316 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



Many million acres of forest land in the North and in the South, after being 

 cleared, have been found to be unfit for agriculture, and much has been turned 

 over to the States, the owners refusing to pay taxes upon the barren land. 



What will the States do with these large tracts, which have been deprived 

 of their valuable timber and left as a legacy to the public? 



An enormous acreage of cut-over lands are now held at from fifty cents to 

 two dollars per acre throughout the South, producing no considerable revenue for 

 any person. Has the State any remedy, any rights, against the wasteful and 

 extravagant methods of lumbering? Assuredly it has, if it will but assert them. 



THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES 



have become so reduced that they can last but a few decades at most. Those of 

 the South will be gone by 1925, and of the Pacific before 1950. The seaports of 

 the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are exporting rapidly to South Africa 

 and to many European marts, besides supplying ties and timbers for a large por- 

 tion of this country in which the wood has become exhausted. 



There are no forests being propagated throughout the South. Annual fires, 

 a vicious practice to give fresh grazing for a few animals, keeps the young pine 

 from growing, while baby saplings are having their life-blood drawn for the 

 turpentine stills. 



With the general indifference of the public, there is no hope for a future tim- 

 ber growth of value. Where trees remain they are of inferior quality, and under- 

 growths, where they exist, are of little prospective importance. 



New England has not enough timber for her own factories ; eight-inch trees 

 are being sawed into box lumber. 



The Middle States are dependent upon the South, having no timber left. The 

 prairies remain treeless except as a few groves are being planted, insufficient to be 

 seriously considered. 



Four States may furnish lumber for a little while, Oregon, Washington, 

 Northern California and Idaho. 



.With the calls for timber from Asia, Africa, much of Europe and all of the 

 United States, what prospect is there for a permanent contribution to all these 

 fields without a greater effort to protect the young growths and to economize in 

 that of mature age? 



CALIFORNIA TULE LANDS FOR CATALPA SPECIOSA. 



In the valley of California, where the Sacramento. San Joaquin and other 

 rivers approach the bay, and meet tide water, are quite extensive swamps, formed 

 from Tule growths. For half a century these have been the subject of specula- 

 tion. When protected by dykes or levies these become wonderfully productive, 

 being a mass of decomposing vegetation. Many attempts have been made, and 

 some successfully, to reclaim these lands, but it is quite expensive and when ex- 

 treme high tides, together with continuous heavy rains, they become flooded, and 

 crops are destroyed. These swamp lands would be admirable location for grow- 

 ing Catalpa speciosa. 



