108 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



000,000 acres more than half the 

 State! of broken waste land suitable 

 for tree growth but worthless for agri- 

 culture? That the total acreage of 

 good timber comprises less than two 

 per cent, of the total area of the State ? 

 And that fully 85 per cent, of the 

 lumber used in our manufactories is 

 brought in from other States? 



Some of the disastrous effects of 

 this immoderate deforestation are al- 

 ready being experienced. One of the 

 most noticeable results has been the 



ests many of the industries dependent 

 upon them have disappeared. This 

 represents a distinct loss to the State. 

 Moreover, the injurious effects upon 

 climate and health, and the pro- 

 ductiveness of the fields, though not 

 matters of common notice, are none 

 the less actual, and will tend to in- 

 crease. While these alone might be 

 sufficient reasons to warrant State 

 action, they will not serve to arouse 

 private interest to the point of accom- 

 plishment. The tendency is to drift 



View of the William Binford woods, the largest timber being oak and yellow poplar. 



This is all virgin timber land. 



disappearance of many springs, the 

 consequent failure of domestic water 

 supply and the variation in volume 

 regularity of streams. Rivers which 

 once were navigable for good sized 

 boats are so no longer, and the irregu- 

 larity of their flow has rendered them 

 useless for water power. Deforesta- 

 tion has not been wholly responsible, 

 however, for cultivation of open fields 

 and the extensive underdraining of 

 level areas has contributed very ma- 

 terially to these results. 



\Vith the passing of Indiana's for- 



idly along because it requires less 

 effort to adapt one's self to changing 

 conditions than to try to prevent the 

 change. Sentiment alone, unaided and 

 unorganized, will avail little, but its 

 existence is absolutely essential to the 

 success of any forestry movement. 

 Such sentiment born of existing condi- 

 tions and fostered by the public press, 

 by civic organizations, and by private 

 individuals now seeks expression in 

 the form of a rational forest policy 

 for the State. 



Of the three wavs in which the State 



