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but the planting and husbanding of new forest wherever trees can be 

 induced to grow. To this end there must be the arousing of public 

 sentiment so that in every State, and in the Nation, there shall be 

 tauo^ht the lesson that will lead to lemslation encouraffino- timber 

 growth. * * * We should rejoice in the fact that in this move- 

 ment, fraught with so much good to the Republic, sentimentalism 

 joins hands with commercialism. * * * The experiments of the 

 Government, of the railroads, and of private parties to prolong the 

 life of timber are of great importance. The saving to the forest, if 

 the life of a tie can be prolonged, will be very great, for as yet no sub- 

 stitute has been devised for wood ties that is economical or desirable. 

 They maintain the alignment of the railroad, so essential to safety, 

 better than any metal substitute, and give an elasticity to the roadbed 

 most important for the preservation and maintenance of the rolling 

 stock. 



L. E. JOHNSON, 



President Norfolk and Western Railroad Company. 



* * * The preservation of forests is not only necessary for sup- 

 plying railroads with cross-ties, with timber for their trestles and 

 cars, but is necessary to maintain the supply of wood for the various 

 manufacturing, building, and domestic purposes of the public. * * * 

 Our population now is becoming so congested, and the demands upon 

 the resources of the country so great, that it is necessary for intelli- 

 gent and conservative people to study the forestry question and other 

 like propositions, to the end that the resources of the country shall not 

 be wasted to such an extent that the conditions of living by our people 

 Sihall become difficult. T know of no single question that is entitled 

 to more consideration by people influencing the large corporations 

 than the timber and forestry question. 



J. T. RICHARDS, 



Chief Engineer, Maintenance of Way, Pennsylvania Railroad System. 



♦ * * rj^Y^Q number of cross-ties in use on the railroads of the 

 United States is estimated to be about 620 million; the number used 

 annually for repairs and for extensions of track is estimated to be 

 from 90 to 110 millions, requiring, we may say, the entire product 

 of 200,000 acres of woodland annually. Each year the timber 

 from which these are manufactured is farther from the base of 

 transportation. * '^ * Recently the yellow locust as a tie tim- 

 ber has been brought to our attention, and the cultivation of this 

 tree to a limited extent for tie purposes has been undertaken. Within 

 the last tAvo years we have begun the planting of yellow locust 

 trees on an extensive scale on property owned by the company. The 

 total quantity planted to date is 280,530 trees. During the coming 

 year we expect to plant about 800,000 more. 



