THE ASSOCIATION'S NEW PRESIDENT 



89 



agricultural crop is taxed more than once. The crop of 

 timber is taxed continually and each year until it is cut. 

 The farmer's crops mature annually; the crop of the 

 timber owner matures once in many years. In this con- 

 nection I want to commend to the students of the sub- 

 ject, the report of the Committee on Taxation, of which 

 Mr. E. T. Allen served as chairman at the Fifth Na- 

 tional Conservation Congress. 



"In this country we have been used to too cheap lum- 

 ber. A thing that is cheap is rarely properly esteemed. 

 Lumber is sold, not at the cost of reproduction, but at 

 only a part of that cost the cost of discovery and ex- 

 ploitation. To my mind the deplorable condition of our 

 forests in many of the lumber regions of this country is 

 due to its uneconomic use and to the cheapness of lum- 

 ber. The coarser grades of lumber are so low in price 

 that a large proportion of the value of the fallen tree is 

 left in the woods where the possibility of its economic 

 value ends forever. Foresters, lumbermen, what I want 

 to see is a real conservation of the fallen tree. I should 

 like to emphasize the statement that the perpetuation of 

 our forests and the unremunerative prices of lumber 

 cannot travel together. This is not a popular theme ; 

 many of our politicians prefer to dodge the fact. A low 

 estimate of the value of timber left to rot or burn in the 

 woods in this country is more than 100 million dollars 

 per year. The reason this lumber is not saved but is 

 wasted is because it would cost more than 100 million 

 dollars to save and market it. In countries where forest 

 products sell at cost of reproduction plus a small profit 

 this great waste would be saved. 



"It seems to me that the farm and forest must go hand 

 in hand. Coal once used cannot be returned ; iron once 

 used cannot be put back into the ground ; and once used 

 are gone forever, and then the most that can be done is 

 to use them carefully, making them go as far as possible. 

 All our natural resources are of importance, but on the 

 forest I believe more depends than upon any other one 

 natural resource. You tell us iron, coal, other minerals, 

 are rapidly giving out, yet no one has suggested a 

 remedy except to be careful, but the forests can be pro- 

 tected and the waste places reforested. This is our great 

 need of the present time. The future prosperity of our 

 people depends upon it because our farms depend on it. 

 If you travel over this great country you will find in so 

 many places the same conditions existing, the same wast- 

 ing of the natural resources of the country; the rivers 

 running unused to the ocean waterpower speeding to 

 the sea without economic use, the forests disappearing, 

 the mines being exhausted, and in but a few of the 

 states has anything really been done to retain and per- 

 petuate these things which are of the most importance, 

 not only to those of us who are here, but also to our 

 children and successors. It is to do our utmost to 

 remedy these evils that brings us here. To this patri- 

 otic work of economic preparedness the endeavors of the 

 American Forestry Association are dedicated. 



"And in closing, let me say a word about the human 

 side of forestry. 



"The American forester, and all true frequenters of 

 the woods, are men of artistic feeling. The tree has ever- 

 been the symbol of life, strength, beauty, and the eye 

 of man cannot continue to look day after day upon these 

 stately trees God-given monarchs of nature without 

 their beauty being reflected in his life, making. him a 

 healthier, happier and better man, and their destruction 

 means not only the removal or decrease of one of our 

 natural resources, from a practical and utilitarian stand- 

 point, but from the view-point of health, morality, spir- 

 ituality, happiness and beauty. There is no compensa- 

 tion for such a loss." 



FOR WOODLOT IMPROVEMENT 



THE combined efforts of the New York Conserva- 

 tion Commission and the State College of Agri- 

 culture at Cornell should go a long way toward 

 developing ideal woodlot conditions in Broome County, 

 New York, according to a bulletin just issued by the 

 college. This bulletin is the result of a careful survey 

 of the county by the Cornell forestry department, and 

 gives the condition of the county's woodlots and other 

 bodies of timber, with suggestions for their manage- 

 ment, so that they will yield a profit to their owners. 

 Lists of trees suitable to this section of the State are 

 given, together with the information that the State Con- 

 servation Commission at Albany will furnish such trees 

 in quantity at cost. 



In order to furnish demonstrations of applied forestry, 

 two plots have been selected and marked one in the 

 town of Windsor, on the property of F. L. Goodenough, 

 and the other about ten miles from Binghamton, on a 

 farm owned by C. O. Chase. In each of these plots the 

 owner has agreed to make certain improvement cuttings 

 and to allow persons interested to inspect the work being 

 carried on there. 



A copy of this publication, Bulletin 366, may be ob- 

 tained by any resident of New York, without charge, 

 upon application to the New York State College of Agri- 

 culture, Ithaca, N. Y. 



THE ANGRY TREE 



DID you know that a tree can get angry? There 

 is a kind of acacia in Nevada that not only is 

 "touchy," but as the gardener put it, "goes very 

 mad," says a writer in Answers. It is about 8 feet 

 high, and is a very rapid grower. When the sun sets 

 it is ready to go to sleep, shuts its leaves together and 

 coils up its twigs just like a pigtail. If any one pulls 

 that tail well, the tree doesn't squeal, but it flutters 

 and moves uneasily, and seems to be deeply agitated. 

 If it is ever disturbed by a shock, such as transplanting, 

 the leaves stand out in all directions and quiver violently. 

 Strangest of all, they send out a pungent, nauseating 

 odor that is most unpleasant. It takes this bad-tempered 

 tree an hour or two to get back into good humor. 



