36 MISC. PUBLICATION 162, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
region, and in short, make that part of the country a better place in 
which to live. 
In 1942 the shelterbelt planting program in the Plains region 
was transferred to the Soil Conservation Service. 
COMMERCIAL FORESTRY 
Commercial or industrial forestry is the business of growing timber 
as a crop to supply industrial needs. In the past, few of the private 
concerns which had extensive forest: holdings did more than exploit 
their mature timber, and gave little heed to the permanent production 
of the raw materials necessary for the continuance of their operations. 
That some degree of forest culture be given the forest lands in 
private ownership is of prime importance to the welfare of this coun- 
try. Much of our choicest forest land is included in the vast timber 
holdings of private companies and individuals. Numerous industries 
and even communities are dependent upon them for existence. Forest 
lands in private ownership produce most of our lumber and forest 
products. 
One big question in the handling of all private forest lands is, of 
course, “Will forestry pay?” The experience of many progressive 
owners who have tried it shows that it will, under good average con- 
ditions of climate or soil, and accessibility to markets. A number of 
lumber and logging companies, pulp and paper concerns, coal com- 
panies, railroads, and other users of wood in large quantities, are 
instituting measures that look to the growing of their own forest 
products as a continuing crop. A number of them employ trained 
foresters to handle their forest lands, and some are artificially refor- 
esting lands which have become denuded. 
Two factors which have to some extent discouraged private timber 
erowing are high taxes and forest fires. The forest crop requires 
a longer period to reach maturity than other crops; and under ordi- 
nary ‘systems of taxation, a high annual tax on private forest lands 
may therefore prove too heavy a burden to the owner while he waits 
for his timber crop to grow. Such lands require a system of taxation 
whereby the private owner may carry a fair share of the tax burden 
and at the same time realize an adequate profit on his long-term 
investment. Some States, realizing this, have revised their forest- 
tax rates in recent years. 
Fire is another risk the private timber grower has to take, for within 
a short space of time it can eat up the profits derived from years of 
growth. Some private owners have established excellent systems of 
fire suppression on their timber holdings in cooperation with the Fed- 
eral Government and the States. To make possible cooperation be- 
tween all of these agencies was one of the reasons for the enactment 
of the Clarke-McNary Act. 
The practice of commercial forestry ought to be greatly expanded 
as the old-growth forests become scarcer. Otherwise, many of our 
commercial forest enterprises will be doomed through the exhaus- 
tion of raw materials. Research carried on by the Forest Service and 
other forest agencies is constantly adding to the knowledge required 
to apply sound principles of forestry profitable to privately Owned 
timberlands. 
