FORESTRY. 



61 



the United States. Legislative recogni- 

 tion has been given forestry in 18 States, 

 but the work has been abandoned in 3, 

 leaving 15 in which the work is being car- 

 ried on at present, as follows: Maine, 

 Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, 

 Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 

 New York, North Carolina, North Da- 

 kota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Vir- 

 ginia and Wisconsin. Over $250,000 is 

 now annually appropriated by Congress for 

 forestry purposes. A career for young 

 American foresters is opening, and there 

 are several schools where scientific educa- 

 tion and practice in forestry can be 

 acquired. Positions in the United States 

 bureau of forestry opened to trained for- 

 esters are those of field assistant. These 

 positions carry a salary of $720 to $1,000 a 

 year in the beginning, with the payment of 

 all living and traveling expenses incident 

 to field work. Field assistants generally 

 spend about 6 months in the field and the 

 remainder of the time in the preparation of 

 the reports in Washington. Individual 

 corporations and pulp concerns are taking 

 a greater interest in forestry from year 

 to year, realizing that in such work lies 

 the success of their business. Such con- 

 cerns as the International and Great North- 

 ern are putting in much work along the 

 line of forestry. 



A branch of forestry that is being given 

 more attention than formerly is that of 

 tree planting. Forest planting in Maine 

 should be practically confined to the land 

 that, by nature of its roughness or sterility, 

 is unfit for agricultural purposes. Hilly 

 and stony lands are usually fit only for the 

 production of timber, and should be kept 

 constantly forested. As long as lumber was 

 cheap and plentiful, no progress could be 

 made in such planting, but now that it is 

 becoming- profitable to grow timber, the 

 otherwise worthless land has begun to re- 

 ceive attention. Many a worn out farm 

 may be restored to fertility by growing 

 forest trees on it for a series of years, 

 and many Maine farms are better suited 

 for the production of timber than for any 

 other purpose. 



In his message to Congress, President 

 Roosevelt said: "Public opinion through- 

 out the United States has moved steadily 

 for a just appreciation of the value of 

 forests, whether planted or of natural 

 growth. The great part played by them 

 in the creation and maintenance of the na- 

 tional wealth is now more fully realized 

 than ever before. Wise forest protection 

 does not mean the withdrawal of forest re- 

 sources, whether of wood, water, or grass, 

 from contributing their full share to the 

 welfare of the people, but, on the contrary, 

 gives the assurance of larger and more 

 certain supplies. The fundamental idea of 



forestry is the perpetuation of forests by 

 use. Forest production is not an end of it- 

 self; it is a means to increase and sus- 

 tain the resources of our country and the 

 industries which depend on them. The 

 preservation of our forests is an imperative 

 business necessity. We have come to see 

 clearly that whatever destroys the forest, 

 except to make way for agriculture, threat- 

 ens our well being." 



As an investment forestry is more and 

 more playing a part in the commercial 

 world. The capitalist of to-day is look- 

 ing for a safe place in which to invest his 

 income, and the purchase of timber lands 

 is fast becoming one of the popular invest- 

 ments which is considered safe and sure. 

 Not many years ago lumber values were 

 such that priyate persons making a busi- 

 ness of lumbering could not afford to do 

 the expensive logging necessary to pre- 

 serve the forests. To cut only trees about 

 12 or 15 inches in diameter involves a con- 

 siderable added expense over cleaning the 

 ground as they go, and to clean the ground 

 of tops and other inflammable debris is 

 still another expense which would put a 

 business so conducted almost out of com- 

 petition with that of the ordinary sort. 

 Lumber is now high enough, however, so 

 that if the lumbermen will be content with 

 a nominally lighter annual profit they can 

 make preservative lumbering pay and feel 

 that, whatever the sacrifice, it will be more 

 than compensated for by the increase in 

 the value of the capital remaining in the 

 timber. — Report of E. E. Ring, Forest Com- 

 missioner of Maine. 



WOOD LOTS. 



In a recent paper entitled "The Use and 

 Care of the Farm Wood Lot," Charles A. 

 Davis, instructor in forestry at the Univer- 

 sity of Michigan, called attention to the fol- 

 lowing points : 



Every farm should have a well estab- 

 lished wood lot, from, which firewood, 

 posts, poles and other small timber used 

 on a farm may be taken as needed. The 

 wood lot may be on a hill too steep for 

 cultivation, or any other place which may 

 not be suitable for the ordinary purposes 

 of agriculture ; and it may be so located 

 as to form a windbreak. 



After a wood lot has been established it 

 must be kept in good condition. Not in- 

 frequently a farmer will so neglect his 

 wood lot or so misuse it as to cause it to 

 deteriorate rapidly. Such deterioration is 

 often due to excessive thinning, to pas- 

 turing or to constant removal of the better 

 timber and the. leaving of the poorer trees. 

 Correct use would exclude cattle and sheep 

 entirely. The undergrowth should be left 

 to form a soil cover, which adds to the 

 moisture-receiving capacity; or young 



