1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



353 



hose, previously described, is more 

 and more coming into use and lias 

 many advantages. Wooden troughs, 

 elevated or on the ground, are used by 

 many truck gardeners, but here again 

 local conditions and materials will de- 

 termine what is best in individual cases. 

 For water storage a reservoir on the 

 highest part of the farm will be found 

 valuable in many instances, though with 

 a powerful pump and a good w y ater sup- 

 ply it can be done away with. Tanks 

 may be said to be valueless, as small 

 ones are not worth much and large ones 

 have to be constructed at prohibitive 

 cost. Where it is not possible to have 

 cement or masonry lined reservoirs, a 



simple and practical way is to dig out 

 the reservoir and puddle the sides and 

 bottom to make it water-tight. Even 

 in sandy districts this can be done by 

 hauling clay into the reservoir and then 

 puddling by driving cattle over it while 

 a small amount of water is put in with it. 

 In the application of water it must be 

 borne in mind that for furrow irrigation 

 there must be a slope of at least one foot 

 in one hundred. For level ground the 

 sprinkling method is best. Where there 

 are very steep slopes, terrace irrigation 

 will be found advisable, with ditches 

 running parallel with the contour lines 

 instead of at right angles, as is the case 

 with gentle slopes. 



ECONOMIC VALUE OF FORESTS. 



AMERICAN AND ENGLISH ECONOMISTS HAVE PAID 

 LITTLE ATTENTION TO THIS SUBJECT IN THEIR 

 WRITINGS AN INVITING FIELD OF STUDY. 



BY 



PROFESSOR ERNEST BRUNCKEN, 



BILTMORE FORKST SCHOOL. 



IN the writings of English and Amer- 

 ican political economists hardly 

 more than casual mention can be found 

 of the economic function of forests and 

 forest products, notwithstanding the 

 fact that forests and the industries de- 

 pending upon their products are second 

 in economic importance to agriculture 

 alone. The German and French econo- 

 mists have not so utterly neglected this 

 branch of their science. Yet even they 

 do not treat it with the same thorough- 

 ness which they accord to such branches 

 of production as farming and mining. 

 If one wishes to inform himself thor- 

 oughly on matters of this kind he must 

 go to the writings of foresters, espe- 

 cially German foresters. 



Tlae reasons for this strange default 

 of economists may be found in the pe- 

 culiarity of forest wealth production, 

 which sets it apart from every other 

 kind of economic production. One 

 must have considerable knowledge of 



technical forestry in order to understand 

 these peculiarities fully, with the eco- 

 nomic consequences flowing from them, 

 and some such technical knowledge is 

 needed even to appreciate the existence 

 of such peculiarities. Yet even the most 

 elementary acquaintance with forestry 

 is often lacking in the mental equip- 

 ment of economists. 



The peculiarities of the forest as a 

 branch of economic production are 

 briefly these : Every other form of pro- 

 ducing wealth from the land yields a 

 harvest once a year, or at most there is 

 a short period of preparation, as in 

 orchard culture, after which there is an 

 annual harvest. In the case of the 

 forest from 20 to 150 years must elapse 

 before a harvest is possible. Although 

 there is an annual increase in value, 

 that increase cannot be withdrawn. It 

 must of necessity be reinvested in the 

 same business, as it were. Nor is the 

 value of the final crop merely the sum 



