'Cbc Conservative *
THE COMMERCIAL SIDE OF GOVERN
MENTAL AND PRIVATE FOR
ESTRY.
The lovers of the American forest
have been laboring over the forestry
problem for a number of years. In the
mean time , the owners of woodland
have continued to solve the problem in
their own way by converting trees into
ready money. Only a few cases are on
record , in which private individuals
have practiced conservative forestiy ,
evidently not knowing what they were
doing. If we investigate into the state
of affairs driving those individuals to
wards a conservative use of their forest-
holdings , we find a constellation of cir
cumstances , under which conservative
use of the forest yields larger returns
than forest destruction.
The most striking examples of such
"unconscious" forestry are reported
from the Longleaf Pine Belt in the
Southern U. S. , a section where logging
is practicable all the year round , where
taxes on forest-holdings used to be low ,
and where the pine trees , clad in a fire
proof armor of bark , are well protected
against destructive conflagrations.
Longleaf Pine Pictures.
- Obviously as long as the gigantic trees
of the primeval forests cannot bo approached
preached , as long as the expense of
transporting the timber to the market
surmounts the price obtainable for it , the
owner of the forests cannot actually
practice forestry. Later on , when the
country has been opened up by railroads
and navigation , the cost of marketing
the trees is reduced and stumpage be
gins to command a price. From that
moment on , it will pay to use the forest.
It will even pay to use it conserva
tively , provided that the facilities for
logging are good ; that the "second
growth" is safe from fire ; and that the
accumulating taxes payable whilst the
"second growth" is coming up , do not
devour a large percentage of the gross
returns obtainable from a "second
growth. "
Inducements at the Expense of the People.
If the government wonts to encourage
the movement towards conservative
forestry on private holdings , it must
see to it that these conditions are pro
vided for at governmental expense.
Then only forest-preservation is a safe
and remunerative business.
When the government wants to have
the system of railroads enlarged , it
gives inducements to prospective rail
road companies making railroad invest
ments safe and remunerative. "Why
should government hesitate to follow a
similar course when the development
and the maintenance of our forest re
sources is at stake ?
Obviously , the virgin-forest should
not bo preserved ; the virgin-forest is
unproductive ; the annual production of
woody tissues is exactly offset by the
annual death and decay of timber. If
such were not the case , our virgin
woods would get so dense in the course
of the years , that neither deer nor man
could penetrate them.
In the well managed forest , the ma
ture trees are removed , and just that
much timber is left on every acre as
suffices to fully digest sunshine , rain
and air , the food of the forest.
Broadly speaking , the stnmpnge is
cut back to that figure , at which the
ratio between the annual accretion of
woody tissue 011 the one hand and
stumpage remaining on the other hand
is a maximum. Where this maximal
ratio prevails. , the highest possible in
terest on the investment is derived.
Pictures "Cutting at Biltmore. " Regu
lation of Waters.
Objecting to the proposition of slam
ming the forest by cutting its best trees ,
you will ask : "Does not such business
forestry interfere with the role of the
forest as a regulator of drainage and
navigation ? Does it not cause the huge
water reservoir to leak , which the for
est is said to form ? "
The propriety of the question cannot
be doubted. We should not forget ,
however , that any use of any natural
resource is bound to leave it in a deter
iorated condition. Besides , the vege
table litter and the lumberman's debris
decaying on the ground to a much
higher degree than the trees act as a
hygroscopic sponge soaking up the fall
ing precipitations and causing them to
gradually percolate into the lower
strata of mineral soil.
Remove the deep mould covering the
foot of the trees for instance by fire ,
and rapid surface-drainage will take the
place of a slow underground-drainage.
In road-building and road-maintaining ,
striking proof may be gathered of the
inter-dependence between run-off and
soil-cover. All other conditions being
equal the road requires constant repairs ,
where it leads through abandoned
clearings or through heavily burned
timber tracts. True , the trees them
selves contain a large amount of mois
ture. On on average 45 per cent of
their weight is formed by water , and
when burning a cord of green wood ,
you evaporate over 250 gallons of
water.
Still , the amount of water contained
in the trees fluctuates within narrow
limits. In a period of drouth it may
drop down to 40 per cent , and after con
tinued rains it may rise to 50 per cent.
What is that hygroscopity of the trees
compared to the soaking power of the
vegetable carpet on the ground ! Ex
periments have shown that the weight
of the soil-cover after heavy rains is in
creased ten-fold !
Place of the Forestry.
Enthusiastic advocates of forestry
tf.lt.
have often deplored the disappearance
of the forest from the very laud where
they used to grow most luxuriously. I
refer to the rich land along the river
bottoms. To the cause of forestry , this
enthusiasm has done more harm than
good. Mere common sense prescribes
the rule that every acre of ground shall
be devoted to that production , under
which it pays best. The most fertile
land is justly claimed by agriculture
and pasture ; forestry must be properly
relegated to land unfit for field crops or
to a rough climate , where wheat and
corn are apt to fail.
In Germany where forestry is cer
tainly at home , agriculture and forestry
are invariably interwoven , being con
sidered "sister and brother. " The fa
mous Black-forest is far from being an
unbroken wilderness. It is dotted with
villages occupying the most fertile
spots. During summer , the population
works on the grass lands and in the
fields ; in winter , the forests claims all
available labor.
In the Black-forest , the supplies for
the logging camps are largely raised on
the "forest-farm , " and , obviously , the
"forest-farm" finds a ready market for
its bulky produce in the logging camp.
Black Forest Pictures.
In the Black-forest , a paternal govern
ment prevents irresponsible farmers
from devoting absolute forest-soil to
farming , farming , of course , at a loss
to the owner , and soon at a loss to the
people , when the farm is found to be
unproductive and is abandoned by its
owner.
In this country , the immigrant can
not possibly foretell , what forest land ,
being of a truly agricultural character ,
should be cleared and used for farming ,
and what wooded tracts , under the pre
vailing conditions of soil , climate and
means of communication , should bo
loft to the production of timber. Some
paternal supervision , some amicable
foresight must be exercised by the gov
ernment , aud only such land on the
other hand all such land must be de
livered to the plough , on which farming
pays bettor than a second growth of
trees.
Forest Revenue.
The question will be asked : "Does
forestry pay at all ? " Pointing to Euro
pean or to Indian experience , the for
estry scholars used to prophesy , that
large and rising returns can be safely
expected from forestry. To the unpre
judiced observer it seems strange , that
the American wood owner , the lumber
man , is far from sharing the scholars'
opinion. The American lumberman ,
standing in the foremost rank of suc
cessful business men , proves by the
very success of his business , that hi
this country aside from exceptional
conditions already cited forest destruc-