12 



of the United States, and is the loo-ica] outcome of the economic 

 situation, just as, in my belief, the interest of the himbermen in 

 forestiy must necessarily be the logical outcome of the economic 

 conditions under which the lumber business is placed. You have 

 naturally' and logically moved forward step by step in this progress of 

 eliminating waste, making more out of the material with which you 

 have to work. It is perfectly logical and natural, therefore, that the 

 next step for you to consider is the use of your standing timber, not 

 merely for itself alone but also in relation to the value of the land to 

 you later on. That is the whole essence of forestry-. As President 

 Roosevelt has phrased it, ''The principal idea in forestry is the pres- 

 ervation of forests by wise use,'' and the conception upon which the 

 whole matter is based is simply the question of whether or not 3^ou 

 intend to get a second crop. 



The old idea that the forester was the enemy of the lumberman, and, 

 above all, the enemy of cutting timber, disappeared long ago from the 

 minds of foresters, or rather friends of forestry — for no true forester 

 eA^er held it — and is rapidly disappearing from your minds and those 

 of other lumbermen. And that is perhaps the happiest aspect of the 

 whole situation, for the perpetuation alike of your industry' and of 

 forestry- depends upon 3^our attitude toward this single question: Do 

 you or do you not intend to get a second crop ? 



I am very far from wanting to discuss with 3'ou the supplies of 

 standing timber or the prospect of a timber famine — questions with 

 which you are more familiar than I am; but it is perfectly obvious 

 that the supplies of certain kinds of timber are rapidly disappearing, 

 that the lumber trade is falling back year by year on poorer material 

 and longer hauls, and that the question of its continuance is already 

 demanding an answer. 



This is purely a business proposition which I want to lay before you, 

 to be considered, accepted, or rejected on a business basis. Forestry 

 deals with the forest in some ways with which you have but an indirect 

 interest. I am not talking now about the effect of forest^ on the llou^ 

 of streams, on winds, or on the general prosperity — matters of vital 

 importance in their place; but the question I want to bring to you is 

 simply this: Is it worth your while, from a commercial point of view, 

 to consider the forest as a part of your plant, and from that point of 

 A^iew should you cut off your timber and let the land go back for 

 taxes % 



Let us take an illustration. Suppose any one of you has a tract of 

 timber land in Arkansas, for example — for we haA^e some good figures 

 for that State. You lind that under certain conditions. Avhich make 

 practically no difference in the cost of getting out A'our logs — and it is 

 the business of the Bureau of Forestry to ascertain what those condi- 

 tions are — you can get a second crop of the same amount oft' that land 



