CHIEF FIRE WARDEN. 131 



towards the prevailing wind direction, damage from wind-falls can 

 be greatly restricted. Obviously the logging expenses under for- 

 estry are slightly higher than in destructive lumbering. The pro- 

 spective value of the second growth started by forestry will, how- 

 ever, more than offset the excess of logging expenses, or, which is 

 the same, the smaller stumpage prices obtained. 



If an industry works at a loss, it should, of course, not be main- 

 tained artificially. Forestry, however, never works at a loss;, I do 

 not hesitate to say, it is the only industry which never knows finan- 

 cial failure. Proof of my testimony lies in 200 years of forest 

 history abroad. A seedlingonce well planted is sure to develop 

 into a tree; and as sure as the value of a tree is higher than the 

 value of a seedling, forestry pays interest on the capital invested 

 and repays the capital. True, the interest is small, being counter- 

 balanced by expenses for protection, administration and taxes, all of 

 which accumulate at compound interest up to the year at which the 

 trees reach maturity. If, however, protection and administration 

 are done on a large scale, the annual charges per acre of forest are 

 small; and if the assessment of forest land is not at the mercy 

 of shortsighted county politicians, 2 to 4 per cent of annual inter- 

 est on the investment will be left, even if stumpage prices do not 

 rise in the future. Thus the forest will yield small but safe inter- 

 est. High returns from forestry are impossible, because trees, 

 generally speaking, do not grow at a lo-per-cent rate. They grow 

 slowly, but they grow as regularly as the sun shines, the rain- falls, 

 the wind blows; for sunshine, rainfall and air are the components 

 of wood. 



The federal and state laws dealing with land problems are 

 framed only to suit the character of agriculture. The acquisition 

 of large tracts, so essential for forestry, is rendered almost im- 

 possible. The entailing of real estate so necessary where decades 

 of years lie between tim^ of planting and time of harvesting, as is 

 the case in forestry, is unconstitutional. Corporations, which by 

 an issue of shares, ifaarketabie on exchange, might facilitate the 

 salableness of forest property, are not allowed to own over 5,000 

 acres of land. The land laws induce the settler to rather become a 

 land speculator — but there is no room for land speculation in 

 forestry. 



The practice of selling absolute forest land in small lots must 

 result in forest destruction and the people allowing it to continue 

 are guilty of a criminal neglect. Settlers farming such land, when 

 the soil is exhausted and when no work is available in the deserted 



