1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



453 



be mined without a large supply of 

 mining timbers. In many places the 

 coal mines have already largely 

 drained their supply of timber, and 

 the management of Cumberland 

 Mountain forests for the production 

 of such timber will probably furnish 

 their best employment, and will be 

 necessary in the interest of the mines 

 themselves. The same thing is true 

 of the railroads. Every tie laid in 

 the track requires on the average two 

 trees growing in the forest to keep it 

 there. Through the northern part of 

 the state the production of railroad 

 ties from timber tracts and woodlots 

 will assuredly be one of the most pro- 

 fitable ways of utilizing the forest, and 

 special studies along these two lines, 

 mining timber and tie production, in 

 these two different parts of the state, 

 would therefore be of great value. 

 By far the greater part of the lumber 

 produced in Kentucky is hardwood, 

 of which oak constitutes a large part. 

 Upon the supply of this depend 

 many industries. Distributed through 

 the state are to be found vehicle fac- 

 tories, handle factories, tight and 

 slack cooperage plants, box factories, 

 veneer mills, and wood distillation 

 plants. The manufacture of carriages 

 and wagons alone represents an ag- 

 gregate investment of over $4,000,- 

 000. The cooperage industry in Ken- 

 tucky produces more tight barrel 

 stock than any other state in the 

 Union. 



Forest destruction is already 

 threatening the future of these indus- 

 tries. Recent reports from the Na- 

 tional Tight Barrel Stave Manufac- 

 turers' Association show that their 

 timber to-day is costing nearly four 

 and a half times what it did 10 years 

 ago. The handle factories of Ken- 

 tucky use large quantities of hickory. 

 Only this week the papers announced 

 that the scarcity of hickory timber 

 was the chief subject of discussion at 

 the opening of the annual convention 

 of the National Association of Im- 

 plement and Vehicle Manufacturers. 

 These manufacturers see the need of 

 the supply of hickory already in 

 sight. 



Industrial development throughout 

 the South is now recognizediy de- 

 pendent in large measure on the de- 

 velopment of the water power fur- 

 nished by the streams descending 

 from the Southern Appalachians. 

 Forest destruction has already sen- 

 sibly begun to affect these water 

 powers. A measure to establish a 

 national forest reserve which will put 

 a stop to this destruction and benefit 

 at once the consumers of wood, the 

 users of water power, the agricultu- 

 ral interests affected by the floods in 

 nudation, and the harbors and nav- 

 igable inland waters now injured by 

 the deposits of silt and sandbars, was 

 passed by one branch of Congress at 

 its last session and now awaits the 

 action of the other branch. From the 

 Forester's standpoint there can be no 

 question that this legislation, if en- 

 acted, will beneficially affect the de- 

 velopment of every state which bor- 

 ders on the reserve. It is to be hoped 

 that this reserve will include some 

 part of Kentucky. 



But the state needs more than ac- 

 tion by the National Government. If 

 her forests are to play their proper 

 part in contributing to her welfare, 

 the private owner must be informed 

 before it is too late how to make the 

 most of ' what he has. The forests 

 must not be left to take care of them- 

 selves. Trees are a crop as truly as 

 corn and tobacco, and must be cul- 

 tivated by the methods which will 

 bring the largest yield. Of these 

 methods the ordinary owner, particu- 

 larly the small owner, is ignorant. He 

 is ignorant also of how to dispose of 

 his property to the best advantage. 

 The large owner can generally be de- 

 pended upon to take care of himself. 

 A wise state forest policy might well 

 begin with a study of existing forest 

 conditions and existing markets, which 

 would throw light on the important 

 problems of management. Such 

 studies have already been made in 

 other states, notably New Hampshire 

 and California, in co-operation with 

 the Forest Service of the National 

 Government, which stands ready to 

 co-operate with any state by sending 



