1899. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



63 



treatment. The wonderful growth of the 

 wood-pulp industry only serves to em- 

 phasize the necessity of adopting definite 

 systems of forest management. An en- 

 terprise which uses the forest products 

 in the manufacture of needful commodi- 

 ties is a legitimate one, but those interests 

 or industries which are wasteful or de- 

 structive in their treatment of the same, 

 should, as a measure of public policy, 

 be regulated or excluded. 



A Field for Lumber Capital. 



Southern timber owners in both Pine and 

 hardwood do not seem to have fully realized 

 the value of their property, and lands are much 

 cheaper in relation to the value of the lumber 

 than is the case in the North. Something of 

 the same kind is the rule in the West, where 

 until the past year there has been little advance 

 in the price asked for logs or timber. 



Compared with the vast resources of the 

 South in Yellow Pine, the manufacture of lum- 

 ber is only just starting. It has taken North- 

 ern enterprise and capital but a short time to 

 get a foothold there, and the development will 

 be more rapid in the future than in the past. 

 As the Pine of the North is cut away, the man- 

 ufacturers have turned their attention more 

 and more to the manufacture of hard wood lum- 

 ber.but as the field is more limited than was 

 the White Pine field, the surplus capital has 

 looked elsewhere for investment. Part of it 

 has gone West, but much of it has gone South, 

 and from Florida to Texas can be found men 

 who were formerly leaders among the White 

 Pine men of the North. 



There are vast tracts of both Pine and hard- 

 wood timber in the South that have as yet been 

 untouched by the axe of the woodsman, and of 

 the latter especially there is a wealth of sup- 

 ply. This vast wealth is only just beginning 

 to be appreciated by the lumbermen of the 

 country. On these lands in the South are Cy- 

 press, Ash, Oak, Gum, Box, Swamp Maple and 

 Pecan. Cypress is a fine wood for building 

 purposes, and is capable of the finest finish. 

 All of the others have their uses, many of them 

 being especially and specifically appropriate 

 for certain uses in building. 



The various kinds of Oak are perhaps the most 

 useful for general purposes of any of the hard- 

 woods, and as an all-round material for build- 



ing, furniture and other uses, is perhaps the 

 most valuable of the woods of the South. 

 Southern Oak has been a staple for a number 

 of years, but the supply has not as yet been 

 heavily drawn upon, compared with the 

 amount there is yet standing. Its future is 

 sure to be greater than its past. Southern 

 hardwoods as well as Southern Pine offer a 

 great field for the investment of capital that is 

 being withdrawn from the manufacture of 

 White Pine of the North. Mississippi Valley 

 Lumberman. 



Commenting on the foregoing the 

 Lumber Trade Journal says : 



While large sums of money have been in- 

 vested in Southern timber by Northern lum- 

 bermen, yet the field there is practically un- 

 touched, as is evidenced by the low value of 

 stumpage prevailing all over the South. There 

 are fortunes awaiting holders of Southern tim- 

 ber which will equal if not surpass those pro- 

 vided in the past by the forests of the North. 

 Owners of good timber, either Pine, Cypress 

 or hardwoods, in the South, cannot afford to 

 slaughter it for an unremunerative price. They 

 would far better let it stand, assured that it 

 will not only grow in increment but also in mar- 

 ket value steadily and perhaps quite rapidly. 



Governor John Lind, the new chief 

 executive of Minnesota, expresses the 

 opinion in his message to the Legislature 

 that public opinion in that State had been 

 educated up to the point of supporting a 

 system of forest culture on a large 

 scale. However, he favored increasing 

 the extent of Itasca Park, as recommended 

 by the game warden, and of prohibiting 

 the sale .by the State of public lands 

 clearly within the forestry area. He 

 thought the State might acquire title to 

 large areas of denuded lands forfeited to 

 the State by non payment of taxes. He 

 made the novel but meritorious sugges- 

 tion that each country school district 

 should have a plat of ground connected 

 with it on which the children should be 

 taught to plant and rear trees, and that 

 horticulture and forestry should be made 

 regular studies in our normal schools. 



