The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 21 



bringing in settlers to occupy lands that could not be developed 

 if these other resources were not being built up at the same 

 time. It would, I believe, work in the same way in the South. 

 Every active step in the way of using the non-agricultural lands 

 for grazing and forestry stimulates the use of agricultural lands g^^^mo and 

 and building up of communities. The National Forests are Forestry 

 carrying over ten million head of live stock and growing trees Stimulate 

 at the same time; and the lands suited to farming are being oc- Agriculture 

 cupied by actual settlers, most of whom would not have an out- 

 look for permanence if the old system of forest fires, of ex- 

 ploitation of timber with no regard for restocking, and of unreg- 

 ulated over-grazing of the mountain slopes prevailed. 



Granted the truth of these contentions, how can the results 

 be attained in the South? Unquestionably it will be possible to 

 get private capital interested in handling lands for turpentine 

 production. The profits are certain and the period before actual 

 returns reasonable. But the average timber land owner balks at 

 even a forty-year proposition of tree growing. So far the so- 

 called conservation programs of the lumbermen of this region Forestry Not 

 have wholly left out the continuance of the forest by regrowth. Impractical 

 Thus the proposal recently made through the National Chamber 

 of Commerce to urge Congress to permit agreements in restraint 

 of trade where this would promote conservation of primary nat- 

 ural resources had in view only the saving of waste in exploiting, 

 present resources. Forest production by growth was overlooked 

 as impractical. 



Personally I do not have much expectation that many pri- 

 vate owners of land in the South will individually undertake for- 

 estry merely on a showing that these lands are capable of 

 producing thirty to forty thousand feet per acre in forty years. 



Nor do I believe that they will succeed in colonizing their cut- ^ ,. 



, , , 1 J 1 • o Collective Ef- 



over lands on any large scale under plans now m vogue. Specu- /^^.f jtjgces- 



lative land boosting would react to the injury of the' country, sary 

 Often land may be sold, but not developed. On the other hand, 

 I believe the plan of combining agriculture, grazing and for- 

 estry is entirely practical, and can be successfully undertaken 

 through collective effort. The results are so important that I 

 believe that this collective effort should include the public a? 

 well as the private owners of the land. 



First of all, there has got to be some stability of ownership 

 of the land and policy of its use. Where non-resident owners 



