26 STATUS OF FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 



an offer of $3,000 for the merchantable timber, and regarded it 

 favorably. At the time the working plan was made fires were injur- 

 ing the forest by burning away the humus and damaging the timber. 

 The j^lan recommended took into consideration the probable rise in 

 local stumpage values, and embraced a series of fellings instead of an 

 immediate sale of the whole merchantable stand. Since the plan 

 went into effect the sum of $18,101.76 above all expenses has been 

 received from the sale of timber. Meantime, fire has been controlled, 

 and excellent reproduction is the result, so that the perpetuation of 

 the forest is assured. 



Among those private owners of forests who themselves make use 

 of the timber produced, a number practice forestry in order to secure 

 permanent supplies. Conspicuous among these are wood-pulp and 

 paper manufacturers, who largely own the forests from which they 

 get their logs. These are in many cases limiting the cut to what the 

 forest grows each year, thus insuring a sustained yield permanently. 

 They also safeguard the forest by efficient fire protection. Of this 

 the chief feature is patrol. Where their present holdings are too 

 small to satisfy their annual demands, these owners are buying new 

 tracts to secure the requisite growing stock. 



A Connecticut water company furnished another example of for- 

 estry. In this case forestry was undertaken mainly because of its 

 value as a means of increasing the purity of the water. But though 

 forest growth was needed on the reservoir catchment basin primarily 

 as a protective cover, it was seen that this protection forest might 

 safely be made to produce also a yield of wood. Accordingly the 

 existing forest was placed under a conservative plan of management. 

 The stand is perpetuated and improved, and also produces an annual 

 yield of cordwood, posts, and cross-ties. Open ground is being 

 planted to a commercial forest, while around the reservoirs ])rotective 

 belts of conifers are being set out to protect the water from pollu- 

 tion and improve the scenic beauty of the property. Several other 

 water companies are practicing forestry along substantially the same 

 lines. 



In point of variety and scope the work done on the Biltmore estate, 

 in North Carolina, is remarkable. The forests, which cover 130,000 

 acres, are made self-sustaining by the production of various forms of 

 material. Four million feet of lumber, 5,000 cords of tannic-acid 

 wood and fuel, a thousand cords of tan bark, and several hundred 

 cords of pulp wood are cut every year. At the same time the forest 

 itself is steadily increasing in value. Workmen employed along the 

 boundaries of the forest do duty as fire guards. Thus fire protection 

 is secured at least throughout all the accessible parts of the tract. 



[Cir. 167] 



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