1899- 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



261 



ruled that the shade trees in the street in 

 front of a man's property belong to him, 

 and cannot be cut down or mutilated with- 

 out his consent. 



The suit was one in which a property 

 owner sued a telephone company for cut- 

 ting off the limbs of his trees in order to 

 make room for its wires. The decision is 

 prima facie evidence that the value of 



trees is becoming more generally recog- 

 nized everywhere and augurs well for 

 greater public interest in forestry itself. 

 There can be no doubt that were the gen- 

 eral public more fully aware of the 

 principles of forestry, there would be 

 manifested a very pronounced sentiment 

 for the protection of trees, both in the 

 cities and forests. 



In the Woods of Minnesota. 



Trip of a German Forest Expert Over the Site of the Proposed National 



Park. Some Considerations Indicating Large Profits to 



the State from Small Expenditure. 



BY THE FORESTER OF THE VANDERBILT FOREST, BILTMORE, N. C. 



The map tells us that Leech Lake's 

 shoreline extends over 574 miles. The 

 state of Minnesota, measured from north 

 to south, is only 384 miles long. Imagine ! 

 If the shoreline, witli all its bays and 

 beaches and spurs and tongues, was 

 stretched lengthways through Minnesota it 

 would reach way down into Iowa ! But 

 shorelines do not belong to the chapter of 

 economics. 



Safely landed, with the help of an In- 

 dian pilot, we enter the woods. As usual, 

 a belt of low hardwoods, Oaks, Elms, 

 Maples, Birches and so on, occupies a 

 narrow strip of land along the water-front. 

 Nature has selected the fittest. Storms 

 blowing across the lake with unbroken 

 force are sure to turn over any Pines that 

 might boldly show their heads beyond the 

 level of the hardwood crowns. The long 

 body of the Pine is a capital lever for the 

 wind, with the help of which a tree is 

 easily uprooted. The shallow root system 

 of the White Pine subjects it badly to the 

 storm's deadly attacks. 



A look at the big hole caused by the 

 wind tearing out a tree by its roots allows 

 us to judge the quality of the soil. It con- 

 sists of sand, with a slight admixture of 

 loam, a soil which abroad, where the 

 population is dense, is considered good for 

 farming. No wonder, then, that the im- 



migrant-settler is easily induced to occupv 

 such and similar ground, offered to him bv* 

 Uncle Sam's kindness free of charge, or 

 at a low price by speculators who secure 

 from lumbermen, at a nominal sum, large 

 tracts, denuded of tree growth. 



We see such land advertised in the 

 papers as " the bonanza of Minnesota," 

 "the poor man's paradise," "the Cripple 

 Creek of the farmer." But woe to the 

 inexperienced new-comer, trapped by these 



eulogies 



To bring the ground in tillable 



condition is expensive, while the growth 

 of potatoes, corn or cereals will exhaust 

 the soil thoroughly in five years. 



There is so much good land available 

 in the United States that it does not pay to 

 occupy medium land cleared from its cover 

 of trees, even if it is given to the farmer 

 free of charge. The federal and state 

 governments have allowed, in the state of 

 Minnesota alone, an area of several million 

 acres to be transformed into an unproduc- 

 tive waste. The main principle of polit- 

 ical economy, that the productiveness <>t 

 every acre of national soil must be main- 

 tained or increased, has been overlooked. 

 If the production of meat and hides pays 

 best on a given soil, let us use it tor cat- 

 tle pasture. Where field crops are mosl 

 remunerative, let us raise them. On land 

 which is so rockv or so sandy as to bear 



