30 THE FORESTS OF TENNESSEE. 



Should a constitutional convention ever be called, this 

 question of the reproduction of our forests should receive 

 due consideration and should be encouraged by granting 

 exemptions from taxation of al^ such lands as are planted 

 in timber and cultivated in a prescribed manner. My es- 

 timate that there are 500,000 acres of such land in the 

 state is not excessive; and could this large, worthless 

 acreage be made fruitful of timber for the uses of our 

 posterity, we shall do much to awaken their gratitude 

 and give to them a just regard for and a proper concep- 

 tion of our wisdom. Were these places broken up and 

 sown in acorns or hickorynuts, or planted with small 

 locusts, the effect would in every way be salutary. The 

 land would be reclaimed; what is now valueless would 

 become valuable; the hideousness of the landscape would 

 be converted into beauty and blooming attractiveness. 

 A spot for the retention of moisture would be created, and 

 a small tax-paying property converted into one that 

 would contribute largely to the revenues of the state. 



The natural wealth of every state depends primarily 

 upon its timber and soils, and it should be the highest and 

 most solemn duty of our lawmakers to look beyond the 

 present and to enact such laws and pursue such a policy 

 as will in the end conduce to the wealth, greatness, and 

 glory of the state and the prosperity of her citizens; and 

 in no way can this be more effectually done than by 

 taking steps for the reclamation of the soil and the pres- 

 ervation of the timber. Had this been done fifty years 

 ago, Tennessee would not now be dotted all over with re- 

 pulsive and haggard old fields that constitute the shame 

 and mark the shiftlessness of her farmers. A new de- 

 parture is called for in this particular, and he who shall 

 be instrumental in restoring the lost fertility of these 

 waste places and making them things of beauty and 

 profit may well be numbered among the benefactors of 

 mankind. 



The press in the various parts of the ptate should take 

 up this subject, discuss it in detail, encourage the enact- 

 ment of such constitutional provisions as will remove 

 present hindrances, and press the matter before the peo- 

 ple until pride, taste, interest, ambition, the highest wis- 



