26 



THE FORESTER. 



February, 



Association is large. The membership 

 from the older States includes many men 

 of recognized national standing. The 

 Western members, therefore, have the 

 advantage of a group of associates 

 already strong and experienced. 



While the irrigators need the aid of 

 the American Forestry Association in 

 bringing about the protection of the 

 forests of the West, the Association on 

 the other hand needs an increase of its 

 membership throughout the arid regions. 

 In order to speak with authority as to 

 the demands of the West it must have a 

 large Western membership and one which 



will be truly representative of all the 

 States and Territories. Every man in- 

 terested in irrigation, or dependent di- 

 rectly or indirectly upon the conserva- 

 tion of the water supply, should become 

 a member and should by his voice and 

 pen unite in creating public sentiment 

 and in sustaining public interest through 

 the trials and vicissitudes which always 

 surround needed reforms. A proper 

 administration of the forests can result 

 only through a strong and united de- 

 mand and through an adaptation of laws 

 and regulations to fit American con- 

 ditions. 



Letter from the Secretary of Agriculture. 



Mr. F. H. Newell, 



Secretary, American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation, City. 



My Dear Sir : I believe I have already 

 acknowledged your letter of December 

 15, notifying me of my election to the 

 presidency of the American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation for the enuing year. If not, per- 

 mit me to say now that my services arc 

 at the disposal of the Association, and I 

 am anxious to do anything in my power 

 to further its objects. Our Association 

 has for its object the advancement of on; 

 of the greatest of the national industries. 

 It is high time that intelligent action be 

 had regarding our woods, including not 

 only wise management of existing forests, 

 the rehabilitation of denuded areas, the 

 study of forest fires and the possibility of 

 preventing their ravages, but also an in- 

 quiry into the effect of grazing on forest 

 ranges, investigations into tree-planting, 

 to ascertain what progress has been made 

 and what trees give promise; and what 

 is wise advice to give our people for 

 future work. I may say generally that 

 the rate at which we are using our woods 

 admonishes us that it can be only a few 

 years at most before the United States 

 must go to the ends of the earth to keep 

 up its supply for commercial purposes. 



The Association should continue to 

 bring to public attention, and especially 



to the notice of lumbermen, the fact that 

 the present methods of conducting the 

 lumber business are not only wasteful 

 and extravagant but opposed to the best 

 public policy. It should endeavor to 

 demonstrate, by practical examples, the 

 fact that it is possible to remove mer- 

 chantable timber without destruction to 

 the forest and that better methods of 

 lumbering are not only practicable but 

 profitable ; it should demonstrate that its 

 objects are not in any wise to interfere 

 with lumbering, but to assist and to render 

 the business one of permanence instead 

 of being a comparatively temporary occu- 

 pation. The destruction of the forests at 

 the headwaters of the streams is having 

 a bad effect on the productive power of 

 the country, resulting in high freshets 

 in spring and dry streams in midsummer. 

 My observation of over forty years in 

 a prairie country leads me to the con- 

 clusion that the velocity of our cold 

 winds in winter and hot winds in summer 

 is greatly retarded by timber belts and 

 hedges. The farmer can graze longer in 

 the fall when his stock pastures are pro- 

 tected by belts of woodland and hedges. 

 He can graze earlier in the spring on 

 account of the same protection, thus 

 lengthening his grazing season mater- 

 ially ; and it is well known that growing 

 and fattening periods of animal life are 





