132 FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



maintained ? Cannot the agricultural interests profit by lessons of other 

 nations — e. g., China, Asia Minor, and other countries that have changed 

 from a " land of milk and honey to a desert waste simply by destroying 

 the forests ? Is it necessary that our great playgrounds, health resorts, 

 hunting grounds and favorite fishing streams be destroyed in order to have 

 us appreciate what untold pleasure and good we derive therefrom ? Will 

 the manufacturers wait until their water power is reduced to an uncertainty 

 and their coal bills prove burdensome before they appreciate the value of 

 the great water power ? 



The eastern portion of this country was once covered with forests of 

 vast extent. These forests in some localities were a barrier to permanent 

 settlement and were cut down and destroyed. This produced a sentiment 

 in favor of forest destruction, a general feeling that the forests were inex- 

 haustible and their protection unnecessary. The result of such a sentiment 

 has produced a wanton destruction of forests and wood products, — an 

 actual scarcity of timber and the clearing of land which cannot profitably 

 be used for agriculture. 



Losses such as occurred during the past year and other years must 

 be checked. They cannot be wholly overcome, but it behooves us to 

 protect ourselves against their recurrence. We must all realize that 

 forest fires not only destroy the forests, but with it timber of great mer- 

 chantable value, as well as the young trees which are intended to supply 

 wood for the next generation, but they very often even burn up the 

 forest soil. Fires kill the trees, and the possibility of a future forest there- 

 fore is very remote, because when the seed trees are dead, replanting is 

 necessitated. 



Other areas are noticeable where the fires burn over the territory every 

 time a severe drought occurs. Such fires destroy all the vegetable accumula- 

 tions since the last burning and delay by another drought cycle the founda- 

 tion of a forest. The future of such lands is of no importance unless fires can 

 be prevented. In fact, there is no use of practicing forestry, the lumbermen 

 limiting their cutting to certain limits, planting trees, purchasing land to 

 protect our watersheds, etc., or even to take any account of a future supply 

 if we cannot have reasonable fire protection. 



Such protection must not only include a proper organization which can 





