18 



The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



If A Per- 

 manent Lum- 

 ber Supply 

 May Be 

 Assured 



SIoiv Devel- 

 opment of 

 Cut-Over 

 Lands 



Fires and 

 Hogs Retard 

 Reforestation 



But that is not the case. There is an opportunity for an agri- 

 cultural development of gigantic proportions, and at the same 

 time a permanent turpentine and lumber industry. Millions of 

 acres of land in the South are unsuited to crop growing, but 

 capable of producing trees of exceptionally rapid growth. Shall 

 we sacrifice tree production on the whole because a part of the 

 land is better suited for crops? Is it not possible to carry on 

 both industries side by side with the land devoted to the pur- 

 pose for which it naturally is best suited? 



Pennsylvania is sometimes held up as an example of a state 

 that originally was a prominent lumber producing center, and 

 in which that industry is now replaced by manufacturing, agri- 

 culture and mining that makes it one of our richest common- 

 wealths. It is true that in the broad valleys fields have replaced 

 the forest. It is true that mining and manufacturing places 

 the state in the front ranks of wealth. But it is also true that 

 over great portions of the state the forest has been replaced by 

 a waste of scrub oak and sweet fern, with a scanty population 

 struggling against the most adverse conditions to hold their 

 own. Today the state is trying to reclaim its mountain wastes 

 in order to restore the logical resource of much of the region, 

 the forest, and lay the foundation for future productiveness and 

 industry where the land today is a burden on the public. 



What is happening now in the South? Are the logged off 

 lands being settled up, and is lumbering being replaced by agri- 

 culture? In general the extension of agriculture over logged off 

 pine lands is exceedingly slow. It is doubtful whether at the 

 present time the movement much more than offsets the aban- 

 donment of cleared lands. We know, for example, that between 

 1900 and 1910 there was an actual decrease in improved lands in 

 over 25 per cent of the counties of the pine region. I presume 

 that it is safe to say that the demand for logged off land for agri- 

 culture does not exceed 10 per cent of the area cut over each 

 year. 



To a limited extent logg^ed off lands are grazed and in places 

 there is some forest growth coming back. Most timber land 

 owners take the position that forestry is not practical for them, 

 so that fires continue to run over the lands, preventing in large 

 measure a regrowth of trees. In some sections also unregulated 

 running of hogs on the range effectively checks the reproduc- 

 tion of long leaf pine. Tree growth is accidental and such as oc- 



