THE FORESTS OP TENNESSEE. 29 



Great damage is done to the forests by browsing ani- 

 mals. This damage arises from two causes: 1. The 

 trampling of the land, which impairs the vitality of the 

 trees and causes many of them to die. 2. Myriads of 

 small trees, which are the embryo forests of posterity, 

 are killed by being stripped of their leaves and bark by 

 the browsing animals. Hogs often destroy young pines 

 by rooting them up in order to feed upon the succulent 

 roots. It is scarcely a question of doubt that the high- 

 land pasturage of Tennessee, causing as it does the de- 

 struction of so much young timber, costs the state every 

 year more than all the stock is worth that feeds upon 

 such pasturage. 



No more land, especially in the thickly settled districts 

 of the state, should be opened for cultivation. The ax of 

 the pioneer has done its work. The present generation 

 should restore and build up the waste places, take steps 

 to reproduce the timber upon all spots unfit for tillage, 

 and carefully preserve the vigor of all forests by only 

 cutting out the decayed timber and trees that have at- 

 tained their probable full value for lumber. There should 

 be a greater economy practised in the use of timber. 

 Fences in the future should be built of wire, and locust or 

 cedar trees should be planted all along the line of such 

 fences to serve as posts. Coal is now so cheap that it 

 should be used for domestic purposes in the place of wood 

 whenever it can be had at a price not exceeding ten cents 

 per bushel. 



More than a quarter of a century ago I suggested that 

 all old fields in the state that had been abandoned on 

 account of their sterility and all steep slopes in the fields 

 liable to wash should not be taxed for a period of ten 

 years, provided that the owners of such spots and ol<3 

 fields would plant them in timber and cultivate the same 

 until the trees should become firmly established and 

 reach a condition of vigorous vitality. This idea was 

 warmly embraced by many progressive thinkers in the 

 state, but unfortunately the provision in our state con- 

 stitution directing that all property shall be equally 

 taxed, with certain named exceptions only, made it im- 

 possible for the Legislature to act upon the suggestion. 



