Title: Forest leaves, v. 33 Place of Publication: Philadelphia Copyright Date: 1943 Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAg065.3 FORE a ^-1 'i H -J. AYES ./CV.*S '"^ -^ ♦' "'''l^*' ' ^>J^ i*^ ;*!l^ "^^^ Jf*-*" ^'^%- ^ ...^-^S^ 'I'^.'i^^ ..'.- ^-.^ ;t>i«' V^ -^ A*<^.:- .:'^ •^ :f r ^'■/•Si '^-^^K^s ...■^■ c,:i^^' i«* *■*,- #«*-.•• -^*^ i^^cts. :,' 4' THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1943 CONTENTS Falls, Child's State Park Cover Photograph by The Pennsylvania Department of Highways Why Better Forest Management 1 by Harris A. Reynolds Public Policy and Private Forest Management 3 /;v Lawrence W. Rathbun Editorial 4 John Bartram (Book Review) 5 by Edward E. Wildman A Letter From Mr. Kell 8 Plants Poisonous to Insects 8 Treasurer's Annual Report 9 Secretary's Annual Report 10 Protection of Forests Is National Defense 11 Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association 12 Timber Sale Operations 12 Our Future Civilization 13 by John IT. Hers hey Plant An Arboretum On Your Farm 15 Declaration Of Principles 15 THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Founded in June, 1886 Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enactment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and National. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE, THREE DOLLARS One Dollar of which is for subscription to Forest Lf.avf.s Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership Committee, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadelphia. President— WiLnvR K. Thomas Honorary President-$AM\jr.L L. Smedlev Honorary Vice-President— Kobf.rt S. Conklin Vice-Presidents Wm. S. B. McCaleb Francis R. Taylor Edward C. M. Richards Dr. E. E. Wildman Dr. J. R. Schramm George H. Wirt Edward Woolman Victor Beede Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Secretary-H. Gleason Mattoon Treasurer— K. A. Wright, C. P. A. FOREST LEAVES PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Narberth. Pennsylvania. under the Act of March 3, 1879 Volume XXXIII— No. 1 Narberth, Pa., January-February, 1943 Whole Number 313 Why Better Forest Management by Harris A. Reynolds r^FFlciAL FORESTRY sources Warn us ^^ that we are threatened with a severe shortage of lumber and other forest prod- ucts this coming year in meeting our war needs. This is not a pleasant outlook. We know that these shortages are not due to actual lack of forest resources, but largely to the scarcity of man power and the location of our remaining timbered areas. For more than half a century our lum- bermen have cut over one after another of our virgin forest regions until most of the remaining stands of primeval growth are to be found in the three Pa- cific Coast States and Alaska. Our indus- tries are mainly in the East and our for- ests are largely in the Far West. With water transportation crippled by sub- marine warfare, our overburdened rail- roads must now shoulder the task of hauling this heavy commodity long dis- tances from source to consumer. Although we have developed the pro- fession of forestry in this country during the past forty years and thousands of men have been trained in the art, less than a third of the forest land of the country is under forest management. Most of our forest lands have been strip- ped of the virgin growth and with little or no help from man. Nature, hampered ^Y man-caused fires running over mil- ^ons^f^res annually, insects and dis- ^^pritited from FOREST and PARK NEWS, 'Massachusetts Forest and Path Association. eases, has failed to reclothe them. And, when any second growth did reach a marketable stage the process of unre- stricted cutting was repeated. As a result, we have scores of millions of acres of forest land that are either idle or producing at less than one-third ca- pacity. Most of this land, of which we have many thousands of acres right here in Massachusetts, is a burden rather than a servant to society. It is not paying its way in taxes, it is unprofitable to the owner and it is not providing raw ma- terials for our wood-using industries. The war has brought this condition into public focus, as no effort on the part of foresters and conservation agencies has been able to do. Timber growing calls for vision, patience and outlay in capital and the average woodland owner lacks one or all of these factors. Until recent years the hazards of timber pro- duction, such as fire, insects, fungi, taxes and lack of public support have discour- aged even the public spirited owners from recognizing their responsibility of own- ership and from practicing forestry on such lands. Shortages of annual crops can usually be overcome in one growing season, but for most tree species a half century or longer is required to produce a profitable saw log. Other civilized countries confronted with this problem of forest maintenance have, through long experience, been liH ■i It r \ '] 1 ' forced to recognize that the public inter- est in all forest land was such that the people as a whole had to assume the re- sponsibility of timber growing. This has been done through public ownership and the regulation of private cutting coupled with adequate assistance to the owners from the public purse. In this country we have made some progress in the establishment of national, state and community forests, but for the most part the lands acquired, especially in the East, were devastated areas, no longer attractive to private capital. Even then the public has been slow to recognize that the growing of timber, like other crops, costs money and development of these lands has been retarded through lack of appropriations. The next step, public regulation of private woodland, therefore seems to be in order if we are to avoid the hazard of timber shortage in future emergencies. It is not that we are faced with an abso- lute shortage of timber now or in the near future, but rather local shortages, even in areas where there are adequate forest lands to supply home industries, because of neglect of the growing stock. The problem of protecting the imma- ture growth and thereby bringing all our forest lands back to capacity production is now rapidly becoming recognized even by the lumbermen. It is not a question so much as to what should be done — the forester can provide the technical an- swers— but who shall do it. Within the past two years a congres- sional investigation has done much to arouse public interest. There are already bills before Congress which would place the power to regulate all privately-owned forest land in the hands of the federal government. Opposition to that course has been voiced from every part of the country, and yet the leaders in the for- estry profession, conservation and lum- bermg agree that some action must be taken to put our house in order. Here Two in the Northeast the Council of State Governments has had a committee of foresters working on the preparation of a model bill for regulation. Many of the states officially have also made studies and many more have unofficial groups engaged in formulating plans for legis- lative action. This is a trying period in the forest conservation movement. Laws that do not have the support of public opinion cannot be enforced and soon become use- less. Under the stress of war, radical programs are sometimes tolerated that in peace times would meet with overpower- ing opposition. The present forestry sit- uation does not call for strong arm methods under the guise of war measures by either the federal or state govern- ments. This problem will be with us long after the fighting ceases, and ill-ad- vised action now will do more to retard than to advance effective conservation. It is true that under the stress of free competition the lumbermen have been re- sponsible for much of the devastation of our forest resources. But, they have been no more at fault than the farmer, who, through poor farming methods, has ruined the top soil on millions of acres; the miners whose wasteful meth- ods have skimmed the cream from our mineral deposits; the manufacturers who by dumping waste into our streams have ruined them for fish life and recreation; or the hunters who have often reduced certain species of game birds and animals nearly to the point of extinction. Pub- lic ignorance and indifference lie at the root of these ills and society itself must make amends or bear the penalty. Here is where organizations of public- spirited citizens, such as the Massachu- setts Forest and Park Association, have a grave responsibility. In the final anal- ysis, more progress will be made towards a sensible solution of these problems by applying a maximum of public cooper- ation with a minimum of compulsion. Forest Leaves PUBLIC POLICY and Private Forest Management by Lawrence W. Rathbun, Forester Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests T WISH TO DISCUSS public policy and i private forestry enterprise. I dare say no so-called exploiters of natural re- sources are entirely satisfied either with their own methods or results. There are, to be sure, better technical methods than those customarily employed that may be adopted. Public policy demands that somehow forest harvest practices be mod- ified to protect the future and the not far future at that. There are, however, other reasons than mere personal greed and shortsightedness for present proce- dures. Public policy may be expressed in lofty terms but public practice may be wrong and the cause of bad private prac- tices. What should public policy be? Let me quote a recent release by the New England Regional Planning Commis- sion, of which Victor M. Cutter, a mem- ber of our Society's Executive Commit- tee, is Director. ''To bring about better conservation and use of our natural re- sources, we should put into efl^ect a land utilization program to the end that no land capable of producing a profitable crop shall be idle; that those farmlands which, because of poor soil condition or inaccessiblility, are submarginal for farming shall be withdrawn from cul- tivation and put to forest or recreation uses; that our 15,000,000 acres of now practically idle woodland shall produce marketable timber on a paying basis; that overcutting because of the defense nse in prices shall be avoided; that ero- sion shall be controlled; that full use snail be made of such mineral deposits as ^<'l>rintecl from FOREST NOTES, Vol. VII, No. 1. fami- «rv 1913. Society for the Protection of New Hampshire rorests ' Janu ARY - February, 1943 are adequate in quality and quantity for profitable extraction." But public policy merely stated is no better than wishful thinking. This we have done too long. The Weeks Act of 1911 was public policy with meaning for it was followed by action. The United States now owns and administers nearly 200 million acres of forest land. Russia went us one or even two better and nationalized all land as public pol- icy. England today is publicly adminis- tering a large area of agricultural land and nationalization is very much in their thinking. But before jumping into reg- ulation or nationalization either by pur- chase or decree let us scrutinize our present governmental actions and see if they support our announced policy. As I do not believe a government pol- icy should or can be laid down for the actual management of free men I shall take the liberty of restating the conclu- sion of the aforementioned Planning Commission. To bring about better conservation and use of our natural resources public policy should make private ownership of land, which government alone can grant and make secure, profitable only when reasonably sound use of that land is made. The several States are the only agen- cies which can really implement a policy of sound private stewardship as they alone have direct relationship with the owners and secure to them their right and title to the use of their land. It is the people of the several States which, in their right of sovereignty, possess the original and ultimate property in and to all lands within the jurisdiction of the State. It is they who in their sovereign (Continued on Page 6) Three FOREST LEAV E S Published Bi-Monthly at Narherth, Pa., by The PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Disseminates information and news on forestry and related subjects. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE H. Gleason Mattoon, Chairman Philip A. Livingston Ralph P. Russell Mrs. Paul Lewis Mrs. R. C. Wright Devereux Butcher E. F. Brouse Dr. J. R. Schramm The publication of an article in Forest Leaves does not necessarily imply that the views expressed therein are those of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Editorial and ad- vertising office, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadel- phia. Please notify us of any change in address. JANUARY - FEBRUARY, 1943 TAXATION AND REGULATION T N PENNSYLVANIA, ovcr the years, three -■- attempts have been made by law to adjust or defer part of the taxes on tim- ber land until the crop has been harvest- ed. In every case such laws have been declared unconstitutional. Apparently without revision of, or amendment to, the constitution of this Commonwealth, there is no way of rebating or deferring taxes on forest land until such time as the trees are mature. Such a situation is most unfortunate, because it encourages clear cutting of immature timber to meet unfair tax bills. On another page of this issue is an ar- ticle by Lawrence W. Rathbun, forester of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, which discusses tax- ation as it affects forest land. In that article he speaks of a constitutional amendment in New Hampshire which was acted upon last fall. This amend- ment, which was carried by a five to two majority, empowers the legislature, for the purpose of encouraging conservation ot the forest resources, to provide for special assessments, rates and taxes on growing wood and timber. It is time to consider a similar amendment to the con- stitution of Pennsylvania. The curse of tax delinquency is plainly Four attributable to the present unscientific and unfair method of assessing land. The curse of clear cutting of forest land is at least in part due to excessive taxation. In Congress are several bills calling for federal regulation of cutting practices on private forest land. In the state leg- islature other bills may be introduced which set up some form of state regula- tion of cutting. Before any of these are passed some means should be found to mitigate the tax burden on uncut tim- ber. If the tax burden on young grow- ing stock is not lightened and laws are passed, either federal or state, restricting cutting, then will the list of tax delin- quent lands grow by leaps and bounds. The forested townships of this state depend largely upon taxes from forest land to pay salaries and provide the few facilities. To meet those taxes the own- ers of timber land must get some revenue. In certain townships nearly all of the timbered area has been cut so recently that the stand is little more than pole size. Suppose under regulation none of that timber could be cut until it reached saw timber size, thirty or forty years herice. What the result would be can be easily imagined. The township would receive little tax money but it would have thousands of acres of tax delinquent land on its hands. Before regulation laws are passed the tax system on forest lands should be thoroughly reviewed and revised. The process of amending the constitution is long and tedious. It should be started now before the forest owner is faced with regulation, not afterward. H. G. M. D. O. Mason, who has a well-started grove of 500 Chinese Chestnut and 300 grafted walnut at Franklin Park, N. J- reports that the Thomas is doing well planted on the campus of Middlebury College in Central Vermont. Planted in 1932, is now about 20 feet tall, and bearing. Forest Leave?^ JOHN M DIARY OF A JOURNEY THROUGH THE CARO- LINAS, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA from Julx 1 17fif^ to April 10 1766. JOHN BARTRAM, The Americal Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Paper, .•52.00- Cloth $5.00. Bound as Part 1 with William Bartram's TRAVFIS IN GEORGIA AND FLORIDA. Part 2. To all of US who love Pennsylvania's forests and other wild life, the name John Bartram is a familiar and an honored one. Yet few of us have had the oppor- tunity to get at the facts of this truly great man's work. His house, which he built with his own hands, still stands, much as he left it at his death in 1777. The garden which he laid out along the Schuylkill in "Kingsessing" in the early 1730's has not been encroached upon by the ever- expanding city, thanks to the good work of the John Bartram Association over the past forty years. But these things only whet our interest in the man him- self. For more than thirty years John Bar- tram walked and rode the wilderness of colonial America, searching for plants to send his European correspondents and to grow in his garden. We know that he made at least a dozen exploring and col- lecting trips far from home, and that he kept journals of most of these. But only two or three of these records have been preserved. Fortunately this one is the daily record of the longest and perhaps the most important journey that Bar- tram ever made. He had just been made f^ing s Botanist, which position enabled him to make this Survey. Now for the nrst time, this valuable document is available to the Public. John Bartram was one of the charter members of the American Philosophical Society, founded by Franklin and his as- sociates just 200 years ago, in 1743— .ror promoting useful knowledge." It IS most fitting therefore that the transac- "ons of this ancient and honorable So- ciety should carry to the world this unique Diary. It appears here just as January - February, 1943 Bartram wrote it, with misspelled words, lack of capitals and punctuation. Yet it is filled with references to interesting peo- ple, places and events. Nothwithstand- ing all this, however, it would seem almost like a story in a foreign language to us moderns were it not for the excel- lent work of the editor. Dr. Francis Harper, who has given years to its study. In order to retrace Bartram's steps in this famous journey, Dr. Harper enlisted the help of local landowners and surveyors throughout its course. His colleagues on the research staff of the Academy of Nat- ural Scieiices and scientists, historians and ethnologists of the states traversed have helped him identify plants and animals, mineral and fossil deposits, Indian and Spanish cultures and customs referred to in the Diary. Credit is given to Mr. Arthur Leeds, who initiated the study and to the sponsors who supported it. Thus, while the Diary itself covers 43 pages, we are not surprised to find twelve pages devoted to the interesting Intro- duction, twenty-two pages of Comments, geographical, historical, and other, and twenty-eight pages of Annotated Index, all full of interesting information. Fol- lowing a very complete General Index, the report closes with twenty-two plates showing photographs of maps such as Bartram must have used; of houses, churches, and Spanish forts which he vis- ited, and still to be seen; of a page of his Diary, showing his handwriting; and of beautiful drawings of plants, made by his gifted son, William. This issue is very limited. Orders should be sent promptly with payment to the American Philosophical Society 104 South 5th St., Philadelphia, Pa. Edward E. Wildman Five Public Policy and Private Forest Management (Continued frotn Page 3) right charge a rental under pain of for- feiture in the form of a land tax. It is the States, further, which grant their ten- ants a low rent for non-use, idleness and misuse, and conversely exact a dispro- portionately high levy on productive enterprise, full use, and in the present crisis on that production upon which our very existence as a free nation depends. The federal government, as you have heard, plans drastic actions because pri- vate ownership does not appear too suc- cessful in the vital role of maintaining forest production. Government owner- ship can circumvent the difficulties of pri- vate ownership, taxes, interest, etc. and in time create near perfect forests. It is not necessary, however, to have public ownership to determine the productive capacity of the forest. Technicians can readily determine the potential capacity of various soil types under proper man- agement, that is, the measure of the an- nual value which society should receive whether the land is under private or pub- lic ownership. The State of New Hampshire, through one department, endeavors to persuade forest land owners to use their lands for the public welfare. At considerable pub- lic expense low price planting stock is made available. At considerable public expense fire risk has been reduced to a small fraction of 1 % a year. Cooperat- mg with the Extension Service, help is being extended in organizing coopera- tive marketing agencies. But let us look at the duties prescribed by law of another Department. Does our tax policy encourage good or bad land use? You all know the answer. If . land IS skinned to the last two by four the assessors can be and frequently are persuaded to assess its value at $1.00 per acre and collect in taxes only two to four cents per acre a year. The wild lands in the unorganized townships, some 200,- 000 acres, pay on the average only three Six cents per acre. A very low land tax is no spur to good land use but permits owners to persist in misuse. On the other hand, a high tax on production or grow- ing trees is the surest way to discourage enterprise. We do both deliberately by law. Therefore, I say our real and effec- tive public policy is basically opposed to better land use. The only way around this for the Federal government is by decree or subsidy. So far only subsidy, W.P.A. for landowners has been tried. The method of taxation is the surest control for land use. A proper method will secure good tenants ijnd can elimin- ate bad ones, just as is done every day in private business. The public is no more justified in providing free, or at partial cost, planting stock, fire protection, and other services which cannot or will not be advantageously used than is a housing authority justified in providing over- luxurious apartments for tenants who neither pay the full rent nor properly use the facilities. The first public policy which this so- ciety advocated was Federal acquisition of the White Mountain National Forest. The full economic fruition of that pol- icy will not come to bear for many years yet. On the whole, the people are satis- fied but those who live closest to it find fault, and I believe with some justifica- tion, that the tenant, the United States, despite certain aids, does not contribute its share in local taxes. If the National Forest is sound policy it should be able to pay the equivalent of local taxes, if our tax method is correct. The next step was the creation of the State Forestry Department. Fire pro- tection became public policy and it was implemented with funds and action. The provision of inexpensive planting stock became a policy and still continues at an appreciable cost. Public recreation be- came a policy and at some cost. Better forest management has as yet to become a goal for which we shall provide proper implements. As I mentioned before, the present policy of taxation will negate al- most any subsidy which the State or Extension Service or Federal Govern- FoRKST Leaves ment becomes willing to grant for bet- ter forestry. The proposed constitutional amend- ment upon which we shall have oppor- tunity to vote on November 3rd will pave the way for legislative action to meet this situation. In my opinion, we are not ready for immediate action. A fact-finding study of our forest re- sources, the trend of utilization, and the fiscal dependency of each town on the present tax basis must be carried out. Any adjustment in taxation should be on a basis of encouraging or even forcing better land use. Above all, it should not be merely to lighten the burden of own- ing land, to hold on to it in idleness, or for speculation. It should be carefully calculated to stimulate activity, the em- ployment of labor, the creation of wealth —trees for the raw material of industry, or the environment for recreation. Education for better practices will be far more readily accepted or even sought under such stimulus. The bad efl'ects of our present policy have already reduced large areas to a condition of poverty which defies private ownership, i. e.. tax dehnquent land. Many towns in which the problem is becoming acute strive to preserve private ownership for the sake of a paltry few cents per acre annual tax. No town can afford to have lands yield- ing less than 1 5 cents per acre. Such low taxes won't maintain roads, fire protec- tion, etc.. and automatically increase the burden on all other real estate. A new public policy is called for. If a private owner could possibly hold such land and retrieve his tax payments after 30 to 60 years from the growth thereon the pub- lic could do it easily. Therefore, the ptate of New Hampshire should be will- ing to assume ownership of any delin- quent land and pay to the township in wnich the land lies the equivalent of the aT ^^ ^^<^^ived from the last owner. ^ noor at an increasing height might be so created and our people will soon learn jnat if they reduced the productivity of tneir land below a certain point they January - Fkbruarv, 1943 could not afford to pay the taxes and would have to relinquish it to public ownership. Such publicly-owned land might be returned to private ownership eventually but under contractual restric- tions or regulation agreeable to both State and Town. I would have the State authorized to borrow as a starter $10,000 annually for the payment of rentals on lands accept- able to the State to which towns can and wish to grant a good title. Eventually a tax floor of 10 or even 15 or 20 cents per acre could be established which is cer- tainly less than the value to the public of placing land under proper manage- ment. At 10 cents per acre a year, and allowing three per cent interest, the State will have paid less in 26 years than the average purchase price of all National Forests secured under the Weeks law. It would take 40 years for that rental to accumulate the average acre cost of $7.76 for our own White Mountain National Forest. Ten thousand dollars a year could secure to the State from one to two hundred thousand acres. Furthermore, it would help out those towns which are suffering most from tax delinquency and put them in a position to insist on a min- imum of 10 cents an acre for all wild land. This measure, coupled with a change in taxation of growing wood and timber, would within a generation make over the forests of New Hampshire. That would be public policy in action. War time restrictions ivill force the owners of shade and fruit trees to become acquainted with some excellent fertilizers that are not so well known as the standard mixtures. Castor bean meal, soy bean meal, cotton seed meal tankage, dried blood and many other organic materials contain the plant food elements in which most soils are most apt to be deficient. Those who hax>e been burning xuood in the fire- place should be sure to save the wood ashes for the vegetable garden or lawn. They are high in potash and calcium. Do not use them on acid loving plants. Seven 1 A LETTER . • ■ from the New Secretary of Forests and Waters January 28, 1943 Harrisburg, Pa. Dear Mr. Mattoon: The very kind felicitations of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association and yourself, as contained in your letter of January 18, are greatly appreciated. The creditable achievements of the Associa- tion in promoting forestry have been most beneficial. Your commendatory statement with respect to the State Forest timber utiliza- tion project was read with a great deal of interest as well as your comments on the advisability of furnishing marketing information to private woodland own- ers. I am informed that the Department has three cooperative marketing and util- ization projects which were inaugurated during the past year in cooperation with the U. S. Forest Service, for the purpose of assisting private forest land owners, particularly farmers, in the management, utilization and marketing of their for- est products. Each project is under the direction of a graduate forester. The total area comprises approximately 500,000 acres of privately owned forest land. The projects include the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Luzerne, Lackawanna, parts of Lycoming and Columbia, Franklin, Cumberland and Fulton. Cuttings on a sustained yield basis and diameter limit are stressed. I am quite in accord with your sug- gestion that the State Forest recreational areas should be kept in a presentable con- dition so that they may serve the desired purpose during the postwar period. As I view the situation today, it is apparent that postwar planning must be given special consideration, not only with re- spect to State Forest recreational areas, but to other Department activities. I note what you say about the condi- FAfrht tion of the Schuylkill River. This, as well as a number of other contaminated streams throughout the State, will be considered in connection with the Stream Sanitation program. The reforestation by mining companies of refuse banks cre- ated by mine stripping no doubt would help to alleviate the condition mentioned, and the planting of these areas would furnish gainful employment during the postwar period. The forest fire protection and extinc- tion program must necessarily be contin- ued if we are to save the forests from being destroyed by fire. Please be assured of my interest in the excellent work of the Association. Sincerely yours, Jas. a. Kell PLANTS POISONOUS TO INSECTS IT IS GENERALLY well known that plant extracts or powder have from earliest time been used for controlling insects, although a vast proportion of the insect world feeds upon plants. Some insects, however, live upon plants the ex- tracts of which are toxic to other insects. The tobacco plant, for example, has its own pests including, we believe, cater- pillars, yet extracts of the plant in the form of nicotine are more or less deadly to all forms of life, though some insects are too resistant to be controlled by prac- tical doses. Many of these more re- sistant pests, however, yield to extracts of derris or pyrethrum, the lethal char- acter of these plant products being known to the natives of China and South America long before white men knew of them. In our earlier days quassia chips were only just giving way to nicotine, these chips of the quassia tree yielding a bitter extract when boiled. Even today, the FoRKST Lfaves age of chemistry, no synthetic materials as yet threaten the plant products as in- sect killers; indeed the plant materials that yield insecticides are so important that the government does not allow their re-export nor their extracts, except to specified countries. But while everyone realizes plant ex- tracts are dominant among insecticides, especially where non-poisonous residues are desirable, it will surprise many per- haps to learn that according to a survey made by the Boyce Thompson Institute, that at least 100 species of plants yield extracts that are more or less deadly to some insects. Some, such as the Clove, Nutmeg and Eucalyptus which we our- selves use daily, are toxic to ants, and in a similar way, numerous other plants harmless to some forms of life are fatal to others. Many of these plants have been observed to be toxic to insects when they ventured to feed upon them. The pyrethrum industry came about because a woman in Dalmatia observed dead in- sects on a discarded bunch of Pyrethrum flowers. In studying the killing properties of around 100 varieties and species of plants, A. Hartzell and Fredericka Wil- coxen made extracts either with water or acetone and used them against the larvae of mosquitoes. Among the plants that yielded extracts giving a high kill of the larvae were Liriodendron tulipfera, Pop- ulus sp.. Bay, Barberry, Inula, male rern, Hydrangea arborescens. Sage and 1 umpkin. In all cases either the leaves, wood, root or seeds were used to provide the extract and, additionally, crude bo- tanical oils and drugs in standard use were tested. A great number of the ex- tracts tried gave a kill of less than 50 per cent, but against mosquito larvae, extract ot Balm of Gilead (Populus) 5.8 p.p.m. ^?s a leathal dose, this in comparison With rotenone at 0.06 p.p.m. Against 3pnis, a distillate of Inula gave up to 90 per cent kill. An interesting fact is that an acetone extract of Linden (Tillia europa) gave a 50 per cent kill of mos- Jamary - Fkbri'ary, 1943 quito larvae, yet the tree itself is a no- torious breeding place for aphis. — 'Tlor- ists Exchange.'' TREASURER'S ANNUAL REPORT THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS Year ended December 31, 1942 Receipts Cash Balance December 31, 1941 The Cheltenham National Bank Receipts: Dues — 1941 $ 1942 1 1943 ""!!!!"!!!^^''!"'"' "Forest Leaves" Donations j Dividends and Interest Life Memberships Miscellaneous Rent Advertising $ 51.44 31.00 .922.50 310.00 117.40 .368.00 664.00 280.00 72.08 480.00 7.00 Total Receipts Disbursements ^alaries $1,811.93 rraveling Expenses — Mr. Mattoon . 43.85 Office Expenses 139.97 Stationery and Printing 172.16 Postage 170 94 ^^^^ ■■■■ 1.050.00 horest Leaves" 857.73 Telephone Interest — Loans Miscellaneous Repayment of Loan Refund of Interest Bond — Gatineau Power Co Refund of Dividend — American Tel W Tel. Co 5.251.98 $5,303.42 126.83 13.90 49.81 500.00 14.17 22.50 Life Membership — Transfer 280.00 Total Disbursements 5.253.79 Cash Balance December 31. 1942 The Cheltenham National Bank $ INVESTMENT ACCOUNT Balance Sheet — December 31. 1942 Assets Cash — The Cheltenham National Bank Securities 49.63 $ 509.26 13.602.87 $14,112.13 Liabilities Funds : "Forest Leaves" General Fund Life Membership Fund $7,855.17 Additions during 1942 ■ 280.00 M. H. Hansen — Bequest Louise A. McDowell — Bequest $ 2.818.88 68.08 8.135.17 3.000.00 90.00 M 1 'I $14,112.13 Nine Secretary's Annual Report THESE ARE trying times for organiza- tions such as this. The orienting of this country's productive capacity for war, the training of millions of men and women for a gigantic military machine and the disruption of our peacetime pur- suits and plans have necessarily affected the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. We may be grateful that this world disturbance has not as yet been reflected alarmingly in our income or member- ship. While our Treasurer will submit a detailed statement of finances, it is fit- ting to mention here that income from dues in 1942 was $75.50 greater than in 1941, although decrease in total income amounted to about $105. Our paid mem- bership, this would indicate, is slightly greater than in 1941. Briefly, the mem- bership statistics are as follows: Annual members, 615; Club members ($5.00), 17; Sustaining members ($10.00), 21; Contributing members ($20.00), 4; Life members, 114; Subscribers to "For- est Leaves," 173; "Forest Leaves" ex- changes, 71. Total distribution of "For- est Leaves," 1,018. A year ago your Executive Board was disturbed by a recommendation of the U. S. Army Engineers for the construc- tion of a 250 foot earth dam on the Clarion River above its confluence with Mill Creek. Had such a dam been built, it would have flooded about 1,000 acres of Cook Forest, destroying most of the recreational facilities and killing all of the virgin trees below 1,350 foot ele- vation. Through a member of the Association m the western part of the state an engi- neer of repute was engaged who made a thorough study of the situation and later appeared before the Federal Power Com- mission where his testimony so impressed the members that the project was aban- doned. He also convinced the U. S. Senators from Pennsylvania that such a project would not lower the flood crest at Pittsburgh appreciably. Ten Your Secretary took an active part in the movement for State acquisition of the Ricketts Glen property in Sullivan County. The bill calling for an appro- priation of $150,000 for the purchase of some 1 1,000 acres was passed by the last session of the Legislature. Because a contract to cut timber on some of the property which the State has planned to purchase was entered into be- tween the Ricketts heirs and a sawmill operator, Secretary Stewart, of the De- partment of Forests and Waters felt the property should be reappraised. After some delay the State took title to part of the acreage, making a payment of $82,- 000 with a further agreement that addi- tional land would be acquired in 1943 and 1944. The Kitchen Creek Glen has thus been preserved, although it is doubt- ful whether improvements will be made until after the war is over. While some may question details of the cutting program instituted by the Department of Forests and Water on the State Forest lands, your Secretary cannot but be grateful that such a policy was adopted. It was first advocated by this Association in 1940 before war engulfed us. At that time such a policy was urged as a conservation measure, to harvest mature timber, to provide more game food and to demonstrate selective cutting procedure. Since then the greatly in- creased need for wood and wood prod- ucts created by our war program has made the harvesting of the State Forest timber more imperative. The program calls for the removal of about 100,000,000 board feet. Your Secretary visited two cutting operations last June, where the contracts called for the removal of all trees over a certain diameter limit. Penalty clauses for ex- cessive breakage and specific requirements for the lopping of the tops and the han- dling of brush were included in the con- tracts. While the diameter limit method of cutting is not ideal, your Secretary Forest Leaves recognizes that the lack of technical man power made it necessary. Because of increased costs, restriction on the use of paper and the fact that all the time spent in preparation is volun- teered without remuneration, only five issues of "Forest Leaves" were put out in 1942. Whether additional cuts will have to be made depends upon the avail- ability of paper. The reader response to the contents has been greater than in any previous year. Your Secretary will be grateful for manuscripts on forestry and related subjects and for suggestions or criticism of the material which appears. The immediate future of the Pennsyl- vania Forestry Association will necessar- ily be influenced by the war and the degree to which it is essential for the country to suspend so-called non essen- tial activities. It is your Secretary's con- viction that the need for the activities of such an organization is greater than in peace time. More effort should be ex- pended by us to see that the war needs for wood and wood products are met without sacrificing the gains conserva- tion of our renewable resources has made. But more particularly we give thought and support to a post war program. The readjustment will of necessity be difficult. Planned programs to take up employment slack will probably be in- augurated. The administration at Har- risburg is giving thought to a post war program. The National Resources Plan- ning Board and other federal agencies are makmg plans and preparing programs. Ihere will be no dearth of programs, rather the danger lies in the lack of cor- relation and in the purpose of the pro- grams. It is not your Secretary's desire to suggest that we add to the confusion by proposing another program, but the lennsylvania Forestry Association, if it IS to merit public support as an authori- tative exponent of conservation of our renewable resources is obligated to be- speak their rehabilitation as a logical January - February, 1943 corollary to the rehabilitation of the mil- lions of men who shall return to peace time activities. H. Gleason Mattoon Protection of Forests Is National Defense /^EORGE H. WIRT, Chief Forest Fire \> warden, has been appointed Chief of the Forest Fire Fighters Service for Pennsylvania by the State Council of Defense. This service has been organized nationally by the U. S. Office of Civilian Defense. The Forest Fire Fighters Service has been established to safeguard forest lands and timber resources, and to lessen the damage as a result of fire. Enrollment in the Service provides an opportunity for civilians to participate actively in a vitally important war service on the home front. Mr. Wirt points out that forest fires can cause much damage and hamper the war effort just as seriously as enemy bombs. They can disrupt transportation and communication facilities as well as impede war industrial activities. The protection of our forests is essential to our war effort and deserves the support of every citizen. The diversion of men to the armed forces and war industries necessitates the dependence of the State organizations upon volunteers to help prevent and control forest fires. In Pennsylvania thousands of acres of growing timber are burned annually. Most forest fires are the result of care- lessness or incendiarism. Both types can be stopped before they start. Timber is one of the most important of our war materials. Forest fires in Pennsylvania help the Axis — do your bit and see that your neighbor does his by keeping out of the woods. Reprinted from: PEXXSYIJAXM DEPARTMEXT of FORESTS and WATERS, SERVICE LETTER. November — December 1942. Eleven Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association A Practical Body of Nut Growers Whose Aim Is to Stimulate Greater Interest in Nut-Tree Planting Black Walnut Kernel DR. FRANK L. BAUM, VETERAN NUT GROWER, DIES DR. FRANK L. BAUM was the first man to plant a sizeable nut grove in Pennsylvania and possibly had the larg- est one in the north. One who always thought ahead of his profession, he was responsible for the saving of many lives when the regular treatment would not have sufficed. Carrying this thought into the agricultural field he saw the pos- sibilities in a black walnut grove of im- proved varieties. He had over one thou- sand trees about seventeen years of age. He is survived by his widow, Isabella Jane, and two daughters, Dorothy, wife of William Cope, and Eleanor and two grandsons all at home. The love he showed for his farm and nut grove was an inspiration to others. The benefit to his fellowmen by pioneer- ing in this new field of nut culture will indeed be a lasting monument to his life. J. W. H. TIMBER SALE OPERATIONS ON STATE FOREST LANDS HThe carefully planned program of •^ forest utilization by contracting for the sale of 100,000,000 board feet of merchantable timber from Pennsylvania State Forests to meet some of the pres- ent-day emergency needs, is progressing according to schedule. The stock survey, which was com- pleted m 1940, showed that there are two billion six hundred million board Reprinted from: PENNSYU'AMA DEPARTMENT of FORESTS ami WATERS. SERVICE LETTER. November — December 1942. Twelve feet in living trees on the 1,654,441 acres of State Forest land. About half of this total volume is of saw timber size, while smaller trees from eight to twelve inches d. b. h. make up the remainder. The in- ventory shows that there is an annual growth of over 120,000,000 board feet of wood. Utilization is by the selective system of cutting in forest compartments that contain mature and hypermature timber. Regulations which guarantee the protec- tion of smaller trees, watersheds, recrea- tional areas, wildlife and other essentials of sound forest practice are provided for in the contract of sale. Before a prospective timber sale area is advertised for bids, an intensive study of the compartment is made by the dis- trict forester, his assistants and a forester specially assigned to this work. A de- tailed report is then submitted, after which the Harrisburg office makes a final inspection of the area. If all are satis- fied that the cutting operations will have no injurious effect on the forest soil and watershed, and that there is a sufficient amount of natural regeneration and seed trees, the sale of timber on the particular tract is advertised. The Department of Forests and Waters reserves the right to reject any or all bids. The cutting operation is at all times under the immediate jurisdiction of the Department. Copies of the contract arc furnished the district forester and daily inspections are made to see that the con- tractor is carrying out the provisions contained in the contract. A qualified person is assigned to do the scaling. The cutting is done to a minimum diameter at breast height limit, which usually ranges from sixteen to eighteen inches for white pine, hemlock, white oak, black cherry and red pine; fourteen to sixteen inches for red, black and scar- let oak, basswood. tulip poplar, sugar maple and white ash; twelve to fourteen inches for chestnut oak and beech; ten to twelve inches for pitch pine, yellow and black birch and eight to ten inches for locust, red maple and aspen. Forest Lkaves Our Future Civilization by John W. Hershey Co MANY comments arrived for me to <-' go over as I fork and hoe regarding the subject in a recent issue, I have been compelled to continue the thought. As I browse through the dreams of ambitious bossers on "how they're going to out-Hitler' Hitler in Hitlerizing us." As I browse over the benevolent dreams of ego-intoxicated idealists regarding a "just" peace by force of arms, and idle pratmgs such as "Men shall cross the threshold of a new age" — "that Ameri- can democracy shall rule the world" that "the plowing under of crops and pigs will feed starving millions" — "the sword of today shall be the bread of future generations," a classical quotation comes to me from Omar Khayyam: ''But leave the Wise to wrangle, and xoith me The (riiarrel of the Universe let be; And, in some corner of the Hubbub coucht, Make game of that which makes as jniich of Thee." And then pops into my head the ex- pression that dear old Dr. Deming (80 odd years young) made at the Northern INut Growers* Convention last year when the youngsters were going through their annual convention exercise of trying to evolve a plan that will make all Amer- ica nut tree planters. After everybody had run down, he delightfully explained, Love of nut growing and grafting nut frees springs from the heart. You cannot inject It with a hypodermic syringe or instil It with propaganda." So it is with life. The change must come from within if we are to end eco- nomic chaos and war. How.? By humil- ity of the soul before the great universe. With such awe the rhymes of the Cosmos tune in" and guide us. As I, in the corner of the hubbub, couch viewing and reviewing high water niarks of ego-intoxication, the cause of ^^1 numan troubles, I compare the petti- "^ss of it to the greatness of the universe January - Fkbruary, 1943 and the clear thinking of those cosmic tuned. My mind goes back to that day in history where the Children of Israel demanded a King. Living in a demo- cratic government under God, they, like we, tired of the chore of self-government and wanted a king to make their deci- sions. But, instead of the great God saying as ours has, "You'll not only be ruled by democracy and like it for it's my best judgment" — he said "if you want a king, have him" — for "man" has to work out his own salvation. This ego-intoxication blinds the sci- entific world to the real issues of life. Their continual stream of proclamations on solving all human problems, leaves a taste as of ashes. When one views the net results as of today. Scientific Breakdown The medical profession is particularly adept in kidding the race into believing they now have everything under control. Regardless of the marvelous work done in health problems — in controlling dis- eases, they are losing a winning battle fast in the whirlwind of startling failure to curb cancer, stroke, heart failure, nerve cracking, many types of tumors, and to project a simple receipt for contentment, the true source of health. In agriculture, I've recently noticed a typical case. The extension service cele- brated the 50th anniversary of the to- bacco experiment station in Lancaster County. They had a good time telling the public of the fortitude the different directors of the station showed in stick- ing to it — of the remarkable work they had done for the tobacco growing indus- try. But, as they talked. Death stalked the tobacco fields in the form of rust, ruining as it went, and has been periodi- cally for years. Little use is a leaf of tobacco free of all other disease blemishes, if unsalable because of rust. Little use Thirteen Rra is a man Immunized to all diseases except the one that kills him. Little use is a culture that builds barriers, plasters up knot holes, surrounds itself with moots, if life oozes out in one uncontrol- lable gap. Scientists are too fish minded. They see a fact and gulp it, seldom seeing the intangible lines attached. And sneer at the unseen cycles and rhymes of nature, factors more important than the tangible. While the torch carriers of sociology and democracy force regimentation on the people to save it — its one essential feature, the independence of the indi- vidual— is smothered. And, as the stage is set for a perfect world, dictatorship is in the saddle. A rather pathetic picture — the net re- sults of the human masses living with- out God and nature. But be not dis- couraged, this last "bust" of idealism (war) will bring many to their senses. Sample Suggestions for a Solution If raw milk cannot be delivered in large cities uncontaminated by human polution physically and financially be- cause of the volume handled, move the people to small towns where it can be handled, in smaller volume with safety. If raw vegetables in winter lose 60 'a of their food value, enzymes and vitamins, when shipped 2,000 miles to the big cities, move the people to smaller towns where they have homes instead of a "box stall," a garden instead of "bridge," can- ning instead of "getting canned." If people in large cities don't breed — lose their sense of balance, the common touch — the instinct of self-preservation because of cultural and intellectual filth move industry to the country where all nature enhances productivity. Or, if necessary, remove industry from among us until such a time as man learns by slow degrees to enslave the machine and sys- tem mstead of being enslaved by the ma- chme and system. Have the high school social clubs teach duty instead of "beau- ty"; loyalty, thrift, and frugality instead Four teen of "getting by," and the glory of life on the soil as fundamental. Paw and snort as you will — what we create and cannot control will eliminate us. I am not arguing, nor am I over- concerned. Vvcv no uplifter trying to find expression on the people. But, we the people must do the deciding. Take your pick, phenomenal production in large cities and race suicide, or individual occu- pation in small towns and farms with contentedness and health. People of the soil guided, even though unconsciously, by the cosmic tuning of the universe, make poor groundwork for the discontented uplifter. The daily association with the myster- ies of life and growth ranging from the placid stride of plant life to the jungle fury of insect, of animal life, temper and gauge their thoughts and decisions. I sometimes wonder if it isn't essential to have one's feet on the soil, planted in Mother Earth, to receive life-giving flashes of revelation from the blue, just as one must have his feet on the ground to become a conductor of death-dealing flashes of lightning from the blue. Insulate the human masses just so long in the top story by a layer of intellectual ego — under foot with asphalt and we have a culture as dead as a cake that has fallen or a political party that's been in oflice too long. Have free enterprise, religion and edu- cation been so insulated too long? Lost ability, "to make game of that which made as much of thee." Or will they arise to the occasion and rehabilitate them- selves and the soil? While the handouts flow along the Potomac Brink With the Nexo Deal the Ruby xnntage drink; And when the Angel with his reality Draught Draxvs uj) to Thee — take that, and do not sin ink. P.S. — Did I hear some say, "What's that got to do with nut and forest plant- ing?" Get the people married to the soil as we must be to "last," and all kinds of tree crops will be planted. They'll de- mand them. F()rp:.st Leaves Plant An Arboretum on Your Farm Make It Crop Trees Tn making a study of "why arboretums A are planted" the range is wide and varied. Many times it is to express the egotism of the individual. Strange as it may seem regardless of how much money a man rnakes unless he's truly attuned to the universe he has an urge to get up on a pinnacle with some sort of stunt, so people see he's doing something different, and attract attention. Most colleges have them for botany study and this is good. But so long as it's done with the superior feeling that we're studying inferior specimens, so long as any specimen of God's creation is used merely to satisfy our personal de- sire for knowledge the greatest attain- P^nt — the fullest value to the observer is lost. If any professor of botany, theology or philosophy wishes to pay a lasting contribution to society let him or her use an arboretum to teach the development and growth of the soul. Take your classes daily to the temple of God and contemplate the marvelous magnitude of a living tree. Get the picture of how they full-fill their destiny. Add new trees each year and instill your students with a zeal to "help" by taking the BEST of care of those trees. Care, equal to ones first born in a family that hasn't gone modern. There's a cosmic tune to the universe that when aligned with it "^u- 1^ fo^ P^ace and contentedness from which worries slick ofl' as water ofl' a duck's back. An attitude of devotion With trees will crack this secret for you. We all know the value of milk from contented cows "for health" but the in- [^Hectual, the philosopher and scientist, has failed to teach the importance of the value of "the milk of human kindness" rrom contented people to have contented people. January - Fkbruarv, 1943 Albert L. Bailey, Jr., of Sunset Val- ley, West Chester, Pennsylvania, well known to many readers, has put out a small arboretum of a few dozen nut trees and bird life trees, mostly seedlings or rare selections or crosses. You, too, can have the fun of such an arboretum, for many nurserymen have trees they're experimenting with which they'll gladly share at a small cost. Here are the rules: Plant it to become closer associated with creation, and learn their use and purpose. To have friends that understand your whims and never betray you. To have friends from whom you can learn the unspoken secrets of the cosmos, secrets that breed humility, wonder and awe. To learn how to convey these secrets to others on the look. "Then your days will be filled with music. And the cares that infest the day, Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away." Declaration of Principles Tree Farm Program as Sponsored by the N. C. Forestry Association. Tn recognition of the importance and -^ value of the forest products indus- tries of North Carolina and the desira- bility of perpetuating the state's supply of timber. The North Carolina Forestry Association has assumed the sponsorship of a Tree Farm Program as one of its major activities. The primary objectives of the Program are ( 1 ) Fire protection. Fifteen I (2) Selective harvesting of timber crops, (3) Reforestation, (4) Information. 1 — Fire is the greatest enemy of the forests and fire prevention and control constitute the first and most effective step in any plan of conservation. The North Carolina TREE FARMS Program seeks a solution to the problems of fire pro- tection. 2 — The judicious utilization of our forest resources, looking to the produc- tion of continuous crops of trees, should be based on a system of selective harvest- ing. Such a system permits the harvest- ing of a part of the timber crop at regular intervals, while maintaining the growing stock for future use. 3 — Through the exercise of fire con- trol and selective harvesting, our timber may be utilized, preserved and increased. Natural re-seeding, with adequate fire protection, will provide an abundance of young growth. On idle or barren lands it is desirable to plant forest tree seed- lings and such planting will be encour- aged and promoted wherever advisable. 4 — Of particular importance in such a program is the dissemination of informa- tion to the owners of forest lands and to the public, with a view to urging the protection and growing of trees and the development of better forestry methods and practices. As a means to this end it is proposed to designate, mark and publicize a system of Tree Farms throughout the state. Tree Farms is the name selected for areas, large or small, dedicated to the? growing of forest crops for commercial purposes, protected and managed for continuous forest production. This term will be used to designate the application of commonsense forestry practices to the many types of privately owned forest lands. To qualify as a Tree Farm the fol- lowmg requirements must be met: Reprinted from Tar Heel Forest Not Sixteen (a) The owner must protect his property from forest fires. This may be accomplished by cooperating in the for- est fire control program promulgated by the North Carolina Department of Con- servation and Development in localities where state protection is available, or through his own efforts under advice from the State Forester where organized protection is not available. (b) The land owner must practice se- lective logging or other controlled par- tial cutting, with the view of assuring continuous production of commercial timber crops, in accordance with the practices approved by the State Forester. t"* \ Plant CHINESE HYBRID CHESTNUT TREES for Pleasure and ProHf Blight Resistant and Early Bearers, Sweet Like the Old American, Send for Catalog:. RUMBAUGH CHESTNUT FARM DUNCANNON, PA. Cherry Trees ^" Mazzard Roots * One of Our Specialties ENTERPRISE NURSERIES Geo. £. Stein & Son R- D. 1 WRIGHTSVILLE, PA. Complete catalog- furnished upon request. NUTS IN 4 YEARS CHESTNUTS Bearing Blight - Resistant Easily grown, heavy yielders. Northern strains Plant In the dooryard for Beauty - Profit - Shade - Nuts - Fun. Send postcard today for FREE booklet and price list on English Walnuts, Stabler Black Wal- nuts, etc. Excellent for ornamental purposes. I have experimented with nut trees for over 44 years. 44:< NKW ST. SUNNY RIDGE NURSERY SUARTHMOKE, PA. NUT BEARING TREES Since 1896 Jones' Nurseries have been ffrowinic improved varieties of nut trees. Descriptive catalogue free. J. F. JONES NURSERIES Dept. 1441 LANCASTER, PA. JT JOWfS When you're stumped as to how to make your farm pay, just write us for list of nut and crop trees and TDBB /*D/%DC*^°^ ^^ "^^ them. Fifty years of ' I KEE CROrSexperience in twenty gives us a good background as a consultant. NUT TREES and NUT TREE NURSERIES JOHN W. HERSHEY .DOWNINOTOWN, PA. Box 65F. 1 Forest Lkaves LIVINGSTON PUBLISHING COMPANY. NARBERTH, PENNA. /;/ > THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AMUEL F. Houston -^.*. Frank M. Hardt publication committee E. F. Brouse Devereux Butcher Edward S. Weyl F. R. Cope, Jr. E. F. Brouse H. Gleason Mattoon, Chairman Mrs. Paul Lewis Dr. J. R. Schramm P. A. Livingston Mrs. Robert C. Wright Ralph P. Russell LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE F. R. Taylor, Chairman Wm. Clarke Mason W. W. Montgomery AUDITING COMMITTEE Ralph P. Russell, Chairman Edward Woolman . TIONESTA COMMITTEE ^ Francis R. Cope, Jr., Chairman Dr. Arthur W. Henn Dr. J. R. Schramm Edward C. M. Richards Dr. H. H. York FOREST ill I THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION MARCH-JUNE 'f THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION FOREST Honorary President Samuel L. Smedley Victor Beede Francis R. Cope^ Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Secretary H. Gleason Mattoon VicnoR Beede E. F. Brouse Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. G. a. Dick John VV. Hershey Philip A. Livingston President Wilbur K. Thomas Vice-Presidents Wm. S. B. McCaleb Francis R. Taylor Edward C. M. Richards Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt Edward Woolman Treasurer Roy a. Wright Dr. J. R. Schramm EXECUTIVE BOARD Roy a. Wright H. Gleason jVIattc^on Wm. S. B. McCaleb Stanley Mesavage Edw. C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm H. L. Shirley Samuel L. Smedley Francis R. Taylor Wilbur K. Thomas Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt Edward Woolman :>AMUEL F. Houston FINANCE COMMITTEE Edward Woolman, Chairman PUBLICATION COMMITTEE Frank M. Hardt E. F. Brouse Devereux Butcher Edward S. Weyl F. R. Cope, Jr. E. F. Brouse H. Gleason Mattoon, Cliairman Mrs. Paul Lewis Dr. J. R. Schramm P. A. Livingston Mrs. Robert C. Wright Ralph P. Russell LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE F. R. Taylor, Chairman Wm. Clarke Mason W. W. Montgomery AUDITING COMMITTEE Ralph P. Russell, Chairman Edward Woolman TIONESTA COMMITTEE Francis R. Cope, Jr., Chairman Dr. Arthur W. Henn Dr. [. R. Schramm Edward C. M. Richards Dr. H. H. York INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION MARCH-JUNE lA/l '> CONTENTS Scene on Presque Isle^ Erie County - - Cover Conservation and Economic Security 1 Keep Them Growing Editorial Forestry in the Post-War World Conservation of Our Forests 10 HE State Forests of Sullivan County 14 \ •% THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Founded in June, 1886 Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enactment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, l)oth State and National. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE, THREE DOLLARS One Dollar of which is for subscription to Forest Lf.avfs Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership Committee, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadelphia. President— WiLavR K. Thomas Honorary President-SAMVEL L. Smedlev Honorary VicePresident-KoBF.RT S. Conklin Vice-Presidents Victor Beede Wm. S. B. McCaleb Francis R. Taylor l-RANcis R. Cope, Jr. Edward C. M. Richards Dr. E. E. Wildman Dr O E. Jennings Dr. J. R. Schramm George H. Wirt F. G. Knights Edward Woolman Secretary-H. Gleason Mattoon Treasurer— K. A. Wright, C. P. A. FOREST L EAV E S PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Narberth. Pennsylvania, under the Act of March 3, 1879 VoLUMK XXXIII— No. 2 AND 8 Narberth, Pa., March-Jlne, 1943 Whole Number 314 Conservation and Economic Security by Alfred H. Williams, President Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia IT IS BOTH pleasant and worthwhile to turn aside from the business of war to the theme of this forum. The two are in marked contrast, for the business of war is to destroy and the topic of this conference is how to conserve, to restore, to maintain. The economics of war can be expressed very simply — it is to devote the greatest percentage possible of the nation's manpower and materials to the business of destroying our enemies. The destructiveness of modern combat is re- vealed clearly by this fact: a single 4 inch anti-aircraft battery, if the guns are fired steadily — this is difficult because of over- heating—can destroy $ 1 00,000 worth of ammunition in one hour. Each shell contains an expensive clocklike firing mechanism that explodes the charge at pre-determined heights. The United States Treasury will spend 100 billion dollars for war in the calendar year 1 943. But my topic is not the destructiveness of modern warfare but the relationship of the conservation of our natural re- sources to economic security. In the few minutes that are at our disposal, I shall confine myself to economic security for the group, or nation. Equally impor- tant, of course, is the effect of conserva- tion on the economic security of the individual but time does not permit the development of this fact. . My first major point is that an endur- mg high standard of living must have a sound basis in natural resources. A few examples will illustrate the relationship between standards of living and physical resources. The United States is a case in point. This country has the highest standard of living in the world. On what IS this based.? It rests, it seems to me, upon the following factors: first, rich physical resources; next, a populace that IS energetic, venturesome, and imbued with the desire to ^ get ahead." In the third place, we have a set of sound social institutions and a dynamic technology. Last, but not least, we have "lived on our fat" — that is to say, we have exploited our physical resources. We have taken from the land more than we have put back. In a very real sense, we have lived on our capital in building up tremendous exports of cotton, wheat, lard, oil, lum- ber and other commodities. We have shipped pounds of rich, southern soil with every bale of cotton we put aboard ship. Yes, a fruitful combination of physical, human, social and technological assets, plus a policy "after us, the deluge" has given us a higher standard of living. Sweden is an excellent example of a country with a good but not a high standard of living. If I analyze Sweden's situation clearly, this is the result of aver- age physical resources, plus an unusually homogeneous, intelligent people plus un- surpassed technology, plus good social institutions. Last, but not least, Sweden has practiced resource conservation. The soil has been conserved systematically in Sweden since 1 600. A decade ago I vis- ited this country to study its industrial development. We went back country to look at an iron and steel company. This included not only mining, smelting, roll- ing and forging of steel products but also an electric power project, a charcoal dis- tillation plant, an extensive lumbering operation and many farms. These un- like units were integrated into one effi- ciently operating company that gave to its employees steady employment and maximum economic security. Finally, Japan is an illustration of a country with a low standard of living. The Japanese are an homogeneous peo- ple and are almost without parallel in the world when it comes to physical energy and a willingness to expend it. Likewise, they have an excellent asset in their modern technology so assidiously copied from western nations. The coun- try has such poor physical resources that they have been unable, despite rigorous conservation practices, to overcome their poverty and attain even a reasonable standard of living. My second major point is that the United States must not assume that its standard of living will continue to be superior to that of other peoples. The pages of history are replete with illustra- tions of the decay of nations that in their day and age had standards, relative to those of their neighbors, far superior to ours. Indeed, the day is now here when certain sections of our country have low standards of living. Three areas of re- source depletion may be cited — the cot- ton belt, the cut-over lands of Michigan, and the ''dust bowl." In the cotton belt soil exhaustion and other evidence of an impoverished agriculture are to be seen. The cotton growing industry of the South is not being conducted by a pros- perous people. Foreign markets for Southern cotton were disappearing prior to the outbreak of the present war. Cot- ton from Brazil, Russia, China and India Two displaced American cotton to such an extent that our exports declined from 60 per cent to 40 per cent of annual pro- duction. This was due in considerable part to high costs arising from erosion, floods and drought. Poor land makes a poor farmer and, in turn, a poor farmer makes poor land. The latter thought was expressed by Adam Smith in 1770 when he said '*a necessitous man is not a free man." A third point is that we cannot safely rely upon science and technology to **bail us out" if we do not cooperate with Nature. Science can, of course, synthesize many of Nature's products but it cannot take the place of what has been aptly called the ''balance of Nature." Nature in a primeval state is in balance or equi- librium and the mutual interdependence of forest and river and soil and grass can- not be disturbed with impunity. Ero- sion, flood, drought, silting and pollution are the result of Man's interference with the balance of Nature. And, ironically enough, those who demand free enter- prise and laissez faire and do not practice conservation of natural resources bring about conditions that can only be reme- died by government interference and the curtailment of free enterprise. Moreover, when exhaustion of resources brings re- trogression in standards to a people accustomed to the highest plane of living, the consciousness of decline will cause dissatisfactions not otherwise present and perhaps will bring demands for changes in the form of government. What is to be our national policy with respect to this problem of conservation? Ought we not to strive for the highest possible standard of living consistent with minimum waste of natural re- sources. To continue to cheat Nature, to continue to take from her more than we give back to her is to commit national hara-kiri. Of this we may be sure: the people of America cannot continue with impunity to violate Nature's demands. We must make our peace with her. She will not be cheated. * Forest Leaves KEEP THEM GROWING Save Time and Timber While Harvesting Chemical Wood by Robert R. Lyman and Carl E. Ostrom THE HARDWOOD distillation industry, though not very large, forms a vital part of our war machinery. Its charcoal, carbon, methanol, acids, tars and oils enter into the manufacture of innumer- able materials required for war, such as steel, plastics, explosives, textiles, rubber and gasoline. Today this industry is fac- ing a raw-material bottleneck. Opera- tion at several plants in northern Penn- sylvania has become intermittent for lack of wood. Here is a definite challenge to plant owners, wood jobbers, foresters, and woods workers. The most evident cause of the raw material problem is the shortage of skilled woodcutters. But even the freez- ing or allocation of manpower would not provide a panacea, because the man- power shortage is a general one, and because inexperienced men cannot expect to earn a fair living at the highly-skilled trade of wood cutting. The one thing that distillation plant owners can do about the wood supply problem is to increase the efficiency of the woods end of the enterprise. There is ample room for progress. The harvesting of chemical wood has been allowed to proceed along traditional lines with but little change in the past forty years, while operating methods in the harvesting of some other forest products have advanced steadily under the direction of logging engineers and foresters. New hope for improvement in chemi- cal wood cutting methods springs not only from accumulating engineering and forestry information, but in the New York and Pennsylvania region, it springs ^Iso from the change in character of the timber and the timber business which has occurred since the industry became estab- lished. March - June, 1943 History of the Cleat Cutting Tradition In the past, clear cutting in progressive strips was the method most honored by chemical wood operators. It developed from the economic conditions and needs of the period. Forest land on which the trees were all cut, the timber removed, and the brush piled for burning had an extra value for pasture and farming pur- poses over the uncut or selectively cut areas. The forests were considered inex- haustible and there was no thought of a future crop. There were no good roads, no mechanical devices for making cheap roads, and no trucks for rapid transpor- tation from remote places. The wood supply had to come from sites close to the factory or a railroad, and clear cut- ting resulted in maximum production from the nearby points. The wood was cut in stands of virgin timber where nearly all the trees were of proper size for use and only a scattered few small enough to be left. Conditions have changed but clear cutting continues simply because it was always done that way; human nature is such that old- established methods are not put aside without a struggle. (Continued on Page II) Irregular wood from clear-cut strip in small timber. Three FOREST LEAVES Published Bi-Monthly at Narberth, Pa., by The PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Disseminates information and news on forestry and related subjects. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE H. Gleason Mattoon, Chairman Philip A. Livingston Ralph P. Russkll Mrs. Paul Lewis Mrs. R. C. Wright Devereux Butcher E. F. Brouse Dr. J. R. Schramm The publication of an article in Forest Leaves does not necessarily imply that the views expressed therein are those of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Editorial and ad- vertising office, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadel- phia. Please notify us of any change in address. MARCH JUNE, 1943 NO LET UP IN CONSERVATION The Pennsylvania Forestry Association Dear Sirs: Am enclosing $2.00 as my small con- tribution to the excellent work of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association in the protection of wildlife, improvement of forests and development of forest rec- reation. As a member of your organization, and a graduate of the Pennsylvania State Forestry School, I sincerely regret my in- ability to contribute more, at the present. As a member of Uncle Sam's armed forces I trust that you will continue the fine work, and preserve Pennsylvania's beautiful forests and mountains for thou- sands of men serving with me to come home to. Sincerely yours, Sgt. Robert S. Frankenburger Army Air Base Pueblo, Colorado (Now Lt. Frankenburger) This short note is more eloquent than labored pages of argument for the activi- ties of conservation organizations in general and the Pennsylvania Forestry Association in particular. To be so sin- gle-minded in waging war against our external enemies that we forget the con- tinual fight that must be fought against Four destructive forces within, is to undo much of the good accomplished by con- servation organization. The non-profit, non-partisan organi- zation whose sole objective is the wise use of our renewable resources has a real role to play now that the needs of war are used as an excuse for over cutting of our timber lands. Agencies of the Gov- ernment that countenance uneconomic forest practices as necessary if the war is to be won must be checked by public opinion focused through such organi- zation. This then is a plea for a militant Penn- sylvania Forestry Association now, to preserve the hard won gains of the last fifty years. It is a plea to each member of the organization to appeal for more activity by the Association. POST WAR FORESTRY Of the many conservation problems facing the country those concerned with the transition from a war to a peace econ- omy deserve priority. It is probable that many men now in the armed forces will for a time require employment on public works. This burden should not be en- trusted wholly to the federal gjovernment with the possibility of its becoming a political football. Experience durinq the past decade proves that in the end we must pay dearly for what appears at first to be a benefaction by a fatherly central government. There are millions of acres of now idle land in this country suited best for the production of timber. Refor- estation is a self-liquidating project and there are literally thousands of towns with enough idle forest land to provide useful employment for a large part of their unemployed. In fact, such employ- ment is one of the strongest reasons for the establishment of community forests. It is not too early to be making plans for these post-war projects and every city and town containing such lands should have a committee at work on this problem. — Forest and Park Nevus, Forest Leaves Forestry in the Post-War World by Hardy L. Shirley Up TO THIS POINT, our program has dealt with forestry during war time. Daily wrestlings with war's stern facts have made your speakers hard-headed realists. You are now to hear from an impractical idealist who fled in early youth from the mundane affairs of a plumbing shop, hardware store, lumber yard, and general farm to the cloistered halls of learning, and who, from that time hence, has steadfastly dwelt in the ivory towers of education and research. Those who feel that the knowledge of the research specialist needs tempering with the earthy wisdom of the common man may dismiss my remarks as of little more merit than those of the crystal gazer or the reader of tea leaves. With this warning to you all, I propose to be both rash and fanciful. One thing I do ask you to bear in mind — that the view- points expressed, although not entirely original, are purely personal and that they have received no advance approval from Joseph Stalin, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, or Cordell Hull. First, the war probably will end some time between 1944 and 1947. Second, the United States will join other nations in establishing a world federation made up of executive, legislative, and judicial divisions having at its disposal an inter- national police to prevent the rise of armed aggressors, and an international econornic authority to promote trade, supervise international investments, de- velop economically backward nations, and control international monopolies in transportation, communication, and of such important resources as rubber, tin, quinine, and nickel. Third, we will have an American Beveridge Plan providing more adequate old age pensions, sickness and accident insurance, hospitalization and medical care for all income levels, and unemployment insurance for all types of workers. Fourth, a long-range, flexible program of public works involv- March - June, 1943 ing soil conservation, forest rehabilita- tion, housing by both public and private authorities, school improvements, mod- ernization of transportation, and other socially useful jobs will be a permanent feature of our economy, and so timed as to take up the slack in periods of indus- trial depression. Fifth, within this framework, private enterprise as we now know it will continue to occupy the main fields of American economic life. We can, however, expect to see organized labor become stronger, and the organized con- sumer become an important factor in production, distribution, and politics. In social security, housing, and economic democracy, America has lagged far be- hind such enlightened democracies as Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. This fact will not be hidden from observant American soldiers who will, upon their return, in- sist that wealthy America catch up with social progress. No such bold policy will be adopted without vigorous debate and perhaps re- strictive compromise. Tremendous sac- rifices lie ahead of us before the war will be won. By the time the ink has dried on the Armistice, isolationists will emerge from their underground retreat and shout to the war-weary soldiers and bereaved mothers that America could have avoided heavy debts and human sacrifices had we kept our food, munitions, and soldiers at home to build a fortress no combina- tion of nations would dare attack. Self- styled realists will pooh-pooh collabora- tion with foreign powers to ptevent war, insisting that warfare is an ineradicable outgrowth of organized human society. The failure of the League of Nations and the World Court will be pointed to as proof of their contention. The fact that America never supported the League, and that its total annual budget never ex- ceeded seven million dollars a year, an amount sufficient to support our present Five J It war effort but 32 minutes, will be for- gotten. Backwater politicians will renew the outcry against sending our boys to fight abroad for world peace, as if there were something especially noble about letting our enemies kill us on our own soil. Spokesmen for special interests will warn that lowered tariffs will reduce American living standards to the level of the Chinese. They will continue to ignore Benjamin Franklin's trenchant statement that the individual or nation is best off that buys in the cheapest and sells in the dearest markets. Sleek money- changers that have never known the debilitating effects of malnutrition or chronic illness will insist that ensuring a minimum subsistence level for all people will destroy the incentive to work. And loudest of all will be the assertions of big and little industrialists that public eco- monic controls paralyze initiative and slam shut the door of opportunity. But when has the American nation ever faced greater opportunity? A new chance for worldwide leadership lies ahead. American citizens have never had brighter frontiers to challenge their en- ergy, ingenuity, and idealism. Worldwide collaboration can open the way for eco- nomic development of such potentially wealthy areas as South America, Africa, Melanesia, yes — and even India and China — as never before. The opportu- nities for national and international statemanship of a high order were never brighter. Financiers, economists, and dip- lomats have never faced a greater chal- lenge than the development of a pattern for a worldwide economy. Mere removal of the threat of periodic economic depres- sion and wars will work wonders to- wards restoring real confidence to the business man, while insurance against un- employment and other hazards of life will do much to overcome the tendency of individuals to hoard and thereby nur- ture the seed of economic depressions. And when since the days of the Roman Empire has the world been more in need of a great social and religious leader, to Six become a new Messiah, selecting from the separate religions those ethical, social, and spiritual principles common to all and welding them into a universal reli- gion to which every man can subscribe. Perhaps we should pause here for a few moments while we descend from the Heaviside layer of the stratosphere down at least to the tree tops. What has all this to do with foresters? First, foresters as citizens have a vital interest in helping to free the world of wars and promoting world economic collaboration. To do so opens enormous vistas. Wood is going to be important, as it always has been, and in a host of new ways which we can now only dimly foresee. The maker of new types of plywood airplanes, Mr. J. G. Vidal, has been heard to remark that wood had a future of far more challeng- ing proportions than metal. Most strik- ing among the techniques that will usher in a new age of wood are the changes wrought by chemical transformation. The age of the cellulose engineer appears to have dawned. Wood is a raw material treasure chest richer than coal. The chem- ist need only discover the various keys that unlock the separate compartments. Already it is possible to dissolve wood cellulose and convert it into rayons, cel- lophanes, and the like. Destructive dis- tillation yields tars, creosote, alcohols, acetic acid, and charcoal. Hydrolyzed wood yields sugar for alcohol, and hy- drogenation produces waxes, oils, and higher alcohols. Wood powder is a base for plastics that upon setting assume properties entirely different from wood. Still, the chemistry of lignin and cellulose is largely an unexplored field. But brilliant as are the achievements in wood chemistry, those in timber phys- ics are no less promising and involve far greater use of raw material. Long; dom- inated by the single product — Douglas fir plywood — the American plywood in- dustry has been slow to come of age. Because of their strength and superior glue-holding qualities, the fine-grained, diffuse porous hardwoods have been used Forest Leaves for laminated furniture built on tubular steel furniture lines, and laminated pro- pellers superior to walnut. The new moulded semi-plastic plywood may make possible the construction of exo- skeletal ships, fuselages, and buildings, bringing into play new theories of de- sign, new beauty, new usefulness, and at the same time considerable economy in material and reduction in weight. It may some day be possible for a man working evenings in his own basement to con- struct from plywood and 1^x3 scant- ling glued wall panels for his future home. The use of timber connectors has measurably increased the strength of wood joints. The properly constructed glued joint is still better, and many of the laminated arches eliminate the need for joining on the site entirely. Important as the new developments of wood chemistry and timber physics may be, they are likely to remain for a long time overshadowed by such time-hon- ored uses of wood as general construction, building repair, cross-ties, poles, posts, piling, paper, and fuel. Together, these uses absorb wood of all grades and sizes and in tremendously high volume. De- mand will be especially high during the reconstruction period, when war-ravaged cities and countrysides are restored for human habitation and industry. Looked at in a broad way, our future job as foresters is to make sure the post- war needs for wood are met and that depleted forests are restored as promptly as possible to full productivity. We can- not usher in a new age of wood with scarcity of raw products, low operating volumes and wages, and high prices to consumers. An ample, well-managed growing stock can assure an abundant, steady supply to industries. Increased mechanization and more efficiently plan- ned woods work can make possible higher wages to workmen, and elimination of wastes of all sorts can lower prices to consumers. Non-commodity benefits of forests will be in increased demand. Growing cities need safe water supplies. March - June, 1943 Improved transportation will increase recreationists, and the fruition of current research in forest influences will provide basic knowledge for sound public pro- grams of protection forests. Perhaps one of our first jobs will be to provide again a huge conservation program to absorb workmen and soldiers discharged during the period when in- dustry is being retooled for peacetime production. Such a program will be par- ticularly useful before industrial prod- ucts for large-scale public works become available. As never before, American cit- izens have learned that the capacity of the steel, shipbuilding, aluminum, syn- thetic rubber, farm and forest industries are a vital personal concern to everyone. Will our citizens therefore not insist that future public works be applied where they will be most effective? This means that public programs of forest planting, timber stand improvement, road devel- opment, and fire protection will be car- ried out on private lands as well as public, giving priority to those areas that promise greatest productivity and the highest ac- cessibility for future use. If we are to plan intelligently for pro- ducing the wood required in the future, the nationwide forest survey should be completed as soon as possible. But far more intensive information is needed to plan production in local counties and community working circles. Producing an abundance of forest products in the future and public-private cooperation presupposes some restrictions on the use of forest land. These are likely to take two forms: first, the estab- lishment of nationwide or statewide min- imum standards; second, regulations locally initiated and supervised to pro- vide for sustained support of industries and communities. Regulation of timber cutting in the public interest is not a new idea. In speak- ing of the obligations of government, the Chinese philosopher Mencius, some 2300 years ago, stated: "If the seasons of hus- bandry be not interfered with, the grain Seven 4l will be more than can be eaten. If close nets are not allowed to enter the pools and ponds, the fishes and turtles will be more than can be consumed. If the axes and bills enter the hills and forests only at the proper time, the wood will be more than can be used. When the grain and fish and turtles are more than can be eaten, and there is more wood than can be used, this enables the people to nourish their living and bury their dead, without any feeling against any. This * * * j^ ^.j^^ first step in royal government." Regulation of timber practices will not necessarily lead to creation of an unsym- pathetic bureaucracy that will stifle pri- vate management of forest land. It has not been so in Europe. Preventing tim- ber owners from destroying the produc- tivity of their lands is no more onerous than prohibiting unsanitary working conditions in our factories, long hours of work for children and women, or adulteration of food and drugs. The few inspectors required in time will be looked to as experts to help the owner make more money from his lands, much as the county agent is looked upon by the farmer today. As a profession motivated by a high sense of public service and public respon- sibility, it will be our largest job of all in post-war America to eliminate every pos- sible source of waste from the forestry and forest utilization fields. We have been inclined in the past to think of waste mainly in terms of low-grade logs left in the woods to rot, of tops usable for fuelwood but too remote to justify working up, and to some extent of idle land producing no timber. But there are equally important sources of waste about which our profession has done little. Long freight hauls of lumber from the ^outh and West Coast is one; cross haul- ing of material is another. I had the privilege recently of seeing a map pre- pared by the Agricultural Extension Service showing the flow of milk from the farms to bottling works in northern New Jersey. It was a veritable mass of crisscrossing lines. Many farmers hauled Eight their milk 35 miles, passing by two or three other milk plants on the way. Stud- ies on national forests and elsewhere re- veal the same overlapping of territory by portable and permanent mills. Think about this the next time you hear a severe indictment of overlapping government bureaus. This, of course, is only one source of overlapping function in the timber indus- try. Salesmen of rival concerns cover the same territory, retailers overlap in their selling of lumber, and oftentimes lumber passes through as many as six or seven hands from the timber owner to the user of the lumber. High grade trees and high grade lumber are often used for low grade purposes. Material that might make handle stock often goes into crossties. Select lumber is used in many places where No. 2 common is equally satisfac- tory. Waste of manpower occurs in cut- ting small trees; this also wastes timber. Waste of timber occurs from infrequent cutting, as many trees otherwise usable die and rot where long cutting cycles are used. Waste occurs when portable mills must be moved and reset. Even greater waste occurs when the entire lumber in- dustry migrates from the Lake States to the South and West Coast, or when the pulp industry migrates from New Eng- land to the South. Losses to stockhold- ers are but a minor consideration com- pared with other losses inevitable in a sick industry. These include low wages to workers, high prices to consumers, tax delinquency, ultimately stranded com- munities, and loss of skill. Each of you can think of many additional sources of waste in the forestry and wood-using industries. Elimination of waste requires two things: Sound information based on im- partial investigation; and intelligent planning based on the facts ascertained and the objectives sought. First, we must have research to discover the sources of waste and how waste can be prevented. This must encompass waste of growing space in the woods by understocking, poor species, or poor-formed trees; waste Forest Leaves due to slow growth as a result of over- crowding; waste of workers' time due to lack of skill and proper equipment, or harvesting immature timber; waste in transporting and processing forest prod- ucts; and waste in distributing these products to the consumer. But research in itself must be followed up by carefully planned action, and where we are planning for such an important thing as the entire forest prod- ucts industry, we must begin with com- munity plans. Ultimately, these must be articulated with plans at the state and national levels. The program I have sketched will pro- vide employment for all -American for- esters in the post-war period, but an even greater task and a greater opportunity lies before us. To meet fully the needs of a war-torn world, and to build a future world-wide prosperity, the forests of other countries must also be well handled, and I personally believe that American foresters will be in the best position of all to assume world leadership in inter- national forest enterprises. This is true for two reasons: first, our country will enjoy tremendous international prestige; and second, our country will probably come through the war with its ranks of professional foresters less curtailed by war losses than any other important country. A big job, of course, will be the restor- ation of war-ravaged European forests. This, I feel, can be handled largely by the foresters who will be available in the countries concerned. Some American help may be needed in financing the job and in supplying tools, equipment, and literature, but most countries will be amply able to handle their own tasks. Our big job will be to help build up the timber industry in the countries which formerly lacked a forestry profession and an important timber industry. This job lies mainly in the tropics. Training for- esters, surveying the resources, studying the usefulness of species and their silvical requirements; planning essential public March - June, 1913 controls; planning industries; and artic- ulating the forestry and wood-using industries of each nation into a world- wide economic pattern will be a part of this large task. This is the biggest and most challenging job of all, and one which has the greatest potentialities for restoring constructive trade among na- tions. It will do much to cement eco- nomic ties into a permanent federation based on good will, mutual understand- ing, and cooperative principles of ex- change. I know many will denounce these proposals as impractical and visionary. I admit to their being visionary, because no such thing exists today on anywhere near the scale that is proposed. I deny that they are impractical. War is imprac- tical; it results only in destruction and enmity. The costs of world cooperation are infinitesimal compared with those of raising and maintaining huge armies that otherwise will be required. Formulae for peace are the most practical things to which we can turn our minds. The more we think them through and the more time we devote to their formulation and discussion, the more practical they are likely to be. Accustomed as we foresters are to thinking in terms of long-range benefits, it should not be hard for us to see the many advantages of world col- laboration and worldwide planning. Ours is a great opportunity and a great future if we but grasp it. The world can be lead to a new era of peace and prosperity if every American industry and profession seeks to understand what the future means and resolves to do its part. DO YOUR PART . . . . Buy U. S. Savings Bonds and Stamps ... to BREAK THE AXIS APART Nine . f.L r Selective cutting plot on Gray Chemical Company lands near Su'cden Valley, Penna. Uniform wood frotn selectively-cut, pole-skidded strip. Ten Forest Leaves Keep Them Growing (Continued from Page 3) Since clear cutting was the practical and favored way, it is fortunate that it also proved to be good forestry in the virgin stands of beech, birch, and maple timber where the advanced reproduction assured a good second growth. It is quite possible that clear cutting might be prac- ticed repeatedly by companies having sufficient area of land to offset the lower production, and strong enough financial- ly to pay taxes and carrying charges for sixty, seventy, or more years while the forest stand approaches maturity. Now that the virgin timber is gone and the second growth is still far from mature, the wood requirements must come from younger stands and new methods of cut- ting should be applied. Contrary to popular opinion, shared by forest work- ers and private owners alike, selective cutting in second growth can be cheaper and more efficient than clear cutting. Is Early Clear Cutting Good Business? The simple fact is that young, second- growth stands, unlike old-growth stands, contain a large number of trees that are too small to cut. When these small trees are removed in clear cutting, the wood cutter unwittingly loses time in handling them, plant owners receive light cords of undersized wood, and their retorts yield less products for war industries. Forest- ers, thinking of the waste of timber as well as time and plant capacity, point out that the smaller second-growth trees have just begun to grow in usable volume. Figuratively, the suppressed trees have spent years in developing a skeleton and are just ready to be fattened up by being released. When this framework of small trees is removed along with the larger trees in clear cutting, many unproductive years must elapse merely to rebuild the skeleton before the cordwood volume begins to grow again. From the standpoint of the landowner ^nd the local people, clear cutting of March - June, 1943 young timber removes the possibility of getting further income or forest products on the same land for another generation. This fact is at the root of the unfavorable public reaction toward clear cutting. If clear cutting is not the most efficient tim- ber management in young second-growth forests, the obvious alternative is to leave small trees and to work toward a form of selective cutting. The primary purpose of such a step is to save time and timber for the war effort. That it promises to benefit the landowner and the local forest dependents in the long run is a fortunate coincidence, but one that should also con- cern farsighted distillation plant owners. Right in the Allegheny Plateau chemi- cal wood area, the Armstrong Forest Cornpany of Johnsonburg, Pennsyl- vania, has been practicing for several years the selective cutting of cordwood for paper pulp from its beech-birch- maple-cherry stands. Adoption of this method of management was due to the efl^orts of E. O. Ehrhart, forester for the Company. Ten years ago, he began a study of volume growth on two adjacent plots of second growth, one of which was selectively cut and one of which was left uncut. Upon finding that the growth rate in cords per acre was higher on the plot released by partial cutting than on the overcrowded, uncut plot, he set to work on the practical aspects of accom- plishing selective cordwood cuttings on his Company's lands. The method was applied first along the borders of new haul roads and in areas where the dominant black cherry trees had been severely damaged by the St. Patrick's Day glaze storm of 1936. At first, the woodcutters had to be given supervision and encouragement to break away from their clear cutting tradition. By 1940, when a cost study was made by the Company and the U. S. Forest Service, the cutters were convinced; they preferred work on the selective cutting plots to that on the clear cutting plots which were required for cost compari- sons. The cost study supported their Eleven Sclcciivc ntllini^ {tlol on C.nix Clirininil (:- Fifteen Keep Them Growing (Continued from Page 13) the owner to continue to produce other forest products, such as pulpwood and logs. Selective cutting provides the owner with an opportunity to cushion himself against unpredictable post-war condi- tions. In the aggregate, an increase in partial cutting will help a great deal to insure the future of the local forest indus- tries and their resident dependents. In the planning of selective cuttings, there are a few precautions which the forest owner should observe. The best yield can be obtained from Allegheny northern hardwoods by getting into the stand fairly early for the first selective cutting. Before the age of about forty years the stands show the best growth response to partial cutting treatments. The owner should aim to spread the ben- efits of selective cutting to all of his tim- ber stands before they pass this pliable stage. The first trees to be removed are the large, branchy, dominant ''hold- overs" and those of sprout origin which have gotten above the general canopy level; they are the most profitable trees for cordwood conversion in young stands. The earliest and most frequent selec- tive cuttings can be made on the best soils and in the thickest stands where the pros- pects of increased yield are best. Under- stocked stands are not suited for light cuttings, for it is impossible in them to get a profitable cut per acre and at the same time to leave a good growing stock. Such stands should be left until they fill in naturally. A New Chemical Wood Tradition Good selective cutting practices for chemical wood will not be attained on the Allegheny Plateau overnight. How- ever, they represent a goal toward which the industry should be moving. Clearly, the first step in this direction is to leave small trees uncut. It should be possible within a reasonably short time to spread Sixtee?i throughout the industry the thought that cutting small trees delays victory. Undersized trees cause waste of labor time, and undersized wood from small trees wastes space in trucks and retorts. With the present shortage of labor, it is essential to concentrate cutting on the profitable sizes of trees. To make it easier for woods workers to swing into this improved system, the pole skidding method should be instituted wherever it is feasible. Give the woodcutter the mo- bility that this method affords him to select the war-worthy trees. Leave the small ones in the forest — keep them growing. » »<>«i»(>4 ^ 7/anf CHINESE HYBRID CHESTNUT TREES for Pleasure and ProHf Blight Resistant and Early IJearers, Sweet Lilte tiie Old American, Send lor Catalog. RUMBAUGH CHESTNUT FARM DUNCANNON, PA. »<>'^i»(>«^<>' kO'M^II^^'M ^kAi»ri# TroAC on Mazzard Roots ENTERPRISE NURSERIES Geo. K. Stein & Son R. n, 1 WRIGHTSVILLE, PA. Complete catalog: furnished upon request. CHESTNUTS Bearing Blight - Resistant NUTS IN 4 YEARS Easily grown, heavy yielders. Northern strains Plant In the dooryard for Beauty - Profit - Shade • Nuts - Fun. Send postcard today for FREE booklet and price list on English Walnuts, Stabler Black Wal- nuts, etc. Excellent for ornamental purposes. I have experimented with nut trees for over 44 years. SUNNY RIDGE NURSERY ^ 443 NEW ST. SWARTHMORE, PA. NUT BEARING TREES Since 1896 .Jjinen' NurwerlcH have been grrowingr Improved varieties of nut trees. Descriptive catalogue free. J. F. JONES NURSERIES Dept. 1441 LANCASTER. PA. JT JONIS NURSl Wlli NUT TREES When you're stumped as to how to make your farm pay, just write us and ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ""* ^^^ crop trees and how to use them. Fifty years of >TREE CROPS experience in twenty gives us a' good background as a consultant. NUT TREE NURSERIES JOHN W. HERSHEY .DOWNINGTOWN, PA. Box 65r- Forest Leavf^ LIVINC.STON PI KiJSHiNf; r:o. NARBFRTH, PKWSVLVAMA m ^' THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION TIONESTA COMMITTEE ^ Francis R. Cope, Jr., Chairman Dr. Arthur \V. Henn Dr. J. R. Schramm Edward C. M. Richards Dr. H. H. York ■9-^ EST LEAVES Honorary President ^ M' President 1 Samuel L. Smedley Wilbur K. Thomas % Vice-Presidents Victor Beede ' Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Wm. S. B. McCaleb Edward C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm Francis R. Taylor Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt ^ Edward Woolman J Secretary H. Gleason Maiioon f 1 ■' » • Treasurer f Roy A. Wright M ■t- EXECUTIVE BOARD V " Victor Beede E. F. Brouse Francis R. Cope, J^. Dr. G. a. Dick John W. Hershey Philip A. Livingston Roy a. Wright H. Gleason Mattoon Wm. S. B. McCaleb Stanley Mesavage Edw. C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm H. L. Shirley Samuel L. Smedley 9\ Francis R. Iaylor *■„ Wilbur K. Lhomas Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt " Edward Woolman finance committee .4 Edward Woolman, Chairman cJAMUEL F. Houston Frank M. Hardt 1 PUBLICATION COMMITTEE C 1 E. F. Brouse Devereux Butcher 4 1 [. Gleason Mai ioon. Chairman :4 Mrs. Paul Lewis Dr. J. R. Schramm P. A. Livingston Mrs. Robert C. Wrighi Ralph P. Russell \ ^ LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Edward S. Weyl ^ F. R. Cope, Jr. F. R. Taylor, Chairman AUDITING COMMITTEE Wm. Clarke Mason W. W. Montgomery a E. F. Brouse Ralph P. Russell, Chairman Edward Woolman vV \'^^ ...\^ w >^0'Hi_>% ^-*- '■ " 1 4. i ■;«#*-= ::-,.4^^ ■-.:-,;-■ --T -^. ; .^ . , ^V . i^C-^tA \ ■ ■ ■if ■--' V - *- ^' •-■*■' ,„ *■ '*• '..'^-r Vr ^ " w , / ■ ■''•^'' \ * j ^-« \*.^H •IP -'ffi^W iC ^ / - ► *» aa^ ..«i£ Ai'T • / I^^K ■ .^. ■ / ^ * / «- r ■ 4 . ^B ' -'■ i'^' 1 /# 1 ^B'^ ^ '*■.* vj ^ 1 ^^^liB '*' - ■ 1 '( fc** SS -•- "*-.> --^ >• t ^LJltt0 *> ' . • ■* P ? K ^4 ^ ^ / • « * •* * I. • * 4r 1 i THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION JULY-OCTOBER THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Honorary President Samuel L. Smedley Victor Beede Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Secretary H. Gleason Mattoon Victor Beede E. F. Brouse Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. G. a. Dick John W. Hershev Philip A. Livingston President Wilbur K. Thomas Vice-Presidents Wm. S. B. Mc:Caleb Edward C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm EXECUTIVE BOARD Roy a. Wright H. Gleason Mattoon Wm. S. B. McCaleb Stanley Mesavage Edw. C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm H. L. Shirley Francis R. Taylor Dr. E. E. Wii dman George H. Wirt Edward Woolman Treasurer Roy a. Wright Samuel L. Smedley Francis R. Taylor Wilbur K. ThoxMAS Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt Edward \Voolman Samuel F. Houston FINANCE COMMITTEE Edward Woolman, Chainnan PUBLICATION COMMITTEE Frank M. Hardt E. F. Brouse Devereux Butcher Edward S. Wevl F. R. Cope, Jr. E. F. Brouse H. Gleason Mattoon, Chairman Mrs. Paul Lewis Dr. J. R. Schramm P. A. Livingston Mrs. Robert C. Wrighi Ralph P. Russell LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE F. R. Taylor, Chairman Wm. Clarke Mason W. W. Montgomery AUDITING COMMITTEE Ralph P. Russell, Chairttuui Edward Woolman TIONESTA COMMITTEE Francis R. Cope, Jr., Chairman Dr. Arthur W. Henn Dr. J. R. Schramm Edward C. M. Richards Dr. H. H. York y ■ • ^ S2> EST LEAVES ^\^^ i%^ "' -**^ V r f^-. *-J 1 ^' .^ 4-5*%i».-. *• 1 4 ^ - / '■■:i t.i *■ ■■■■^ »■ > ■» -■ .' (■' 'tV»^;. i' IHMi.i.. -%^' ^.m^ *!./ "*^te k f l^ :'-*-r ■: 'V ■ *■-£ ■■ «■ 1 ■%.-H ^- • • »li* ' \ ,, V, '•^ ■• ^ * ' ■' r ■■ * wr-^rfB t 1 , > * rsv ««< , •«#r': 'Wi ■m;^*-..,^- ■'^m- nr , 13 .-^ f - i ■• 'dm 1 j|Q '^ -^ ^^*^'^'' '^ • •^Sb*** -iju ^■^- r-^ . - • ~»< * <• THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION JULY-OCTOBER INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE CONTENTS Primeval Trees In Tionesta Tract ^^^^^ Community Forests H. Gleason Mattoon ft Friends Of The Land Hilda V. Fox 4 Editorial Drastic Forest Regulations In Omnibus Bill 5 Threat Of Logging In Olympia National Park ' R Conservation Of Our Forests " ' . ' George H. Wirt Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association " Exploring The Shagbark Species -----. ^ ^ /. Russell Smith More And Better Walnuts . - 12 The Chemist Looks At The Wood ^^ THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Founded in June, 1886 Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enactment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and National. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE, THREE DOLLARS One Dollar of which is for subscription to Forkst Leaves Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership Committee, 1008 Commercial Trust Building. Philadelphia. President— WiLiMiK K. Thomas Honorary President-SAMVEL L. Smedley Honorary VicePresident-KoBF.RT S. Conklin Vice-Presidents Victor Beede Wm. S. B. McCaleb Francis R. Taylor Francis R. Cope, Jr. Edward C. M. Richards Dr. E. E. Wildman Dr. O. E. Jennings Dr. J. R. Schramm George H. Wirt F. G. Knighto Edward Woolman Secretary— H. Gleason Mattoon Treasurer— K. A. Wright. C. P. A. i FOREST L EAV E S PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Narberth, Pennsylvania, under the Act of March A 1879 Volume XXXIII — No. 4 and 5 Narberth, Pa., July-October, 1943 Wh/le Number 315 Community Forests Their Function and Value by H. Gleason Mattoon No STATE IN the Union offers greater opportunity for rural development through forestry than Pennsylvania, be- cause it is primarily a forest land State with large areas of cut-over land, many wood using industries, dense population, a need for diversification in rural employ- ment, an excellent Department of Forests and Waters, well informed planning agencies and, we believe, a conservation minded public. With these qualifications both the incentive and opportunity for expansion of the community forest idea is apparent. A community forest is an area of Students clearing out stumps in preparation for replanting in conifers. woodland or potential woodland, owned and operated by a city, township, bor- ough, school district, county, or other po- litical subdivision of the State for the benefit of all persons through production of forest products, conservation of water, protection of wildlife, control of floods and erosion or provision for recreation. Every so often a community becomes famous for some outstanding achieve- ment. Usually the accomplishment is the result of leadership by some indi- vidual, working alone or through an organization, who has the vision to see an opportunity and the tenacity to per- sist until it is grasped by the community. In that way will the commu- nity forest idea spread. There will be no spontane- ous uprising to demand that each community create a forest. On the contrary any pro- gress that may be made will be due largely to the spir- it and perserver- ance of certain in- dividuals. CONTENTS Primeval Trees In Tionesta Tract Cover Community Forests H. Gleason Mattoon Friends Of The Land Hilda V. Fox 4 Editorial Drastic Forest Regulations In Omnibus Bill ^ Threat Of Logging In Olvmpia National Park ' Conservation Of Our Forests ° George H. Wirt Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association ^ ^ Exploring The Shagbark Species *' J. Russell Smith More And Better Walnuts *2 The Chemist Looks At The Wood ^^ THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Founded in June, 188(> Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enactment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and National. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE, THREE DOLLARS One Dollar of which is for subscription to Forist Liavi s Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended to !)e limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership Committee, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadelphia. President— \MiLnvR K. Thomas Honorary President-SAMVEL L. Smfdley Honorary VicePresident-KowRT S. Conkmn Vice-Presidents Wm. S. B. McCaleb Francis R. Taylor Edward C. M. Richards Dr. E. E. VVildman Dr. J. R. Schramm Gforge H. Wirt Edward Woolman Victor Bekde Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Secretary— H. Gleason Mattoon Treasurer— K. A. Wright. C. P. A. I FOREST L EAV E S PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Narberth, Pennsylvania, under the Act of MarchA 1879 Volume XXXIII — No. 4 and 5 Narberth, Pa., July-October, 1943 \Vh6\e Number 315 Community Forests Their Function and Value by H. Gleason Mattoon No STATE IN the Union offers greater opportunity for rural development through forestry than Pennsylvania, be- cause it is primarily a forest land State with large areas of cut-over land, many wood using industries, dense population, a need for diversification in rural employ- ment, an excellent Department of Forests and Waters, well informed planning agencies and, we believe, a conservation minded public. With these qualifications both the incentive and opportunity for expansion of the community forest idea is apparent. A community forest is an area of %-. 6. ^" '!^^ ^VT^ .> , ^^/> .^^\'m:^ m _.«*' • ■.._.-%■># Students clearing out stumps in preparation for replanting in conifers. woodland or potential woodland, owned and operated by a city, township, bor- ough, school district, county, or other po- litical subdivision of the State for the benefit of all persons through production of forest products, conservation of water, protection of wildlife, control of floods and erosion or provision for recreation. Every so often a community becomes famous for some outstanding achieve- ment. Usually the accomplishment is the result of leadership by some indi- vidual, working alone or through an organization, who has the vision to sec an opportunity and the tenacity to per- sist until it is grasped by the community. In that way will the commu- nity forest idea spread. There will be no spontane- ous uprising to demand that each community create a forest. On the contrary any pro- gress that may be made will be due largely to the spir- it and perserver- ance of certain in- dividuals. T^.^^; ♦ ..*■ •^' ^.. » -- '•^..- v*;^ V»'>^,r U '-^r '^^:j INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE r I Dedication ceremonies of a school forest. The establishment of community for- ests will probably be only one of many developments which may be needed to aid in solving post-war problems, but the idea has merit not only because it will provide local employment during the ad- justment period; because it may put to use land from which no tax income has been received for many years and because it will afford an opportunity to prove the value of conservation of our forests in each community, but also because it will create more surely in the mind of the individual the consciousness of own- ership with its attendant desire for pro- tection. Each community must develop a pro- gram according to its own needs. If tax delinquent lands are available, the possi- bility of creating a county forest should be explored. The County Forest Law of 1935, which the Pennsylvania Forestry Association fathered, was written prima- rily for the purpose of putting to eco- nomic use tax delinquent lands. Whatever the type of forest, whether borough, municipal, township, county Two Friends of the Land or school, it will present its only prob- lems and .offer benefits. Whatever the administrative set-up, the management plan should look toward eventual rev- enue producing possibilities m addition to its recreational advantages. It is our hope that much emphasis will be given to the school forest, not because of its economic aspect but almost wholly for its educational value. It is not easy to teach an old dog new tricks. If our attitude toward forests has been that of carelessness or indiffer- ence for twenty-five years, we will not readily change; on the other hand through the school forest the minds ot the children may be so moulded that they will forever remain conservation minded. Then, too, when we look in on some of the rural communities which are plagued with submarginal land problems and see how much these people miss m life because of the absence of pleasant surroundings, the lack of opportunities for recreation, the unwholesome socia attitudes which seem to go with rural slum conditions, we realize that anything (^Continued on page 4) Forest Leaves by Hilda V. Fox TyTHAT's IN A name? "Friends of the vv Land" — could any name be more challenging or more conducive of the best thinking and finest instincts of the Brotherhood of Man? Some five years ago when a compara- tively small band of dreamers (I prefer to call them "realists") organized a "non-profit, non-partisan association to support, increase and unify all efforts of conservation of soil, rain and all the liv- ing products, especially Man," Pennsyl- vania's own Morris Llewellyn Cooke was chosen as president. As meetings were held in first one and then another important city in various agricultural sections of the country — attended always by leading bankers and industrialists as well as by those more intimately con- nected with the land — the press eagerly carried their message to every afflicted soil-conscious area in the country. With the inspired Louis Bromfield and other well-known authorities on land conser- vation methods to speak for them, "Friends of the Land" are fast becoming legion. The first meeting in Pennsylvania was held in Philadelphia on February 25 th, 1943 with the following organizations as sponsors: Council for the Preservation of Natural Beauty in Pennsylvania, Dairy Council, Delaware Valley Protec- tive Association, Friends of the Land, Garden Club of America, Horticultural Society of Chester Co., Pennsylvania Economy League, Pennsylvania Federa- tion of Garden Clubs, Pennsylvania For- estry Association, Pennsylvania Horti- cultural Society, Pennsylvania Land Conservation Association, Pennsylvania Parks Association, Pennsylvania Road- side Council, Inc., Philadelphia Federa- tion of Women's Clubs and Allied Or- ganizations, Quaker City Farmers, Penn- # July - October, 1943 sylvania School of Horticulture for Women, Schuylkill River Restoration Society. Eleven hundred people filled the ballroom of the Benjamin Franklin Hotel and listened intently throughout the day to the pleas of the brilliant speakers who represented various fields of conservation. With the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania State Planning Board very appropriately presiding, the "Conserva- tion of Our Rivers" was the first topic for consideration at the morning session. Judge Grover C. Ladner, the indefatig- able President of the Schuylkill River Restoration Society, and Ellwood J. Turner, able Chairman of the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin, discussed the present condition of our rivers as compared to what they can and must become. George H. Wirt, Chief of the Division of Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Forests ^ Waters, sounded a warning note on * 'Conservation of Our Forests." fol- lowed by Dr. Hugh H. Bennett, Chief of the U. S. Soil Conservation Service, with many awing facts and figures on soil erosion, including those of the last 25 years. The over-all economic picture was painted by a master hand, that of Dr. Alfred H. Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The afternoon session was presided over by Dr. Thomas S. Gates, President, University of Pennsylvania, with Louis Bromfield as the featured speaker to ex- plain the real purpose of "Friends of the Land." A Quiz Program, which was broadcast, followed during which ques- tions from the audience were directed at the Hon. Miles Horst, Secretary of Agri- culture for Pennsylvania, the Hon. James A. Kell, Secretary of Forests ^ Waters for Pennsylvania, Roland Benjamin, Ex- (Continued on Page 16) Three ., .«w™«-*i-xw;v»«ft'-W^*'^W>'v Friends of the Land Dcdiralion ceretnonies of a school forest. The establishment of community for- ests will probably be only one of many developments which may be needed to aid in solving post-war problems, but the idea has merit not only because it will provide local employment during the ad- justment period; because it may put to use land from which no tax income has been received for many years and because it will afford an opportunity to prove the value of conservation of our forests in each community, but also because it will create more surely in the mind of the individual the consciousness of own- ership with its attendant desire for pro- tection. Each community must develop a pro- gram according to its own needs. If tax delinquent lands are available, the possi- bility of creating a county forest should be explored. The County Forest Law of 1935, which the Pennsylvania Forestry Association fathered, was written prima- rily for the purpose of putting to eco- nomic use tax delinquent lands. Whatever the type of forest, whether borough, municipal, township, county Two or school, it will present its only prob- lems and ,ofrer benefits. Whatever the administrative set-up, the management plan should look toward eventual rev- enue producing possibilities m addition to its recreational advantages. It is our hope that much emphasis will be given to the school forest, not because of its economic aspect but almost wholly for its educational value. It is not easy to teach an old dog new tricks. If our attitude toward forests has been that of carelessness or indifter- ence for twenty-five years, we will not readily change; on the other hand through the school forest the minds ot the children may be so moulded that they will forever remain conservation minded. Then, too, when we look in on some of the rural communities which are plagued with submarginal land problems and see how much these people miss m life because of the absence of pleasant surroundings, the lack of opportunities for recreation, the unwholesome socia attitudes which seem to go with rural slum conditions, we realize that anything {(Um tinned on luigc 1) Forest Lfavf*" by Hilda V. Fox w hat's in a name? 'Triends of the Land" — could any name be more challenging or more conducive of the best thinking and finest instincts of the Brotherhood of Man? Some five years ago when a compara- tively small band of dreamers (I prefer to call them ''realists") organized a "non-profit, non-partisan association to support, increase and unify all efforts of conservation of soil, rain and all the liv- ing products, especially Man," Pennsyl- vania's own Morris Llewellyn Cooke was chosen as president. As meetings were held in first one and then another important city in various agricultural sections of the country — attended always by leading bankers and industrialists as well as by those more intimately con- nected with the land — the press eagerly carried their message to every afflicted soil-conscious area in the country. With the inspired Louis Bromfield and other well-known authorities on land conser- vation methods to speak for them, "Friends of the Land" are fast becoming legion. The first meeting in Pennsylvania was held in Philadelphia on February 25th, 1943 with the following organizations as sponsors: Council for the Preservation of Natural Beauty in Pennsylvania, Dairy Council, Delaware Valley Protec- tive Association, Friends of the Land, Garden Club of America, Horticultural Society of Chester Co., Pennsylvania Economy League, Pennsylvania Federa- tion of Garden Clubs, Pennsylvania For- estry Association, Pennsylvania Horti- cultural Society, Pennsylvania Land Conservation Association, Pennsylvania Parks Association, Pennsylvania Road- side Council, Inc., Philadelphia Federa- tion of Women's Clubs and Allied Or- ganizations, Quaker City Farmers, Penn- JuLY - October, 1943 sylvania School of Horticulture for Women, Schuylkill River Restoration Society. Eleven hundred people filled the ballroom of the Benjamin Franklin Hotel and listened intently throughout the day to the pleas of the brilliant speakers who represented various fields of conservation. With the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania State Planning Board very appropriately presiding, the * 'Conserva- tion of Our Rivers" was the first topic for consideration at the morning session. Judge Grover C. Ladner, the indefatig- able President of the Schuylkill River Restoration Society, and EUwood J. Turner, able Chairman of the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin, discussed the present condition of our rivers as compared to what they can and must become. George H. Wirt, Chief of the Division of Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Forests ^ Waters, sounded a warning note on "Conservation of Our Forests," fol- lowed by Dr. Hugh H. Bennett, Chief of the U. S. Soil Conservation Service, with many awing facts and figures on soil erosion, including those of the last 25 years. The over-all economic picture was painted by a master hand, that of Dr. Alfred H. Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The afternoon session was presided over by Dr. Thomas S. Gates, President, University of Pennsylvania, with Louis Bromfield as the featured speaker to ex- plain the real purpose of "Friends of the Land." A Quiz Program, which was broadcast, followed during which ques- tions from the audience were directed at the Hon. Miles Horst, Secretary of Agri- culture for Pennsylvania, the Hon. James A. Kell, Secretary of Forests &f Waters for Pennsylvania, Roland Benjamin, Ex- (Continucd on Page 16) Tlirf^e INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE FOREST LEAVES Published Bi-Monthly at Narberth, Pa., by The PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Disseminates information and news on forestry and related subjects. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE H Gleason Mattoon, Chairman PHILIP A. LIVINGSTON Ra^^PH P. RUSSELL MRS. PAUL LEWIS MRS. R. C WRIGHT DeVEREUX BUTCHER ^ ' ^- ^' ^^^^"'^ Dr. J. R. Schramm The publication of an article in Forest Leaves does not necessarily imply that the views expressed therein are those of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association Editorial and ad- vertising office, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadel- phia. Please notify us of any change in address.^ JULY - OCTOBER, 1943 MUSTERING IN THE WOODLOTS* When discussion turns on shortages of essential war materials, not so many in the community at large are apt to think of pulpwood. Yet far the greater part of domestically produced pulpwood is devoted to products essential to war- making. The uses of pulpwood for war pur- poses are manifold. It is essential to the manufacture of smokeless powder, rayon for parachutes and medical dressings for the sick and wounded. Fibre-board con- tainers are required for overseas shipment of food, supplies and munitions. As the Army grows in size and the range of its activities increases, demand for pulpwood becomes greater. The Manpower Commission has therefore declared pulpwood cutting an essential activity. That makes fuUtime pulpwood cutters eligible to draft defer- ment and permits the granting to farmers with whom pulpwood cutting is a part- time activity credits toward draft defer- ment of farm help. The threatened 1943 shortage of do- mestic pulpwood is 2,500,000 cords. Making up this deficit is an entirely practicable proposition. Donald Nelson, head of the War Production Board, has estimated that it can be done if every one of the 3,800,000 farmers in the 27 pulp- *From The Evening liulletin, Philadelphia. Four wood producing states will devote three extra days this year to cutting pulpwood. There is plenty obtainable from the for- ests and farm woodlands. Mr. Nelson has approved the pulp- wood production drive of American newspapers as a valued assistance to the efforts of WPB in that line. The farmer with a woodlot or living near forested regions has a unique chance to serve the nation and turn idle trees into dollars in his community. It is a real salvage campaign, proposing to util- ize for war, resources which would other- wise be untouched. If the cutting is done properly, wood- land thinning which will result will add to the value of the forests. By pointing out these opportunities and by organizing activities which might be overlooked, especially in remoter sec- tions, a substantial contribution to the war effort is being made. COMMUNITY FORESTS {Continued from Page 2) that can be done to raise the standards of living and create a more agreeable social attitude on the part of the people, is worth the effort. A forest will cost the community money for a few years. There will be those who are so conscious of this fact that they will prefer not to talk commu- nity forests. If such a forest did not cost money it would be worth little nor would the people of the community value it highly. Of course, the establish- ment of a community forest costs money. Those who champion such a project must not pussyfoot on this feature, for if they do, all their effort will be wasted as soon as the city or borough fathers j wake up to the necessity for appropriat- ing money. . By no alchemy can a forest be devel- oped without money, labor and material, but it will bring back manyfold the dol- lars and hours spent honestly upon it. Upon that basis must a community for- est be built. Forest Leaves Drastic Forest Regulations In New Omnibus Bill FEDERAL REGULATION of forest prac- tices on private lands, with great powers centralized in the Secretary of Agriculture, features the new forestry omnibus bill introduced on July 8 by Senator M. G. Wallgren of Washington. Unquestionably the most drastic regu- latory measure yet presented to Congress, the bill S. 1330, consists of ten titles, each in effect a separate bill. Title No. 1, devoted to public regulation of private forest lands, would be known as the "Forest Practices Act." The other titles have no connection with regulation. Referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, the bill would empower the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate cutting on forest properties, whether in public or private ownership; would create administrative areas, with- out regard to state or property boundar- ies; and would control interstate ship- ment of forest products. It would invest in the Secretary au- thority to deal direct with forest opera- tors and forest products industries in establishing cutting rules, would author- ize his agents to examine records of for- est and mill operators, to inspect activi- ties, and take over the administration of properties. To advise the Secretary, the bill calls for the establishment of a National For- estry Board of twelve members, to be appointed by the President. Member- ship would be made up of representatives of industry and labor, from groups rep- resenting forest owners, farmers, trans- portation, natural resource conservation. Water conservation and the ultimate con- sumer of forest products — the public. Area advisory boards would be appoint- ed by the Secretary in the "administrative areas" the proposed act would establish. The "rules of forest practices which July - October, 1945 the Secretary, under the provisions of the bill, would be empowered to set up, have as their objectives: — (A) Providing for adequate restocking after cutting with trees of desirable species and condition; (B) prohibiting premature or wasteful cutting in young stands; (C) providing for reserving for growth and subsequent cutting a sufficient growing stock; (D) preventing the use of logging methods or other practices tending to cause avoid- able damage to uncut trees or young growth; (E) regulating grazing and protection of watersheds; and (F) pro- hibiting clear cutting, or limiting the size of a tract that may be clear cut, in areas where clear cutting will seriously inter- fere with protection of the watershed, or in order to maintain a suitable growing stock or insure natural reproduction." The Secretary would also be empow- ered to include forest practice rules con- cerning forest fire control, disposing of logging slash, and provisions regarding removal of diseased and insect-infested trees — matters now dealt with under state laws. Under the law, forest land owners would be permitted to prepare their own working plans provided they are ap- proved by the Secretary and accomplish the objectives set forth in the official rules of forest practices. Recourse to the courts would be possible in the event of an adverse decision by the advisory boards or by the Secretary. The bill provides elaborate machinery for enforcement. The Secretary may pro- vide for field inspections to determine whether established forest practice rules are complied with; he may require each operator to keep records of his opera- tions, give notice of his intention to cut living timber, and make such other re- ports as may be called for. Violation of Five the provisions of any forest practice rule or failure to carry out the provisions of any accepted working plan would be sub- ject to a $10,000 fine. Failure to keep the records called for would be subject to fines of $50 for each omission. The main weapon of enforcement, however, is set forth in the section mak- ing it unlawful for any person **to trans- port, ship, offer for transportation, de- liver or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver or sell with knowledge that ship- ment or delivery or sale thereof in com- merce is intended, any forest product produced in such state or region unless a certificate has been obtained therefor." Thus interstate shipments of forest products would have to be accompanied with a "certificate of clearance" testifying that the products in question were pro- duced in accordance with the forest rules of the Secretary of Agriculture. By re- fusing to issue certificates, the Secretary could in effect prevent the marketing of any forest products cut in violation of any forest practice rule, since transporta- tion companies would be held responsible for obtaining certificates before accepting products for shipment. Enforcement would be obtained by injunction and by a $10,000 fine. The bill's definition of * 'forest land" subject to the proposed regulations is quite broad. It states: "Forest land in- cludes any land bearing a growth of trees of any age, and any land from which the tree growth has been removed by cut- ting or otherwise and which is suitable chiefly for forest crop production, and any land on which a sustained growth of trees, arborescent growth, or chaparral is necessary for protecting and conserving the water and soil resources and regulat- ing run-off." Forest lands exempted under the law are: "All small woodlots the forest prod- ucts of which are wholly or almost wholly ( 1 ) used by the forest operator for domestic, non-industrial purposes and (2) not marketed in commerce." The Secretary may also exclude other forest tracts regulation of which for various reasons is not considered essential. Six The nine other titles within the omni- bus bill, many, of which were suggested in the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Forestry in its report of March 24, 1941, deal with Clarke-Mc- Nary Act amendments, forest manage- ment and utilization extension, forest cooperatives, forest insurance, commu- nity forests, forest survey amendments, national forest planting, financial con- tributions to local governments, and na- tional forest acquisition. TITLE No. 2 would liberalize the use of Clarke-McNary funds, basis for federal and state cooperation in forest fire prevention, forest planting and other items of forest extension, or permit ap- propriation of larger sums. One section would extend the use of funds for pro- duction of forest planting stock to all classes of forest owners instead of con- fining them largely to farmers as at pres- ent. Appropriations in excess of the $100,000 set forth in the original act for this purpose would be permitted. Another section would liberalize the provisions of the original act for giving technical assistance in forestry to farmers and increase the authorization for federal expenditures from $100,000 to a maxi- mum of $2,500,000. It is also proposed to amend the act so that broader powers would be given to plan and direct sur- veys "on any forest land" for the detec- tion and control of insect pests and plant diseases. Still another section would repeal the provision now in the Clarke-McNary Act requiring that state funds be contrib- uted to match federal expenditures. The funds under the act, if amended, may be expended "upon the basis of such contri- butions from cooperating agencies as the Secretary of Agriculture may require, in the form of services, materials or other- wise. TITLE No. 3 would increase federal assistance to forest landowners and forest industries in process of growing, harvest- ing, processing and utilizing forest prod- ucts. It provides for cooperation on a financial basis with public and private agencies and with individuals. Forest Leaves / I TITLE No. 4 would increase the au- thority of the Secretary of Agriculture to assist in the formation of forest coop- eratives among forest landowners to further the growing, harvesting and dis- position of forest products. It would also authorize the Secretary to assist in financing such cooperatives in their form- ative stage. TITLE No. 5 would establish federal forest insurance against loss by fire or tornado under amended provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act. TITLE No. 6 would appropriate not more than $750,000 annually to com- plete the survey of forest resources begun in 1928 by the U. S. Forest Service and to keep it up to date. TITLE No. 7 would make the Ful- mer Act of 1935, giving financial assist- ance to states in the acquisition of state forests, more workable and authorize an appropriation of $10,000,000, of which not more than $2,500,000 would be appropriated in any one year. TITLE No. 8 would amend the Na- tional Forest Planting Act of 1930 to increase appropriations to "such sums as may be required" annually. The original act limits appropriations for restoring to productivity by planting millions of acres on the national forests to a maxi- mum of $400,000 annually. TITLE No. 9 would change the basis of financial contributions from nation- T^T^'^T ^^^^^P^^ ^^ lo^^l governments. 1 ITLE No. 10 proposes two addi- tional bases for purchase of lands to be added to national forests. The first would be to permit purchase of imma- ture or merchantable timber at prices ap- proximately its expected value at the end of a sixty-year period. The second would be an authorization to the Secretary of Agriculture to borrow from the Recon- struction Finance Corporation sums not to exceed $250,000 outstanding at any time, and at a rate of interest not in ex- cess of three per cent, for purchase of ^ands, including lieu payments for taxes 3nd other expenses. Reprinted from "AMERICAN FORESTS," Volume 49. Number 9, September I943. JiJLY - October, 1943 Threat of Logging in >l/mpic National Park A/T OUNTING DEMAND for the cutting ^^ ^ within the boundaries of Olympic National Park of Sitka spruce to be used in airplane construction constitutes the greatest present threat to the integrity of the National Park System. Our infor- mation is that Secretary Ickes is still standing firm, and that there are still good opportunities for securing the need- ed supplies from other areas in the north- ^A^ P^^^fi^ states and from the forests of Alaska and British Columbia. The Na- tional Parks Association strongly sup- ports the Secretary's attitude. It must be recognized, however, that if the war lasts as long as is to be reasonably ex- pected, necessity may require that some of the spruce will have to be made available. In this connection it seems appropriate to publish the resolution which appeared in the July-September issue of National Parks Magazine, as rollows: — Resolved that in view of the continued and increasing pressure for the cutting of Sitka spruce and other species of timber suitable for airplane stock within the present Olympic National Park, the Na- tional Parks Association hereby reaffirms Its unalterable opposition to any com- mercialization of the resources of the na- tional parks. Only if a point is reached in the war effort when it appears to the satisfaction of the responsible Govern- ment authorities that such timber is im- peratively required, should any of the irreplaceable forests of the Olympic Na- tional Park be sacrificed. In our judg- ment, furthermore, that sacrifice should be made, not by permitting cutting with- in the park boundaries, but by perma- nently excluding certain forest areas from the park. Let no one be deceived by the assertion that so-called selective cutting ^n safely be allowed within the park. 1 he inevitable result of such logging will be the complete wreckage of the prime- val forest. Seven \ ■i n i Conservation of Our Forests by George H. Wirt TA/T'HY ARE WE concerned about the ^^ conservation of forests? What do we mean by ''conservation'' when we associate this word with ''forests*'? Just what is a "forest"? What does such a thing have to do with us or we with it, and why should forests be "conserved"? These may be trite questions, but nev- ertheless, until we have sensible answers to them and some definite ideas based on facts and fundamental principles con- cerning both forests and conservation, our words and our time will have been wasted and our conservation program will be duds. First, let us clear up our conception of a "forest." There was a time when a forest was any area declared by the King to be a forest, and as such it was subject to forest laws, administered by forest officers and forest courts. It might in- clude wide stretches of bare land, indi- vidual homes or whole villages with only a sprinkling of trees. For administrative purposes we have almost the same thing with the exception of the special courts in portions of the National Forests of the West. But for the most part, those of us here in the central part of the Atlantic sea- board think of a forest as an area more or less closely set with trees. There the common picture ends. Whatever else is added in individual cases results from personal relationship with forests or in- formation concerning them. It is not reasonable to expect that every citizen shall have a complete picture and under- standing of the complexity of a forest and of the far reaching part forests play in the life of a people. But at least a large minority must have that understanding and common knowledge before any ap- preciation of forest values will make itself felt in the life of the Common- wealth. Widespread misinformation and lack of knowledge relating to forests Eight have been and still are outstanding fac- tors responsible for the drag of sensible conservation programs. Briefly the following are some of the important fundamental facts which must be included in our conception of the "forest." 1. The forest is a complex biological aggregation composed of plant and ani- mal life and is dependent upon soil, water, air, sun, and time for its existence. 2. The plant and animal life of the forest occupy an area of soil and for prac- tical purposes may be thought of as a crop of the soil. 3. The outstanding and determining factor of the forest association is the tree, individually and in groups, in whole and in part. Without trees there would be no forest and no forest conditions. 4. Tree growth with its attendant conditions is peculiar in that each year's accretion is added to the accumulated growths of preceding years. The total wood volume of a tree at the beginning of a growing season is the working capi- tal upon which the new year's crop is deposited. This corresponds both in theory and practice to the accumulation of a trust fund, the interest being added to the principal and that total becoming the principal upon which the next year's interest is earned. This is the theory of compound interest. Incidentally we learn that Nature is decidedly capitalistic and it is evident that those who would get rid of the capitalistic system will have to do away with Nature. 5. The forest crop as developed by and stored in trees, takes a very small percentage of its volume from the soil. The real natural resources which arc caught and stored by the life functions of tree-parts are sun, wind, and rain. 6. Because tree requirements from the soil are so slight, trees and forests can occupy to advantage any land area not Forest Leaves required for food crops, or for other economic purposes. 7. Since it is impossible to harvest each year's crop of wood as such without killing the trees, since Nature has pro- vided for the storage of crop upon crop, since economic use and value increases with size and quality of trees, time is an essential factor in producing and harvest- ing forest crops. 8. As the laws of living for an indi- vidual person differ from the laws of living for a group of persons, so there are laws which affect trees in groups, as well as the ordinary laws of plant growth affecting individual trees. 9. In a primeval forest, and under many conditions in uncared for forests, new growth is offset by decay. It has been proved by several centuries of expe- rience that the accumulated growth of forests may be removed and used, and yet at the same time the forests and forest conditions may be maintained. 1 0. The sun, wind and rain that come to an acre of soil in one year which is not crystallized into tree growth, never can be picked up. 11. Trees, singly and in groups, me- chanically and through their plant func- tions, react upon soil, moisture and air, and upon plant, animal and human life! 1 he individual who owns forest prop- erty in fee cannot restrict the benefits of the forests to himself, nor can he prevent the outflow of malefactions from unde- veloped or mismanaged forests. 12. The forces of nature making up a forest can be controlled and guided by man for man's benefit. There are other peculiarities which need not be recited here. In recent years there has been a consid- erable group of people ready to support mistaken ideas such as the following and others like them: '*A few scattered trees constitute a lorest." "Forest protection will result in sat- isfactory forest growth." "Planting a tree for each tree removed irom a forest will perpetuate the forest." July - October, 1943 ■ . ■ One of the post-war projects should be the cleaning out of our forest areas to make them look like the managed forests of Europe." "Immature trees should never be re- moved from the forest." ]'No trees should be cut at any time." Changing the title of forest land from private ownership to State or National government ownership will accomplish all the blessings a forest can bestow upon a community." "Christmas trees should not be re- moved from forests." To complete the answers to our ques- tions it must be stated here that the forests of our country have been of vital importance to each one of us, and those who have preceded us. Forests ofi^ered untold opportunities and at the same time set up limitations for economic develop- ment of our people. Wood products and forest influences have made possible our wealth, industry, business, comfort. Without wood in plentiful quantities and without forest influences certainly we could not live as we have been accus- tomed to live. Without wood in enor- mous quantities we could not win the war we're in. And without wood and the many benefits of productive forests we shall not be able to maintain our way of life in the future. Even where wood IS of minor consequence, forests are essen- tial for the continued welfare of large groups of people. Now what shall we set up for our understanding of the word "conserva- tion".^ In common usage it means ''sav- ing," "guarding," or "preserving," In spite of the eff'orts of Theodore Roose- velt, Gifl^ord Pinchot, and others during the past thirty-five years to impress the people of America with an expanded and deeper meaning of the word, its common and homely meaning seems to prevail. Therefore, if those of us who are inter- ested in sensible, practical, and efl^ective private and public policies with respect to natural resources intend to continue to use the word "conservation," we must learn to use it correctly and with all the Nin(f Ml implications that belong to it. It will continue to be our job to make our mean- ing and intention clear to the rank and file of our people. Theodore Roosevelt's definition of the conservation of resources, "perpetuation through v^ise use," and Pinchot's expla- nation of "the application of common sense to common problems for the com- mon good" are easily understood and just about cover the field. Now with such a basis for common understanding what is the problem be- fore us with respect to the conservation of forests? Probably the most obvious problem (or problems) has to do with our sup- ply of wood. Shortly after the estab- lishment of the Massachusetts Colony there were some who predicted and viewed with alarm a scarcity of wood. Their followers have been numerous and are with us today. In spite of these peo- ple and their agitation, primeval forests have been eliminated from the face of the country, except for those in the North- west. Heavy inroads have been made upon the forest growth that has devel- oped since primeval conditions. Millions of acres of land have been made desolate and wood-needs have had to be trans- ported thousands of miles. Yet we still have wood. Nevertheless, five generations of American citizens have developed under a philosophy of waste and greed with respect to wood because the forests of the country were commonly consid- ered to be "inexhaustible." Paralleling this blissful orgy of waste was another policy which has been more or less peculiar to America. The first set- tlers who came here and those who suc- ceeded them were given so-called title to land. We are a people of homes and home owners. Not only a man's home was and is his castle, but his land has been his own. He could do with it as he pleased. Up to now we are a free people and most of us still believe that we can do as we please with our own property. Land is plentiful and when Ten one piece ceases to be productive it has been easy to move and to be established somewhere else. Both of these policies and develop- ments have produced tremendously bene- ficial results in the life and prosperity of our country, but nevertheless, we have paid and will pay dearly for the damage that has been done. It is our job now to bring about a reasonable adjustment between the land policy which is an es- sential part of our liberty, and an almost complete reversal of our attitude to for- ests as the source of one of the raw products without which we cannot main- tain our liberty. There are millions of acres of land which must be put to use as rapidly as the economy of the times will permit. The productive powers of Nature must be harnessed and directed. Our needs for wood can be supplied and our uses of wood can be greatly expanded, in fact, the forests of the future will be the source of all kinds of power. But above all, we need the facts of the situation. Forests must be maintained upon mil- lions of acres of land for reasons other than the production of wood and many other important tree products. Soil must be stabilized and rebuilt. Water must be stored and filtered. Opportunities for the use of labor must be developed. Land values must be increased. Wild life must be retained. Favorable climate must be continued. Beauty of country must be maintained. Individual and community health, wealth and welfare must be guaranteed. The war in which we find ourselves is in itself a most conclusive proof of the "godless and soulless lust for power" both on the part of individuals and those in control of peoples. As a free people with initiative and the spirit of coopera- tion we must develop our resources so as to maintain our liberty without the pos- sibility of dictatorship or of establishing any policy even closely approaching such a catastrophe. Forest Leaves Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association A Practical Body of Nut Growers Whose Aim Is to Stimulate Greater Interest in Nut-Tree Planting Black Walnut Kernel Annual inter Uleeting of Notice! " Notice! A Round Table Conference of THE PENNSYLVANIA NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION will be held at the regular winter rendez- vous with the Farm Show program. Farm Show exhibits, of course, are out for the duration. But as a sacred ritual to the sincerity of those who *'love the soil" a framework is held together by farm groups gathering to discuss "a way to victory." No, I'm not thinking of the war. Wars are lost in either victory or defeat because the spirit that attempts to solve problems by war creates turmoil wherever found. Hence, there's no peace for war makers. We, the aristocrats of creation (soil dwellers), should gather together to dis- cuss profitable nut growing and thereby keeping OUR end up. Date — THURSDAY— ALL DAY JANUARY 20. 1944 Come with your problems and we'll discuss them together. We hope we bave some interesting speakers present — BUT no set program will be prepared. Location will be announced later. JOHN W. HERSHEY, Secretary July - October, 1943 Exploring the Shagbark Species by J. Russell Smith T HAVE 40 or 50 varieties of grafted A shagbark trees (Carya ovata) in a hillside pasture where I am observing the variations, not to say the vagaries of a species of which we need to know a great deal more than we now do. Per- haps I need scarcely say that a variety is composed of the trees produced by grow- ing the buds or grafts of one tree. Thus all the qualities of the parent tree are per- petrated. As my shagbark trees begin to get es- tablished it is astonishing what a variety of appearance they present. Some are very dark green, with heavy leaves. The top is compact— almost a solid ball of foliage. Others are long, rangy, rather open-topped, with leaves of lighter hue. At a distant view one would scarce think of them as being the same species. This species varies in several respects as much as it does in over-all appearance. It IS well-known, of course, that while the flavor of the kernel is delicious, most of the trees bear nuts of such a form that the kernel can only be secured in small pieces. Occasionally, however, there is a wild one with the interior structure somewhat like that of an English wal- nut, permitting us to get the meats out in complete halves. It is such trees as these that have been the object of search for many years by the Northern Nut Growers Association, and there are now some 50 to 75 that have been named and are under test in several places. What would happen if these best known trees were crossed with each other.^ Here is an interesting field for some plant breeder. He can use my trees if he wishes. Not only do shagbarks vary in quality of the nut, but they also vary in quan- tity of crop and in the age at which they begin to bear. Some of them settle down and go to bearing by the time their {Continued on Page 15) Eleven i\ More and Better Walnuts FOR FORTY YEARS individuals and as- sociations with vision have attempt- ed to find better varieties of black walnuts. The few varieties now known are chance discoveries made by nursery men and others who happened to notice their superiority over the common run of black walnuts. That they are im- provements cannot be denied, yet in per- centage of kernel and ease of cracking they are far from the optimum that should be expected. For the purpose of finding superior varieties a walnut contest, open to every- one, is now inaugurated by leaders in farm and nut circles. Commenting on the contest Wheeler McMillen, President of the National Farm Chemurgic Coun- cil said: "As our natural mineral resources be- come increasingly costly to exploit, the hope of abundance grows brighter in the nation's laboratories. Organic chemis- try and plant genetics, functioning with other sciences in the spirit and concept of chemurgy, are yielding unbelievable results. New materials, often better than the things displaced or supple- mented, and even things entirely new to man's use, are appearing. ''The grand old American black wal- nut has an important part in this picture. The shell is known to have over 32 uses. The kernel, aside from being one of the best foods, has potential values as a source of oil, said to be better than lin- seed oil. The hull is used in medicines and cosmetics, while the timber has proven one of the best investments ever known. 'It has lifted a mortgage and pre- vented bankruptcy. "The benefits of trees and their prod- ucts accrue to those who keep planting trees or seed. Modern selection makes available the fastest growers and those that bear the thinnest shelled nuts." Said John W. Hershey, Secretary- Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association: Twelve "Science has shown remarkable prog- ress in improving the quality of the com- mon flock or herd by introduction of bet- ter males and females. "History tells us the wild hard- shelled almost inedible nut of Northwest India evolved into our present strain of English walnut by always planting a better nut. All the remarkable varieties of the pecan sprang from nuts planted by some farmers who thinking — 'this nut is so fine it's a shame not to have more like 'em' — planted them. "And so it is, in the great American black walnut family. Nature did a lit- tle selecting, man caught them through contests. Research has proven the seed- lings from improved varieties, especially the Thomas, have better nuts than the common run seedlings of the wild some- times superior to the Thomas itself. Yes, by making 'better nut plantings' a fam- ily ritual each year we have evidence we can raise the cracking quality of the American walnut to the standard of the English walnut or pecan." Said M. Glen Kirkpatrick of the FARM JOURNAL, leader in America's Farm editorial field: "Native nut trees are more valuable than ever because of the need for food, feed, lumber, essential oils and other products that trees can supply. Trees of this kind can be grown on land too rough for cultivated crops. That makes trees all the more valuable. Unlike some other types of woodland trees, walnut trees provide more than a single source of income. While producing cash crops for the farmer, they're growing timber for the children's children. Time shows, trees planted today are mortgage lifters. Those not planted are gully washers. "We can count on the tree crop experts making more progress. Their progress would be even more rapid if farmers would back them up with a genuine in- terest in tree planting. If farmers would plant the nuts, acorns and fruits froin their most desirable crop trees, there would be a broad base of tree crop im- provement on which the tree crop spe- M cialists could operate much more effec- tively. Procedure Sunday School Teachers. School Teach^ ers, 4-H Club Leaders. County Agents. Scout Leaders and Parents 1. Instruct your group to ask questions. ihis will locate the best tree in your comniunity. If you can find a grafted tree, by all means use nuts from it. 2. Hull them when the nuts fall. The owner will be glad to cooperate in giv- ing you some of the nuts to plant. Often you can gather and hull the crop on halves. The autumn social rating should be gauged by heaviness of walnut stains on the hands, as walnut stain should be the earmark of good citizenship. 3. Let them dry a few weeks in the shade protected from squirrels, rodents, or sis- ters who love to make nut goodies. 4. Stratify — use a cigar box or one larger, put a layer of sand in the bottom then a layer of nuts, alternate until box is full. 5. Sink in garden— top with ground level. Cover with fine wire to prevent rats or squirrels from stealing. 6. In early spring bring nuts out — go along fence, near streams, hillsides, open spots in the wood lot. Make holes two inches deep with a blunt stick, forty feet apart, drop in nut, then tramp with heel. Do this year after year in the Boy Scouts Nut Planting Week. Replant missers in previous years planting. Make a record how young trees are doing, note age they bear and quality of nuts. When they re extra fine, report to the Pennsyl- vania Nut Growers' Association, the Di- rector of Rural Scouting, or your farm paper. And, as young trees bear better nuts than ever grew before, plant them. And as Lowell Thomas says on his news broadcast, "Here's an item just in.'' Nut Tree Culture in Missouri Bulletin No. 454 by T. J. Talbert, Chief of Hor- ticulture in that great nut state. Address mm for a copy, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. IMot only can I say without reserve It s a GOOD bulletin untainted by typ- ical departmental caution and lack of clarity that leaves the reader wondering what It was written for." I, personally know Prof. Talbert and his work which started working on nut culture his pro- is of a positive nature. Hence, when he gram has been "how to make nut culture profitable in Missouri." Yes, his bul- letin IS interesting reading. Forest Leaves jj^^y . October, 1943 I R. E. Hodgson, University of Minne- sota reports to us that he gathered a crop of Ihomas walnuts on the University rarm this year which were of fine quality. Startling is the information that's come to this desk on the volume of nut trees sold in the spring of '42. One nursery in Tennessee sold 50 thousand Chinese chestnut trees. A nurs- ery in Arkansas sold a few thousand Ihomas walnuts. A nursery in Okla- homa sold two thousand Thomases. All this besides the many smaller nurseries' sales make it look like— yes, people are starting to Plant for Meat. "Us Northerners" better wake up or the South will steal the ball in walnut and chestnut planting as they did with the pecan. Other points of interest: Two nation wide magazines carried articles recently, "Tree Crop in a Permanent Civiliza- tion — Country Life. "How to Grow Meat on Trees" Bet- ter Homes and Gardens, October issue. Farm Journal is now running a monthly column on "Tree Crops." Two other nation wide magazines volunteered the information they want to do more for nut trees. Thirteen li The Chemist Looks at the Wood NEW CHEMICAL treatments that vir- tually endow wood with the prop- erties of a plastic and give it added strength, wearing qualities, hardness, and warp and swell resistance were described by Dr. J. F. T. Berliner of E. I. du Pont de Nemours ^ Company. Treatment, by these new chemical methods, develops such unusual proper- ties that "actually we are no longer deal- ing with wood," he declared in a recent address before the Eastern Lumber Sales- men's Association at the University Club, Philadelphia. Describing the new treatment by which poplar, for example, can be made as hard or harder than maple and given form stability and other desirable prop- erties, the speaker said: *'lt has been found that when wood is impregnated with a resin solution such as lacquer, the resin may fill the wood cells but the properties of the wood are not fundamentally altered. It will still shrink and swell with changes of humid- ity, and the grain will raise when a sanded face is exposed to moisture. "However, if the wood is impregnated with resin-forming chemicals capable of reacting with the wood cellulose, and the resin then produced within the wood, the properties of the wood are profoundly altered. When sufficiently treated, the wood is dimensionally stable under vary- ing humidity conditions, does not show grain raising, is hardened, can be highly polished, has increased wearing qualities, and has markedly increased compressive strength as well as much higher strength in tension across the grain. In fact, the tensile strengths in all directions tend to be the same, a most unusual property for wood.*' Soft maple thus treated may even be used to replace dogwood in textile shut- tles. Dr. Berliner stated. Here the com- pressive strength of wood as well as its hardness and resistance to moisture can Fourteen be so increased that treated wood may be substituted for steel in certain textile machinery parts where wood has hither- to been unusable. The speaker noted the post-war pos- sibilities of dimensionally stable lumber to eliminate the sticking drawer, door or window, and of finishes formed in the wood so that beautiful woods like cy- press could be used for purposes other than paneling, siding, shingles and tanks. An important development of the war period has been the production of large composite beams, arches, boards and the like from small, readily produced, easily dried sections by gluing, he said. Boards and sections in sizes unobtainable from natural sources are now in regular pro- duction. "You do not have to have a big tree to get big timbers, structural members, or boards," he stated. "Heretofore one had to seek long and far to obtain a 12 by 12 inch side-cut oak timber and then wait several years to condition it for use. Now, however, small sections of oak may be cut and fabricated into a 12 by 12 inch in a matter of a week or so." He described the introduction of chem- icals which allow wood to be readily bent and shaped like a plastic as follows: "Wood is impregnated by soaking the green wood in a water solution of urea or by subjecting the wood to heat and pressure in the presence of urea. The urea-treated wood when heated by tem- peratures near the boiling point of water becomes plastic and is readily bent. On cooling, it regains its original rigidity and retains the shape given it while hot. On heating, it may again be softened." The speaker enumerated five divisions into which wood treatments may be classified, as follows: preservation, in- cluding flame, insect, rot, and chemical proofing; reassembly, or making ply- wood, plastics, paper, paperboard and such products from wood; chemical con- Forest Leaves version of wood into rayon, cellophane, sugar and alcohol, explosives, distillation to form charcoal, methyl alcohol, acids, and conversion of lignin to adhesives, plastics and vanilla flavor; drying or sea- soning; and altering mechanical prop- erties such as hardening, increasing strength, bending and dimension control. These advances Dr. Berliner ascribed to the chemist's attitude toward wood as a raw material, the properties of which he considers may be altered as desired. The chemist is challenged by the assumed lim- itations of wood, such as slow drying; its tendencies toward splitting, checking and warping during drying; flammabil- ity; rottmg; swelling and shrinking with humidity changes; that it does not grow fast enough, tall enough or thick enough. By removing the handicaps of unalter- able properties and dependence on log- ging certain size trees for certain dimen- sions, chemical science has gone far toward reestablishing the position of wood in competition with other mate- rials. Plastics and metals for years had been pushing wood from fields which it had possessed exclusively. This was because the other materials were fashioned to conditions demanded of them, even to the point of simulating wood in appearance. Now wood has a new start. The lum- ber industry is contributing magnifi- cently to the war program. The Army alone is using more than 800 separate iterns of wood. The uses for lumber in both war and in the peace to come are being extended by the united efl^ort of the lumber and chemical industries. EXPLORING THE SHAGBARK SPECIES {Continued from Page 11) branches have grown 3 or 4 feet outward rrom the center pole, provided you start with an 8 or 1 0 foot tree, as I did in my test planting. In contrast with this, one we 1-known variety much touted by the early experimenters has scarcely been Known to bear a pint of nuts in a quar- ter of a century. JuLv - October, 1943 I suspect that if the shagbark species grew only in some such far away place as China or Manchuria it would have been heralded across our country years ago as a beautiful ornamental, which in- deed It is. Three or four of these trees would lend distinction to almost any lawn, and lots of nuts for the family. There is one more quality in which shagbark trees vary — i. e.. speed of growth. Some of them resemble the tortoise in the way in which they almost seem to stand still. Others, while not exactly rivaling the silver maple, are good growers, and I have had one variety to make a central twig 4 feet long in one season in my experimental nursery. Thev respond well to fertility. r' [ Plant CHINESE HYBRID CHESTNUT [ TREES for Pleasure and Profit I i Blight Kesistant and Early Bearers, Sweet Like ! ' the Old American, Send for Catalog | RUMBAUGH CHESTNUT FARM DUNCANNON, PA. Cherry Trees <>« Mazzard Roots One of Our Spe«lalties ENTERPRISE NURSERIES Geo. K. Stein & Son I , , WRIGHTSVILLE, PA. Complete catalog: furnished upon request. CHESTNUTS Bearing Blight - Resistant NUTSTlsr4' YEARS Easily grown, heavy yielders. Northern strains and price list on" EngMsh Walnut? ^? m^^^^ ^'^^'^'^^ nuts. etc. Excellent for oniament^fnn ^'''^^'^ ^^^- experlmented with nut trees Srover'^'iJTerrs ' ^^"^ 443 NEW ST^''''^^ ''^^''^ NURSERY • SWARTHMORE, PA. NUT BEARING TREES Since 1896 Jones' Nurseries have been jTOHinir improved varieties of nut tr^r Descriptive catalogue free. *""• J. F. JONES NURSERIES Oept. 1441 LANCASTER. PA. JT JONIS NURSERIIS I NUT TREES ^^'r y^"''-^ stumped as to how to ^.--l 7 u ^°"'' ^""'"^ P^y' J"«t write us and for list of nut and crop trees and TREE CROPS !° "^^ *^^"'- ^*"y years of IREC WKUr^experlence In twenty gives us a &ood background as a consultant. NUT TREE NURSERIES JOHN W. HERSnirv Fifteen FRIENDS OF THE LAND (Continued from Page 3) ecutive Secretary, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Federation, Dr. Ralph D. Hetzel, President, Pennsylvania State College, P. A. Waring, Pennsylvania Land Con- servation Association, and George Pfeif- fer 3rd, Philadelphia Junior Board of Commerce. The program was climaxed by the showing of the documentary film ''The River," leaving the majority of the audience eager to enlist and serve this all-important cause. And so a Pennsylvania Chapter of ''Friends of the Land" was born. Under the direction of an impressive list of farmers, industrialists, bankers, educators, editors and civic-leaders who will be responsible for the functioning of the organization in Pennsylvania, the realization of the need for conservation methods should eventually be brought home to every resident of the state. For, indeed everyone is affected! It is the in- tention of this group: 1. To focus public attention, espe- cially of urban residents on the problems of the land. 2. To unify the efforts of all groups interested in specific phases of con- servation, such as wildlife, birds, plants, water, soil, forests, so that, through unity of purpose, conser- vation in its broadest sense can be promoted more effectively. 3. To develop, through unified edu- cational, informational and pro- motional efforts, a better under- standing between rural and urban groups. 4. To serve as a clearing house for the dissemination of pertinent infor- mation on all phases of conserva- tion relating to the land. All of this will be accomplished by the following means: 1. Encourage the teaching of conser- vation in the schools. 2. Sponsor conservation forums and field days. 3. Provide competent speakers. Sixteen 4. Prepare and distribute literature, bulletins, newsletters. 5. Purchase and distribute prints of motion pictures. 6. Supply timely articles to news- papers and magazines. 7. Sponsor educational radio pro- grams. 8. Develop visual aids, museum ex- hibits, etc. 9. Inform the public of erosion and related conservation problems, leg- islation, etc. 10. Cooperate with local, state and federal agencies. Fortunately Pennsylvania has many residents already aware of the various related problems in connection with the conservation of natural resources. The varied specialized organizations through which they have been at work on them in the past are fully aware of the poten- tial benefits of a more unified effort. Through a strong, vigilant Chapter of Friends of the Land all conservation- minded groups and individuals will be able to channel their efforts and receive the additional help such unity will pro- vide. We have a bigger war to fight than the present global one in which we are now embroiled. The war against waste and exploitation of natural resources must continue long after the more appar- ent destructive conflict is over. Civiliza- tions rise and fall according to land reserves and the more thoughtful realize that "it can happen here." Arise, all ye faithful 'Triends of the Land." EVERGREEN SEEDLINGS Grow Christmas Trees for Profit Per 1000 Dousrlas Fir (2 year) - - - . $7.00 Red Pine (2 year) 7.00 White Pine (4 year transplants) per 100 3.50 Write for Complete List ULRICH NURSERY 38 Waverly Street, Shillington, Pa. Forest Leaves LIVINGSTON PUBLISHING CO. NARBFRTH, PENNSYLVANIA THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Honorary President Samuel L. Smedley Victor Beede Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Secretary H. Gleason Mattoon Victor Beede E. F. Brouse Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. G. a. Dick John W. Hershey Philip A. Livingston Vice-Presidents Wm. S. B. McCaleb Edward CM. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm EXECUTIVE BOARD Roy a. Wright H. Gleason Mattoon Wm. S. B. McCaleb Stanley Mesavage Edw. C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm H. L. Shirley President Wilbur K. Thomas I Francis R. Taylor Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt Edward Woolman Treasurer Roy a. Wright Samuel L. Smedley Francis R. Taylor Wilbur K. Thomas Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt Edward Woolman Samuel F. Houston FINANCE COMMITTEE Edward Woolman, Chairman PUBLICATION COMMITTEE Frank M. Hardt E. F. Brouse Devereux Butcher Edward S. Weyl F. R. Cope, Jr. E. F. Brouse H. Gleason Mattoon, Chairman Mrs. Paul Lewis Dr. J. R. Schramm P. A. Livingston Mrs. Robert C. Wright Ralph P. Russell , I LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE F. R. Taylor, Chairman V Wm. Clarke Mason W. W. Montgomery AUDITING COMMITTEE * Ralph P. Russell, Chairman Edward Woolman TIONESTA COMMITTEE Francis R. Cope, Jr., Chairman Dr. Arthur W. Henn Dr. J. R. Schramm Edward C. M. Richards Dr. H. H. York i FOREST LEAVES k I i\ I ii ^ THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY A<;<;nriATinM NOVEMBER-DECEMBER CONTENTS Ice Fantasia Cover Photograph by Devereux Butcher County Forests In The Anthracite Region 1 by R. D. Forbes and C. W. Beck Pennsylvania, "The Dogwood State" 3 by H. Gleason Mattoon Editorial ^ Farm Use For Tree Crops 5 by H. Gleason Mattoon Forestry Wheel Of Fortune ^ Injury To English Elms As A Result Of Banding 11 by C. R. Runyan Forestry Bills In Congress 12 Pennsylvania Nut Growers' Association News 13 Timber War Project In Pennsylvania 16 THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Founded in June, 1886 Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enactment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and National. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE, THREE DOLLARS One Dollar of which is for subscription to Forest Leaves Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership Committee, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadelphia. President— Wiluvk K. Thomas Honorary President—SAM\]EL L. Smedley Honorary Vice-President— Kobf.rt S. Conklin Victor Beede Francis R. Cope, Jr. Dr. O. E. Jennings F. G. Knights Secretary— H. Gleason Mattoon Vice-Presidents Wm. S. B. McCaleb Edward C. M. Richards Dr. J. R. Schramm Francis R. Taylor Dr. E. E. Wildman George H. Wirt Edward Woolman Treasurer— K. A. Wright. C. P. A. FOREST L EAV E S PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY * Entered as second class matter at the Post Office at Narberth. Pennsylvania, under the Act of March 3. 1879 Volume XXXIII— No. 6 Narberth, Pa., November-December, 1943 Whole Number 316 County Forest Possibilities in the Anthracite Region* by R. D. Forbes and C. W. Beck HThe counties of the Anthracite For- gregating 63,000 acres, with an average A est Region of Pennsylvania have size of 184 acres. They are distributed borne their full share of the economic among 1 1 of the 15 counties as follows- and social ills from which the region be- gan to suffer long before the depression. ^^""^ ' X^EVS^ro^wSk^H^^ Z INational defense activities may make longer subject to redemption possible in some counties a partial and county no of av, Are^'^TotaiT' temporary recovery from these ills. But ' ProperL ^AcrZ Acre:""" a permanent cure for unemployment and ^SZ^'Z. 17 }?9 o'ol? crippled public services can be achieved Dauphin "ZZZ 15 lei 2413 only through planned development of all Luzeme^""^ ^ '^^ ^^^ basic natural resources and of industries Monroe ZZIZZZ. 21 270 5669 dependent on them. Northumberland 6 94 563 » - Schuylkill 173 191 84 04^ Among these natural resources none Susquehanna 30 125 3757 has been more abused and neglected than w^^"^. 2 82 'les the forests. The nearly 2,600,000 acres ^'""' 'L 'II 5™_ of forest land in the region comprise ^°'^^^ °^ Averages 343 184 63,001 from 20 to 84 per cent of the individual t^^ui^ n u .u j- -i • counties. Over cutting of the timber, /J^^ble 2 shows the distribution of over and forest fires, have reduced vast areas I'Tsn °^ ^°'"' '"l^'J" P'^^P"' of once highly-productive forest to scrub iTthl Co'unt'v ComT' ^^''^ '^''' '^''^ oak. aspen, and grey birch. Practically treasurer's si, ^Hr'^l^n' V'''' none of the remaining acreage is fully iZ'ZV' ut ?u ^"'^ ^'^ '^'" '""^^^^ '° productive. Tens of thousands of acres Trf^X c?,./ ' .™" °'^"'"- ^^''' mostly denuded, are today in county ^J^^^^^^^^ properties in every county hands as the result of tax delinquency^ Ubano^ ' ^^'°" "''""^' and in some counties are rapidly becom- ing a major problem. In Table 1 are shown forest properties ^^^ Counties' Opportunity cdnmv""" °'w°'' ^h'^h,^^^^ been in When forest lands become tax delin- county ownership as a result of tax sales quent and pass into county ownershio or longer than the period allowed for it is likely to be because thIyTave been redemption. There are 343 of them ag- wrecked by over-cutting and fire Income Mn excerpt from Anthracite Survey Paper No. 3. frOm Wrecked land is negligible. The hsued by the Allegheny Forest Experiment Station. loUg time required tO reStOre them tO pro- M^ ductivity, the cost and unfamiliarity with the forestry practices involved, dis- courage the individual land owner. Sale by the county to the State is sometimes possible, either for State Forests or State Game Lands. The properties must gen- erally be of considerable size, or adjoin land already in State ownership, to be attractive to the Department of Forests and Waters or the Game Commission. At present only the Game Commission has funds for land purchases. Table 2. FOREST PROPERTIES OF 50 ACRES OR MORE IN COUNTY OWNERSHIP BUT SUBJECT TO REDEMPTION. MAY 1, 1941 County No. of Avg. Area Total Area Properties Acres Acres Carbon 10 363 3,634 Columbia 13 87 1,136 Dauphin 8 189 1,511 Lackawanna 28 159 4.445 Luzerne 107 118 12,651 Monroe 21 168 3,539 Montour 3 96 289 Northumberland 11 90 996 Pike 9 150 1,348 Schuylkill 47 209 9.807 Sullivan 45 135 6,068 Susquehanna 89 79 7,081 Wayne 21 115 2,414 Wyoming 9 259 2,335 Totals of Averages 421 ' 136 57,254 Fortunately there is legislation in ef- fect to enable the counties themselves to approach constructively the problem presented by these lands. The County Forest Act of 1933 (P. L. 30) provides that tax delinquent lands may be con- tinued in county ownership and managed as county forests. Under public control restoration of the forest for one purpose or another is economically possible. Forest restoration requires intensified protection against fire, insects, and dis- ease, and artificial planting of the worst- denuded land with trees or other useful vegetation. Here is work for the unem- ployed— work, moreover, that does not compete with private enterprise. Weed- ing, thinning, and pruning of the young forest, wildlife management, and proper harvesting of the timber as it matures, will continue to provide jobs in the woods. Two When fully restored these county- owned forests will prove attractive as a source of raw material to permanent local industries. Substantial cash returns to local governments in many parts of the world result from sales of wood in com- munity forests. Even today county for- ests will provide nearby communities with healthful outdoor recreation; they will prevent soil erosion, lessen floods, and safeguard local water supplies. These benefits will in turn be reflected in new sources of public revenue, improved pub- lic health, and larger private payrolls. The rather small average size of the county-owned properties, and their scat- tered distribution, which have lessened their attractiveness for State ownership, need not debar them from consideration as county forests. An official of one county recently suggested that custodian- ship of small areas could be added to the duties of certain county employees at lit- tle or no additional expense. Chambers of Commerce, service clubs, and other community groups — such as organized sportsmen — have already shown an in- terest in the development of local forest tracts. By crystallizing such interest into eff'ective measures adapted to local conditions the problem of protecting and administering relatively small areas may be solved. FORESTRY WHEEL OF FORTUNE As a center spread, Forest Leaves is re- producing in this issue the Forestry Wheel of Fortune prepared by Dr. Joseph Risi. Director of the Forest Products Labora- tory, Quebec, showing the products de- rived from wood and the several chemi- cal processes involved. Copies of this interesting study, suit- able for use as posters (twice the present size) will be supplied at $1.00 each on application to the Pennsylvania Fores- try Association, 1007 Commercial Trust Building, Philadelphia (2). Forest Leaves PENNSYLVANIA \\ The Dogwood State'' by H. Gleason Mattoon A D9LF MULLER, public spirited cit- -^^^ izen of many interests, died on July 30, 1943, but his contagious zeal for making Pennsylvania the dogwood state lives. During his lifetime he dis- tributed over 300,000 dogwood seed- lings to organizations, school children and individuals to be planted along the highways, on lawns and in the country- side. Whether his enthusiasm for the dog- wood was aroused by the fine specimens at Valley Forge Park in which he was intensively interested, is not known. In any case, the Park has become a mecca for visitors during the display. In 1938, a year of unusually fine bloom, nearly 1,000,000 persons traveled there to be- hold the beauty of the flowering dog- wood. This truly American tree is consid- ered by many to be the finest flowering tree in the world. Cornus florida, for that is its botanical name, is native to over one-half of the United States but it reaches the zenith of perfection in Pennsylvania. It is attractive in the autumn also when the rich reds of its foliage blend with the scarlet of its clus- tered fruit. In late fall when the birds migrate, they stop to feast on the fruit. In that way are the seed scattered to in- crease the profusion of trees. The flowering dogwood occasionally reaches a height of 35 feet, but as a speci- men with ample room in which to de- velop it seldom becomes more than 20 feet tall. It prefers open woods, the edge of a forest or the fence row where the soil is rich but well drained. In coves or along the bank of a stream it thrives especially well. It is a freedom loving tree that dislikes the regimentation of dense woodland conditions. That which we call the blossom of the dogwood is actually bracts or leaves. NovEMBKR - December, 1943 Mr. Muller's Favorite Valley Forge Dogwood. In the center of these four large petal- like leaves are the true flowers — a cluster of them — small yellow-green and incon- spicuous. The bracts are not always white. Occasionally a tree with pink or rose red coloring can be found grow- ing wild. The pink dogwood which is sold by nurseries has no doubt been prop- agated by a cutting or graft taken from a wild tree or the descendent of a wild- ing. The first pink dogwoods to be used for propagating purposes came from the south which may account for the fact that some are more susceptible to winter injury than is the native tree. Before the war we knew every subur- ban lawn, country lane and woodland border where the dogwood grew. In early May our itinerary took us over highways and byways wherever the loveliest dis- plays were to be found. Some day we shall again travel in early May. So let us plant flowering dogwoods now that there may be many more lovely displays — living memorials to those who die that the peoples of the world may live in freedom. Three I" I '1^ ^r FOREST LEAVES Published Bi-Monthly at Narherth, Pa., by The PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Disseminates information and news on forestry and related subjects. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE H. Gleason Mattoon, Chairman Philip A. Livingston Ralph P. Russell Mrs. Paul Lewis Mrs. R. C. Wright Devereux Butcher E- F. Brouse Dr. J. R. Schramm The publication of an article in Forest Leaves does not necessarily imply that the views expressed therein are those of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Editorial and ad- vertising office, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadel- phia. Please notify us of any change in address. NOVEMBER - DECEMBER, 1943 COUNTY FOREST POSSIBILITIES IN THE ANTHRACITE REGION When this war is at last over and the war factories arc dark, when money will buy steaks and gasoline and coupons are but a memory, then men will be begging for jobs and strikes will no longer make the front page. When that time comes public agencies will propose elaborate programs of public works to provide jobs and to ease the country again into a less feverish, peaceful mode of life. Presumably these made-work pro- grams are now being studied and per- fected by many public agencies, with federal and state plans coordinated and integrated — at least it is hoped that an exchange of ideas, plans and procedure is taking place. And it is also hoped that in the unified program a large place will be given to the manifold needs of our renewable resources, particularly the forest lands and those areas that should be in trees. There is much needed to be done that will make Pennsylvania a pleasanter, healthier State with greater opportunities for useful, congenial em- ployment. County, township, school and munic- ipal forests for revenue, recreation and watershed purposes should be well up on the agenda for consideration. The for- est stock survey of Pennsylvania should be started and pushed to completion. Four Reforesting of abandoned fields, submar- ginal lands and clear-cut forest lands should not be overlooked as a construc- tive made-work project. A billion trees could be planted in the State without ex- hausting the sites more suited to trees than agriculture. But if such an exten- sive planting program is to be under- taken, seed must be gathered and sown now in order that nursery stock in such quantities will be available. Moreover if such a planting program should in- clude those areas of heavy deer popula- tion, some means of protecting the seedlings against browsing will have to be found, otherwise the effort and stock will be wasted. Other projects might include the cre- ation of a system of fire breaks, particu- larly in the areas of greater forest fire hazard, and other fire prevention meas- ures. Stand improvement cuttings on the State Forests should not be over- looked while consideration might be given to more comprehensive insect and disease control. As an example, intensi- fication of the gypsy moth eradication work in the anthracite region might elim- inate this pest from Pennsylvania. Possibly of greatest social value to large numbers in the State would be an elaboration of the forest recreation areas. In the western part of the State there is definite need for a forest park and recre- ational area within fifty miles of Pitts- burgh. Allegheny County, in North Park and South Park, has two fine large county areas but these are not adequate for the needs of that densely populated section as is indicated by the thousands who drive on weekends to Cook Forest Park, 100 miles away. Near Philadelphia the facilities are no more adequate although completion of Hopewell between Warwick and Potts- town would provide an interesting, at- tractive forest park within 40 miles of the city. There is no dearth of useful, construc- tive projects. The need lies in coordinat- ing the plans and being prepared. H. G. M. Forest Leaves Farm Use for Tree Crops *by H. Gleason Mattoon '^V^'OOD AND OTHER tree crops for farm ^^ consumption and cash income are so numerous and so easy to produce it is incomprehensible that so few farm own- ers give thought to them. All of the ways in which trees, singly and in groups, can make for better living for the farm own- er, cannot be discussed here, but 1 hope this taste will whet your appetite for more information. Perhaps indifference to trees on a farm has come down through generations from the early settlers who were confronted with limitless forests which they had to cut and burn in order to create a clearing in which to build a house and produce food. And the fight continued for years ^Prepared as address before Quaker City Farmers, January 6, 1944. after the clearing had been made because in the deep, rich soil new seedlings sprang up each year, necessitating repeated grub- bing out. It became a continual fight to prevent the forest from retaking the land. So it is easy to imagine a subconscious antipathy to trees. But this condition is changed. We are now exhorted to conserve our timber re- sources and to replant marginal lands and eroded hillsides. Timber stumpage prices in the northeastern part of the country are fifteen times those of forty years ago. No State in the northeast is currently producing as much wood as it consumes. Pennsylvania, which is still considered a forested State, imports 807c of the wood products used within her borders in peacetime. NoVK MBER Norway Spruce Planting, ready to cut for Christmas Trees. Decembkr, 1943 ^ 11 ! Five y FOREST LEAVE S Published Bi-Monthly at Narberth, Pa., by The PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION Disseminates information and news on forestry and related subjects. PUBLICATION COMMITTEE H. Gleason Matioon, Chairman Philip A. Livingston Ralph P. Russixl Mrs. Paul Lewis Mrs. R. C. Wright Devereux Butcher E- F- Brouse Dr. J. R. Schramm The publication of an article in Forest Leaves does not necessarily imply that the views expressed therein are those of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Editorial and ad- vertising office, 1008 Commercial Trust Building, Philadel- phia. Please notify us of any change in address. NOVEMBER - DECEMBER, 1943 COUNTY FOREST POSSIBILITIES IN THE ANTHRACITE REGION When this war is at last over and the war factories are dark, when money will buy steaks and gasoline and coupons are but a memory, then men will be begging for jobs and strikes will no longer make the front page. When that time comes public agencies will propose elaborate programs of public works to provide jobs and to ease the country again into a less feverish, peaceful mode of life. Presumably these made-work pro- grams are now being studied and per- fected by many public agencies, with federal and state plans coordinated and integrated — at least it is hoped that an exchange of ideas, plans and procedure is taking place. And it is also hoped that in the unified program a large place will be given to the manifold needs of our renewable resources, particularly the forest lands and those areas that should be in trees. There is much needed to be done that will make Pennsylvania a pleasanter, healthier State with greater opportunities for useful, congenial em- ployment. County, township, school and munic- ipal forests for revenue, recreation and watershed purposes should be well up on the agenda for consideration. The for- est stock survey of Pennsylvania should be started and pushed to completion. Four Reforesting of abandoned fields, submar- ginal lands and clear-cut forest lands should not be overlooked as a construc- tive made-work project. A billion trees could be planted in the State without ex- hausting the sites more suited to trees than agriculture. But if such an exten- sive planting program is to be under- taken, seed must be gathered and sown now in order that nursery stock in such quantities will be available. Moreover, if such a planting program should in- clude those areas of heavy deer popula- tion, some means of protecting the seedlings against browsing will have to be found, otherwise the effort and stock will be wasted. Other projects might include the cre- ation of a system of fire breaks, particu- larly in the areas of greater forest fire hazard, and other fire prevention meas- ures. Stand improvement cuttings on the State Forests should not be over- looked while consideration might be given to more comprehensive insect and disease control. As an example, intensi- fication of the gypsy moth eradication work in the anthracite region might elim- inate this pest from Pennsylvania. Possibly of greatest social value to large numbers in the State would be an elaboration of the forest recreation areas. In the western part of the State there is definite need for a forest park and recre- ational area within fifty miles of Pitts- burgh. Allegheny County, in North Park and South Park, has two fine large county areas but these are not adequate for the needs of that densely populated section as is indicated by the thousands who drive on weekends to Cook Forest Park, 100 miles away. Near Philadelphia the facilities are no more adequate although completion of Hopewell between Warwick and Potts- town would provide an interesting, at- tractive forest park within 40 miles of the city. There is no dearth of useful, construc- tive projects. The need lies in coordinat- ing the plans and being prepared. H. G. M. Forest Leaves Farm Use for Tree Crops *6i/ H. Gleason Mattoon ^\\^OOD AND OTHER tree crops for farm ^^ consumption and cash income are so numerous and so easy to produce it is incomprehensible that so few farm own- ers give thought to them. All of the ways in which trees, singly and in groups, can make for better living for the farm own- er, cannot be discussed here, but 1 hope this taste will whet your appetite for more information. Perhaps indifference to trees on a farm has come down through generations from the early settlers who were confronted with limitless forests which they had to cut and burn in order to create a clearing in which to build a house and produce , food. And the fight continued for years ^Prcfmrcd as address hcforr iluakci Cih lanncrs, Jauuary (i. H)l I. after the clearing had been made because in the deep, rich soil new seedlings sprang up each year, necessitating repeated grub- bing out. It became a continual fight to prevent the forest from retaking the land. So it is easy to imagine a subconscious antipathy to trees. But this condition is changed. We are now exhorted to conserve our timber re- sources and to replant marginal lands and eroded hillsides. Timber stumpage prices in the northeastern part of the country are fifteen times those of forty years ago. No State in the northeast is currently producing as much wood as it consumes. Pennsylvania, which is still considered a forested State, imports 80% of the wood products used within her borders in peacetime. ^OVI MiJKK Noru'ay Sprmc Planting, ready to cul for Christmas Trees. DiCK.MIll.R, 19LH Five t r INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE Black Locusts, 6 feet tall, two years from seed. In the Keystone State there are about 3,600,000 acres of farm woodlots which properly managed should grow 300,- 000,000 cubic feet of wood a year to be used for fire wood, dimension lumber and pulp wood. Because most of them are understocked and poorly managed, I doubt whether they yield 30% of that amount. Too frequently the 10% to 20% of the farm acreage which is taken up by the woodland is used as a reposi- tory for dead animals, broken machinery and refuse, and yields only fire wood. Some owners have opened trails for riding or walking through the woods. This utility is not to be minimized be- cause the uneconomic and intangible values of a woodland are a real part of the joy of country living. But it is not necessary to neglect or mismanage one of the valuable assets of the farm in order to enjoy the beauties of its fall coloring. A 40 acre woodlot should provide periodic income in addition to fire wood and lumber needed for upkeep of build- ings and construction. I know of two woodlands of about this acreage that are a little over two miles apart, both of which had excellent stands of trees twenty years ago. The owner of one has received $5,300 in cash from timber sales, in addition to fireplace wood for his home and fuel wood for two other houses. And at no time has more than 20% of the volume of timber been cut from it. That woodland today is com- posed of clean, straight, tall trees which will be ready for another cut in five years Six and never in the twenty years has the woods been thin or unattractive. In contrast, the owner of the other tract has been little interested in plan- ning even a year ahead so far as his wood- land is concerned. When fire wood is needed he cuts the handiest trees leaving large openings which soon fill with briers and inferior species, until there is today less than a 50% stand with no more than twenty trees in the 40 acres straight and large enough to produce good lumber. It takes no more physical effort to im- prove a woodland than to ruin it. The difference lies in knowing the potential- ities and sticking to a definite program. Grow Fence Posts, They Are Cheaper The fact that farmers buy metal fence posts instead of growing their own is a tribute to the power of advertising. Black locust posts will outlast metal ones and cost only half as much to produce. Posts made from other species such as catalpa or honey locust will last nearly as long but take somewhat longer to grow in the eastern part of the country. One acre of good soil will yield more fence posts than a 500 acre farm will use. To illustrate that statement may I tell you of the experience of one farm owner in Maryland. In 1930 an irregular piece of land of about three-quarters of an acre resulted from straightening the side of a field adjacent to woods, to do away with short rows. This land was planted with black locust seedlings which were bought from a nursery for $5.00 a thousand Spacing them four feet by five, 1,500 were planted in the plot. The total cost of stock and planting was $21.50. In 1941, 200 fence posts were cut from the stand for use on the farm. The following winter 300 more were cut and sold for 30c each. Another cut was made early in 1943 amounting to 350 posts, 100 of which were for farm use while the balance was sold for $80.00. The total cost of cutting and shaping 850 posts was $62.00. By adding the cost of stock, planting and care to this Forest Leaves II and estimating the taxes on that three- quarters of an acre for the time required to grow the trees, we arrive at a total cost of $123.60 or 14>4c a post. In addition to the posts used on the farm, the cash income amounted to $170.00 and there are remaining in the stand 1,000 posts ready to cut with others developing as suckers from stumps of felled trees and as seedlings. As long as the farm is operated, that plot, if given a little care, will continue to produce fence posts at not more than fourteen cents a piece. Other instances could be cited but this should be enough to encourage you to grow your own fence posts. Stock Feed Not always will there be the scarcity of stock feed that has existed for the last few months, but the amount of money a farmer makes on beef cattle or hogs will always be in inverse ratio to the cost of feeds. Concentrates are usually expensive so any means found to reduce their cost makes the possibility of prof- itable beef or pork production so much greater. Feeding of hogs on mast is not new. Acorns, walnuts, chestnuts, persimmons and other tree seeds have been used as hog food for generations in this country and abroad. During the last twenty Saw Timber from Farm Woodlot. NOVKMBKR - DkcKMBKR, 194:^ iM^'-^M Improved Black Walnuts 15 years old. years research has been carried on with the object of increasing the mast produc- tion per tree. One of the valuable results is the development of varieties of the honey locust which produce an amazing amount of food that is not only relished by beef cattle and hogs but also produces high quality beef and pork. Another interesting result is that the growing of these honey locusts in a pas- ture actually increases the growth of grass and lengthens the grazing period. This IS due to the light shade which reduces searing of the grass roots in hot, dry weather and to the fixation of nitrogen in the soil, a characteristic of legumes. One of these varieties will produce as much as 300 pounds a year in the form of seed pods. Fifteen trees per acre will yield two tons of concentrates having 12% to 13^ protein and 30% to 38% carbohydrates. The former is found in the seed while the latter appears as gelatinous material in the pod. Since the pods drop gradually over a period of three or four months no time is consumed in gathering and feeding them. For pork production some farmers have worked out a tree food plan involv- ing varieties of mulberry, persimmon, honey locust and sweet acorned oaks which provides food from early June to January. Tree crops are becoming in- creasingly important in low cost meat production. {Continued on Page 10) Seven ii i ,.^ Black Locusts, 6 feet tall, two years from seed. In the Keystone State there are about 3,600,000 acres of farm woodlots which properly managed should grow 300,- 000,000 cubic feet of wood a year to be used for fire wood, dimension lumber and pulp wood. Because most of them are understocked and poorly managed, I doubt whether they yield 30 V( of that amount. Too frequently the 10% to 20 7f of the farm acreage which is taken up by the woodland is used as a reposi- tory for dead animals, broken machinery and refuse, and yields only fire wood. Some owners have opened trails for riding or walking through the woods. This utility is not to be minimized be- cause the uneconomic and intangible values of a woodland are a real part of the joy of country living. But it is not necessary to neglect or mismanage one of the valuable assets of the farm in order to enjoy the beauties of its fall coloring. A 40 acre woodlot should provide periodic income in addition to fire wood and lumber needed for upkeep of build- ings and construction. I know of two woodlands of about this acreage that are a little over two miles apart, both of which had excellent stands of trees twenty years ago. The owner of one has received $5,300 in cash from timber sales, in addition to fireplace wood for his home and fuel wood for two other houses. And at no time has more than 20% of the volume of timber been cut from it. That woodland today is com- posed of clean, straight, tall trees which will be ready for another cut in five years Six and never in the twenty years has the woods been thin or unattractive. In contrast, the owner of the other tract has been little interested in plan- ning even a year ahead so far as his wood- land is concerned. When fire wood is needed he cuts the handiest trees leaving large openings which soon fill with briers and inferior species, until there is today less than a 50'/ stand with no more than twenty trees in the 40 acres straight and large enough to produce good lumber. It takes no more physical efi^ort to im- prove a woodland than to ruin it. The difference lies in knowing the potential- ities and sticking to a definite program. Groiv Fence Posts, They Are Cheaper The fact that farmers buy metal fence posts instead of growing their own is a tribute to the power of advertising. Black locust posts will outlast metal ones and cost only half as much to produce. Posts made from other species such as catalpa or honey locust will last nearly as long but take somewhat longer to grow in the eastern part of the country. One acre of good soil will yield more fence posts than a 500 acre farm will use. To illustrate that statement may I tell you of the experience of one farm owner in Maryland. In 1930 an irregular piece of land of about three-quarters of an acre resulted from straightening the side of a field adjacent to woods, to do away with short rows. This land was planted with black locust seedlings which were bought from a nursery for $5.00 a thousand Spacing them four feet by five, 1,500 were planted in the plot. The total cost of stock and planting was $21.50. In 1941, 200 fence posts were cut from the stand for use on the farm. The following winter 300 more were cut and sold for 30c each. Another cut was made early in 1943 amounting to 350 posts, 100 of which were for farm use while the balance was sold for $80.00. The total cost of cutting and shaping 850 posts was $62.00. By adding the cost of stock, planting and care to this Forest Leaves and estimating the taxes on that three- quarters of an acre for the time required to grow the trees, we arrive at a total cost of $123.60 or 14>