240 



CONSERVATION 



The proposal of the commission is espe- 

 cially interesting to Americans in view of 

 the fact that the measures that are now be- 

 ing proposed in the United States are so 

 much simpler and less expensive. In this 

 country the forests are already on the ground. 

 All that is necessary is to bring them to a 

 state of full productiveness. The present 

 annual production of forests in the United 

 States is scarcely more than twelve cubic 

 feet per acre of all kinds of wood. .The cen- 

 turies of experience in Saxony, Switzerland, 

 and France show that the same kind of land 

 will grow three to eight times as much wood 

 under wise forest management. Protection 

 and proper cutting, begun now and steadily 

 followed as a policy, will keep America, ex- 

 cept in the prairie region, from reaching a 

 point where, as in Great Britain, it will be 

 necessary to start the forests of the future 

 from the seed, and wait for them to grow. 

 A tithe of the great outlay which the British 

 commission contemplates would easily guar- 

 antee this country's forest independence for 

 all time. And the wood needed each year 

 could be got out of the forests right along. 



A German on International Conservation 



Mr. Hermann F. Essig, of Stuttgart, Ger- 

 many, who came to the United States to 

 see the inauguration of President Taft, 

 showed deep interest in international con- 

 servation. Speaking to a reporter for the 

 Washington Herald, he said that, although 

 conservation has been reduced to a science 

 in Germany, and that there was not much 

 which that country could learn in the line 

 of conservation at an international confer- 

 ence, Germany would be only too glad to be 

 represented, and give all the other partici- 

 pating powers the benefit of her researches 

 and experience along these lines. 



There is no country on earth where for- 

 estry has been made such a thorough study 

 and science as Germany. There are quite a 

 number of forestry schools throughout the 

 German empire, where everything pertaining 

 to the subject is taught from A to Z. The 

 German government realized years ago that 

 a nation without trees was inevitably 

 doomed, and has set to work to preserve 

 its forests. There is no such thing as waste 

 of trees or timber or forests in Germany. 



"If you own a forest, as proprietor of 

 it, you are not allowed to fell trees or cut 

 timber without first having received the per- 

 mission to do so from the government for- 

 ester. He will point out to you what you 

 may cut, how much of it, and where. He 

 will also point out to you that you will 

 have to replant tree for tree, and he will 

 keep an eye on you that you will not fail.. 

 This rule applies as well to public forests. 

 You are not even permitted to gather brush 

 or undergrowth in the woods without a per- 

 mit from the government. 



' ' America owes a debt of gratitude to 

 President Roosevelt, who, by creating the 



Conservation Commission, has halted the 

 wanton destruction of forests and other 

 natural resources. He will go down in his- 

 tory as a great president and a great public 

 benefactor. His acts are not correspondingly 

 appreciated yet, but they will be before many 

 years have passed. There is one thing Amer- 

 icans may rest assured of, and that is he 

 will receive the greatest ovation ever ac- 

 corded to any living being in Germany, 

 outside the Kaiser himself. We think the 

 world of Roosevelt in Germany." 



Kansas Catalpas Pay 



A valuable experiment in artificial for- 

 estry has just been concluded in Green- 

 wood County, Kansas. The result has dem- 

 onstrated that many thousands of acres in 

 Kansas not utilized for pasture and not 

 adapted for fruit trees can be profitably 

 planted with quick-growing hardwood tim- 

 ber. Locust has been tried in many parts 

 of the state, but, with the exception of Clark 

 and Mead counties, it suffers so severely 

 from the ravages of the borer that it is 

 practically useless when cut. A variety of 

 catalpa, Catalpa speciosa, however, appears to 

 be immune from this pest. This is the tree 

 that has been tried in Greenwood County. 



In 1887 and 1888 George M. Munger 

 bought a quarter-section of upland eight 

 miles north of Eureka, Kans., for $1,000, 

 and planted 130 acres in catalpa at a further 

 cost of $1,500, including the price of trees, 

 breaking out, plowing, and cultivation for 

 two seasons. It was a poor class of soil 

 with a large proportion of alkali spots, but 

 after ten years' growth he began to cut and 

 in four years netted $4,000 above the cost 

 of cutting and handling. In 1903 he sold 

 the farm to E. P. Riggle for $16,000, thus 

 making a net profit of $17,500 on the whole 

 transaction. The present owner has now 

 cut and shipped the balance of the first 

 growth. After deducting the purchase price 

 and cost of cutting and handling, he has 

 netted $10,000 in these five years. Next 

 year he will be able to begin cutting the 

 second growth. 



VALUABLE FOR FENCE-POSTS 



Besides the advantage of a sure and easy 

 growth, the wood of the Catalpa speciosa is 

 of a better quality for fence-posts than wal- 

 nut and locust. 



The trees are planted as yearlings, four 

 feet apart, making 2,300 to the acre. They 

 are left alone for twelve months and then 

 cut clean off at the ground level. After 

 this there is nothing to be done but wait 

 eight years, when they will be ready to cut 

 for market. The close planting makes a 

 straight growth and under the shade of 

 the broad leaves the unnecessary shoots 

 die off. 



