340 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



this country. They put forward arguments which had 

 certain elements of soundness in them, the contention 

 that forestry would not return even the 21/, to .'$ per cent 

 claimed for it. The Great War has swept away such 

 doubts and arguments. Prices have gone up, and the 

 nation is now assured of successful financial results from 

 afforestation work. On all counts the planting of this 

 land will be of immense advantage to us. It will save 

 imports, employ labor, and help home industries. In the 

 last connection it will do more than help. It will result 

 in establishing new ones. For the maintenance of a con- 

 siderable area of forest in a country leads to the estab- 



lishment of subsidiary industries such as paper-pulp mills, 

 saw-mills, bobbin mills, furniture manufactories, and so 

 on. And these afford employment to a considerable head 

 of population. 



THE LESSON 



IX all of this there is a lesson which the people of this 

 country should not be slow in learning. What that 

 lesson is is forcefully outlined in the article on page 

 341 of this issue, and in the statement on this page by 

 President Charles Lathrop Pack, of the American For- 

 estry Association. 



[A warning that the forests and forest products of this country will play a large part in our economic preparedness 

 as a result of the Great War is sounded by Mr. Pack in the following statement hased upon a close study of the situation 

 and an intimate knowledge of forest conditions in Europe. The Editor.] 



Preparedness and Forest Products 



By Charles Lathrop Pack 

 President American Forestry Association 



THE enormous amount of timber that has been 

 cut in France in particular, and also in Rus- 

 sia and in England, has produced an 

 economic condition in relation to lumber which is 

 unprecedented. While we do not look upon England 

 as a forest country, there is in England and Scot- 

 land a considerable amount of timber and some fine 

 old forests of hardwood. These have been slaugh- 

 tered since the opening of the war because of the 

 great lack of timber in England. The British need is 

 evident from a statement by Walter Runciman in the 

 Mouse of Commons a few days ago that 1,500 

 Canadian lumbermen had arrived in England to cut 

 timber for mere props and other necessities to avoid, 

 as far as possible, importations from other coun- 

 tries. Much cutting has been done in France, while 

 in captured Belgium the Germans have cut a large 

 pro|x)rtion of the forest land and used the timber 

 in military operations or shipped it to Germany. 



"While lumber has been imported into the belli- 

 gerent countries to some extent from the United 

 States and elsewhere, such importations have by no 

 means conn>ensated for the large amount of lumber 

 that has usually come under normal conditions from 

 Germany and Russia. This has necessitated the 

 slaughtering of timber. Large amounts have been 

 used for the trenches and larger amounts have been 



used for temporary buildings for the shelter of 

 armies, and otber important amounts for economic 

 purposes of manufacture, while there has been a 

 tremendous destruction of standing timber by ar- 

 tillery fire. All this means that the potential value of 

 the forests of France, Belgium and England in par- 

 ticular has been greatly reduced. 



"The great depletion of these forests of Europe 

 increases the economic world importance of Ameri- 

 can forests. No economic preparedness in the 

 United States will be complete without due regard 

 to the value of forestry. We must mobilize the in- 

 dustrial resources of this country if we are to go 

 forward as a nation in proportion to our opportuni- 

 ties. After the world war is over the industrial 

 competition will be far-reaching and for us there 

 will be a victory or defeat just in proportion to our 

 preparedness. If we are unworthy we shall fail. The 

 forests and forest products will play a large part. A 

 country which continually abuses its timber resources 

 as we do cannot expect to continue with economic 

 success. This is our opportunity and if we properly 

 read the signs of the times we will fully realize the 

 great value of our forest inheritance and prepare to 

 use it with economic foresight and not abuse it as has 

 been our wont." 



