-2- 



thcmsclvcs. Then it began to produce poorer timber. The forest seemed 

 to go into a decline* Svidently rome change on a big scale had taken 

 place. 



Naturally, the timber experts thought of going back to nature, 

 to check ^xo on what they had done to the forest or to soil when they 

 took the wilds out of ITature's hands, as it were. But they had no 

 place to go. There v/ere no areas in the primitive state left. 



Such experiences asa tiiat have led Gerr.Tany, Italy, and other 

 Euror)ean governments to set aside sections in the forests where the 

 wilds axe given a chance to come back. 



But right here in this country. Fir, Munns says, we have similar 

 problems. For instaiice, in our Southern States we have a belt of 

 country where practically the only commercial timber is long-leaf pine. 

 That region has been considered as strictly a long-leaf pine region. 

 How, however, foresters have found in certain isolated spots, slash 

 pine grows well, far beyond what used to be considered the range of 

 slash pine. 



Hr, I^unns thinks tliat once there were thousands of acres of the 

 fast-growing slash pine in the long-leaf pine country, the \ihole area 

 of v/hich has for years been completely burned over on the average of 

 once every tv/o years. It would seem that the slash pine was destroyed 

 and the long-leaf pine survived because the long-lee.f pine is better 

 able to stand fire. But we cein't say this, Mr. I.^unns declares, because 

 we have no primitive area which has been kept free from the woods 

 burning practice of the people of that region; where we could go to 

 observe what happens where the wilds are left ijmtouched. 



So you see how important keeping sections of the wilds wild 

 may be. For lack of an exaroDle of v/liat happens in that particxilar 

 region when nature is left to talce its co^jrse, foresters don't know 

 whether it vould be v:ise or not to reforest land in that region '.7ith 

 the quick-growing slash pine for wood pulp. 



'Tood is a crop — but it is a long-tLme crop. ITith farm crops 

 which are plaiited and harvested in a season, the grower can see the 

 effects on the soil and work out rotations which will keep his land in 

 crop growing condition. But t'.iat 's not nearly so easy with wood land. 

 The tLme it takes for the wood crop to mature is so long compared to 

 the life of the individual grower that the grower needs some place he 

 can check 'jp on ITature's crop rotations. 



Among foresters, Mr. l/{ijiins tells me, there is a saying that, in 

 a mature forest, growth is eq-ual to decay, ^hat is lost by decay is 

 made up by new growth. Left to itself, according to this idea, the 

 forest would hold its own indefinitely. But u:ider certain conditions, 

 with fire and disease epidemics among the trees, the decay may be more 



