EDITORIAL 



69 



children participated in exercises and 

 took home a card asking for a vote for 

 Amendment No. 9. What better way 

 of reaching the home than this? 



Other forms of publicity were also 

 successful and before election day it was 

 conceded that the defeat of the amend- 

 ment was all but impossible. Yet the 

 small majority indicated that every bit 

 of work done for it was necessary. 



A number of States need forestry 

 laws; others should have existing for- 

 estry laws amended. None are likely 

 to gain what is needed without agita- 

 tion, without a campaign to arouse the 

 voters. It takes money to conduct such 

 campaigns and such money usually 

 comes from progressive citizens of the 



State affected and from national asso- 

 ciations. The American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation does all it can to aid in securing 

 State forestry laws and encouraging 

 the cause of forest conservation wherever 

 possible. Unfortunately its funds are 

 limited, as are the funds of many such 

 organizations. It is supported by the 

 annual dues of its members and the 

 subscription and advertising fees for 

 American Forestry Magazine and 

 the more members it has the more 

 subscriptions and advertising it secures 

 the better will it be able to render the 

 financial assistance so much needed in 

 arousing the public interest in the need 

 of forestrv laws. 



AIDING FOREST COMMUNITIES 



THERE exists, and develops into 

 proposed legislation from time 

 to time, some opposition to the 

 government control and ad- 

 ministration of the national forests. 

 Much of this opposition is based on the 

 claim that the forests are blocking 

 development of the localities in which 

 they are situated and that their re- 

 sources are locked up. The Forest 

 Service officials have long recognized 

 that communities near national forests 

 which are not paying taxes and which 

 yield little or no revenue from timber 

 sales because the forests are inacces- 

 sible, have more or less cause for com- 

 plaint. 



Therefore it was with considerable 

 satisfaction that American Forestry 

 was able to publish in the December 

 number Secretary Houston's recom- 

 mendation to Congress of a plan pro- 

 viding that such communities be ad- 



vanced money for road and bridge 

 building and general development pur- 

 poses. In this issue the details of this 

 plan are explained by Chief Forester 

 Graves. 



If Congress adopts the recommenda- 

 tion of Secretary Houston, and there 

 is every hope that it will, the effects will 

 be felt chiefly in the great northwest 

 and the result will be the opening up of 

 much territory which is now a wilder- 

 ness but full of latent possibilities. 

 The plan has advantages over others for 

 the development of the country by 

 financial aid from the government, 

 because it provides for repayment of 

 the money advanced, if necessary, from 

 the resources of the forests which will 

 become available in the future when 

 their timber is sold. 



It is hoped that Congress will take 

 favorable action on the recommenda- 

 tion at the present session. 



A KNOWLEDGE OF TREES 



HE American Forestry Associa- when injured, that such knowledge as 



Ttion receives so many requests 

 for information about the selec- 

 tion of shade trees for various 

 street and soil conditions, when and 

 how to plant them, how to protect 

 them from insects, and repair them 



may be generally useful to those wish- 

 ing this information will be printed in 

 a series of short, concise articles in 

 American Forestry Magazine. 



The first appears in this number. 

 It deals with the selection of shade 



