92 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
census of 1900 shows that of this area 237,025 square miles or 174,736,000 acres 
is unimproved and non-agricultural land. It is probable that since 1900 con- 
siderable areas have been brought under cultivation, but for some years to come 
there will be an area larger than the present area of our National Forests which 
may be devoted to the growing of forest trees without using an acre of cultivated 
or improved land. Throughout the northern portion of this section the dairy 
and fruit industries are developing rapidly and more and more unimproved land 
will be used for grazing and fruit growing. But should we take only half the 
amount of non-agricultural land as given by the census of 1900 there would yet 
be an area of 87,368,000 acres, which is nearly equal in size to Minnesota and 
Iowa combined. This vast amount of essentially forest land, easily accessible 
to the great markets of the middle West, and largely without the topographic 
and climatic difficulties of the forest lands of the Rockies and westward, cer- 
tainly demands careful consideration in the development of a future and perhaps 
permanent forest policy for this country, towards which we are now feeling our 
way. 
Second, the nearness of good markets. This factor often controls the success 
or failure of large commercial undertakings, especially where initial expenditures 
are great. Under existing climatic and soil conditions we are learning that it is 
necessary to use seedlings and well-developed seedlings in starting successful 
commercial plantings on our prairie lands. The initial expenditure in carrying 
on forestry work which involves planting will therefore be great, but the ac- 
cessibility of the land and nearness of market will make it possible to harvest 
easily and often and to dispose of all of every tree. 
What Lands May Be Devoted to Forestry. 
The fence post question and in many instances the fuel question are just as 
vital to the prairie farmer as the tie and coal questions are to our railroads. 
With the introduction of methods of treating timber at small expense, it will 
rapidly become more profitable to grow as a forest crop the soft wooded species 
which may be grown on an exceedingly short rotation. The value of agricultural 
land generally in the region is too great to justify its use for the commercial 
production of timber over large areas. It is not a business proposition to devote 
land in any quantity to tree growing which will range in price from $10 to $100 
per acre when there are millions of acres of sand hills and sand barrens which 
will grow good crops of trees and which may be purchased readily at from 50 
cents to $5.00 per acre. Though it will not pay to devote large areas of valuable 
prairie land to tree growing, it will pay on farms of 100 acres or more to plant 
from 1 to 10 acres of good rich land to quick growing species producing wood 
durable enough for fence posts or which may be easily and cheaply treated with 
some preservative. Measurem.ents taken on many groves in this region seem to 
prove that where good land is planted to the right species and given proper 
culture, that returns comparable with those from grain crops are obtained. With 
the present constant increase in prices of all sorts of wood material used on the 
farms of this section, farm owners are beginning to see that it is a business 
proposition to grow needed wood supplies right on the farm. 
Planting Problems of the Prairies. 
If we relegate the growing of forest trees on a large commercial scale to the 
essentially waste lands of the region there is left the vast area of good agri- 
