96 The Forest Products Laboratory 



352 rings, and if we assume that each ring represents a year's growth, 

 and no one has been wilhng to say that it represents any less than one 

 year, then the minimum age of that tree was 352 years. That would 

 have been a long time investment. So it would be with the hardwoods 

 we plant ; and it is not for the state of Wisconsin alone to wait, but 

 the nation should wait. It can afford to because it is for the general 

 good. 



Now, I would recommend to Congress, if I were to recommend 

 an}d:hing and they were willing to listen, that they provide for the 

 purpose millions of acres of land, not merely cut-over lands, not 

 merely land that produces perhaps scrubby timber, whatever kind it 

 is, but some good agricultural land with it that will produce the hard- 

 woods. We all know, w^ho have had experience in the forest, that the 

 oak and ash and the other hardwood timbers that we must have for 

 mechanical purposes are not going to grow on a sand heap. They 

 need good soil. The nation must sacrifice some good agricultural 

 soil if it proposes to be a successful timber raiser. The government 

 should provide the land and set it aside for that particular purpose. 

 It should firmly stand against the demands of the agriculturist and 

 say to the people that this land must be used for tliis particular pur- 

 pose, that it is just as important to raise this crop as any other crop. 

 It should be the rule in the future that whenever a tree is cut down 

 a tree should be planted in its place, and that another tree be planted 

 w^herever there is room to produce one. And then we must look after 

 the crop of trees. We must protect it against destruction by fire, 

 against trespassers, etc. 



Unless we go into the problem in an intelhgent and practical way, 

 of course, the whole project will be a failure. So then, those of us 

 who are interested in the reproduction of the forest, and who appre- 

 ciate that we must begin it now, ought to do our work not in the States, 

 because I think it is useless, but go to the halls of Congress and im- 

 press Congress with the importance of this work. 



The lumbermen of this country, perhaps, have the best conception 

 of the value of timber and its fast disappearance. As an organization 

 interested in replacing what they have cut down, interested in putting 

 back the trees they have taken to the mill and sawed into lumber, they 

 should go to Congress and impress Congress with the importance of 

 the subject, in order to get the necessary appropriation and the nee- 



