LUMBERMEN AND FORESTRY 



By Wiluam Irvine. 



A GREAT many of the lumbermen of the United States are interested in 

 the science of forestry beHeving that thereby intelligent information is 

 being supplied as to the best methods of conserving the forests of the 

 country while furnishing their products in response to the country's commercial 

 needs. Scientific lumbering was not favorably received for quite a period by a 

 great many practical lumbermen, but gradually they have been awakened to the 

 fact that forestry is a science that should be cultivated to the utmost extent. The 

 public prints, voicing public sentiment, condemn the lumbermen in no uncertain 

 terms for the destruction of the forests, ignoring the fact that the lumber con- 

 suming public should be held equally accountable, for the reason that it has furn- 

 ished the demand for the forest products, without which they would not have 

 been produced. The view-point has changed materially within a comparatively 

 brief period, and the conditions obtaining a few years ago are not the conditions 

 of today. The earlier lumberman was in a constant struggle with the wolf and 

 had no time for questions of reproduction, care of smaller growth and kindred 

 subjects. The great question in the forests was that of getting to market the 

 merchantable product in such manner as to permit the operator to pay his labor 

 and supply bills with the hope of a reasonable return upon his investment. The 

 piroducts of the forests were used in the building of railroads, cities and towns^ 

 and to supply the manifold requirements of the people in general ; and to the ob- 

 server of the period the best interests of all classes were advanced by the methods- 

 then in effect. Millions of acres originally covered with trees that have been 

 felled to supply the people's needs are now fertile fiefds supplying homes and em- 

 ployment for thousands of husbandmen, who in turn are furnishing food and 

 raiment for countless citizens of the republic. No great fortunes were accumu- 

 lated by the makers of lumber of a few years ago, and as a matter of fact the 

 increase in the value of stumpage which has followed the diminishing supply, has 

 furnished the major part of the lumbermen's profits during later years. L,umber- 

 men who have bought trees for their commercial value have very naturally cut 

 the trees into saw logs, and will undoubtedly continue to do so in response to the 

 demand for the product. The cutting of today, however, is done on more eco- 

 nomical lines than in the past and each succeeding year will see improvement in 

 this regard. Gifford Pinchot and his successor, Mr. Graves, of the Federal 

 Forest Service have labored hard, and with a great measure of success, in the 

 effort to induce more economical cutting, and the sparing of the smaller growth. 

 A good many operators are making an effort along the lines suggested, but in 

 many instances the owners are not convinced that they can afford to leave any 

 portion of their merchantable standing timber, the tax gatherer offering a very 

 substantial bar to such a course in the majority of instances. Conservation and 



