228 WEST VIRGINIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



State, or to other States, as soon as they have disposed of, or 

 worked up present holdings. There is another class of owners, 

 however, among; the permanently located manufacturing, min- 

 ing and transportation industries, especially the latter, who 

 are interested in future supplies, as well as in that of the pres- 

 ent, and as they come to fully realize the importance to them 

 of a future supply of timber, they will give the subject due con- 

 sideration, and will heartily encourage any movement that 

 will aid in the preservation and perpetuation of this, one of 

 their principal sources of necessary supplies as well as of 

 wealth. Fortunately, this is a class that? is capable of accom- 

 plishing the desired end, since it has among its representatives 

 in the State public spirited and able men like Hon. S. B. Elkins, 

 J. N. Camden, H. Gr. Davis, and a number of others who are not 

 only interested in the future of their personal investments, but 

 in the future prosperity of the State as well. Thus, it would 

 appear that this class of owners can be depended upon to con- 

 tribute to the perpetuation of the forests upon the greater part 

 of the area under their control. 



That this question of perpetuation of present forest values is 

 of vital importance I think no one who is interested in the fu- 

 ture welfare of this region and of the State can doubt. But as to 

 how this desirable end is going to be accomplished is not so clear. 



This is indeed a complicated problem, involving as it does an 

 economic system of harvesting the matured crop of the valu- 

 able timber ; the preservation of the young growth in the ori- 

 ginal forests ; the reforestation of denuded and abandoned 

 areas with a desirable second growth, and when practicable the 

 planting of desirable kinds of trees on the land that will not 

 produce a natural second growth. It also includes the most 

 serious and difficult problems of all, that of protection against 

 forest fires and the invasions by destructive insects. It is in 

 fact a question demanding serious consideration by resident 

 land owners, permanently located manufacturing concerns, 

 mining and transportation companies as well as the scientific 

 investigations by the Experiment Station and other scientific 

 workers, representing a number of different branches of science. 



