their bodies. 



The plant possesses emetic properties when taken in 

 sufficient quantities, and has tonic and digestive qualities, 

 free from the sleepless effects. Although the aroma is 

 different from that of tea, it has stimulating properties 

 depending upon the quantity used. According to recent 

 chemical investtigations the leaves contain caffein which is 

 the same active principle found in coffee. They con- 

 tain also another principle which is said to act as a 

 powerful diuretic and which is employed in nephritic 

 diseases, diabetis, gout and smallpox. 



