ANNUAL REPORT STATE FORESTER OF MINNESOTA 



791 



MOOSE EATING LILY ROOTS g FROM ^BED, O^LAKE NEAR ELY. IN NORTH- 



ner, thus adding, with their productive- 

 ness, to the wealth of the State. 



Among the most interesting para- 

 graphs of the report are the following: 



MUNICIPAL FORESTS WOULD PAY. 



The value of a woodlot or convenient 

 grove to a farm is not fully realized 

 by a man accustomed to living in tim- 

 bered country until he has lived on the 

 prairie. There he is dependent upon 

 distant coal mines for his fuel, and as 

 shown by recent railroad tie-ups and 

 car shortages, he is by no means as- 

 sured of enough coal. Every farm and 

 every town, with a woodlot of sufficient 

 extent, is assured of independence from 

 one form of monopoly. 



That prairie dwellers realize the value 

 of a woodlot, as a wind break, and as 

 a fuel supply, is made evident by the 

 fact, that the farmers of the prairie 

 region have planted groves which 

 amount in the aggregate to several hun- 

 dred thousand acres. This fact should 

 give pause to any farmer, who is 

 rapidly reducing his woodlot, without 

 thought to the future. Although a 

 bounty has been offered as an induce- 

 ment to plant trees on the prairie, it 

 has amounted to very little to the indi- 

 vidual. Even when the labor of plant- 



ing is done, he must wait a number of 

 years for his timber to grow to usable 

 size. In the meantime he is dependent 

 upon outside sources for his fuel, and 

 his buildings are exposed to the force 

 of the wind. In how much better cir- 

 cumstances is the man whose farm is 

 situated in the timber, and who has been 

 thoughtful enough to retain a good- 

 sized woodlot? Such a man, if he has 

 kept enough timber, is independent of 

 any rise in fuel prices, and by careful 

 use, this independence may be made 

 permanent. 



FORKST INFLUENCE ON FARMERS. 



Aside from taxes, the economic im- 

 portance of this "raw-material," or in- 

 dustrial, side of the forests is m<>re 

 far-reaching in Minnesota than is ordi- 

 narily understood. They are not of 

 value onl\ to the parts of the State 

 where merchantable timber is found. 

 They are of gerat importance to the 

 fanning regions ; thus: The great tim- 

 ber industries in woods and town and 

 city require large numbers of draft 

 horses; in fact, are principal buyers in 

 the hor>e markets. Horses are be- 

 coming one of the great sources of 

 profit to Minnesota farmers, more and 

 more attention being devoted to that 



