Forest Taxation. 



By C. A. SCHENCK, Ph. D* 



THERE are found in this country thousands of cabins and houses, uninhabited 

 and uninhabitable, with the roofs and windows gone, the floors destroyed, 

 and the sides falling to pieces. Apparently it does not pay the owner of 



such ruins to keep the place in good repair. 

 There are thousands of forest tracts in 

 this country, unproductive and neglected, 

 with the merchantable timber gone, the 

 vegetable ground-floor destroyed by fires, 

 and a few decrepit and worthless trees 

 gradually falling to pieces. 



Here, too, it does not pay the land- 

 owner to keep the woods in good condi- 

 tion ; the outlay required for forest preser- 

 vation is found to surpass the revenue 

 derivable from such expenditure, in the 

 very large majority of cases. 



Unfortunately for the commonwealth, 

 the neglected forest forms the rule ; the 

 preserved forest is the exception. We 

 never think of putting before the owner 

 of a dilapidated cabin the financial wisdom 

 of proper repairs and of timely care. That owner, without a doubt, understands 

 the requirements of the case better than an outsider. 



On the forest owner, however, all bystanders (who, of course, do not own a foot 

 of woodland) lavish their kind recommendations and friendly advice with a view of 

 bulldozing him into forest preservation and sylvicultural ere. 



*Forester to the Biltmore Estate, N. C; Principal, Biltmore School of Forestry; and Forest 

 Assessor to the Government of Hesse Darmstadt. 



26 395 



