452 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



shade and in winter he is warmed by the fire which 

 consumes it. We think of the desert and the plain as 

 drearj- and uninhabitable because of the lack of plant 

 life, particularly the lack of trees. Although we may 

 have come to take the trees for granted, we miss them 

 sorely as soon as we are away from them. 



"There is something wonderfully impressive about a 

 great tree. It is silent; but as it sways with the wind 

 and its leaves shine forth a cheery welcome to the sun, 

 it is wonderfully expressive. Its dignity is supreme and 

 its silent evidence of power is kindly. It is extended to 

 the animals and plants which live beneath it or hide in 

 its branches. It is a protector of the weaker elements 



of nature which depend so much upon it for their 

 existence. 



"Could anything be a more fitting memorial? Does 

 not the tree in its vary life express the ideals that the 

 men who died to protect their fellow men have actively 

 carried out? Nature is the only avenue through which 

 we can adequately express our thanks to those who have 

 gone beyond where our word can be heard. It is a co- 

 operation with a Higher Power to erect a permanent 

 memorial, symbolic of the lives of those to whom we 

 wish to do honor. 



"The University of Illinois has set a worthy pre- 

 cedent by planting trees as permanent memorials for its 

 one hundred and seventy-three Gold Star men." 



VALUE OF FOREST PRODUCTS INVESTIGATIONS RECOGNIZED 



OVE feature of the Forest Service appropriation bill 

 for the fiscal year 1921, which can be unreservedly 

 commended is the increase in the item for forest products 

 investigations from $173,260 to $223,260. Forest prod- 

 ucts investigations constitute one of the most important, 

 best known, and most popular of the lines of work con- 

 ducted by the Forest Service. The practical value of 

 these investigations was so thoroughly demonstrated 

 both during and since the war that they have the practi- 

 fcally unanimous approval of foresters, lumbermen, and 

 individuals in the wood-using industries throughout the 

 country. 



In his estimates to Congress for the fiscal year 1921, 

 the Secretary of Agriculture requested an appropriation 

 of $348,260 for investigations in forest products. In 

 presenting this estimate the Secretary stated: 



"There is in the aggregate an enormous unnecessary 

 waste and lost of efficiency throughout nearly every phase 

 of wood manufacture and utilization. Every dollar of 

 this loss is an added cost in production, and every foot 

 of wood waste an additional drain on our forest re- 

 sources. It is beyond a doubt that economies running 

 into many millions of dollars a year are easily realizable 



through application of the results already obtained by 

 forest products research." 



At the hearings held by the House Committee on Agri- 

 culture in December, 1919, a representative of the Na- 

 tional Lumber Manufacturer's Association inserted in the 

 record the names of some 230 trade organizations in 

 the wood-using industries which approved the work of 

 the Laboratory and which believed it should be given 

 an appropriation of at least $500,000. This sum is a very 

 conservative estimate of the amount needed to finance 

 adequately the investigations in forest products now con- 

 ducted by the Forest Service and centered chiefly at the 

 Madison Laboratory. In every phase of forest utilization, 

 from the kiln drying of lumber to the manufacture of ply- 

 wood and the development of laminated construction, 

 additional investigations are need deto bring about the 

 most effective and economical use of wood in all its forms. 

 The perpetuation and improvement of our forests is fun- 

 damental in the development of any nation-wide forest 

 policy, but almost equally important is the conservative 

 use of forest products of all kinds in the industries. It 

 is hoped that next year the precedent set by the present 

 Congress will be followed and still larger appropriations 

 made for this branch of the work. 



MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THE FOREST SERVICE 



'"PHE final report of the Congressional Joint Commis- 

 x sion on Reclassification of Salaries emphasizes the 

 plea which American Forestry has repeatedly made for 

 increased salaries for foresters in the Federal Service. 

 That the present situation is critical and threatens the 

 integrity of the entire Government Service is frankly 

 recognized by the Commission. 



The steady increase in the resignations of scientific 

 and technical employees is shown by the fact that while 

 in 1916 the technical and clerical employees were leaving 

 the service at the same rate, which amounted to an an- 

 nual turnover of 12 per cent of the total number on the 

 rolls, in 1919, the rate of turnover among the technical 

 employees had jumped to 69 per cent, as against 29 per 

 cent for the clerical employees. Those leaving the Service 

 have naturally done so at an increase in compensation 



which is very striking. Thus, in the case of 1,173 scientific 

 and professional employees who resigned during recent 

 years, the average advance in salary on accepting out- 

 side employment was $995, or 53 per cent, while in the 

 Forest Service, it was 55 per cent. During the present 

 calendar year, 30 per cent of the entire field force of 

 engineers in the Forest Service has resigned, one man 

 leaving a position paying approximately $1,600 a year 

 to accept a job as stevedore at $12 a day ! 



The seriousness of such a situation can hardly be 

 over-emphasized. It is perhaps even more critical in the 

 case of the Forest Service than in any other scientific 

 bureau because of the unique position of the profession of" 

 forestry. It is estimated that out of the approximately 

 4,000 men engaged in forestry about 3,000, or nearly 

 three-fourths, are in Government and State services. 



