222 



The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



Public on 

 Reforestation 



form the bases for their improvement, and for an ultimate prof- 

 itable hog and cattle raising industry, for these crops, in these 

 soils, have the advantage over the heavier and more fertile soils. 



On the other hand, it is equally true that the remaining 20 

 or 25 per cent of these cut-over lands is fit only for forest growth 

 of some kind. This is particularly true of the dry sand ridges 

 and hills found north of the pine flats of the coast region. Pov- 

 erty, leaching and erosion of all such lands would be the prob- 

 lem and the remedy would be a forest growth of proper species. 



Reforestation here should be our slogan ; and yet before re- 

 forestation work shall appeal to the average owner the educa- 

 tional side of our problem must be emphasized. We shall not 

 Educating tfte progress in reforestation until the state and the public are be- 

 hind the work ; and this will hardly come about until, through a 

 slow process of education, we are brought to appreciate more 

 fully its economic need and importance, and that it is essential 

 to our industrial development and to the solutioti oi this great 

 idle land problem. 



If forestry means anything it means reproduction, a con- 

 tinuity of forest growth and a continuity of forest use — a maxi- 

 mum of growth in a minimum of time, at a minimum of cost, 

 secured through the best possible silvicultural system of man- 

 agement, the forest cut on a rotation basis, and cutting no more 

 per annum than the annual growth. 



Forest fires, after man, are the worst enemies of the forest. 

 They prevent and destroy reproduction and otherwise injure and 

 destroy standing timber. The practice of burning off the woods 

 to improve grazing, so frequently done throughout the pine 

 region, must be corrected, and the fact of injury done by fire to 

 both soil and forest must be taught. 



And, again, let it be taught that grazing by cattle, goats, 

 sheep and hogs is permissible only in mature forests ; that they 

 have no place in a seedling forest. Within the past few years, 

 in his reforestation work at Urania, Mr. Hardtner has found and 

 proven that the "razorback" hog is even a worse enemy than 

 fire to long leaf pine reproduction. And who will say that the 

 razorback hog should have place in any modern agricultural 

 community development ! 



This development problem is complex and in its solution 

 thoughtful men and women evervwhere must give it their svm- 



Three Ene- 

 mies to Forest 

 Growth 



