Proceedings of the ... Southern Forestry Congress [serial]

Library of
The University of North Carolina

COLLECTION OF
NORTH CAROLINIANA

ENDOWED BY
JOHN SPRUNT HILL

of the Class of 1889

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This book must not
be taken from the
Library building.

Form No. 471

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PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

SOUTHERN FORESTRY
CONGRESS

HELD IN

ASHEVILLE, N. C.
JULY 11-15, 1916

PARTICIPATING ASSOCIATIONS

North Carolina Forestry Association
Association of Eastern Foresters
American Forestry Association
Society of American Foresters
North Carolina Pine Association
Appalachian Park Association

CHAPEL HILL, N. C.

1916

/C

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2012 with funding from

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil

http://www.archive.org/details/proceedingsofsou 1 91 61 920

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface 9

Address oe Welcome 11

Governor Locke Craig

Welcome to Asheville 15

Hon. J. E. Rankin, Mayor of Ashevillc

Response to Address of Welcome 17

Dr. Hugh P. Baker, Dean, Nezv York State Col-
lege of Forestry

The Southern Forests and Their Place in the Na-
tion's Timber Supply 21

Hon. H. S. Graves, Forester, U. S. Forest Service

Re-Establishment and Protection of Big Game in

the Southern Appalachians 34

Edmund Seymour, President American Bison So-
ciety, Nezv York City

Biltmore Forest and Forest Plantations 47

Verne Rhoades, Forest Supervisor, Pisgah Na-
tional Forest

Greetings from the American Forestry Association 53
Charles Lathrop Pack, President, Lakewood, New
Jersey

Appalachian Purchase Bill — Resolution 58

George S. Powell, Asheville, N. C.

The Erosion Problem of the South and Its Relation

to Forestry 62

R. S. Maddox, State Forester of Tennessee

Announcement of Committees 70

A Practical Example of Forest Management in

Southern Yellow Pine 71

Henry E. Hardtner, Urania, La.

Organization of State Forest Protective Systems. . 81
Prof. H. H. Chapman, Yale Forest School

Forest, Fish and Game Departments: Discussion. . . 89
Messrs. Peters, Viquesney, Maddox, Hardtner
and Palmer

What the States Can Do in Forest Fire Protection 97
F. W. Besley, State Forester of Maryland

The Railroads and Forestry : Discussion 107

Messrs. Foley and Richards

Co-operation in Fire Prevention: Discussion 113

Messrs. Stikeleather and Lindsey

Publicity and Education in Forest Protection in

the South 118

J. E. Barton, State Forester of Kentucky

George W. Vanderbilt Memorial in Pisgah National

Forest : Resolution 124

Protection of Federal Lands in the Appalachians 126
William L. Hall, Assistant Forester, U. S. Forest
Service

Permanent Organization: Report oe Committee... 131

What West Virginia is Doing in Forest Fire Pro-
tection 133

J. A. Viquesney, Forest, Game and Fish Warden
of West Virginia

Forest Management in the Virginia Mountains:

Discussion 137

W. W. Hurt, Marion, Va,

Propagation, Conservation and Disposition oe Tim-
ber on Coal Bearing Lands : Letter 141

W. W. Coe, Roanoke, Va.

The Regeneration oe Southern Forests 144

Prof. J. W. Tourney, Director, Yale Forest School

The Naval Stores Industry; How It Can Be Per-
petuated in the South 153

I. F. Eldridge, Supervisor, Florida National For-
est

The Forests oe the Future 162

W. W. Ashe, Forest Inspector, U. S. Forest Ser-
vice

Fire Protection in Southwest Virciniia: Discussion 171
W. D. Tyler, Dante, Virginia

General Resolutions Adopted by the Southern For-
estry Congress 174

Report oe Nominating Committee 177

Vanderbiet Memorial — Standing Committee 178

List oe Delegates Attending the Congress 180

List of Contributing Members 185

INDEX TO SPEAKERS

PAGES

Ashe, W. W 162

Baker, Dr. Hugh P 17, 32, 68

Barton, J. E 118

Besley, F. W 67, 97

Chapman, Prof. H. H 81

Coe, W. W 141

Craig, Governor Locke 11

Eldredge, I. F 153

Foley, John 107

Foster, J. H 140

Graves, Henry S 21, 32, 68, 126

Hall, Wm. L 126

Hardtner, Henry E 71, 91

Horner, Bishop Junius M 32

Hurt, W. W 137

Lee, Prof. J. G 178

Lindsey, W. T 115

Maddox, R. S 62, 68, 90, 96

Pack, Charles Lathrop 53, 59, 112, 125

Palmer, Dr. T. S 44, 94, 97

Peters, J. G 80, 106

Powell, George S 42, 58, 124

Pratt, Dr. Joseph Hyde 11, 15, 20, 31, 33, 60, 79, 123

Quillian, C. Fletcher 60

Rankin, J. E 15

Rhoades, Verne 47

Richards, M. V 110

Seymour, Edmund 34, 46, 70, 106

Stikeleather, J. G 113

Tourney, Prof. J. W 144

Tyler, W. D 171

Viquesney, J. A 89, 133

PREFACE

The Southern Forestry Congress, which was held in Ashe-
ville, North Carolina, July 11-15, 1916, was perhaps the most
important and influential, as well as interesting, forestry con-
vention ever held in this country. Although called "Southern
Forestry Congress," it was Southern in name only, for there
were held in connection with this Congress meetings of the
American Forestry Association, the Society of American For-
esters, The Association of Eastern Foresters and the Weeks
Law Collaborators ; and the members of these associations
took an active part in the proceedings of the Congress.

This Congress was called because it was felt by those who
had given serious consideration to the timber and lumber situ-
ation of the South, that something is needed to protect the
forests of the Southern Appalachian region and to conserve our
timber resources while at the same time we are utilizing them.
It was felt that the South needs the advice and assistance of
those who have solved successfully similar problems in other
sections of the country, and that, by bringing together for-
esters, lumbermen and conservationists from all sections of
the country to discuss questions of importance to the welfare
of the timber industry of the South, a policy could be outlined
by such a representative body of men as could be put into
successful operation in the Southern States.

The most important economic question that had to be
considered was : Can the forests be protected and conserved
without seriously handicapping the development of our lumber
trade or seriously crippling lumber companies who are oper-
ating or wish to operate in the South?

It was also felt that the bringing together of such a body
of men as composed the personnel of the Southern Forestry
Congress would focus the attention of the people of the
Southern States as never before, on the need of enforcing
adequate measures for conserving our forests.

It was realized that an acute situation does exist in these
States, and that some legislation must be enacted in order to
prevent the extermination of a very valuable industry.

10 Proceedings of the

As a result of the deliberations of those attending the
Southern Forestry Congress and the policy recommended by
the Congress, there will undoubtedly be obtained in many of
our Southern States during the next year the passage of
laws by our various Legislatures which will begin the protec-
tion and conservation of our forests.

The great service rendered the South through this Congress
by the foresters, lumbermen and conservationists of other
States is greatly appreciated and this opportunity is taken, on
behalf of the people of our Southern States, of expressing our
heartiest thanks.

Joseph Hyde; Pratt, President,

Southern Forestry Congress.

Southern Forestry Congress

July 11-15, 1916
Asheville, North Carolina

TUESDAY, JULY 11

MORNING SESSION, 10:00 A. M.
Joseph Hyde; Pratt, Presiding

The first convention of the Southern Forestry Congress
was called to order at 10 A. M., President Joseph Hyde Pratt
presiding. An invocation was made by the Rt. Rev. Junius
M. Horner, Bishop of Asheville.

The; Pre;side;nt: It is with a great deal of pleasure
that I call this Southern Forestry Congress together as some-
thing I have looked forward to, not only for a few months,
but for several years, as a time when we would have gathered
together here in our Southland, in the Southern Appalachian
region, a body of people who were intensely interested in the
preservation of the forests of the Southern Appalachian region,
which means so much to our people and to the development
of that region.

The one who will welcome those from out of the State
to this Congress is a man who has been closely identified with
this movement in North Carolina and the Southern Appa-
lachian region, since 1898, when the people of this State first
took up actively the question of forest reservations and of
forest protection. Governor Craig has been from that time
to this intensely interested and has helped us to obtain legis-
lation which made possible the calling of this Congress. I
take pleasure in introducing to you Governor Locke Craig,
of the State of North Carolina.

Governor Craig said in part :

I esteem it an honor and a privilege to welcome you here
to the City of Asheville and the State of North Carolina.
As Dr. Pratt told you, I had the pleasure of welcoming the
first meeting, so far as I know, that was ever held in this

12 Proceedings of the

part of the country looking towards the preservation of the
forests.

It is especially appropriate that this convention meet
here in the city of Asheville because we are in the center,
I suppose, of the finest natural forest in the eastern part
of the United States, and this forest, until within a few
years, was comparatively untouched. It had not been destroy-
ed by the lumbermen. Until a few years ago lumbermen used
to select the finest trees in the forest, those that ought to
have been cut. They cut out those fine trees and left the
great body of the forest standing, and consequently did the
country little damage. I have no criticism of the lumbermen.
When a man buys a body of timber he has the right to cut it
the way in which it will bring him the most money. He
cannot be expected to make a personal sacrifice for the public
good any more than the balance of us, and the ordinary man
does not make large personal sacrifices for the public good.
So the lumbermen who have purchased these vast forest
areas are now proceeding to cut that timber in the way that will
bring the most money and bring it the quickest. Trees are
no longer selected, but the lumberman now goes there to get
everything and he gets everything.

After a forest is cut in this way, the ground is covered
with debris, and here in these balsam forests the leaves and
limbs are so resinous and inflammable that fire must come ;
you can't keep it out. Lightning will set it on fire if nothing
else will. And these conflagrations are terrible. To my certain
knowledge, vast areas which a few years ago were covered
with beautiful and luxuriant forests are today blackened
wastes of desolation and ruin which it will take years or
perhaps centuries to repair.

Now, the forests serve two purposes in this part of the
State ; first as a source of supply for timber which we need
in commerce, and second as a reservoir for the water. Now
the forests of eastern North Carolina — and I speak of this
State because I know but little of others — have been destroyed
just as the forests of western North Carolina are being de-
stroyed now. The lumberman has gone down there and robbed
the wooded plains of the coastal region ; fires have gone there
too and have left great wide plains a blackened desolation

Southern Forestry Congress 13

where a few years ago the longleaf pine grew in magnificence
and plenty. But in that country the forest serves one purpose
only — the supply of timber. In our country it serves two
purposes — the supply of timber and the conservation of water.

As you know, the Southern Power Company has recently
acquired the heads of Ljnville and Johns and the Catawba
Rivers in Burke, McDowell and Catawba Counties. They are
not making these purchases primarily for the lands themselves,
or for the forest, or for the water power, but they have spent
these vast sums to purchase the headwaters of these mountain
rivers in order that they may build dams up there across
these rivers and conserve the water in great lakes, so that
when the dry season comes they can have the water to run their
mills on the Catawba River. There is plenty of water in
these streams in the winter time, and the great, bountiful and
all-wise World Builder built a great natural reservoir here
in these mountains that would hold the waters through the
winter months until the parching days of June, July, August
and September would come. He provided for all that, so that
the streams would have a uniform flow to turn the wheels
which would make the material that clothes the world and
ministers to the wants of men. But man has destroyed the
natural reservoir that is just as effective as, and more effective
than those the Southern Power Company has been spending
millions of dollars to construct. Already there is constructed
here, with a carpet of green upon the ground, a reservoir that
would hold the water for the summer months and let it loose
from the clear springs when the dry weather comes.

This flood that we have now is an example of the ruin and
waste that comes from lack of forest conservation. Go down
and look at the French Broad river and see the mud of a
thousand farms floating by ; that mud will never come back,
neither will it stop until it empties into the Gulf of Mexico ;
and there it will do us no good. The wheels of industry
must stop, the fertility of the land is destroyed and the prosper-
ity of the country is impeded on account of the destruction of
the forest. You cannot have a fine civilization on a desert
land. You cannot have fine men and women where trees and
vegetation do not grow. If there are to be fine men and strong
women, you must have a strong soil to support them, just as

14 Proceedings of the

you need a strong soil to grow corn and cotton; and we are
allowing to be wasted the abundant gifts of the Creator, just
through lack of care of our forests.

As I say, the lumberman cannot be expected to make
a personal sacrifice for the public good, but the public ought
to put its hand on this industry ; the law of all the people
speaking through constituted authority and through statute
laws should put its hand upon this industry and upon all
industry and say that it shall not be conducted except in a
manner that is conducive to the permanent welfare of all the
people. And not until the public takes hold of this thing and
takes hold of it more efficiently and more determinedly than it
has before, will the destruction of the forests cease. Why, these
forests do not belong, in reality, in the last analysis, to
the man that has a deed recorded for them. They belong to
him only in a small and limited sense, but in the larger
and greater sense they belong to all the people of the coun-
try and to all the people of the world, and they should
be protected. They should be protected against the lum-
berman or against the farmer or against any man who
would destroy them. You cannot protect forests, of course,
unless you provide reasonable compensation for those who
would lose by such legislation. But the loss is not going to be
so great in the long run — in the larger view, as some might
think. The man who owns the forest, and who has the title
deed, can more economically use that forest by using it for
the permanent welfare of mankind. That, itself, would con-
duce to his own welfare, and to his commercial welfare, at
that.

I do not know the exact purpose of this Convention. But
I know the general purpose is the conservation of the forest,
and I hope you will devise means and make definite sugges-
tions in legislation and administration so that our forests can
be preserved. They are the greatest, most beautiful and most
attractive gift that we have got. They not only bring money,
health and progress, but they bring the mellow rain, because
when the forests cease, rains will cease. If we permit our
forests to be destroyed, this great gift which we have received
will go to our posterity in ruins, depleted, defaced and de-
formed. We are the truste.es of this great heritage, it is our
duty to perserve it for posterity.

Southern Forestry Congress 15

Dr. Pratt : Asheville is one of the more progressive
cities, not only of the South, but I think of the whole country.
And one of the things that Asheville has done that is perhaps
worth more to her and has attracted more attention to her than
any other, one thing, is the fact that she owns the largest nat-
ural watershed of any city. Her watershed comprises 17,000
acres, most of which is virgin forest. And people know that
Asheville can give to those who come here an absolutely pure
supply of water.

At the head of the administration of this City is a man
who is also very progressive and who has helped to make
Asheville what she is. He has also been interested in the
preservation of the forests, realizing what that means to Ashe-
ville as a city and to North Carolina as a State. I take
pleasure in introducing to you the Honorable J. E. Rankin,
Mayor of the City of Asheville.

Hon. J. E. Rankin : Mr. President, members of the
Southern Forestry Congress, ladies and gentlemen : We are
called upon to welcome many conventions and associations to
our city, but our duty today is full of pleasure and expectant
hope. Our welcome to you is full of the hope that something
may be worked out during your deliberations that shall lead to
the conservation of the greatest asset of this section, the
forests. The pleasing feature of this meeting is that to our
city have gathered domestic patriots — our guests — whose pur-
poses are laden with an ideal, the consummation of which
shall make for the Nation's weal ; engaged in this endeavor
Asheville welcomes you this morning.

Your mission to our city is a praiseworthy one, indicating
as it does a desire on your part to better acquaint yourselves
with the training and methods used in the preservation of the
forests, and to cement more firmly the bonds which unite you
as common toilers for the good of man.

We delight to welcome such a distinguished body to a city
which has grown and is still growing among the mountains
whose forests and whose fields it is your purpose to protect.
And it is fitting that you should select Asheville, the garden
spot of all the Appalachian range, in which to meet and discuss
the methods by which timber can be conserved, and the health
and happiness of our people assured. The objects which we

16 Proceedings of the

seek to obtain by a concert of action should enlist the coopera-
tion of all citizens who have at heart the advancement and
general welfare of the Nation. The conservation of the forests
has not only become a project stimulated by community in-
terest, but one which commands the highest order of patriotic
support from all citizens of our land. The demand for the
protection of the woodland is now co-extensive with our ad-
vancing times, and our efforts should not diminish until you
have outlined the sanest ways and means to effectuate your
purposes.

Each of you has had a part in the advancement and pro-
motion of the purposes of this organization, but the untiring
efforts of Doctor Pratt and his efficient co-laborers, Governor
Craig and Mr. Powell, of the Appalachian Park Association,
have brought you to the proud eminence of usefulness which
you now enjoy, and which builds for the highest interest of
the State and Nation.

The desire to protect the forests was inherited by the
early settlers of America, who had brought with them the
laws and customs of the old country. These laws, while indeed
crude in the light of your present scientific demands, were,
nevertheless of some protection, but the hostility to the red man
carried also the enmity to the forest, and the art of cultivation
was lost until the progress of civilization again commanded
its reinstatement.

Perhaps the first effort toward the establishment of pro-
fessional instruction in forestry in this country was the opening
of the Biltmore Forestry School, about twenty years ago,
and many government experts give eloquent testimony to the
usefulness of this place of instruction. The science of for-
estry has now become one of the principal studies in many of
our universities and schools, and the time will come when the
necessity for training will be so pronounced that a chair of
forestry will be established in all the leading colleges of our
land.

One of your objects is to attack the wasteful and destruc-
tive methods in cutting and removing timber, and to encourage
the economic and wholesome handling which permits of profit-
able gain, yet provides for the future growth of the trees. And
I trust that such fire laws will be uniformly adopted as will

Southern Forestry Congress 17

not only more fully protect the timber, old and young, but
will insure the purity of the streams, and the integrity of their
channels.

In a small way conservation of the forests and kind Provi-
dence have given Asheville the purest water supply in America.
The water you drank this morning came from the home of
the mountain trout beneath the lengthening shadows of
Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Rockies. Carried
by a gravity system for twenty miles, it leaves a watershed of
fifteen thousand acres, and with crystal brightness reaches
the homes of our people.

Gentlemen of this Association, I bid you a cordial welcome
to our midst. I bid you drive along our mountain roads from
which is unfolded a scenic splendor that has attracted the
most observant of the earth. Drink deeply of the panoramic
beauties here unfurled, for your efforts already at preservation
have helped to make them.

Dr. Pratt : Our Congress is called the Southern Forestry
Congress, but I think we will find, as the work of the Congress
progresses, that it is Southern simply in name, and that it
could really be called a National Forestry Congress. To re-
spond to the addresses of welcome, I want to call on Dr. Hugh
P. Baker, Dean of the New York State College of Forestry,
who has come to assist us of the South in trying to work out
our forestry problems. I take pleasure in introducing Dr.
Baker.

RESPONSE FROM THE NORTH

By Dr. Hugh P. Baker,

DEAN NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY

Ladies and Gentlemen : Coming down the Hudson Valley
Friday night from the Onondaga Hills of central New York,
I woke with a start as we passed into the great tide-water
city and felt the rush and roar of city life. The change from
the quiet of the hill country to the rush and strain of the city
made me feel at once the unrest of the away-from-home feel-
ing. Saturday, going southward through other tidewater
cities, I was constantly reminded that I was going farther away
from home and not until Sunday morning, as we climbed your
magnificent hills, did the home feeling come again, — the old

18 Proceedings of the

feeling which we put into that beautiful song, "There is no
place like home," came to me and I felt like saying, "there
is no place like Asheville — no place like the hills of North
Carolina."

Coming up your great hills Sunday morning is seemed to
me that these hills which are a chain binding the Southern
country to the North could be made a real chain binding those
of us who love the hills of the North to those of you who love
the hills of the South, causing us to know each other better
and therefore to be more nearly one in this great country.

On Monday I tramped over the foothills about Mount
Mitchell, and even in the rain I could see that your forest
problems here are much like ours in the North. The forest
problems of the North are land problems — economic problems.
For the past fifteen years we have talked reforestation in New
York and we shall continue to talk it, but we are not going
to have our State back of us in reforestation until they appre-
ciate more fully that forestry is a land problem which is vital
to all of the people of the State, so that we will not only
approach our people through the channel of reforestation, but
more through the fact that our forests are an economic need
and essential to the future industrial development of the State.

New York is truly a great agricultural state, but out of the
32,000,000 acres of land, only about 15,000,000 are being
farmed. The other 15,000,000 acres are not sharing in any
reasonable way their part of the burden of the support of the
commonwealth, — they are not yielding a fair return on the
investment which the State and corporate and private interests
have in them. Our conditions for forest growth, like yours
here in North Carolina, are extremely favorable; and with the
States of Germany, where conditions for forest growth are
not as favorable, earning from $1 to $5 per acre per year from
their forest lands, it seems just good common sense to take
our great areas of forest lands and make them profitable. It
must be understood that along with the development of the
profitable conditions there will go naturally the indirect con-
ditions which many of our people are seeking and which some
of them feel are antagonistic to the profitable phase, such for
instance as the value of the forest for water conservation,
recreation and fish and game.

Southern Forestry Congress 19

In Pennsylvania there are 28,000,000 acres and only about
10,000,000 are being farmed. Pennsylvania is doing some
fine work in forestry, but she must consider the forestry
question as a more vital question, especially with the disap-
pearance of her minerals. Your State Forester tells me that
about 65 per cent of North Carolina is still forest land; 60 per
cent of Massachusetts is forest land, and so on. There is not a
State in the Union, outside of possibly a few of the prairie
States, where forestry does not promise to become a very
definite economic problem, and a problem which must be con-
sidered and partially solved, at least, before we can develop
in our State sound land policies.

The soil is the source of much of the wealth of this coun-
try. Agriculture is the great basic industry, but second to this
is the great business of forestry, and I include in this the in-
dustries dependent upon the forest. Three hundred years of
agricultural history in this country have given us a certain defi-
nition of agriculture — that it is more than the growing of a
crop of grain from the soil — that it includes the raising of food
and draft animals and the manufacturing of the crude products,
as in the dairy industry, and finally the marketing of the crop.
Three hundred years of forestry in Europe have developed
equally as broad a definition, and before we can develop sound
land policies in this country, we must consider forestry as
broadly as agriculture, and as coordinate with it. Hand in
hand, agriculture and forestry can come as near solving our
land problems as is humanly possible. Possibly the best evi-
dence that forestry must be considered as an economic propo-
sition is that today our State and National governments are
casting about right and left to find enough money to run our
developing governments. In view of our financial situation,
what is the sense of leaving often more than half of our States
almost idle, when they could be made proportionately as profit-
able lands as our agricultural lands, so that my brief message
to you from the North is that you consider forestry broadly
and as a soil problem.

It is a great pleasure for me and others from the North
to be down here with you, to see your magnificent hills
and to get acquainted with you and your exceedingly interesting
forest problems. Because of our meeting with you we go

20 Proceedings of the

back with inspirations for greater and more continued effort in
our work. Some time later we want you to come north to the
hill and lake country of New York and New England so
that we may again receive inspiration from your experiences
and your friendship.

Dr. Pratt: The response to the addresses of welcome on
behalf of those from the States to the south of us was to have
been made by Mr. John L,. Kaul, President of the Kaul Lumber
Company, Birmingham, Ala. I understand he has not as yet
reached Asheville, and is probably tied up somewhere to the
south by reason of the floods. He undoubtedly will be here
later in the day, when we will have the pleasure of hearing
from him.

The appointment of committees will be made either at the
close of this session, or at the beginning of the afternoon
session.

Before we begin the regular addresses, I wish to say a
few words in regard to North Carolina's peculiar interest in
this Congress, and to state at this time what I conceive to be
the real purpose of the Congress. North Carolina, as a State,
is interested because, as far as we can determine, one-tenth
of its total wealth is invested either in forests or in manu-
facturing plants that depend upon the forests for their raw
products. With this enormous amount invested in this way, we
realize that we must have some legislation passed if we are to
carry to fruition our plans for making our forest industries
permanent.

I hope and expect from the discussions that will be taken
up here, and though the report of the Committee on Resolu-
tions, which will be appointed later, a forestry policy may be
formulated upon which the legislatures of the various South-
ern States may base new forestry laws, which are needed and
even now are being demanded. If such a policy is advocated
by this Congress, made up of men not simply from the South-
ern States, but by men from the North, South, East and West,
and goes out as the opinion of this Congress, then I believe the
different Southern States will more easily obtain the passage
of the legislation necessary to give the protection and conser-
vation to their forests which they need, by asking their legis-
latures to adopt a policy endorsed by this Congress.

Southern Forestry Congress 21

The addresses which we will now take up and the dis-
cussions which will follow each address will relate to the
various forest problems confronting the Southern States, and
will give advice and suggestions as to how our forests should
be handled. It is fitting that the first address should be made
by the head of the Forestry Department of the Federal Govern-
ment, a bureau that is doing so much for the protection of
the forests of this country. I take pleasure in introducing
to you this morning Hon. Henry S. Graves, Forester of the
United States, who will talk to us on "Southern Forests and
Their Place in the Nation's Timber Supply."

THE SOUTHERN FORESTS AND THEIR PLACE IN THE
NATION'S TIMBER SUPPLY

By Hon. Henry S. Graves,

UNITED STATES FORESTER

From the early history of our country the forests of the
South have played a unique part in the life of the nation.
At the outset of our existence as an independent nation, the
United States Government made the conservation of the forests
of the South an essential part of its plan for national defense.
The first act of Congress relating to forests was an appro-
priation in 1799 of $200,000 for the purpose of acquiring
timber lands containing, or capable of growing, timber suitable
for naval construction. In those early days the most valuable
timber for ship building was the live oak. Its price was
increasing under a steady demand and, soon after the acquisi-
tion of Florida, the Government, in order to meet the needs of
its shipyards, established naval reserves of live oak on the
west coast of the State, and even made several plantations
of live oak — the oldest plantation in existence in this country.
It may be of interest to mention also that one of the last acts
of Congress, passed in 1915, was to authorize the United
States Forest Service to furnish from the National forests,
both in the East and in the West, timber required for the
various needs of the navy.

With the replacement of wood by iron and steel in the
construction of ships of war, live oak became less important,
and the great supplies of timber that were very soon opened

22 Proceedings of the

up and could be secured in the general market made it un-
necessary for the Government to draw much upon these naval
forest reserves; yet the forests of the South have continued
ever since to furnish the navy with much of its timber and
other forest products adaptable to a great variety of modern
uses. Even more important than the timber itself became
the so-called naval stores — turpentine, rosin and tar. In view
of the importance which the naval stores industry has assumed
in this country and the limited source of supply, it would
have been more far-sighted if the naval timber reserves had
been located in the yellow pine forests instead of the live
oak forests ; and it may well prove to be a cause for regret
that such reserves were not made when the land was still
in public possession.

the, forest resources of thf, south

More than one-fifth of the nation's total timber wealth
is found in the South. The south has about one-sixth of
all the softwoods of the entire country, and over one-half
of all the hardwoods. The South also is the only source of
that valuable and unique timber, the cypress, which though
perhaps replaceable by other species, has a very distinct and
special place among our native forest trees. Today the nation
is drawing upon the South for a large part of its supplies of
forest products. Of the total output of lumber 55 per cent
comes from the Southern States. This amounts to more than
twenty-one billion feet each year.

The national importance of the southern forests is not
due merely to the fact that it is one of several great centers
of softwood timber production, containing vast areas of the
highest grade of structural timber close to the centers of popu-
lation and favorably located geographically for purposes of
export to South America and other foreign countries. The
destruction of these forests would be a national loss in so far
as it would destroy the local source of wealth, just as has
happened in the Lake States. The country as a whole, how-
ever, would not be vitally affected because it would simply
turn from the South to some other section of the country.
As a matter of fact, this is now already taking place and the
northwestern Pacific coast promises before long to take the
place of the South in furnishing the bulk of the timber supply in

Southern Forestry Congress 23

this country. The real value of the Southern forests as a na-
tional asset, however, lies in the two facts, first that with the
exhaustion of the pineries of the Southeast the country's great
naval stores supply, upon which many industries of the country
depend, will also be exhausted ; and second, that with the
exhaustion of the hardwood forests of the South the hardwood
supply of the entire country will be most seriously affected.
Nowhere in the whole United States can the naval stores
industry or the production of hardwood timber be carried on
with the same natural and economic advantages as in the
Southeast.

SOUTHERN PINERIES

Southern pine is the principal softwood used in fully
two-thirds of the country east of the 100th meridian, or that
portion comprising 70 per cent of the country's population.
Backed by a supply of some 325 billion feet of yellow pine
and about 20,000 sawmills, the pine industry holds today
a commanding place in the nation's lumber market.

The existence of this vast storehouse of lumber has played
a great part in the development of the South and has been
the source of a great deal of wealth. Today the forest
industry stands first in no less than six Southern States,
second in another four and third in another three. A half
billion dollars is invested in this great industry; more than
400,000 people are employed in it; 20,000 sawmills and other
manufacturing establishments are supported by this great in-
dustry. The forest industry draws upon a resource occupying
now more than half the total land area of the South. By
their very magnitude the forest problems of the South command
attention. Their local importance, looking to the future, is so
great that no consideration of the welfare of the South can
afford to omit them.

It cannot be expected that the South will hold its present
commanding place in lumber production. So far the chief
production has been from the original stands of timber. At
the present rate twenty to twenty-five years will see those
supplies largely cut out. During the next two decades, how-
ever, we shall see a constantly increasing amount of second
growth timber utilized and a readjustment of the lumber in-
dustry in adaptation to the changed conditions. There is a

24 Peoceedings of the

great amount of small pine timber in different parts of the
South that, because of its inferiority to the original stands,
has been given little consideration. Already the output from
certain sections is in large part from second growth timber,
for boxes and other uses for which the smaller timber is
adapted. There is an almost undeveloped field in the South
for the manufacture of paper and other by-products. The
processes of manufacture have not by any means been per-
fected. Our researches at the Forest Products laboratory
of the Forest Service point to a possible great improvement
and cheapening of the process of making kraft paper, and it
is demonstrated that kraft pulp from Southern pine is unexcell-
ed in quality. We may confidently look to a wide and diversi-
fied use of Southern woods for which there are now large sup-
plies well suited and for which new crops can, in relatively
short periods, be produced. The by-product of most import-
ance, however, is turpentine. We have made experiments in
tapping western yellow pine, and extracting turpentine from
resinous butts of other coniferous species. Turpentine can be
secured from these sources, but not in practical competition
with the South. In short, the nation's source of turpentine is in
the Southeast. The Southern pineries are the foundation of
our present naval stores industry, producing turpentine and
rosin which are indispensable in the manufacture of important
commodities like paints, varnishes, print goods, rubber goods,
paper, oil cloth, linoleum, printing inks, and medicinal prepa-
rations, an industry with an output of some 35 million dollars.
There are two great sources of turpentine production in the
world; the pine forests of the southern United States and the
pine forests of southern France. The turpentine industry
of southern France is a man-made industry. Out of shift-
ing, barren sand dunes and a malarial, poverty-stricken
region, the French government, through reclamation and the
planting of maritime pine, has made one of the most pros-
perous and salubrious sections of France. A century ago
the barren sand dunes of southern France could be bought at
any price one was willing to pay. One dollar could buy as
much land as could be included within the area to which a
man's voice could carry. Today this barren land within the
reclaimed area is worth at the lowest about $2.50 an acre, while

Southern Forestry Congress 25

the best situated brings as high as $24 an acre. The poorest
pine land covered with 2-year seedlings sells for $9.00. The
same land covered with young pines 10 years old is worth
nearly $30. Stocked with 30-year old pine it is worth $80,
and with 50-year old pine, $160 an acre.

In this country the turpentine industry has had the ad-
vantage of a great natural forest richly endowed with species
capable of yielding an abundant supply of turpentine and rosin.
Instead of being founded and preserved by the diligence of
men, it is its destruction which will be brought about by man
unless steps are taken to perpetuate this industry in the South.
The naval stores enter in increasingly large quantities into many
industries and the growing of timber for turpentine purposes
is a profitable undertaking at present, as is amply shown by
facts from the South itself and by the experience of southern
France.

The forest problem of the South is not merely one of
lumber economics. There is involved the productive use of
more than half the area of the land. In portions of the pine
belt a considerable portion of the land now under forest is
suited to cultivation and agricultural home building. It will,
however, be a long time before all the land can be farmed, that
is suited to that purpose, and there is a great deal of the pine
land that will yield most to the owner under trees.

The forest industry will be replaced in many pine regions
by an agricultural industry. But this does not mean a com-
plete replacement at one time. That in practice is impossible.
The best efforts to colonize the lands will during a generation
leave in the aggregate large areas uncultivated, and there will
always remain twenty-five per cent or more of the land
whose most profitable crop will be a forest. I do not
know of any other section of the country where the rapidity
of growth of the trees, their suitability for the production
of turpentine and various wood products, and the open charac-
ter of the stand, which makes grazing possible in the older
forests, are so happily combined to afford the most profitable
utilization of the land.

The actual exhaustion of our virgin pine forests need not,
therefore, lessen the importance of the forest industries. By
perpetuating the longleaf and slash pine it is possible to

26 Proceedings of the

sustain the turpentine industry. By encouraging the growth
of loblolly and other rapid growing trees suited to other than
mere structural uses, there may be sustained industries re-
placing the great sawmills that today are cutting virgin supplies.
But this result will not follow without deliberate effort
to plan, public encouragement, intelligent protection and hand-
ling of the forest lands.

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HARDWOODS

The magnitude of the pine lumber industry of the South
has rather overshadowed the hardwood industry, especially in
its relation to the nation's requirements. In many respects the
country is more dependent on the South for hardwoods than
for softwoods, except so far as the pine woods yield naval
stores. Of the present total hardwood supply in the country,
61 per cent is located in the Southern States. This figure
does not, however, represent fully the relative importance
of the South for hardwood production, for many of the most
important hardwoods are supplied wholly from the South,
either because the species are restricted to that region, or the
supply of timber of suitable size and quality is exhausted in
the North.

There have been in the United States four great hardwood-
producing centers: the Ohio Valley, the Lake States, the
lower Mississippi Valley, and the Appalachian States. The
Ohio Valley in the past has been the main center of production.
Even as late as 1899, the States of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana
produced 25 per cent of the hardwoods. Lately they produced
only 14 per cent. In the two States of Ohio and Indiana, the
hardwood production within recent years fell off over 50 per
cent. They have reached a sudden end as great hardwood
producers. Their many hardwood-using establishments which
are now pressed for supplies will largely exhaust their re-
maining hardwood forests within a few years.

The three Lake States furnish every year less hardwood
lumber, and there is no doubt that their maximum production
has been reached and that their decline is likely to be almost
as rapid as that of Ohio and Indiana, because of the many
large hardwood-using industries which will make heavy de-
mands upon the supply. Considerable portions of the hard-

Southern Forestry Congress 27

wood lands of the North Central States are suited to agricul-
ture, and they are rapidly being cleared.

The same is true of the lower Mississippi Valley. The
hardwoods occupy the richest agricultural lands which, almost
as fast as the timber is cut, are being turned into farming. It
looks now as though the swamp land, notable for the produc-
tion of hardwoods, will within a few years be drained and
cleared for agriculture. This leaves but one other region, the
Appalachian Mountains.

The Appalachians differ fundamentally from the other
regions because they are not generally of agricultural value.
Their main usefulness is for timber production and they are
now producing about 50 per cent of the hardwoods used in the
country. It is clear that they must be counted upon for even
a much larger proportion in the future. The area primarily
adapted to hardwood timber in the Appalachian Mountains
may be approximately estimated at 75 million acres. Of this
the Southern Appalachian region contains a timbered area
of nearly 60 million acres, or 80 per cent. of the entire Appa-
lachian hardwood region. Very little of this land is of
agricultural value. Its greatest possibility lies in the production
for the most part of hardwood timber.

If rightly handled the Southern Appalachians alone could
furnish four-fifths of the requirements of the country for
hardwoods. That they should be handled rightly is of national
concern. It is, however, of far greater local concern. The
forest industries cannot be replaced by agriculture, for much
of the land is only fit for tree production. There is nothing
more tragic than a forest region in which the only resource
has been exhausted, the lands stripped and unproductive, the
industries moved out, the roads deteriorating, the few scattered
farms abandoned because their only market is gone. Contrast
such a condition with a community made permanent because
the forests which sustain its industries are kept productive, as
every one of our mountain communities in the South should
be, and can be if the mountains are not abused.

The achievement of this end requires very definite action ;
action by all the different agencies which have a common
interest in the problems of this southern mountain region. It
means united effort by the Government, the States, and the
private owners.

28 Proceedings of the

The Government is undertaking to do its work in these
ways : by the establishment of National Forests at the head-
waters of some of the important rivers, by cooperating with
the States in fire protection on lands outside the Federal
forests, by cooperating in invesigations which may help edu-
cate the people to a greater interest in forestry and to better
methods of practice.

You are all familiar with the new Federal forests. There
have already been contracted for purchase about a million
acres in the South. We have also authority and some funds
to aid directly in fire protection outside the Government
property.

Under the provisions of the so-called Weeks Law the
Federal Government is now ready to cooperate with any
State in the fire protection of both State and private timber-
lands on watersheds of navigable streams, provided the States
themselves organize a system of fire protection and be ready
to expend for this purpose a sum equal to that which the
Federal government can contribute. Under this arrangement
a much larger forest area can be brought under some form of
protection than is included within the eastern National Forests.

During the past year, the Forest Service has cooperated
with 21 States in this work, our expenditures in individual
states ranging from $2,000 to $8,000. Of the Southern States
only six have so far availed themselves of this cooperative
arrangement — Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Car-
olina, Kentucky, and recently Texas. The reason why more
Southern States did not secure this cooperation is simply that
many of them could not qualify for assistance under the terms
of the statute. Most of them have no state organization for
the control of forest fires.

The cooperation of the Forest Service with the States did
much to bring about more efficient fire protection. The en-
tire experience of the Service in protective work was made
directly available to these States in developing their protective
systems. The entrance of the general Government into the
local field, to strengthen and supplement the efforts of private
owners and State organizations, greatly stimulated interest in
fire protection. Federal inspection of the work done with the
Government funds was found to add strength to the local
organizations.

Southern Forestry Congress 29

Before Federal moneys are allotted to any State for this
work, a systematic plan of fire protection must be prepared.
It must show just what and how effective measures for con-
trolling forest fires throughout the State are contemplated. It
must show how the Federal allotment will be used to supple-
ment the efforts of the State itself and of its private timber
owners. In every case our funds have been employed ex-
clusively for the maintenance of patrolmen in dangerous dis-
tricts as the most direct and effective way of getting at the
bottom of the problem.

In my judgment, it is unfortunate that the Forest Service
is debarred from extending this work into more of the dis-
tinctly hardwood states of the South because of the failure
of these States to take the necessary preliminary steps on their
own account. I feel that in the preliminary stages of fire
protection in this region, the cooperation of the Federal gov-
ernment would be an extremely valuable aid. The Forest
Service stands ready to extend its cooperation into all other
Southern States just as soon as the necessary requirements
of the law have been satisfied by the States. I feel that per-
haps one of the most effective, immediate things which the
■members of this Southern Forestry Congress might do to
encourage fire protection and thereby the beginnings of forestry
in the territory which is largely the source of the hardwood
supply, is to encourage the creation of state fire organizations
and the appropriation of at least small amounts for protective
work by the various state legislatures. This will make it
possible for the Forest Service to cooperate with more South-
ern States in controlling the fire situation.

The present appropriation under the Weeks Law for co-
operation with the states of the entire Union amounts to only
$100,000 a year, while the number of states which took ad-
vantage of this Federal aid within the last year was 21 ; it is
evident that the amount which each individual state can receive
for this purpose must necessarily be small. The timberlands,
both state and private, therefore, cannot be afforded at present
as adequate and full fire protection as would be desired. Here
is where the private owners could further assist in this co-
operative arrangement between the States and the Federal gov-
ernment in providing fire protection to their own timberlands.

30 Proceedings of the

Most of the hardwood forests in the South are in private
hands and the effectiveness of the solution of the waning
hardwood supply will be measured by the effectiveness with
which the average private owner works out the problem on
his own property.

The owner of hardwood lands has been slow to realize
the necessity of eliminating fire risks from his property. This
is due to the slight damage caused by fire to his merchantable
timber as compared with the northern coniferous forests. It
is not difficult to prove, however, that the loss in merchantable
timber in the southern hardwoods from repeated fires, occur-
ing with periodic regularity, is a serious factor on many of
the drier sites. The constant killing out of the smaller growth
results in the course of years in a much sparser stand than
the ground would naturally support. Further loss results from
defect, deterioration, and retarded growth in the scarred and
injured trees and from the loss in growth and quality of the
timber in the entire stand due to the impoverishment of the
soil. I have seen many slopes and ridges of timber in eastern
Tennessee where it was clear that these factors had reduced the
merchantable cut by at least one-half of the possible yield. It
is not difficult to prove, therefore, that the protection of hold-'
ings of merchantable timber with no further thought beyond
the marketing of the present stand is a good investment. One
of the hardest problems confronted in protecting the indi-
vidual tract of timber is the excessive cost per acre when this
work is attempted on a small scale by each owner acting in-
dependently. In certain of the Northwestern States with
which I am familiar, this phase of the question has been very
effectively met by the consolidation of interests for the pur-
pose of fire protection. This is done through the organiza-
tion of timber protective associations which handle the work of
fire patrol, construction of telephone lines and other necessary
improvements, and the actual fighting of fire, jointly for all
their members. Some of these associations, representing from
200,000 to 300,000 acres, headed by an executive committee
and chief warden and meeting expenses by a pro rata assess-
ment per acre, have developed the most efficient protection
of timberland on a large scale which I have seen in any portion
of the country, under any organization, public or private.

Southern Forestry Congress 31

Large areas of coniferous timber in the Northwest, where
the character of the forest and the unfailing annual drought
make the fire risk far greater than in the hardwood belt, are
now being protected efficiently through such agencies at a cost
in ordinary seasons of two or three cents an acre.

Fortunately there are already about half a dozen private
timber protective associations in the southern hardwood region
which are doing extremely good work in forest fire protection
and I hope the number may increase.

With the fire problem once under control, the possibilities
of forestry in the southern hardwoods are almost unlimited.
In few other regions are the conditions in the broad more
favorable. The markets offer exceptional opportunities for
the sale of a great variety of products of these forests, and for
the close utilization of the timber cut. The possibility of
turning all material to account in one form or another is
scarcely equalled in any other region of similar size.

I keenly realize that even with the combined efforts of
the Federal Government, the States, and private owners, we
are at present still only at the very beginning of our conserva-
tion work in the South. The machinery, however, for this work
has already been provided and I believe that with the awakened
recognition by the people of the South of the resources at
stake, and concerted action of all those who are interested,
the pineries and the Southern Appalachian hardwoods may
be made a continuous source of wealth to the region and a
permanent resource of the nation.

Dr. Pratt : Mr. Graves' paper is now open for discussion,
and we have arranged our program so that a short time can be
devoted to the discussion of each paper after it has been read.

I would like to start this discussion. Those of you who
are as old as I am will probably remember in studying the
geography of North Carolina that the things for which this
State was noted were "tar, pitch, turpentine and lumber."
All geographies in that day, in referring to the State of North
Carolina, gave these as the products for which North Caro-
lina was especially noted. Today we are still noted for
our lumber, but produce very little tar, pitch or turpentine.
Some of our people in eastern North Carolina asked me of
what interest this Southern Forestry Congress would be to

32 Proceedings of the

them, and why they should be interested in its success. I
quoted to them what I have just quoted to you, that eastern
North Carolina was formerly noted for its production of tar,
pitch and turpentine (naval stores), which today are practi-
cally gone, — extinct. I contended, however, that there was a
chance of bringing back, to a certain extent at least, the
naval stores industry of eastern North Carolina, through the
reproduction particularly of the longleaf pine, which we have
demonstrated can be done. It is possible to do this success-
fully in the eastern part of this State, and lands which for a
generation or two will probably not be brought into use for
agricultural purposes should be cultivated in longleaf pine.
The men of the east did get interested, and we expect to
have several of them here with us during the Congress.

Mr. Graves' paper has given me a good many ideas in
regard to the value of our Southern forests, not only to our-
selves, but to the whole country. I did not realize that we
of the South are as important in the welfare of the country
as he says we really are.

The paper is now open for further discussion.

Bishop Horner: May I ask our Forester, and also the
Dean of the New York State College of Forestry, if any effort
has been made along economic lines to take care of the lands
that have been depleted of their forest timbers by using them
for orchards instead of using them for agricultural purposes,
that waste the soil. I think the Hitchings method of culture
was started in Western New York, and it has been followed
in some measure in our mountain section. This method is to
put out orchards and to put grass in them, and mulch the trees
with the grass so that the land will not wash away. Now,
under present agricultural systems in most of our mountains,
where land is on a steep hillside, and is put in corn, or some
other agricultural product, it only yields a profit for a few
years; but if put in orchards, it means a profit continuously,
and the conservation of the waters as well as of the land.

Mr. Graves : The Department of Agriculture has carried
on extensive experiments in connection with hillside orchard-
ing, not only to develop methods of cultivation which would
prevent erosion, but also which would conserve the water.

Dr. Baker: Mr. Hitching's orchard is just outside of

Southern Forestry Congress 33

Syracuse and it stands with us as a fine example of profit-
able fruit growing. His problem, like that to which Bishop
Horner refers, is not one of erosion. Grass is grown in
Mr. Hitching's orchard to protect the soil and to maintain fer-
tility. Instead of sowing an annual crop, as is done so often, he
maintains it in grass. Of course, the whole question of profit-
able apple growing is a question of right soil and location.
Central New York is noted for its apple soils and yet there
are other localities in New York where the soils are such that
apples cannot be grown profitably. So in North Carolina
you probably have soils well fitted to apple growing and other
soils not at all suited.

Dr. Pratt : Is there any further discussion ? Bishop
Horner stated that a good many of these steep hillsides, when
cleared of timber and cultivated for agricultural products,
yielded a profit for a few years. I have often wondered
whether there was really any profit even the first years, on
steep hillsides where they raise six or eight bushels of corn
to the acre. I have told a good many people that the man
trying to farm on some steep mountain side had much better
go to work as a day laborer and take four months during
the summer and move back on the cleared area as a summer
place, without doing any work, and at the end of the year
he would have more money in his pocket than if he stayed
and farmed as a livelihood during the whole year. I doubt
if there is any actual profit in trying to cultivate the steep
hillsides. That land to my mind, is better adapted to forest
cultivation.

If there is no further discussion of Mr. Graves' paper, we
will take up the next one. I will ask if Dr. Clarence J. Owens
is in the room ? Dr. Owens has been delayed, also. I had word
he would be here, but I have not, as yet, seen him.

The next paper will be upon another phase of the question
of the Southern Appalachian region, and that is the "Re-
establishment and Protection of Big Game in the Southern
Appalachians." When I mentioned this subject to one of
our prominent men who lives here in the Southern Appalachian
region, and who stays in Asheville a good deal and is very
much interested in the forest reservations secured by the
Federal Government being opened up for the use of the people

34 Proceedings of the

for parks, play grounds, camping, etc., he said, "If you are
going to try to bring back to these forests big game, such as
buffaloes, lions and tigers, you are going to drive out our
people from the use of these forest reservations for which we
have been working for so many years." I asked him to come
and hear the speaker this morning, who will take up the
question of the perpetuation of big game in our forests. We
are very fortunate in having with us this morning a man who
has devoted a great deal of time and thought to the protection
of the big game throughout the country. I take pleasure in
introducing to you Mr. Edmund Seymour, President of the
American Bison Society.

THE PRESERVATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON
By Edmund Seymour,

PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY

The time has passed in this country when it would take
a herd of buffalo twenty-five days to pass a given point. This
greatest and noblest of all American big game animals became
nearly extinct a few years ago. As I am here representing
the American Bison Society and Pisgah Forest wants a nucleus
herd of buffalo, it is my pleasant duty to tell you something
about this wonderful animal and why it should be preserved
by and for the American people.

When the American Bison Society was formed to preserve
the buffalo, the census showed about 1,017 buffalo of pure
blood in the United States. Out of the millions which roamed
over the plains, these few remained, owned mostly by private
individuals. The government officials were alive to the situa-
ation and were willing to do what they could, but there were
no appropriations, and they needed the sustantial and moral
help of the public. Our Association was formed by such
public-spirited men as Dr. Wm. T. Hornaday, Dr. T. S. Palm-
er, E. H. Baynes, Prof. Henry F. Osborn, Gifford Pinchot,
Clark Williams, Prof. Franklin W. Hooper, C. J. ("Buffalo")
Jones and others. Theodore Roosevelt was our first honorary
president, and William T. Hornaday our first president. It
was proposed that if the Government would furnish the fence
and maintain the ranges, the Society would furnish the buffalo.

Southern Forestry Congress 35

This gave the basis for going before Congress and thus the
following nucleus herds were established :

Wind Cave National Game Preserve, South Dakota, 1903,
4,000 acres (approximately).

Wichita Game Preserve, Oklahoma, 1906, 500 acres (ap-
proximately).

Montana Bison Range, Montana, 1908, 18,521 acres.

Niobrara Reservation, Nebraska, 1912, 240 acres.

The Wichita Preserve was established chiefly through the
efforts and gifts of the New York Zoological Society.

All these parks are open to the public without charge. The
Wichita Reserve is accessible from Lawton, Oklahoma ; the
Montana Reservation from Dixon, Montana ; the Wind Cave
Park from Hot Springs, South Dakota; and the Niobrara
Reservation from Valentine, Nebraska.

The Yellowstone National Park also possesses a fine herd.
It was no easy task to raise the money to buy the buffalo, but
fortunately a number of animals have been contributed. I
must give credit to Dr. Hornaday for most of the work, in
which he has been very successful. If you get a chance, read
his book on the Conservation of Wild Life.

Many thoughtless persons inquire : "Why should the
buffalo be preserved? He has had his day, served his purpose
and must make way for civilization. Like the Indian, he must
go." There is some reason in this. The great prairies over
which he roamed are now fenced and cultivated; he can no
longer migrate and never again will the vast herds stop rail-
road trains and dam rivers. The slaughter of the buffalo
settled the Indian question by taking away his food supply,
and paved the way for the ranchman, the farmer, and the gen-
eral settlement of the country.

SENTIMENTAL VALUE

There are two views as to why the buffalo should be pre-
served— one, sentimental or ideal ; the other, practical or com-
mercial.

The former is the one that appeals, I think, to most Amer-
icans who have a pride in, and love of their country. We
stand for the ideal and spend our money for sentiment. The
Bison Society appealed to Congress on the ideal ground, and
it was sufficient. When a man gets rich or starts to make

36 Proceedings of the

his will, he thinks of art and literature and the betterment of
his fellow creatures.

The buffalo is the most conspicuous and the largest of all
native American game animals — hardy, strong, and of impres-
sive majesty. The artists of the Government have reproduced
his head or figure for our bills and coins. Take a five cent
piece from your pocket and look at the buffalo. It stands
for something! It is identified with the settlement of our
country. It is not generally known that in the early colonial
days, buffalo inhabited practically all the Eastern States, as
well as the great plains in the West particularly. The early
pioneers, the men of '49, often depended upon the buffalo for
their very existence. To commemorate their early struggles
and dangers, is a sufficient reason why this animal should be
preserved to the descendants of these early settlers. The
mothers of those days — some of whom are still alive — may re-
member when they were given, in their courting days, good
thick buffalo robes to keep them warm, and I hope the ladies
will vote to preserve the buffalo.

How about the real American — the Indian? His tribal
life is fast breaking up and he is being absorbed in the
"melting pot" for the future great American type. His de-
scendants have a right to insist that his history shall be pre-
served, and that this animal, which was part of his daily life,
and furnished his food, clothing, shelter and fuel, shall not
become extinct. Before the white men came and taught him
to drink whiskey, the Indian was a pretty good citizen ; he
was kind, brave, a good father and husband, a true friend
and generous without limit. In the early days you could
always trust an Indian, but the old saying of the Indian about
the white man was : "White man mighty uncertain."

For centuries the Indian was largely dependent upon the
buffalo and only killed what he needed. After the hunter had
taken his part, the rest went to the tribe and was used. He
was a game protector and conservationist of the first order.
I have stood at Medicine Rocks in South Dakota, and counted
without moving over 100 skeletons of buffalo killed by white
men merely for their hides and tongues, all the rest was left
to the wolves.

On my ranch in Montana a few years before I put in my

Southern Forestry Congrkss 37

cattle, one outfit of white hunters killed 3,700 head of buffalo.
Good roads were afterwards made in that country to haul
out the buffalo bones. It is a wonder one is left. The white
man having been largely responsible for the practical exterm-
ination of the buffalo, it is now his duty to preserve the
species. Should not our children and their children's children
see and know this wonderful animal, so distinctive and closely
related to our ancestors ?

The educational and historic value of living buffalo is in-
valuable to our youth. We build Institutes and Museums of
Natural History to preserve mounted animals, spending mil-
lions therefor ; every city and every public park should have
live buffalo to show the people. Hardly anything attracts them
as much.

The government, in its exchange of international courte-
sies, in the buffalo would have a gift to present, more valuable
than almost anything produced in this country. Roosevelt
says of the buffalo : "The biggest of the American big game,
probably on the whole, the most distinctive game animal on
this continent, the animal which played the greatest part in the
lives of the Indians, and which most deeply impressed the
imaginations of all the old hunters and early settlers."

COMMERCIAL VALUE

Let us now turn to the practical side of this subject. I
consider it second to the ideal, but most of us pride ourselves
on being practical. We work for a living and we like to get
our money's worth. It will not hurt us to look at the buffalo
as a commercial proposition.

As a Food Animal. The buffalo in the old days, was
killed chiefly for his tongue and hump and hide, but, although
comparatively light in the hind quarters, he is fully as valuable
an animal to raise as any beef steer, except perhaps the very
highest bred fancy stock. The meat is very much like beef,
possesses all the palatable and nutritious qualities of beef, with
something of a game flavor, and will always command a good
price as a novelty and Christmas delicacy.

Leather. The hide, for purposes of leather of all kinds,
is fully as desirable, if not more so, than beef skins. The
buffalo hide is pre-eminently fitted to withstand the weather.
The tepees of the Indian were made almost exclusively from

38 Proceedings of the

the hide of the buffalo, and were often beautifully colored
and decorated. These hides, however, are too valuable to be
used for such a purpose in these days, but would make ex-
cellent army shoes or harness, or could be utilized for any
purpose for which cow hides are now used.

Wool. The advantage of the buffalo over cattle is, that it
has a true wool similiar to that of sheep. Ernest Harold
Baynes, at an exhibit of the American Bison Society at the
Sportsmen's Show some years ago, showed samples of this
wool, together with yarn spun from it, and gloves knitted
from the yarn. The exhibit included letters from woolen
manufacturers expressing the opinion that buffalo wool was
very closely akin to sheep's wool, that it was stronger than the
average wool, and that for a long time it would be in demand
at a high price as a novelty. If it could be obtained in quan-
tity, there would be a good market for it for the manufacture
of articles not requiring to be dyed in lighter colors. This
may not be counted as important unless the herds are increased
to commercial numbers and the spirit of the bison is tamed.
It would be some job to shear a wild buffalo, but if we had
some great government herds, the wool might form a valuable
commercial asset.

Bones and Horns. After the great slaughter of the buffalo
upon the western plains, the bones, horns and hoofs were
collected and converted into buttons, combs, glue and similar
articles, and the bones were used for making charcoal, which
is especially used for refining sugar. All the refuse was used
in making fertilizers.

Buffalo Robes. The most valuable of all products from the
buffalo, however, is the combination of hide and wool which
makes the well known buffalo robe, one of the most serviceable
and warmest robes ever produced by any wild animal.
"Buffalo" Jones exhibited a "cattalo" robe for which he claim-
ed to have been offered $1,000, the "cattalo" being the result
of breeding the wild buffalo with native cattle. These robes,
taken from the buffalo at the right season of the year, and
properly tanned, would be worth almost twice as much money
as an ordinary steer would bring in the market today.

The old markets and buffalo robe dealers have passed away,
and the Government might find it necessary to advertise and
hold sales, as is now done with the skins of the fur seal. If

Southern Forestry Congress 30

the present policy of Goverment reservations for the conser-
vation, protection and increase of wild life is continued and
properly organized, the sales could include the hides of all
fur animals, as well as elk and deer. There is no doubt
that, as soon as these sales were of sufficient commercial mag-
nitude, a fine market would result.

Should the government and the states, in ten or twenty res-
ervations, install herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and other large
game, which could naturally increase, in times of war or great
distress or famine, these animals, or part of them, could be used
for food. In ordinary times, after the herds were fully es-
tablished, with the modern methods of transporting meat in
refrigeration automobiles, the surplus of this game could be
slaughtered, canned and eaten, and the hides, wool and robes
preserved to furnish part of the army equipment if necessary.
Shoes, gloves, harness and other equipment required by the
army and navy could be accumulated from the surplus raised
upon government farms or ranches. Most of the waste
lands could be used to conserve and increase the game resources
of the country. Possessing the large Indian reservations, the
great tracts of practically desert land, and the forest reserves,
it would be good business for the United States government
to stock these with game of all kinds, but particularly with
large game — buffalo, elk, antelope, not only to preserve the
species, but for its commercial purposes. So long as the
Indians are maintained as wards of the government and
reservations set aside for them, there is no reason why all
these reservations throughout the country, should not be
used as game farms and the game protected and cared for
by the Indians themselves.

LOW COST OF PRODUCTION

The buffalo is an animal accustomed to forage for itself :
It is acclimated to the semi-arid plains, can go long without
water, and can graze where cattle could hardly exist. It is
accustomed to the blizzards and snows of the West and,
unlike the cattle, goes into the storm and through it, and is
not driven before and destroyed by it.

The buffalo can be tamed and domesticated, not easily, but
time may make a change in this respect. Mr. Baynes drove
about a pair of three-year-old buffaloes which he had trained

40 Proceedings of the

in the Corbin preserve in New Hampshire, and undoubtedly,
after a few years of domestication, this animal could be tamed
sufficiently so that it could be handled by small farmers in
the semi-arid regions of the West, and utilized upon the lands
not otherwise available for the raising of cattle. In the East,
as well as in the West, we believe it can be profitably raised,
and I beg to quote here from a letter of Mr. W. H. Miner,
owner of "Heart's Delight" Farm at Chazy, on Lake Cham-
plain, N. Y., who writes as follows :

"Am pleased to advise you that we have ten buffaloes in our herd
and they are doing very well indeed. These animals are worth from
$250 to $350 each, according to prices which are received by the Lincoln
Park Association of Chicago, and as the hides are very valuable for
fur robes, I consider the raising of buffaloes a profitable business.
They are very easily kept, as the amount and value of the food they
consume during the winter months is of little consequence; during
the summer, they subsist on grass in our pastures and require no
attention whatever during about eight months of the year."

I also quote from a letter from Mr. C. Goodnight, of
Goodnight, Texas, as follows :

"history and effort of producing cattalo."

Being raised in a buffalo country I became interested some years
ago in their extreme hardihood and adaptability to thrive under all
climatic conditions and on a large range of territory. I conceived
the idea of crossing the buffalo with the common cattle, and if
possible establishing a race which would stand the high altitude and
severe winters as the buffalo themselves do, and the elk and the
mountain sheep.

Believing the Polled Angus to be the hardiest of the cow kind, I
began some years ago on the imported Polled Angus. I found this
to be a difficult undertaking of the breeding kind. After much loss
of time and money I learned this could be done and am now in a
position to say to breeders that it is practical and will prove to be
extremely profitable for the following reasons :

1. As far as I have been able to test them, the cross, when high
grade, is immune from all diseases. I have sent them to the coast —
our tick-infested country — none of the full bloods have died, and
of the one-eighths one out of three have died.

2. They thrive and do well on less food than other cattle. They
put on more flesh for the food they eat than any animal known but
do not carry the great extra fat which is a waste of common cattle.
Their tallow is worth from two and one-half to three cents more on
the pound.

3. In my effort to establish this race, I hope to establish the
fourteenth rib, the same as the buffalo. This varies greatly — a few of

Southern Forestry Congress 41

the high grades have the extra rib. Time and patience alone can
add this perfectly. This will insure greater hardihood and a longer
and deeper line.

4. They live to a great age and produce ; they do not get as
light when old as other cattle.

5. They will cut off the range 70 per cent to the gross weight.
It does not take as much range for them as for common cattle.
The cows will weigh from 1100 to 1600.

6. They do not drift in storms.

7. They do not run from heel flies. They rise on their fore
feet instead of their hind feet, which enables them to rise when
much weaker ; this causes much loss in common cattle. They never
lie down with their backs down the slant. This causes much loss
in range herds.

8. Under same conditions they are more gerttle than either
race. They are good mothers and thoroughly protect their young.
They do not seem to want to run, and so far as I know, none has
shown a disposition to fight.

9. They locate and do not have a tendency to ramble as other
cattle.

10. They carry more brains than common cattle, hence take better
care of themselves. This of course comes from the buffalo side
and is carried in proportion to the blood of the animal.

There are many other small points in their favor.
They never eat loco. They can go much longer without water
than cattle. Many other small points that would not be understood."

Marketed in the right manner, as Christmas and fancy-
meat, the flesh of the buffalo brings $1.00 per pound; no fat
is so delicious as that of the buffalo, and it was held by the
Indians to have great medicinal value.

The buffalo is built heavily in front in order that he may
better face the storm, and there is a great hump on the bull's
shoulders to hold up his massive head — a head that, put upon
the walls of your town hall, club, hotel or home is worth
several hundred dollars. The buffalo is hardy, and unlike
cattle, paws through the snow for his food, and has a strong
instinct for self preservation. Cold bothers him little, but in
summer he wallows his hide full of mud to keep off the
flies and "hits" the high and breezy places.

At the hearing before the House Committee on Agriculture
on the Agricultural Appropriation Bill in February of this year
(Bureau of Biological Survey Hearing, page 18), Dr. T. S.
Palmer, in answer to the question by Mr. Helgesen, "What is
the object of dividing them up into so many herds?" said :

42 Proceedings of the

"If the buffalo were in one herd, we might lose them all at once
in case of disease. Our buffalo have suffered at three different times
from infectious diseases. When we took the herd to Oklahoma,
it was said they could not be maintained on account of the danger
from Texas fever. We actually lost two head the first year from
Texas fever, but we stamped it out, and the herd has since been
free from infection. In the Yellowstone Park herd, an epidemic of
hemorrhagic septicemia suddenly broke out in December, 1911, and
inside of two weeks we lost 22 head. In the case of the National
Zoological Park herd here in this city (Washington), more than one-
half of the herd died from gastro-enteritis some years ago. In
my judgment, we should have not less than ten national herds widely
separated, and have not less than 1,000 head of buffalo to insure
against possible losses."

The buffalo is a pretty good all around animal. He dis-
covered this beautiful country and was the first tourist. Your
kind of buffalo ranged as far north as Buffalo, N. Y., and
down into Georgia. You have a "Buffalo Ford" and much
interesting historical data relating to the buffalo in North Caro-
lina.

The government must take the trust and responsibility of
preserving our big game, but they need the help of right-
minded, generous and far-sighted people, particularly in the
development of our national parks. It will well repay the
country to have our parks developed, made accessible and
stocked with big game.

Dr. Pratt : In discussing Mr. Seymour's paper, I am going
to ask Mr. George Powell, Secretary of the Appalachian Park
Association, to open the discussion. Mr. Powell is interested
in this question of stocking the forests with game.

Mr. Powell: The work now being planned and carried
out by the Forest Service in developing the Pisgah National
Forest of about 75,000 acres for recreation purposes, gives
promise of a general development of the national forests of
the country for pleasure and recreation as well as the more
material uses.

The use of these forests for pleasure and recreation is
now generally recognized as a valuable national asset. In
taking over Pisgah Forest, the government finds itself the cus-
todian of from 2,000 to 2,500 deer, with quite a large number
of bears, wildcats, foxes, wild turkeys, pheasants, and streams
well stocked with fish. The large number of deer and other

Southern Forestry Congress 43

game to be found in this forest is due to the protection given
under Mr. Vanderbilt's ownership, which, with his system of
scientific forestry, has done so much for the Southern Appa-
lachian region.

As a nucleus for road construction, the government now
owns about 17 miles of well graded road to the Lodge near
the top of Pisgah. Realizing this as an ideal opportunity to
begin a plan of development along pleasure and recreation
lines, our Association offered to cooperate with the Forest
Service in this work. The offer was cordially accepted and
we are pleased to report that the Forest Service is working
out a plan for road construction, game protection and mineral
leasing that will give increased pleasure and benefits to the
people in the use of these forests. Through this cooperation
we have secured from the Department of the Interior a herd
of twenty-five elk and eight buffalo for Pisgah Forest, to be
shipped this winter. The expense of catching and delivering
these animals on the cars will be met by the Biological Survey,
and we are pleased to state that the Southern Railway Com-
pany and the Burlington Line have agreed to give free trans-
portation to Asheville. We need about seven or eight more
buffaloes to complete the herd and we hope that when our
friend, Mr. Seymour, president of the American Bison So-
ciety, sees the beauties and adaptability of the forest in which
they are to be placed, he will help to meet this need. It will be
necessary to enclose about 250 acres lying on both sides of the
road referred to, of which about fifty acres is fine pasture land.
Our Association has undertaken to secure sufficient funds
to build a fence for the enclosure, the cost of which will be
about $3,000, and if any of our friends here desire to con-
tribute to this fund, we will be glad to give them the oppor-
tunity.

It has been demonstrated that elk and buffalo will do well
in these mountains. There has been a herd of buffalo and
elk on the Big Snow Bird for several years and they are re-
ported as being in fine condition. It is proposed to gradually
turn the elk out, giving them the range of the whole forest,
always leaving about twenty-five in the enclosure.

I wish to call the attention of this meeting to the Gallinger
amendment to the Agricultural Bill now before the confer-
ence committee, providing for an appropriation of $3,000,000

44 Proceedings of the

for the purpose of continuing the purchase of lands under the
Weeks Law, and also to the amendments known as the Mineral
Leasing amendment and the Game Refuge amendment, all
relating to the national forests of the East. These amendments
are of great importance in carrying on the work under the
Weeks Law and we hope this meeting will pass suitable reso-
lutions urging our representatives in Congress to support them
when they come up in the House, which will probably be
within the next few days.

Dr. Pratt : You have heard references to a man from
Washington made both by Mr. Seymour and Mr. Powell,
and I am sure you want to hear at least a few words from
one who has done so much for game protection, and who
is interested in what we are trying to do here in the Southern
Appalachian region. I am going to ask Dr. T. S. Palmer to
say a few words.

Dr. Palmer: Ladies and gentlemen, I came to Asheville
to listen and to learn. I have no set speech, but I am glad to
take this opportunity of telling you how much pleasure it
gives me to come to North Carolina.

This state was one of the pioneers in game protection.
It may be interesting to mention to a Forestry Congress that
there was legislation in North Carolina to protect game before
forestry was even thought of — in fact, when the main object
of the early colonists was the destruction rather than the
conservation of the forests. The first law for the protection
of game in North Carolina was passed in 1738, more than
fifty years before Congress passed the first forest protection
law, to which reference has been made by a previous speaker.
About forty years ago, when game conservation by legislation
reached such a high pitch of enthusiasm, North Carolina
began to turn out local game laws with greater frequency
than any other State in the Union. There are about 100
counties in the State, and each county has its own game laws
— and some of them have had a good many. In some sessions
of the Legislature there have been more than fifty separate
enactments for the protection of game and upwards of 1000
such laws have been passed in this State in the last ten or
fifteen years. I doubt if many people who do not hunt or
follow such legislation can tell you what the present game

Southern Forestry Congress 45

laws are, because they are subject to such frequent changes.
Take for example the conditions in this immediate section,
with Buncombe County as a center and the seven counties
immediately adjoining. In these eight counties are seven
different seasons for hunting deer, and these seasons vary
from no open season to an open season of four months. In
McDowell County to the east, there was no open season
for hunting deer last year, and there will be none this year,
because the deer are nearly killed out. Mitchell County has
two weeks ; Yancey, one month ; Henderson, six weeks ; Bun-
combe, two months; Haywood, two and half months; and
Madison, four months open season. It is expecting a good
deal to expect the deer to know the county lines and also the
hunting seasons, so that they may run from one county to the
next one when the season opens, and finally reach that county
where they are protected all the year.

If you will look at a map showing the distribution of
forests east of the Mississippi River you will notice several
states, as, for example, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, where
deer and elk were formerly abundant but where they are now
exterminated. In Tennessee, elk and buffalo are completely
gone and the deer almost gone. In New Jersey they were
exterminated, but were reintroduced a few years ago ; in
Delaware, they were exterminated fifty years ago; and in two
or three other states they are almost gone. The deer supply
has been reduced through over killing and lack of proper ad-
ministration. One of the speakers has said that the problem
of forestry is a problem of land; the problem of game pro-
tection is a problem of land plus a problem of administration,
and we have not yet solved the problem of administration
and cooperation. Forestry and game protection go hand in
hand. When the State of Massachusetts kills more deer,
or you might say harvests more deer annually, than the State
of North Carolina, and the little State of Vermont harvests
a deer crop several times as large as that of North Carolina,
there is certainly room for improvement in the latter state.
We think that a great opportunity is about to dawn upon this
section, with the acquisition of this great Appalachian Forest
Reserve. There is a movement on foot to make some of
these forests game preserves, and I hope this opportunity
will be improved, not only by the Federal government and

46 Proceedings of the

the States, but by associations and individuals, to restock this
section of the country with certain kinds of big game, so that
the buffalo will mean more than the picture on a ten dollar
bill, and the elk something more than the emblem of a lodge.
It may not be known to all of you that this movement to
reintroduce big game in the Appalachian Mountains is already
under way. A herd of elk was established in West Virginia,
and one in Virginia, several years ago. Nearly one-third
of all the elk shipped from the Yellowstone National Park last
winter came East; one hundred head was sent to Penn-
sylvania, fifty to Alabama, and forty went to Louisiana. I
hope North Carolina will be in the list next year.

Dr. Pratt: Any further discussion of this paper on the
protection of the big game in the Southern Appalachian region?

Mr. Peters : I am informed that there is a great deal
of politics in State Game Commissions and similiar organi-
zations, and that the resulting efficiency of these organizations
has been very seriously interfered with. I am wondering if
anything is being done to make these organizations more effi-
cient.

Dr. Pratt: I will ask Mr. Seymour to answer that ques-
tion for New York. They tell me it is pretty well removed
from politics.

Mr. Seymour: We have a man in New York as Conser-
vation Commissioner who is reputed a wealthy man, but
you would not know he is worth more than an ordinary
income. There is luck in names. Our New York Com-
missioner is named Pratt — the same as the chairman of this
Congress. He is a very fine man. The first time I met him
I was bagging my bed in camp. He was near by and came
over and helped me to get it in. He did it well, — understood
what he was doing. Everything he does, he does well. He
doesn't care anything about politics. He doesn't care anything
about what he is making out of it. He is giving away most
of his salary. There is very little politics in game conserva-
tion today in New York State. It is the finest thing that
ever happened to the State of New York to have a man of
that stamp for Conservation Commissioner. That is the kind
of work rich men ought to do.

Southern Forestry Congress 47

Dr. Pratt : If there is no further discussion of this
subject, there is one more paper to come up at this morning's
session. That is on the subject of Biltmore Forest and
Forest Plantations. As many of you know, Mr. George Van-
derbilt was the patron of forest conservation and forest culti-
vation here in the South, and it was through the public spirit-
edness of Mrs. Vanderbilt, after the death of Mr. Vanderbilt,
that the government was able to acquire what is known as
the Pisgah National Forest. I am going to call on Mr. Verne
Rhoades, Forest Supervisor, Pisgah National Forest.

BILTMORE FORESTS AND FOREST PLANTATIONS*
By Verne Rhoades,

FOREST SUPERVISOR, PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST

Biltmore Forest has been known to us for many years.
It is frequently referred to as the cradle of the movement
for forest conservation in the United States. While such a
statement may be too broad, we may say without exaggeration
that it was here that the first attempt was made to initiate and
carry forward on a large scale, to a certain degree of perfection,
and through a long period of years, a regular system of
forest management which had for its primary object the per-
petuation of the forest, of improving its condition which had
grown from bad to worse through many years of careless cut-
ting and abuse, of increasing its scenic attractiveness to meet
the wishes of the owner, and all the while trying with some-
thing more than partial success to make the forest operations
pay their way. The chief interest to the forester lies in the
fact that for America the forest work on this estate was un-
usually intensive, and was conducted under unusually favor-
able conditions. Because of its intensiveness it attracted wide
attention both here and abroad.

It is desirable before you visit the forest plantations that
you have some acquaintance with the former forest, with the
wishes of the owner, and with the reasons which guided the
foresters of the estate in the formulation of their plans and
in the application of certain methods. It is well to know

* This paper was delivered before the Southern Forestry Congress in order
to give the delegates, prior to their visit to Biltmore Forests, a brief, but com-
prehensive outline of the forestry work on Biltmore Estate from 1890 to 1910.

48 Pkoceedings of the

that prior to the purchase of the estate by Mr. Vanderbilt there
were a great many small holdings owned by farmers who
used their forest resources without reserve. The owners cut
heavily for the firewood market at Asheville, and sold their
best trees for the local lumber market. The woodlands were
frequently burned to increase pasturage. Erosion had already
become severe in the open fields and where over-grazing had
exhausted the grass lands. The forest was characterized,
where the large trees had been taken out and where fire
had played an unimportant role, by stands of trees of all ages.
Where fires had swept through after lumbering there was a
second growth of sprouts and seedlings of even age under
old trees whose crowns were large and widespreading. Both
the young and the old growth were often defective, crippled,
and fire scarred.

After the consolidation of these small holdings Air. Van-
derbilt at once started a change in forest treatment. His
first act was to enter into a contract with a firm of Northern
nurserymen to plant up several hundred acres of the aban-
doned fields for the two-fold purpose of adding to the beauty
of the landscape and of producing future forests. A year or
two later he engaged the services of Mr. Gifford Pinchot as
consulting forester. It was Mr. Pinchot who first drew up
a comprehensive plan of management for Biltmore Forest
in 1893. The woods operations under his supervision con-
sisted for the most part of improvement cuttings which
were designed at the time to remove the old, heavy crowned
trees that were obstructing and retarding the growth of the
young trees beneath them. The products of these cuttings
were disposed of locally. The scheme of forest practice was
to treat the all-aged stands as an imperfect selection forest,
while the balance of the woodlands were managed as a regular
high forest where the trees of the same age were grouped
together. Listen for a moment to his own words in explana-
tion of his plan of planting.

"The plan upon which the forest planting is to be under-
taken is a wide one and is likely to produce important results.
We are acquainted with a great number of exotic species in their
garden character ; we know very few trees as to their adaption
to forest uses. Of the silvicultural character of American

Southekn Forestry Congress 49

trees we are almost equally ignorant. It is intended there-
fore to plant blocks of an acre or more each of a very large
number of American and foreign trees, assigning each to the
character of land which it is most likely to occupy with ad-
vantage. These blocks are to consist of both pure and mixed
forest, and a record is to be kept from the planting of the
seed showing the yearly conduct of each species. Such an
experiment may be expected in the course of time to add
many important species to the useful forest flora of the
country. The forest planting may add new species to our
list of commercially valuable trees and discover new uses for
those already known. It will add greatly to our silvicultural
knowledge of the trees which it will contain."

This plan was an ambitious one, but owing to the departure
of Mr. Pinchot a few months later to enter the employ of the
Federal government, only two or three plantations were made
under his supervision. The position vacated by him on the
estate was thereupon filled by Dr. C. A. Schenck, a German
forester, educated and trained abroad. Mr. Pinchot's working
plan was later revised in many particulars. Among the changes
to be noted were the following: With respect to planting,
the method of making acre plots was discarded in favor of a
plan which sought to grow the native species on a much larger
scale. But little attention was paid to foreign species. Writing
to Dr. Schlich a few years after he had begun his work on the
estate, Dr. Schenck says : "On the Biltmore plateau, except
in northern coves the primeval woods were shortleaf pine
standing at the rate of 20 or more big trees to the acre, with
an undergrowth of scrubby oaks, hickories, sourwoods, and
black gums. The aim on this plateau is to obtain as coppice
under standards a vigorous growth of hardwoods, which do
not promise to develop into good saw-logs under Biltmore con-
ditions ; and with the pines and individual fine specimens of
hardwoods as standards forming an upper story over the cop-
pice. Where the moisture of the soil is sufficient, as on
northern slopes, to warrant a successful growth of hardwoods,
I want to exclude the pines and foster the reproduction as
high forest, of white oak, yellow poplar, the hickories, and the
chestnut, probably two-storied. A third type to be considered
in this system of management is the planted type. This will

50 Proceedings of the

be largely of conifers with a slight admixture of hard-
woods." Thus we see that he had drawn away from the
former plan since he actually did plant coniferous trees ex-
tensively. This plan with certain modifications from time to
time was followed for fifteen years.

In order that we may be enabled to judge of the results
of the planting experiments impartially let us consider for a
moment some of the more important of the local conditions
on the estate which faced both Mr. Pinchot and Dr. Schenck.
In the first place there were a number of old clearings, situated
principally on the slopes and on the tops of ridges which had
been cultivated in years past, and then after the soil was
practically exhausted for field crops, the land was pastured
and generally grazed to still further exhaustion. Deep gullies,
which made ugly uninviting scars on the hillsides, were fast
cutting the soil away. Mr. Vanderbilt, with the desire to have
the landscape views from his house and from alongside his
drives more pleasing, gave instructions to have the waste
places planted up as quickly as possible. When a few planta-
tions had been made the owner often expressed the fear that
the young trees would never get above the sedge grass or grow
large enough to hide the barren fields from sight. As a con-
sequence, the owner's desire to have the eroded slopes covered
quickly was most naturally the controlling influence in the
work of forest planting. Dr. Schenck frankly relates that
he "got scared" for his reputation more than once when it
seemed to him that the hardwoods would never succeed. There
were no planting precedents in this country to guide either
him or Mr. Pinchot. The plan of close spacing, often with
mixtures of pine and hardwoods, was adopted by Dr. Schenck
in 95 per cent of the plantations made under his supervision.
He gave as his reason that if one species failed there would
'be enough of the others to keep the ground covered. The
spacing is, as a rule, much closer than that advocated by the
Forest Service and by the forest departments of many of the
Eastern States.

A study of the mixed hardwoods and the pine plantations
leads to the conclusion that the hardwoods do not succeed
well where the spacing has been close. There are several
instances where the hardwoods planted in pure groups on good

Southern Forestry Congress 51

soil have made fine progress, as may be observed in the case
of red and white oak, black cherry, and sugar maple. There
pure groups demonstrate that successful plantations of such
species can be readily made where the site is favorable and
where good nursery stock is available. But in the majority of
instances on the estate there have not followed the results that
were anticipated when the mixed plantations of pine and hard-
woods were made. Even where the mixtures have grown
thrifty and where the species have raced crown and crown for
a dominant position, we are not yet justified in saying that the
admixture is wholly an economic good. Before the time for
the second thinning it may be that developments will show it
to have been detrimental either to one or perhaps to both
species. The failure of the hardwoods is generally to be found
in those plantations where close spacing, together with the
more rapid growth of alternate rows of pine, has not permitted
their normal development. The dense interlacing crowns of
the conifers have shut off all light from the hardwoods, so that
like plants in a darkened cellar they either succumb or else
developed as anaemic specimens which have no present worth
or future value.

When we consider carefully the close spacing which was
followed we are confronted with the condition as to the fi-
nancial practicability of the method under local conditions.
We have seen that the dense planting has probably been one of
the reasons for the high death rate, or at least the unsuccessful
development of the hardwoods when planted in admixture,
and hence we must argue that had there been more growing
space in the beginning, better results would be visible today.
There can be no revenue from early thinnings because in such
a well wooded region as Asheville there is no market for the
small trees taken out first. The question arises whether it
would not be wiser to adopt a wider spacing and thus save
the extra expense which the handling of a greater number
of trees in a dense plantation would call for. If the height
growth is as rapid and the diameter growth is even more rapid,
and the species make clean boles as readily as in a dense
plantation there seems to be no good reason, both silviculturally
and financially, under present conditions for not using a wider
spacing.

52 Proceedings of the

When we consider the case of the pine plantations either
as mixed white and yellow pine, or either of these species
in pure stands, it is difficult to say enough in praise of their
development. While some may interpose the objection that
close spacing is not necessary here, still we cannot but ad-
mire their uniform and rapid growth in both height and
diameter. The death rate has been negligible up to the period
when the crowns interlocked. The value of these pine planta-
tions in reclaiming the soil is notable, and their future financial
success is assured provided no calamity befalls, and provided
they receive proper silvicultural treatment in the future.

Of the non-indigenous species we find larch a fast grower
with a shapely crown. Firs of various species are persistent
but slow, with Douglas fir far in the lead of other species.
Scotch pine and jack pine do well but do not equal the native
shortleaf in rapidity of growth, in straightness of bole, or in
shapeliness of crown. Western yellow pine in alternate rows
with white pine has failed completely through disease.

Among the hardwoods, black walnut in pure stands has
made a poor showing except in one instance where the soil
was moist and rich. Planted along on the abandoned fields
it is no good. In mixture with sugar maple occasional speci-
mens hold their own with the maple. Black cherry shows a
tendency to fork too quickly and does not succeed except on
the most favorable sites. Cucumber and yellow poplar have
done surprisingly well on the poor dry soils but we cannot
read the future for them. White ash does fairly well along
the banks of a running stream but poorly elsewhere. White
and red oak thrive in pure groups but have not developed in
alternate rows with pine as a rule. Chestnut is a total failure
in spite of much painstaking labor and thought. I want some
of you to tell me why.

On the whole the failures in the plantations have been more
than outmatched by the successes. There are many highly in-
teresting object lessons to be seen and reflected upon, while
both the forester and the lumberman may receive much benefit
from a close study of their history.

In conclusion let me say that these plantations and con-
servative cuttings ought to mean a little more to us than
mere object lessons in planting. There is a deep significance

Southern Forestry Congress 53

in their testimony to the patriotic impulse, the strong sense of
public duty, and the feeling of personal responsibility to
succeeding generations of Mr. George W. Vanderbilt, whose
interest and generosity caused them to be made.

Dr. Pratt : Is there any discussion of Mr. Rhoades' paper,
or any question you wish to ask him? Of course, we will
have a chance to make a pretty thorough investigation of this
to-morrow. If there is no discussion, I will ask the Secretary
to give out the notices.

(Notices given by Secretary Holmes.)

Meeting adjourned until 3 p. m.

AFTERNOON SESSION, 3:00 P. M.

Joseph Hyde) Pratt, Presiding

Meeting called to order by President Pratt.

Dr. Pratt: The first speaker at this afternoon's session
is very well acquainted with our conditions here in the South.
He was one of the men to begin the forestry work here a good
many years ago. He became interested not only in state
work, but in national work, and today he is president of the
American Forestry Association. I take pleasure in introducing
to you Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, who will now address you.

GREETINGS FROM THE AMERICAN FORESTRY
ASSOCIATION

By Hon. Charles Lathrop Pack

PRESIDENT AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: I cannot tell you
how gratified I am to be back here in Asheville. The first time
I stood on this spot where I am standing now was in October,
1883. There was no Battery Park Hotel at that time, but
there was this beautiful hill and the grand mountains — old
Pisgah and the others were here just as they are now. And
Asheville was here with, I think, about fifteen hundred people.
There were no pavements on the streets ; there was hardly
a bank in town. I recall the time when, shortly afterwards,
my family came here to make their home, their life home,

54 Proceedings of the

and the purchase, about that time, by my father, George W.
Pack, of the property which is now known as Aston Park.
Very few of you ever met that grand old gentleman, Mr. Aston,
one of the best assets this town ever had. And when it was
found that the owners of the property would take $7,000 for
it, the question arose as how to get $7,000 to Asheville, so I
was sent North and brought the $7,000 to this place in a
suitcase, largely in one and two dollar bills, and the largest
bill was $5.00. The money was paid over, and my father and
I had the satisfaction of seeing the money go into circulation
down here. And over there on the public square, often towards
noonday we would stand together and question each other as
to whether Colonel So and So, or Major So and So, had
received any of the money yet, and I assure you we could tell
how fast it circulated — see it circulate — because the men with
the money stood up straighter and walked faster. The land
was later presented to the city of Asheville by my father, and
named Aston Park.

I could tell you many interesting things in regard to those
early days in Asheville. Our family were the first Northern
people to come here. The grandest hotel in town was the-
Hotel Swannanoa, and when I came here they charged a
dollar a day and changed the table cloths once a week. And
Mr. Ruben R. Rawls, who is still living, was astounded
when he was offered $2.00 a day for five people if he would
re-paper the bedrooms and have a little better food. And
about as soon as he got the house re-papered, other visitors
from the North began to arrive.

I became greatly interested in these mountains, where
nature has done so much for man. I recall, about 1885 or 1886,
going up the Pigeon River, (some of you have been up there,
perhaps, fishing, in the Smoky Mountain region) and staying
with a moonshiner. Theoretically, of course, there is no moon-
shining in North Carolina; practically, — well, we don't talk
about it. But I stayed with this moonshiner. We arrived
about noon and he invited me and my friends to dinner. We
had roast sucking pig and broiled guinea fowl and fine corn
bread and good sweet potatoes — the table fairly groaned with
the good things of North Carolina, and there is no state
where there are more good things than right here. And
after dinner we were taken out down the gallery at the side

Southern Forestry Congress 55

of the house, and he opened a little door and wheeled out a
keg on to the veranda. lie then passed around little baby
gourds, and said, "Gentlemen, help yourselves." Well, that
was corn whiskey, about as clear as water and nearly all
alcohol. Well, I was doubtful about the results, and when
nobody was watching me, I tossed the gourd full of whiskey on
the ground behind a veranda post with a clinging hop vine.
I thought I was unobserved, but a little fellow about four
years old, in a yellow slip of homespun, came pattering along
the veranda, and ran through the gangway calling out, "Grand-
ma, the little fellow can't drink as much as Mama."

There are a great many interesting things in regard to
this region of Appalachia. And I am sure it is a great
pleasure to me to bring to you the greetings of the American
Forestry Association. Some of you, perhaps, do not know
about the American Forestry Association. It has members in
every state and territory in the Union, including Hawaii and
Porto Rico and Alaska. It has thousands and thousands of
members. Perhaps you will permit me right now to tell you
that in the last five and a half months over 2,500 people have
joined, paying $3.00 to $100.00 apiece. It is an American As-
sociation that stands for all that is best in forestry, and I bring
you this afternoon the hearty greetings of the directors of the
American Forestry Association, wishing you God speed in the
splendid work you are doing.

I think, as Forester Graves told you this morning, that there
is no part of the country that needs scientific forestry more
than the southeast, and I do not know of any part of the
United States where forestry, properly conducted, can do more
for its people than it can in this region. And you will do
well to organize in every Southern State a forestry association,
or at least a fire protection association, so that you can get
your equitable share of the money for fighting forest fires
and preventing them that is appropriated annually by the
United States Government for that helpful work which the
Government undertakes in cooperation with the States. Many
of the Southern States have received none of that money,
and therefore have none of the benfits, simply bcause they are
behind the times. I have lived for the last fifteen years in New
Jersey. I know some of you who live in a part of the country

56 Proceedings of the

where you have more blessings, don't think that New Jersey
is even a part of the United States ; but be that as it may,
we are a great State in many ways. Forty per cent of the
area of New Jersey is in forest. Some people think of us as
raising politicians and "cain," and other sorts of agricultural
products, but we raise timber, also, in New Jersey ; and we
have a forest fire system which I think is second to none.
As Forester Graves can more fully explain, we receive, through
his department, help that comes through appropriations in
connection with the Weeks Law. This is a benefit received
every year, and it is in that connection that we realize we are
a real part of the nation.

There are a great many forestry questions that are coming
up of interest and importance. You all know something
about the great destruction of the chestnut that has taken
place in the East — the so-called chestnut blight. Up in our
part of the world — in New Jersey — and in some other states,
you rarely see a chestnut tree that is alive. When you look off
across a wooded country, you simply see the bones of the
former chestnut trees standing in the air, without life and
in most cases without bark. The ravages of the chestnut
blight were not stopped. And now, people of North Carolina,
you have the beautiful five leaf pine — white pine, as we
call it — and you want to look out, because there is another
great scourge, and that is the five leaf pine blister rust. It
is all over New England and elsewhere, and spreading rapidly.
It got a big start before the scientific men spoke out loud about
it. You must be wideawake to the danger, or you may soon
have only sick or dead chesnuts and sick or dead white pines
to look at.

I saw a forest in Massacheusetts the other day coming
down through Lenox, beautiful white pine trees, such as you
see in some parts of Western North Carolina, and the greater
portion of them were infected with this terrible blister rust
pest. You will want to be, organized in every state in the
mountain region for many reasons, but you particularly want
to hurry up your organizations so that you can properly face
this danger. There are other men with greater technical
knowledge than I have who will talk about this white pine
blister rust at this Congress. But I beseech of you not to

Southern Forestry Congress 57

underestimate the importance of this terrible calamity which
threatens us with the possible extinction of the white pine.
Now, gentlemen, there are a great many things I might
talk about, but you have many more experienced speakers than
I — people who have a live message, and therefore I will say
only a few words more. The forests of America are in-
creasing in potential importance, particularly on account of
the Great War. Do you realize that in Russia, in the Balkans,
in Belgium, in Galicia, in France and England — everywhere —
there is terrible destruction of forests not only on the bat-
tlefields, where whole forests have been felled, and there
is much the same scene of desolation as some of your mountain
sides used to have when the tobacco crop farmers deadened
the trees? But that is not all. England and France formerly
imported a great deal of their lumber from Russia and the
Rhine, and they are now cut off from that source of supply.
The ocean freights are so high and the shortage of ships so
great that a comparatively small amount of lumber has been
shipped to England and they are cutting down the fine old
picturesque woodland parks over there. One of the most
picturesque, as well as the saddest, things of the war is this :
There was organized in Canada a body of woodsmen — 2,5900
men or more. Some of them months ago paraded the streets
of Ottawa clad in khaki trousers and Mackinaw shirts. They
carried saws and axes, or peveys or canthooks, in addition to
fire arms, and that 2,500 men have been taken to England —
they are there now ; and what are they doing ? They are
cutting down the historic old forests of England because
England has to have the timber for mine props and for other
necessary things, on account of the terrible shortage of lumber
and wood at this time in England. What will England look
like when you and I go back there after this great World War
is over, and find that the forests have been cut so that we can-
not recognize them ? I received a letter only Saturday from
one of those Canadian men who is working in the south of
England, in the forests, and he was permitted by the censor
to send a letter to me. He said, "Really, my friend, we men
of British Columbia, who have been used to cutting down the
forests of Canada, really feel sad to cut down these magnifi-
cent park or shade trees, but such is war."

58 Pboceedings of the

Now all this has a great relation to the forests of the United
States. I do not need to tell you that the potential value of
our forests will be greatly increased by this terrible destruction
of timber, and the uses for lumber that will come after the
war. So it is important that we think more of our forest
reservations — more of the great heritage which we should
leave to posterity, and we should take care of these estates
of the people which mean so much to us, not only from a finan-
cial and economic standpoint, but from other standpoints.
You, here in this region, have been greatly blessed because
you live so near to nature. Aind I think every one of you
will agree with me that the frequenter of the woods, the
American forester, the man or woman who can climb these
hills and see these grand products of nature, and all true
frequenters of the woods, are men and women of artistic
feeling. The tree has ever been the symbol of life, strength,
beauty, and the eye of man cannot continue to look upon
these monuments of nature without their beauty being reflected
in his life, making him a happier and a better man, and their
destruction, ladies and gentlemen, means not only the removal
of one of our natural resources from a practical and utilitarian
standpoint, but also from the viewpoint of morality, of happi-
ness, of beauty and of spirituality. And I am sure you agree
with me, that there is no compensation for such a loss. I
thank you.

Dr. Pratt : Following our custom in regard to papers and
addresses, the address of Mr. Pack is open for discussion.
You may discuss it or ask him questions or bring out any-
thing you may wish.

Mr. Powell: I have a resolution I think would well
follow this talk of Mr. Pack's, and, if you will allow me, I
would like to offer the resolution now.

RESOLUTION

Whereas, an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriation
Bill has recently been approved in the Senate appropriating
$3,000,000 for the purpose of continuing the purchase of
forest areas under the Weeks Law; and

Whereas, the continuance of these purchases is of very
great importance to the public welfare of the Eastern part
of the United States ;

Southern Forestry Congress 59

Therefore, be it resolved that the Southern Forestry Con-
gress, composed of delegates from practically all the Eastern
states, earnestly urge the enactment of this measure into law.

Dr. Pratt: Do you make a motion in regard to that?

Mr. Powell: I offer it as a resolution.

Dr. Pratt: You have heard the resolution. Is there a
motion that the resolution be adopted?

Motion made and seconded that the resolution be adopted.

Dr. PraTT: Any discussion of the motion?

Mr. Pack: Will you permit me to say just a word? This
matter is of the greatest importance. I had a conference with
a committee of men on Sunday evening at Washington on
this subject. You have Congressmen from North Carolina
and East Tennessee and West Virginia who will, of course,
vote for that sort of resolution and work for it ; they have
got to. They know perfectly well you won't send them back
to Washington if they don't. If any of you know any
of the Congressmen that live farther west, men who are
not particularly interested in the Appalachian region, by all
means wire them a copy of this resolution. There are many
men from the central district of the country who, with
a little urging, would vote right on such a subject, but with-
out urging are very apt and quite likely to vote against it.
They don't see any reason why they should buy some lands on
the headwaters of these streams and fix a playground for you
and me. And some of us, if we lived out West, might feel
the same way about it. I think this resolution should be
acted upon favorably and the officers instructed to send tele-
grams to members of the House of Representatives from
this region. I think the Mayor of Asheville and the Gover-
nor of North Carolina and everybody should cooperate in
this essential work. It means so much to all of us. It is
easy for us to get together here and jolly each other, who are
already converted, but the cause that gets no new converts
makes little progress. Now, if you can convert one Congress-
man from somewhere, it will be worth ninety and nine Con-
gressmen that we know are with us.

The resolution was unamimously adopted.

A motion was made that the President be instructed to send

60 Proceedings of the

telegrams to the President of the United States and the fol-
lowing members of the House of Representatives : Hon.
Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives;
Hon. Claude Kitchin, Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee; Hon. John J. Fitzgerald, Chairman of the Appro-
priations Committee ; and Hon. Asbury F. Lever, Chairman of
the Committee on Agriculture.

The motion was unanimously carried.

Dr. Pratt : I might say that in addition to sending copies
of this resolution to the gentlemen mentioned, that we will
also send copies in the name of the Southern Forestry Con-
gress to all members of Congress from the States represented
here.

Before I call on the next speaker of the program, I am
going to ask a man who is here representing the Blue Ridge
Association, which is interested with us in the formation of a
Forest Protective Association, and which is interested in many
ways in the work we are carrying on, to say a word. He has an
invitation which he wishes to extend to the members of this
Conference. It relates to a visit to the Blue Ridge Association
grounds near Black Mountain. It is a place I have visited,
and where I have found they treated you royally and hospita-
bly. If you stay there during the summer, you will always find
something going on that will be of interest to you, — confer-
ences of one sort or another, and all of importance. I will
ask Mr. Quillian to extend the invitation to you on behalf
of the Blue Ridge Association.

(Mr. C. Fletcher Quillian then, on behalf of the Young
Men's Christian Association in the Southern States, extended
to the delegates of the Congress "a cordial invitation to visit
Blue Ridge.")

Dr. Pratt : We are very much obliged for and appreciate
the invitation extended us, and I sincerely hope some of you
will be able to accept and visit the grounds of the Blue Ridge
Association.

I am sorry to have to announce that the next speaker who
was to have addressed us is unable to be here, Mrs. T. W.
Lingle, President of the North Carolina Federation of
Women's Clubs. Her subject was, "The Part of the Women's
Clubs in Forestry Conservation." We have found that the

SOUTIIEEN FORESTKY CONGRESS 61

women of North Carolina, as well as those of other states,
have been and are taking a very live interest in our conserva-
tion problems. Among the delegates to this Congress ap-
pointed by the Governor of North Carolina were many of
the women of the State ; and, outside the city of Asheville, a
much larger percentage of the women appointed by the Gov-
ernor are attending this Conference than of the men, which
indicates the interest the women have in this forestry work.
We are mighty glad to have them here, and particularly
those who have come to the Congress from outside Asheville.
The question came up this morning as to whether the women
were privileged to attend the trip tomorrow. I might say
here that everything in connection with the Congress is open
to the women just as much as to the men. They are delegates
in every sense of the word. There is plenty of work to be
done for all of us.

One thing was mentioned to me this morning that was not
brought out in the meeting. Mr. Seymour was speaking of
the conservation of wild life and how we should begin to teach
the children through teachers of the public and normal schools.
One of our women delegates stated that he left out one im-
portant way in which this subject should be taught, and that
was through the mothers of the children. Get the mothers
and all the women of this and other states interested in the
work we are trying to do, and you will find that our accom-
plishments and successes will increase by leaps and bounds.
We will not then be obliged to look back by decades to see
if we have made any advance, but we will be able to look
back year by year and see an advance made in the work we
are endeavoring to accomplish.

I will now call on Mr. Maddox, Forester of the State of
Tennessee, who will discuss the subject, "The Erosion Problem
of the South, and Its Relation to Forestry."

62 Proceedings of the

THE EROSION PROBLEM OF THE SOUTH AND ITS
RELATION TO FORESTRY

By R. S. Maddox,

FORESTER, TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

"Ye who love the haunts of nature,

Love the sunshine of the meadow,

Love the shadows of the forest,

Love the wind among the branches,

And the rain shower and the snow-storm,

And the rushing of great rivers,

Through their palisades of pine trees,

And the thunder in the mountains," — Longfellow.

to you these thoughts of mine are addressed. But unlike the
poet's country of meadow, forests, rushing rivers and great
pine trees, I have another land to describe — one furrowed by
gullies both great and small, land eaten into and washed
away by the falling rains which should nourish it — whose
extent in West Tennessee alone is estimated at between a
quarter and a third of a million acres. To the reclamation
of such areas the Forestry Division of the Tennessee Geol-
ogical Survey is in part dedicated. Taking Tennessee as fairly
typical of the problem of erosion in the South, it will be my
object in this paper to point out to you why forestry should
be a most prominent factor in the restoration of waste lands,
namely, cleared lands which have been eroded to such an
extent that they have been abandoned.

RESULTS OF EROSION

In the first place these eroded regions are a menace to pros-
perity. We could liken them to a belligerent enemy gradu-
ally extending his battle front. They occupy what should be
some of our best lands, causing depletion in property values,
and they reach ever outward to destroy still more rich country.
The public highways are in danger from them. There are
many places where the roadbeds have been moved in order
to escape their encroachments ; but this gives only a temporary
relief. In a few years this same process will be repeated, more
road beds will be moved, more eroded areas creep up to
destroy the new highways, and unless something is done to
prevent such continuous waste, parts of the South will become
desolate and the destruction much more extended.

Southern Forestry Congress 63

Not only do these eroded sections eat into good areas,
but they destroy other valuable lands through deposits from
them. In Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee there is a
flat country, bottom lands, over which have been swept and
left quantities of gravel and stone through the rapid run-off
of water. In West Tennessee there are bottom lands that
once produced abundant crops of corn and wheat, which today
are swamps grown up in willow, sycamore, gum and maple.
Why? Because the sand and clay washed from the wasting
lands above them were deposited in these flat cultivated fields
and stream beds, causing interference with the drainage and
rendering them incapable for the present of further culti-
vation.

A local change in temperature is also noticeable as re-
sulting from these wasting lands. Over them in summer
hangs a shimmering heat almost palpitating in its effect, quite
unlike that which hovers over an ordinary field. In winter
their mantle of ice and frozen ground only adds cold to the
wind that blows unobstructed over them.

Loss of timber is still another effect of eroded land. It
has been the custom of farmers in Tennessee, and I dare say
other states as well, to replace their worn-out fields by new
ground. This new ground is secured by cutting, often ruth-
lessly, into their timbered areas. On many of the farms on
the hillside three stages of this kind of clearing can be ob-
served. On the lower edge of the hill is an area lying in
gullies, perhaps having a few scattering trees of inferior spe-
cies. Being interpreted this means that that land was first
cleared for cultivation, then worn out and finally turned out.
Immediately above this plot is a field just breaking on the lower
side into gullies. This was the next land to take the place of
that first mentioned. Still higher up a third section can be
seen embracing the hill top. This is either newly cleared
to take the place of the partially depleted land just below or
else it yet contains a stand of timber waiting patiently for the
axe to complete the merciless cycle of destruction. The
result of land erosion is an increasing drain upon our remain-
ing timber, already none too abundant.

64: Proceedings of the

causes of erosion

We must look for the causes of erosion to the clearing of
timberland. Injudicious cutting has occured in various ways.
There is a type of land in the hilly and mountainous portions
of the State too steep to admit of clearing for agricultural
purposes, yet much of this has been cut off and cultivated
with the result that it has washed into gullies and has been
abandoned.

Clearing timber from shallow soil may also be classed
as unwise cutting of our woodlands. Here the underlying
strata of rock is so close to the surface that forests are the
only means known to date by which the soil and water can
be economically held. Where such clearings have been done
agricultural methods have not been successful in maintaining
the soil for production. This has resulted in rocky, sterile land.

Causes of erosion can also be traced to forest fires. While
this source of damage is to a great degree familiar to all,
yet it will bear mentioning here both because of the little at-
tention it has received in the South, and because of the ways in
which it happens. First the deliberate setting of fire to
forest areas occurs in many sections with no object in view
except to have a fire. Also many cattle men set fire to woods
in order to destroy the leaf litter and to secure early grass
to improve the grazing, as they say. The permeability of the
soil is thus impaired. Much of the obstruction to run-off
has been removed and erosion is the natural result.

In this connection destructive lumbering must be men-
tioned. As is well known, it is a system of cutting everything
available for lumber immediately. No precautions for the
protection of young growth are taken, no provision for a
future stand of timber is made. This means that when rains
fall the natural obstructions to run-off have been removed
and the equilibrium established between erosion and the forest
cover is destroyed. Incalculable damage frequently takes place
before vegetation can grow to reestablish normal conditions.
This state of affairs is often aggravated by fires induced
by the presence of limbs, brush and other kinds of trash left
from logging. The intensity of the heat from this accumulated
rubbish largely if not wholly destroys the remaining vegetation

Southern Forestry Congress 65

and thus further prolongs the period and the force of erosion
before the area can again become normal.

REGENERATION OF THESE LANDS

After a careful consideration of the effects and causes of
erosion we must necessarily come to the question of regen-
eration— restoration. Here it is the plain duty of forestry to
take a hand. Protection of our timber is one of forestry's
main objects and just so surely as the system of fire prevention
seeks to protect and promote the growth of standing timber,
just so surely checking erosion is going to protect our re-
maining woods, which under the present system are being daily
reduced in value. This can easily be seen from one viewpoint
alone. If present agricultural lands can be kept in a suitable
condition for agriculture, there will be no necessity to ruth-
lessly plunder our woodlands for more cleared land.

In addition, the restoration of eroded areas means more
land to be reforested. While it is true that some of the country
reclaimed will be more suitable for agricultural purposes than
tree growth, yet it is also true that much of the area to be
reclaimed will be classed as forest land. This is a fact that
must be recognized for several reasons. Much of this eroded
area should be kept in timber for the protection of agricultural
land, regulating the drainage and preserving it from the
dangers of erosion. Much of this land, too, is naturally more
suited to timber growth than to agriculture, while still other
portions can be reforested and left in timber for many years
to come even if not permanently.

The process, then, of restoration means forestry — growing
trees. In the process of regeneration there are several methods
which are being tried out. To digress just here for a moment
to West Tennessee, it may be of interest to know that this
section of the state is rolling in character and of a sandy-clay
soil. The sand and clay is mixed in such proportions that the
soil is very easily eroded, especially where it is neglected.
As a result there are many fields now lying out as waste. Many
of these areas will no doubt be reclaimed for tree growth and
others for crop production. In general the reclamation work
here consists in first throwing up dams in the gulleys. These
dams are built strongly enough to hold the stream flow, catch-
ing the earth that the water washes down from the slopes,

66 Proceedings of the

in a perfect network of brush and twigs. As soon as enough
earth is secured, some form of vegetation is set to growing
in order to hold the earth in a permanent way after the tem-
porary brush dams have decayed. If tree growth is to be
established the object is to build the dams, as above described,
and set the area with those trees that will if possible, early
become of commercial value as well as restore the land. Black
locust is especially adapted to this use in many places. It
enriches the soil, holds the earth intact and can be used for
fence posts, poles, etc. Poplar, walnut, sycamore, red gum
and other species are also good, depending upon the locality
and results desired.

SUMMARY.

At every point erosion touches forestry. Its results and
causes, as have been seen, are forestry issues, and attacking
the problem means the regeneration of many acres for perma-
nent tree growth. Restoration seeks to maintain a temporary
stand of timber during the process, and even where areas
that must become permanent agricultural land are reclaimed
it still has a direct effect upon standing timber, for, as it adds
more land to agriculture it also lessens the necessity for ad-
ditional clearing of the woodlands. This reclamation means
a more uniform stream flow and a reestablishment of the
drainage equilibrium. It means that a more conservative
method of private lumbering will be brought about and promis-
cuous grazing with its attendant evils will be stopped. It
means the suppression of forest fires and the elimination of
at least a part of the far reaching harm which comes to our
fish, game and birds. The relation between forestry and
erosion seems clear. Forestry does not have to wait until a
definite rocky slope needs restocking or a stand of timber needs
cutting scientifically before it can do effective service. It is
the forester's business to help create and maintain proper
conditions so that the conservation of our natural resources
will be secured. It is to this branch of the work that Tennes-
see's Forestry Division is at present giving a great share of
its attention.

Dr. Pratt: The subject dealt with by Mr. Maddox is a
very important one, and we now have ten or fifteen minutes
in which to discuss this paper. North Carolina is apt to claim

Southern Forestry Congress 67

a good many things, and to claim that she is first in a good
many ways, but when it comes to deep gullies, I am perfectly
willing that Tennessee shall have first place.

Is there any discussion of Mr. Maddox's paper?

Mr. BeslEy : To mention a concrete case which will em-
phasize the points Mr. Maddox brought out in his paper. We
all know that the erosion problem is a very serious one, but
we often are not sufficiently acquainted with facts to
enable us to give concrete cases. Where we are, they ought
to be brought out. Last year, I had an opportunity to observe
a point on the Patapsco River in Maryland, where a dam
had been built ten years prior to that time. The silt which
had been eroded from the watershed not more than 100 square
miles in extent, was sufficient to fill this reservoir created
by the dam 25 feet high, level with the top, so as to render
entirely ineffectual all the many thousands of dollars expended
in the construction of the dam. This accumulation of silt 25
feet deep at the dam and 100 feet wide, extended back for a
distance of one-third of a mile, but, of course, it was not so
deep back at the farther point, — probably about three or four
feet. That gives you some idea of the immense accumula-
tion of silt from a very small watershed area. The result
was that this water-power plant built at this point was made
absolutely ineffectual. And this silt had come down from
rich farming sections above this point, and in doing so filled
the channel of the river to the extent that floods were very
frequent, the channel being no longer able to carry off the
water. This river is the one on which Baltimore is located.
In order to keep the channel open for navigation, the govern-
ment and city together have spent something like fifteen
million dollars in the last twenty years in taking out silt
brought down by this one river. The people who owned the
dam behind which the silt had accumulated made an opening
at the bottom and let the water wash the silt on. There are,
I think, four other dams below this point, all built for the
creation of water-power. Of course, the silt was washed
out of the first one and accumulated behind the next dam,
putting them practically out of business ; this will be repeated
by the next and so on, until the silt has finally worked down
into the harbor of Baltimore, there requiring a great ex-

68 Proceedings of the

penditure of money to remove it. So you see the problem is
a far-reaching one, even though there are but a few cases
where we can actually measure the results. It has been said
that the amount of silt eroded from hill farm lands is 500
pounds per acre per annum. You can figure out from very
large areas what that would amount to in a given time.

Dr. Baker : I would like to make an observation as a
result of study of stream regulation, which means prevention
of erosion, in certain parts of Europe. During studies in
Savoy in Eastern France, it was exceedingly interesting to
see how mechanical obstructions were put into gullies and
streams in various ways to prevent erosion. This morning,
as Professor Maddox was reading his paper, it occurred to me
that it would be an extremely interesting experiment to de-
termine the power of vegetation of various kinds in preventing
erosion, filling gullies, etc. If over the hills or in the mountain
sections of Savoy, and the same is true in Switzerland and in
the mountainous sections of Germany, an unusual rain starts
gullying, immediately a mechanical obstruction, usually a
barrier of brush or wood, is put into the gully and it is sur-
prising how quickly the soil accumulates and erosion is stopped.
Of course, the placing of mechanical barriers is followed im-
mediately by planting of trees or smaller vegetation.

Mr. Maddox : One word further in regard to eroded land
that is not thought to be of any value for farming. The
landowner should be made to realize that something will grow
on what is frequently termed "gully dirt." Almost any land-
owner, it matters not how poor a farmer he may be, can be con-
vinced that such dirt can be made fertile in a comparatively
little while, if caught and held. Call his attention to a number
of dams he himself has seen along the public roads where
weeds, briers and grass are growing luxuriantly on that kind
of dirt which obstructions have caught from gullies. In that
way you can convince almost any farmer. By building such
obstructions in gullies you can get plant life to thrive and fre-
quently better than on what might appear to be better soil.

Mr. Graves: In my judgment the points brought out by
Mr. Maddox regarding the relation of erosion to forestry are
of very great importance, and I wish to say a word regarding
the larger aspects of that problem.

Southern Forestry Conoress 69

There is, as you know, a group of engineers who take the
position that forests have very little influence on the conser-
vation of water resources. Many of these engineers entirely
overlook the erosion problem, ignoring the damage which is
already occurring in many parts of our mountains and the in-
fluence of erosion on torrents and floods. We do not have to
go to books or to theory to show the influence of forests on
erosion. We can go to our own mountain regions and find ex-
amples so spectacular that I feel that even some of our en-
gineering friends could no longer shut their eyes to them.

We have in the west a number of National forests set
aside primarily for the protection of the water resources.
One of the greatest purposes is the regulation of the use of
the vegetative cover to prevent erosion. Of course this pro-
tection is taken care of through the proper handling of the
forest cover. In some instances, however, in the southwest the
forests have relatively few timber trees on the watersheds,
which are covered mainly with a dense growth of brush locally
called chaparral. Frequently people have ridiculed the Forest
Service because these areas have been incorporated as National
forests and yet contain very few trees. Their importance in
the protection of the local interests which use water for irri-
gation and other purposes is very great, so great in fact that in
some instances the local communities are contributing many
thousands of dollars to aid the Forest Service in protecting
them from fire. As a practical example of what happens if
the vegetative cover is destroyed, I might mention a fire which
occurred in the fall of 1913 on the slopes of a canyon in south-
ern California. Only 700 acres of brush land was burned over
and yet the following spring the rains sweeping down over
this denuded area caused a flood which did an enormous
amount of damage,whereas previous floods had simply caused
temporary high water which did little or no damage. On
this occasion the watershed was literally torn to pieces, the
stream channel cut in places from 10 to 15 feet deep, agri-
cultural lands and orchards torn to pieces, and fine irrigated
land covered with a deep deposit of debris which ruined it.
There was a damage of $40,000 or $50,000 done in a few hours
as a direct result of the burning of 700 acres of brush land.
I could also give many instances of the effect of unregulated
grazing on our western mountain lands which have been fol-

70 Proceedings of the

lowed by very serious erosion and damage by floods. Similiar
flood damage has been done in the east as a result of forest
destruction followed by erosion. I repeat that we do not need
to go to Europe for examples of the injurious effect of erosion
following forest destruction. We have a multitude of ex-
amples in this country.

Mr. Seymour : I am going to talk a little about the orchard
business again. I have a model orchard around a hill. We
keep that in grass for two reasons : to hold the soil and to
furnish humus to fertilize the trees. That has been found to
be the best thing to do.

I want to recite to you Roosevelt's illustration about this
matter. He took a table that was nearby, took a glass of
water and slanted the table and threw the glass of water on
the table. Of course, the water ran off on the floor. Then he
put a tablecloth on the table, threw a glass of water on it, and
it all stayed right there.

Dr. Pratt : I will now read the Committee appointments :

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS.

R. C. Jones, Chairman Virginia

J. W. Tourney Connecticut

Thomas A. Cox North Carolina

H. S. Graves District of Columbia

Dr. T. S. Palmer District of Columbia

Miss Julia A. Thorns North Carolina

J. E. Barton Kentucky

Henry E. Hardtner Louisiana

John L. Kaul Alabama

Boiling Arthur Johnson Illinois

L. J. Young Michigan

R. S. Maddox Tennessee

Gallatin Roberts North Carolina

Mrs. R. S. Hosmer • New York

J. H. Foster Texas

COMMITTEE ON PERMANENT ORGANIZATION.

J. G. Lee, Chairman Louisiana

J. G. Peters • District of Columbia

Edwin P. Cox Virginia

Edmund Seymour New York

F. W. Besley Maryland

J. A. Viquesney West Virginia

W. D. Tyler Virginia

G. A. Loyall Tennessee

Southern Forestry Congress 71

Mrs. Gordon Finger North Carolina

Mrs. W. P. Wharton Massachusetts

Mrs. W. T. Lindsay North Carolina

PUBLICITY COMMITTEE

Neptune Buckner, Chairman North Carolina

Dr. Hugh P. Baker New York

Verne Rhoades North Carolina

W. D. Clark • Massachusetts

Donald Gillis North Carolina

REGISTRATION COMMITTEE

E. H. Frothingham, Chairman District of Columbia

Mrs. J. S. Holmes . . . • North Carolina

L. L. Bishop North Carolina

The last address this afternoon is by one of the men from
Louisiana, who has been carrying on some work in connection
with forest management, who is going to talk to us on "A
Practical Example of Forest Management in Southern Yellow
Pine." I take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. Henry E.
Hardtner, of Louisiana.

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT
IN SOUTHERN YELLOW PINE

By Henry E. Hardtner,

PRESIDENT URANIA EUMBER COMPANY

For the past ten years, I have endeavored to make a care-
ful study of forest conditions in Louisiana, and have made
experiments as to the effect of fire and grazing on young
forest growth; the relative value of land for timber and
agricultural purposes ; the taxation of forest lands, and the
need of additional legislation in order to maintain a permanent
timber supply. I have tried to observe the changes in stream
flow and water supply on our denuded watersheds, and other
matters closely allied to forestry. Gradually the problems are
worked out as the experiments ripen, and from time to time
the findings are announced to the general public and to the
various state departments, as well as to the Forest Service at
Washington.

The lumber industry, for many years past, has not been a
profitable one, and has yielded the manufacturer very little,
if any, profit. Why this deplorable condition exists, or its

72 Proceedings of the

remedy, I will not undertake to discuss. I wonder if any
great number of people, or the manufacturers, even realize
how much longer our forests will last, and the ruinous policy
they are pursuing in denuding the forests, with scarcely any re-
turns therefrom. Take Louisiana, for example — the State
Board of Appraisers, for the year 1914, reported the yellow
pine acreage as follows :

Class A 259,545 acres @ 20,000 feet 5,191,300,000

Class B 418,686 acres @ 12,000 feet 5,026,232,000

Class C 624,664 acres @ 10,000 feet 6,246,640,000

Class D 1,070,351 acres @ 6,000 feet 6,422,106,000

Denuded 4,502,216 acres @ 1,000 feet 4,502,216,000

Total 6,875,482 acres 27,388,494,000

Let us presume that there are errors in classification, that
there are lands not classed as pine which should be ; that the
mill cut will exceed the log scale or estimate ; that there will
be closer utilization, etc., and in order to get full estimate, let
us double the total stumpage, as reported by the Board of
Appraisers, and we have 54,776,988,000 feet. The estimate
is high, if anything, for the Board of Appraisers and the as-
sessors are very watchful, and the timber lands being largely
in the hands of operators, the acreage and classifications are
as nearly correct as can be figured.

The annual cut of yellow pine in Louisiana is nearly three
billion feet, gathered from available statistics, and will con-
tinue around that mark for years to come, as all the mills are
equipped to run night and day, and no doubt as soon as pros-
perity smiles, the cut will approach four billion feet. So at
the present rate of cutting, our virgin forests will be ex-
hausted in eighteen years. I doubt if there is a single manu-
facturer in the State who can operate his mill twenty years
longer, and the timber supply is already in the hands of manu-
facturers so there is no surplus to draw from. The same con-
dition exists in all other Southern States — in most of them it
is worse.

We are face to face with a serious problem. Many millions
of acres of valuable timber lands in the Southern States, cap-
able of giving employment to thousands and placing millions of
dollars in circulation, are soon to be made almost worthless.
Not all of these acres are valuable for farming, and fully fifty

Southern Forestry Congress 73

years must elapse before even a small portion are in demand
for agriculture. We might as well face the truth : Fully 50
per cent of our hill lands are unfit for agriculture and should
be kept in forest. It is a good thing for any State to have
forest lands and grow trees, for it is a source of great wealth
and of great value in other ways. There should be a census
taken of all lands to ascertain their present and prospective
value. In this way we would know which lands were agri-
cultural, and which should be planted to timber. No man
should be allowed to hold large areas for speculative purposes.
If the lands are chiefly valuable for agriculture, let them be
classed as agricultural lands. If they are valuable for timber,
let them be classed as such and provision made to encourage
the owners to grow timber.

We have a great many people who place a value on lands
chiefly for the taxes that the owner must pay. For instance,
one of Louisiana's large land owners, who is prominent as one
of the Nation's great conservationists, wanted to take advan-
tage of the State's encouraging offei? to fix the assessment on
lands dedicated to timber growth at one dollar per acre for
thirty years. He made known his wish to the assessor, police
jury, and other officials, that he wanted to grow timber on
10,000 acres of denuded lands. He was told very plainly that
they did not want forests — that they wanted farms and would
raise his assessment on other properties if he persisted in grow-
ing timber and having an assessment of one dollar per acre
placed on such forest lands. Of course our friend had to give
up the idea. These officials could only see the taxes coming
in from an assessment of two dollars per acre as at present,
which must continue for many years, the land not even yielding
good pasturage. Their vision was not great enough to see a
valuation of one dollar per acre for thirty years, and then
for the next thirty years when the timber was maturing, an
average assessment of perhaps fifty dollars per acre. They
could not see the amount of work that would be given to the
people, the money placed in circulation, and other vast bene-
fits. They could not realize that the state would eventually
get three or four times as much in taxes.

As a matter of fact, timber cannot be grown profitably
until the question of taxation is first settled. In some states

74 Pkoceedings of the

the lands only are assessed, and an additional tax is levied
against the yield when the timber is cut, and this is the cor-
rect way. Tax the timber when cut. Our Louisiana law was
framed to fit the constitution. An assessment of one or two
dollars per acre for thirty years and actual valuation there-
after, which would perhaps average fifty dollars per acre for
the next thirty years. This amounts to practically the same
thing as a yield tax in force in some other states. Until the
question of taxation is fixed, there will be no effort made to
grow timber in any state. There should be a reasonable annual
tax on timber land with a deferred tax on the timber, to be
assessed and paid when the timber is taken therefrom, in order
to prevent the constant cutting of growing timber by private
owners who cannot afford to conserve it under the present
system of taxation.

Successful agriculture is determined by the cost of produc-
ing a crop, and the same principle will apply to production of
timber. We are all very proud of our Southland and inclined
to boast of our resources — but too often we depend upon
strangers to do the real work of development, and when we
see their success, we wonder why we were so blind. There is
no use to misrepresent the resources and possibilities of any
State to any one — not even to ourselves. We might as well
face the fact that not all of our lands are agricultural, and
that forests must be renewed, and in those sections where lands
are handled for their true worth, you will find permanent pros-
perity. We have lands which may become profitable for agri-
culture fifty years hence when conditions are different, but
until that time does come there is no harm in producing a
crop of timber rather than have the lands idle.

In my efforts to reforest denuded lands, I found it neces-
sary to leave a number of seed bearing trees to each acre. The
next step was to prevent fires. I was amply rewarded in my
efforts in this direction but in a different way from what I ex-
pected. A 300-acre tract surrounding my home on which
the virgin longleaf pine was cut in 1902, leaving plenty of
seed trees, now has a full stand of shortleaf pine saplings, five
to ten years old. I have often wondered at this change. I
knew that there had been longleaf pine seed crops and that
fires had been prevented. Nearby there was a tract of 4,000

Southern Forestry Congress 75

acres of denuded longleaf pine land which burned over an-
nually until 1913, and on which there was scant reproduction
of any species. Four thousand acres longleaf forest with
plenty of seed trees, burned annually — no reforestation. Three
hundred acres of longleaf forest protected against fires for
twelve years and complete reforestation of shortleaf.

The solution was simple. There were a few shortleaf seed
trees on the branches, which bore seed every year, and the
wind scattered the seed in every direction. The longleaf pine
trees also bore seed which were scattered. As soon as the
seeds strike the ground, they germinate and, if cared for, com-
plete reforestation will soon result. This was the case on the
three hundred-acre tract. There were, no doubt, as many long-
leaf seedlings as shortleaf. The seed of longleaf pine are
strongly convex, oblong, oval, somewhat less than half an
inch long. The kernel is oily, rich in nutritious matter and
palatable. When the seedlings are one year old, the roots and
short stems are spongy, sweet and tender, and the hogs soon
destroy the full crop. If a small proportion of longleaf pine
seedlings survive the first year, the hog is sure to get them the
next season, so I am convinced that the arch enemy to long-
leaf reproduction is the hog.

Shortleaf pine seeds are very small and the year old seed-
lings have a slender stem and root, and are not at all relished
by hogs. It took me ten years to find out the reason why this
tract did not reproduce at least a few long leaf pines. It was
hogs. In 1913 there was a big crop of longleaf pine seed which
germinated in November and December; and there must have
been 5,000 to 20,000 seedlings to the acre in December, 1914,
nice, large, juicy ones ; and then came the hogs from the
swamps and one hog would average five seedlings a minute
and there were droves of hogs all busy. Here I had labored
since 1913, with an army of men to prevent fires, which I con-
sidered the only enemy worthy of note, and all at once before
my eyes, in every direction I saw the real enemy destroying
seedlings by the million. The earth was covered with freshly
up-rooted seedlings, and it was very plain that the hogs had
heretofore prevented reforestation. In May, 1915, in order to
save some of the seedlings of 1913 and prove my experiments,
I had Urania plot No. 7 containing 2,500 acres fenced with

76 Proceedings of the

hog proof wire, leaving the same number of acres on the
outside. Two months ago, namely in May, 1916, the longleaf
pine seedlings under fence were numerous, while on the out-
side they were very scarce. There has been complete de-
struction of the unprotected seedlings. What more evidence
is needed?

Fire now seemed a friend and I commenced burning over
a few acres in this fenced plot and the locomotives would
set fire to a plot and burn as much as forty acres. There were
a dozen such burned areas commencing in October, 1914, and
ending April, 1916. The dried sedge grass was heavy, and the
fires hot, but from 50 to 90 per cent of the seedlings survived
and in a few days the buds put forth new straw and are today
healthy and vigorous. The green straw would burn off level
with the ground, but the bud was not injured. Of course these
experimental burnings were usually at a time when the ground
was wet and the sap down or just beginning to rise, which was
favorable to fire resistance, but I do not think the seedlings
would have been destroyed even though the soil had been dry.
A two- and three-year old seedling will resist fire much better
than a year old, for there is a heavier covering of straw over
the bud. While I am opposed to fire at any time, and do not
advocate its use, I am confident that even one year old longleaf
pine seedlings will survive a fire, especially if it occurs during
a wet spell, and their resistance to fire is increased the older
they grow. I am also convinced that the longleaf pine seedlings
will not survive the hog, and reforestation is impossible in a
country where hogs roam at large. The remedy is : First pre-
vent the hog, then prevent the fire.

If any further proof is necessary to show why longleaf
pine forests do not usually reforest in longleaf pine, let us
view United States Forest Service sample plots C-l, C-2, C-3,
C-4, ("Roberts"), one-fourth acre each on cut over longleaf
pine lands with occasional seed trees surrounding them. The
heavy longleaf pine seed crop of 1913 resulted in an excellent
stand of seedlings of this species. On January 1, 1915, the
average number of seedlings was over 3,000 to the acre. These
plots were established to trace the development of young long-
leaf pine reproduction. Plots C-l and C-4 were burned over
on February 10, 1915. The damage from fire was scarcely

Southern Forestry Congress 77

noticeable, but in March, 1915, the hogs began to eat the roots
of the seedlings on un fenced plots, C-2 and C-3, destrying
fully 50 per cent, and in March and April, 1916, completed
the work of destruction so that no seedlings are now left on
these two plots. Fenced plot, C-4, which was burned, and
fenced plot, C-l, unburned, have as perfect a stand of two-
year old longleaf pine seedlings as one could want to see,
fully 5,000 to the acre, an increase over the count made when
the plots were laid out.

One to three-year old shortleaf or loblolly pine seedlings
will not survive a fire, but hogs are not a serious enemy.
Longleaf pine is the gem of all the pines and if given a chance,
will grow as rapidly as shortleaf or loblolly pine and produce a
much better grade of wood. Very little effort, however, has
been made to grow it for the reason that it was supposed to be
of slow growth and difficult to handle.

Another experiment which we are making is in thinning a
21-acre plot of shortleaf and loblolly pine. This plot was in
cultivation 25 years ago and the trees now growing on it are
24 to 25 years old. Thinnings should have commenced 15
years ago, as the stand was heavy and the growth in the last
15 years has been much suppressed. We cut out about 100
trees to the acre, leaving 200 to 250. From the 21 acres we
secured :

180 cords wood @ $1.25 = $225.00

555 tram ties @ .05= 27.75

200 posts @ .03= 6.00

Total $258.75

The cost was $205.00, or a profit of $53.75 or $2.55 per
acre, sufficient to pay all taxes and other expenses. The tim-
ber removed was from two to twelve inches in diameter, breast
high, and could have been used for other purposes at a greater
profit, if facilities had been at hand for proper treatment. The
thinnings will greatly accelerate the growth of the remaining
trees, which at a low estimate will add one inch of wood every
five years, or four inches during the next twenty years at the
end of which time the timber can be cut. Such an increase in
growth would raise the yield from 300,000 feet to nearly
900,000 or 42,000 feet per acre, at an age of less than fifty

78

Proceedings of the

years. Accurate measurements have been made of every
tree, the trees numbered, and many photographs taken. Meas-
urements will be made at intervals of five years, or oftener
if necessary. A complete record is at hand for examination at
any time.

A condensed statement of acre No. 8, plot No. 1, is as
follows :

Inches in Diameter

Number of

Inches in Diameter

Number of

Breast High

Trees

Breast High

Trees

Under 3

46

10

7

3

29

10.5

8

3.5

5

11

8

4

12

11.5

3

4.5

4

12

4

5

11

12.5

3

5.5

5

13

4

6

15

13.5

2

6.5

18

14

2

7

8

14.5

2

7.5

0

15.5

2

8

25

16.5

1

8.5

17

17

1

9

11

22

1

9.5

6

This acre of 251 trees will yield, at the present time, 13,544
feet. Adding four inches, the estimated growth in 20 years,
we will have 42,388 feet. With stumpage now selling at $5.00
per 1,000 feet, we may reasonably infer that 20 years hence
when this acre of timber has matured, it will easily have a value
of $10.00 per 1,000 feet, or $423.88. If converted into lumber
and delivered to Northern markets, the value will be at least
$1,200.00, 80 per cent of which value will have been paid out
for labor and supplies. I am not prepared at this time to say
what the cost of growing timber will be, but I presume it will
not exceed $2.00 per 1,000 feet.

A table showing volume of board feet which can be cut
from small trees and on which my calculations are made is as
follows :

Southern Forestry Congress 79

Inches in Di(

imeter

Number of 16 ft.

Top Diameter of

Volume bd. feet

Breast High

I^ogs

TOP IyOg

'/h in. kerf

5

1

4

8

6

2

4

24

7

2

4

40

8

2

5

51

9

3

4.5

66

10

3

5

94

11

3

6

113

12

3

7

180

13

3

8

240

14

4

9

315

There are a dozen other experimental plots in the Urania
forest which were laid out by the United States Forest Ser-
vice and the Conservation Commission of Louisiana, in co-
operation with the Urania Lumber Company. In these plots
are seedlings a year old, and trees from 10 to 30 years old,
all well arranged and a complete record kept. One demon-
stration plot is along one mile of road; a strip 100 yards in
width being thinned on the south side, while the north side is
untouched. The comparison is very interesting and convincing,
and one must acknowledge that it is as necessary to cultivate
timber as cotton or corn, and that when the work is done
properly the yield will be greatly increased. It is just as easy
to grow 50,000 feet of timber to the acre in 60 years, by assist-
ing nature, as it is for nature alone to produce 5,000 feet in
the same time. When we hear of a virgin tract of timber 200
years old estimating 15,000 to 20,000 feet per acre, we think
it something unusual, but there could as well be 40,000 feet.
In virgin tracts there are many blank spots, the trees are not
equally distributed and fire demands its toll, all of which ac-
counts for the small yields. In cultivated tracts the blanks
are filled up, consequently there is no waste space.

The Federal Government under Section 2 of the Weeks
law, offers to assist the States in protecting the forested water-
sheds of navigable streams from fire. In order to secure as-
sistance of this kind, a State must have provided by law a sys-
tem of forest fire protection and have appropriated funds for
the purpose. All of the Southern States should take advan-
tage of this law and the readiness of the Federal government
to co-operate should be an incentive to immediate action.

Dr. Pratt : Mr. Hardtner's interesting paper is now open

80 Proceedings of the

for discussion. I am sure he will be glad to answer any
questions any of you may wish to ask him.

I may say that the investigations we have made in North
Carolina have led us to the same conclusions that Mr. Hardt-
ner had arrived at. The razor-back hog has uprooted and
destroyed many, many acres of longleaf pine in North Caro-
lina. For example, in New Hanover County there is a stock
law, and in the adjoining county cattle, sheep and hogs range
freely. In the former, longleaf pine is plentiful, and in the
latter you can hardly find a longleaf pine, while the conditions
are otherwise very similar.

Is there any discussion of this paper? Any questions?

If not, the next business session of the Congress will be
Thursday morning at 10 o'clock in this room.

Meeting adjourned.

THURSDAY, JULY 13

MORNING SESSION, 10 A. M.
J. G. Peters, Presiding

Dr. Pratt : This morning I am going to turn over the ses-
sion to a man who has been very much interested in the work
of the various states, especially the co-operative work that the
states are doing with the Forest Service. As this session takes
up particularly the protection of our forests from fire — not,
as the program reads, "Forest Fire Protection," but the pro-
tection of forests from fire — the Committee has asked Mr. J.
G. Peters, who is Chief of State Co-operation in the Forest
Service, to preside. I take pleasure in introducing Mr.
Peters.

Mr. Peters : Ladies and Gentlemen : We have heard at
this Congress a recipe for keeping our tourists in the United
States, which is that our hotel keepers must bake better bread,
repair the springs of their beds, and especially lengthen their
bed sheets. The recipe for keeping our forests is to protect
them from fire.

The first talk this morning is very properly on the subject
of the organization of fire protective systems. If we assume
that fire protection is a good thing, that it is beneficial to the

Southekn Forestry Congress 81

public, we are naturally interested in securing the most efficient
character of organization with which to start and operate the
work. This subject has been assigned to one who has given
it a great deal of thought and study. He is chairman of the
Legislative Committee of the American Forestry Association,
and it gives me pleasure to introduce him — Mr. H. H.
Chapman.

ORGANIZATION OF STATE FOREST PROTECTIVE

SYSTEMS*

By Prof. H. H. Chapman

YALE FOREST SCHOOL

The theory justifying the organization of State protective
systems is that forest lands will not reforest themselves nat-
urally under the conditions created by modern lumbering and
settlement. If this is not true and our Southern forests persist
in reproducing themselves in spite of forest fires, grazing, and
the destruction of seed trees, then we are wasting our time
with State protective systems. The determination of actual
scientific facts regarding forest fires is the first step towards
State forest fire protective systems.

There is a double tendency to error in judging Southern
conditions when applied to the coastal plain pine region.

Foresters whose conclusions are based on knowledge of
Northern pine or of hardwood stands regard fire as an un-
mixed evil to be totally prohibited at all costs. Laws to this
effect are urged and State protective systems advocated based
on the hypothesis of instant detection and suppression of every
fire, no matter how small. On the other hand, superficial ob-
servers who have grown up amid Southern conditions and
have never attempted a close and careful study of specific
tracts, knowing that fires have always been present on these
pine soils and seeing abundant young growth in many local-
ities may leap to the conclusion that fire is not only a necessary
evil but a positive benefit and take issue with those who advo-
cate the suppression of burning. As usual, the truth lies be-
tween these extremes. What are the facts ?

Fires have always been present, most frequently on longleaf

• Nothing in this paper applies to the hardwood and mountain regions of
which Asheville is an example.

82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE

pine stands. So true is this that the very structure and growth
of the seedling is designed to secure in the shortest possible
period after germination, the greatest protection against fire.
The young plant can put out a new crop of needles and sur-
vive even after every vestige of foliage has been burned off in
spring fires, a thing that no other pine can do. Longleaf pine
seed cannot germinate and take root on a carpet of hardwood
leaves or a two-year accumulation of pine needles, it withers
up before reaching the soil, but upon ground burned bare of
this dead vegetation seedlings are immediately established.
Hence fire prepares the seedbed for the seed. But the recur-
rence of fire in the following year or two almost completely
destroys these seedlings. A few escape when growing in
openings where thin grass sod does not hold the blaze. The
resistance of even one-year seedlings to fire is greater than
one would imagine. Yet on the whole studies show that fires
in the first year account for 95 per cent of every heavy crop
of seedlings that spring up after the periodical seed years
customary for the species.

But beyond this initial stage the damage done by fires de-
pends upon their frequency and the season of the year. An-
nual fires which burn off the foliage of the seedling stunt its
height growth to one-third or one-fourth of normal and event-
ually weaken it to the point of complete exhaustion and death.
On the other hand, an accumulation of a few years' litter in
absence of fires greatly increases the possible damage done to
the young trees when fire occurs. The postponed fire is then
sufficiently hot and lasting to penetrate the protection of the
bark and destroy the tree by girding the cambium. The in-
jurious effect of fires is increased tenfold if they occur in Au-
gust or September as contrasted with December or January,
owing to the increased dryness of the vegetation and soil. In
such seasons and with a high wind, pines of merchantable size
which have previously resisted fires from their seedling period
on are killed.

Coupled with this increase in hazard which will occur
through successful fire prevention, we have a fire season
lasting throughout the entire year. One hundred inches of
rain may fall in a season, and yet be distributed in such a
manner that it secures temporary relief from fire risk only for

Southern Forestry Congress 83

two or three days at a time.* The local population are ac-
customed to burn the woods for a variety of reasons, to im-
prove grazing, to exterminate ticks, to destroy cover for
"varmints," or just for fun. They are tenacious of customary
rights, resentful of control, of a low standard of living, many
sections being entirely populated by negroes, and the task of
successfully preventing all fires by state edict, even when
backed by a state force, is next to impossible. When added to
this we encounter reasonable scientific doubt as to the wisdom
of such complete elimination of fires, the problem requires
close consideration. What is the solution? Certainly not that
advocated by the practical observers, of doing nothing. Fires
must be controlled and used in Southern pine for the double
purpose of securing reproduction and diminishing the fire risk
to standing timber. No one will advocate that fire be discon-
tinued in cooking and manufacturing because it is apt to escape
and destroy the home or factory. The use of fire should be
under the owner's control. There can well be a closed season
of nine to ten months, during which every effort should be
made to prevent fires, but during December and January there
may be much land that will be benefited by burning.

This does not mean indiscriminate burning annually of all
forest land in these months. The burning should be at the
owner's option. On areas recently cut over where reproduction
is sought, the land after burning should be specially posted
and protected for a period indicated by the species and con-
ditions. Nor should young pine, even longleaf, be burned
over every year, even after it is large enough to survive the
treatment. An interval of two, or even three years may prove
sufficient to keep the hazard down while permitting some soil
protection and preventing injury to foliage. (Hogs are fatal
to two-year old longleaf seedlings, and none can be grown in
spite of fire protection, where hogs run loose even in small
numbers.)

With shortleaf or loblolly pines the damage done by fire
in enormously increased. The seedlings of these species do
not reach a size giving immunity even from mild winter fires
until at least five to eight years old. Summer and fall fires

* The fire hazard, however, varies tremendously with soil and vegetation.
Longleaf pine needles on soil typical of this species will burn in any month of
the year.

84 Pkoceedings of the

destroy them when 15 to 25 years old. Fires following long
periods of protection and burning late in the season will kill
mature trees two feet in diameter. On typical sites occupied
by these species, fires burn less frequently than on longleaf
stands. The moister soil will produce more shade and brush
while the needles are not so inflammable. In some sections
fires recur in shortleaf stands about once in 6 or 8 years. This
interval is sufficient to permit the establishment of seedlings
under a forest canopy, but when grown on old fields the trees
reach a much larger size and may come through.

The prevalence of second growth pine of these two species
on abandoned fields has a close relation to fire protection in this
initial stage. Fields abandoned after cultivating cotton or
corn are free from grass sod or forest litter. The seedbed is
ideal, but most important of all is the fact that there is no fuel
for fires. The young trees finally produce a mat of needles,
but by this time they are from one to three inches in diameter
and safe from the fires which consume their own litter. By
contrast it may be observed that abandoned pastures with an
established grass cover seldom stock up with a full dense
stand, but produce a sparse, scattered growth, owing to the de-
struction of a large proportion of the reproduction in the
early period by fire running in the grass.

On cut-over lands reproduction is enormously reduced both
by fires after logging and by the combined effect of absence
of seed trees in close cutting and competition of scrub oak and
other worthless growth which may make it impossible in the
future for the pines to establish themselves. Here again, de-
tailed studies showing just what actually takes place are the
only reliable basis of conclusions, and it is absolutely safe to
generalize from such studies, while observations from a car
window or deductions gleaned from census statistics are sub-
ject to grievous errors.

My conclusions regarding the need for State organization in
the Southern coastal pine region, and specifically excluding
mountain hardwood types, are :

First, the creation of the office of State forester to be
filled by a technical man capable of studying actual conditions
in a way to get at lasting results.

Second, and subject to his suggestions after investigation,

Southern Forestry Congress 85

the regulation of fires by penalties for burning other people's
land, and of possibly the establishment of a closed season for
fires.

Third, the posting of lands upon which the owner wishes
to control fires and assistance in seeing that his wishes are
respected.

The enforcement of any fire law in some States of the
South will for a long time have to depend upon appointed
fire wardens, acting without much State supervision, for there
will be but little money to organize a force of district or county
foresters or inspectors similar to those used by Northern States.
The South must depend to a very great extent upon the edu-
cation of the timberland owners in the proper use of fire,
and the best results will at present be obtained from individ-
uals or corporations who assume at their own expense the
management of the fire problem on their lands.

The one fundamental step at present is the organization of
efficient State forestry departments under the same character
of non-political control as is secured in the work of State agri-
cultural colleges and experiment stations. Experience in the
South has already indicated the need of this course. Five
Southern States have placed their forestry work under com-
petent professional guidance. Two — Tennessee and North
Carolina — through the forester appointed by the State Geo-
logical Survey; one, — Kentucky — by means of a board which
is required to appoint a trained forester ; two others — Texas
and Virginia — by giving to the State University the respon-
sibility through its governing board of selecting a forester. In
all of these States local problems are being intelligently worked
out, educational work pushed with vigor, and real progress
made towards true forest conservation.

Five Southern States have done nothing — South Carolina
Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

The two remaining states — Alabama and Louisiana — were
the first in the South to attempt State forest organization, yet
today, July 12th, 1916, they have accomplished nothing. Why?
Neither State has employed a State forester — and without him
laws, forestry boards, and organizations of "fire wardens"
have been a dead letter and will remain so. In 1908, Alabama
created a State Forestry Board of seven men, including the

86 Proceedings of the

governor, a member of the State Tax Commission, the State
game and fish commissioner, the commissioner of agriculture,
a lumberman, a member of the U. S. Forest Service, and a
professor at Alabama Polytechnic Institute. These men met
at least once, and that is the last that has been heard from
them. Not only were they required to serve without receiving
any traveling expenses (in addition to serving without salary)
but the total appropriation for the work of forestry and fire
protection was limited to $500. This, I assume, may have been
spent to good advantage by the secretary, Game Warden
Wallace. With practically no funds and nobody to do the
work, you will get nothing as a result.

Another initial mistake made by Alabama was in seeking
to combine the duties of game warden and fire warden. It
can't be done successfully. The excuse is that of economy —
but we must have a system capable of solving a social and
economic problem in which public sentiment and cooperation
are both foundation and superstructure, or through failure to
get tangible results the entire effort will be wasted. Not but
what game wardens may be useful as an auxiliary force —
and they should be required to render assistance and be in-
corporated as part of the State's force. But we might as
well honestly face the fact that a game warden is not popular
in the South, nor in many other places. The enforcement of
forest fire laws calls for sympathetic cooperation with the
local population which will be impossible at present without a
separate force. This need not add to the expense materially,
for fire wardens usually do not work on a salary, and the cost
is limited to the time actually required by their duties.

What is true of the wardens is equally true of the State
commissioners themselves. Louisiana, as early as 1904, cre-
ated a State Forestry Commission consisting of the Register of
the Land Office and four others, and charged it with the duty
of State fire protection, copying the law of Minnesota then in
force in constituting the Police Jurors of the various Police
Jury wards of the Parishes of Louisiana as fire wardens of
their respective wards. This system of ex-officio, involuntary
fire wardens has always failed, and Louisiana was no exception.
There was no technical head to the work, so in 1910 the State
sought to remedy this defect by creating a conservation com-

Southern Forestry Congress 87

mission, one of whose duties was to appoint a State forester
at a salary of $1,800 per year. Although in 1912 this con-
servation commission was strengthened, reduced to three men
with good salaries, and controlled an expenditure averaging
$100,000 per year, yet up to the recent session of the legisla-
ture the appointment of a State forester has not been made,
nor has any appreciable sum been spent on forestry. In 1910
the state levied a tax on forest products which has netted
around $100,000 income annually. Henry E. Hardtner, then
chairman of the Conservation Commission, wrote (January
29, 1911) regarding this fund, "The conservation fund will be
used to protect forests from fires, purchase of reserves, plant-
ing denuded areas, etc." It was clearly the intention of Mr.
Hardtner and of those who passed the law that this tax should
furnish the needed funds for State forestry.

Then why had this commission utterly failed to organize
the forestry department? They said that it was because the
revenue from this fund was not available for expenditure but
must go into the state treasury. This was true, but that state-
ment did not apply to other revenue expendable by the com-
mission totalling $100,000, nor does it explain why this com-
mission never appeared before the legislature to urge the re-
appropriation of revenue from this license tax fund to be used
for forestry.

In May, 1916, a movement was started to remove the
forestry department from the hands of a commission which
had failed to manifest the necessary interest in forestry. This
effort failed, but so widespread and deep an interest was roused
that it resulted in a definite appropriation of 20 per cent of
the revenue derived from this timber tax which the commission
is now obliged to use for state forestry work.*

What is the explanation of this twelve years previous his-
tory of failure and incompetence? Simply the lack of proper
State organization. A combination of forestry with fish and
game protection in a single commission inevitably results in
squeezing forestry to the wall by diverting the funds and in-

* In addition this new law reauires the employment of a technically trained
state forester with two years actual experience, and creates an advisory board of
four men to assist the Conservation Commission, the Board to be composed
of the Professor of Forestry at the L. S. U., two representatives of the lumber-
men, whose taxes are being spent, and one farmer. This board must O. K.
every cent that is expended, and the fund will amount to $20,000 annually. The
state can now make rapid progress in forest fire protection.

88 Proceedings of the

terest of the commission to the fish and game. Once intrenched,
an organization of this kind is often able to maintain its grip
on the forestry interests in spite of evident neglect and indif-
ference and bitterly resents any statement exposing this in-
competence.

I make these statements largely in the hope that States
which have not yet organized a forestry department may not
fall into the error committed by their neighbors but may pat-
tern after the successful states of Texas, Virginia, Tennessee,
Kentucky, and North Carolina, and keep their forestry work
separate from fish and game interests, employ trained men
as foresters, and remove the forester's office from the reach
of partisan political considerations. In this way only can the
Southern States hope to solve the forest fire problem, which
calls for great tact and discrimination, but which promises
wonderful results for the future if carefully handled.

I want to say one thing more. There are twenty-four
States which have organized forest work. In two or three
States, this work is still combined with fish and game pro-
tection. My remarks constitute no reflection, whatever, upon
fish and game commissions. So far as I know, their work is
absolutely satisfactory. We want efficiency in both depart-
ments. Unless there are exceptional conditions, that can not
be secured permanently without a separation of the forestry
work. As I say, I mean no reflection, whatever, upon fish and
game work, but fish and game organizations, if they are wise,
will not seek this combination. Certain states have been cited
as having a successful combination. New York controls an
immense forest reservation. The work of forest protection is
just as separate from fish and game in that state as in the
United States Service. There is no connection. There are
separate fire wardens and separate fish and game wardens and
separate heads. That works out, of course. The combination
is merely on paper.

Now, just a word in conclusion. I represent the American
Forestry Association. What Mr. Graves said last night I fully
agree with. There is need in every state of the United States
of mobilization of the force of public sentiment behind the
work of forestry and conservation in this country. There will
never be greater need than in the immediate future. We must

Southern Forestry Conoress 89

recognize that with these organized forces which wish to tear
down the principle of national conservation and put in its place
the old style doctrine of private ownership of every resource
we have, as the only way of developing them, we cannot rest
in security with the thought that all is well and nothing re-
mains to be accomplished. We have got to be mobilized to be
efficient. The American Forestry Association's platform is
sound. We have more than eleven thousand members now.
If you feel that you, as an individual, are helpless, mobilize —
join the American Forestry Association.

Mr. Peters : This has been a most interesting paper, on
an exceedingly important subject. I feel quite sure there will
be some discussion. There are other papers to follow, and
since we have a full program and would like to finish by noon,
or as soon thereafter as possible the Chair would be grateful
if those who are called upon, or who speak of their own ac-
cord, would confine their remarks to periods of five minutes
each.

The Forest, Fish and Game Warden of West Virginia, who
is later to give a paper, has met one of the problems Mr. Chap-
man mentioned in a way that I think you would be interested
in hearing about. I refer especially to the law passed last
year, which provides for deputy fire wardens who have no
fish and game duties, who are appointed in addition to the fish
and game wardens. Will Mr. Viquesney give us a word on
this subject?

Mr. Viquesney : Mr. Chairman, as I appear again on the
program, I will stand right here for a moment and talk on
this subject.

I have always heard in these discussions that forest, game
and fish departments could not be made a success when com-
bined together until I have almost gotten to the point of be-
lieving it myself. We combined these subjects under one de-
partment in West Virginia when we were helpless on account
of appropriations and could do nothing else. We were only
doing the best we could with what the legislature gave us.

With my dealings during the past eight years with all of
these subjects I have tried to be impartial, giving each of them
their due share of attention, but of later years possibly I am
partial to the forestry part of this work, as in a way it has

90 Proceedings of the

become the important part of my work as Forest, Game and
Fish Warden. We are amending our laws as fast as possible,
segregating this work and placing each part of it in the hands
of experts on the different subjects, the Forest, Game and
Fish Warden retaining a general supervision over the whole
work.

We have a law now, after some years of trying, whereby
we can have separate fire wardens, whose only duty it is to
look after forest fires, although in cases of emergency we use
the forest, game and fish wardens for the same purpose. It
does not make so much difference where we are as it does
which way we are going. I know we are headed in the right
direction and are, at the present time, doing great work in
protecting our forests from fire.

In this job, the governor nor any other official in the state
interferes with my work. In fact, I have no boss, unless it is
my wife; and having been married for twenty-three years, I
have learned never to talk back. If I desire to come down
here and spend a week among the beautiful hills of North
Carolina and learn how the States of the South are handling
their forestry work, I have no one to tell me that I cannot
come.

I heartily agree with the gentlemen who have spoken that
separate departments have worked the best where it is possible
to handle the matter in this way. I know we have made great
strides in protecting our forests, game and fish under one
head, and we will show you in a few years longer, that we can
make a success of forestry, even though it is combined with the
game and fish department. As I appear upon the program and
will have the opportunity to speak further upon this subject,
I will not detain you longer now.

Mr. Peters : The State of Tennessee had a forest, game
and fish law which remained inoperative for a period of some
eight years. Nothing in forestry was ever done under that
law, and it was finally repealed. The State Forester of Ten-
nessee can doubtless tell us something about it, and I am going
to call on Mr. Maddox.

Mr. Maddox : Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : It
happened to be my lot to go into Tennessee to take up forestry
work with the State Geological Survey, September 1, 1914.

Southern Forestry Congress 91

But up to that time, in fact, including the time that I was with
the State Geological Survey in forestry work, up until the last
legislature, the state still maintained forestry under the game,
fish and forestry department. In order to become informed as
to what had been done in the line of forestry, I went to the
fish and game warden and asked him for information as to
what had been done, and I was informed that nothing had been
done ; that there had been no appropriations made for conduct-
ing forestry work, and that his work had been devoted chiefly
to the fish and game end. At the last legislature, 1915, fish and
game was made into a separate department leaving out for-
estry. In other words, the department of game, fish and for-
estry was reorganized, leaving out forestry. Since that time,
the work of forestry has been continued with the State Geo-
logical Survey, and the department of game and fish has been
operated as a separate department. And we hope at least,
now since the department of game and fish is a separate de-
partment and forestry is alone, that forestry will go along
even more successfully than it has already gone on under the
State Geological Survey.

Mr. Peters : Mr. Chapman in his paper told to a great
extent, the situation in Louisiana. I am wondering if there are
any additional points of interest the representative from Louis-
iana could tell us. How about that, Mr. Hardtner? You
know some very interesting inside history.

Mr. Hardtner : I quite agree with the paper read by
Professor Chapman. I was glad to hear him speak so boldly
along such lines. Five years ago I don't think he would have
read such a paper as that, but I quite endorse everything that
he says.

In our 2,500-acre plot that we have in Urania we have
longleaf seedlings now nearly three years old. We find they
have grown very well under cover of black jack and scrub oak
and other bushes. However, in order to assist in reforesting
that area, I will have all of the bushes on those 2,500 acres
cut down before the longleaf pine seed crop of 1916 falls.
We hope to have a stand of at least 5,000 or 6,000 seedlings to
the acre, after this year, on the entire 2,500 acres. Louisiana
was one of the first States in the Union to create a conservation
commission by legislative enactment. When Governor Sand-

92 Proceedings of the

ers went into office, a conservation commission was appointed
for the purpose of studying conservation in all of its phases
and making a report as to what was best for the State to
do. It happened that the governor selected me for the first
chairman of the conservation commission. I have held
many offices in Louisiana, but they have all been honorary;
the state never pays me. When I came here I paid my own
way. I hadn't been married but about two weeks when there
was a national conservation meeting at Seattle, and I went
clear across the continent to attend that. I stayed three days
and came right back. And I have attended nearly every con-
servation meeting since. When the next legislature met, two
years later, this commission prepared a number of conservation
bills and made a report. The present governor's assistant,
Harry Gamble, prepared these laws after consulting with the
conservation commission. Now, it happened that there had
been a new parish created up in my country, and I had been
chairman of the executive committee on parish division, and I
presume in recognition of my services, my constituents elected
me a member of the legislature. So my commission made a
report as to what was best to do, and then when I became a
member of the legislature they appointed me chairman of the
committee on conservation, and I, as chairman of the commis-
sion, had a chance to explain these bills to the legislature.
Well, we passed 29 or 30 acts, conserving everything in the
State. We passed a forestry act, a mineral act, and an act de-
claring the waters to be the property of the state. I went to
the governor and said, "We need money to carry these laws
into effect." He patted me on the shoulder and said, "Well,
Henry, you know the State has no money. If you can find a
way to get money, I will O. K. it." So our secretary and I
and one or two others retired to the wilds of Urania and com-
muned with nature and came back and advocated a license tax
on all minerals and timber severed from the soil. We thought
we would get $50,000 or $75,000 a year. That, I believe, was
the first severance, or license tax ever levied in any state. We
came back and told the governor about it. He said it was all
right. Then the lumbermen came to the capital from all over
the United States, — people interested in Louisiana lands came
there to see what that meant. Being a lumberman myself, I

Southern Forestry Congress 93

convinced them there was nothing very radical in it. It was
only a small tax, and they consented to have that tax imposed.
It passed the legislature by a big majority. Then we discovered
it was unconstitutional ; we had no right to impose such a tax.
So we immediately framed up an amendment to the constitu-
tion. Then we didn't have but a couple of weeks to put that
through. Now, you know how hard it is to put an amendment
through the legislature, but I introduced it and commenced to
work. It was the hardest work I ever did in my life. We
finally succeeded in passing the amendment, which was sub-
mitted to the people and ratified. Then some of our selfish
friends carried the matter into court and wanted the court to
pass upon the constitutionality of the act, and while they didn't
declare it unconstitutional, they said we would have to re-enact
it, for the purpose of curing some defect. So two years passed
again and we did nothing, but at the next session of the legis-
lature, we re-enacted it, and now we have $200,000 a year for
all conservation purposes, $20,000 of which is for forests.

But it happened that a reform administration came in about
that time — Governor Hall. And while I have been an insurg-
ent all my life, I happened to be with the regulars that time.
This new administration thought they had to re-enact many
of the conservation measures and a committee of prominent
men were charged with the duty of preparing laws that the
people wanted. Governor Hall was devoted to conservation
but his legislature was not so friendly, and I think made a
failure in their attempts to enact conservation laws. Notwith-
standing all this, progress was made. They permitted the con-
servation commission to spend $150,000 a year, provided they
collected it from hunting and fishing licenses. The commission
collected only about $100,000 a year, which was not enough
for all purposes. So for four years there was little done for
the forests. Then a new administration came in — Governor
Pleasant. Mr. Gamble, the first secretary of the commission,
prepared some new conservation acts which I think cover ev-
erything, and while we have been delayed four or six years,
we are better able to proceed now than we were then.

The amendment this time gives one-fifth of the tax that is
collected from the timber licenses, separating the timber from
the soil, for forestry purposes, which will amount to about

94 Proceedings of the

$20,000 a year, and as Mr. Chapman explained how it is to be
expended, I won't go over that. Then they give one-half of
the balance of the conservation tax to a rural progressive
board. The idea is that as this money comes from the de-
pletion of the soil, some of it ought to be put back, trying to
give back to the soil some of the resources taken away from it.
How the board is going to spend that money, I don't know.
They will have $70,000 or $80,000 a year to look after these
waste lands that have been depleted of their great resources.

Dr. Palmer: Mr. Chapman has told you that 24 States
have organized for forest work. In fish and game work, we
now have State commissioners or State officers in 46 of the
States, and we have an experience of nearly forty years to
look back on. We did not originate this system ; the work of
game protection was grafted on the original fish commissions.
But I invite the attention of any persons interested in forestry
administration to the record of fish and game work in the
United States, to see what has been and what has not been
done. History repeats itself and you can find in our record of
forty years nearly every combination that has been suggested,
and you can duplicate almost any suggestion which is likely to
come before you. We have considered and have tried a single
commissioner versus a board, and boards of 3, 5, 7 or 8
members. You will find how the question of a salaried com-
mission versus non-salaried State officers has worked out in
practice. There are game commissioners who work for noth-
ing and game commissioners who draw salaries of several
thousand dollars a year. The game commissioners in one State
have received salaries as high as $10,000 annually, but I believe
the highest now is $8,000. We have had commissioners elected
by the people and commissioners appointed by the Governor, bi-
partisan commissions, and so-called non-partisan commissions ;
we have had short terms of office and terms as long as eight
years.

I want to add a word to what has been said in regard to
conditions in Alabama, Tennesse and Louisiana. It may seem
presumptuous in a member who is not a forester, and who is
a resident of California, to add anything to what has been said
as to conditions in the Southern States. But I happened to be
in Alabama in 1907, when the game and forestry law was

SoUTl-IEKN FOBESTBY CONGBESS 95

passed; I happen to know the original conditions in Louisiana
and I was in New Orleans at the time the law of 1910 was
drafted; I was also in Tennessee when the first law was in
force, and I have been in close connection with the officers in
these states all the time. It seems to me that if you had all
the facts before you, foresters would take a different view of
the lack of forestry work in these States, because in not a sin-
gle instance was there any desire or any intention of slighting
forestry.

This was the problem in Alabama in 1907 : The State had a
system of local game laws almost as complex as that of North
Carolina and not a cent of appropriation for enforcement.
Game was shipped out of the State wholesale ; and there were
no State officers, no local organizations, no anything to prevent
it. The question was how to raise funds, establish a State
Commission and start the work of fish, game and forestry.
The sportsmen did it, paying the Commissioner a salary of
.$2,500.00 a year and all the expenses of the department through
a system of hunting licenses, without asking the State for a
cent of appropriation. Forestry, I believe, was added simply
in the hope of drawing attention to the work, and in the ex-
pectation that sooner or later it would be taken off the hands of
the Game Department. There was no appropriation for fores-
try, and not a dollar was received from the fisherman although
some fish work was carried on ; every dollar was collected
from the hunters. The effort in Alabama was simply to start
the work in forestry.

In Tennessee, the Commissioner told me that in drawing
the law of 1903 he was unable to ask for a cent from the
legislature, but he hoped to draw attention to the necessity
for united conservation work. Tennessee had a multiplicity of
game laws and no funds for enforcement. The Commissioner
advanced from his private means the funds necessary for car-
rying on the work the first year, and whatever he collected
from the hunters went back into the department to pay, in
part — because it did not meet — the salaries of local game war-
dens and other expenses. What Tennessee has not done
should not be charged against her. This first work for forestry
was merely publicity work, in the hope that a forestry depart-
ment would soon be established.

96 Proceedings of the

In Louisiana, the original commission, in charge of fish and
game, was receiving a fairly good income from hunting li-
censes from commercial fishing licenses, and from oyster leases.
As Mr. Hardtner has told you, the departments were combined
in 1910 and the State attacked the general problem of conserva-
tion, but the income came from the hunters and fishermen and
from the oyster men. Another point that Mr. Hardtner did not
mention, is that not only did the State make no direct appro-
priation for forestry, but it took from the game commission
money collected from the hunters to the extent of $30,000 and
put it into the treasury for another purpose. Not only have
game commissions been confronted with the question of raising
their own funds, but they have seen legislatures dip into these
funds and take sums of ten, twenty, thirty, and seventy-five
thousand dollars at a time, to build roads, or pay for other pub-
lic improvements in which the sportsmen were not directly in-
terested.

So in considering these problems of the South, do not look
at them from the standpoint of today but consider the condi-
tions existing when the laws were first passed. I do not think
lack of progress in forestry in the Southern States is any criti-
cism of game and fish commisions. On the contrary, I think
these commissions are entitled to considerable credit for taking
up this work in the hope that by giving it publicity it could
be started and sooner or later would be taken off their hands.

Mr. Peters: Is there any further discussion of this sub-
ject?

Mr. Maddox : I think that Mr. Chapman and I are the two
who seemed particularly to criticize the game and fish com-
mission. I am glad Dr. Palmer made his talk as clear as he
did. In my remarks I said there had been no appropriation
made for forestry under the fish and game laws in Tennessee,
and therefore the work had not been carried on. I do not
know whether the work would have continued that way, or
whether it would have continued at all ; but my remarks in
the end were not to criticize the department of fish, game and
forestry. The point that I wanted to emphasize, if I empha-
sized anything at all, was that forestry is now separate from
the fish, game and forestry department, is going on as a separ-
ate department, and is taking a different trend. But the laws

Southern Forestry Congress 97

that were operating, or existing, under the department of fish,
game and forestry, before the reorganization were not men-
tioned at all in the reorganization of the fish, game and for-
estry department. I don't know any reason for that. I am
unable to say whether those same laws are operative and in
effect now.

Mr. Peters: Any further discussion?

Dr. Palmer: I do not wish to convey the idea that I am
opposed to the separation of these departments. On the con-
trary, I am heartily in favor of such a separation. Tennessee
has now separted forestry from fish and game protection and
so have Colorado, Oregon and North Dakota. The combi-
nation has been tried time and again, more or less successfully,
in New York, Michigan and West Virginia, but the best re-
sults are always obtained where there are separate departments.
There is no feeling on this point on the part of the fish and
game commissioners ; they are always glad to help and to co-
operate.

Mr. Peters: If there is no further discussion on this sub-
ject, we will pass on to the next one: "What the States Can Do
in Forest Fire Protection." I take great pleasure in introduc-
ing the State Forester of Maryland, Mr. F. W. Besley.

WHAT THE STATES CAN DO IN FOREST FIRE
PROTECTION

By F. W. Besley,

STATE FORESTER OF MARYLAND

The duty of any State to protect its forests is analogous to
that of every city which protects its property. Here in the
South is a forested area of approximately 178,000,000 acres,
representing practically 57 per cent of the total land area. It
comprises one of the most valuable assets of the South and yet
one that is nowhere fully appreciated.

I recently heard a man who is familiar with conditions in
the Southern Pine Belt remark that were it not for the exist-
ing fire hazard all his money long ago would have gone into
second-growth pine lands in the South. He said :

"It is cheap, the timber is increasing in value, and it ought
to be a good proposition. But there is a danger from brush and

98 Proceedings of the

forest fires that no one man can guard against. The attitude
toward. them in general is very careless, as if they were a ne-
cessary evil, and I can't afford to take a chance on them with-
out spending my time right on the spot to see to their protec-
tion."

His attitude was not uncommon. The new South has new
resources which have a rapidly mounting value. Their safe-
guarding through State and county action, private initiative,
an interested public sentiment, and every means we know is
most essential to successfully developing this region — whether
the timber is down along the coast, or in the mountains of the
Southern Appalachians.

This property is held by several classes of owners, some of
it in large timbered areas, but much of it in smaller holdings.
It is all land which pays taxes and is entitled to its full measure
of protection. A large share of it is in continuous forest areas
so that a fire on one property may spread to dozens of other
properties unless proper control measures are adopted. This
fact makes it distinctively the duty of the State to exercise
authority and to come to the assistance of individual owners
in saving their property from damage, the cause of which
they are in no wise responsible for. Often, even where this dan-
ger of fire spreading over large areas is greatest by reason of
the character of the country, there is the least interest on the
part of private owners in fire protection. The mountain and
hilly lands of the South under forest cover have nearly all been
cut over, some of them several times, and forest fires have
run over them so repeatedly that there is often a feeling of
helplessness ; that fires are inevitable ; and even if by the ex-
penditure of money in fire protection on their part there would
be a possibility of reducing the fire damage, many look upon it
as an experiment of doubtful value and are indifferent to pro-
tective measures. To others it is a question whether fires do
any appreciable damage, and of course until such owners can
be convinced of the damage caused by fires they are not going
to be enthusiastic over fire protection.

This feeling of indifference toward forest fires will give
way to interest in forest protection when the State assumes its
full share of responsibility in enacting competent legislation
and in providing an effective organization for fire protection.

Southern Forestry Congress 99

Public sentiment in its favor will grow as rapidly as its benefits
can be carried to the people who own the forest land.

The forest fire problems of a State will differ widely as to
details, but in any case the end to be attained is the greatest
measure of fire prevention, although the pressing and immedi-
ate problem is to perfect a satisfactory organization for control-
ling fires that do occur, and always will occur. Since probably
nine-tenths of the fires are the result of thoughtlessness or care-
lessness there are great possibilities in preventive measures. To
this end, every available means of reaching the nine-tenths who
are careless should be employed. This involves the general
publicity campaigns through the newspapers, particularly the
local papers ; distinctive, "catchy" posters in public places and
along highways ; lectures and addresses to local communities ;
forest fire laws and literature on fire protection generally dis-
tributed among the people ; and personal interviews by forest
wardens with the residents of forest sections. In this connec-
tion the forest patrolmen can perform a most valuable service,
to my mind their most valuable service. These men who are
constantly traveling about over their district have every op-
portunity to come in close contact with every resident of the
district, and should lose no opportunity of interesting them
in fire protection, securing their full co-operation as it is gen-
erally possible to do. They should also work through the public
schools by securing the cooperation of teachers and disseminat-
ing forestry literature and impressing the importance of fire
protection upon the school children. I know that this can be
done, for it was done in a mountain section of Maryland, which
a few years ago had the worst fire record of any in the State.
Practically every form of fire danger existed in the district.
There were fires from railroads, logging railroads, hunters,
fishermen, brush burners, and incendiary fires set for the
purpose of improving the range for cattle and sheep, and
there was little respect for fire laws anywhere. Link
Sines, a lay preacher, who knew every one for miles
around and who was familiar with every foot of ground,
was appointed Federal patrolman for a section of ap-
proximately one hundred square miles. This man made
fire protection a part of his creed, which he taught in the
schools, Sunday Schools, and churches, and talked it to every
resident of his district. In three years time the attitude of

100 Proceedings of the

the people toward fire protection was completely changed, and
instead of being the worst fire section of the State, fires were
reduced 60 per cent and it is now, in many respects, a model of
co-operative effort in fire protection. When Link Sines calls for
fire fighters, no matter at what hour of the day or night, men
will respond not only from a desire to help him in the good
work he is doing but also because they have learned that fire
protection helps the game and permits new forests to grow.

The forest patrolman is undoubtedly a most important
link in any system of fire protection, and what was done in this
case may be done in numerous others. No matter how per-
sonally enthusiastic and efficient he may be, the forest warden
or patrolman in the South must have additional backing. This
region lends itself with peculiar readiness to mountain lookout
stations, from which the forests he could not cover in several
days' journey are laid out plain before his eyes. The ability
to see them and to see such fires as may be started in them
is not enough : his observations must be backed with telephone
communication, with all necessary means for rapidly assembl-
ing such assistants and equipment as he may from time to time
require. This unfortunately is very often not the case. Where
there is the most imperative need of real forest protection there
is generally the least enthusiasm for, and interest, in it. And
here is where the personal element comes in.

The selection of the State's fire wardens is of the greatest
importance, for any system of fire protection must depend in
large degree for its effectiveness upon the personnel of the
protective force. In States where the naming of the wardens
rests with the State Forester or with a Board of Forestry, it
is possible to secure good men who are genuinely interested in
fire protection. Where wardens are appointed for political
reasons there will be little respect for the laws and little ac-
complished in fire protection. It is much better to have no
warden in a community than one whose office is not respected
by virtue of the man who holds it, and what it stands for.

In practice, the authority of the State cannot be expected
to be much stronger than its local representative. This is
most important in the mountains, where a single individual may
have as wide and good an influence, when properly directed, as
this lay preacher wielded in Maryland. In other less timbered
sections desirable conscientious citizens may be found who,

Southern Forestry Congress 101

when the need has been explained and their public spirit arous-
ed, may usually be counted upon to give such of their time
as may be necessary to the fulfillment of the duties of wardens.
And these duties are not always on the fire line ; in fact, usu-
ally not. With a man of initiative and reputable standing
among the residents who is talking, advocating, and living
himself the gospel of fire protection, there always comes a
much diminished need for fighting forest fires.

It will be a long time, however, before preventable fires are
prevented, and there will always be need of invoking good
laws, of effective organization, and financial support. Several
of the Southern States have made a beginning ; good laws have
been enacted, and the work of organizing is well under way.
The main difficulty is the lack of appropriations for doing the
work that the States are ready to do.

The problems of fire protection will be as varied as are
the causes of fires. In general the forest fires of the South fall
under five different causes : railroads, brush burning, hunters
and fishermen, sawmills and logging engines, and incendiary.
There will in addition be a large number from miscellaneous
causes, as difficult to control as they are to classify.

In most of the States there have been more fires from rail-
roads than from any other cause, and although there has been
a notably decreased percentage of railroad fires in the last
five years, the railroads are still one of the chief sources of fire
danger. Most forest laws require the use of spark arresters to
prevent the escape of sparks as far as practicable, but no de-
vice has yet been produced which will do this effectively with-
out seriously interfering with the most efficient operation of the
locomotive. Their use has greatly decreased the number
of fires, but other means must be employed to supplement
them. Where it is practicable to use oil burning locomotives
the difficulty is satisfactorily solved, but this is rarely practi-
cable. There are two effective methods of controlling railroad
fires : one is the use of fire lines, and the other patrolling the
railroad right-of-way. The fire line to be effective must pre-
sent a strip free of inflammable material for a width of 100
feet on either side of the track. Since railroads seldom own
rights-of-way of the required width, it is necessary to secure
rights from abutting owners. This, with the expense of clearing
and maintaining the lines, has limited their use. A fire line

102 Proceedings of the

100 feet wide was constructed along State lands in Maryland
at a cost of less than $30 per mile. These figures should be
doubled where fire lines are needed on both sides of the track,
as is generally the case. The clearing consisted of burning the
leaves and dead wood on the 100 foot strip in October and
served effectively during the fall and spring fire seasons. The
reburning of this line will cost less than $20 per year, and
since the work can usually be done by the section crews at no
cost to the State or no additional cost to the railroads it con-
stitutes one of the cheapest methods of controlling railroad
fires.

Patrolling the right-of-way after the passage of trains is
the other method advocated for lessening railroad fires, and is
probably the cheaper where the fire season is short and trains
far apart. Where each train is followed it is probably more
effective; a combination of the fire lines and patrol is of course
still better.

Brush burning is a prolific source of fires in agricultural
sections, especially where the clearing of land is in progress.
A law which clearly fixes responsibility for damages, and cost
of extinguishing fires that escape from such sources, with a
rigid enforcement, is the best remedy. In some of the North-
ern States brush burning is only allowed under a permit sys-
tem during certain closed seasons. In other cases an owner
must give notice to adjoining owners of intention to set fire
on his own lands. A provision of this sort should today be in-
cluded in the forest laws of every State.

Hunters in the fall and fishermen in the spring scatter
fire through the woods and need special watching. Where a
hunter's license is required each applicant should be supplied
with a leaflet containing a statement in regard to the forest
laws and the proper precautions for him to use in the forest
to avoid fires. Much can be done through sportsmen's clubs
and similar organizations to make hunters and fishermen more
careful when in the woods.

Sawmills and logging engines increase fire hazards in the
best timbered sections. The laws of most states require the
screening of sawmill and logging engines when operated in or
through forest lands ; this is reasonably effective where the
law is enforced. If each is held to a strict accountability for
fires that escape by means of fines and damage suits, much may

Southern Forestry Congress 103

be accomplished in preventing fires. Before the beginning of
the fire season the local warden should visit all the sawmills
in his district and see that they are properly provided with
spark arresters. A few successful prosecutions will be most
effective backing for the law.

Incendiary fires are the most difficult with which all forest
officials have to deal. It is an easy matter for any one who is
intent upon starting a fire in the woods to do so and escape
detection. The incendiary may be prompted by a variety of
motives for setting fire, as for example, burning off the range
to improve grazing, spite work, to get a job fighting fire, or
simply to satisfy a desire to see the woods burn. Fires set
for improving the range can not be easily stopped until state-
wide laws are enacted requiring every owner to fence in his
own stock, making him liable for trespass and damages where
his stock wanders on other property. Cases are well known
where individuals not owning a foot of land and paying no
taxes are making a practice of pasturing cattle and sheep in
the forest lands of others, and why should they not burn over
the woods to make better range for their stock where there is
no law to prevent stock from running at large. A premium is
placed upon the destruction of fences and the burning off of
the range on the part of irresponsible persons, and it is im-
possible to control fires. There have been so many abuses and
so much damage resulting from incendiary fires, in which the
burning of the range was the motive, that it will not be many
years before all of the Southern states will enact legislation per-
mitting no one to allow his stock to run at large.

Usually the penalties for incendiary fires are so severe and
the individuals in any community so well known by the forest
wardens, that there are likely to be few cases where a man
sets fire for the purpose of securing pay for fighting it. The
forest warden naturally inquires into the cau; e of the fire, and
if he finds some one of questionable reputation on hand ready
to be employed it arouses suspicions, which are likely to be
very uncomfortable for the individual. In one section of
Maryland where incendiary fires have been frequent the for-
est wardens in that locality have been instructed to prepare so-
called black lists containing the names of those who are in
any way under suspicion, and they have written instruction
not to employ any of these men for fire fighting. This takes

104 PllOCEEDINGS OF THE

the responsibility from the local forest officer for refusing
employment to these men, and places it upon the central office,
proving an effective barrier for preventing their employment.

It seems rather startling that real forestry with its main
emphasis placed on fire protection is less than twenty-five
years old, notwithstanding the fact that forest fire legislation
was enacted in many of the states more than one hundred and
fifty years ago. For example, North Carolina in 1777 by
legislative act declared that "the burning of the woods is de-
structive to cattle and hogs, extremely prejudicial to soil, and
oftentimes of fatal consequence to planters and farmers by
destroying their fences and other improvements." This act
made it unlawful to fire the woods except on one's own proper-
ty, "and then notice must first be given to adjacent owners at
least two days before the firing, and effectual care must be
taken to extinguish the fire before reaching any vacant or un-
patented lands." The same State five years later imposed
heavier fines for the same offenses and made the offender liable
to the injured party for all damages suffered. I quote this
from Bulletin 3/0, Cornell Experiment Station.

This law, like most of the early laws enacted in other
states about that time, did not have sufficient public support
to insure its enforcement, and shows the need of an educational
propaganda coupled with legislation to secure proper results.

There is a growing tendency to extend the police powers
of the state, for the benefit of the whole people, over matters
that were formerly considered of purely local significance,
'this has helped to solve many problems where local indiffer-
ence or lack of authority accomplished nothing. The forest
fire situation was a case in point. Forest fires are a public
menace and should be treated as such. He who causes them
through his carelessness or indifference should be regarded as
a public nuisance and the laws of nearly all of the States make
the deliberate setting of fires for destroying the forest a crimi-
nal offense. The number of convictions, however, are few in
comparison with the number of offenses.

The experience in the Southern States which have adopted
forest laws and organized for fire protection work is the best
index of what can be done in other States which have not
adopted forest policies. Maryland, the first Southern State
to pass comprehensive laws for dealing with her forest prob-

Southern Forestry Congress 105

lems, established a forestry department in 1906, and at the
very outset the problem of forest fire protection was recognized
as of the first importance. Since that time several other
Southern States have established forestry departments under
laws similar to those enacted in Maryland, and there is abun-
dant precedent in the mass of accumulated experience which
should enable all the other Southern States to take up this im-
portant work and in doing so to avoid mistakes made in neigh-
boring states having the best of experience to guide them.

Experience has shown that it is not difficult to secure good
forest legislation, provided it does not promise to cost too
much. Such legislation does not usually come in response to a
general demand but is instituted and secured by a few public-
spirited individuals who recognize its need. It is better to start
with a modest appropriation which does not offer an attrac-
tive bait to the politicians, and then after the organization has
been perfected and a demand created for increased facilities
the way is prepared. A forestry organization depending upon
political strength to maintain it is destined to have a checkered
career.

State forestry in Maryland began with an appropriation
of $3,500 for each of the first two years, and was gradually
increased as the needs of the work required. The appro-
priations were so small as to be unattractive to the politicians
but were sufficient to lay a substantial foundation for perma-
nent results.

A few months ago the forestry department successfully
passed through a crisis in its history, which every forestry de-
partment must meet sooner or later. The department had
reached a point where it was of sufficient importance to exer-
cise a wide influence throughout the State. In a general re-
organization of things it was attempted to place the forestry
department under a newly created Conservation Commission.
When the friends of forestry protested that it should not be
linked up with fish and game, a combination that seldom, if
ever, works well, that proposition was dropped. Then a State
Board of Agriculture backed by all of the agricultural inter-
ests of the State and many commercial organizations attempted
to absorb the forestry department. Had it not been for the
efficient work of the Board of Forestry in laying a substan-
tial foundation and rendering a valuable service to the people,

106 Proceedings of the

creating friends everywhere, the Forestry Board would have
been abolished and the work placed under this untried State
Board of Agriculture. The attempt failed and forestry in
Maryland has successfully passed through its first crisis and
maintained its independence, and is today stronger than ever
before. Not only did it maintain its independence, but when
there was a general cutting down of appropriations in practi-
cally every department, due to a large deficit, the forestry de-
partment secured an increase of 40 per cent in its appropria-
tions, and as a climax the new Democratic Governor named
as his new appointees on the Board two Republicans who had
served on the Board during the previous Republican admin-
istration— re-appointed because of their devotion to State
forest work, and guaranteeing to forestry freedom from poli-
tical influence.

I believe that this Congress will give great impetus to the
forestry movement throughout the South, and if, as a result,
the states already enlisted in the work become more effective,
and other states not yet organized join in, our highest expec-
tations will be realized. We will be satisfied with nothing less.

Mr. Peters : This very interesting topic is open for dis-
cussion.

If I may be permitted to add a few remarks at this point,
my personal feeling is that one of the most important things
the States can do, especially the Southern States, is to urge
their legislatures to pass adequate appropriations for forestry
work. Frequently we find reasonably good laws on the statute
books, with absolutely no funds with which to operate them.
If anything worth while is to be accomplished in fire protec-
tion or along other lines of forestry, you have got to have
money. And my wish is that the discussions which have taken
place here will so impress you that when you return home you
will get in touch with the members of your legislature at the
proper time and urge them to make adequate appropriations for
this exceedingly important work.

Mr. Seymour : I appreciate this paper because it brings
up the educational part. You will never get appropriations or
good laws until you educate the people up to the point where
they demand them. I think it is the best paper on fire pro-
tection I ever heard.

There is one thing in this fire protection and conservation

Southern Forestry Congress 107

work that I am proud of, although my part of it did not
amount to much. Mr. Frederick M. Spiegle, the artist, came
in my office one day and brought a picture to show me. This
picture was called "The Friend of the Forest." The subject
was a camping party leaving camp. In the distance was a
canoe, the dunnage ready for transportation, and a moose's
head. In the foreground was the place where they had camped,
with the debris of the forest lying around and a smoldering
fire. The principal figure was a strong young Canadian guide
with a pail of water putting out the fire as the last thing be-
fore he left. Mr. Spiegle asked if he could hang the picture in
my office for a while, and I told him he could. Shortly after-
wards my brother, William W. Seymour, then Mayor of
Tacoma, Washington, came in from the West and saw the
picture. He immediately said "That picture should be sold to
Mr. Weyerhauser, of the Weyerhauser Lumber Company of
Tacoma" (one of the largest timber companies in the world).
He immediately sat down and wrote Mr. Weyerhauser, and
the consequence was a telegram came back to send on the
picture. The lumber company had it lithographed and changed
its name to "Putting out the Fire," and put it on calendars, etc.
These calendars and pictures were distributed to every school
house, every railroad station, every hotel and public place in
the State of Washington. The same operation has since been
repeated by the Lumber Association in the State of Oregon.
When George D. Pratt became Conservation Commissioner of
the State of New York, he had Mr. Spiegle paint another pic-
ture very similar to this, the subject being the same; also a
companion picture showing the result of fire in a forest, depict-
ing practically the same locality. These pictures have been
widely circulated all through the Adirondacks in the State of
New York by the Conservation Commissioner.

I saw a letter addressed to Mr. Spiegle last fall, in which
it was stated that that picture had done more to educate the
people of the country in fire protection than anything else that
had ever been done. It was an inspiration of genius, and the
picture should have circulation in every lumber State in the
Union.

Mr. Foley: Mr. Besley and I have known each other so
well for so long that I am aware that he did not intend to

108 Proceedings of the

indict the railroads as severely as his figures seem to, and I
am sure that he has no objection to my assuming to correct
any wrong impressions you may have obtained. As a forester
employed by a railroad, I wish the rest of you to go away
satisfied that each fire caused by an activity of a railroad is
an accident.

All foresters know that the statistics about forest fires are
not as accurate as we would like them to be. We know that
many fires attributed to railroads are not caused by the oper-
ations of transportation companies. Every fire that starts near
a railroad is alleged to have been caused by it. Individuals
who wish to go blameless for setting fires find it handy to start
one where a railroad will be blamed for it. As Mr. Besley
knows, there are portions of the territory through which the
Pennsylvania Railroad passes where land is bought and sold on
the basis of its value as a source of claims against the rail-
road for damages from forest fires. Woodland with good
timber on it, but out of reach of locomotive sparks, is often
not as valuable as a smaller piece of woods with poorer trees
that is close enough to the railroad to be fired or to be alleged
to have been fired by a spark from a passing train. To avoid
repeated claims for injury to such woodland until the damages
paid total many times the value of the property, railroads
sometimes feel forced to buy the land. It is remarkable how
less often such properties burn over when their ownership
changes, though no change in railroad operation takes place.
Some of our regular forest-fire-damage claimants have been
known to brag that the P. R. R. paid their taxes each year.

The operation of the steam locomotive involves risk from
fire. For many years many minds have honestly tried to per-
fect devices which would eliminate the liability of live sparks
being emitted from locomotive smokestacks and live coals
falling from the ash pans. Like other common carriers, the
Pennsylvania Railroad has adopted from time to time such of
these devices as its mechanical engineers have considered prac-
tical, and is continuing the search for applicances which will
reduce the risk from fire to a minimum. If oil-burning loco-
motives would solve the problem involved, within the limits
of reasonable comparative costs, they would no doubt be adopt-
ed. In places electric traction may be found feasible. Perhaps
the day will come when electricity, made possible by water-

Southern Forestry Congress 109

power developed in these forested Southern mountains, will put
an end to the fire problems in the operation of Southern rail-
ways.

All railroads are no doubt willing to do what the Pennsyl-
vania does in cooperating with State forest officials toward
the prevention of forest fires. In the States which our lines
traverse, the fire wardens acquaint us with the numbers of
locomotives which are known to have started fires. These loco-
tives are generally of old types, relegated to use on lines of
minor importance. They are kept track of and as soon as they
go to a repair shop for general overhauling, they have the latest
fire prevention appliances installed if they have not ceased to
be useful ; so, as fast as is practicable, such locomotives as
warrant fitting with up-to-date spark arresters and ash pans
are so equipped.

Mr. Besley very fairly referred to the fact that the railroad
right-of-way is seldom 200 feet wide. If all railways had
100 feet of space under their control on each side of their
tracks, the railroad-forest-fire problem would be practically
settled, for that is about the distance which locomotive sparks
are generally considered liable to go, except when expelled on
the top of a hill whence they have a chance to roll downward.
The cost of land when desired for railroad right-of-way gen-
erally makes impracticable the purchase of enough to insure
the falling on railroad property of any sparks which may be
emitted. Sparks which alight on the railroad right-of-way
do not start many serious fires, for most railways try to keep
their property clean. They hoe, mow, burn, or otherwise de-
stroy the vegetation which makes them look untidy. They
know that such rubbish is not only a fire risk, but it is not
pleasing for travelers to gaze upon. And when a railroad keeps
its right-of-way clean, but sees adjacent property overgrown
with dry plants or littered with logging or milling debris,
which are extremely liable to ignite from many causes other
than locomotive sparks, it has a sincere desire to see on other
statute books legislation like that adopted in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, where the State forestry officials may declare a
public nuisance any property which is a fire menace. The laws
referred to make it possible to force the cleaning up of any
property which is in an extra-hazardous condition, whether
owned bv a railroad or an individual.

110 Proceedings of the

If the education of public opinion reaches the point where
an appreciation of the seriousness of forest fires brings after
it legislation requiring the railroads to remove all risk of fire
from their operations, it is to be hoped that an appreciation of
the cost will prevail and will be reflected in the public accep-
tance of and insistence on the need for increased rates of pay
for transportation which the railroads must have to meet such
expenditures.

I would leave with you the impression that railroads, as
particularly exemplified by the Pennsylvania, which employs
foresters and uses their knowledge and point of view wherever
possible in its operation, are officered by men as public-spirited
as any other citizens and as willing to do as much in prevent-
ing the destruction of wooded property. In the South, as well
as all other sections of the country, these progressive railroad
men thoroughly appreciate their dependence on the forest for
material with which to conduct their operations and for the
traffic which comes to them through the marketing of forest
products. Actually, the railroads of this country have done a
fair proportion of their share in helping conserve the forest
resources of our country, and they are doing a great deal now.

Mr. Peters: If there are representatives here from any
of the Southern railroads, we would be grateful to hear from
then on this topic.

Mr. Richards : As a representative of ten thousand miles
of railroad in the South, I think it is well known that our
interest in forestry has been manifest for a great many years.
This is an educational movement, bringing the people of the
South to realize the importance of protecting their forests.
It is a movement looking to the upbuilding of the South
through the regeneration of her forests.

I read a few days ago a bulletin issued by the Department
of Agriculture, written by the present chairman of this meet-
ing, Mr. Peters, on forest conservation for the States in the
Southern pine region. If you people have not read this bulle-
tin, I would advise you to secure a copy, I understand there is a
supply here, take it home with you, read it, and then promul-
gate the recommendations made by Mr. Peters in this bulle-
tin. To show you our interest in this particular publication,
I have already started this movement, taking 500 copies of this

Southern Forestry Congress 111

bulletin and distributing them through the South in the various
states through which our road runs, calling the attention of
the individual to whom the bulletin is sent to the merits of the
publication, asking him to read it carefully, then call together
the people in the community and read the publication to these
people who assemble to hear what he has to say on the subject.
The reason for doing this is obvious. We will assume that the
500 people will each gather together 40 people. There are
20,000 people to whom you bring the information contained in
this bulletin, which has been prepared by a gentleman who
has studied the situation throughout the South. It is stated
here that the general obstacle in the way of the conservation of
the forests is forest fire. In another place the author says that
the average yearly damage from forest fires in the states in the
Southern pine region may be estimated at 3,500,000 acres
burned over, with a money loss of $6,500,000. Now, if this
bulletin is read and thoroughly understood by the people in
the rural districts, the farm land owners, small operators, mill
men and others interested in the future development of the
South, the result will be an ever increasing number of people
in the South interested in the development of forest protec-
tion. We must go back to the rural districts, back to the indi-
viduals upon whom the success of the movement depends. We
must educate our people up to realize the importance of pro-
tecting our forests. We have in the states through which the
road in which I am interested, the Southern Railway, runs,
150 million acres of timberlands. It is estimated that there are
something like five hundred billion feet of timber standing.
I hope to see the time twenty-five years from now, when we
will have 150 million acres of forest lands in the South, all
managed in such a way that their yield will be regular and
perpetual. We should then be the greatest section of the United
States in forest production. We are greatly interested in the
subject. It is one of the economic problems that we have to
handle, and you will find, ladies and gentlemen, that the rail-
roads of the South are taking a deep interest in the subject
and have been doing so for many years.

I hope you have seen that sign over there, "Everybody
loses when timber burns." I would like to see that placard
in every section of the South, and so far as we are concerned,

112 Proceedings of the

we are ready to use our influence and work for the distribution
of placards of that kind all through the South and educate
our people to realize the importance of everybody joining in
this great co-operative movement looking to the development
of our forest interests. We want to see a State forester in
every state in which we run, as against the present number of
three or four. I believe this can be done. Let us see if we
can't help you educate the people to realize the importance of
this subject and not let another year pass without having some
kind of an organization in your State. Start in a small way,
and four or five years from now you will have a large organi-
zation. It may be that our system will have to be revised, but
we will never have the power to organize if we don't start in to
do something; and I assure you that so far as the Southern
roads are concerned, they will do everything they consistently
can to uphold the cause which this Congress is called to
promote.

Mr. Pack : I am very glad to see the spirit in this meeting.
It is only a few years ago since we thought the railroads were
our enemies. Now, we are beginning to find they are our
friends. As these speakers were talking, I was thinking of an
occurrence on a mountain side outside of Asheville a few years
ago. There were two colored people, Amos and Samantha,
who had been married only a couple of years and lived in a
little log cabin of one room, with the rough rafters overhead.
And Samantha supported Amos by taking in washing. And
after living together, as I say, for two or three years, Amos
got rather tired of Samantha, and so to scare her he said he
was going to commit suicide — as he said it, "susancide" — and
so one day in order to bring Samantha around, he got the three
family wash tubs, of three different sizes. He piled them on
top of each other in the middle of the cabin floor and then
got the clothes line and threw it over the rafter, and then put
a slip noose around his neck. The next operation was to
kick the tubs out from under him. And as the rope got
tighter and tighter, he commenced to holler, "Samantha, Sa-
mantha, don't pull ; push, push, push !"

Now, gentlemen, the railroads used to pull, and now they
are pushing.

Southern Forestry Congress 113

Mr. Peters : Are there representatives here from other
Southern railroads, for we should be glad to hear from them?

The best work in fire protection is unquestionably pro-
duced by organized effort, by the States, private timber owners,
railroads, and Federal government, all working together. This
is generally recognized ; it needs no argument. May we hear
from some of the private owners who are present? I shall
call upon a director of the Mount Mitchell Fire Protective As-
sociation, Mr. Stikeleather.

Mr. Stikeleather: Mr. Chairman: In reply to your
invitation to say something on Fire Protection, I came to learn
rather than to add anything to what has been said.

As your chairman has just remarked, the best fire protec-
tion that we can have is the organized effort of the govern-
ment, the state and the property owners combined, and the
Mount Mitchell Fire Protective Association is one of these
units.

Two years ago, we were very fortunate and had fine work.
This past year splendid work was done under the most un-
favorable circumstances. The past year has been the most
disastrous year that the Mount Mitchell area has ever known.

There was a drought in the spring of about sixty days. The
great hazard to this area is the logging railroad belonging to
Messrs. Perley and Crockett and I think Mr. Besley's in-
dictment is rather against logging railroads than regular rail-
roads. Our wardens counted twenty-three fires that were set
out by a single engine in a distance of less than one-half mile.

The United State government has a warden who patrols
this line, and he has done very good work in connection with
our own wardens.

Now in this question of fire protection it is the practical
work that really counts. Education, however, as some one has
suggested, is very essential, because our mountain people have
always felt that the forests were somewhat common property.
They felt that they had the privilege of hunting, fishing and
ranging their cattle without regard to ownership, and the old
idea in the mountains was to burn the forests off in order
that the grass might come out again in the spring. We have
had to fight this inclination on the part of the cattle owners,
and to overcome this idea has been part of the educational work

114 Proceedings of the

done by the wardens and our overseers generally. But this
feeling still exists somewhat and then there is always the
probability that if the country people are prohibited from
hunting and fishing, they may set out fire in retaliation.
I know that our wardens at the intake have warned us when
we told them that they must arrest trespassers, that there was
danger of having fire set out by these very men they arrest.

The City of Asheville owns about 17,000 acres of land that
is in the Mount Mitchell area. We have three wardens who
patrol and protect this property. For many years no effort was
made to arrest trespassers because of the very danger referred
to above. Now there are very stringent laws prohibiting tres-
passing on the watershed, but the great difficulty is to secure
evidence. More and more this old feeling is being eliminated.
The country people are cooperating with us and are beginning
to realize the harm resulting from forest fires.

The Mount Mitchell area is a very important unit in the
government's general plan. The way these units are organ-
ized and planned is somewhat as follows. There is one par-
ticular man at the head of the organization ; he appoints fire
wardens in each of the watersheds in the area under his charge.
This man is chosen with regard to his character and influence
in his neighborhood. He in turn secures six or eight men,
whom he can call upon in case of fire. Telephone connec-
tion, of course, with the various watersheds is necessary, and
concerted action by the various units is important in arresting
a fire.

In the case of the disastrous fire which occurred in the
spring upon the lands of Perley and Crockett and spread to the
city watershed, we found the work of the Mount Mitchell Pro-
tective Association of great help to us. The speaker got in
touch with the wardens at Reems Creek, Old Fort, Black
Mountain, Bee Tree and Ivy. In each case we asked these
men to organize a force of men, go to the scene of the fire and
give their assistance. We had more than a hundred men fight-
ing fire and only about 500 acres of the city watershed was
burned over. But for the help of these men, many thousands
of acres would probably have been burned over, as the country
was as dry as a bone. I speak of this in order to give you some

Southern Forestry Congress 115

idea of the practical work which is done in cases of great dan-
ger by a well organized protective association.

This very disastrous fire that I refer to originated from
the engine of the logging road that goes from Black Mountain
into this territory. The gentlemen who run this road have been
derelict in not using the proper spark arresters and not having
their right-of-way cleared off. There are very stringent laws
governing these matters and it is more than likely that we
shall have to appeal to them in order to force these gentlemen
to resort to safety appliances in the operation of their railroad.
We would be glad to have your co-operation in endeavoring
to correct the danger resulting from lack of proper appliances
by the Mount Mitchell railroad.

I want to add that I was very much interested in Mr.
Besley's paper. He has handled his subject as one who knows
what he is talking about.

Mr. Peters : Another one of the recently organized pro-
tective associations in North Carolina, the Tryon Forestry
Club, has a representative here, and I am going to call on Mr.
Lindsey.

Mr. Lindsey: Mr. Chairman, and ladies and gentlemen:
Just before I was called on, I noticed that Mr. Peters drew
his watch, and Mr. Holmes tipped out and got a club and put
that club on the desk, so I am going to try to confine my re-
marks to two minutes instead of five.

The Tryon area is the smallest protected area that has a
United States fire patrolman. In 1913, some three thousand
acres of the ten thousand acre boundary we now protect were
burned by forest fires. While the pall of smoke was still
hanging over our beautiful valley, the landowners of this
area got together and formed the Tryon Forestry Club. The
idea was advanced, I believe, by Mr. M. V. Richards, of the
Southern Railway, some years ago, that it would be better to
have small clubs rather than county organizations. Where you
know practically every hill and valley in the protected area,
then you really have a chance to protect. We organized upon
this idea and appointed fire wardens for the different sections
of the township. We were to protect our own interests, es-
pecially, but of course, if a neighbor's property was burning,
we would go to his assistance.

116 Proceedings of the

The wardens were generally busy in their crops, or for
some other reason didn't have time to go, but even so, it
was a great step in advance. The great trouble we had was in
regard to arresting people after we found the man who had'
caused the trouble. Even if we had the power, in a small
community it is very hard to arrest your neighbor. But if a
United States fire patrolman were there, he could arrest any
man who broke the law. Our delegates attended the forestry
meeting at Montreat with the avowed purpose of asking — if
necessary on bended knee — for such a patrolman, we agreeing
to fight the fires. Mr. Peters and the State officials kindly
permitted us to have that man, and Mr. John Riis has acted as
fire patrolman. In 1913, we lost fully three thousand acres
of timber ; not totally destroyed, but as you went through the
woods you would find very little timber that was not damaged.
In the last year Mr. Riis has reported five fires caused by our
friends, the railroad. And I say advisedly they are our friends.
Through Tryon Township the grade is heavy, and the locomo-
tives are bound to use a great deal of coal in getting up Saluda
Mountain and sparks don't know where that 100-foot right-of-
way line is. Two fires from unknown origin ; one sawmill fire ;
one fire from a burning hotel — the Mimosa Hotel. Total
number of fires, nine; total area, 212 acres. We really think
that is a wonderful record. One hundred acres were charge-
able to the Mimosa Hotel. The building was as dry as tinder.
Naturally, we tried to save the people first and then the cot-
tages, and then the woods, and by the time we had saved the
cottages, the fire was in all directions through the woods.
That would bring it down to 112 acres burned from ordinary
causes. We agreed that we would try to educate the people to
the necessity for fighting fires. Mr. Riis has done a great deal
of educational work. A club has been organized at Saluda, and
another is about to be organized at Columbus.

The State legislature ought to make some appropriation
for fighting fires on the other man's land. It is a pretty heavy
drain on the members of the Club to fight on the other man's
land. But you have to get behind your members in the State
legislature. Let that be one of the platforms upon which a
man runs — what he is going to do about forest fires.

I would like to give one or two illustrations of the effec-

Southern Forestry Congress 117

tiveness of our system. While it was very dry, Mr. Riis of
course would be on duty as much of the night and day as
possible, but we had to allow him some sleep. One night Cap-
tain Sharp, an Army officer who is interested in forestry, re-
ported to me that he saw a fire. It was as dark as pitch,
but from his hilltop it looked as if it were on Tryon Mountain.
I immediately called the patrolman, and he said he would go to
another hilltop and get another angle on the fire. From the two
reports we located that fire within a very short distance. Then
I telephoned to our friend and representative here, Mr. Elliott,
to go out on his veranda and see if he could see the fire. He
said he couldn't see it, but he could smell the smoke. He sent
his men to Howard Gap, and there was no fire there. Then
he sent them east. In fifteen minutes they found the fire.
A man was burning corn stalks in an open field at one o'clock
in the night, for fear the Tryon Forestry Club would catch
him if he did it in the day time! That was the only time he
could burn his corn stalks — at one o'clock at night. Our patrol-
man didn't arrest that man, but our Secretary, Mr. Cobb, on
whose land the man was burning the corn stalks, sent him
word if that ever happened again we would not arrest him
but we would skin him alive.

May I ask one question? I am in the vineyard business
and it is absolutely necessary, not only to preserve the vine-
yard from erosion, but to prevent fires, to have the land cov-
ered in the winter time by some green crop growing upon the
land instead of dry grass. Now, I have used various cover
crops, and I am always perfectly satisfied to go to bed if my
fields are covered in the winter time with a green mat. The
best thing I have used, up to the present time, is Burr clover.
I don't know whether it would grow in hardwood timber or
not, but it has solved the problem for me in my vineyard. It is
worth about $25.00 an acre to turn under, and it makes a good
mat of green upon the ground in the winter time. Couldn't
that idea be followed out in our forests ? In the forests above
my place we have the pea family and various plants that
grow wild, but in the winter time this mass of pea vines burn
as badly as the leaves. Now, can we encourage the growth of
any kind of winter cover crop in the forests? Not in pine
forests, because I doubt if it would grow in pine land, but it

118 Proceedings of the

might. The Burr clover grows in the low country and in the
hill country it would be fine.

Mr. Peters : Are there any other suggestions on this
point ?

There are a number of other private owners here who have
been working for fire protection, and I hope we shall have
time to call on them this afternoon. The session has been
prolonged, owing to the interesting discussions that have taken
place.

We shall now proceed to the next subject, "Publicity and
Education in Forest Protection in the South." It gives me
pleasure to introduce the State Forester of Kentucky, Mr.
J. E. Barton.

PUBLICITY AND EDUCATION IN FOREST FIRE PROTEC-
TION IN THE SOUTH

J. E. Barton,

STATE FORESTER OF KENTUCKY

Four years ago, in an article prepared for the Southern
Lumberman, in discussing for its Christmas number the ques-
tion of forest fires in the South, I made this statement: "The
timber lands (of the South) must be managed so that there
will occur a minimum of fires. . . . This we propose to
accomplish by a campaign of education wherein the economic
losses to the community from forest fires are made clear ; by
securing the cooperation and support of all the interests ad-
versely affected by forest fires and of all good citizens of the
State; and lastly by organizing a system of patrol of forest
areas during the danger seasons and the adequate suppression
of such fires as occur in their earliest stages." Last December
in a second article prepared for this same publication entitled
"Guarding the Southern Forests Against Fires/' the question
of publicity was summed up as follows : "Publicity with re-
gard to forest fires is the greatest factor in calling the atten-
tion of the public to this evil and of correcting it. All agen-
cies may be made to work to this end, schools, railroads, news-
papers, magazines and books. The chief feature of all pub-
licity must, however, be an argument along purely economic
and business lines. Forest protection pays. It is property in-

Southern Forestry Congress 119

surance." When I returned to Kentucky in 1912 to take up
work in the Eastern hardwood forests after an absence of over
eight years in the West, my knowledge of Eastern conditions
was somewhat vague. But judging from my experience in the
West in regard to forest fire protection there was one thing
that seemed to stand out from all the rest. This was the fact
that unless the general public was interested in fire protection
and unless all agencies were enlisted in the actual work very
little could be accomplished in this direction. This necessity
spelled publicity of many kinds and in various directions. My
four years of work in connection with the organization and
initiation of a forest policy in Kentucky has only served to
deepen and strengthen my conviction that publicity and edu-
cation are even now the only means of bringing about an estab-
lished forest policy in any state and in solving what is at the
present time the greatest problem of any forest policy in the
United States, and that is forest fire protection. In most
States we have not reached that stage of progress where for-
estry is a well understood profession and where forest pro-
tection in the light of property insurance is looked upon as a
necessary institution as is insurance on buildings, ships, house-
hold goods, livestock, etc. With this settled conviction the
feature of the work of the office of the State Forester of
Kentucky which has, perhaps, received most stress, has been
publicity and education, and I am satisfied, in surveying the
accomplishments of the past four years, that this one thing has
been more successful in grounding a forest policy in the State
than anything else could have been. I have in mind plans
for even a larger campaign in this direction within the next few
years.

The means and agencies which have been utilized to ob-
tain the publicity desirable have been many and varied. In
the first place there are the ordinary channels of news, and
in the capital city of the State there are always competent cor-
respondents for various newspapers who are glad to handle
through their newspapers items in regard to forestry work,
and particularly fire protection, which are interesting, readable
and which have the necessary feature of being news. It has
been our endeavor to furnish this news in as entertaining and
interesting a form as possible and to put it in shape so that

120 Proceedings of the

the correspondent will have the least trouble possible in round-
ing it into shape. This last feature is an item, especially in
those seasons when the correspondents are rushed for time.
It is a simple matter in the State forester's office to make a
large number of carbon copies so that the correspondent is
saved the trouble of making these out for all the papers which
he represents and a detail of this kind is appreciated. I do
not think there is any piece of advice which will go further
in the long run than the advice to make friends with the news-
paper correspondents.

Outside of the regular channels for news there are a num-
ber of agencies at work through which it is possible to operate.
The country newspapers represent a medium which it is high-
ly desirable to reach because the chances are that all the in-
formation in the country newspaper is read and that in a great
many homes it is the only newspaper which finds its way there.
The editors of small newspapers are on the lookout for material
to fill up the interior pages of their publications. Information
and news which pertain to the State and which are of general
interest to the community are exceedingly acceptable. It is,
however, necessary that this information be in the form of
plates already set up, since the facilities of the average coun-
try newspaper are usually very limited. I have found it most de-
sirable, therefore, in reaching the country newspapers to oper-
ate through distributing agencies like the American Press
Association and Western News Union. Material for such
agencies should be supplied usually in the quantity to form a
page. The page is set up and then the plates are distributed
by the company to the various county newspapers. I think it
is safe to say that practically every newspaper to which these
plates are sent will use them wholly or in part in their publi-
cations. Illustrations are undoubtedly an important feature
of such a page. I have noticed that a great many times illus-
trations were used when a considerable portion of the reading
matter was not. For this reason the illustrations should be as
clear and as informative as can be obtained and the labelling
of the illustrations themselves is a matter on which consider-
able thought may be advantageously expended. Then there
are such publications as the Sunday magazine supplements in
which entertaining and attractive special articles may find a

Southern Forestry Congress 121

place. These magazines are handled through syndicates and
attain a wide distribution. Feature stories, too, may often be
handled through the Sunday papers.

Undoubtedly the schools form one of the most fruitful
means through which general education along the lines of for-
est protection may be effected. As far as possible education
in this direction should be made to dovetail into regular
courses of study and not introduced as an entirely unrelated
and foreign feature. There is, moreover, something to be said
in regard to the manner in which the material placed in the
schools is put up. My experience has shown me that material
prepared in the form of pamphlets of a page or two pages is a
great deal more effective than material put out in book or bul-
letin form, except in unusual cases. Pamphlets which may be
taken by the children into their homes are successful in ex-
tending the field covered. Also it is important that the ma-
terial be supplied in an entertaining manner. Accidentally, in
connection with the State fair, one year, I discovered that the
commercial geography classes were looking for information
in regard to the forests of the State, their products, etc. The
result of this discovery was several talks before these classes
of the various schools and eventually the publication in pam-
phlet form of the information which they seemed particularly
to desire, together with other information with regard to forest
fire protection which has undoubtedly carried a lesson with it.
Over fifty thousand of these pamphlets were put into the
schools of the State. Again, the work in the moonlight schools
in Kentucky has grown into a matter of very wide interest.
It was suggested by the founder of these moonlight schools,
Miss Cora Wilson Stewart, that articles be prepared dealing
with several subjects in relation to forest protection and
forest work in general. These articles were prepared with at-
tractive and suitable illustrations and they have now found
their way into a large number of schools and among the class
of pupils where lessons of this sort will be of undoubted
benefit.

In the matter of publicity I have found the railroads of
great assistance in the distribution of forest fire warnings. In
carrying out their promises in this direction the majority of
the railroads have been very faithful. This has resulted in the

122 Proceedings of the

distribution of forest fire warnings in practically every rail-
road station in the State. The newness and variety of these
forest fire warnings is a desirable feature and the character of
the warnings themselves deserves considerable attention, since,
as is the case with street car signs, people are attracted by what
is new, what is striking, and what is pleasing. I am coming
to the opinion that one new forceful and attractive forest fire
sign a year is much more desirable than a large number of drab
toned notices. One of the most successful notices which has
come to my attention is the one put out some time ago by the
Western Forestry and Conservation Association. There is
something about the notice which is particularly arresting and
attractive. Individuals who have seen this notice in my office
where one is posted have asked for copies of it.

The county wardens and other officials form, of course, a
natural channel for the distribution of all warning notices and
literature. The mailing list maintained by the office of the
State Forester forms another channel. Again, I have found
that one of the mediums through which a lot of information
gets to the right people is the list of county agricultural agents.
These are a highly intelligent body of men who come into con-
tact with the people where they live. I have not found a single
instance where these county agents were not interested in
forest fire protection and other forestry matters. They are
uniformly willing to make a distribution of material relating
to forest fire protection. I make it a point to see that the
county agricultural agents receive all the publications and in-
formation put out by the office of the State Forester. The
publication of bulletins, circulars and pamphlets has been car-
ried on as is customary in all State forest departments.

The State fair has been one agency for the distribution of
printed information and also for an ocular demonstration of
some of the features of forestry and especially fire protection.
In connection with the State fair an attractive novelty for dis-
tribution undoubtedly attracts more attention than printed ma-
terial. I have found the sanitary drinking cups in great de-
mand. While I am inclined to doubt that the lesson on the
drinking cups received much consideration, nevertheless, there
is reason to believe that it soaked in occasionally enough to
make it worth while.

Southern Forestry Congress 123

The telephone companies offer another medium through
which some publicity may be obtained. In dealing with the
large companies, such as the Bell Telephone Company and its
subsidiary corporations, I have found them very willing to
undertake anything reasonable in this direction ; but I have
not had so much success with the small companies operating in
a limited local territory.

The County Protective Associations which have been form-
ed in Kentucky have also been the means of education and
publicity and in a great many cases they have influenced the
newspapers to publish material relating to the work. The
women's clubs have been of enormous assistance in questions
of both publicity and education and too much cannot be said
of their work in this direction.

The ways through which publicity and education may be
accomplished will undoubtedly vary widely and in a large
number of cases it is in unexpected directions that some of the
most effective work may be done. These unexpected oppor-
tunities it is impossible to forecast. They will have to be seized
when presented and it is necessary to be continually on the
watch for them. Talks and lectures are one of the means
which may be utilized on every hand ; and it is often possible
by a timely talk at some unexpected opportunity to make a
ten strike in a wholly unanticipated direction. It may be
safely stated that the keynote of all successful publicity, as I
have already said, is economic expediency. Forest fire pro-
tection pays. It is property insurance.

Mr. Peters: The Chair wishes we had time to discuss
this topic just now, but I think we shall have to defer it
until after lunch, in view of the fact that the Secretary of the
Congress has some announcements to make. I shall therefore
ask Mr. Holmes if he cares to make any announcements?

Dr. Pratt: There is a little matter of business that I
think ought to come before the Congress. With your per-
mission, I should like to read a letter addressed to the Con-
gress, through the Secretary of the Appalachian Park Associa-
tion, from George F. Kunz, President of the American Scenic
and Historic Preservation Society, which reads as follows :

124 Proceedings of the

IMPORTANT

THE AMERICAN SCENIC AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION

SOCIETY

New York City, 410 5th Avenue.

July 10, 1916.
George S. Powell, Esq., Secretary,

Appalachian Park Association,
Ashevillc, N. C.
Dear Sir :

When we stop to realize that the great Pisgah National Forest —
that great mountain preserve in Asheville — was due to the instrumen-
tality, foresight and generosity of the late George W. Vanderbii',
it seems to me that the park should be named "Vanderbilt Park" or
"Pisgah National Forest — Founded by George W. Vanderbilt."

But as this has not been done, I shall be glad to subscribe the
initial $10 toward a fund for establishing a tablet in the park or at
one of the prominent entrances. After a conference with my es-
teemed friend, Honorable Gifford Pinchot, I am able to say that he will
also contribute a like amount toward such a fund.

If you will present this matter at the Southern Forestry Congress,
a sufficient sum can be raised at once to do something in this direc-
tion. I will remit the moment I hear that your organization is willing
to act.

Believe me,

Very truly yours,

George F. Kunz,

President.

WHY NOT START THE FUND NOW ?

I should like to submit this letter to the Congress for any
action.

Mr. Powell : I should like to .say that this letter was re-
ceived yesterday afternoon, and in order that I might be able
to state to this convention what the sentiment of the local
people is, I consulted as many of our citizens as possible, and
I found a unanimous sentiment against the changing of the
name of the Forest. I also found a unanimous sentiment in
favor of erecting a suitable tablet reciting and commemorating
the historical facts in connection with the development of this
forest by Mr. Vanderbilt and the taking of it over by the gov-
ernment. And in order to get this clearly before the meeting,
I have prepared the following resolution that I should like to
offer:

Southern Forestry Congress 125

resolution

Resolved, That this meeting endorse the idea of erecting a
tablet at the entrance to Pisgah National Forest for the purpose
of reciting and commemorating the historical facts in connec-
tion with the development of this forest by Mr. George W.
Vanderbilt under a system of scientific forestry and the
taking over of this forest by the National government, and

Be it Further Resolved, That the President of the Southern
Forestry Congress appoint a committee of seven with authority
to raise necessary funds and erect said tablet.

Mr. Chairman, I offer this resolution. '

Mr. Pack : Mr. Chairman, it seems to me that this is very
fitting for two reasons. The fact that this example of scien-
tific forestry is one of the beginnings of this sort of thing in
America is a reason why some reference should be made to it.
And another thing, I think some record would be very fitting
recognizing the generosity and public spirit of Mr. Vanderbilt.
Mr. Vanderbilt was a very different sort of man from most
of the men I have known by that name. He was a student, a
literary man, very modest ; he did not seek the companionship
of people very much. He sought, rather, the companionship
of ideas, and spent time with his books. But he was a public-
spirited man. Once when I was with him in his first year here
in Asheville he said to me, "Mr. Pack, my favorite poem is,

'Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said :
'This is my own, my native land.' "

You all know the poem. And Mr. Vanderbilt looked upon this
place as his native land. It was a loss to this region, a loss to
forestry, and a loss to the United States when he was called
by the Great Reaper. And, Mr. Chairman, I should like to
move as an amendment to the resolution, that such committee
be composed, in the first place, of the splendid governor of this
State as chairman, a man whom many of us know well and
who so impressed us at the opening of this Congress ; that
another member be Dr. Pratt, who called this Congress to-
gether, a man who represents this region and is all the time
doing splendid work for forestry ; that the others be members
of and represent the Smithsonian Institution, the American

126 Proceedings of the

Forestry Association, the United States Forest Service, the
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, and the
Appalachian Park Association. I move that in appointing this
committee, the Chair be instructed to include these seven men.

Mr. Peters: Will the proposer of this resolution accept
the amendment?

Mr. Powell: Yes, sir.

Mr. Graves: I should like to second the motion if neces-
sary. There is already a precedent for this sort of thing. We
have had recently erected in the Grand Canon National Park
a monument commemorating the work of Major Powell. I
think this sort of tablet is an admirable thing, and I think the
suggestion should be endorsed by the Congress.

Mr. Peters : You have heard the resolution, which has
been seconded. Are there any further remarks?
No further remarks, and motion carried.
Notices read by Mr. Holmes.
Meeting adjourned until 2:45 P. M.

Mr. William L. Hall, District Forester, in charge of the
Appalachian and White Mountain National Forests, was next
on the program. Mr. Hall was unavoidably detained in Wash-
ington, but his paper was presented and would have been read
to the Congress but for lack of time. It is here given in full.

PROTECTION OF FEDERAL LANDS IN THE APPALACHIANS
By William L. Hall,

UNITED STATES ASSISTANT FORESTER

As one of those responsible for the protection and develop-
ment of the Federal Government's lands in the Appalachians
I have experienced a constantly deepening sense of the injury
caused by forest fires. I refer not only to fires of recent oc-
currence but also to those of past generations, for the indica-
tions are that fire is not merely a modern enemy of the forest.
Possibly it is as ancient as the forest itself.

Most perceptible of all forms of fire damage is the injury
to the growing trees. Leaves and brush gather around the
base of the trees, especially on the slopes. When the woods

Southern Forestry Congress 127

burn this litter makes the heat so intense that the bark of the
tree is killed for a space of a few square inches, if no more
serious injury is done. Over this scorched area the bark
loosens and drops off, affording entrance to both insects and
the spores of injurious fungi. The wound may be so small
that the tree will completely grow over it, but the fungi which
have been admitted never cease to work, causing decay in the
trunk, lessened vitality of the tree and deterioration of its
lumber, while if insects once gain entrance they seldom cease
operations until the most valuable part of the tree is damaged.
On one sale of stave timber made in the Ozark National For-
est in Arkansas 76 trees out of every 100 felled had a basal
rot and 27 trees out of the 76 had worm holes. Only 24 trees
out of the 100 were perfectly sound and suitable for the in-
tended purpose. In five widely separated areas on the same
forest an average of 65 per cent of the trees had rot and worm
holes sufficient to cause culling in the first log of the tree.
Fires still further injure standing timber by burning through
sound bark and sapwood into the hollow or decayed butts.
Once the decayed interior of the tree is exposed to the air the
rot which originally caused the trouble appears to grow up the
tree more rapidly while subsequent fires gradually widen and
heighten the defect and destroy more bark at the base of the
tree until it is finally killed.

Even a more vital injury so far as the life of the forest is
concerned is the destruction of the small seedlings and saplings
in the stand. Unless we observe the stand within three or
four years following the fire this may not at first deeply im-
press us. The burned stems if not entirely consumed fall
within a few years and soon decay. We may note merely that
there are not many young trees in the stand. The vitality of a
hardwood forest is very remarkable. The roots continue to
live and after each fire sprouts reappear and grow rapidly,
but if fires succeed one another every three or four years or
oftener, the young growth is continually kept down and the
roots finally die, so that after many years we have a stand
simply of damaged mature trees with practically no young
growth. Gradually the damaged trees blow down and the
stand becomes thinner and thinner to the point where it ceases
to give complete shade to the ground. At this stage light-lov-

128 Proceedings of the

ing forms of shrub growth, such as laurel or scrub oak, crowd
in and under natural conditions the forest is without power to
re-establish itself. Many thousand acres in all parts of the
Appalachians have reached this stage. It is a familiar sight
on the ridges and south upper slopes.

A third form of damage results directly from forest fires
and while it is less visible, it is the most important and far
reaching of all. I refer to the impoverishment of the soil.
Burning the accumulated wood and leaf litter every year or
every few years robs the soil of all the humus-forming and
nitrifying material. There is left only the mineral substance
which will not burn. It is on the higher slopes and ridges that
this effect is seen at its worst. Lower slopes and coves are
moist, have protection from the wind, and by reason of the
action of gravity in soil and debris removal they accumulate
fertility at the expense of the upper slopes and ridges.

Fires are largely responsible for this condition. By keep-
ing the upper slopes and ridges bare a great part of the time
they expose them both to drying out and to erosion. Even
the mineral soil is washed away, some of it lodging on the
lower slopes or in the coves. This intensifies the difference in
fertility and moisture between the upper and lower slopes, and
fertility and moisture are the largest factors in determining
the growth. In my view the difference in productiveness be-
tween cove and ridge in our Appalachian forests is due to the
action of fire more than to any other cause ; not fires of the
last few years only, but fires through the last century and pre-
ceding centuries.

In appraising lands for purchase it is very common to find
the coves of a tract bearing a stand of timber running from
10 to 12 thousand feet per acre and worth $40 or $50 per
acre, while the ridges separating these coves may have no
stand of merchantable timber at all or at best are apt to have
not over 500 feet to the acre and the acreage value is not
likely to be over $1.50 or $2.00. The difference is simply
tremendous.

Where natural conditions have afforded protection on the
ridges, however, there has sprung up a kind of forest which
in itself is fire resistant. There we have a forest fully equal
or exceeding in value the forest of the best coves. I refer to

Southern Forestry Congress 129

the spruce-covered mountain ridges and upper slopes, such as
are common in West Virginia and in portions of North Caro-
lina and Tennessee. Here the forest may have a value of
$75 to $100 per acre. The destruction of this forest by cutting
and fire transforms the growth into the poorest of ridge type.

Co-ordinating with the deep sense of losses occasioned by
fires there has come in my mind a very definite conviction of
the necessity for fire prevention. Nothing short of prevention
will do. As conditions exist a fire once set may gain uncon-
trollable proportions if left alone for half an hour. In this
region the period of extreme fire danger is seldom of long
duration. It is generally limited to a few days of extreme sur-
face dryness combined with high wind velocity. In the East
there is no gradual drying out period in the absence of rainfall
as there is in the West. We are likely to have showers at any
time but we are also likely to have droughts of three or four
weeks with enough indications of rain to keep up our hopes,
only to have them finally shattered by a serious conflagration.
There may come days when the wind attains a velocity of 50
to 60 miles an hour and then the losses occur. Any evil mind-
ed person who carries a grudge against his neighbor or the
government is likely to get busy on such a day. A smoldering
fire in a brushpile, log, stump or camp within or near the
forest is likely to be fanned up and carried away, becoming
in half an hour a holocaust which at best cannot be stopped
until nightfall, when thousands of acres may be in desolation.
In the Massanutten Mountain in Virginia last April fires un-
der just such conditions spread more than a mile in ten min-
utes. Burning brands were carried by the wind for a space of
half a mile. With the probability of such conditions prevailing
in either the spring or fall of any season there is no use to talk
about any kind of fire control except fire prevention.

Deeply impressed as we are by these conditions it might
be expected that the main consideration in all of our improve-
ment plans on the newly acquired Government lands is fire
protection. With fire protection we can have a forest in the
future, without it we can not. Fire protection is therefore
the first purpose of all improvements, such as telephone lines
and trails. In order that our work in this direction may be
efficient we are developing as rapidly as possible general fire

130 Proceedings of the

control plans for each of the several forests. These plans have
to do with the adequacy and arrangement of trails and tele-
phone lines and with provision of tool-boxes and other equip-
ment for fire prevention and control. The plan also involves
the organization of a protection force, consisting in part
of permanent assistant forest rangers and guards and in part
of a temporary patrol force employed only during the most
hazardous periods of the year. Even this by our latest plan
is to be supplemented by a much larger force for an emergency
patrol.

The regular permanent force for any 100,000-acre tract,
consisting of an assistant forest ranger and two or three
guards, will be extended regularly during the fall and spring
months by an additional force of five or six guards, and during
times of extreme fire danger this force may be augmented by
12 or 15 additional men employed by the day and working only
while conditions are extremely grave. This plan aims at pre-
vention rather than suppression, but it also is effective for
suppression when fires do occur. Our constant aim is to avoid
hiring men to suppress fires. To do so puts too high a prem-
ium on incendiarism.

Fire prevention is largely taken into account in all plans
for utilizing the forests. Every timber sale provides for leav-
ing the ground in as good condition as possible as regards fire.
Every effort is made to secure close utilization, knowing that
any material removed from the ground is that much fire fuel
removed. Unmerchantable dead trees and snags are felled,
brush of softwoods such as spruce and pine is burned, and
hardwood brush which is not readily burned, is lopped and
scattered so as to most quickly decay. We have also begun to
require timber operators to put in fire lines through and
around the sale area and in all cases there is provision for se-
curing the aid of the timber operation force in fire fighting in
case fire occurs. Similar protective measures are enforced in
all other kinds of use, whether for grazing, agricultural pur-
poses or residence. First, last and all the time it must be under-
stood by everybody, government employees, users of the forest
of every kind and degree, and local residents, that fire must
be prevented.

Gradually this idea is taking hold. In all localities there is

Southern Forestry Congress 131

an increased watchfulness for fires on the government lands.
A fire on government lands occasions more of a stir in a com-
munity than if it is on private lands, although I am glad to
say that the feeling in favor of fire prevention not only on
government lands but on private lands is rapidly increasing.
This, of course, is not fire protection regardless of cost.
We are paying very close attention to costs but we believe
that whatever the costs may be they will be compensated by
the results. Under the present condition where the govern-
ment's lands are not especially well consolidated and where the
units are not yet sufficiently large to give a high degree of
efficiency in administration, the entire cost of fire protection
for the government lands in the Appalachian region as a rule
is about $.04 per acre per year. Many elements in the problem
will grow more favorable as time passes so that in the future
undoubtedly this cost can be reduced, and if we can continue
to expend $.04 an acre for the next three or four years we
shall secure a much higher degree of protection than we do
now. I would not discourage any owner by the use of this
figure. With the expenditure of $.01 and $.02 per year a
certain amount of protection can be secured and the amount
which is secured will be well worth the cost, but we feel that
on behalf of the government it is advisable to spend as much
as $.04 and to secure thereby more complete protection than
could be had with less expenditure. In other words it should
be the government policy to be adequately prepared for fire
prevention.

AFTERNOON SESSION, 2:45 P. M.
J. H. Foster, Presiding

Dr. Pratt: Before I introduce the chairman who is to
preside at this afternoon session, I would like to ask if the
Committee on Permanent Organization is ready to report.
If they are, we will hear their report.

Mr. LEE: The report is in the hands of the Secretary.

report of committee on permanent organization

Mr. Peters: Your committee recognizes the fact that the
Southern States have special forest problems of great im-

132 Pkoceedings of the

portance and that the solution of these problems can be fur-
thered by discussions such as have marked this first Southern
Forestry Congress. It therefore recommends (1) that the
organization of this Congress be made permanent; (2) that a
nominating committee be appointed to make nominations for
the offices of president and secretary; (3) that the president be
authorized to appoint an executive committee of seven mem-
bers, himself and the secretary to serve as ex officio members;

(4) that in addition fifteen vice-presidents be selected, one
for each of the Southern States, the appointment of the vice-
presidents to be made by the president of the Congress ; and

(5) that the Congress be convened by order of the executive
committee at such times as may in its judgment seem neces-
sary.

J. G. Lee, Chairman,
J. G. Peters, Secretary.

On motion, the report of the Committee is accepted and
adopted.

Dr. Pratt : The Chair will appoint the committee as
recommended in this report, and ask that the committee get
together and be ready to make a report at the end of the
afternoon session. I will also state that at the end of the
afternoon session the Committee on Resolutions will make
their report.

At this afternoon session your committee have asked to
preside a man from the far South ; one who has been taking
up and developing interest in forestry in the largest State in
the country. I take pleasure in introducing to you Mr. J. H.
Foster, State Forester of the State of Texas.

Mr. Foster: Mr. Chairman, there is one remaining paper
left over from the morning session, and in order that we may
begin as soon as possible with the afternoon session, I am
going to call immediately on Mr. Viquesney.

Southern Forestry Congress 133

WHAT WEST VIRGINIA IS DOING IN FOREST FIRE
PROTECTION

J. A. VlQUESNEY,
FOREST, CAME AND FISH WARDEN OF WEST VIRGINIA

After a few preliminary remarks Mr. Viquesney said:

We have nearly 25,000 square miles or nearly 16,000,000
acres of land in West Virginia and up until a few decades ago
most of this land was covered with one of the greatest
forests of the world. On the cold mountain ridges and pla-
teaus, in the deep river gorges and along the banks of the cool
mountain streams, grew the cone bearing trees, such as the
hemlock, the pines, the balsam fir and the red spruce. Be-
sides these were the giant oaks, hickories, maples, chestnut,
and the famous yellow poplar and black walnut, intermingled
with numerous broad leaf trees that in after years were
found valuable for lumber and fruits.

The number of millions of feet of timber that formerly
covered the hills and mountains of West Virginia have never
been computed, but in the year 1909 it was found that our
original virgin forest of more than fifteen million acres had
been reduced to about one and one-half million acres.

The remarkable evolution in the manufacturing of lumber
had already made it possible to practically consume the great
belt of white pine that extended along the parallel ranges of
the Alleghany Mountains and wonderful inroads were also
being made in the hardwood sections of the State. With sev-
enty-two steam railroads running each day hundreds of steam
engines across the mountains of our State unequipped with
spark arresters or fire protection devices, hundreds of forest
fires burned unchecked, completing the devastation and de-
struction already begun by the wasteful methods of our lum-
bermen.

The first fire data collected relative to forest fires in West
Virginia was in the year 1908. The report of the West Vir-
ginia Conservation Commission shows that 710 fires occurred
within the State during that year, with a burned over area of
1,703,850 acres; standing timber burned amounting to 943,-
515,850 feet, worth at that time $2,903,500. The lumber, tan
bark and improvements burned were valued at $490,175. The

134: Proceedings of the

injury to soil and undergrowth was estimated at $1,703,850,
making a grand total of the property destroyed from forest
fires for the single year of 1908, $5,997,525.

The loss from forest fires having become so enormous and
appalling the legislature of 1909 enacted a law placing this
subject under the control of the forest, game and fish warden.
In the eight years since this law has been enacted, we have had
less than one-tenth of the loss that occurred in the single year
of 1908.

The total number of fires which occurred during the years
1909 and 1910 was 293; number of acres burned over 182,730;
value of timber and forest products destroyed, $150,927.19;
amount expended in extinguishing fires, $4,983.28.

The total number of fires in the years 1911 and 1912 was
113; number of acres burned over 65,156; value of timber and
forest products destroyed, $64,547.49 ; amount expended in ex-
tinguishing fires $2,290.02.

The total number of fires in the years 1913 and 1914 was
364; number of acres burned over 304,276; value of timber
and forest products destroyed, $261,962.40; amount expended
in extinguishing fires, $8,681.21.

The total number of fires in the years 1915 and 1916 up un-
til June 30 of the present year was 408 ; number of acres burned
over 153,885; value of timber and forest products destroyed,
$151,163.90; amount expended in extinguishing same,
$8,091.37.

The grand total for the eight years since the law was en-
acted is as follows: Total number of fires, 1,168; number of
acres burned over, 705,847; value of timber and forest pro-
ducts destroyed, $628,600.98; amount expended in extinguish-
ing fires, $24,246.88.

Sufficient money has been saved from this source alone,
since the enactment of the forestry law, to pay all expenses of
running the entire government.

Prior to this time there was no organized effort to control
forest fires, each property owner endeavoring to keep the fires
from burning his own fences and improvements and allowing
it to consume all of the forests without hindrance. It was the
general rule to set fire to the forests, it being contended that

Southern Forestry Congress 135

the burning improved the ground and made better range for
the cattle.

With several hundred deputies scattered throughout the
forest areas of the State it was found that much good could be
accomplished in extinguishing forest fires, but on account of
the enormous cost of controlling these fires and the great dam-
age they were doing to our forests, it has lately been deemed
more economical to establish a system to prevent fires or at
least control and extinguish them in their early stages. With
this in mind the legislature of 1913 was asked for an appro-
priation of $10,000 each year for this purpose, and through
the generous co-operation of the Forest Service of the United
States Government we have been able to start a system which
it is hoped will reduce the forest fire problem to a minimum
in West Virginia.

On the 16th day of October, 1913, an agreement was en-
tered into between the State and the Forest Service of the
United States government to cooperate in protecting the
watersheds of the navigable streams of West Virginia from
destructive forest fires, the government appropriating the
sum of $5,000 for this purpose, and the State agreeing to
spend at least a like amount.

The State at once began to construct and equip lookout
stations on high mountain peaks, from which a Federal lookout
watchman with field glasses could command a view of at least
sixteen miles in all directions and by the use of alidades, pro-
tractors, and maps could locate approximately any forest fire
that originated in this territory, and with the aid of telephones
could notify some one near it and have it extinguished. Up
until the present time the State has constructed and equipped
fifteen lookout stations and three patrol routes, and will en-
deavor to double this number during the next year.

The timberland owners seeing the great services rendered
by the State and National government cooperating in this
work formed an organization in March, 1914, known as the
"Central West Virginia Forest Protective Association," be^
lieving that they could be more effectual as an organized body
in combating forest fires than in an individual capacity. About
seven hundred thousand acres of land is represented in this
organization. A yearly assessment of one cent per acre is

136 Proceedings of the

levied on the timberland owners which is used to cooperate
with the State and National government in this work. Thus
is formed a triple alliance of State, government and private
owners.

During last month, the timberland owners of southern
West Virginia have formed an organization called the "South-
ern West Virginia Fire Protective Association," and have
already subscribed more than one hundred thousand acres to
this organization. It is believed that before the end of the
year, this association will equal, if not surpass in the aggre-
gate, the first association organized.

The wasteful methods of the lumbermen, and the destruc-
tive forest fires, have rendered almost valueless hundreds of
thousands of acres of land that with proper care could have
been reforested and made more valuable than in its virgin
condition.

No question is of more importance than the protection of
our remaining timbered and cut-over forest areas from fire,
and the reforestation of depleted territory.

We, in West Virginia, are using every means at our com-
mand to bring about a better sentiment and a more up-to-date
system of forest protection. We use several hundred thou-
sand posters each year, with catchy phrases, in order to keep
careless and thoughtless people from setting out fires, and if
sentiment improves in the next five years as it has in the past
five, the citizens of our State will as zealously protect our
forests from fire as they now do their own homes.

We are spending more than ten million dollars this year
building good roads, and will be able in the future, to do
much of the patrolling with automobile and motorcycle, in-
stead of on horseback, and should it be determined that the
aeroplane is a practical method of discovering forest fires, we
have an abundance of atmosphere hovering over the mountains
of West Virginia and will be ready to adopt that method.

Mr. Foster : Are there any questions that anyone would
like ask Mr. Viquesney? If there are none of pressing im-
portance right now, I am going to ask you to defer any gen-
eral discussion until after we have been through a few more
of our papers. Before starting on our afternoon program, we
are very anxious to have a few minutes talk from Mr. Hurt,

Southern Forestry Congress 137

who is the General Manager of the Douglas Land Company,
of Virginia. I will now call on Mr. Hurt.

Mr. Hurt: I have been asked to say something in regard
to what the company which I represent is doing in the moun-
tains of Virginia.

The Douglas Land Company is owned principally by Mr.
Douglas Robinson (who married Colonel Theodore Roose-
velt's sister), and when President Roosevelt was advocating
the conservation of our resources, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were
very anxious that the Douglas Land Company, which at that
time owned some 50,000 acres of land, should carry out some
of the ideas of the President. I am a lumberman, and for fif-
teen years I did the awful act of destroying forests, which
you have come here to protect. But I did it with the axe and
not with fire, and in that connection I became acquainted with
forestry conditions, and the conditions that follow the axe.

In order to promote the Appalachian Forest Reservations,
I believe we were among the first who offered our property to
the government. Some undertook to criticize us for selling at
a profit and at a large price, but I believe the records will
show that we sold about the lowest that has been sold, con-
sidering the value. We have now reserved about thirty thou-
sand acres, and there are some difficulties with which we have
been laboring, and I have come down on this occasion (sent
here by Mr. Robinson) to learn if we can work along several
lines in maintaining our conservation, and thereby reap some
benefits or returns to partly reimburse us for the expenses.
At present we are conserving a valley containing about ten
thousand acres of land, about five miles long and two or three
miles wide. Our present object is to clean up the lower part
of this valley, along the main streams, about two or three
thousand acres, on which we will produce grass and herd cat-
tle, as this is a grass and cattle section. We desire to preserve
the sides of the mountain above the valley after they have been
cut over. I should have said that we sold the timber on this
land under restrictions of contract. It is now being taken off
and in another year it will all be removed. We have left on
the mountain sides quantities of hardwood timber. Picture
a valley as described covered with a heavy blue grass sod and
dotted with cattle, and timber on the sides of the mountains

138 Proceedings of the

from which we get cool breezes in summer and springs of
water to keep the streams flowing with sparkling cool water
through the grass valleys below. The question came up as to
how we could make these mountain sides give us a return on
our investment, and fish and game suggested itself. We have
the best trout streams in Virginia, and we have natural food for
game, such as beechnuts, chestnuts, acorns, grapes, berries,
turkey corn, buds, grass and insects, and we are in hopes that
we can develop a plan by which we can have a fish and game
preserve.

I have noticed several remarks here regarding the inde-
pendent, willful and malicious men of the mountain sections
who propose to burn you out, or do some other awful damage
if they are not allowed to have their own way, who seem to
have some foresters on the run; they seem to be scared
of them. I want to tell you that I have had more dealings
with that class of men than anybody I know. I have found
they are human, and just as scared as we are. I find they
realize it when they are up against a proposition themselves,
and they always take water — I have never known it to fail.
Several years ago when I took charge of the Douglas estate,
adverse landowners and squatters had taken possession of
certain portions of the property, and one man, at the point of
a gun, had run the manager out. This I was told, and after-
wards found it to be true, and that manager never went back.
Two or three years later I had more or less business in that
section, and, coming into contact with this same man, I gave
him to understand that I was there to settle my company's
business with him, and we had a settlement. Later I went to
that man's house, he invited me in, and I took dinner with
him. We discussed business matters and I arranged with him
to do some work and look after some business for me, such
as clearing land, selling property, renting land, etc.

Just how much are we going to put up with from these fel-
lows who make threats to do awful things to us? Why can't
we make the same threats if they insist upon warfare? I think
I can say, and give you proof and evidence that we are a little
too weak on that subject. We always want some one else to
go in and get after our neighbor about things we ought to talk
to him about ourselves. When Uncle Sam passes a law and puts

Southern Forestry Congress 139

it in force, you see everyone sit up and take notice, and they
are very careful about how they violate that law. Why is that?
Because Uncle Sam doesn't give quarter to anybody when he
undertakes to execute his laws. The result of that is, we have
the highest respect for Uncle Sam's laws. If we make laws and
execute them, why should not people have respect for them,
just the same? If you protect your property, and do so in the
right manner you will be respected for it. I do not mean to
use a club on a man unnecessarily ; I do not mean to go into a
neighborhood and show no respect for that section. But if
you go into a neighborhood and help the people in their wel-
fare and wellbeing, and show them that you are there to help
them, and that you want them to respect your premises and
what you are doing, I believe they will do it. We are running
a school at our farm and paying the expenses, in order to fur-
nish the best possible training to the children who are de-
pendent upon us for it while we employ their parents, and
we are undertaking to render all the assistance we possibly can
to help the people realize what true life is and means. Under
such conditions I am sure they respect us. Mrs. Douglas
Robinson employs and pays a trained nurse to look after the
welfare of the entire community, furnishing her with a horse
to ride around from home to home. She not only ministers to
the sick and receives with a welcome the new-born — and they
are not a few, as the mountain people have the reputation for,
and are doing their whole duty — but she teaches them to make
proper clothes, cook wholesome food, and above all to keep
clean the person and home. The result is that after four years,
all in the community love her, and on meeting days, the people
look as different as if they were from another community, and
they are different, they are on the road to a better life.

At one time I had forty-five suits in the Federal Court.
I compromised every one of those suits and am now a friend
to all those people and they are friends of mine, and nearly all
of them have done more or less work for the company. Why
not adopt such conciliatory policies instead of allowing our-
selves to be run out of the woods?

A gentlemen said in the beginning that these forestry ques-
tions must be worked out in connection with farming and with
farmers. I wish to emphasize that. A majority of the prop-

140 Proceedings of the

erty in this country is owned by farmers and small holders.
You expect a man to protect his timber and timberlands for
the benefit and preservation of forests, and do not give him any
assistance, and I think that is wrong. It is difficult for the
State to give a man direct assistance through the state forester,
because the holdings are small. But I earnestly believe that
if you could reduce taxation on that property, or have some
understanding by which he would only pay a minimum of
taxes, he would wake up to the value of forest growth as
recognized by the State and county in which he lived. In addi-
tion to that, I believe we should show him where that prop-
erty will pay him a return if he gives it any protection or con-
sideration. Since our meat supply is growing scarce I con-
ceived the happy idea of propagating fish and game, which
should go far towards supporting the timber reservations. I
realize the difficulties in their protection, as I have lived in
the mountains all my life, but believe it can be done. I wish,
however, to emphasize the necessity of cutting down taxation
on property that is to be kept as a timber reservation. This is
a very important item. There is an inclination on the part of
county officials to tax large property owners. I ran up against
this in handling the Douglas property. I was told once, "We
are going to put a tax on your property and make you sell it."
And they did so. We sold a good portion of it. The reason
was "taxation." I met one of the commissioners in the road
and got into a conversation with him about the property —
he didn't know who I was. He said he did not care anything
about his job, but he accepted it in order to make the Douglas
Land Company pay its part of taxation. We have one piece
of mountain land containing 9,000 acres, assessed value
$4.00 an acre, and taxed accordingly. We have been trying to
sell this same land at $3.00 or $3.50 per acre, and farm lands
in our section are only taxed about one-fourth of what they
would actually sell at. There is a feeling among the county
officials that men who own or control large boundaries of
land should be made to divide them up in a way which would
practically destroy their timber value.

Mr. Foster : I think we owe a debt of thanks to Mr.
Hurt for giving us an insight into the life and character of
the mountaineers and the way in which he and his company

Southern Forestry Congress 141

get along with them. I think he is right in a great many
points he has brought out. Those who have had experience with
mountaineers say they are kindly folk, and that a great deal
can be done by friendly cooperation.

Are there any questions? If not, I am going to read a
letter from the general manager of the Pocahontas Coal &
Coke Company, of Roanoke, Virginia.

POCAHONTAS COAL AND COKE COMPANY

Subject: Propagation, Conservation and Disposition of Timber
Upon Coal Bearing Lands

Roanoke, Va., July 11, 1916.
Hon. Joseph Hyde Pratt, State Geologist,
President Southern Forestry Congress,
Asheville, N. C.
Dear Sir:

I regret exceedingly that our president, Mr. Johnson, could
not attend your meeting of the Southern Forestry Congress
to be held at Asheville, named for Tuesday, July 11th, to Sat-
urday, July 15th.

In his absence, I have prepared the following communi-
cation as to our experience, methods and purposes, which I
trust may be of some little aid in the study of the important
question of forest conservation and protection, as well as dis-
position of timber.

The Pocahontas Coal & Coke Company is the owner of
some 325,000 acres of coal bearing lands and mining interests
in the States of West Virginia and Virginia.

The Company does not mine or ship coal, but leases its
lands and mineral interests for coal mining purposes, and in
so doing, depends upon coal royalties for the larger propor-
tion of its revenue. Somewhat more than one-half of its
total territory is now under lease for the purpose of coal de-
velopment.

In making coal mining leases, it is the general policy to
except and reserve all boundary, corner and line trees, and all
trees which may be selected for seed trees ; and to except and
reserve also all walnut trees of whatever size, and all mer-
chantable poplar, cucumber, ash, lynn, white oak, red oak,

142 Pkoceedings of the

chestnut oak, chestnut and hemlock trees which measure more
than 14 inches in average diameter, together with the right
to remove the same.

It has further been the general policy of the company to
sell its merchantable timber 14 inches and over in diameter, and
where practicable to do this to have the timber removed prior
to leasing the lands for coal mining purposes, in order to
prevent inconvenience to the coal mining lessee that might be
occasioned in the removal of the timber.

The sale of the larger timber has been of decided benefit
in revenue while the coal development was proceeding to a
point where the increase from coal royalties would be sufficient
to support the property.

All boundary and line trees are also reserved from the
operations of timber contracts.

The purchaser agrees to cut and remove the timber in a
workmanlike manner, and with due regard to the protection of
the timber not removed ; to not commit undue waste or suffer
the same to be done ; to so manage ad dispose of debris as
not to unnecessarily interfere with or obstruct the owner in the
use and enjoyment of its lands; to protect streams from ob-
structions and pollution through or by deposits of sawdust or
other refuse material from its operations ; and the purchaser
assumes the adjustment of any and all damages which may
result from its acts, or from its negligence under failure to
exercise reasonable care and judgment.

The coal mining lessee is given the right to use all such tim-
ber, not excepted and reserved as above, as may be necessary
for the purposes of the lease, but for no other purpose, to-
gether with the right to use the lands in the propagation and
protection of the timber.

Where reserved timber on lands leased for coal mining
purposes is not already covered by contract, it is now the
policy of the company to sell this timber to the coal mining
lessee to be used for the purposes of the lease, but for no other
purpose, and in so doing to make the price of the timber at-
tractive to the lessee, in order that it rather than an outside
party may have the benefit of the same.

A very large proportion of our ownership is in mountain

Southern Forestry Congress 143

lands, to a considerable extent unsuitable for agricultural pur-
poses.

The coal mining leases run for large periods, and but some
15 per cent of the acreage under lease has thus far been mined
out, and it has been felt that the interests of the coal mining
lessee in the timber bearing value of the property at the present
time, and for many years to come, is much greater than that
of the owner, and while a number of our lessees have shown
considerable interest in preserving the timber bearing value of
the property, but little has been done in the way of organized
effort for that purpose. I am pleased to say that we are
earnestly considering methods of obtaining the cooperation
of our coal mining lessees and timber contractors in the adop-
tion of a system of fire protection, and our coal mining lessees
in the adoption of methods that will insure a good stand of
timber at all times upon those portions of the property which
should properly be devoted to timber propagation — thus, it is
felt, carrying out, to a very considerable extent at least the
policy of both the Federal and State Governments for the
conservation and propagation of forests.

Respectfullv,

' W. W. Coe,
General Manager.

I am now going to announce the following persons as
having been appointed to the Nominating Committee, which
is to report at the close of this afternoon's session on the
Permanent President and Secretary of the Congress:

Professor J. G. Lee, Louisiana, Chairman.

Mr. J. G. Peters, District of Columbia.

Mr. J. E. Barton, Kentucky.

Mr. F. W. Besley, Maryland.

Dr. H. P. Baker, New York.

Mrs. Gordon Finger, North Carolina.

Mr. W. D. Tyler, Virginia.

Will this committee kindly get together, so as to report at
the close of the afternoon session?

We will now proceed to the business of the afternoon ses-
sion. It is with regret I announce that it will be impossible
for us to listen to the paper from Professor Bryant, of Yale,
who is not present. The second number on the program

144 Proceedings of the

which is to be delivered by Mr. Frothingham, is postponed
until tomorrow, and will be given in the field. The next
speaker, therefore, will be Professor J. W. Tourney, Director
Yale Forest School, who will speak on "The Regeneration of
the Southern Pine Forests."

THE REGENERATION OF SOUTHERN FORESTS
By Prof. J. W. Toumey,

DIRECTOR, YALE FOREST SCHOOL

Agriculture is as old as the race. We know from long
experience that the fruitfulness of tillable land is measured
by the intelligence and labor combined in working it. No-
where do we expect the grains, fruits, and vegetables as a
free gift of nature. If we would reap we must sow, is uni-
versally accepted as the foundation of husbandry. The savage
depends upon wild or chance crops ; civilized man upon planted
or cultivated crops. A single acre of arable land provides the
civilized man more necessities and luxuries than the savage
gathers from 100 acres of wilderness.

As a nation we are just beginning to learn that land where
timber formerly grew or is now growing is embraced in two
separate and quite distinct classes, namely the agricultural
land and absolute forest land. The former is capable of de-
velopment for the profitable production of farm crops, the
latter is not. The former should be cleared of its forest
growth as rapidly as agricultural development and increased
population warrant ; the latter should be kept perpetually in
forest crops.

Forestry is comparatively new. We have not yet learned
that the productiveness of absolute forest land is also meas-
ured by the intelligence and labor combined in working it.
We are, however, beginning to realize that there is a clear line
of economic cleavage between farm land and forest land.
Thus, vast areas, particularly in the East, once cleared for
farms, are now idle or slowly reclothing themselves with
timber. These farms were carved out of potential forest land,
upon which the attempt to develop permanent agriculture has
proved an economic failure.

How much of the South is potential forest land we do not

Southern Forestry Congress 145

know. We do know that under the radical change in labor
conditions following the Civil War thousands of acres once
under cultivation have grown up to forests and now bear some
of the finest stands of pine to be found in the South, while
other areas once under cultivation have remained idle due to
the absence of reproduction or its fragmentary character.

One of the striking characteristics of the South is the vast
areas of idle land, not only land once under cultivation but
also potential forest land from which the timber has been cut
and which is not reproducing a second crop.

Timber has been and now is one of the greatest resources
of the South. Under present methods of exploitation and lack
of fire regulation by which it is a destructive agent of vast
significance rather than a silvicultural agent of importance, the
time is not far distant when there will be a marked falling off
in the annual cut.

It is only a question of time when all the virgin stands
now growing on the absolute forest land in the South will be
exploited. The disappearance of these stands should be ex-
pected because the economic use of land requires the cutting
of virgin timber as rapidly as needed in the upbuilding of the
country. The most ardent believer in forest conservation has
no quarrel with the South regarding the rapid cutting of
her forests because the withholding of them from the axe
and saw has no direct bearing whatever upon forest conserva-
tion in its truest sense, which is conservation through use.

If the Southern forests are to continue as a great resource,
means must be found for perpetuating them on all land not cap-
able of profitable development for the protection of farm
crops. In other words, the absolute forest land in the South
must be managed with the view of producing regular sustained
yields, either annual or periodic. These cannot be attained by
chance. The Southern States have too many examples of the
effect of unregulated forest exploitation and the want of fire
regulation upon the succeeding crop, to continue to trust much
longer to chance crops to maintain her great forest resources
after her virgin stands have been exploited. The ultimate fate
of the timber resources of the South depends upon the repro-
duction secured with the removal of the old crop from absolute
forest land and a management under which the reproduction

10

146 Proceedings of the

will develop into acceptable stands. There is no question but
we are in accord in the need for better reproduction in the
South. There is no known way, however, for securing a satis-
factory sustained yield from absolute forest land without
some sacrifice. I mean by this that expenditures must be
made that cannot be realized upon for many years in the
future. Is the South willing to make these expenditures in
order to sustain her great forest industry? The question of
reproduction in the South is primarily an economic one. The
private owner of absolute forest land from which the timber
has been cut and which is not reproducing a second crop
through natural means knows that an expediture of from $3
to $15 per acre for seeding will under adequate protection,
produce a fully stocked stand. He knows that if he cuts a
part of the present stand and leaves the remainder to provide
seed and shade, he can attain natural regeneration wherever
fire can be controlled and used as a silvicultural tool. No one
doubts but that the various silvicultural systems for attaining
natural reproduction will work in the South. We can get re-
production of any kind and character if we have the will to pay
for it. We are not so sure that the cost incurred, when
we take into consideration the economic conditions in the
South and the attitude of the public toward forest fires,
will be a profitable investment for the private owner
of absolute forest land. We should remember that the
private owner looks to the yield in forest products alone
for returns from his investment, while the public owner
secures also the vast indirect value of the forest which in
many cases may be more than that derived from the sale of
forest products. The South taken collectively can afford to
practice silviculture and thus attain better reproduction long
before the private owner can afford to or will practice it.

Although it would be a most admirable thing for the fu-
ture prosperity of the South if the private owners of abso-
lute forest lands would reestablish acceptable forest stands
upon them and give them adequate protection, under present
conditions it should not be expected. The investment reaches
too far into the future and the uncertainties of profit due to
the absence of fire control, unscientific methods of forest tax-

Southern Forestry Congress 147

ation, and in some instances the unrestricted pasturage of
swine in pine forests are too great.

The South cannot afford to wait on private interests for
progress in forestry and the carrying out of enterprises essen-
tial for a future timber supply. The stimulus for better re-
production, which lies at the foundation of better forestry,
must center in the public and not in the private individual. As
the community derives a double value from the forests, name-
ly, the indirect and direct value, the State and lesser govern-
mental units are remiss in their duty to future generations if
they permit the absolute forest lands after exploitation to
remain permanently idle.

What is needed in the South today more than anything
else in order to place forestry upon a permanent foundation
is a stronger public sentiment favorable to forestry, — a real
desire on the part of the public for a permanent forest in-
dustry, a desire backed by adequate funds derived from taxes
to sustain state departments of forestry and other organiza-
tions, without which real and enduring progress in forestry is
impossible. There is already a slow movement in this direc-
tion but it needs impetus. In these days state departments of
forestry, manned by competent foresters, are as essential as
state departments of agriculture. The organization of the
state for better forest laws, better fire control, and better re-
production is impossible without them.

Not only should every southern state have a strong, well
supported department of forestry, but every state should ac-
cept the policy of the public ownership of absolute forest land.
I do not mean by this that all absolute forest land in the South
should be publicly owned but I do mean that some of it should
be. It is time now for the South to realize, as has already
been realized in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and
in other northern states, that the reproduction of the forest is
a public concern, that it vitally affects the public. The public
must point out and lead the way. If the idle potential forest
lands of the South are to add even a modicum of their pos-
sibilities to her future timber resources, the policy of state
ownership must be accepted and a beginning made, possibly at
first by acquiring a limited acreage in different parts of the
state as demonstration forests where the many as yet unsolved

148 Proceedings of the

problems relating to the economic reproduction of southern
forests can be worked under the direction of a competent
forestry department and where the public can see the results
of forestry practice.

Let me repeat : The improvement of reproduction in the
South centers not in the sporadic attempts of individuals but
in efficient, well sustained departments of state forestry and
the acceptance of the policy of the public ownership of ab-
solute forest land.

There are thousands and thousands of acres of absolute
forest land in the South that have been exploited and are
without reproduction and consequently idle. Artificial repro-
duction by private enterprises, however, will remain of minor
importance for some time to come. There are a few restricted
localities, in the opinion of Ashe, that can be artificially re-
stocked with loblolly pine by private owners with the expecta-
tion of fair returns on the cost. However, they must be well
suited for the growth of this species, must cost no more than
$10 per acre, and the cost of restocking must not exceed $3 per
acre. Furthermore, they must be located where fire is under
control and there must be a material increase in the value of
stumpage over that of the present time. The only immediate
hope for the acceptable reforestation of even a part of the
denuded land where natural reproduction is no longer possible
is through public enterprise. I fully realize that public opin-
ion prohibits the creation of adequate state and communal
forests in the South at the present time, but public opinion
must be changed.

The mountain forests in the South are chiefly northern
types. They are composed of hardwoods and of conifers and
hardwoods in mixture. The effect of fire on reproduction is
the same as on more northern forests of like character. Re-
production chiefly depends upon the exclusion of fire. Under
the present method of operating hardwood stands, felling
operations usually remove but a small percentage of the entire
stand. A shelterwood of overmature, partially decayed trees,
of crooked or otherwise defective trees, and of trees too small
to be merchantable, is left, under which reproduction is usually
abundant. It is often the case, however, that forest weeds
and other tree species of inferior value dominate in the re-

Southern Forestry Congress 149

production. Futhermore, the worthless overwood retards
growth in the young trees beneath. If fires are not too fre-
quent or too severe, a second growth stand results, comprised
of the defective trees, those too small to be merchantable, and
the abundant reproduction which developed after opening the
forest floor to the light. This second growth forest which has
cost nothing for its regeneration, if left to develop under
natural conditions, will not be as valuable as the original stand
because of the increased percentage of defective trees and the
larger percentage of inferior species. How valuable it be-
comes depends primarily upon two things : First, the possi-
bility of removing the defective overwood and the elimination
of the forest weeds and other inferior species that usually form
a considerable part of the regeneration ; second, the protection
from fire.

Greeley, in speaking of the hardwood forests of the South-
ern Appalachians where white oak is the species of greatest
commercial importance, says : "The perpetuation of white oak
in commercial quantities necessitates the adoption of more con-
servative and far-reaching management. The same thing may be
said of tulip, black walnut, cherry, and the other more valuable
southern hardwoods that are being rapidly replaced by black
and scrub oak, and other less valuable species, under the pres-
ent system of exploitation which does not provide for pro-
tection and adequate reproduction of the right kind." Greeley
believes that with suitable management there is no difficulty in
securing either seedling or sprout reproduction of white oak
and that it is not often advisable to cut mature white oak from
unlumbered and lightly culled forests until there is a market
for tops and cull trees.

Although economic conditions will not permit the employ-
ment of the various silvicultural systems developed in Europe
for attaining acceptable natural regeneration, although we do
not know the best procedure in each particular case, we are
certain of this, namely, that we should aim toward some silvi-
cultural treatment in the exploitation of the mountain forests
of the South. We are also certain that in our effort toward
better reproduction in the mountain forests the problem of
forest fires must first be solved, which can be done only by
thorough State organization. The other problems of repro-

150 Proceedings of the

duction in these forests are minor in importance when com-
pared with those relating to fire. The simplest silvicultural
operations to increase reproduction and improve the stand are
useless without fire control.

Due to the great value of southern pine and the rapidity
with which the virgin stand is disappearing, the attention of
the South has recently turned to the discussion of methods of
cutting the virgin stands and later methods of protection by
which acceptable second growth stands are possible. Under
the present methods of operating pine in the South, felling
operations remove a much larger proportion of the stand than
is the case with hardwoods, and reproduction is not so com-
plete. As a rule, everything is removed that is merchantable.
The reproduction on the ground is usually scanty and poor.
The overwood left, particularly in longleaf and loblolly pine
stands, is often of little consequence in providing for a future
stand. It is the pine forest that is most rapidly disappearing
under present methods of forest exploitation in the South.
It is the pine forest that calls most insistently for better re-
production as the old stands disappear. Pine stands must
originate from seed. As has already been stated, I do not be-
lieve that the time is yet here when artificial regeneration of
pine stands in the South can be extensively undertaken by
private owners. We can, therefore, only look for better re-
production by modifying our present methods of logging so
as to attain a more abundant seed production at the opportune
time and by improving the conditions for germination and
early growth and by the regulation of fire and grazing. The
spending of time and money by private owners of southern
pine land in an effort to attain better reproduction than that
which follows the ordinary present day methods of logging is
an economic waste until the use and abuse of fire, which is
the conti oiling factor in the reproduction of southern pine,
is more fully understood and appreciated. Everywhere
throughout the South pine reproduction is abundant on open
fields surrounded by seed trees and formerly cultivated. It is
usually absent or fragmentary on cut-over lands similarly lo-
cated that have not been cultivated. This is particularly true
of both loblolly pine and longleaf pine. This marked differ-
ence in reproduction appears to be due to fire. There being

Southern Forestry Congress 151

but little litter on the formerly cultivated areas, they usually
escape fire for a number of years after seeding. When fires do
occur the small amount of inflammable material results in the
minimum of damage. Hardly an acre of southern pine land es-
capes fire for longer than a few years in succession. As pointed
out by Harper, Chapman, and others, fire appears to be both a
blessing and a curse in its effect upon the reproduction of
southern pine. What is demanded in the regeneration of
southern pine, particularly longleaf pine, is not the exclusion
of fire but the regulation of fire. Fire should be used intelli-
gently as a silvicultural tool. If it is permitted to occur in the
southern pine forests by accident or chance, it is as great a
menace to sustained yield as it is in the North. Some form of
fire regulation must be worked out for the South by which
fires can be used intelligently and at the same time their de-
structiveness to reproduction reduced far below that of the
present day. There is as much need for regulation in the
South as there is in the North. The problem, however, is far
more complex and can only be worked out and applied by an
efficient State forest service supported by a favorable public
sentiment.

Ashe states that the greatest menace to the natural repro-
duction of loblolly pine is fire and that fragmentary and open
stands are chiefly due to this cause. Fire preceding the fall of
seed in exposing the mineral soil is favorable to germination,
but fires that occur after germination takes place and before
the trees are at least six or seven years old, always cause com-
plete or partial destruction. When there is considerable litter
on the ground and the weather is dry, the trees must be 20
or 30 feet high and well cleared of lower limbs before
there is no longer danger of excessive loss from fire. The
natural regeneration of loblolly pine, therefore, demands com-
plete protection from fire for a variable period of from 7 to
20 years. Forest fires which consume but a small amount of
inflammable material are often less harmful to regeneration
than less frequent fires which burn with greater intensity after
germination takes place. Loblolly pine germinates evenly and
quickly, grows rapidly and is remarkably well adapted for
natural regeneration if it is given half a chance. Further, it
is easily established by either seeding or planting. Even more

152 Proceedings of the

than the loblolly pine the longleaf pine is dependent for ac-
ceptable reproduction upon the intelligent control of fire and its
use as a silvicultural tool.

Harper states that fires are essential for the reproduction
of longleaf pine. Fires that precede the fall of seed expose
the mineral soil and provide a better bed for germination.
The damage done by fires following germination depends upon
the amount and degree of dryness of the accumulated litter and
the age of the young plants. Longleaf pine when three years
old is often able to withstand a light surface fire and later
fires that occur at frequent intervals due to the small amount
of inflammable material ; while, on the other hand, it may be
destroyed by a single fire which burns the accumulated litter of
eight or ten years. Under present conditions there appears to
be a necessity, at least in some localities, to burn at frequent
intervals in order to escape the danger of total destruction.
The future hope of longleaf pine rests upon natural reproduc-
tion. Fire more than anything else appears to be the silvicul-
tural tool which is to determine the future stands. Due to the
large seed, the common practice of grazing swine in longleaf
pine is fatal to reproduction. The exclusion of swine during
the period of regeneration, i. e., immediately before and for a
few years following the felling operations, is absolutely neces-
sary.

Unlike loblolly pine the longleaf is irregular in germina-
tion, the seeds are low in viability, and early growth is low.
Artificial regeneration both by seeding and planting is expen-
sive and unsatisfactory. We must depend chiefly upon natural
regeneration for future stands.

In the final analysis the reproduction of southern pines
and the quality and quantity of future yields will be measured
by the degree to which the South accepts forestry. By this
I mean the degree to which each state supports a strong, non-
partisan, scientific forestry department ; the degree to which
the public through taxation is willing to purchase non-produc-
tive absolute forest land and make it productive ; the degree to
which each state is willing to create and maintain a strong,
efficient forest fire service and educate the public in the use
and abuse of forest fires ; and the degree to which the private
owners of lumbered and cut-over forest lands are willing to co-

Southern Forestry Congress 153

operate with the state and nation in securing better protection
of their own property and are willing to pay for the same.
Graves has well said that as long as there is any considerable
risk from fire, private owners of forest property have little
incentive to make provision for a second growth or do other
work looking to continued forest production. Because the
annual firing of southern pine lands does not kill the timber,
improves the forage, and protects the turpentine orchard, the
public who do not appreciate the importance of reproduction
are deluded into thinking that forest fires are always harmless.
If this attitude of the public in relation to forest fires contin-
ues, public sentiment will absolutely wreck the possibility of re-
generation in the South and destroy the hope of future stands
of southern pines. If forest fires on southern pine lands killed
the standing timber as it does in most other parts of the United
States, private owners would hold an entirely different view
from what they do at the present time, fires would greatly de-
crease in number and extent, and natural reproduction, which
is the very life of sustained yield, would have a chance to as-
sert itself. What every state in the South needs is a strong,
aggressive forest policy with the faith of the people behind
it. Until she has this, the purely academic discussions of
methods of pine reproduction have little place because there
is no one in the entire South who will apply them in practice.

Mr. Foster: If there are no questions now, I think prob-
ably we had better defer our discussion until the papers are
finished. The next paper is : "The Naval Stores Industry :
How it Can Be Perpetuated in the South," by Mr. I. F. Eld-
redge, Supervisor, Florida National Forest.

THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY: HOW IT CAN BE PER-
PETUATED IN THE SOUTH

By I. F. Eldredge,

FOREST SUPERVISOR, FLORIDA NATIONAL FOREST

The naval stores industry is peculiar to the South-Atlantic
and Gulf States, and, outside of the region in which it is car-
ried on, very little is known of it. Travellers along the At-
lantic Seaboard and into Florida see from the car windows the
ghastly signs left behind by the turpentiner in the years gone

154: Proceedings of the

by and are very apt to form an opinion that the naval stores
industry is too destructive to be fostered or encouraged any
longer than necessary and that it should be allowed to perish
as soon as possible. It is not generally known that the naval
stores products of this country are worth over $35,000,000
per annum and that the greater part of this wealth is brought
into our coffers from foreign countries. In the past, the in-
dustry has been conducted according to the usual American
practice of getting the most out of the business in the shortest
possible time, regardless of the ultimate welfare of the in-
dustry or of the source of the income, and today the industry
is well in sight of the end of the supply of available timber,
and unless something comes to the rescue within the next five
years, the industry in this country will dwindle to insignifi-
cance.

The business of collecting naval stores began in early
colonial days in Virginia and North Carolina. For many
years the work was carried on in a small way in this region
and it was not until the middle of the last century that the
business took on the dignity and character of an industry and
became of such size as to play an important part in the life of
the South. After the temporary business paralysis that fol-
lowed the Civil War, the industry commenced to grow amaz-
ingly and in a comparatively few years it had exhausted the
pine forests of Virginia and North Carolina and was moving
southward through South Carolina. The industry continued
to spread rapidly and by the end of the century had cleaned up
Georgia and was entering the Florida Peninsula and spreading
westward into Alabama. At the present time the longleaf
pine forests of Alabama are exhausted so far as naval stores
are concerned; the Peninsula of Florida is about worked out;
the last timber in West Florida is now being operated and the
center of the industry is rapidly passing to the westward.
New timber is being worked now in Louisiana, Mississippi,
and east Texas, where there is only a limited supply.

In the early days and throughout the life of the industry
until recent years, the naval stores operator found plenty of
cheap labor at his command ; could have the choice of the
timber at his own price and believed firmly that the supply of
longleaf pine was inexhaustible. The selling end of the busi-

Southern Forestry Congress 155

ness came into the control of speculatively inclined men and
many and rapid were the variations in the price of spirits
and of rosin. Many fortunes have been made and many lost,
and, as in the mining industry, a certain recklessness became
common to those engaged in the production of the commodity.

Operators have a tendency to sacrifice everything in the
effort to obtain financial results as quickly as possible. They
attack the timber with the sole intention of getting the most
out of it in the shortest possible time and are more or less
indifferent as to the effect of the operation on the life of the
timber. They would work it a few years and when the timber
commenced to die heavily, they simply moved their camps into
a virgin territory and started all over afresh. More often
than not, the operator did not own the timber in which he was
operating but leased it for a short period only. The naval
stores industry was then traveling so far ahead of the saw-
mill that the owners of the timber were willing to see it de-
stroyed for the small amount of stumpage given by the tur-
pentiner. Very wasteful methods prevailed all through the
operation and it was necessary for the producer to abandon
the timber just as soon as the maximum flow was over.

In order to bring about the maximum flow of resin in the
minimum time, it was common to scar or chip the timber very
deeply and to cut as many boxes on every tree as it would
possibly stand, leaving only a very narrow strip of bark be-
tween each scarified face. The chipping was not only very
deep but the streak was so wide that the face progressed up
the tree so rapidly that at the end of three years the timber
was about exhausted. The yields from such a method were
very large while the work lasted, but owing to the enormous
death rate as well as to the exhaustion of the trees that didn't
die, the fall off in yield from year to year was remarkably
great ; so much that no operator could afford to waste his
time in the timber after a very few years. So long as labor
was plentiful, cheap, and easily managed, and longleaf pine
stumpage was to be had for almost nothing, this method of
working produced results that could not be achieved in any
other way, but it did it at the expense of the timber. As soon
as timber became of value, sawmill men and timber owners

156 Proceedings of the

commenced to dread the naval stores man as a pest of the first
magnitude.

It is a common saying in Florida where the naval stores
industry is now engaged, that all turpentine men came from
Robeson County, North Carolina. This is not entirely true,
but it is safe to say that all turpentine men are still working
according to the principles and methods laid down by the tur-
pentine operators in Robeson County and other parts of
North Carolina, over a hundred years ago. Being an exclusive
set, turpentine men have not been bothered to any extent by
the introduction of new blood or new ideas into their business
and the average operator today conducts his business along
the same lines and in the same way that his early colonial
forebears did before the Revolution. There have been a few
changes, it is true. About fifteen years ago the French idea
of using a cup instead of a cut-in "box" was introduced by
the Government and after a number of years of trial in actual
operations on a large scale, under the direction of Dr. Charles
H. Herty, a great number of operators have adopted the new
method. Otherwise there has been no improvement of any
moment in methods, tools, equipment, financing or marketing
in a century.

The use of the cup instead of the old-fashioned "box" has
made it possible to work the timber a few years longer than
was formerly the custom and the yield of resin or gum has
been increased somewhat. The loss by death as a result of fire
and windfall, insects and fungi is not quite so great as under
the box method ; but the loss is still very large and so unneces-
sary, and the waste of natural resources is so enormous that
the industry as a whole faces early extinction, because the
owners of the remaining stands of longleaf pine are unwilling
to sacrifice its saw timber value for the small revenue to be
derived by leasing it for naval stores purposes.

It is particularly unfortunate that this distressing state of
affairs should come to mar the outlook just at this time when
there is every reason to believe that an era of the greatest pros-
perity will be opened upon the cessation of hostilities in Eu-
rope. Since naval stores are used largely in construction work,
this industry is among the first to feel the beneficent effects of
prosperity. There is no doubt that a greatly increased demand

Southern Forestry Congress 157

and high market prices will prevail during a considerable period
after the war is ended. It will be sad indeed if we are unable
to take advantage of this opportunity simply because we run
out of timber from which to make the desired commodity.

Many radical changes are necessary before the naval stores
industry can be put on a permanent basis ; improvements must
he brought about in methods of production, manufacture and
marketing. The results to be desired are: (1) To reduce the
death rate of worked timber, (2) to increase the length of
working, (3) to eliminate unnecessary waste, (4) to reduce
cost of production, manufacturing and financing, (5) to im-
prove the method of marketing.

The death rate in timber worked according to prevailing
methods varies, of course, with the character of the timber as
well as with such periodical factors as severe droughts, hur-
ricanes, etc. The percentage of damage is lighter in the north-
ern part of the range of the species and on strong soils than
it is in the extreme southern part of the range on the light
soil of the Gulf region. The death rate is also influenced con-
siderably by the general age of the timber. Mature and over-
mature trees are more apt to be killed or damaged than young,
thrifty trees. It is the general practice among turpentine men
to chip their timber from one to one and a quarter inches deep,
not including bark ; to put as many faces on each tree as it
will hold ; to cup trees as small sometimes as five inches in
diameter; to add from three-fourths to an inch to the height
of the face with each streak, that is, making about thirty inches
of face each season ; and to pay little or no attention to the
preservation of the bars between faces as the work proceeds
up the tree. This operation is too severe for conservative
work and no timber can be worked in accordance with it
without being considerably damaged. Timber worked in this
manner shows a constantly accelerating decrease in yield from
the second year on and it is rare that the timber can be work-
ed at a profit for more than five years at the outside. The
death rate in this five years working will vary from 15 to 50
per cent of the worked trees.

One of the experiments carried on by the Forest Service
under the direction of Dr. Herty at Green Cove Springs,
Florida, previous to 1909, gave results which indicated that

158 Proceedings of the

deep chipping and wide chipping were not only unnecessary
but did not obtain the full yield of the trees. It was ascer-
tained, also, that a reduction in the number of cups per tree re-
sulted in an immediate increase in the production per crop. In
1909 the Florida National Forest was put under administration
and in accordance with the policy of the Government it was de-
sired to utilize the resources of the forest so far as it could
safely be done. It was necessary to devise some system of tur-
pentining that would first of all safeguard the timber, and with
this in mind a system was inaugurated which with minor mod-
ifications has been used in the forest ever since. The mehtod
adopted by the Government is similar to the common practice
except that it is very much more conservative in every direc-
tion. The same tools are used and the same grade of labor can
perform the work as well as under the old practice. The
chipping has a maximum depth of half an inch inside of the
bark ; the chipper is allowed to remove not more than half an
inch of new wood from the top of the face with each streak;
the height of the face is limited to 16 inches per season. Cups
are used exclusively. No tree nine inches or under in diameter
breast high is cupped, and only one face is allowed on trees
from ten to fifteen inches, inclusive, with two cups on larger
trees. A bar four inches wide is kept between all faces and
the latter are so arranged on two cup trees that a back face
can be placed if desired after the first faces have been worked
to their fullest extent. This system has been in use seven
years in the Florida National Forest on an area of about 30,000
acres. The system has been and is being carried out by regular
turpentine operators without special organization or equip-
ment of any kind, and the government timber which is being
operated is leased to the highest bidder at public auction, bring-
ing higher stumpage prices than does neighboring privately
owned timber of the same grade. The cost of carrying out
the Government regulations varies but little, if any, from the
old method. The results are: (1) An increase in production
per crop per annum. This increase varies from 5 per cent to
20 per cent during the first three years and from 20 per cent
to 50 per cent over the same period under the old method
during the second three years. The indications are that the
results to be obtained from the back cupping in the way of

Southern Forestry Congress 159

increased yield will be even greater. (2) It lengthens the
period of production without reducing annual yield. The
Government expects under this sytsem to have all of its timber
in the National Forest worked for at least twelve years and,
if the prices of naval stores advance considerably, it is more
than probable that this period can be and will be extended by
at least two years. This is an increase of over 100 per cent
and is brought about by the narrow, light chipping, and by the
fact that since the health and vigor of the tree is preserved,
the timber may be back cupped liberally and worked for six
years with a profit. (3) It cuts down the death rate. Care-
ful counts in Government turpentine leases in the Florida
National Forest have shown that under the system of shallow
chipping and restricted cupping the death rate is reduced to a
remarkable extent. For a four-year period in the average
operation under the old deep-chipping, heavy cupping method
a death rate of 20 per cent can be considered a light loss in
Gulf Coast timber, and more often than not the percentage of
death is more than twice this figure. The death rate on aver-
age timber under the Government method during a four-year
period is only 6 per cent of the faces or about 3 per cent great-
er than the normal death rate in virgin timber. The death
of timber due to chipping or to the turpentine operation in any
way is less than 2 per cent of the trees worked. In a Govern-
ment turpentine, lease lightning kills more trees than the tur-
pentiner does.

There is no reason why the industry at large should not
adopt such a system as used in the Florida National Forest
and thereby go a long way towards settling the difficulty of
how to reduce the death rate, to increase the length of working
and to stimulate the production. The question of eliminating
unnecessary waste, however, is yet to be solved. Every in-
telligent observer of the naval stores industry who examines
it from an engineering point of view is struck with the great
waste of material, time, energy and money in the work as
carried out by the average turpentine operator. I shall not at-
tempt to enumerate the many leaks nor to prescribe a remedy.
It is safe to say that a well informed and experienced efficiency
expert could, after a thorough study of the industry, save at
least 25 per cent of the ultimate cost of production by stopping

160 Proceedings of the

waste of timber, of gum at the cup, in the barrel, and at the
still ; loss of grades due to poor distilling, waste of time and
money in poor labor and inefficient overseeing, loss of money
in the commissary system, in the system of financing, and in
the method of marketing through factors. It is a large job to
solve all of these difficulties, but a step must be made in this
direction in the immediate future if the industry is to preserve
its existence in this country.

When all of these knotty problems have been worked out
it may be said that the industry is still far from being on a
permanent basis, for we have provided only for the conserva-
tion of the remaining stand of pine timber and have started to
work about fifty years too late. The best we can hope to do
is to make the present supply of timber last until a second
crop can be provided. When it is known that it takes at least
a hundred years to grow a longleaf pine to a merchantable saw
timber size it may seem ridiculous to even speak of waiting
for a second crop ; but it must be remembered that this second
crop has been growing in the States of North and South Caro-
lina and in parts of Georgia for the last fifty years or more
and even now large areas of second growth longleaf pine
timber are available for turpentining in these States.

It will never pay to work this timber under the old method
of turpentining and at the market prices now prevailing ; the
time will arrive, however, well within the knowledge of the
present generation of turpentine men, when this class of timber
will command high prices and find a ready market for naval
stores production. This timber will be worked under some
system closely resembling that now used in France which is
the only method that can be used with profit on young, fast
growing stands without stopping the growth or requiring a
cessation in operations to rest the timber. In the Florida Na-
tional Forest extensive experiments are being conducted in
the use of the French system on longleaf pine and under Am-
erican labor conditions. The experiments have been under
way only two years and the yield figures obtained are not yet
available for publication. It may be said, however, that the
French system will yield a larger return per acre per annum
on small timber than will the American system. There is no
limit to the number of years that a tree can be worked under

Southern Forestry Congress 161

the French system. In France, it is customary to work the
timber until it reaches saw timber size when the tree is cut
and sold and a new one is planted.

There is yet another possibility for the future of the naval
stores industry. In Arizona and New Mexico as well as in
parts of California, the United States Government owns a vast
acreage of western yellow pine, which is closely akin to our
longleaf pine. Several years ago several crops of this timber
were cupped and worked under the supervision of a Southern
turpentine operator. The final results indicated that it will pay
to operate this species for naval stores when the market price
of spirits of turpentine reaches the neighborhood of a dollar
a gallon, and not before. The western species will produce
about 80 per cent as much gum as will the Southern species
for the same length of season. However, the open season of
the species in most parts of the range is from four to eight
weeks shorter than the working period in the South. Labor
conditions, too, are unfavorable as compared with the South,
and transportation facilities are very poor or lacking entirely.
Still, it is very probable that eventually this timber will be
worked for naval stores.

Prospectors in Mexico claim to have found large bodies of
western yellow pine in the plateau region of Central Mexico.
This is the same species as that experimented with in Arizona,
California, and New Mexico, and it is safe to say it will be
worked at some time provided the sawmill does not reach it
first. Transportation facilities will be the greatest bar to the
spread of the industry south of the Rio Grande. Some of the
naval stores companies of this country own timber concessions
in Honduras in Central America, and one or more operating
companies have been at work there for some years. There is
a considerable body of pine available, and labor of a kind can
be found among the natives. The unfavorable climatic condi-
tions, as well as the fact that the country is very remote and
rather uncivilized, precludes the idea of any general mijratin
of the industry from this country to that.

If the business of producing naval stores is to remain in
this country as one of our great industries, its leaders must,
first of all, bring about immediate and radical changes in the
method of production in order to stop the waste of raw ma-
il

162 PROCEEDINGS OF THE

terial and to conserve our remaining supply of pine timber;
they must start to work at once to perfect a way of working on
second growth pine that will allow of more or less continuous
working as under the French system ; and furthermore, they
must not only take steps to safeguard such second growth
pine as is now present in the turpentine orchards, but must
bring about an increase in natural reproduction.

Mr. Foster : The next speaker needs no introduction in
North Carolina, at least, and not in the South. I might tell
some good stories about Mr. Ashe, but our time is limited, and
we are very anxious to hear what he has to say about "The
Forests of the Future." I am glad to introduce Mr. W. W.
Ashe, of the Forest Service.

THE FORESTS OF THE FUTURE— SECOND GROWTH
By W. W. Ashe,

FOREST INSPECTOR, FOREST SERVICE

Of second growth itself, there is a prevailingly hazy idea as
to what constitutes it. It will be referred to, however, as a
general term, including not only the small trees which are
left after a pretty heavy cutting and which may form the
major part of a future, if somewhat deferred, operation, but
the young trees which actually start after cutting as well.
Under this definition second growth embraces anything which
will feed a portable circular saw some twenty or thirty years
after the present clean-up.

There are two classes of persons who might be considered
to have interests in the future of lands producing second
growth, the lumberman landowner who should cherish a
decided personal interest in the investmental aspect of this
class of property which he is alleged to have the exclusive
right to create ; and the community in general which might,
should it acquire an introspective attitude, regard the relation
of these lands to its permanent development.

THE LUMBERMAN'S INTEREST IN SECOND GROWTH

Cut-over timberlands immediately after logging do not
present an appearance that appeals strongly as a future timber
investment. This is particularly so to the eyes of the lumber-

Southern Forestry Congress 103

man, since his point of view has been limited entirely to finding
timber ready for the saw and axe rather than the re-creation
of saw timber through a long-time investment. It is not neces-
sary, however, to consider laying the basis for a second growth
cutting by starting from the seed. Tracts exist in which there
are no young trees or small ones, and necessarily such tracts
must as a rule be cut clean ; but in most stands there are at least
occasional groups of young trees or scattered young trees. This
is particularly the case throughout the mountain forests, and
it is these trees which will form the bulk of a profitable second
cutting if they are not cut now but are permitted to grow, A
second cutting is spoken of with assurance. Not only a second
but innumerable future cuttings will be the fortune of most
mountain forest lands, since this section will remain and be-
come more fully recognized as our chief permanent hardwood
producing area. And in respect to their permanency this
section is different from our other hardwood producing centers.
The hardwood centers of the Ohio River Valley and the Lake
States have agricultural soils which are already largely clear-
ed; the swamp hardwood lands of the Mississippi River Val-
ley will be cleared as rapidly as they can be drained. The
same is true of most of the Southern pine lands, as I have
already pointed out in great detail on several occasions.*
While these pine lands are fundamentally agricultural they
can be used for timber for thirty to fifty years until there is
demand for them for farming and can produce a good stand
of timber in that time.

There are two considerations, either of which it seems
might justify the operator who also owns the land on which
he is operating in looking forward to the future value of his
cut-over land as a timber investment capable of yielding further
cuttings. To a certain extent one of these has to do with his
immediate profits as well as with the prospective value of the
land. This is the high cost of operating small timber, com-
pared with the profit realized from it. The second is the high
rate of increase in the value of such small timber as might be
left in the present operation, especially if young and thrifty.

* Address before N. C. Pine Association at Norfolk, Va.. April 7, 1907; N. C.
Forestry Association at New Bern, January 29, 1916, etc.

164 Proceedings of the

high cost of operating small timber in old stands

The cost of operating hardwood trees below sixteen inches
in diameter is out of all proportion to the value of the lumber
which they yield. A detailed investigation of these costs has
recently been made and will soon be printed.* The conclusions
of this investigation are that the costs per 1,000 feet of skid-
ding logs from trees between fourteen and sixteen inches in
diameter are more than treble those from trees twenty inches
in diameter and over. The costs per 1,000 feet of felling,
bucking and mill sawing are more than double. For trees
smaller than twelve inches the relative costs per 1,000 are yet
higher, being about five times as high as for trees twenty
inches in diameter and over, and at the same time the lumber
cut from small trees is much less valuable than that from
large. In most operations of virgin stands where clean cutting
is practiced, the larger timber is paying entirely or in large
part for the cost of operating the smaller. Much of the
small timber is cut at a loss, notwithstanding that it contrib-
utes proportionately to reducing mill construction, transpor-
tation construction, and overhead charges. Few operators
have ever investigated the relative costs. It is believed if the
stop watch, grade rules, and scale stick were applied to this
class of timber and the results checked with the sales book,
it would be found that in mountain operations the greater
portion, if not all, of the lumber cut from trees less than four-
teen inches in diameter in sections where the freight rate to
New York is twenty-five cents per 100 pounds and over, is
marketed at a loss and the stumpage consequently from which
it is milled has at the present time no value as saw timber.

This smaller timber, however, has a decided value from an
investment point of view. I wish to draw here a sharp dis-
tinction between small trees and young trees. Many small
trees are already old, as old as the largest, and in certain
species these stunted trees have lost their resilience and no re-
juvenation is possible. There is no justification for holding
such trees for advance in value either by growth or in price.
On the other hand the small tree which is also a young tree
and which is sound and straight has the possibility of an
enormous increase in value from three different sources. There

• This appears in the Forestry Quarterly for September, 1916.

Southern Forestry Congress 165

is increase by growth in volume and board contents. In ad-
dition to the actual volume which is added, there is also an
increase in the quality of the material, since after a stem is once
cleaned of its branches the size of the knots is fixed and ad-
ditional diameter results in wider boards and a betterment in
the grade of lumber. The third increase which takes place is
in price. It is this increase in price alone which in the past has
furnished the profits in holding timberlands, since stands of
virgin timber make no increase in yield, growth being balanced
by decay ; and for the same reason quality also is at a stand-
still. In this manner second growth should now offer a field
for investment as inviting as virgin stands. Old timber has
in many cases now reached such a value that price increment,
after allowing for the carrying charges, is not sufficient to
make the holding of it profitable as an investment, a fact
which inventory time forcibly stresses in many offices.

RAPID INCREASE IN VALUE OF SMALL TREES

It is the lower grade timber which exhibits the greatest ac-
tivity in rate of increase. In the thirteen years between 1903
and 1916, No. 1 common oak in this general price zone in-
creased approximately from $16.00 to $27.00 per thousand.
Allowing for an increase of $2.00 in producing costs during this
interval, the costs of operating and delivering on the railroad
being $14.00 in 1903 and at present under the same conditions
$16.00, this grade of stumpage increased from $1.50 to $11.50
per thousand or approximately 800 per cent. Mill run oak lum-
ber of course does not average equal to No. 1 common in price,
so the actual stumpage values are not as high as those given
but the proportional increase is as high. Except in the case of
poplar, the lumber that comes from such small trees, if their
utilization is at all close, would fall in average value well below
No. 1 common grade. On account of the almost negative value
of stumpage of timber of this character it is capable of mak-
ing a high rate of per cent increase in value if held as an in-
vestment, and it would pass through the same rapid initial
advance in price as old timber has partaken during the past
two decades. While it is entirely beyond the scope of this
paper to make conjectures as to future stumpage values, it is
reasonable to look for no actual decline in the amount of in-

166 Proceedings of the

crease in the value of the lower grades of stumpage of such
species as oak, poplar and chestnut.

HEAVY YIEEDS OF SECOND GROWTH OBTAINABLE WITH PROTEC-
TION

The amount of increment which can be secured on cut-over
land will vary according to the kinds of timber, and the con-
dition in which the land is left after lumbering. In the case
of mixed stands, consisting largely of chestnut, with poplar
and red oak, the realization of an annual increment of 250
board feet per acre a year can be expected in stands thirty to
fifty years old, where the entire replacement starts from the
seed or sprout after logging. Such increment which produces
a yield of hardwoods in excess of 10,000 board feet per acre
in a stand fifty years old looms large to the lumberman who is
accoustomed to cutting far less than this from virgin hard-
woods. In case it is possible to thin young stands, yields
much in excess of 10,000 feet can be secured. It must be re-
membered, however, that a large part of these virgin stands
is understocked on account of old fire damage, and there is
always a high per cent of defective material which comes from
the trees that are too old ; at the same time there is much very
small timber which cannot be profitably logged at the present
time and which is broken down in removing large trees. Fur-
thermore, there is a certain proportion of timber of kinds
which have little or no value and which is not logged at all.

In the young and vigorous stands of the future, all trees
will be sound and it can be expected that all kinds will be
merchantable and can be logged at a profit.

WANE IN THE CUT OF HARDWOODS

It is not sufficient to regard second growth entirely from
the point of view of the individual owner. The hardwood
timber of the Appalachians is to be held as one of the primary
raw products, around the manufacture of which are grouped
other dependent and subsidiary industries. The importance
of the second growth in maintaining the hardwood supply for
these industries and the liability of lumbermen, therefore, are
evident when the decline in the cut of many of the important
hardwood timbers is realized. The cut of oak has declined
26 per cent since 1899; poplar 50 per cent; ash 25 per cent;

Southern Forestry Congress 107

while elm, basswood, and hickory all show that they are on the
wane. Chestnut exhibits an immense increase of more than
150 per cent, but it cannot replace oak or ash in the industry or
for furniture.

1899 1910 1914

Oak 4,438,000 M 3,522,000 M 3,278,000 M

Poplar 1.151,000 M 734,926 M 519,000 M

Ash 267,000 M 246.000 M 189.000 M

Chestnut 206,000 M 535,049 M 540,000 M

Hickory 272,000 M 116,000 M

The relation of the hardwood supply as a basic resource can
be shown by the development of a typical hardwood consuming
center.

INDUSTRIES DEPENDENT ON SECOND GROWTH

If a community such as High Point, North Carolina, is
taken as an example and analyzed, it is readily seen that its
very existence as an industrial center is dependent upon a sup-
ply of hardwood lumber. The other industries which are
carried on at this place are such as are either complementary
to the manufacture of furniture or wooden ware, or are in-
dustries which use that portion of the labor of the community
which cannot profitably be employed in its major industry.
The remainder of the community engaged in its administra-
tion and in supplying living materials would be non-existent
but for the central woodworking establishments. These are the
basis for the entire community of some 15,000 population.

The timber requirements of this community at the present
time are placed at some thirty-five millions of board feet a
year. This, in the shape of rough lumber has a delivered
value not to exceed three-quarters of a million dollars, but this
raw material accounts for the development of an industrial
organization having a creative power of $10,000,000, repre-
senting the aggregate commercial and domestic interest of the
city. Its wealth-producing power would have been impossible
without this lumber. If this place and such other communities
of like character which should be developed, are to be perma-
nently preserved, an adequate supply of timber must be as-
sured. But High Point uses only the lumber. From these
same trees come pulp stock, tanning material, stave, crate,
and packing stock, and wood for other wares. Primary and
secondary industries dependent on these lesser products sup-

168 PROCEEDINGS OF THE

port many thousand persons for each lumber-consuming unit
similar to High Point. In the aggregate there are, in produc-
tion, in converting and dependent, some 25,000 persons around
this community as a nucleus.

Reasoning from the High Point example, the Appalachian
forests have a high potential. The activities which accom-
pany the stripping of the virgin stand are no index of their
latent industrial possibilities. Much of the present old forest
is wasted on account of lack of converting plants. Insufficient
or ill-adapted transportation facilities prevent the assembling
at existing manufacturing plants of much low grade material
which might be used. Eventually there will be a proper co-
ordination along these lines and efficiency will supplant hap-
hazardness. Much timber at present is not applied to its high-
est utility but must be marketed to make sales. In the case of
supplying the present timber requirements of High Point, an
area of some 150,000 acres of rough mountain lands could be
set aside, protected from fire and insects, and expected to more
than meet its full industrial needs, producing, in addition, a
numerous line of minor products. The ideal utilization might
never be attained ; but allowing for exigencies, the develop-
ment of the 20,000,000 acres of permanent hardwood timber-
land of the Southern Appalachians means at least a permanent
addition of some three millions to its population. Practically
all of this population would be urban and a large portion of it
would be centered in the narrow, comparatively lightly popu-
lated region in and adjacent to the mountains, the social de-
velopment of which has been so badly retarded on account of
a deficiency of its wealth-creating urban communities.

INTEREST OF COMMUNITY IN SECOND GROWTH

Looking at this in the future it is seen what an enormous
interest the organization known as the state, as well as in-
dustrial towns, has in the development and maintenance of the
productive capacity of the cut-over forest lands merely as
sources of timber supply without considering their function
in equalizing streamflow. We do not know how permanent
development is to be obtained. Whether it is to be forced on
the present owners by state authority, and there is no question
that the states have every power to require those who are
entrusted with ownership to fulfill their obligations to the

Southern Forestry Congress 1G9

people by making a steward's accounting; whether the states
are to assist owners in making development, or whether the
states or Federal government are in large measure, or en-
tirely, to acquire these lands and develop them, are questions
yet to be determined. The essential point is that undeveloped
they add nothing to the industrial or social life of the country
and present methods of exploitation are tending to destroy
developmental possibilities.

Will it pay the private owner to develop them? Only the
trial can determine absolutely, but if the experience of other
producing sections counts, owners here may profit by it. In
most of New England the old cork white pine is long a com-
modity of the past. New Hampshire mills now report cutting
second growth that requires more than forty logs to the thou-
sand board feet. Second growth chestnut is a standard and
profitable stumpage in Connecticut ; as second growth oak is,
in addition to chestnut, over much of Pennsylvania. In south-
eastern Virginia the size of the average shortleaf pine log has
shrunk during the past 20 years from more than 100 board feet
to approximately 30; yet mills seem to worry along and earn
satisfactory returns for their stockholders, and this notwith-
standing the fact that these sections passed through somewhat
the same stages of careless lumbering followed by fire as that
which prevails now in the southern mountains ; somewhat the
same, for they failed to experience in its full severity the cable
logger which breaks a clean path for its action. Yet, even with
this mighty engine of logging efficiency and forest ruin, much
can be done to mitigate the waste and breakage of small timber
without increase of logging cost. It is absolutely necessary
that the greatest of all evils, fire, should be prevented. The
position of many of the Appalachian lumbermen in regard to
protection against fire is largely that of vicarious prepared-
ness.* They like to discuss the subject but wish to delegate

* In many cases the lumbermen in their delegated fire protective activities are
suggestive of a cook at a summer hotel at which I stooped this spring, both of
\is arriving on the day when the hotel season opened. For several days the
bread was execrable. I at length bearded this alleged culinary artist in his
den, and had the temerity to ask as to the reason for his failure in prepar-
ing the staff of life. Frank, as he was called, freely confessed that his bread
was poor; that the reason for it was that he could not cook unless he had good
clothes; that his wife Helen was to have followed him to the hotel on the next
train bringing his good clothes, but that he was afraid that she had run off with
some other nigger and had taken his good clothes with them.

The next day I heard that Helen had come, and I sauntered into the sanctuary
of the fry-pan. Frank sat indolently by a window; a buxom daughter of Ethiopia

170 Proceedings of the

the actual protection of their cutover lands to the State or
Federal governments. The hundreds of destructive forest
fires this past spring, thirty-odd of which I personally witness-
ed, clearly showed that their preparedness did not extend to
meeting the crucial strain. It is a sage statement that in every
section which has been mentioned, as now deriving its timber
supply chiefly from second growth, the yields from these
stands would be doubled in volume and more than doubled in
value had unnecessary fires been prevented. With the small
stock broken down and repeatedly burned, the earning value of
cut-over hardwood lands as investments is at best greatly re-
duced for many years to come or may be practically destroyed.
Increment for small single trees and yield of 250 feet per
acre of young stands presuppose entire absence of injury by
fire. But this increment can be enormously increased by thin-
nings which will be possible and profitable in most second
growth stands. The owners of this cut-over land will eventually
realize that they have made a mistake, and realize it suddenly
when they grasp the full potentialities of these properties when
they were handled with reasonable care.

RF,CO M M E NDATIO N S

I have stated that the method of permanently developing
cutover lands was yet to be determined. I suggest, however,
that the lumbermen take some initial action themselves, co-
operating among themselves and with the States in protection.
Money will be needed and there is no juster way for it to be
raised than by a severance tax — a fixed levy of a few cents per
1,000 feet of lumber cut. Such a tax has been in effect in
Louisiana for five years and has been successful and satisfac-
tory. Since it is the first severance tax to be levied in the
United States and was incorporated at my instance in the
draft of the forest law suggested by the Forest Service for
that State, its success is highly gratifying to me. With money
and cooperation assuring protection for cut-over lands, it is
possible to go ahead. Protection is preliminary, but essential.
With protection secured it is possible to consider the method of

was bending over the oven. I addressed the lady of the pans as Helen; animad-
verted on my delight at seeing her, and hoped that she had brought Frank's good
clothes so necessary for his bread making. Helen gave a joyous laugh, flirted
herself around, and as she patted her ample bosom, confided: "Right here's de
clothes Frank's got to have to make his bread."

Southern Forestry Congress 171

cutting the old timber which, without adding to the cost of
operation, will obtain the best results in the second growth.
And it should be stated that to secure replacement of poplar
and basswood protection against cattle is as necessary as
against fire. Land in process of restocking cannot be grazed.
Each stand has different conditions and will require separate
consideration and methods to obtain the optimum results.
These can be decided upon only by an examination on the
ground. A feature which will be of enormous benefit to the
Appalachians, however, will be the construction of more plants
using minor products and cordwood. Tannic acid plants are
fairly well distributed, but pulp and paper, excelsior, wood al-
cohol, staves and heading, toys and novelties, would save
much wood which now goes to waste and which adds to the
fire menace. There is a big field for the hardwood associa-
tions, especially the smaller associations, to act for betterment
along these lines — to employ experienced foresters, who can
cooperate with state foresters, can confer with owners, or
groups of owners, respecting closer utilization, and protec-
tion ; who can be consulted concerning logging and the profit
in reserving small trees in order that the cut-over land and the
second growth may be left in a suitable condition to make a
profitable investment, and not have its future earning value
largely destroyed merely through ignorance.

Mr. Foster : Now, ladies and gentlemen, I plead with you
to stay with us until the end. It will only take a few minutes
longer, but before we hear the reports of the Resolutions and
Nominating Committees, I should like to call on Mr. W. D.
Tyler for just a few remarks. Mr. Tyler is connected with
the Clinchfield Coal Corporation of Virginia.

Mr. TylER : I want everybody in the room to look at that
card : "Everybody loses when timber burns." There is a
little county in southwest Virginia, about 75 per cent of whose
area is owned by corporations, and 60 per cent of that area is
owned by the Clinchfield Coal Corporation. They have re-
cently sold the timber on their fee simple ownership in that
county to the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company, of Columbus,
Ohio. We have had a little different experience out there from
the experience Mr. Ashe has just recited to you. The lumber
company has started to act with the landowner, and between

172 Proceedings of the

the lumber company, the State Foresters of Virginia, and Mr.
Peters' force in Washington, they have got an organization
pretty well lined up. A year ago, if anybody had told me that
there would be a fire protective organization in Dickenson
County today, I would have laughed at him. But we have got
an organization there, and it is working. And not only have
we got an organization, but we have got men in charge of that
organization scattered all over the county ; and I want Mr.
Peters to give me about a thousand of these notices, and I am
going to have them all posted over the county.

About ten years ago, when I took charge of the lands of
the Clinchfield Coal Corporation, one of the first things we
did was to make a triangular survey of the property. That
gave us all the high points in the country, so we didn't have
to hunt for high points because we already had them located.
And those high points were all shown on the Geological Sur-
vey's topographic maps. We first took five points, and at
only one of those points did we have to build a lookout. That
lookout is now under contract. At each one of those five
points we will have, within the next few days, a tool box
large enough to carry all the kinds of equipment that we are
trying experimentally. There is a three-key Yale lock on that
box. The foreman in charge of the station has one key in his
pocket. The second key is in his house, only a short distance
away, and the third key is held in reserve. In that box there
are a certain number of potato hooks, which the farmers know
all about, a long hoe with four tines or forks that can be thrown
into the ground. There is a supply of four tined forks with
long handles, a supply of dirt shovels, a supply of four-pound
axes, a supply of two-pound axes, also a supply of galvanized
buckets. And last, but not least, a hand pump in each box, the
object of which is to make it possible, if a fire should get into a
big tree to put out the fire in the top of the tree, when it is too
large to fell rapidly. These boxes are painted red, and on the
outside there is to be stenciled in white letters, "Forest Fire
Service," and I am going to ask Mr. Peters to allow us to put
those two letters, "U. S.," somewhere on the box. We would
like to have them there.

We are handling this organization in rather an original
way, possibly. The foremen have, almost without exception,

Southern Forestry Congress L73

been selected by Mr. Lambert, my personal assistant in charge
of lands in Dickenson County. They are made up of men
of the very highest character we can find in the county. Some
of them can't read and write, but they can fight fire. These
men are divided into three classes — foremen, sub- foremen and
fire fighters. To the foremen and sub-foremen we are paying
a retaining fee annually for their services, and our contract
with them further provides that when they do actual work in
the way of directing the fighting of fires, they are paid a reg-
ular wage per hour.

The expense of conducting this organization is being borne
entirely by the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company and the Clinch-
field Coal Corporation, but our instructions to the foremen in
charge are that it doesn't make any difference whose land the
fire may be on, if it is in reach of any of the men, they are to
go to it. On each one of the five stations we have a telephone
and two or three of them have exchanges within 100 yards of
the station itself. The total area that we are trying to cover
probably amounts to from two hundred to two hundred and
fifty thousand acres; about one hundred, or one hundred and
ten thousand acres of these are lands in which the Clinchfield
Coal Corporation and the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company, one
or the other, are interested.

I tell you this to give you some idea about the experiment
we are trying, and we hope we are going to have a little better
success with it than some of the people on Mount Mitchell
have had with theirs. I am also rather proud of the fact that
my friends of the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company have proven
themselves a little more liberal than some of the people who
are also my friends in North Carolina.

Mr. Foster: The next business is to act on the resolu-
tions. I will ask the secretary of the Resolutions Committee
if they are ready to report. Unless there is objection, we
will listen to the reading of the resolutions which have been
very carefully worked out by the Resolutions Committee. We
will then act on them.

174 Proceedings of the

GENERAL RESOLUTIONS

ADOPTED BY THE

SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONGRESS

1. WHITE PINE BLISTER RUST

Whereas, The imported fungus disease known as the
White Pine Blister Rust, which has rendered the culture of
American white pines impracticable in many parts of Europe,
has already been found in nine states of the Union and prob-
ably exists in other states, and

Whereas, This disease is a National menace, not only to
all the white pine forests of the East but also to the white
pine and sugar pine forests of the West ; therefore, be it

Resolved, That immediate, drastic action is necessary if a
National calamity is to be averted, and to this end the Southern
Forestry Congress strongly urges appropriations by the Na-
tional government and by all states in which imported five-
leaved pines have been planted adequate to locate and eradi-
cate all infections, and further recommends that sufficient
power be conferred on the officials charged with this work to
make eradication effective.

2. GAME REFUGES

Whereas, The acquisition of lands by the Federal Gov-
ernment for the Appalachian National Forests affords an
unusual opportunity for restoration and conservation of game,
and

Whereas, There are pending before the Congress of the
United States certain measures authorizing the establishment
of game refuges on the National Forests under the Cham-
berlain-Hayden Game Sanctuary Bill (S. 6881, H. R. 11712)
and the protection of game on the Appalachian National For-
ests under the Senate amendment to the Agricultural Appro-
priation Bill, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress heartily
endorses and recommends the passage of said measures, and
in the event of their enactment into law, urges active and
cordial cooperation of state officials and local associations
with the Federal authorities in the establishment of such re-

Southern Forestry Congress 175

fuges, in the introduction of big game in suitable localities, and
in enlisting public sentiment in favor of game conservation on
such forests.

3. SEPARATE STATE FORESTRY AND GAME ORGANIZATIONS

Whereas, It has been shown by experience that the combi-
nation of the state forestry organization with the state fish
and game organization operates disadvantageously to both,
and tends to reduce the efficiency of both through the division
of interest and the division of appropriations from the pur-
poses for which they were intended, and

Whereas, A combination of the functions of the forest
officers with those of the fish and game officers is especially
detrimental to the development of a spirit of hearty cooperation
on the part of the general public in the suppression of forest
fires, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress endorses
the policy of separate state forestry departments, but recom-
mends close cooperation between the state departments of
forestry and of fish and game.

4. FEDERAL AID IN FIRE PROTECTION

Whereas, The excellent progress made in fire protection
under the Weeks Law in states which have come under its
operation has fully demonstrated the desirability of this man-
ner of cooperation between the Nation and the states, there-
fore, be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges the
continuation of these appropriations by the National Congress,
and urges the states which are not now qualified under the
law to receive the Federal assistance to take the action neces-
sary to avail themselves of the Government's cooperation.

5. FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS

Whereas, The control of forest fires is the greatest factor
in forest conservation, and

Whereas, Effective control demands affirmative action on
the part of not only the public agencies but private interests
as well, and hearty cooperation between them, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges pri-
vate owners of timberlands in each of the Southern states to
form organizations for fire protective purposes, by means of

176 Proceedings of the

which the cooperation between all agencies, both public and
private, can be made effective.

6. ADEQUATE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FORESTRY

Whereas, Progress in state forestry requires not only an
effective non-political organization at its head, but also suffi-
cient funds to carry on the important work of popular edu-
cation in forestry, establishment of organized fire protection,
assistance to woodland owners in the management of their
property, checking erosion, and supervision of such state
forests as may be established, and

Whereas, Many Southern states which have already made
an excellent beginning by the establishment of forestry depart-
ments, are as yet without adequate financial support, therefore,
be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges upon
the legislatures of the respective states, a more liberal policy in
providing funds for the conduct of forestry work, and in
passing such additional legislation as may be necessary to
make this work effective in practice.

7. RECENT LOUISIANA LAW APPROVED

Whereas, The recent act passed by the Legislature of
Louisiana, which provides that the state forestry work be in
charge of a trained forester, and that the expenditures for for-
estry shall equal twenty per cent of the revenue derived from
the products tax on timber and turpentine, marks a great for-
ward step in forest conservation ; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress heartily
endorses this action of Louisiana.

8. URGE FORESTRY LAWS AND FUNDS

Whereas, The states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Mississippi and Arkansas are now without state forest or-
ganization and entirely without appropriations for state for-
estry work, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges
upon the legislatures of the above states the serious consid-
eration of laws and funds to improve their present forest con-
ditions.

Southern Forestry Congress 177

9. BILTMORE ESTATE

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress does here-
by express its hearty thanks to Mrs. George W. Vandcrbilt,
Mr. C. D. Beadle, Dr. and Mrs. A. S. Wheeler, and Mr. C. T.
Rankin, for making possible the interesting visit to the Bilt-
more Estate ; and for their courteous and greatly appreciated
entertainment ; and to Mr. Verne Rhoades for the prepara-
tion of the valuable booklet on the Biltmore plantations.

10. WOMEN'S CLUBS

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress, recogniz-
ing and heartily commending the very valuable work done for
the spread of the movement for the protection and perpetua-
tion of our Southern forests by the General and State Federa-
tions of Women's Clubs and the individual clubs and club wo-
men of the South, does hereby urge these good and patriotic
women to continue and increase their efforts and cooperate as
closely as possible with all other organizations with this end
in view.

11. APPRECIATION AND THANKS

Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress hereby ex-
presses its appreciation and tenders its thanks to the Governor
of North Carolina, to the Mayor and Board of Trade of Ashe-
ville, to the S. A. Lynch Enterprises, to the local press and
Women's Clubs, and to the management and staff of Battery
Park Hotel for the many courtesies extended to the Congress
and its delegates during their most pleasant stay in Asheville.

The resolutions were unanimously adopted.

REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE

The Chairman then called for the report of the Nominat-
ing Committee.

Mr. Barton : The Nominating Committee begs leave to
report that it nominates Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt for President,
and Mr. J. S. Holmes for Secretary of the Southern Forestry
Congress for the ensuing term of office.

Mr. Foster: You have heard the report of the Nominat-
ing Committee. What action do you wish to take?

12

178 Proceedings of the

Dr. Pratt: I hate to raise any objection to a committee
report, but I have always favored, where the interests of sev-
eral states were involved, the rule that the presidency of any
organization should be considered as an office which should
be rotated among the states, so as to keep alive the interest in
the various states as the work progresses. In the report made
by your committee, the President and Secretary are both from
North Carolina and I should like to request that that report
be amended by substituting some one else for the President of
the Congress.

Mr. Lee : I have to say that the committee very carefully
considered this whole subject matter and remembered the old
adage that it is not a good idea to swap horses in the middle
of the stream, it recognized the effective work done by these
gentlemen, and the splendid success of this meeting. We
appreciate the principle set forth in Dr. Pratt's statement, but
feel that until this organization is well fixed upon a perma-
nent basis, it should remain in the hands of these gentlemen
who have carried out this meeting so successfully.

Motion made and seconded that the report of the commit-
tee be adopted. Motion carried.

Mr. Foster : I suppose the adoption of that report carries
with it the nomination and election of these officers. If that
is understood, then Dr. Pratt and Mr. Holmes are elected
President and Secretary for the ensuing year.

Is there any other business?

Dr. Pratt : I will just announce the Standing Commit-
tee I was asked to appoint. If it wasn't so near dinner time, I
would take my revenge by speaking for an hour. I appreciate
the honor you have conferred upon me and promise to do my
level best to make the next Congress, wherever held, an even
greater success than this Congress has been here at Asheville.

The committee to raise funds and erect a tablet at the en-
trance to the Pisgah National Forest is as follows :

Governor Locke Craig, chairman, North Carolina.
Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt, North Carolina.
Dr. W. H. Holmes, District of Columbia.
Hon. Charles Lathrop Pack, New Jersey.
Hon. Henry S. Graves, District of Columbia.

Soutiikrn Forestry Congress 17'.)

Dr. George F. Kunz, New York.
Mr. George S. Powell, North Carolina.

This is the last regular session of the Congress, as a whole.
You will discuss certain forestry problems during the trip to-
morrow, but this is the last general meeting, so we will ad-
journ practically sine die, so far as the Congress as a whole is
concerned. I hope that as many as possible will stay over for
the Pisgah Forest meeting tomorrow and the Mt. Mitchell
trip Saturday.

Mr. LEE : 1 move that the Executive Committee of the
Southern Forestry Congress arrange for the publication of the
proceedings in such form as they see fit.

The motion was carried unanimously.

The Congress then adjourned sine die.

APPENDIX I.

LIST OF REGISTERED DELEGATES ATTENDING THE
SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONGRESS

Abernathy, Dr. T. E Chattanooga, Term.

Abernathy, Mrs. T. E Chattanooga, Tenn.

Ashe, W. W., U. S. Forest Service Washington, D. C.

Ashe, Mrs. W. W Washington, D. C.

Askew, E. S Windsor, N. C.

Baker, Dr. Hugh P., Dean N. Y. State College of Forestry

Syracuse, N. Y.

Barton, J. E., State Forester Frankfort, Ky.

Barton, Mrs. J. E Frankfort, Ky.

Besley, F. W., State Forester Baltimore, Md.

Bishop, L. L., U. S. Forest Service Asheville, N. C.

Bolter, Mrs. Joseph C Chicago, 111.

Bolton, S. Elizabeth, President City Federation

Asheville, N. C.

Boswell, T. S., Southern Railway Co Brevard, N. C.

Bottomley, Mary Albert Louisville, Ky.

Boyer, E Asheville, N. C.

Buckner, N., Secretary Board of Trade Asheville, N. C.

Bundy, May L Knightstown, Ind.

Camp, Mrs. P. D Franklin, Va.

Camp, P. R., Camp Manufacturing Co Franklin, Va.

Camp, Vaughan, Marion County Lumber Co. . . Franklin, Va.
Chapman, Prof. H. H., Yale Forest School, New Haven, Conn.
Chenworth, C. J., Atlantic Coast Line R. R. Co.

Wilmington, N. C.

Clark, Bess L. Asheville, N. C.

Clark, Prof. W. D., Amherst College Amherst, Mass.

Clough, C. C Brevard, N. C.

Cobb, Geo. B., Secretary, Tryon Forestry Club. .Trvon, N. C.

Cobb, Mrs. Geo. B Tryon, N. C.

Cocke, Mrs. Wm. J., President Women's Club, Asheville, N. C.
Coe, W. W.. Gen. Mgr., Pocahontas Coal & Coke Co.

Roanoke, Va.

Southern Forestry Congress 181

Corwith, Henry P., "Overbrook Orchard" Saluda, N. C.

Cox, Hon. Edwin P., State Geol. Com Richmond, Va.

Cox, Mrs. Edwin P Richmond, Va.

Cox, Thos. A Cullowhee, N. C.

Cranmer, J. C, Park Supt. Lehigh Univ.. .So. Bethlehem, Pa.

Crowell, R. C Acton, N. C.

Cunningham, John S Durham, N. C.

Gushing, C. D., U. S. Forest Service Fletcher, N. C.

Cushing, Mrs. C. D Fletcher, N. C.

Damtoft, W. J., U. S. Forest Service Bridgeport, Conn.

Davidson, Theo. F Asheville, N. C.

Dilworth, S. E Asheville, N. C.

Dore, A. M Jacksonville, Fla.

Eldredge, I. F., Supervisor Florida National Forest,

Camp Pinchot Garniers, Fla.

Elliott, E. R Tryon, N. C.

Elliott, Jas. H Tryon, N. C.

Ferguson, Prof. J. A., Penn. State College. .State College, Pa.
Finger, Mrs. Gordon M., President Women's Club

Charlotte, N. C.

Flynn, Thos. C, Asst. Sec'y N. C. Pine Asso Norfolk, Va.

Foley, John, Forester, Penn. R. R. Co Philadelphia, Pa.

Foster, Prof. J. H., State Forester College Station, Tex.

Frame, David, State Forest, Fish and Game Department

Gassaway, W. Va.

Frothingham, E. H., Forest Service Washington, D. C.

Gearhart, P. H Asheville, N. C.

Gillis, Donald Asheville, N. C.

Glenn, F. M., Special Deputy and Inspector. .Parsons, W. Va.

Graves, Hon. H. S., U. S. Forester Washington, D. C.

Groom, W. L., President Tar River Lumber Co.

Rocky Mount, N. C.

Gudger, N. A Asheville, N. C.

Hall, Rev. Chas. Mercer, Rector, St. Mary's Church

Asheville, N. C.
Hardtner, Henry E., President, Urania Lbr. Co.. .Urania, La.

Hart, Mary Charleston, S. C.

Hayes, Rutherford P Asheville, N. C.

Hills, Mrs. W. S El Paso, Tex.

Holfelner, E. M Greensboro, N. C.

13

182 Proceedings of the

Hobson, H. P Summerville, Tenn.

Holland, F. W Bedford, Ind.

Holmes, G. H Tryon, N. C.

Holmes, Mrs. G. H Tryon, N. C.

Holmes, J. S., State Forester Chapel Hill, N. C.

Holmes, Mrs. J. S Chapel Hill, N. C.

Hosmer, Ralph S., Dept. Forestry, Cornell Univ.

Ithaca, N. Y.

Hosmer, Mrs. Ralph S Ithaca, N. Y.

Huffman, A. E Asheville, N. C.

Huffman, Mrs. A. E Asheville, N. C.

Hurt, W. W., Gen. Supt. Douglas Land Co Marion, Va.

Jones, Janie Asheville, N. C.

Jones, R. Chapin, State Forester Charlottesville, Va.

Kent, Mrs. Frederick Asheville, N. C.

Lambert, W. M., Clinchfield Coal Corp Clintwood, Va.

Lambert, Mrs. W. M Clintwood, Va.

Lee, Prof. J. G., La. State Univ Baton Rouge, La.

Lee, W. D Asheville, N. C.

Leeper, N. Y Asheville, N. C.

Lilly, E. J Asheville, N. C.

Lilly, Mrs. E. J Asheville, N. C.

Lilly, Frances Asheville, N. C.

Lindsey, W. T., President, Tryon Forestry Club, Tryon, N. C.

Lindsey, Mrs. W. T Tryon, N. C.

Loyall, Geo. O., Gen. Supt. Southern Ry. . . .Knoxville, Tenn.

McClelland, Myra Omaha, Neb.

McClelland, R Omaha, Neb.

McKeune, Joseph P R. 2, Blacksburg, Va.

MacRae, Mrs. C. F Asheville, N. C.

Maddox, R. S., Forester, Tenn. Geol. Survey, Nashville, Tenn.
Malloy, Mrs. Minnie Fagg, Dist. Chairman, State Fed.

Women's Clubs Asheville, N. C.

Martin, Mrs. Annie D Asheville, N. C.

Millsaps, E. S., U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. . Statesville, N. C.

Morgan, J. Bud Stocksville, N. C.

Morgan, Jas. N Stocksville, N. C.

Morrison, H. M Braintree, Mass.

Murphy, Louis S., U. S. Forest Service. . . .Washington, D. C.
Nichols, J. A Asheville, N. C.

Southern Forestry Congress 183

Oster, Mrs. David Grand Forks, N. D.

Overton, J. M Nashville, Tenn.

Owen, J. C Asheville, N. C.

Pack, Chas. Lathrop, President, Amer. Forestry Ass'n

Lakewood, N. J.

Palmer, Dr. T. S., U. S. Biol. Survey Washington, D. C.

Palmer, Mrs. T. S Washington, D. C.

Patterson, John L Roanoke Rapids, N. C.

Patton, McLoud Swannanoa, N. C.

Patton, Mrs. McLoud Swannanoa, N. C.

Peters, J. G., U. S. Forest Service Washington, D. C.

Piatt, Mrs. Chas. M Asheville, N. C.

Powell, Geo. S., Secretary Appalachian Park Association

Asheville, N. C.

Pratt, Dr. Joseph Hyde, State Geologist Chapel Hill, N. C.

Quillian, C. Fletcher Blue Ridge, N. C.

Randolph, E. E., Professor of Geology. . . .Elon College, N. C.

Randolph, Mrs. E. E Elon College, N. C.

Randolph, E. O Elon College, N. C.

Rankin, C. T., Forester Biltmore Estate Biltmore, N. C.

Rankin, Hon. T. E., Mayor Asheville, N. C.

Ray, J. E Asheville, N. C.

Reynolds, Harris A., Secretary, Mass. Forestry Ass'n

Boston, Mass.

Rhoades, Verne, U. S. Forest Service Asheville, N. C.

Richards, M. V., Ind. and Agr. Commissioner, Southern Ry.

Washington, D. C.

Rogers, Alban E Asheville, N. C.

Roper, W. B., Secretary N. C. Pine Ass'n Norfolk, Va.

Roth, G. T., Chatham Mfg. Co Elkin, N. C.

Roth, Mrs. G. T., Civic League Elkin, N. C.

Schwab, W. G., Assistant State Forester. .Charlottesville, Va.
Seymour, Edmund, President, Amer. Bison Society

New York City

Smathers, Geo Asheville, N. C.

Smith, Mrs. T. C, President Current Literature Club

Asheville, N. C.

Stearns, Ellen F St. Petersburg, Fla.

Stearns, M. M St. Petersburg, Fla.

Stephenson, Florence Asheville, N. C.

184 Pkoceedings of the

Stepp, G. W., Mayor Black Mountain, N. C.

Stikeleather, J. G., City Commissioner Asheville, N. C.

Stikeleather, F Asheville, N. C.

Thorns, Julia A., Chairman of Conservation, State Fed.

Women's Clubs Asheboro, N. C.

Toumey, Prof. Jas. W., Director Yale Forest School

New Haven, Conn.

Tyler, W. D., Clinchfield Coal Corporation Dante, Va.

Tyler, Mrs. W. D Dante, Va.

Vail, Edward, Rush Creek Lumber Co Cambria, Va.

Viquesney, Hyman V., Forest, Game, and Fish Protec-

tective Association Belington, W. Va.

Viquesney, Hon. J. A., State Forest, Game and Fish Warden

Belington, W. Va.

Weaver, W. E Weaverville, N. C.

Weaver, Hon. Zebulon Asheville, N. C.

Wetmore, Mrs. T. C, Principal, Christ's School, Arden, N. C.

Wetmore, Thomas Arden, N. C.

Wetmore, Susannah Arden, N. C.

Wharton, Wm. P., Mass. Forestry Asso Groton, Mass.

Wharton, Mrs. Wm. P Groton, Mass.

Wilber, C. P., State Fire Warden Trenton, N. J.

Wilson, J. A Shelby, N. C.

Winchester, F. L., Champion Fibre Co Canton, N. C.

Yates, Mrs. J. J Asheville, N. C.

Young, Prof. L. J., University of Michigan. .Ann Arbor, Mich.

APPENDIX II

SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONGRESS PUBLISHING FUND-
SUBSCRIBERS

Balcomb, Prof. E. E., State Norm, and Ind. College

Greensboro, N. C.

Barnett, W. L'E Sebastian, Fla.

Barre, Prof. H. W Clemson College, S. C.

Blades, J. B New Bern, N. C.

Boswell, T. S., Southern Railway Co Asheville, N. C.

Bruner, E. Murray, Forest Service Lenoir, N. C.

Bryant, Edward S., Forest Service Washington, D. C.

Camp, Vaughan Franklin, Va.

Central Coal & Coke Co Kansas City, Mo.

Champion Fibre Co Canton, N. C.

Chapman, Prof. H. H., Yale Forest School, New Haven, Conn.

Clinchfield Coal Corporation Dante, Va.

Colby, Forrest H Bingham, Maine

Cunningham, John S Durham, N. C.

Curran, H. M Laurel, Md.

Damtoft, W. J., Forest Service Washington, D. C.

Douglas Land Company Marion, Va.

Ferguson, Prof. J. A State College, Pa.

Fisher, Prof. R. T., Harvard Forest School. .Petersham, N. H.

Foerster, M. H Jenkins, Ky.

Foley, John, Pa. Railroad Co Philadelphia, Pa.

Graves, H. S., U. S. Forester Washington, D. C.

Haasis, Ferdinand H Jenkins, Ky.

Hardtner, Henry E Urania, La.

Hassinger Lumber Co Abingdon, Va.

Herty, Dr. Charles H Chapel Hill, N. C.

Hill, A. P., President A. P. Hill Co Pittsburgh, Pa.

Hill, John Sprunt Durham, N. C.

Hills, Mrs. W. S El Paso, Texas

Hirst, E. C, State Forester Concord, N. H.

Holmes, Mrs. J. S Chapel Hill, N. C.

Hosmer, Prof. Ralph S Ithaca, N. Y.

186 Proceedings of the

Jasspon, Max Savannah, Ga.

Jones, C. W., General Manager Fort Smith Lumber Co.

Plainview, Ark.

Jones, R. C., State Forester Charlottesville, Va.

Kaul Lumber Company Birmingham, Ala.

Krinbill, Howard R New Bern, N. C.

Lambert, W. M Clintwood, Va.

Lay, Rev. George W., St. Mary's School Raleigh, N. C.

Leas & McVitty, Inc. (S. H. McVitty, Vice-President)

Salem, Va.

Lee, Professor J. G., Univ. of La Baton Rouge, La.

Lehigh University (Dr. H. S. Drinker, President)

South Bethlehem, Pa.

Lindsey, Mrs. W. T Tryon, N. C.

MacRae, Hugh Wilmington, N. C.

Maddox, R. S Nashville, Tenn.

Manufacturers Record Pub. Co Baltimore, Md.

Massachusetts Agricultural College Amherst, Mass.

Moore, Sidney L Jacksonville, Fla.

Morrison, H. M Coeburn, N. C.

Nichols, J. A Asheville, N. C.

New York State College of Agriculture, Forestry Dept.

Ithaca, N. Y.

Norfolk & Western Railway Company Roanoke, Va.

Overton, J. M Nashville, Tenn.

Pack, Chas. L., Pres. Amer. Forestry Asso.. .Lakewood, N. J.

Palmer, Dr. T. S Washington, D. C.

Palmer, Mrs. T. S Washington, D. C.

Petty, Annie F., Librarian State Norm, and Ind. College

Greensboro, N. C.

Pratt, Joseph Hyde, State Geologist Chapel Hill, N. C.

Pocahontas Coal and Coke Company Roanoke, Va.

Powell, George S Asheville, N. C.

Rhoades, Verne, Forest Supervisor Asheville, N. C.

Secrest, Edmund, Agri. Exp. Station Wooster, Ohio

Sexton, Robt. H., Grand Central Terminal. . .New York City
Seymour, Edmund, Pres., Amer. Bison Soc. . .New York City

Shields, R. W Clayton, Ga.

Shipp, Mrs. William E Raleigh, N. C.

Shull, D. F Philadelphia, Pa.

Southern Forestry Congress 1ST

Small, Hon. John H., House of Rep Washington, 1). C.

Smith, Mrs. T. C Asheville, N. C.

Smoot & Sons Co., C. C North Wilkcsboro, N. C.

South Atlantic Lumber Co Greensboro, N. C.

Spaugh, R. A Winston-Salem, N. C.

Thorns, Julia A Asheboro, N. C.

Tremont Lumber Co Winnfield, La.

Vail, Edward Cambria, Va.

Viquesney, J. A., Forest, Game and Fish Warden

Belington, W. Va.

Wharton, Win. P Groton, Mass.

White, John B Kansas City. Mo.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

SECOND SOUTHERN
FORESTRY CONGRESS

HELD IN

NEW ORLEANS, LA.
JANUARY 28-30, 1920

In order to meet the needs of the country for forest products
lands not needed for agriculture and settlement should be put
to use growing trees rather than to lie idle and unproductive.

The preservation and careful handling of the second growth
and small timber presents an opportunity that if taken advan-
tage of before it is too late will contribute to the upbuilding
of the South in a measure difficult at the present time for
most people to realize.

—GRAVES.

Chapel Hill, N. C.
1920

THE SEEMAN PRINTERY
Durham, N. C.

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES

OF THE

SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONGRESS

APPOINTED JANUARY 1920

President HENRY E. HARDTNER, President, Urania Lumber Co.

URANIA, LA.

Secretary J. S. HOLMES, State Forester, North Carolina

Geological and Economic Survey
Chapel Hill, N. C.

Assistant Secretary R. D. FORBES, Superintendent of

Forestry, Department of Conservation
New Orleans, La.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Joseph Hyde Pratt, Director North Carolina

Geological and Economic Survey Chapel Hill, N. C.

John H. Wallace, Jr., Commissioner of Conservation

Montgomery, Ala.
R. D. Forbes, Superintendent of Forestry,

Department of Conservation New Orleans, La.

E. O. Siecke, State Forester College Station, Texas

J. E. Rhodes, Secretary-Manager, Southern Pine Association

New Orleans, La.

The President and Secretary

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

John H. Wallace, Jr Montgomery, Ala.

R. C. Jones, State Forester Charlottesville, Va.

W. Goodrich Jones, President, Texas Forestry Association

Temple, Texas

C. C. Smoot, III North Wilkesboro, N. C.

A. Trieschman, Crossett Lumber Co Crossett, Ark.

M. L. Alexander, Conservation Commissioner New Orleans, La.

J. E. Barton, Commissioner of Geology and Forestry Frankfort, Ky.

Mrs. A. F. Storm, Chairman, Federation of Women's Clubs

Morgan City, La.

John L. Kaul, President, Kaul Lumber Company Birmingham, Ala.

McGarvey Cline, Consolidated Naval Stores Company

Jacksonville, Fla.

COMMITTEE ON FOREST POLICY

R. D. Forbes

Col. Theo. S. Woolsey, Jr Cornwall, Conn.

Dr. A. M. Henry, Assistant State Chemist Tallahasse, Fla.

F. H. Abbott, Secretary, Georgia Land Owners' Association

Waycross, Ga.
Verne Rhoades, Forest Supervisor Asheville, N. C.

COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION

E. O. SlECKE

R. L. Hogue Jackson, Miss.

R. S. Mab-dox, State Forester Nashville, Tenn.

W. D. Tyler, Clinchfield Coal Corporation Dante, Va.

C. F. Speh, Turpentine and Rosin Producers' Association

New Orleans, La.

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICITY

J. E. Rhodes

Victor Calver, Times-Picayune New Orleans, La.

J. H. Whaley, Secretary, Tenn. Forestry Association.... Nashville, Tenn.

L. L. Bishop, Forest Supervisor Pensacola, Fla.

Miss Julia A. Thorns Asheboro, N. C

CONTENTS

Preface 7

Wednesday Morning Session 9

Welcome to New Orleans 9

Hon. E. J. Glenny, Commissioner of Public Utilities, New
Orleans

Message From the President 9

Col. Joseph Hyde Pratt, Director N . C. Geological and
Economic Survey

Vice President's Address 10

Prof. J. G. Lee, Univ. of Louisiana, Baton Rouge

The Forestry Outlook in the Southern States :

Atlantic Coast States 19

Mr. J. S. Holmes, State Forester of North Carolina

Gulf Coast Region 26

Mr. R. D. Forbes, Supt. of Forestry, Louisiana

Central Hardwood Region 32

Mr. R. S. Maddox, Forester, Tenn. Geological Survey.

Committee Appointments 36

Wednesday Afternoon Session 36

Welcome to Louisiana 36

Hon. John M. Parker, Governor-elect of Louisiana

Address 37

Hon. M. L. Alexander, Covimissioner of Conservation, New
Orleans, La.

A National Forest Policy 40

Col. H. S. Graves, U. S. Forester

Discussion of a National Forest Policy from the Point of
View of :

The Lumber Industry 53

Mr. H. E. Hardtner and others

The Wood-Using Industry 62

Messrs. H. E. Everley and C. B. Harmon
Wednesday Evening Banquet 65

Thursday Morning Session

Report of Secretary-Treasurer 66

Vanderbilt Tablet Committee 67

Discussion of a National Forest Policy from the Point of
View of :

The Naval Stores Industry 72

Led by Mr. C. F. Speh, Secretary, Turpentine & Rosin Pro-
ducers' Ass'n., New Orleans

Thursday Afternoon Session 84

State Forestry Departments 84

Mr. J. G. Peters, U. S. Forest Service
Discussion of a National Forest Policy from the Point of
View of :

The Livestock Industry 85

Led by Prof. S. M. Tracy, Forage Crop Investigations,
U. S. Dcpt. of Agriculture ; Mr. Roy L. Hogue, Jackson,
Miss.; and others

Southern Agriculture — Southern Farm Forests 97

Mr. E. E. Miller, Editor Southern Agriculturist, Nash-
ville, Tenn.

The Paper and Pulp Industry 102

Led by Mr. McGarvey Cline, Consolidated Naval Stores
Company, Jacksonville, Fla.
Projects of the Forestry Committee of the National Re-
search Council 109

Dr. H. E. Howe, Division of Research Extension, Wash-
ington, D. C.

Election of Officers 117

Friday Morning Session (Joint meeting with the Louisiana Forestry

Association) 117

Conservation Laws for Louisiana 117

Ex-Governor Jared Y. Sanders

To the Louisiana Forestry Association 118

Mr. Henry E. Hardtner, President

Land Classification 119

Mr. Austin Cary, U. S. Forest Service

Friday Afternoon Session 129

Forestry in the Landes {Southern France) 129

Col. Theodore S. Woolsey, Jr., Cornwall, Conn.

Discussions by Delegates 142

Resolutions Adopted by the Congress 145

Appendices

List of Registered Delegates 149

List of Subscribers to Entertainment Fund 153

List of Subscribers to Publishing Fund 154

PREFACE

At the invitation of the North Carolina Geological and
Economic Survey and the North Carolina Forestry Associa-
tion the first Southern Forestry Congress was brought to-
gether in Asheville, N. C, July 11-15, 1916. At that meeting
a permanent organization was effected and the executive com-
mittee was empowered to convene the Congress "at such times
as may in its judgment seem necessary."

Owing to our entrance into the world war and the many
distractions incident thereto, the calling of the second South-
ern Forestry Congress was delayed much longer than had been
contemplated by its organizers. With the resumption of regu-
lar business and the greatly increased prices and uses of tim-
ber, calling the attention of the general public very insistently
to the need for more interest in and better care of our South-
ern forests, the executive committee decided the time for
another general conference had arrived. The Secretary was
therefore directed to call the Second Southern Forestry Con-
gress to meet in New Orleans the last week in January 1920.
(This was done.)

Owing to the severe illness of the President of the Con-
gress, Dr. Joseph Pratt, the Secretary, who is a member of the
North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, requested
the advice and assistance of the United States Forest Service
and the Louisiana Commission of Conservation in getting up
the meeting. This was most effectively given through the per-
sons of Mr. J. G. Peters, Chief of Forest Management in the
Forest Service and Mr. R. D. Forbes, Superintendent of For-
estry in Louisiana. The latter acted as Assistant Secretary
and thus contributed very largely to the success of the New
Orleans meeting.

In the following pages practically all the papers given during
the three days' session are included. In order, however, to
conserve paper and the time of the reader as well as reduce the
high cost of printing, the discussions have been carefully
edited, so that perhaps not more than one-half of this part of
the proceedings appears. It is thought, however, that the parts
of the discussions having the most permanent value and the
greatest interest are retained.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

Second Southern Forestry Congress

HELD IN

Gold Room, Grunewald Hotel

New Orleans, La.

JANUARY 28-29-30, 1920

WEDNESDAY MORNING SESSION.

(The Congress was called to order and presided over by the
Vice President, Major J. G. Lee, Professor of Forestry, Louis-
iana State University, Baton Rouge, in the unavoidable ab-
sence of the President.)

In his welcoming address Hon. E. J. Glenny, Commissioner
of Public Utilities of the City of New Orleans, said in part :

The forests, as we know, are being cut away beyond their
productive power, and some laws should be made and carried
out to conserve the timberlands of this great country. We are
going to get to a point where conservation will be the pass-
word of this country, but until we realize what it means, we
are not going to get anywhere. The United States Gover-
ment has done a great deal, but they cannot do everything; un-
less they have their hands upheld by the States in their various
departments they can do very little, indeed. I believe that the
State of Louisiana, through its conservation department, is
working towards that end, and I am sure that Mr. Alexander
will do what he can to support this body in any progressive
movements which it might care to inaugurate.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN
FORESTRY CONGRESS

The Secretary : Our president, Col. Joseph Hyde Pratt,
asked me to express his very sincere regrets at not being able
to be here. Since being discharged from the Army, Col. Pratt
has been in the hospital for four months and has only just

10 Proceedings of the

returned home. He has been looking all along to this meeting
and is greatly disappointed at having to give it up.

Dr. Pratt asked me to call your attention to two things :
First, the timeliness of this movement to establish a construc-
tive forestry policy. He feels very strongly that, our young
men who have been in France and have seen the care with
which the French forests are managed, even in war time, and
the way in which every product of the forest is closely utilized,
will heartily support a more intelligent and farsighted forestry
policy for this country ; in fact will insist upon one.

Secondly, he urges your careful consideration of the "plan
to meet the national danger of Forest Devastation," recently
submitted by the Committee of the Society of American For-
esters, of which he was an advisory member, not as a finished
plan to be adopted as a whole or rejected, but more as a basis
for discussions by which may be built up a policy probably
even better adapted to meet our present and future needs.

Dr. Pratt's thought is, ladies and gentlemen, that we want
a constructive policy which will prevent further forest devasta-
tion, and now is the time to adopt one.

ADDRESS
By Vice-President J. G. Lee

PROFESSOR OF FORESTRY, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Ladies and gentlemen of the Southern Forestry Congress :
I am sure the members of this congress will join with me in
expressing regret at the enforced absence of our worthy Presi-
dent, Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt, of North Carolina. Let us ex-
tend to him our sympathy and express our hope for his speedy
restoration to health and activity amongst us. We shall miss
his wise counsel and inspiring leadership.

It was Dr. Pratt's foresight and vision that saw the need,
the possibilities of such an organization and brought into being
this congress for the promotion of Southern Forestry, at Ashe-
ville, N. C, July 1916. And while the prefix "Southern," was
attached to embrace the fifteen orginal Southern States, those
of us who were present will recall, with pride and satisfaction,
its national scope and character. It was a great meeting ; its
inspiring influence is still felt among us. Representatives from
the North, South, East and West were there, men and forest-

Southern Forestry Congress 11

ers, earnest, trained and experienced, to help lay broad, deep
and strong a Southern forestry foundation and building pro-
gram.

In the North, East and West original forest depletion had
already become apparent or real ; the need of present and fu-
ture supplies of raw material was already felt, and after
twenty years of theorizing, teaching, and preaching, the study
and practice of forestry, unorganized and theoretical though it
may have been, had begun. But to us of the South, still in the
midst of comparative plenty, the value of our forests, as a re-
source, (second only to agriculture) and the importance of
their perpetuation had not come home. We needed to be awa-
kened and hurried to "shut the stable door before the horse
was out and gone" — "History ever repeats itself."

Today we are meeting in the Second Southern Forestry
Congress to take stock of "where we are at," to consider far-
ther our forest conditions and to formulate and agree, if we
can, upon a policy of forestry for the South. We have much of
precedent and incentive to guide and help us.

Since last we met we have fought and won the great
world war for democracy and humanity, and the many lessons
learned, of patriotism, service, sacrifice, cooperation and unity
of purpose; of the newer visions born, as to our sense of re-
sponsibility for and duty and obligation to, the common good
— all these find application in the subjects of this congress.
For the war enforced upon the attention of thoughtful men
and women everywhere the imperative need and duty of tak-
ing better care of our natural resources, particularly of our
forests, which is a renewable and therefore a continuous re-
source. We found that our forests were as essential in times
of war as in times of peace, second, only in importance to food
and clothing in their relation to the comfort and well being of
mankind, in community, state and nation.

As a nation how have we regarded our forest resources?
At the time of the first settlement of America, our forests, in
extent, variety, quantity, and quality, were unexcelled any-
where in the world. With but few breaks they stretched
across the Continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Ocean and from the Gulf to beyond the Great Lakes, compris-
ing in the aggregate some 850,000,000 acres. With settlement
came clearing for home building and agriculture ; and as popu-

12 Proceedings of the

lation increased and great centers of business and industries
developed, demand for forest products grew apace. Lumber-
ing became a business and an exploitation. In its wake came
other destructive agencies forest fires, disease and insects and
thus the march of forest destruction was begun and has pro-
gressively continued to this good day.

In the East, the first center of production and supply to
be attacked, depletion has long since been felt and exhaustion
is now practically at hand.

At a New England Forestry Conference the past year, the
facts were brought out that New England, up to thirty years
ago, was not only self-supporting in her timber resources, but
exporting large quantities ; that she had now become an import-
ing region, of paper pulp from Canada and lumber from the
South, the Lake States, and even the far off Pacific coast and
that she looks more and more to these sources of supply for the
raw material to keep her $300,000,000 invested in her wood
and forest industries going and her 90,000 wage earners work-
ing; that she is importing thirty per cent of the lumber used;
that her annual growth is less than half her annual cut. And
yet New England has vast areas of idle forest lands, suitable
only for forest growth.

The story of Pennsylvania is even more tragic. We are
told that when William Penn held his "Treaty of Peace in the
City of Brotherly Love," ninety-seven per cent of the domain
was covered with magnificent forests. Today that percentage
is reversed. Lumbermen bought up her splendid forest lands
for 26 cents per acre, exploited the forests and devastated the
lands. Penn's edict to save "one acre for every five acres
cleared," was forgot. For many years Pennsylvania has been
importing her lumber and even props for her mines. For
more than a quarter of a century thoughtful men and women
had advocated the practice of forestry and the reforestation
of her waste lands, without appreciable results. But today she
has bought back more than 1,000,000 acres of those devastated
lands at from $2.00 to $8.00 per acre as State Forest Reserves,
and has well begun the slow, laborious and expensive operation
of artificial reforestation, in order that posterity might enjoy
the comforts and blessings of forests and forest products.
Pennsylvania's example is worthy of emulation.

Southern Forestry Congress 13

New York, similarly situated, has purchased over 2,000,fJOO
acres in the Adirondack region as "Forest Reserves" which she
too is artificially replanting but with a constitutional prohibition
against cutting. Her example is only partly worthy, because
forestry means not only "reproduction" but it means also "use."

The next center of production to be attacked and exploited
was the "Lake States" region. Many of you will remember
with me that up to twenty-five years ago the "Lake States"
were the greatest lumber producers and exporters in the his-
tory of the world. Today they import the bulk of their timber
supplies from the South and the far West, paying an annual
freight bill of $6,000,000 for the privilege. Their virgin pine
forests are practically exhausted, their hardwoods soon will be.
And yet, we are told that in the three Lake States there is as
much idle land as the whole area of Michigan.

Meanwhile, exploitation of the central hardwood belt was
going on, in the States of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. A re-
cent forestry conference of these three states brought out
startling facts regarding their hardwood supplies and depend-
ent industries. Not only have these states been the center of
hardwood production, but also the center of hardwood manu-
facturing, the latter representing a combined invested capital
of approximately one and one-half billion dollars, employing
1,360,000 wage earners and combined production valued at two
and one-half billion dollars. About one-third of the total capi-
tal invested in the wood manufacturing industries of the coun-
try and about the same proportion of wage earners employed
therein are found in this section which uses about five and one-
half billion feet of lumber a year or about one-fourth of the
aggregate consumed in the United States. Up to twenty-five
years ago, these states were self-supporting and exporting
from their own forests of native species. Today Illinois im-
ports about ninety per cent, Ohio seventy-five per cent, and
Indiana sixty-five per cent of their hardwood material in order
to keep their 4,000 hardwood manufacturing industries going.
And yet no less an authority than our Chief Forester, Colonel
Graves, tells us that the situation of our hardwood supplies is
more acute than our softwood, there being greater reserve sup-
plies of the latter than the former. I might add that this Tri-
State Conference took proper steps to prevent the impending
crisis threatening their industries.

14 Proceedings of the

In the meantime, "Southward the axe and fire took their
way." Many of us here witnessed the coming of the lumber
industry from the Lake States to the Southern States. For
the last twenty years, the Southern pine region has been the
center of the world's greatest lumber production. With a vir-
gin supply of 325 billion feet of yellow pine, an invested capi-
tal of more than half a billion dollars in 20,000 sawmills, em-
ploying 400,000 workers and supplying seventy per cent of
the country's population, the yellow pine industry held indeed
a commanding place in the nation's lumber markets, furnish-
ing forty-nine per cent of the entire cut of the country. Yet,
today, we are told by the largest organization of Southern lum-
bermen themselves that this great storehouse of timber is at
the point of exhaustion, that ninety per cent of their southern
operations will be compelled to close their business within the
next ten years for lack of timber, that within the next five to
seven years more than 3,000 sawmills will go out. of existence.

"Westward again the axe and saw will take their way"
seeking "new worlds to conquer" in the Pacific Northwest and
we of the South will join you of the North, East and West
as importing regions, paying prohibitive prices for our lumber
supplies, with the freight on "across the continent haul" added.

Nor is our southern story of depletion yet told. With the
passing of our lumber industry, will also go our naval stores,
pitch, rosin, turpentine, and the developing new industry of
paper pulp and other by-products manufacturers. The pro-
duction of naval stores, a national necessity, is peculiarly a
southern industry. There are but two species, the longleaf
pine and the slash pine, that are suitable for the purpose and
these may be produced indefinitely in the South. The industry
represents a product value of $35,000,000 and can be vastly ex-
tended. But like other forest by-products it can be and will be
exhausted, if proper measures are not taken promptly to pre-
vent it. However, it enjoys the advantage of younger, smaller
growth utilization and we have much young second growth.
Nevertheless, North Carolina, once leading in production, lost
the industry with the vanishing of her longleaf pine stand.
With the new order of things in forestry matters now forming,
she can, and will win it back.

There are but two principal world sources of naval stores

Southern Forestry Congress 15

production. One is in the Southern United States and the
other is in Southern France. France made her naval stores
industry on waste sand dunes, worthless, malaria-stricken and
uninhabitable, through reclamation by the artifical planting of
maritime pine. It is said that the land was so valueless that
for $1.00 one could buy as far as the voice could carry and
that today this barren waste, within the reclaimed area, is
worth from $2.50 to $24.00 per acre, while that planted to two-
year old pine seedlings sells for $9.00; that covered with ten-
year old pine sells for $30.00 ; that stocked with thirty year
old pine for $80.00 and stocked with fifty-year old pine it is
worth $160.00 per acre. This should be an inspiring example
to us.

I love to think of France, her foresight, her thrift, her
forest policy, and practice as it was revealed by the great war
and of the lesson it brings to us. How her lands all classi-
fied and devoted either to agricultural crops or to forest crops,
with total forest lands of nineteen per cent, about equal to that
of New England, yet producing by growth fifty per cent more
and nearly supplying her domestic needs. How her wood-
using industries, employing 700,000 people both made perma-
nent, because her intensive and conservative management kept
up production by growth, cutting less than she grew. How her
forests, expressed in terms of supply, met adequately, in kind,
quality and quantity, the demand of her own vast armies and
those of her Allies, England, Belgium and the United States.
How the thousands of our boys composing our forestry regi-
ments in France will be impressed, as expressed by one of
them, "The lumber industry of France is concerned more with
grozving zvood than in manufacturing it."

Returning to my thought and coming closer home to my
own state of Louisiana, let's note her forest conditions
briefly :

For several years Louisiana has stood second to the state
of Washington in lumber production. According to the U. S.
Department of the Interior, Louisiana had 10,000,000 acres of
virgin timber in 1907; in 1918 she had but 4,700,000 acres.
Lumber production is outstripping timber production in the
ratio of six to one. According to the State Board of Affairs,
Louisiana has 559 sawmills valued at $17,606,649. And as an
heritage from the exploitation of her forests, she has 12,000,-

16 Proceedings of the

000 acres of unproductive cut over land, much of it absolute
waste and is adding to that total 250,000 to 300,000 acres an-
nually. At the present rate of cut her virgin timber will be
gone in fifteen years and with it tax values of millions of dol-
lars ; for cut over lands are assessed at an average of $5.00 per
acre, while the assessment on timber lands ranges from $17.00
to $166.00 per acre. Even the railroads of the state will lose
forty-three per cent on total freight earnings, not mentioning
the stupendous losses, in the aggregate, to industries, the in-
dividual, the community and the state. By the same authority
there are 155,000,000 acres of cut over lands in the South, with
10,000,000 being added annually. What is true of Louisiana,
in greater or less degree, is also true of all our Southern States.

I have purposely thus briefly reviewed our forest condi-
tions, in order that we might visualize our ultimate situation
and in this "multitude of counselors, find safety."

Ladies and gentlemen of the congress, in this new era of
reconstruction and readjustment, let us approach the question
of a "Southern Forestry Policy," acknowledging our respon-
sibility and obligation, and with open hearts and broad minds,
with candor and unity of purpose, in a spirit of patriotism, un-
selfishness and cooperation; with a full sense of our duty,
holding paramount the Public Welfare. And when we shall
have adopted a policy, let us get behind it and push it forward
unitedly and aggressively. I think one difficulty, heretofore
hindering the practice of private forestry has been the differ-
ence in view point and lack of sympathy and understanding be-
tween foresters and lumbermen. The traditional definition of
a forester and a lumberman is that a "forester plants and holds
on," a "lumberman devastates and moves on," has perhaps
been overdone. However that may be, I think, the presence
here of so many of both of you is evidence that a get together
spirit is going to characterize our effort in finding solution of
the problem which concerns us all so vitally.

All of you, doubtless, are familiar with "A Policy of For-
estry for the Nation," presented by the Forester, Colonel
Graves of the Forest Service. Personally, I am in agreement
with that policy and would favor its adoption either as a state
or Southern policy, because it is in my judgment, funda-
mentally sound in principle, broad in application and workable,
serves the public good, it does not hurt private interest. It is

Southern Forestry Congress 17

a policy of general principles, which lend themselves to local
application. Principles do not change, but conditions do. We
can apply the principle to suit the condition.

A committee of the Society of American Foresters has re-
cently presented another national policy. I do not oppose it,
on the contrary, I think it sets a "high ideal for foresters and
conservationists to work towards," but hardly practicable now.

The limits of this paper will not permit discussion in any
detail of Colonel Graves' National Policy, it is here in pamph-
let form for your consideration. But there are a few matters,
so intimately and vitally touching the South, that I feel that I
must consider them briefly. The principle of Federal coopera-
tion with the states, which some of our folks south shy at as
opposed to the principles of "States's rights," as developed at
the national lumber manufacturers' association meeting in
Chicago recently, is preempted now by Rhode Island and New
Jersey on the constitutional prohibition question. As a South-
ern democrat, I have modified my views on the State's Rights
question because I am already enjoying the benefits of the Land
Grant College act, the Hatch Experiment Station act, the Mor-
rell act, the Smith-Hughes and the Smith-Lever acts, the Post
Roads act, the Weeks law, and others, and I make the point
that Federal cooperation is not federal interference.

The Weeks law, is I understand it, provides for two princi-
pal things, first, for the acquisition by purchase of lands in the
Southern Appalachians as Forest Reserves and second, for co-
operation with the states in protecting against fire the for-
ested watersheds of navigable streams. The only fault I find
with this law is that congress has failed to appropriate ade-
quately money for this purpose. The purchase of 5,000,000 acres
in the Southern Appalachians was contemplated and only a little
over 1,000,000 acres have been acquired. None will debate the
wisdom of this purchase of Resrves in the Southern Appa-
lachians. They meet all the purposes of supply, protection and
recreation. I recall that at the North Carolina meeting, Col.
Graves told us this region, because of its topography and favor-
able tree growing conditions, would become the principle future
hardwood production of the country. The appropriation of
$100,000 for cooperative fire protection under the law, is en-
tirely inadequate, it should be at least half a million. Twenty-
four states have qualified and are receiving from $1,000 to

18 Proceedings of the

$8,000 Federal money now. Seven of these are Southern
states and one of them is my own state, Louisiana. The pity
is that more states have not qualified and receiving its dollar
matching benefits.

The "cut over" land question is the biggest economic, social
and industrial problem of the South, 155,000,000 acres.
Autnoritative land classification is the first principle that
should be applied and fire prevention and control is the
second.

Foresters believe, and I agree, that all land should be uti-
lized, put to its best productive use ; that all land fit for agri-
culture should be used for agriculture ; that all land not fit for
agriculture, absolute forest lands, should be used for permanent
forest growth. It is estimated that seventy-five to eighty per
cent of these lands are fit for some sort of farming, grazing,
etc., and that the remaining twenty to twenty-five per cent are
unfit for any sort of agriculture, but are fit for forest growth,
and should be reforested. Also it is admittedly true that it
will be one or more generations before all the agricultural land
will be needed. It is abundantly proven by Mr. Hardtner at
Urani, and elsewhere, that the loblolly pine grows to commer-
cial maturity in forty years. I know personally of old planta-
tions, abandoned after the war, since grown up to old field
pine that are now cutting eight to ten thousand board feet per
acre. The same is true of slash pine, growing in eastern Louisi-
ana and Florida. Therefore, good economics would say, grow a
crop of pine trees on this land, while waiting on agriculture.
Personally, I would put our cut over lands to a trinity of uses,
viz : farming, grazing and forestry. Cooperative reforestation,
national, state and private owner, is our imperative public duty.
Likewise is cooperative fire protection and control, adequate
funds, rigid laws, stringently enforced and above all an
aroused public sentiment are some of the factors that shall
make for success in any policy adopted.

On our remaining timber, no less important will be "slash"
disposal after logging and the leaving of seed trees at time
of cutting. Again it is abundantly proven by Mr. Hardtner at
Urania, that natural reproduction is certain if these things be
done.

I recently read a statement by a prominent Mississippi lum-
berman that he had been clearing land in the south for over

Southern Forestry Congress 19

twenty-eight years, that he had never burnt "slash" to prevent
fires and that reforestation on cut over lands was not practic-
able in Mississippi, because they were agricultural lands,
something to be proud of. This sort of attitude must be
changed and the Hardtner attitude acquired before reforesta-
tion will go forward satisfactorily.

Cooperative investigational work, forest experiments and
demonstration well distributed, must have place in any forestry
program and publicity must light the way.

Farm woodlands forestry under States Relation Extension
Service must be encouraged and practiced. Farmers are the
largest users of forest products. The growing scarcity and
rising prices make it imperative that farm woodlands be made
to supply domestic demands. The preservative treatment of
farm timbers is an economic principal that must apply. The
holding of great bodies of timber for speculative purposes must
stop.

In conclusion, I emphasize the point that nature favors the
practice of forestry in the South. Our favorable climate, with
many valuable native species of both hard and soft woods, with
good soil, ample rainfall, mild winters, long growing season —
a maximum of heat units — these give us every advantage for
forest perpetuation.

Ladies and gentlemen, the National Lumber Manufact-
urers' Association, the Southern Pine Association, the Western
Forestry and Conservation Association, and others have al-
ready adopted the principles of a policy of forestry for the Na-
tion. Shall we of the South, in convention assembled, fail to
join in this forward forestry movement ; shall we fail to do our
plain duty?

THE FORESTRY OUTLOOK IN THE SOUTHERN APPA-
LACHIAN REGION
By J. S. Holmes

STATE FORESTER OF NORTH CAROLINA

The total area of the Southern Appalachian States referred
to in this review, i. e., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia,
Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor-
gia and Alabama, is approximately 220,000,000 acres. Ac-

20 Proceedings of the

cording to the Census of 1910 about 160,000,000 acres of this
was then included in farms, one-half of which was "improved,"
or under cultivation. The remainder, or 140,000,000 acres,
nearly two-thirds of the total area, was wild land, practically
all of it in some kind of forest growth.

The Appalachian or strictly hardwood producing region of
these States is the part lying across and on each side of the
Alleghany, Appalachian and Cumberland ranges, and com-
prises some 90 or 100 million acres. In these mountains alone
there are some 30,000,000 acres of forested non-agricultural
lands. This is nearly equal to the entire forested area of
Germany and is 20% larger than the forested area of France.
In addition to this, there is another 28,000,000 acres in this re-
gion, now timbered and probably better suited for timber
growth than for agriculture. An additional ten or twelve mil-
lion acres, or 15% of the piedmont area surrounding the moun-
tains should be growing timber as farm woodlands or in larger
holdings. Altogether we have in this restricted region
some 70,000,000 acres of forest land or about 70% of the area,
the best and most economical use of which is for growing tim-
ber.

Not only are these forests necessary for timber production,
but they are extremely valuable for the preservation of soil
and the protection of the many important streams which take
their rise in these mountains. It is for this avowed purpose
that the Federal Goverment has already purchased 1,200,000
acres in the Southern Appalachians and plans much larger
purchases.

Three main types of forests, serving different needs and
requiring different methods of management, occur in these
States, the spruce, the hardwood and the pine.

The spruce is confined to the higher mountains and occurs
to any extent only in West Virginia, North Carolina and Tenn-
essee. Nearly all this type in West Virginia has been cut
out; and probably three-fourths of the area in North Carolina,
and half in Tennessee. There now remains, according to the
report of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics,
about 950,000,000 feet in North Carolina and Tennessee, and
390,000,000 in West Virginia and Virginia. At the present
rate of cutting for lumber and pulp this will only last a very
few years. All the cut over land has been burnt over, much

Southern Forestry Congress 21

of it several times, with the result that almost inevitably bar-
ren wastes take the place of spruce forests with consequent in-
jury to streams and destruction of future pulpwood supplies.

It is said that "The hardwood forests of the Southern Ap-
palachian States and those of adjoining regions formed orig-
inally the most extensive temperate zone hardwood forests
in the world. Among the commercial species are ten or more
oaks, at least as good as any foreign species, several hickories,
which so far as known have no foreign equivalents, yellow
poplar, basswood, black walnut and cherry, specialty woods
without a peer in their own fields, several valuable ashes,
chestnut and a number of other species, such as locust, dog-
wood, persimmon, etc."

There is compartively little virgin timber in all this area,
the greater part having been cut over once or several times.
Nearly all of it has been more or less seriously damaged by
repeated forest fires.

I do not know what the annual damage from fire is in
these States, but in North Carolina, which well represents the
region with its mountain, piedmont and coastal districts, we
have had a yearly average of nearly $1,000,000 worth of dam-
age in the past ten years. If the other States have had simi-
lar experience, these nine Appalachian States have lost annu-
ally from forest fires approximately seven million dollars.

The wood-using industries of the Central and Eastern
United States have been and still are largely dependent for
their supply upon the hardwoods of this and nearby regions.
Practically all the chestnut used not only as lumber in a va-
riety of wood-using industries, but also for the manufacture of
tanning material and for telephone poles comes from this re-
gion. In fact, the chesnut bark disease and other pests are
killing out this species in all but the higher mountain regions.

Three-fourths of the yellow poplar used in a very large va-
riety of industries comes from the Southern Appalachians,
while 25% of the oak, 40% of the cherry, 20% of the hickory,
25% of the walnut, 18% of the basswood, 15% of the sugar
maple and large proportions of many other valuable trees are
secured in this region.

The superiority of the Southern Appalachians as a region

22 Proceedings of the

on which to depend for our future supply of hardwoods lie in
the fact that more than 70% of its area is probably better fitted
for timber growing than for agriculture. On the other hand,
the lands which are now yielding hardwood timber in the Gulf
States, the Mississippi Valley, the Central Hardwood Region
and the Northern States are largely suitable for agriculture,
and will eventually be used for this purpose

If the forests in this region were protected from fire and
were cut in such a manner that a full stand of the more valu-
able species would succeed the present crop, sufficient timber
might be grown, if not to fully supply all our industries, cer-
tainly to stabilize the market and assure a supply of more tim-
ber, and timber of the more valuable and special kinds. It is
said that Germany's 33,000,000 acres of forests grew and cut
1,300,000,000 cubic feet of timber in 1910, and that the 24,000-
000 acres of forests in France grew and cut 910,000,000 cubic
feet in 1909. The present annual cut in the Southern Appa-
lachians is not more than 8,000,000 cubic feet, and even
though it is made up largely of the reserve stock of virgin tim-
ber, and is much greater than the annual growth, it is smaller
than that of either France or Germany. When the technical
basis for the practice of forestry has been worked out and the
forests of the Southern Appalachians have been put under con-
servative management, it should be possible to produce and cut
in perpetuity several times the total production of either France
or Germany. This means permanent forest industries for the
Southern Appalachians and continued prosperity.

The annual drain upon the hardwood forests of the South-
ern Appalachian is at least 4,000,000,000 feet board measure.
Of this a little over 45 per cent goes into lumber, about 25 per
cent into tannin extract wood, ties, veneer, poles, and wood
pulp, and the remaining 30 per cent to the secondary wood-
using industries. Since no provision is being made for pro-
ducing additional timber the total cut is much greater than the
growth.

Many important industries are dependent upon continued
hardwood production. For example, our furniture industry,
normally requiring about 1*4 billion feet a year uses 95 per
cent hardwoods and 45 per cent oak, and our vehicle industry,
consuming normally about 740 million feet, requires 32 per
cent hickory, 28 per cent oak, and 6 per cent yellow poplar.

Southern Forestry Congress 23

Twenty per cent of railroad requirements for car contrac-
tion, using 1^4 billion feet a year, is of oak. White oak is
the standard railroad tie material, and hardwoods normally
supply 56 per cent of the annual requirements of V/i billion
feet.

There is no doubt but what the wood-using industries are
beginning to realize the failure of their supply of timber. All
of the eastern journals in commenting upon the supply of hard-
woods and upon the market condition emphasize the shortage
in logs being brought to the mills and in the supply of hard-
wood lumber available for the markets. They do not, how-
ever, openly attribute this shortage to a reduction in the
amount of timber available, but put it down to scarcity of labor,
bad weather and various other causes.

Manufacturers themselves, however, are not so careful to
avoid allusion to this most important cause of the shortage. A
recent card inquiry addressed to the wood-using industries of
my own State of North Carolina has brought out some very
enlightening comments in regard to the timber situation. In
speaking of the supply of hardwoods available for the indus-
tries in the mountain and piedmont section of the State the
optimistic ones expect to get a full supply by going further
away, or by changing from one species to another which is
more abundant. For instance, a buggy manufacturer is chang-
ing from poplar to tupelo and cotton wood ; while a manufac-
turer of veneers, who is now obliged to bring in most of his
logs from another state, confessed that ten years ago 75% of his
supply was local. He thinks the future supply depends on the
ability to pay the freight. A manufacturer of agricultural
implements has "enough lumber on the yard for two years"
and is content to put up with a lower grade material. One
hopeful lumberman says "we gather from those that have
made a study of the situation that western woods will be carry-
ing the larger part of the load within the next ten years,"
while two furniture manufacturers in different parts of the
State, who in the past have been obtaining all their lumber
locally, think that in ten years 90% of the lumber will have to
be shipped in.

Some of the more hopeful look for an exhaustion of the
original growth white and yellow pine and all the good grades
of hardwood within ten years, but think there will be a supply

24 Proceedings of the

of second growth. This belief, however, is not shared by the
pine men. Numbers of lumbermen, planing mill men, box
shook and package manufacturers and others depending on a
supply of second growth pine admit that in ten years time the
available supply will be practically exhausted.

Although not requested in the questionnaire two or three
prominent manufacturers go so far as making suggestions for
remedying the approaching exhaustion. The two following
suggestions come from the eastern part of the State in the pine
region :

A manufacturer of veneer packing cases says : "We note
with anxiety the depletion of the timber supplies in the State
and think that some legislation should be passed, especially as
to pine, making it unlawful to cut pine below 12" in diameter
for lumber purposes. If such a law had been in existence for
the past twenty years, we would have a growing supply to re-
place the deplection." One of the largest manufacturers of
North Carolina pine lumber in this State in referring to this
meeting of the Southern Forestry Congress says :

"I think the body wants to discuss very thoroughly the mat-
ter of reforestation and the leaving of seed trees in cut over
territory. If you will visit the cut over territories of Louis-
iana and Mississippi in the longleaf section, you will see what
I mean. On my visit through La. and Miss, about sixty days
ago, I was struck with the wasteful methods of such companies

as and , and other companies, who practically

take everything from the land, whether it is large enough for
timber or not, without leaving anything to furnish seed for re-
forestation of the timber."

The pine region of the So. Appalachian States comprises
somewhat more than half of their total area. It lies to the
east or south of the hardwood region in the Coastal Plain
Belt along the Atlantic and extends well up into the Piedmont
section of these States. In this Piedmont part of the region
hardwoods originally predominated and still do in the original
growth forests, but much of this section was cleared up and
cultivated before the Civil War and subsequently was aban-
doned and has naturally reforested in pine.

The longleaf pine did not extend beyond the Coastal Plain,
but outside of the narrow bottom lands along the streams
where it once formed almost a continuous forest. This original

Southern Forestry Congress 25

forest has almost entirely been removed and the succeeding
forests of loblolly pine is disappearing even more rapidly. When
fires have been prevented loblolly pine is often succeeding itself
and in some places where hogs are excluded longleaf is re-
seeding, but very little of the cut over area is securing a full
stand of second growth. No steps have been taken to secure
this, either by leaving seed trees, preventing fires, or securing
stock law so that the prospect for the future in this whole re-
gion is very discouraging.

The need for conservation of our timber resources in the
North Carolina Pine Belt has been very strongly emphasized
in the questionnaire recently sent out by the State Geological
and Economic Survey of North Carolina, to which I referred
above. A few replies relating to the future source of supply
may be of interest here.

New Bern, N. C, has generally been looked upon as the
center of North Carolina pine production, and the large lum-
ber mills of that immediate region have led in the production
of this commodity. One operator here says in ten years "all
large mills in this section will be cut out." Another says "we
have about enough bought to last us five years." The most
hopeful reply is "will about use up the second growth in the
next ten to twenty years." A large manufacturer of building
material says that in ten years "there will be no timber cut,"
while another eastern North Carolina lumberman says that in
that time "the supply will be about exhausted." An optimistic
manufacturer on the edge of the Piedmont region says that
he has "plenty to run him for four or five years. After that
he may have to quit, but high prices are bringing in more tim-
ber," while a manufacturer of fruit and truck packages says
"that five years' supply is assured." A sash and blind manu-
facturer, using nearly 2,000,000 feet a year, writes "we have
been cutting local timber for 25 years. It looks like the sup-
ply will be exhausted in the next five years." This is the tenor
of replies from all parts of the pine region.

Furniture and veneer maufacturers have been thinking
that they would escape all further trouble by using gum in
place of poplar and other woods, but even the supply of this
timber is precarious. A cooperage company using 4,000,000
feet of gum a year located on the water front thinks that
"about all the timber will be gone in ten years ;" while another

26 Proceedings of the

using some 14,000,000 feet of gum and pine writes : "In
years past we have been able to secure a supply of logs from
outside people, but in the last two years especially, it has be-
come necessary to depend on the cutting of logs from our own
timber. We estimate we have ten to twelve years' supply of
timber."

A large lumber company cutting 8,000,000 feet of pine,
cypress and gum reports that in ten years "the present supply
will be practically exhausted."

One of the chief excuses for neglecting to take steps for
reforestation has been that the land is agricultural and should
be used for farming. Very strenuous efforts have been made
by some large owners of cut over lands to put these lands on
the market and dispose of them to settlers, but without any
great amount of success. It is beginning to be realized that
the demand for such land is and of necessity must be very
limited, and that one or more crops of timber can and should
be produced on most of the land before it will be needed for
farming.

The Census figures for 1910 show a total area of improved
farm land in the Appalachian States of 36.6% while the 1900
Census shows 34.6% of such land. According to these figures,
therefore, 2% of the total area of the region was improved
during the ten years previous to 1910. Taking this as an aver-
age, we find that in the next fifty years, not more than 10%
of the area will be cleared up and put into cultivation ; or there
will still remain uncultivated more than 80% of our present
forest area. To my mind, this is a liberal estimate, as the
tendency now is to more throughly cultivate the land already
cleared rather than clear up more. A policy, therefore, of
"enlightened self-interest," to say nothing of future benefit to
the region, would dictate growing a crop of timber rather
than holding it as cut over land until it can be sold to some
"would-be" farmer.

THE FORESTRY OUTLOOK IN THE GULF COAST STATES
By R. D. Forbes

SUPERINTENDENT OF FORESTRY, LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION

Since the convention of the First Southern Forestry Con-
gress at Asheville in 1916 forestry progress in the five Gulf

Southern Forestry Congress 27

Coast States of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and
Texas, has, we believe, been considerable even if no single
event of larger significance, such as the establishment of a for-
estry department in a new State, can be reported. At the time
of the First Congress, Texas had had a State Forester for
about nine months, and financial provision had been made in
Louisiana for the employment by the Department of Con-
servation of a Superintendent of Forestry, beginning January
1, 1918. Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were without
forestry departments or funds for their establishment. Brief-
ly, the four year history of forestry in each of these States is
as follows :

Texas. From September 1, 1915, to the same date in 1919,
$11,500 has been appropriated annually by the State for forestry
work, and from $3,000 to $4,000 has been contributed yearly
toward fire control by the United States Forest Service under
the Weeks Law. Since September 1, 1919, the State appro-
priation has been $13,500, or $2,000 more than in previous
years.

More than half of the total expenditures have been for
fire protection. Patrolmen have covered a total of seven to
nine million acres during about six months of every year. The
main function of these men has been, of course, educational,
for with districts of a million or more acres apiece it has not
been possible to attempt much actual control of fires. The
patrolmen have been local men in every case, and have built
up a very considerable local sentiment against burning the
woods and cut over lands. The great cause of fires in Texas,
as all over the Gulf Coast region, is the carelessness of human
beings, coupled with a deep-rooted feeling (it is not generally
a conviction based on careful observation and thought) that
burning is a proper thing. It takes time to correct this idea,
and to change the custom of decades, but in the end the pa-
trolmen's patient arguments, based on demonstrable truth, are
winning out. Between July 1 and December 1, 1918, nearly
90% of the fires reported by patrolmen were controlled by
them and local residents before they could do serious damage,
whereas in 1916 the percentage of controlled fires had been
but ten. Texas has built up a seasoned and enthusiastic per-
sonnel for its fire protective work. Annual meetings of the pa-
trolmen have greatly increased the esprit de corps.

28 Proceedings of the

As Texas is essentially a farming State, though standing
fifth in 1918, among the lumber producing States of the
Union, farm forestry has been emphasized as next in impor-
tance to fire protection. Fifteen hundred dollars has been
spent yearly for nurseries and experimental planting of trees,
particularly in the now treeless portions of the State. Courses
in farm forestry are given at the Agricultural College, a sur-
vey has been made as the basis of a bulletin on the production
and sale of timber in farm woodlands, and advice on the
ground has been given to farmers and owners of small wood-
lands

The forest resources of east Texas have been studied and
reported on, and the rate at which they are being depleted has
been given publicity. In its general publicity work, particu-
larly through the Texas Forestry Association, the State has
met with marked success under the direction of State Forester
Siecke. Women's Clubs, teachers, newspapers, and trade
journals have been interested in the forestry movement, and a
small but earnest group in the Forestry Association have done
yoemen service in getting forestry before the public and keep-
ing it there. The president of the A. and M. College has been
a staunch and effective friend of the forestry work particu-
larly in the matter of securing continued and increased appro-
priations.

Louisiana. Unlike any other State in the Union, Louisiana
carries on her forestry work by a tax on the lumbermen. The
orignal Severance Tax law of 1910 was intended to give the
entire proceeds of the severance tax on forest products to the
Department of Conservation for forestry purposes. Subse-
quent legislation diverted these moneys into the General Fund,
and it is only since the beginning of 1918 that a small portion
(one-fifth) has been available to the Department of Conserva-
tion. Small collections in 1918 were supplemented by Com-
missioner Alexander from other funds of the Department,
permitting total expenditures of about $13,000, but in 1919
the collections available for forestry were greater — somewhat
over $1,000 a month — and the work has stood on its own feet.
Four thousand dollars was received in two years from the
United States Forest Service under the Weeks Law.

As in Texas, roughly half of the expenditures are for fire
protection. Except in response to the very dangerous condi-

Southern Forestry Congress 29

tions produced by the great storm of August, 1918, in south-
west Louisiana, when actual fire fighting was made possible by
the Commissioner's placing as high as nineteen men in an area
of less than a million acres, the patrolmen have covered dis-
tricts of one-quarter to a third of a million acres, or about half
a parish. Education has been the invariable weapon used
much as Texas, and the results are distinctly encouraging. An
innovation has been the formation of a local fire protective
association among small and large landowners of the Florida
Parishes, and we intend to organize others. Another feature
of our fire work and one upon which Louisiana particularly
prides itself has been our spark arrester regulations. These ap-
ply to both trunk lines and tram roads, and inspection to date,
while showing that much work is to be done indicates clearly
that both railroads and lumbermen are in the great majority of
cases willing and glad to comply with reasonable, yet effective,
regulations. The lumbermen's interest in fire protection has
been particularly encouraging, and amply confirms the wise
policy pursued in every branch of his conservation work by
Commissioner Alexander, namely that of close cooperation
with all interested in our natural resources.

In furtherance of the same policy the Department has con-
ducted a preliminary investigation of the relative cost of log-
ging large and small pine timber. The investigations of the
thinning of Southern pine, of the effect of fire and hogs on
pine reproduction, and of slash disposal, conducted at Urania
in part by the United States Forest Service and in part by Mr.
Henry Hardtner, have been very interesting and very valuable.
Urania Forest, which comprises some 30,000 acres of cut over
land being reforested by Mr. Hardtner under contract with
the Department of Conservation has attracted wide interest.
Under the terms of the unique reforestation law of Louisiana
taxes on land being reforested are reduced from $5 an acre to
$1 for a period of thirty to forty years.

In educational work the Louisiana forestry officials have
employed publicity through bulletins, newspapers items, lec-
tures illustrated by slides and "movies," and particularly
through the trade journals of the lumber industry, whose col-
umns have always been wide open to forestry items of all
kinds. The Department of Conservation is proud to have en-
gineered the first two forestry meetings ever held in the far

30 Proceedings of the

South — those in New Orleans in January 1918, and in Jackson-
ville, Florida, in the same month of 1919. At the State Uni-
versity the forestry courses given by Major Lee, though in no
wise connected with the work of the Department of Conserva-
tion, have powerfully aided in creating public sentiment favor-
able to forestry.

Mississippi. Nothing came of an attempt to pass forestry
legislation in this State in 1918. The outlook for the passage
of a forestry law in the present legislature is, however, bright.
Governor Russell has emphasized the importance of reforest-
ation in his message to the law-makers. The State University,
the Mississippi Landowners' Association, some of the lumber-
men, and other public-spirited citizens have championed the
cause of forestry, and we understand that these efforts are be-
ing coordinated. We are confident that the next Southern State
to place forestry laws on its books, backed by an appropriation,
will be Mississippi.*

*The confidence of the speaker was misplaced. The reactionary lum-
bermen in Mississippi were evidently more influential than it was thought
possible. The New Orleans Lumber Trade Journal of March IS, 1920,
in a short editorial, describes the "killing" in the following words :

"Kills Forestry Legislation"

The judiciary committee of the lower house of the Mississippi legis-
lature has put the axe to all four forestry measures that were before that
body for consideration. Immediately after a minority report was sub-
mitted by four members protesting against the action and demanding that
suitable legislation be devised for the purpose of saving the vast forests
of that state from ultimate destruction.

The action of the judiciary committee was taken following a
lengthy conference with leading lumber interests of the state. It was
made clear that lumbermen of the state were not opposed to forestry
legislation that was of a wise and beneficial character ; that would
actually result in proper conservation of the virgin timber of today
and the reforestation of denuded lands of the present and future. It
was generally agreed that the legislation before that body was hurriedly
drawn and therefore entirely unsuited to the best interests of both the
state and its vast lumbering industry. — The Editor.

Southern Forestry Congress 31

Alabama. Some of the lumbermen in Alabama interested
themselves last year in an effort to pass a forestry law, or
to secure appropriations, making effective the law of 1908,
we have been unable to learn which. Whatever the attempt
was, it failed, and for another three years Alabama was con-
demned to forestry inactivity.

Florida. The conference of Southern foresters held in
Jacksonville last January stimulated interest in forestry in that
state and tended to coordinate separate efforts which had pre-
viously been made by the Federation of Women's Clubs and
other agencies. A committee was appointed at the Jackson-
ville meeting on which these and other powerful interests were
represented. The cattlemen were desirous of fire control on
account of its effect on the range, as well as on the broader
basis, and for a time it looked as if at least a scheme of county
option in fire protection, with a small appropriation, would be
agreed upon. We understand it was found impossible, how-
ever, to frame a bill which would receive the support of the
various agencies interested in forestry and fire control, and as
a result nothing was accomplished. This unfortunate outcome
will, we hope, be retrieved by increased interest and better
team work next year.

General. In closing, it is not out of place to urge the dele-
gates from every Gulf Coast State to join their state forestry
association, or if none exists, to form such an association. It
is safe to say that state associations have been the means, di-
rectly or indirectly, of establishing forestry departments in prac-
tically all states which have them. There may have been cer-
tain dominating figures in each case, to whom a large share of
the credit should go, but in the last analysis, public sentiment
was the compelling power. Without public sentiment, directed
through organization into effective channels, the forest con-
servationists of the South cannot make real headway. The
good roads movement, the better agriculture movement, the
tick eradication movement, and every other valuable reform,
have required for their accomplishment years of patient edu-
cation, constant publicity, and skillful organization. For its
full fruition the great forest conservation movement in the
South will require nothing less.

32 Proceedings of the

Mr. Forbes' paper brought out some discussion, during
which Colonel John H. Wallace, Jr., Commissioner of Conser-
vation of Alabama, said in part :

The only features of the Alabama forestry law that are of
value relate exclusively to forest fire control. There has been
going on in the State for a number of years, principally con-
ducted by myself, a propaganda seeking to interest people in
Alabama in forestry and in the conservation feature as relating
to forest lands.

Due, however, to the devastation of the forests of Alabama,
the lumbermen are beginning to realize that unless something
of a real and tangible nature is done, the wonderful longteaf
pine forests, erstwhile the glory and grandeur of the State,
will linger only in memory and tradition, and the entire state
will be nothing but barren waste places, and the over one
thousand sawmills now engaged in cutting lumber, will be
chucked into the scrap heap.

I am about to consummate a deal with the United States
Forest Service, by and through which, under appropriation by
congress in the matter of state cooperation, the Federal Gov-
ernment will meet the state of Alabama halfway — fifty-fifty —
in the matter of securing forest wardens for a number of coun-
ties of my state, with a view of doing something tangible and
real in Alabama in the matter of the protection of the forests.

We must realize the fact that we are consuming three
times as much lumber and timber as we are growing year by
year. The Federal Goverment must embark upon a large and
most comprehensive program looking to the acquisition of
large areas, seeking to reforest devastated areas, so that the
trees may be gathered when they are ripe.

THE FORESTRY OUTLOOK IN THE CENTRAL
HARDWOOD REGION

By R. S. Maddox

STATE FORESTER OF TENNESSEE

The central hardwood region of the Southern States in-
cludes parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, the northern part of Ala-
bama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Since Tennessee,
my state, is the very heart of this section and since my work
is concentrated witbin her borders, I am going to speak al-

Southern Forestry Congress 33

most wholly upon conditions there, recognizing the fact that in
most particulars her situation as to hardwoods is typical of the
rest of the region.

In the recent past Tennessee produced great quantities of
yellow poplar, oak, ash, chestnut, hickory, walnut, and other
hardwoods. Both the quantity and quality of this lumber have
been alarmingly reduced everywhere and on vast areas practic-
ally exhausted. Even within the last five years this has be-
come most noticeable. No other state in the Union yields a
greater variety of economic hardwood species nor grows them
more abundantly nor more rapidly if left undisturbed. It is
perhaps due to these, we might say, too favorable conditions
that such a prodigal and prodigious waste has gone on in Tenn-
essee so long. In the midst of such plenty, scarcity was not ex-
pected. But facts must be faced. The difficulty with which our
sawmills are supplied with logs, the distance of the haul, the
inferior quality and the small size of materials used, are all in-
disputable evidence of the growing scarcity of timber in the
State.

However apparently discouraging the situation now ap-
pears, if it is met with proper vision, cooperation and con-
structive effort a regeneration of timber growth in Tennes-
see is sure. The physical structure of Tennessee is such
that regardless of the agricultural land proper, there is, I be-
lieve, enough timber land, that is, steep, shallow and purely
mountainous areas which ought to grow timber alone to pro-
duce all the timber that Tennessee will ever need.

Taking up conditions in the state more in detail, I will first
touch upon the western section known as West Tennessee.
Here Memphis is the great hardwood center, and she also is
one of the great hardwood centers of the United States. Her
mills are fed very largely from timber outside the State —
largely from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. West
Tennessee has ceased to be any considerable factor in the pro-
duction of timber for supplying Memphis mills. Even at
Jackson, Tenn., the mills secure a great quantity of logs from
Mississippi. The bulk of West Tennessee timber is found in
what is known as the swamp lands, lands which lie in bot-
toms through which meander sluggish streams. These areas
contain possibilities for some of the best agricultural soil of
the state. This is recognized by the landowners and therefore

34 Proceedings of the

a progressive system of dredging these bottoms for drainage is
being undertaken. This process prepares the ground for
clearing. Therefore, it is merely a question of a short time
before this bulk of Tennessee timber is gone, and not only gone,
but the land itself which grew it will cease to be timber pro-
ducing. Therefore, on such areas in West Tennessee there is
no possibility of practicing forestry. This same condition, I
believe, extends into North Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkan-
sas.

At first blush it might appear there is no outlook for West
Tennessee as regards forestry. This, however, is far from true.
There are two vital phases of forestry work which are being
carried on for the benefit of that section — farm forestry and the
reclamation of waste land.

Already in many portions of West Tennessee the wood-
lands left on the farm are not sufficient in size, or are not
managed in such a way as to produce an adequate amount of
timber for farm necessities. The farmer considers that when
he leaves land in timber he is not getting the real use of it and
therefore in order to use it he feels he must graze it. This shuts
off the possibility of reproduction in the woodlands and as the
farmer continues to cut down his old trees his woodlands
gradually disappear. Here forestry comes to the rescue. Since
these men wish to have a definite area of woodland contin-
uously, it is the business of forestry to show them how to
handle such areas so as to maintain them in timber.

A policy in West Tennessee of clearing land and wearing
it out for agricultural crops has resulted in large acreage of
waste land, doubtless around 500,000 acres of land once cul-
tivated but now lying out. The reclamation of this land will
stave off further clearings of woodlands and prolong the
life of the woodlands which are not now needed for agricul-
tural purposes. Since fence posts are almost of vital necessity
in West Tennessee now, it is an economic proposition to re-
claim much of this land with black locust. A fourfold purpose
in this way is served. The land itself is reclaimed, necessary
post timber is produced, other woodlands are saved from clear-
ing, and further erosion stopped. The success of this type of
endeavor is remarkable and men who five years ago regarded
these undertakings in a skeptical way are now thoroughly in
sympathy with the work.

Southern Forestry Congress 35

The topography and character of the soil in Middle Ten-
nessee make conditions for woodlands and forested areas dif-
ferent from those in West Tennessee. Here the steep rocky
hills, shallow soil, and mountain slopes make it almost impossi-
ble to clear all land for cultivation. This is particularly true
in the foothills of the Highland Rim which jut out into the
Central Basin, and the Cumberland Mountain slopes in the
eastern edge of Middle Tennessee. Such areas now contain
the bulk of timber in Middle Tennessee. I am safe in saying
these areas do not supply all the logs sawed in that section
since some of the mills are supplied partly from logs in Ala-
bama. Here there are three forestry problems which need
solution : the proper handling of these hillside and mountain
lands which should be used primarily for the growing of tim-
ber; the management of farm woodlands which should be
maintained for the use of the farm as in West Tennessee; and
the reclamation problem.

The handling of these hillside and mountain lands should
include as every forester knows, fire prevention, restricted
grazing and careful cutting. The farm woodland problem is
similar to that which I have just described as existing in West
Tennessee, the solution being very much the same. The re-
clamation problem in this section will be devoted to a much
greater extent than in West Tennessee to the reestablishment
of young forests because of the steepness of the slopes and the
shallowness of the soil on many areas which have been cleared
and cultivated.

Forest conditions to be considered in East Tennessee are
very similar to those in Middle Tennessee. Here we have the
steep forested slopes of the Smoky Mountains, the steep cleared
hillsides and mountain sides and the farm woodlands. The
big mills in East Tennessee are located at Townsend, Mary-
ville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. These are supplied by logs
secured from a distance from operation both by rail and by
river. Here as everywhere else in the state there is a scarcity
of material. Vast areas of virgin timber which once furnished
some of these mills have now become farm lands and the
source of supply is pushed further and further back. Such
portions as have been left wooded have, because of their treat-
ment, not proven to be dependable for future crops.

Again the threefold forestry problem of Tennessee con-

36 Proceedings of the

fronts us — protection of our mountain lands, proper manage-
ment of farm woodlands and reclamation projects.

Any forestry outlook in Tennessee must take into consid-
eration one primal fact, viz : that practically all Tennessee land
is privately owned and therefore, any step toward construc-
tive forestry must be made with the cooperation of the citizens
themselves. One big forward movement in Tennessee can be
seen in the attitude of the members of the Tennessee Forestry
Association. Men and women everywhere throughout the
state are recognizing that something must be done to save the
forest of the state and all they represent. In the final analysis
the people must realize the urgency of conditions and together
take a firm stand, but active, for the continuous, necessary
growth of forests and to this end protection against forest fires
is an essential.

Vice President Lee made the following committee appoint-
ments :

RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE— Messrs. R. S. Maddox, Chair-
man, W. B. Townsend, Henry E. Hardtner, J. G. Peters, R. D. Forbes,
Mrs. A. F. Storm, A. T. Gerrans, H. E. Everley, E. O. Siecke, John
L. Kaul, McGarvey Cline.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE— Messrs. R. C. Jones, W. D. Tyler,
J. E. Rhodes.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION.

(Presided over by Hon. M. L. Alexander, Commissioner of
Conservation for Louisiana.) Hon. John M. Parker, Gov-
ernor-elect of Louisiana, addressed the congress. He said
in part :

It has been my good fortune for probably twenty years to
know intimately Gifford Pinchot, one of the really great Chiefs
of forestry in America. It has been my privilege also to know
for years, on terms of intimacy and affection, Henry E. Hard-
tner, whose work is well known all over the United States.

We have in the State of Louisiana only about 15 per cent
of our total area under cultivation. Now there is no reason
why it should be so. One reason why I have gone into public
life is to try to devote four years of what energy I may have
to this work, with the deep and set conviction that the future

Southern Forestry Congress 37

welfare of our state rests largely upon our agriculture and in-
telligent reforestation. I propose to go the limit along those
lines. My idea is to give Louisiana the finest agricultural col-
lege of any state in the land — one which will he managed on
hroad and practical lines, to uphuild and make valuahle the
vast tracts of land that now lie idle and are non-productive and
of little value to any one.

ADDRESS
By M. L. Alexander

COMMISSIONER OF CONSERVATION OF LOUISIANA

The people of Louisiana are to be congratulated upon the
opportunity presented to them of acquiring first-hand know-
ledge of forestry needs and conditions as will be outlined by
the Second Southern Forestry Congress. I need not mention
the intense interest which I myself take in this gathering or the
interest of the Department of Conservation, which I repre-
sent, which has extended over our splendid forest resources the
protecting cloak of conservation.

We of the South, the chief lumbering center of the United
States, feel that this congress will prove most wide-reaching in
its effect. It is fitting that this congress should hold its ses-
sions in Louisiana, second only to Washington in its lumber
production.

Adequate protection of the timber lands of Louisana has
been hampered in the past through the lack of legislative ap-
propriation for such purpose. I am gratified to state at this
date that the law making body of the state is at last coming to
realize the importance of preserving to other generations this
tremendous heritage.

A denuded Louisiana is unthinkable, but this is the very
danger which confronts the people of Louisiana unless means
are devised that will at once further industrial development in
timber, conserve the forests, and wisely provide for the proper
classification of cut over lands and their ultimate disposal for
purposes to which they are best adapted.

The Department of Conservation was utterly without means
to meet this situation until 1918, when some relief was obtained
through the establishment of a forestry division and the inaugu-
ration of a fire fighting patrol. This division of the depart-

38 Proceedings of the

ment, while unquestionably valuable, is by no means, under
present conditions, able to afford the protection which I feel
is imperative and to which the people are entitled. It is my
hope that in the near future the importance of this work will
find a livelier appreciation and that adequate provisions will be
made for the upkeep and operation of a fire fighting force able
to cope with any emergency which may arise.

Scant thought is given to forest resources until after the
virgin timber is gone. It is time the South took an accounting
and honestly faced a situation which must be met, a problem
which must be solved, a condition demanding immediate at-
tention. We are responsible to future generations and the
wisdom with which we proceed and the intelligent effort we
bring to bear now will find fruition in the years to come. It
must not be said of us that we have been wasteful, neglectful,
improvident, or unwise. This is the moment, gentlemen, for us
to display what wisdom we may possess to the ultimate good of
the state and the nation.

A most important subject of discussion here must be that
concerning itself with the utilization of cut over lands and
their adaption to the requirements of timber growing, farming,
and grazing. This is emphasized by the report of the Secretary
of the Interior for 1918. The following is his list of the cut
over acreage in fifteen southern states :

Alabama 14,785,000

Arkansas -- 13,893,000

Florida 10,109,000

Georgia 20,141,000

Kentucky 3,222,000

Louisiana 11,877,000

Maryland 1,848,000

Mississippi 13,203,000

Missouri 8,900,000

North Carolina 12,745,000

South Carolina 8,994,000

Tennessee 7,833,000

Texas 12,936,000

Virginia 9,929,000

West Virginia 4,634,000

155,049,000

Southern Forestry Congress 39

It is estimated that we are adding to this vast area of de-
nuded land at the rate of 10,000,000 acres a year. This land
must he intelligently apportioned to the uses for which it is best
suited. Not to do this would entail a staggering economic
loss.

In Louisiana we have in the past two years spent about $25,-
000 on forestry and fire protection, and in previous years have
expended such sums as we could spare from the other resources
of the Department of Conservation. It is our intention to ask
the next legislature for the entire severance tax on forest pro-
ducts for the support of the forestry work in the state. For
the past two years we have been receiving but one-fifth of this
tax and prior to that not one cent. This tax should amount to
somewhere in the neighborhood of $75,000 a year. The lum-
bermen of the state consented to the original severance tax
with the expectation that this money would be used in fire pro-
tection and reforestation. It is only just and right that it should
be used for these purposes and with the support of the lumber-
men and forest conservationists of this state, it will be so
spent. We will need a portion, possibly one-third, for fire pro-
tection and for general administration. The remainder we plan
to use for the purchase of lands for state forests. If Louisiana
will wisely set aside say even 100,000 acres of her poorest lands
within the next ten or fifteen years as state forests, think
of the magnificent revenue which thirty or forty years from
now will be derived from such a property. The cost of ad-
ministration will be small, and on the basis of a fifty year ro-
tation we should have 2,000 acres to cut over annually, yield-
ing a product worth not less than $150 an acre at a most mod-
est estimate. An annual revenue of $300,000 a year from her
state forests in perpetuity is well worth the investment of a
few thousand dollars a year for the next ten years.

Many men who have distinguished themselves in this divis-
ion of conservation effort, and representing numerous indus-
tries and interests vitally affected by the policies which this
congress may adopt, will express their views and give the bene-
fit of their wide experience, among whom there is one whose
intelligent effort in the science of forestry and its practical ap-
plications has resulted in coordinating private, state, and
national activities, and bids fair to bring out of the present
gathering a national forestry policy, not alone applicable to

40 Proceedings of the

Louisiana, one of the greatest of timber producing states, but
to every commonwealth in the Union.

Colonel Henry Solon Graves, Chief Forester of the United
States Forest Service, first advanced the idea of a national
program of forestry in an address before the New England
Forestry Conference at Boston, February 24, 1919. At that
meeting he called attention to the imperative needs of the nation,
arousing an interest which promises to be nation-wide. Since
then, with the backing of the federal goverment, he has vigor-
ously pushed his plans. He has conferred with lumbermen,
owners, representatives of industries allied to lumber, lumber
users, legislators, and leaders in conservation work. As his
experience grew, his plan has developed. Today Colonel
Graves will present to you his perfected program.

A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY
By Henry S. Graves

U. S. FORESTER

During the last 30 years the forests of the South have
played a very important part in providing the country with lum-
ber and other products. The South still stands first in amount
of lumber produced, furnishing over one-third of all the sawn
lumber used in the entire country. The South is the one re-
maining large source of softwood timber in the East, with the
remnant of what was once the greatest pine forest in the world.
The end of the old growth southern pine is now in sight. Ten
to fifteen years will see the bulk of it cut out. Its pending ex-
haustion is a great loss, for the eastern markets will become in-
creasingly dependent upon the lumber supplies from the far
West.

Still more important to the country are the hardwood for-
ests of the South. Even if the southern pine forests were
wholly used up and destroyed, we still have large bodies of
timber in the West that can be drawn upon for a limited period,
though at high cost. But the southern hardwoods are both
unique in character and represent the last center of supply of
material of this class in the country. They are vital to supply
wood-using plants in the North and Central States and even
the Pacific Coast.

The service of the southern forests to the economic welfare
of the country has been and is still very great. With a climate

Southern Forestry Conokess 41

and soils peculiarly adapted to forest production and with num-
erous species of both soft and hardwood capable of exception-
ally rapid growth, the South has an opportunity to remain
always the most important center of lumber production in the
East if the opportunity is grasped in time. If, however, the
present destructive handling of forests continues this opportun-
ity will be lost, to the injury both of the South and the Nation.
With the introduction now of wholly practical methods, of
forestry, the forests will in the future contribute to the perma-
nent industrial prosperity and upbuilding of the South even in
a greater degree than in the past.

Passing of the Original Forests

We are witnessing today the rapid passing of our original
forests. We have seen within our own lifetime the progressive
exhaustion of the older sources of timber supply, and the move-
ment of the center of large lumber production to the South ;
and now realize that it is a matter of only a few years before
the bulk of the old growth timber in the South will be cut, and
the last body of timber in the East capable of large-scale lum-
ber production will be gone.

Our lumber and related industries have been built up on the
basis of the original forest. Builders, architects, engineers,
manufacturers of wood articles, and general buyers of lumber
have been accustomed to the high grade material that comes
from trees 100 to 250 years of age. In many cases people have
been using high grade material when lower grades would answer
the purpose. Just as in the old days the farmers of the Middle
West made rails of walnut, so we have been very often using
prime products of the virgin trees for common purposes, sim-
ply because it was abundant and the price within our means.

Heretofore when one center of production has been ex-
hausted, the industry has moved on to another body of original
timber, furnishing the market with perhaps a different species
but still an excellent product from old-growth trees. And
today fully 85 per cent of the lumber in the general mar-
ket still comes from original or old growth forests. As long as
there were new and untouched bodies of timber within reason-
able distance, the general public did not materially suffer, so
far as supplies of lumber were concerned. A new situation
has, however, now come about through the approaching ex-

42 Proceedings of the

haustion of all the large centers of old growth timber in the
East and the necessity for going to the Pacific slope for mater-
ial of the character that consumers have used and still demand.

Economic Consequences of Forest Depletion

The movement of the center of lumber production from
one region to another has been invariably followed by import-
ant economic consequences. An upward trend of prices is
always one of the results, besides many local effects. The deple-
tion of all the large producing centers in the East and the de-
pendence of the largest number of consumers of lumber on
forests located 2,000 to 3,000 miles away is an occurrence that
will be widely and very unfavorably felt. Even the lessening of
production within the last two or three years has sent up the
price of lumber to a point permitting western competition in
the Atlantic States, and the East is today paying for lumber
on the basis of the value of Douglas fir plus freight from the
West Coast.

Large operations and large quantity production are the
resultant of the existence of great bodies of old growth tim-
ber. When the old timber begins to fail and the large mills to
close down, production falls off with great rapidity. The
national market is then immediately affected until there is
readjustment by the opening up of new supplies of original
timber capable of large scale production with big mills.

Precisely this process is now going on in the South. It is
the original forest and large scale operations that govern the
situation. While the present deficiency of production is not
wholly due to cutting out of the old timber, it is so in part.
This effect on the market is the same. Yellow pine is already
being crowded out of some markets, prices mount up and fin-
ally are governed by the lumber from the new region, in this
case the Pacific Coast.

Thus we have an economic timber depletion and all its con-
sequences when the old bodies of timber are reduced, even
though there may be in the aggregate a great deal of smaller
timber or scattered old trees available for small mills. This
is the reason why the effects of forest depletion are felt long
before the actual exhaustion of all the forests. This is the
reason why the conditions created by the war (some of which
are temporary and some permanent) have developed all the

Southern Forestry Congress 43

manifestations of timber shortage, failure to obtain material,
high prices, unstable markets, etc. It is a forerunner of what
will happen in more aggravated form as the progressive ex-
haustion of the old supplies goes on.

Failure to Prepare for Forest Depletion

The using up of the original forest is in itself not a dis-
turbing circumstance. It is inevitable, for the supplies origi-
nally furnished by unaided nature must sooner or later come
to an end. We may deeply regret that we have wasted and de-
stroyed so much of our natural heritage of timber, but the fea-
ture that should give us the most profound concern is that
we have taken no adequate steps to prepare ourselves for the
passing of the original forest.

We have not only wasted in premature cutting and through
forest fires an immense amount of lumber that might have
served to prolong the life of our original supplies, but we have
destroyed the second growth timber and young growth, and
on millions of acres effectively and unnecessarily prevented
a normal renewal of the forest. This is not the time or place
for me to explain the influences that have led to this condition,
the faulty public land policies, the encouragement of specula-
tive holdings, the factors forcing premature and wasteful cut-
ting, the indifference of the public and failure to meet its re-
sponsibilities, the adverse attitude of many operators and
owners, and so on.

What might have been, is an interesting study. But we are
concerned with the cold and ugly facts of broken and depleted
forests, unproductive or actually devasted cut over lands, a
great deficiency of middle-aged second growth of any poten-
tial value and usefulness and a net loss each year of our re-
sources that is leading direct to forest bankruptcy.

The transition from the original forest to second growth
is comparatively easy when there are middle-aged and younger
trees in abundance. This has been demonstrated in a number
of cases where special circumstances caused the growth of a
large amount of second growth pine, as, for example, in Vir-
ginia, the Carolinas, and the New England States. But in
most other sections and more recent cuttings we have been
progressively destroying the immature trees. Probably the
best forestry ever practiced by private owners was when they

44 Proceedings of the

culled the forests and left the immature trees standing. It
was not intentional. They simply had no market for these
trees. Where not injured or destroyed by fire these trees grew
rapidly and there are hundreds of tracts being cut over now a
second or third time, giving high profits from accumulated ac-
cretion and from opportunity for more economical utilization.
With the increase of values and multiplication of uses for
wood products, however, the immature trees standing with
the old growth are now cut in most cases on a large scale.
Certainly but few operators leave any trees purposely in order
to constitute the basis for a later cut.

But even more serious than that is the fact that fires are
allowed to run through the woods killing or injuring the
younger trees, and these same fires retard or prevent repro-
duction. The result is that when our original forests are ex-
hausted, we find that we have also exhausted a large part of
the immature stands that would constitute our second cuttings
and have not been providing for new reproduction. We will
face in consequence a great deficiency of timber in the im-
mediate future.

The Critical Importance of Second Growth

In some respects the most important single factor in the
problem of forestry in the near future is the immature timber or
second growth. It is this material that should normally tide
over the country's needs after the exhaustion of the virgin tim-
ber and pending the growth of new stands that may be es-
tablished now. This is the material that should furnish the local
needs in building up the new farms that we hope to see in the
South. This is the basis for our lumber and wood-using in-
dustry of the near future. And if there were enough of it in
the South, it could most likely compete with the products of
the West and even reinvade the competitive field in the nearby
middle western States, at least with common grades of lumber.

I am interested in knowing how much virgin timber there
is left in the South. I am more interested in knowing how
much immature and second growth timber there is. Let us
by all means protect and handle with great economy the re-
maining portions of our original forest. But especially let us
husband with great care the stands of smaller growth. Self-in-
terest will in a measure take care of the first. Self-interest

Southern Forestry Congress 45

ought to safeguard the second, for there are hundreds of thous-
ands of acres of immature timber in the south that represent a
splendid opportunity for profits if it is handled right. Yet
many of those stands are being fast destroyed by abuse, pre-
mature cutting, premature boxing, forest fires, or other de-
structive agencies.

The destruction of the second growth and small timber
will be a loss that will be felt not only by the producing lum-
ber industry but by every community and purchaser of lum-
ber in the South. The preservation and careful handling of
this timber presents an opportunity that if taken advantage of
before it is too late will contribute to the upbuilding of the
South in a measure difficult at the present time for most peo-
ple to realize. The preservation and careful handling of second
growth presents also a great opportunity to the owners, for
in many cases it does not represent an actual outlay but is
rather a remnant after cutting off the old forest, and in a few
years it will return very substantial profits. Many an owner
who has not realized that this young timber represented any
particular value has found himself in possession of stumpage
value of not less than $50 per acre for young timber 40 to 50
years old. In the North young pine is often worth $250 to
$300 per acre.

Our Nation's Forest Deficit

Our forest deficit is increasing every year. Our original
forest capital is constantly dwindling. We have been de-
stroying young timber at the period of its greatest rate of ac-
cretion. By abuse we have been preventing lands from be-
coming restocked after cutting the old timber. There can
be but one final answer to such a course, and that is the de-
pletion of our forests resources down to a point where the
country will suffer great injury.

It is estimated that about 100 million acres of forest land
have been practically devastated and are producing almost
nothing of value. They are today an economic waste. On
the other hand, there are probably over 200 million acres
of cut over land on which some measure of forest growth is
taking place. A large part of these second growth forests,
however, have an excessive amount of poor species, defective or
poorly formed trees, or are broken, with only a scanty growth.

46 Proceedings of the

Moreover, through unintelligent cutting, over-grazing, or
repeated forest fires, a large part of our second growth for-
ests are constantly deteriorating and the percentage of valueless
material steadily increasing. While we do not lack produc-
tion of cubic feet of wood suited for fuel, the production of
material having a potential value for sawn products is far
below what is actually used, let alone that destroyed. It is be-
lieved the production by growth of useful material is less than
one-third of what is consumed.

Need for Action

During the past 25 years there has been a vigorous move-
ment of forestry and many achievements of which the country
may be proud. If, however we go to the forest and see what is
actually being accomplished, we find that the nation's forest
problem is not being met; nor will it be met by any plans which
are today actually under way.

It is clear that in order to meet the needs of the country
for forest products lands not needed for agriculture and settle-
ment should be put to use growing trees rather than to lie idle
and unproductive. It is equally clear that the first step is to
stop the destructive processes that even today are still devas-
tating each year hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land.

The restoration of the vast quantities of land which have
been turned into wastes by forest abuse is a second step of great
importance but of less immediate concern than the stopping of
forest devastation.

Public Responsibilities in Forestry

The public is vitally interested in the forest problem. The
general public is interested in having available lumber and other
forest products in adequate quantities and at reasonable prices.
It is interested in preserving the forests at the headwaters of
rivers and for other general benefits. The local public is in-
terested in the maintenance of industries which depend upon
forests for raw materials. It is interested in the productive
use of lands which are suited only to growing trees. Like the
nation at large, the local public is interested in many general
benefits which are derived from the very existence of well
managed forests.

Southern Forestry Congress 47

The character of the problem of forestry is such that our
forests will not be properly protected and handled without
the aid and participation of the public itself. That is, the
great public interests involved in forests both justify and require
that the public not only own large areas of forest land but that
it also take part in working out the problems of private forests.
Heretofore public responsibility in the matter of forests has
not been recognized, and even today neither the Nation, nor
the States nor local communities are doing what they should
to safeguard the forests.

Responsibilities of Private Owners

While there is a large public aspect of forestry and the
public should recognize this responsiblity and fully meet it,
there is also a very definite responsibility on the part of pri-
vate owners which is inherent in the very proprietorship of
property. It has been often urged by lumbermen that forestry
is wholly a public function and that there is no responsibility
resting upon private owners to take action on their lands look-
ing to the forest perpetuation. Many lumbermen today, I am
glad to say, are taking a larger view point and expressing a
readiness to perform their part where a feasible place is pointed
out.

A large part of the forests of the country have been placed
in the hands of private individuals. We may say that the
country has entrusted to private owners the bulk of one of the
most important of its basic natural resources. This may not
have been a wise policy, but it was done. The handling of
private forests in a way which will not be injurious to the
public through the creation of unproductive wastes and through
the consequent impoverishment of the States and communities,
is certainly a responsibility that rests upon private owners and
can not in the long run be ignored.

I am, however, the first to recognize the practical difficul-
ties of the forest problem and that the average individual tim-
berland owner is unable without public cooperation to redeem
this responsibility. Experience has already shown us that ade-
quate forest protection can be secured only through State-
wide organization in which there is definite participation both
by private owners and by the public. The same principle holds
true of other measures of forestry than fire protection. The

48 Proceedings of the

stopping of forest devastation and the perpetuation of our for-
ests require a joining of hands of the public and the private
owners under a plan in which the public recognizes and liberally
fulfills its own responsibilities and in which the private owner
also recognizes that he has an individual responsibility and is
prepared to fulfill it.

A National Policy of Forestry

To meet our forest problem there is required a national
policy and program that provides for the organized effort of
the Goverment, the several States, and private owners in a
common undertaking. The need of such a policy I have been
urging during the past year and have presented on various
occasions the principles which I believe should underlie it.

A national program of forestry includes necessarily many
different features. It involves legislation by the Federal gov-
ernment and by the individual States, and a plan for correlat-
ing the action of the different public agencies with private offort.
Obviously it may not be expected that such a far-reaching pro-
gram can be adopted in its entirety at once. It is very desira-
ble, however, for the country to have before it certain definite
objectives to be achieved, definite principles to be embodied in
legislation, and the steps needed to get them into practice in
the forest.

An outline of principles of a national policy has been pub-
lished in a circular (No. 148) of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture. There is presented also in mimeographed form a
statement of the essential points that I believe should be in-
cluded in Federal and State legislation to carry out a national
policy.

Time does not permit here the discussion of all the dif-
ferent points involved in this far-reaching problem. A few
of the most essential questions may, however, be emphasized.

A balanced program for the nation must provide for both
public and private forests. I have referred to the responsibli-
ties of the public in forestry. These involve in the first place
the direct ownership of a large amount of forest land. Today
the public owns altogether about one-quarter of the forest land
of the country. I believe that ultimately from 40 to 50 per
cent of our forests should be in the hands of the public. So I
am urging as one feature of the national policy that the Gov-

Southern Forestry Congress 49

ernment greatly enlarge its forests and that the States also
acquire extensive areas of forest lands to he handled perma-
nently in the interest of the public. Every encouragement, too,
should be given to municipalities and to counties to own forests,
but these will probably be chiefly woodland parks for re-
creation.

Of immediate importance is the completion of the program
of purchases by the Government in the eastern mountains,
involving altogether about one million acres in the north and
some five million acres in the south. At the same time we are
endeavoring to secure Federal legislation to round out and ex-
tend the other National Forests by exchange and purchase.
As soon as possible the Federal forests should be established
in other centers and should include lands acquired for the pur-
pose of timber production and not merely for the protection of
navigable rivers.

I hope that the Southern States will undertake a policy of
acquiring public forests, lands. Not only would they serve to
produce timber, to protect water resources, and for public rec-
reation, but they would have a great educational value as
demonstration grounds and centers of cooperation. I believe
that every southern State should own a large area of forest
land comparable in the long run with the public forests of
Pennsylvania and New York.

Public ownership of forests will, however, meet only part
of the needs of our country. It has been suggested by a good
many persons that the solution of the forestry question is for
the Government and the States to acquire by purchase the
private lands after they have been cut and then to restore them
to productiveness. The program which I am advocating urges
such acquisition as fast as means can be furnished by the pub-
lic. At the best, however, public acquirement of private lands
will progress slowly. Even to acquire an additional fifty
million acres of cut over lands will take a good deal of time at
the rate appropriations are likely to be made. Acquisition by
the public of all the forest lands of the country needed for
permanent production would be out of the question.

The problem of forestry has got to be worked out both by
public forests and by the right handling of private forests, and
we might as well recognize that and shape our policies accord-
ingly.

50 Proceedings of the

Private Forests

The right handling of private forests in a way to prevent
devastation and to keep the land productive is both possible and
practical, if there is organized effort and public cooperation. A
great deal of opposition has been voiced by lumbermen against
our proposals regarding private forestry on the ground that
they are not practical. Much of this opposition is due to con-
fusion as to what measures would be required to accomplish the
purpose. A part of the opposition is due also to the definite
stand taken by many that the private owner is not concerned in
the question of future timber production and it would be an
infringement on his rights of private property for the public
in any way to interfere with the way he handles his lands.

In our national program of forestry we are seeking two
things, so far as private lands are concerned : first, to stop the
destructive processes that are turning the lands into economic
wastes ; and second, to induce the owner in his own interest to
apply just as good methods as possible so as to secure a maxi-
mum yield of timber growth on the land.

The public must insist upon the stopping of forest devasta-
tion. It should do its own part in a liberal spirit in accomplish-
ing this, but it should require that private owners adopt such
measures as may be necessary to do their part in preventing
devastation. To accomplish the second objective of good for-
estry practice aimed to get the maximum growth of timber on
the lands, there should be liberal inducements offered through
cooperation, education, and demonstration, in order to get as
many as possible to undertake in their own financial interest
the growing of timber.

These two objectives have been confused in the minds of
many persons. Obviously the intensive practice of forestry,
involving often actual planting and subsequent cultural meth-
ods, cannot be undertaken by all persons and should not be
made obligatory. On the other hand, the handling of timber
lands in a way to prevent devastation is a wholly different
question. Here we have a question of prevention of injury
to the public. It is an injury that is permanent in character.
It is analogous to the abuse of farm lands which results in
heavy erosion. Ordinary exhaustion of the fertility of the
soil may be remedied in a short time. Agricultural exploita-
tion and abuse that result in washing away and ruining the

Southern Forestry Congress 51

land is a permanent injury, and I look to the time when de-
structive methods which lead to such devastation must be
prohibited by the States in their own protection.

The denuding and devastation of forests is also a per-
manent injury, requiring for restoration either very intensive
planting operations or a long process of nature extending often-
times from 50 to 150 years.

In the policy of forestry which I am advocating I urge
recognition of individual responsibility on the part of the
owner to so handle his land that it will not be devastated and
thus become an injury to the public. I urge at the same time
the adoption by the public of measures of assistance and co-
operation which will make the application of this principle
feasible in practice.

The principal destructive agency is forest fire, and ordi-
narily the first action that is necessary in any State is to estab-
lish a system of organized fire protection. Already consider-
able progress has been made in this direction in a number of
States. Success has been achieved by incorporating in the
State law requirements upon owners to participate in a State-
wide protective system, and in a number of States there are
requirements as to disposal of dangerous slashings.

The policy which I am proposing looking to organized ef-
fort to prevent forest devastation has already a precedent so
far as certain features of the forest fire problem are con-
cerned, in a number of States. The problem of other destruc-
tive agencies should be taken up in the same way as that of
forest fires. Where live stock ranges at large and makes im-
possible the reproduction of forests, there should be fence laws
which would protect the individual from such depredations.
If methods in use in lumbering result in denuding the forest or
in destroying a natural resource, like the old fashioned meth-
ods of turpentining, the owners should be required to modify
their methods.

Briefly speaking, therefore, our proposed policy looks to
the establishment of an effective state forestry organization and
recognition in the law of personal responsibility of owners to
prevent forest devastation, provision for a State-wide system
of fire protection, authority to the State organization to take

52 Proceedings of the

such action as is necessary to prevent destructive processes
that would devastate the lands, and adequate appropriations
to make State laws effective.

On the other side there is advocated a liberal assistance on
the part of the State through the establishment of methods of
taxation which will encourage rather than discourage forestry,
advice and assistance to owners in the development and use
of methods of fire protection and of cuttings that will be fol-
lowed by natural reproduction, and assistance in patrol and
other protective measures against fire. Ordinarily in a cooper-
ative system of fire protection, there would be a sharing of cost
on the basis of about half to the public and half by the owners.

Our policy places on the State direct responsibility for the
public's immediate participation in the private forest problem.
The problem of forestry, however, is in many aspects a na-
tional one and the Federal government should have a definite
part in working it out. The function of the Federal govern-
ment should be to stimulate State action, to assist in securing
concurrent legislation among the different States, to maintain
standards of forest practice, and to assist the States directly
in various important ways.

The assistance by the Federal government should be in the
first place a financial one to aid in perfecting and carrying
out a system of fire protection and to develop good forest prac-
tice. A precedent has already been established under the
Weeks Law and today the Government is co-operating with
over 20 States in fire protection at the headwaters of naviga-
ble rivers. Such financial assistance as might be given to the
States by the government should be contingent upon the car-
rying out by the States of a program of forestry satisfactory
to the government.

The Federal government may properly aid also by extend-
ing the existing Federal law concerning farm loans to include
loans for the purchase or improvement of forest lands cut
over or bearing immature growth, for holding and protecting
such lands previously acquired, for reforestation, and for the
employment of other measures designed to promote timber
growth.

Still again, the Federal government should assist in the
problem of land classification, in forest surveys, and in re-
search in forestry and in forest products.

Southern Forestry Congress 53

While the problem of forest taxation is of course a State
function, nevertheless the Federal government might properly
cooperate with the States in making investigations of existing
legislation and its effect, and thus aid in promoting the adop-
tion of improved methods of taxation. And, finally, every en-
couragement should be given to plans for the insuring of for-
est lands from fire and other damage along lines already un-
dertaken in the Northeast and for a long time in effect in older
countries.

In applying in the South the principles which I have been
discussing, the first step in my judgment is to establish in all of
the States a forest organization and then to make the first drive
on fire and other destructive agencies that are so greatly de-
pleting the resource and reducing its power of regeneration. If
there is a determination on the part of the general public and
the landowners to accomplish this purpose, I have no fear of
difficulty in working out the details in practice.

DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY FROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF THE LUMBER INDUSTRY

Mr. Hardtner : When I commenced the study of the re-
production of forests fifteen or twenty years ago, I had no
government publications to go by.

But we began to make experiments and we soon found out
that by giving the forest a little attention, longleaf pine would
reproduce just as readily as any other kind of pine, and it
had the advantage over other pine from the fact that it would
withstand the average fire, and sometimes very heavy fires.
It is an actual fact that it is a hard matter to kill longleaf pine
by fire, even through the droughty months of July and August,
where the shortleaf or the loblolly pine would be absolutely de-
stroyed. So, it is the easiest and most valuable pine to pro-
duce, and makes the loveliest kind of a tree, and all of our vir-
gin longleaf pine forests should be reproduced in longleaf pine.

The United States Government must take the lead, and the
state governments must follow, and wherever these two agen-
cies point out to the people the right methods to pursue, the
very first to assist those governmental agencies will be the
lumbermen. The lumbermen of this state voluntarily agreed to
tax themselves thousands of dollars annually so that money

54 Proceedings of the

could be provided to protect our forests from fire, and to buy
up the denuded land for State Forests. And I do not know
what is the matter with them, that they have been willing to
contribute all these years, and get nothing in return. They
knew they were paying this severance tax, with the under-
standing that it was to go for the protection and perpetuation
and preservation of the forest, but they have seen that money,
thousands of dollars a year, amounting probably now to half a
million dollars, diverted to other sources, when that money,
properly expended, would have purchased 100,000 acres of
denuded forest lands in this State. It seems to me that in
this chaotic condition in which we find ourselves, the lumber-
man in Louisiana is perfectly willing to pay tribute in order
that he might not be molested in carrying on his business until
the people find out just exactly what they do want.

Mr. Gerrans : In our portion of North Carolina our tim-
ber is scattered; it is second and third, and I would not be sur-
prised if some of it is fourth growth, and we have to cut trees
that in some sections of the country, they would be hunting us
for taking children from the cradle, but they are the biggest
we have. If you put a two foot limit at the stump, you might
put it on for Louisiana and the West Coast, but it would put
us out of business. We would cut one tree a day, whereas our
record is 150 an hour. You see, you cannot place all of the
United States under the same law without very, very care-
fully taking into consideration the trouble that each of us has
in our own district. We will be only too glad — the North Car-
olina Pine Association people — I can speak for them, I know,
in saying that anything the department wants, we will give
them the heartiest cooperation possible. We only ask that we
be given an opportunity to give our troubles before the law is
made so that it won't be unworkable.

Mr. Graves : I want to make it clear that forestry does
not necessarily mean fixing a diameter limit on your cutting ; it
does not mean that smaller trees and even comparatively young
trees may not be used when it is a good thing to do, provided
there is some reasonable chance for something to come up in
their place.

Mr. Gerrans : Well, in order to have something come up
in their place afterwards, in our particular district, where the
timber runs anywhere from 1,500 to 5,000 feet per acre, some

Southern Forestry Congress 55

times 10,000 feet, though the average is not over 1,300
feet, we would have to remove the tops of the timber to pre-
vent the fire from spreading through that country. We have
not the labor ; it has gone somewhere. We cannot even get
wood to burn. We have to buy coal to run the locomotives, and
my friend Mr. Hardtner over there made the statement that
longleaf pine was very hard to burn. I can prove to him it is
very easy.

We are cutting pretty fast. We have not time to see to
getting reproduction. Most of the lands that we are able to
clear the timber from, we are putting on the market. They
are agricultural lands.

Mr. Graves : Those forests you are cutting on were origi-
nally agricultural lands.

I state that because there is such confusion about that. So
many people in thinking of forestry and of any concerted ac-
tion, think there is going to be a law limiting the cutting. That
is not so. We want a reasonable condition, so that the young
growth will come back. Then, if we can show you that it is
to your interest to do some other things, I will come around
and make the proposition for you to take or leave, as you
please .

Mr. Hardtner : Another thought along that line. The
forests of the future that will be grown in the South are trees
that you can grow in from 20 to 30 years. It is possible to
grow a forest in 20 to 30 years, not trees 15 to 20 inches in
diameter, but trees from 4 to 12 inches in diameter. That will
be a forest that will be very advantageous for the people of the
South to grow, and I know that Mr. Graves will be only too
glad to encourage the growing of trees 4 to 12 inches in diam-
eter if they can be used for posts and poles and pulp wood
and various other products that the country needs. You can
grow that very quickly, and you will have a ready demand for
it.

Mr. Neal: In our section of the country (Alabama), we
have not taken any steps towards reforesting our lands, but I
have noticed that within the last few years, the statement made
by the gentlemen here that longleaf pine will reproduce it-
self, is a fact, and over our holdings the longleaf yellow pine
is reproducing itself in very large quantities.

56 Proceedings of the

I have noticed that fires do very little damage to this young
timber, even to little bushes two or three feet high. When
fire passes over them, it looks like they are almost burned up,
but if you will examine them there is a green bud, which in a
short time is growing again. Of course, it is injurious to the
land to burn it, and it ought not to be burned. In my opinion
there should be some method devised whereby this burning
could be eliminated.

Mr. Townsend: As to just how to protect the forest, and
what the immediate trouble is, we have heard that it is largely
local. That is true.

Beginning 19 years ago, for five years, probably seven years,
I cut over an area in the Smoky Mountains of the Appalachian
range, adjoining North Carolina and Tennessee, probably an
area of over 20,000 acres. I was under the impression up to
that time that if you could keep fire out of the woods for four
or five years after cutting you were perfectly safe from fires.
By that time all the leaves and branches that the logging pro-
duces would have settled down and rotted to some extent, and
the growth of weeds and briars, and so forth, would grow and
protect it, and you were practically sure of the forest being safe
from fire. I practiced that for five years at very considerable
expense, and had at that time the finest young forest of about
18,000 or 20,000 acres that a man ever looked on — very many
more poplar trees on many acres than I had cut — in fact, ten
and twenty times as many, a magnificent growth, young pop-
lars, bigger in diameter than your body, and away up yonder
in height to the first limb, as though they were looking up, and
striving each one to beat the other.

I watched the growth of these trees, and concluded that
unquestionably the natural growth of a forest more beautifully
portrayed the survival of the fittest than even wild animal life,
or anything else. And yet, in the spring following the fifth
year, some son of gun, or several of them, thought they were
not getting enough grazing for their cattle, and took a dry time
in the latter part of March and went out and set fire in several
places to this forest, and the whole thing was consumed. I
hurried with what force I could gather together across the
mountain, and close by I watched the fire licking up those
young poplar trees — a tree as big around as my body and away

Southern Forestry Congress 57

up yonder to the first limb, the fire would lick around it once
or twice, and you could hear it crack like a pistol shot, and fall
over. All those things are mighty impressive.

No lumberman, or set of lumbermen can handle a forestry
proposition against conditions of that sort, it is impracticable.
But if the State or the Nation would give proper support and
prescribe laws, not only for imprisonment but heavy fine, and
give every bit of the fine to the warden that will convict the
people that do such things, the work that you expect lumber-
men to do will become practicable.

When the people want it, it will be done. You can depend
on one thing, and that is that you cannot ask the lumbermen of
this country to do anything that is practical, that they will not
do.

Mr. Tyler: The properties owned by the corporation
which I represent lie in the extreme southeastern corner of
Virginia. The original growth of timber in the Alleghany
Mountains, and in our neighborhood, consisted of poplar, oak,
and in some localities quite a considerable quantity of maple
sugar trees.

The original lumbering of that mountain region was the
cutting of the poplar, which has been almost completely accom-
plished years ago. The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company and
others went through that territory beginning 35 years ago, and
bought up the poplar trees which they branded and reserved
for marketing at such time as they might be able to accomplish
it. Those trees were almost entirely cut and floated. The main
portion of Dickinson county is on the watershed of the Big
Sandy, tributary of the Ohio River, and the poplar in that
watershed was cut and floated out. There stands in Dickinson
county today the only reinforced concrete splash at that time
anywhere in existence, so far as I know.

Today the floating in our neighborhood has been practical-
ly completed. The Yellow Poplar Lumber Company, after
they had floated out all their poplar endeavored to do the same
thing with oak, and did accomplish some oak floating, but the
loss from sinkage and water-logging was tremendous, and they
finally abandoned it, and sold their remaining hardwood to
field men, who would manufacture it on the ground. Today
we have in Dickinson county one corporation that owns about
70,000 or 80,000 acres of timber land ; that is, they own the

58 Proceedings of the

timber on the land — probably 10,000 acres of which carries
virgin poplar. If I could take you people up bodily and trans-
port you a long distance, I could still show you some yellow
poplar trees that are 8 feet in diameter, standing up towards
the head of the streams in some of those little hollows where it
was not possible to get them to a place where they could be
splashed out.

We have one condition existing in the oak portion of that
neighborhood which is to some degree unusual, and that is a
large part of the oak forest is, as the lumbermen say, ripe. The
trees are beginning to deteriorate, and particularly on the South-
ern exposure. For that reason we are anxious to get that
timber cut as promptly as it can be done. The Ritter Lumber
Company, of Columbus, Ohio, who own the major portion of
the stumpage, are endeavoring to remove the ripened portions
of the forest first.

Referring to Colonel Graves' diameter proposition, these
people have purchased the timber down only to 12 inches in
diameter, and their cutting is limited to 12 inches ; nothing be-
low that is taken except for construction purposes. This tim-
ber is now being cut and removed with the probability that
the operation will be concluded some time within the next
twenty or twenty-five years.

To show you that the lumbermen do really recognize the
value of fire protection, I want to say here that we have in
Dickinson county a Forest Fire Prevention organization. That
organization was gotten together about the time of the meet-
ing of the first session of the Southern Forestry Congress at
Asheville, a little over three years ago. This year we have
had some unusual weather conditions, but one of the results
of that organization has been that it has not cost us $500 for
the past season to extinguish every forest fire that has started
in Dickinson county, and we have not had a fire that has done
any material damage to an area greater than 150 acres. We
have lookout towers throughout the county and we have two
Federal patrols to assist us in this work.

Mr. Rayne : When we were operating in Pennsylvania,
as I recall, there was no public sentiment against fires. The
State was taking no interest in it. It was all personal with the
operating lumbermen.

Southern Forestry Congress 59

In West Virginia, I am glad to say, it is different. The pub-
lic domain protects the forests. The public demands protec-
tion of the forests, but it is some times difficult to find whether
the fire has been carelessly or purposely put out. They are
largely accidental. I am glad to say we have had but few fires.
However, a few years ago, a fire occurred, and our men were
all called out and had the fire practically extinguished when the
patrol arrived on the ground. They did the best they could,
coming from a long distance on horseback. I take off my hat
to the West Virginia patrol for being on the job when a fire
occurs.

We cut our timber down to about 14 inches in diameter.
All the residue is preserved for mining interest. So it is to our
interest not only from the love of forest, but from practical
ends, to protect that growth, so we are doing that to the best
of our ability, and I am glad to say that a beautiful forest
cover is growing where cutting has taken place.

I believe the little mill should be discouraged. Maybe that
is selfish. When I first went to West Virginia, I found little
mills cutting white oak and cutting up the whole log into cross
ties. It seems to me that is almost criminal and should be
prevented. I wish something might be done. The white
oak is passing, and it will be a long while before we will have
anything to take its place ; probably never, because its growth
is very slow. I am glad to see that the interest of the public
is being aroused in our State.

I trust that Colonel Graves will come among us and will
recommend to the legislature the enactment of such laws that
not only we ourselves, but coming generations may have the
joy and beauty of these magnificent forests, as well as the util-
ity that goes along with them.

The Chairman : Are there any other lumbermen here
who would enter into this discussion before the discussion is
closed ?

Mr. Rhodes: (Secretary, Southern Pine Association).
Colonel Graves stated in his very interesting address that he
had been in a conference with a committee representing the
Southern Pine Association the past two days, and that he felt
very much encouraged over the spirit of cooperation mani-
fested by the representatives of the committee with him and

60 Proceedings of the

with his views. I simply want to confirm that and to say that
the committee appointed by the Association will formulate a
report based largely upon the recommendations of Colonel
Graves, which will be submitted to the annual meeting of the
Southern Pine Association, to be held in February or March,
and I have no doubt but that it will be endorsed, because it is
eminently practical and comprises about all the recommenda-
tions which Colonel Graves has seen fit to make at this time, so
that I feel as a result of this conference distinct progress has
been made.

Mr. Wallace : I want to say at the outset for the benefit
of the laymen — those who are not constitutional lawyers — that
the matter of the preservation of the forest is in an entirely dif-
ferent category from that which relates to the protection of any
other National resource. For instance, we can pass a law with
impunity, and it will be upheld by the Supreme Court of the
United States, declaring that all birds, all game, all fish, all
wild quadrupeds, all shell fish, belong to the people of the
State in their sovereign capacity, and that they can only be
taken as prescribed by law. Not so, however, in reference to
forest products, because that which grows from the ground is
a part of the ground, and that ground is susceptible of private
ownership. It, therefore, belongs to the individuals. Hence,
you could not pass a statute that would stand the constitutional
test by the State or by the United States, prescribing the size
at which a tree should be cut, or anything else that is partic-
ularly related to the cutting of those trees, would not be con-
stitutional. Such legislation must be classified entirely differ-
ently.

I want to impress this sovereign fact upon your minds.
Conservation in no sense means prohibition ; it means the wise
use of our resources. It does not mean that we shall take no
trees, but preserve them, as something in which sweet birds can
sing or through which soft zephyrs can blow! Not that! But
it does mean that we shall use wisdom in the use of these re-
sources.

Now, what is it I propose? Let us issue bonds — govern-
ment bonds — bearing interest, and let the United States Gov-
ernment come in, and buy up an area of land year by year,
and set it aside to be administered as a national forest.

Southern Forestry Congress 61

Now, what profit is it? Take my friend from Browden,
what profit is it to him to grow trees which will reach maturity
in 100 years? Can an individual go into the proposition? Will
it be possible for him to do so? Take the State of Alabama.
It has declared every foot of public land in that State, whether
held in fee or in trust, as a State forest reserve. It makes
it unlawful for any person to enter thereon for the purpose
of taking any tree or trees, or setting fire or placing inflammable
material thereon. Thus they have set aside hundreds of thou-
sands of acres of land as a State Forest Reserve.

The thing we have had to overcome was self -consciousness
and stupidity. That is what you men have to go up against in
the matter of conservation and that is what we are up against
now in the matter of forest protection. It is because the peo-
ple have not the vision to see for themselves, and because they
are contaminated by that voraciousness for which the people of
the United States are so famously and so justly renowned, that
they regard a tree, not as a natural resource, but something to
be converted into dollars. That is the proposition.

This gentleman here referred to the poplar trees being
burned. Let me tell you, my friends, that it is impossible to
absolutely prevent that. It is a violation of law to commit mur-
der, and yet I see reports, or I hear of men being hung every
Friday, and it will always be thus, but by promptly apprehend-
ing him, when a party is caught attempting to destroy our
forest, and bringing him quickly to justice, and pursuing him
with the vengeance of a spiteful fury on the trial of a lost
spirit, we can minimize the commission of offences, and through
that medium alone can it be achieved.

Let us before we leave here get up a comprehensive me-
morial to Congress. Let us let them know what we want
them to do, and, in the event they do not do it, let them hear
from us when they have the next election. When we do that,
we will get some modern legislation through relative to the
conservation of these great forest reserves of the country.

Now, before I sit down, I cannot help but tell you that I hope
that all of you gentlemen and ladies will stop over in Alabama
to pay us a visit. Alabama ! There is magic in thy matchless
name, forest Queen of States ! Thy face is white with the cot-
ton fields of the Tennessee Valley. The silks of the blooming
corn are thy flowing tresses ! Thy cheeks are rosy with the

62 Proceedings of the

apples and peaches which blush upon thy everlasting hills !
Around thy graceful neck, as a lover would entwine a diamond
necklace about his sweetheart's snowy throat, is that magnifi-
cent river, the pearl-paved Tennessee, wandering there from
the pineclad hills of old Virginia, to pay loyal tribute to thy
shrine, only to dash on with new momentum, as if eager to ex-
tol all the grandeur and glory of that matchless realm, happy
and peaceful with contentment's joyous song. Around thy
graceful waist is a belt of polished steel, set with diamonds,
black, yet precious, which have dazzled the world with the mag-
nitude of their princely values. Thy skirt of fleecy cotton is be-
spangled by the needles of the longleaf pine, while thy dainty
feet are laved by the soft water of the opal gulf. From the
waving woods and clustering hills of North Alabama, reso-
nant with the song of trilling wild birds, to the sunny shores
of Mobile, where the bridegroom sea is toying with the shore,
his wedded bride, and decks her tawny brow with shells, re-
tires a space to see how fair she is, then, bless him, rushes
in and kisses her, is a land where

"If there is peace to be found anywhere
"Hearts that are humble might hope for it there."

DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY FROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF THE WOOD-USING INDUSTRY

Mr. H. E. Everley : I am neither a forester nor a lum-
berman, or a user of the products of the forest. But I am
sincere in the belief that this endeavor that the foresters and
other folks are making at present, is one of the best and most
helpful things that can come to our wood- working industry.
I represent the furniture industry of the country, and I want
to say that the furniture industry is deeply concerned in this
problem that you have before you. The furniture industry
represents an annual production of $3,000,000,000, and its con-
sumption of hardwood lumber is over $1,000,000,000 of it.
The furniture industry, as a whole, has just met the very se-
rious problem of a shortage of lumber. With the great in-
crease in the demand for furniture, and the great decrease in
the supply of lumber, they do not know what to do. In fact,
some of them are threatening to shut down. I want to say
that the furniture people are very deeply interested in this

Southern Forestry Congress 63

problem. It is a certain fact that an industry as large as the
furniture industry sending a man out to investigate such lum-
ber conditions, means something. It means that this industry
is interested to the extent that they are willing to find out what
the actual conditions are, and I want to assure you that they
are ready to cooperate in any way possible, not only with the
foresters of this country, but with the lumber manufacturing
interests, in conserving our present supply of lumber, if there
is any possibility of doing that.

The old problem that had confronted the lumber producers
in regard to cutting up waste lumber into small stock, has been
one in which the furniture people, I am afraid to say, have not
cooperated possibly as closely as they might with you. We
cannot conserve scrap lumber unless we get enough to pay
for cutting it up into lumber.

There has been a considerable amount of jealousy and criti-
cism and suspicion among manufacturers of both industries.
There is a time coming, however, when I believe there will be
closer cooperation between these two great industries, and the
fact that they are waking up to the necessity of looking into
matters in regard to future supply, is something which possibly
points towards a closer cooperation.

The furniture industry is really interested in this problem.
They are not looking at it from an entirely unselfish stand-
point. Their future and their future success depends large-
ly upon their future supply of lumber, and they are willing to
cooperate and they will stand back of any great and strong
national program for conservation of that lumber which is so
important to them.

Mr. C. B. Harmon: (Read by the Secretary in his ab-
sence). Having been called upon but a few days ago to take
part in discussing the forestry subject with you today, I have
not had an opportunity to confer with the industry which I
represent, so what I have to say must express my personal
views and impressions, although I feel reasonably sure that
I may say that my ideas and suggestions represent the general
feeling among millwork manufacturers of the South.

We are convinced of the necessity of some uniform action
looking towards the conservation of our timber, of the re-
forestation of our cut over lands, of the protection of standing

64 Proceedings of the

timber and of the preservation of virgin tracts, etc., and be-
lieve that certain legislation and taxation should be enacted
by Congress and the Legislatures to accomplish these things.
We, however, do not favor the passage of any laws by our
Government either National or State, which would take away
or interfere with, the fee simple rights of our land or timber
owners.

We are not prepared to make suggestions as to how, when
or where our present stand of timber should be cut and can-
not assist you on the subject of replanting or seeding our cut
over lands, but as millwork vmanuf acturers and distributors of
windows, doors, mouldings, dressed lumber of various kinds
and of wood house building materials generally, are pleased to
offer the following suggestions regarding the use and conserva-
tion of lumber now being manufactured and used from our
present stand or supply of timber.

With a very few exceptions our architects are specifying
the use of certain kinds and grades of lumber without a proper
regard or knowledge of their adaptability to the purposes
for which they are intended and likewise are requiring to a
critical extent the use of many of the higher or upper grades,
when in most instances lumber of the lower grades will answer
just as well and in some cases better. This has been their cus-
tom and policy as long as I can remember. Unfortunately the
average consumer follows the same course.

It appears to us that a big saving could be had, if some way
could be provided or arranged so as to inform the architects
and consumers :

That sap pine lumber for most purposes, when properly
painted and kept painted will last as long as heart lumber, when
used in the ordinary construction of dwellings or frame build-
ings.

That in most instances, shortleaf pine framing will answer
the purpose as well as longleaf pine or anything else.

That stock sizes can be had from the pile in the yard, while
odd sizes must be cut special.

That when pine lumber is to be painted, blue stain, shop
stain, and a few small knots or even a few large ones are no
objection except on really the highest grade work.

That by creosoting sills and joists a much lower grade will
answer the purpose.

Southern Forestry Congress 65

That clear grade pine lumber suitable for sash doors and
millwork, over five quarters thick, both sap and heart is scarce
and except for common or ordinary work, built-up or veneered
stock is just as economical and generally more durable.

One not well versed in the millwork business cannot ap-
preciate the waste, time lost, and confusion brought about on
the part of consumers and the architects in ordering odd sizes,
and grades which do not and never existed.

These rock rib facts which the architects and consumers
do not seem to know, although commonly known by every
lumberman in the South are costing the public fabulous sums
of money without any reasonable returns, are costing the mill-
work manufacturers loads of trouble, delay and money, and
are wasting the upper grades of lumber and draining our
forests of timber which could be used for other and correct
purposes.

We have been trying for twenty-five years to rectify this
waste, loss and trouble, but the architects and consumers con-
tinue sleeping. If any of you gentlemen present today can
suggest some plans to "wake them up" you can save our for-
ests at least one year's supply from every ten and perhaps a
greater percentage.

I regret being unable to be with you personally and am
sorry that I cannot be present to say more. We hold our next
quarterly meeting at Palm Beach, Florida, in a few days and
I am very busy making preparations for it.

WEDNESDAY EVENING BANQUET

Through the courtesy of the Louisiana lumbermen who
made generous contributions for the purpose the Louisiana
Forestry Association gave a banquet to the delegates to the
Congress and invited guests in the Grunewald Hotel at 7 :30
on Wednesday evening.

Quoting from the New Orleans Times-Picayune :
"Commissioner M. L. Alexander and Henry E. Hardtner
double-teamed as twin toastmasters. The session was serious
only in spots, high humor prevailing. Representatives of nu-
merous women's clubs were in attendance.

"Commissioner Alexander, with marked versatility, ap-
peared in the new role of a humorous monologist, and Harry

66 Proceedings of the

Gamble, relaxing after his strenuous efforts in the recent pri-
mary, told the company how he was responsible for conserva-
tion in Louisiana.

"I wanted a job," said Mr. Gamble, "and so I went to
Governor Sanders and suggested that he start this conservation
stuff, and give me a job at it for about $900 a year. He fell
for my talk, and then I told him I knew a 'hill billy' named
Henry E. Hardtner up at Urania who knew a pine tree from
an oak tree every time. So he made Henry head of the com-
mission. After Henry came Mr. Alexander, and neither one
of them would have a job if it hadn't been for me.

"Mrs. A. F. Strom, President of the Federation of Wo-
men's Clubs, of Morgan City, talked on the advantages of for-
estry and conservation, and Mrs. Lydia W. Holmes promised
to forget to talk on woman suffrage, but nearly forgot herself
twice.

"John Henry Wallace, Conservation Commissioner of Ala-
bama, supplied the essential pyrotechnics of the evening, and
Jack Lafiance kept everyone in peals of laughter with his
quaint Creole dialect.

"Theodore Woolsey of Massachusetts gave a brief talk on
forestry and declared he had come all the way from the old
Bay State to get a drink, but hadn't found it yet.

"Miss Constance Alexander sang and an orchestra fur-
nished incidental music."

THURSDAY MORNING SESSION

Presided over by Mr. W. B. Townsend

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER

After referring to the organization of the Congress four

years ago, which is outlined in the introduction, Mr. Holmes

reported somewhat as follows :

The two principle matters carried over from the first Con-
gress were the publication of the proceedings and the erection
of a tablet on Pisgah National Forest to the late Mr. Geo. W.
Vanderbilt, the former owner of the forest.

Proceedings of the Southern Forestry Congress

The last resolution passed by the First Southern Forestry
Congress was "that the Executive Committee of the Southern
Forestry Congress arrange for publication of the proceedings

Southern Forestry Congress 67

in such form as they see fit." Immediate steps were taken to
secure a $400 fund to pay for printing the proceedings. A cir-
cular letter was sent out to a large list of persons inviting
membership in the congress on the following terms : Individual
membership (including one copy of the proceedings) $1.50;
Corporation membership (including five copies) $5.00; Asso-
ciation membership (including twenty-five copies) $25.00. Be-
tween August 1916 and August 1917, there were secured the
following amounts : for membership subscriptions on the above
plan $192.00; by two considerable donations $125.00, and by
sale of copies of the Proceedings $58.00, a total of $375.00.
With the exception of $31.00 spent on printing and postage to
assist in securing recreational funds fpr the forestry regiments
in France, all of the above money was used in securing funds
and in publishing and distributing the Proceedings— $278 for
printing 1,000 copies, and $89 for stationery and postage. A
balance of $8 has been carried over two years or more with
which a start has been made to finance this Second Southern
Forestry Congress.

All expenses connected with the publishing of this report
except those included in the above brief statement have been
borne by the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey.
These expenses include typewriting, editorial work, proof
reading and a large amount of correspondence.

Vanderbilt Tablet Committee

The committee appointed by the First Southern Forestry
Congress "to raise funds and erect a tablet at the entrance to
the Pisgah National Forest" consists of the following men :

Governor Locke Craig, Chairman, North Carolina.

Dr. Joseph Hyde Pratt, North Carolina.

Dr. W. H. Holmes, District of Columbia.

Hon. Charles Lathrop Pack, New Jersey.

Hon. Henry S. Graves, District of Columbia.

Dr. Geo. F. Kunz, New York.

Mr. Geo. S. Powell, North Carolina.

This committee, through its Secretary, Mr. Powell, managed
to secure a fund of $184.00, thirty dollars of which was ex-
pended for stationery and postage. The war came on and the
Secretary of the committee was unable to increase this amount,
of which $154 is now on hand. The committee asks the opin-

68 Proceedings of the

ion of the Congress as to whether it shall proceed to erect a
tablet with the money available; or whether it shall endeavor
to collect the $45 additional promised, but not paid in, and add
to this if possible ; or whether it shall be discharged and the
money so far subscribed returned to the donors as insufficient
for the purpose.

The Chairman : The part of the Secretary's report con-
cerning the Vanderbilt monument to be established in the great
Pisgah Forest, which is now owned by the government, should
be considered. It appears to me that something should be
done, and whatever is done should be done now. It would look
mean to let this thing drag along, and to abandon it, I was
going to say, would look meaner still. The purpose is noble,
and years hence, when you visit that section of the country,
you will be glad to note that this congress was instrumental
in commemorating the originator of the whole proposition.

Colonel Graves : I am a member of the original com-
mittee, and, of course, I am very keenly interested in the pro-
ject because of my relation to Pisgah Forest now. I feel very
strongly that this project ought not to be dropped. Mr. Van-
derbilt's contribution to forestry was a very great one. He ini-
tiated the first large scale experiment in private forestry in this
country, and devoted a great deal of money to it, and the re-
sults are going, in the long run, to be very great. It would be
a great pity to drop the idea. I appreciate that anything like
a drive, for any project, or for raising funds for any project,
is very difficult at the present time, and when my opinion was
asked as to what we should do, I expressed myself in this way,
that I should like to see the project continued, and that just
as soon as a propitious time came that we urge the raising of
funds as rapidly as possible. I should like to see the Southern
Forestry Congress go on record in favor of this, and in favor
of raising funds for the purpose, and which would be really an
invitation to the committee to request funds from those in the
South who may be interested in this. I should not myself feel
entirely discouraged if we were not able to raise the necessary
$500 or $1,000. What is it?

The Secretary: The original idea was that it could be
done for $500, but the increased cost of living has brought it

Southern Forestry Congress 69

up to about $1,000, I believe. Mr. Powell estimates that we
would have to raise at least $1,000.

Colonel Graves: If we were not able to raise $1,000, I
would not feel that we would have to drop the project, because
people are going to become exceedingly interested in that sec-
tion, and in forestry, and I think this forestry congress should
recognize this, and give it sanction. The character of the monu-
ment is shown on this blue print. It is a large rock, to be de-
signed to give it as natural an appearance as possible.

Mr. Wallace : I move that this entire matter of the erec-
tion of this monument be referred to the committee already
appointed, and that the committee be vested with plenary pow-
ers to act as their judgment may dictate.

The Secretary: May I suggest that one or two persons
in attendance here be added to that committee? It will give
it closer touch with this Second Congress. There is only
one member of the committee present — Colonel Graves ; all the
others are away, and if we put on two members from this
Congress, I think it would add largely to its value.

The Chairman : We ought to have and must have a
Louisiana member on this committee. Has the congress any-
one to suggest from Louisiana — a good active man? In fact,
all Louisianians, as far as I know, are active. It has been
moved and seconded that two new members from this congress
be appointed on that committee, and I take it that the officials
of the congress will be authorized to appoint them unless there
is some name suggested. (The motion was carried).

Mr. R. D. Forbes and Col. T. S. Woolsey, Jr., were sub-
sequently added to the old Vanderbilt Tablet Committee b^
the Chairman.

Mr. Wallace: I move that the secretary-treasurer's re-
port be received and filed, and the thanks of the convention ex-
tended to the secretary for the able and efficient manner in
which he has discharged his very difficult and onerous duties.
The motion was carried.

A short talk was then made by Mr. B. A. Buck, Chief Tie
Inspector of Mobile, Ala.

After briefly reviewing the history of land tenure in this
country and the rapid destruction of our original forests, Mr.

70 Proceedings of the

Buck called attention to the fact that "nature itself will take
charge of reforesting these lands if allowed. The seed and
young growth which is the offspring of the original forest of
'Longleaf Yellow Pine' must be protected and allowed to grow.
This is principally accomplished by fire prevention."

Mr. Buck then referred to a proposed venture in coopera-
tive forestry in these words : "We propose to organize a stock
company to be based on property now owned in fee simple by
the company giving each purchaser of stock in the company a
mortgage to a particular part or parcel of these lands, the pro-
ceeds of the sale of this stock, less a small amount for actual
running expenses, to be reinvested in additional acreage of
these cut over lands in the Gulf Coast Territory; these mort-
gages to be given with the restriction that the land is to remain
the property of and in control of this company so long as this
company shall comply with its obligations as set forth."

Mr. Buck asserted that "figures made in 1913 show that an
investment of $1,675,000 will at the close of a twenty year pe-
riod equal $3,756,750 or a net profit of $2,081,750.

Miss Caroline C. Dorman : Mr. Buck did not touch upon
a subject that has always been very interesting to me. There
is one phase of the question with which I am quite familiar, and
that is the cut over pine land. Anyone who has even seen the
cut over pine land, where the people are trying to farm ought
to realize the sadness of this situation. I don't know which is
the sadder, the devastation of pine lands, or the people who are
trying to live on them. Year after year these people go on — I
am speaking now of the sand hills covered only with pine that
has been cut off. Year after year these people go on and try
to farm on this land. It is so poor that it will scarcely grow
peanuts, but still they go on there and raise a little cotton and
raise corn, and they try to raise cattle. My idea is that the only
way these people will ever change will be to show them what
actually can be done. They are ignorant, they are back woods-
men, and the only way we can ever get them from the beaten
track is to prove the thing right before their eyes. My idea is
this, that if there were some means of demonstrating to these
people on a very small scale, just as Mr. Hardtner has done on
a very large scale, that reforestation can be carried on, and at
the same time cattle be grazed on these lands, I think they

Southern Forestry Congress 71

would take hold of it. Of course, I don't know how it is to
be done, but if there were some means of having in every par-
ish, or better still, in every ward, a practical demonstration of
this, where these people could see it, then, maybe they would
take hold of the idea.

Mr. Goodrich Jones: Mr. Graves told us that the suc-
cess of this movement depends upon each state. Gentlemen, I
am here to tell you that somebody has got to help the State of
Texas, and the State of Florida, and the other States of the
Union, if you are going to make a success of this movement
of forestry for the South and for the United States. We can-
not keep on and battle alone. I want to tell you right now that
you can count on your fingers the men in any State that take
an interest in this subject of State forestry. I expect that Ala-
bama can tell of only a few men who will carry it on. There
are only a few men in Texas that have been carrying it on, and
we have done so at our own expense.

Now, gentlemen, the State of Texas is on fire, Florida is
on fire. There is a great conflagration going on all over the
South. That conflagration is the waste of timber. In ten
years our virgin pine will be gone.

How are we going to get the people of Texas interested in
this subject of forestry, and tell them that in ten years hence,
when the forests have gone, we will stand face to face with a
country that is washed over — burned over — the birds gone
where one-tenth of the millions of dollars spent on our streams,
if spent at the watershed, would have kept the land from
washing away.

I want this congress to pass a resolution that we ask the U.
S. Forestry Department to send us some one down every year
to help us in this educational campaign. The stream cannot
rise higher than its source, and we cannot get the legislature to
rise any higher than the people are educated, and the people
know absolutely nothing about forestry. We will do the best
we can in any State, but we have got to be helped and guided
and controlled, you might say, by the National Government if
we expect cooperation of all the Southern States.

72 Proceedings of the

DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY FROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY

Led by Mr. C. F. Speh

SECRETARY, TURPENTINE AND ROSIN PRODUCERS' ASSOCIATION

My understanding was that there was not to be any formal
address ; it was simply to be a sort of a lead for discussion,
and probably be a guide for any misunderstanding that might
arise. I am sure that, as foresters and people interested in
the subject of forestry, particularly Southern forestry, you ap-
preciate what the naval stores industry means to Southern
forestry. When you say "Pine" you also say "Naval stores."
Probably the naval stores industry has been instrumental in
carrying out your program. The money which has been paid
for leases has enabled many people to carry their holdings of
timber which otherwise they would have had to cut down
sooner in order to meet the notes due in payment for the
amount of land and timber purchased. The naval stores man
of old was an entirely different man than the naval stores man
of today. He was a man who did not work, and did not have
one iota, you might say, of technical knowledge. His sole idea
was to get to a tree and get the stuff out and ship it into the
market and lose money, and he succeeded at that very well for
a number of years. Later, the Forest Service became inter-
ested in the subject, and had some investigations conducted into
that branch which resulted in the adoption, or, rather, we will
say, the practical abolishment of cutting the boxes into a tree.
Today probably 95 per cent of the turpentine is made in the
cup and gutter system, and that has been a great step forward,
and has saved trees, especially in stormy regions, and it has
increased the production of turpentine.

One other big step which has come into the naval stores
industry was the adoption of copper instead of iron stills.

Those are the main steps which the industry has gone
through in its more than three hundred years of existence.
There has, however, been a big mental change in the producers,
especially in the last four or five years. They are welcoming any
advice which can come from the outside, to show them how
to increase their production and work more efficiently. This is
mainly through necessity, because they have been driven to the
wall, and it has been a money losing proposition, and the adop-
tion of cups shows that they had vision and understood that

Southern Forestry Congress 73

there was a possible source of help from the outside. Most
of the producers today are directly or indirectly interested in
the standing timber. In some cases the lumber companies
themselves are operating their own timber through a turpentine
department, and in other cases, they are financing the interests
of the turpentine company which is operating the timber. In
the first case, they are interested in the fact that the resulting
timber means dollars and cents, according to the method in
which the turpentine is extracted from the tree, and more and
more of that education has been going on, and they have re-
ceived information, some misleading, some helpful. But as I
say, the naval stores man today is welcoming any practical ad-
vice that can be given him. We must always bear in mind,
however, that you are working with an industry which is not
a strictly speaking manufacturing concern like in a city, with
all the facilities of a manufacturing concern. It is out in the
woods, in many cases many miles removed from a railroad, and
working with unskilled labor, except skilled in that particular
line, and he has to do most of his work by hand. He is a
pioneer, and goes in there long before the lumberman gets in
there, and before the railroads, and he really has to build up his
settlements and do pioneer work along that line.

Now, as I say, he is interested in all these different sub-
jects, and in knowing where his future supply of timber will
come from, and what the life of the industry is, and how he
can save money all the way through on the work, and how he
can increase the yield, and also what he can do to assist the
agitation regarding the burning of forests, and anything along
that line.

I merely cover the subject in that hurried way in order to
show and express the attitude of the naval stores man. I am
sure he would be interested in anything you men have to say.
We have naval stores operators here who are interested, and I
am sure will be only too glad to answer any practical questions,
or to bring out the impractical side of some suggestion which
might come forward.

Colonel Graves : Might I ask a question. I am very
keenly interested in the economic situation of the naval stores
industry as it relates to this war. We have, of course, always
led the world in the production of turpentine — something like
80 per cent, isn't it?

74 Proceedings of the

Mr. Speh : I believe today practically 75 per cent of the
world's supply.

Colonel Graves : How long are you going to be able to
continue that production? The southeast is the natural place
for the chief production of turpentine. We have the spruce
forests. When those forests are gone, is not it going to be nec-
essary to go to the Pacific Coast and turpentine perhaps the
western yellow pine, and use a much more expensive method of
extracting turpentine where it comes from a source of that
kind ? What I want specifically is to know whether you be-
lieve that the industry, and the production of turpentine is not
in considerable danger in the near future, because of the pend-
ing destruction of our forests.

Mr. Speh : I can best answer that by saying that the gum
turpentine man is today becoming more and more, I will not
say apprehensive, but to an extent interested in the production
of wood turpentine — the curtailment in production of turpen-
tine which is bound to come. The average production before
1914 was on the basis of 670,000 barrels of turpentine per an-
num. That has decreased rapidly, and today we find ourselves
with a production, probably this current season, of in the
neighborhood of 400,000 barrels. That is a fairly good increase
of probably 20 per cent over last year's production. We do
not look for any production to exceed 450,000 barrels any more
in this country with the exception probably of some big year,
which I do not believe will be possible with labor conditions.
They are worried. Considerable investigations have been made
in Mexican pine. They are more interested in Mexican and
Central American than in western yellow pine. They are still
at present operating in Mexico and some in Central America,
and turpentine is coming into the country and is being offered
for sale, and some of the rosin; but, of course, we are inter-
ested and we anticipate the increased production to come from
France, and probably from Spain. India is becoming active in
the work, and is practically supplying one-half of their require-
ments. So that the naval stores man is exceedingly interested,
and is considerably worried about what is going to happen dur-
ing the future. He wants to know where his timber is, and
what to do until the time comes, because the turpentine busi-
ness gets out probably three years ahead of the lumber business.

Southern Forestry Congress 75

As you see, we have only ten years of virgin pine, and that
means seven years of turpentining of virgin pine. They are
watching with interest the development of reforestation. If
you cannot get the lumbermen interested, it is pretty hard 10
get the turpentine man interested.

A Member : Did you say they were practicing the French
method ?

Mr. Speh : No, sir. The only French method I have seen
is the experimental work in the Forest Reserve at Pensacola,
Fla.

A Member : How is it carried on ?

Mr. Speh : We have adopted the cup system, but the
French method is working trees for a prolonged period, which
means that where the work was probably five years, on one
side, to let the tree rest, and go around and work the other
side, and then let it rest, and work the other side. The cost of
carrying timber is higher here. We were not driven to the ne-
cessity, as they were. The turpentine man does not feel as if
his interest lies any further than getting the turpentine out, and
the timber taken away from him and cut down. I also under-
stand that that method produces an inferior grade of lumber
which probably would more than offset the increased yield of
turpentine from the tree.

A Member : I want to say that in Florida I saw millions of
trees with great gashes on both sides, with only a few inches of
the bark left. A great many of those trees had been blown
down due to those gashes on both sides, and a great many of
the trees were on fire, as the cattleman were burning over the
grass with blazing torches, and at least half of the entire trees
had been killed by the fire. I did not see anything in Florida
but what had those terrible gashes on both sides, and I saw little
trees not over ten years old cut the same way.

Mr. Jones: The conservative turpentine man speaks of
these as tooth picks. There is plenty of that being done, and if
that could be stopped, it would be the best thing in the world
for the naval stores man. It would be a move in the direct
steps of conservation, and you will be doing him a good deed,
because he is not making any money out of it. But you can-

76 Proceedings of the

not stop it by the State Legislature, or by educational work.
Most of the timber is at present being worked on specifica-
tions. That is, the lumber company, on leasing its timber
specifies that no tree under eight inches shall be cupped; that
a tree from eight to ten inches in diameter shall have but one
cup ; from ten to twelve inches two cups, and in some cases
nothing over two cups. In some rare occasions they specify
three cups, and they specify that the bark shall be preserved
between any two cups on the same tree, and that in some
cases 40 per cent of the bark shall be preserved. They are
getting around to those things, and the modern naval stores
man is living up to it, partly through compulsion, and partly
to the fact that he realizes it is to his own welfare.

A Member : What measure would you advocate, legal
or otherwise, to prolong the life of the turpentine industry? I
have in mind state legislation that would encourage forest re-
generation— legislation that might restrict the cupping of trees
to certain size timber, and the like.

Mr. Speh : Well, I am afraid it would meet with con-
siderable opposition on the part of some. I believe the only
sure way would be educational. There has been work going
on in the Department of Agriculture at Washington to edu-
cate these men as to the cost of production, by going and ask-
ing them what their yield is, and what it costs to make it.
They don't know how much it costs. You have to go and es-
tablish a set of books for them. Ask them what they pay for
chipping, for instance, and they don't even know that.

To my mind the safe and sure way is education. It is go-
ing to take a long time, perhaps, to reach every man along
that line, and legislation would probably be the proper way;
whether it would be entirely just to some people or not, I do
not know. You would be doing a big deed for the small
operator, to send him into other channels. He can produce
food stuff and other things, and incidentally he would stop los-
ing money. That holds as a general rule. Today probably it
would not be entirely true, because the price of naval stores are
comparatively high compared with previous prices, and it is
mighty hard to go up and talk to a man about small trees, when
it would almost pay to log tooth picks. The cost of production
is increasing right along, and if they increase the production,

Southern Forestry Congress 77

the selling price will go down, and pretty soon you will elimi-
nate your margin of profit.

A Member : May I say that the influence which operates
in the cupping of very small trees to some extent is a finan-
cial one, as Mr. Speh has pointed out. They will cup every-
thing that can hold a cup, and they know when they are do-
ing it that it is not a financial desirability to cup that sized
timber.

Mr. Bishop : just a word about the French system that
Mr. Jones asked particularly about. For the last five years that
system has been tried experimentally in the Florida national
forest, and the conclusion, as reached at this time, is that it
sees that this system is not practicable for the operation of ma-
ture timber — timber with which the industry is very largely
concerned at this time. It is the expectation of foresters that
it will be practical in the operation of second growth stands, or
young timber, and that is the class of timber on which it is
used in France. It is a system that is used for very long time
operations on young growing timber. This is not the class
of timber that is being worked by the naval stores industry at
this time. We do expect, however, it will be used for second
growth timber.

Mr. Speh : Mr. Cary has been giving considerable study
to this matter of reforestation, and has developed some very
valuable information along this line, and particularly in Geor-
gia. I am sure that Mr. Cary would consent to give us a few
remarks on this, and that it would be interesting both to the
naval stores man and to the foresters.

Mr. Cary: South Georgia is the country that I am most
familiar with, and have seen the most of. It is a country that
was logged a good many years ago according to the selection
system, and its second growth has come up, following that early
logging, and at the same time, in the swamps, there are more
or less bunches of old growth timber. Mr. Jones' tooth pick is
a very familiar recollection to me — young timber about six
inches in diameter breast high with one cup, or one box; trees
of somewhat larger size with two cups or boxes on them. The
tree in most cases was bled to death. Now, necessity is mak-
ing an end of that, because they are finding today that tur-

78 Proceedings of the

pentine chances are not as plentiful as they were; and as in
every industry there are progressive and thinking men in this
who will make an end of it because it is not good business ;
indeed, considering the reputation of the turpentine industry in
the country at large, the number of such men that I have run
across in the last few months has rather surprised me. I feel
that there is a movement on foot which is just starting in this
country that is going to mean a great deal for the turpentine in-
dustry, and for conservation at the same time.

For instance, there is a man in South Georgia who has the
reputation in the industry of being a most careful and under-
standing man ; a few years ago he purchased 18,000 acres, and
so far he has not bled it. He is cultivating a portion, running
some stock, and operating for turpentine on leased timber.
Meanwhile, he is letting his own trees grow, and has in mind
the idea of waiting until there is a sufficient number of good
sized trees on that land to make a thoroughly good operation,
and then work it conservatively. By that he means bleeding
the trees of about ten inches and up for a period of five years,
then resting five years, after which he will go back and repeat
the process, at the end of which time he considers a large part
of the trees will be suitable for lumber.

This was the first thing of a comprehensive nature that I
had run against, and it was very interesting. I spent a month
with this man trying to check up his estimates on growth, to
help him technically if I could, and it has been very satisfac-
tory indeed. I find further, in that region, that a number of
good, capable and substantial operators, seeing the weakness of
their old system of working timber, have recently bought tracts
of from four to ten thousand acres, with the general broad idea
in their minds of doing business permanently on those areas.
They say it can be done. For instance, a factor in the tur-
pentine business, says he went to a certain place in Florida a
few years ago with the idea that he could operate six years
and be done. As a matter of fact, his nephews are operating
there today, and have been for a good many years, and they
have realized that with good business management, they can
operate there forever for naval stores, and then bring out the
timber when it is serviceable as stumpage. That has just
begun.

Southern Forestry Congress 79

Over in that country are men of the other stamp — who
bleed any tree they can hang a cup on, hang too many cups for
the tree to stand, and cut deeper than necessary. Much of that
sort of thing I believe is done because men don't know their
business. They do these things by habit. They are in the tur-
pentine business and work their timber in general, according to
fashion, but as to why a particular operation is required or
what is the best way to do it, they do not know. The salvation
of that situation, as I say, is the elimination of the turpentiner
who does not know and can't really learn his business so as to
conduct it efficiently. There is a big section in north Florida
and south Georgia just starting up with young timber, on which
in my opinion good business in the form of turpentining and
lumbering both can be carried on. I should like to see brainy
men from any other section get into that region along side the
bright local man and see just what can be done with it. It looks
to me like one of the big business openings in the country.

Col. Woolsey: I think that one of the points that Mr.
Cary has brought out, should be further emphasized. The
Chairman has referred to the turpentine industry as temporary.
They tap the trees for awhile and expect to move somewhere
else. It seems to me that we have come to the period in forest
development when we have got to look at it from the stand-
point of permanent production. I would like to emphasize that
point. I would like to ask the Chairman why is not the turpen-
tine industry a permanent business. Why do you have to fol-
low it for awhile and then abandon it?

Mr. Speh : For one thing, in a greater percentage of cases
than the average, the turpentine man is not the owner of his
raw material. That applies as a turpentine man. As a lumber-
man, in a good many cases, he does own the raw material. He
is especially interested in lumber, and his turpentine is looked
upon as velvet. There was an intimation, probably as late as
four years ago, that it was not worth while turpentining tim-
ber, that good timber was cut round, and there is probably
something to it. There are few who still feel that turpentin-
ing is destructive to resultant lumber, that is, that you get an in-
ferior grade. They are gradually overcoming that feeling, and
I believe some of that was unjustifiably brought out through
propaganda about damage and a lot of cases of pitch decay and

80 Proceedings of the

wind shake. Much of that was not due to turpentining. It
was shown that the loss from turpentining was less than from
lightning and fire set by lightning. Along the line of the fire
proposition, the turpentine man today is in the habit of burning
off his woods in the fall. I doubt very much if I could find
one per cent of the turpentine men who through necessity burn
off their entire woods. It is done for them long before they
get at it, and that would indicate that they would keep the fire
out of the woods until they are ready to set it. If you would
assure them that there would be no fire in there they would
simply do away with the burning as it costs money. Today it
costs in the neighborhood of $70.00 to rake and burn a small
unit, for one man, and just imagine what it means to a large
operator. The turpentine men have been protecting their tin>
ber through necessity. They are doing that right along and
very carefully raking around every single tree for a distance
of about three feet. Then under proper weather conditions,
probably after a rain, they will set fire to the woods, and gen-
erally have people riding around the while to see that it does
not spread too rapidly. They do not do that with the idea of
protecting the timber, but to save their cups. The cups will
take fire quicker than the timber. Anything which they do to
protect their interest, however, protects the timber, which is I
believe what you gentlemen are after.

Mr. F. H. Fechtig : We have bought in the past twelve
months in the Southern region something over one billion feet
of lumber cut into cross ties. The gentleman has just talked
about turpentine. Turpentine rights are sold in timber. Un-
less there is some form of contract under which it is sold, that
is approved by the Forestry Department, or by some law, you
cannot have any system with reference to it. And so with the
cutting of lumber. There is lots of lumber sold on a stumpage
basis. The people who buy lumber on a stumpage basis have
no interest in what becomes of the land after the lumber is cut
off. Therefore, if you don't have some form of law with ref-
erence to the replanting and taking care of that timber, you
cannot get results. You won't do it by education. I am heartily
in favor of education, but we all know that any man who
plants a tree hardly thinks that he will live to see that tree
grow and be cut again. I was very much struck with what an

Southern Forestry Congress 81

old lumberman said to me the other night on the train. He
has a large place in Warrenton County, South Carolina, on
what is called Lynch Creek. That section is one of the finest
producers of longleaf pine in the whole South. This man told
me that where he cut that timber off and sold it to me when I
was purchasing agent twenty-five years ago, he is now farming
largely. He has 1,900 acres under cultivation, 1,300 acres of
regrowth pine timber, ready to be cut. Now, you have got to
get up the interest of big men like that, to take care of this
subject. I hardly think you can rely on the small man. What
we need in this country is great big men, and great big corpor-
ations with individual initiative. We have got to have them,
there is no doubt about that. They will be helpful to every
one. I think the Forestry Section at Washington has got one
of the greatest duties to perform to this country that can be
performed, but my thought is that we have got to come to the
National Forestry regulation. We cannot handle this matter
on State's rights, because one State is not interested like an-
other.

Mr. Pace : One of the questions asked was as to the best
way to preserve our pine forests. I speak from a pine stand
point, having been in the turpentine business for twenty-nine
years. Our lamented Theodore Roosevelt travelled through
the South several years ago ; he was interested in forest preser-
vation, and suggested that if we could have a limit of turpen-
tining our timber forests, and not cut under 12 or 15 inches, all
would be well. Now, there is no profit in turpentining trees of
5, 6, 7 or 8 inches in diameter, under certain conditions.

I want to impress upon this Forestry Congress that if the
people of the South would only restrict their timber to 12 or 15
inch trees for turpentine purposes, they would be doing a good
thing for themselves, and for the turpentine man, too. I speak
after thirty years of experience. The thing for us to do is to
preserve our forests, as our former president has said. All we
have to do is to put, by national legislation, a 12 or 15 inch
limit on our pine trees to be operated for turpentine, and then
we will have a crop every 15 or 25 years, and also a crop of
mill timber.

Mr. Peters : How would you bring about this restric-
tion— through education or legislation?

82 Proceedings of the

Mr. Pace : Through Federal legislation. You can't do
it otherwise. The turpentine operator does not care. He will
put out a bunch of negroes and put turpentine boxes on every-
thing he can put it on. The landowner does not know just
how to restrict him. It is all the same to him whether it is a
tooth pick tree, or a sapling. When he leaves the tree he does
not care what becomes of it.

Mr. Peters: You think Federal legislation of that kind
would be constitutional ?

Mr. Pace: Our President (Mr. Roosevelt) suggested that
it might be done some years ago.

Mr. Wallace : Legislation of that nature would be in the
same category as Child Labor legislation, or the Mann Act. In
other words, it would be entirely within the province of the
Congress of the United States to make it unlawful to transport
any material from any tree, or any naval stores turpentine or
otherwise made from any tree under 12 inches in diameter.

Mr. Pace : I am from North Carolina and have been in the
forestry business for thirty odd years, and the best method of
preserving our pine forests is not to let them turpentine a tree, or
put a cup on a tree under 12 inches in diameter. That is the
only way in the world to get at it. The manufacturer gets
nothing out of it, and he murders your tree in its infancy. If
he does it after it is 15 inches in diameter, then your children
and my children will have another crop of pine forests in this
country.

Mr. Peters : I would like to see a resolution on this sub-
ject presented to the committee having charge of resolutions.

Col. Graves : I would suggest that five minutes be given
to Colonel Woolsey who worked with the Twentieth Engineers
over in the pine turpentine forests of France, to tell us how
they worked that thing.

Colonel T. S. Woolsey: I think that the last speaker, Mr.
Pace, has made the best speech of the morning, because he has
hit the nail on the head. He says that those people who say
that you cannot turpentine perpetually, are wrong, and I
think they are. As Colonel Graves has remarked, I have just
come back from Southern Fiance, where they do it perpetually,

Southern Forestry Congress 83

and they make a lot of money out of it. I will not go into all
of the technical details, but I will tell you, in a few words, how
they work the maritime pine : Over a century ago, this land
was denuded, just as it is being denuded in the South. Then
they spent money to get it back into forests. I will start my
story with the forests which grow in dense stands and when
young are thinned by being tapped to death. That is, they put
so much tapping on the trees to be cut out that it kills them ;
those small trees are then cut and sold to England for use in
the coal mines. That is the first stage. As the trees grow up,
they keep on tapping to death the trees that they want to get
rid of. When the trees are thirteen inches in diameter, they
tap them alive — a kind of tapping designed not to kill the tree.
They tap the tree until it is ready to be cut for lumber, and that
period in state forests is usually at seventy years — say sixty-
five to seventy-five for state timber. As you can judge mari-
time pine is a very rapid growing species. On private places,
they cut them after fifty-five or sixty years of growth. In
other words, the owner cuts earlier than the state. Five years
before the timber is mature, they tap all timber to death. That
is, all the trees that are being tapped alive are given an inten-
sive tapping. By two years, it is ready for the ax. They get all
the rosin they can out of the timber, and when it is mature they
cut the timber clean, leave the tops on the grounds, but pro-
tect the tops from fire, because the tops contain the pine cones
(and seeds) that are to give them their future forests. Then,
the new forest comes up, and you start all over again. These
men have made millions out of it. There is no question about
it. I have authoritative figures that when they reclaimed this
land (over twelve hundred thousand acres) they bought it for
seventy-seven cents an acre, and in 1914, just before the war,
this land, without the timber — this same land — was selling
for from $16.00 to $32.00 an acre, and one French writer
estimated that they added a value in that whole Landes coun-
try of eighty millions of dollars, where before, perhaps, it was
worth a few millions.

Mr. Cary : Miss Dorman mentioned the matter of the
small landowner, and the betterment of his condition, and the
way in which we might better that, and conservation promoted
at the same time by grazing stock and raising timber on the

84 Proceedings of the

same land. Mr. Hardtner could tell a great deal about that.
He is the source of my first thinking on the subject. I have
done a good deal of it since, and it certainly looks to me as if
that was a scheme which should appeal to the owner of farm
land, and an industry which should have a wide field in the
South on lands of moderate grade. Mr. Hardtner thinks the
desirable unit for that is not less than 500 acres. Of this a
small portion, sufficient to provide food for the farmer's family
and probably a little sales crop, should be cultivated ; cattle
would range the balance under fence ; wherever it comes natur-
ally or may be planted will grow timber. That program, if
economically sound and applied on a large scale, settles the
whole question, for the settler and for the country. The ad-
vantages are too many to be developed here. Furthermore, it
may at numerous places from North Louisiana to South Geor-
gia be seen in actual operation. I have seen occasionally men
doing practically that same thing, owning a few hundred acres,
running his stock at large for the present, but realizing that on
their own land he has food for a certain amount of stock, if
the range is ever restricted, taking care of the timber growing
on their land at the same time. Several are in the region of
the longleaf or slash pine section, bleed their own timber, and
sell their gum to the neighboring turpentine men. This plan is
suited to land of lower grade in respect to agricultural fertility.
The suggestion was made that this thing be developed in each
parish or county under the leadership of lumbermen, or any
one who would undertake it. It looks to me like one of the
most fruitful things that has been formulated in the way of
advance this morning. I have talked that same thing in Wash-
ington, tried to start investigation there and hope that some
time educational work will arise from that source.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
Presided over by Mr. J. G. Peters,

UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE

The Chairman : We have been hearing a good deal in
these discussions about the subject of education in connection
with forestry work, and restrictions, both as to State and Fed-
eral legislation. I want to take the liberty of a few introduc-
tory remarks this afternoon to say that it seems to me no mat-

Southern Forestry Congress 85

ter how you go about it, whether through education or legisla-
ion — restrictive legislation, I mean, that the first thing to do in
these Southern States, as it has been proven to be the best thing
to do by other states, is to establish strong and non-political
State Forestry Departments, which will be authorized to ap-
point a technically trained man as State Forester, and the De-
partment given an adequate appropriation of funds. I think
that, in addition to that, measures should be adopted that will,
so far as possible, do away with the customary practice of for-
est denudation, so that lands may be brought back to produc-
tivity after they are lumbered. I might say that there is such
a law now before the Mississippi Legislature, which will pro-
vide for those things, namely, a State Board of Forestry organ-
ized along non-political lines, a State Forester, and adequate
appropriation of funds, which will be raised through a license
tax on the business of cutting timber and of gathering turpen-
tine, similar to the tax adopted by Louisiana ; and I want to
make the suggestion that the lumbermen here and that the tur-
pentine men here get behind that measure and urge its passage.
I think that some action of that sort on the part of the lumber-
men and turpentine men will go a long way towards bringing
together those men — the foresters, landowners and others in-
terested in this great subject, and making them see the need
for working in cooperation to gain the common end.

The first subject on the program is "The Livestock Indus-
try, and its Relation to the National Program of Forestry." It
was to have been led off by Doctor Blackman, but unfortunate-
ly he cannot be present, and I am going to ask Professor S. M.
Tracy, in Charge of the Forage Crop Investigations of the De-
partment of Agriculture, stationed at Biloxi, Miss., who is en-
gaged in testing various forage crops there, to lead off in this
discussion.

DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY FROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY

Prof. Tracy* : I did not come here to talk. I did not ex-
pect to have anything to say. I shall say very little today. In
attending this and other similar meetings for the last ten or fif-

* The death of Samuel Mills Tracy at his home in Laurel, Miss., on
September 4. 1920, at the age of 73, is learned with great regret. — The
Editor.

86 Proceedings of the

teen years, I have received a very definite impression that the
object of the association was to cover all the territory with
trees ; that lumber was regarded as an essential thing for build-
ing houses, and building barns, and stables. We must have
lumber, no matter whether we have anything else. We do
want more lumber. We have to build barns and stables and so
forth, and yet it is no use to build those things unless we have
some cattle to shelter, or things to put in them. We have need
for other things besides lumber. I suppose my ideas are a lit-
tle exaggerated, but I cannot help thinking that the forest peo-
ple have not given sufficient attention to the importance of grow-
ing live stock. At anything like the present price of beef and
lumber, beef is a very profitable crop. I would combine the
two, and they can be combined economically and profitably.

As a rough estimate, I would say that two-thirds of our
Southern lands are fit for cultivation or for use as pasture;
there is the other one-third, speaking roughly, that is not cul-
tivable, and not fit for pasture lands. I do not think you will
find it possible, in general, to grow timber and grass, or cattle
on the same lands. In the West the grasses are mostly small
grasses. They have very little rain. Those grasses dry up and
remain there all winter and make good feed for cattle, just as
any other good dry hay. Here, as a rule, where there are cut
over lands, our grasses, of course, are very tough ; they are
not very nutritious, and then, with our heavy winter rainfall,
what good there is in them is washed out, and we have very,
very poor food in them, although we have plenty of grasses.
Some years ago I was looking at the statistics published by
the Department of Agriculture, and in it they gave figures on
winter losses on cattle in the North and in the South. In Ala-
bama, Mississippi and Louisiana, which I looked at specially,
the winter losses in cattle were more than double what they were
in the North, simply because our cattle had been left out in
these cut over lands to feed on wire grass and sage grass. If
our cut over lands here are fenced and protected from fire, they
will very soon grow up in timber so thick that no grass will
come. We have very little good grass in cut over lands. If
herds are allowed to run on those lands, they have neither
trees nor good grass. The more nutritious grasses, the seeds
are destroyed by fire, and are shut out by the other grasses,
and we have very little good grass. That is where we have

Southern Forestry Congress 87

protection and no fire. Where we have our lands protected by
fencing, and heavily grassed, we very soon get rid of wire grass
and broom grass, and all those other grasses very easily. It
is on such lands that we get our best grasses, and even beef
growing becomes profitable. Those lands need practically no
protection from fire. Where we have those grasses, there is
never enough of them left in winter to burn, so that they pro-
tect themselves. It occurred to me that that was one thing we
wanted to do — to look out for protection, and fence the land,
and grass them heavily with the cheapest and best pasture,
and then devote our land which is suited for those grasses, to
forestry work, and grow all the trees we can, and in that way
we will have both our beef and timber.

Mr. Roy L. Hogue : A very casual glance over our
timber lands of the South will convince almost any one, I think,
that we are denuding them of timber. A more careful exam-
ination of these lands will convince one also that many of these
lands at present are not agricultural lands. I say at present,
because the time may come when these lands will be agricul-
tural lands ; but at present it is not economically possible to
use them for agriculture. We have in the neighborhood of
50,000 acres near Jackson, Miss., and 20,000 acres in the south-
ern part of the State near Gulf port. All of those lands are
or have been covered with a heavy growth of timber. We
have now sold this timber. Some of it has been removed. On
the tract near Gulfport most of it has been removed. It is our
problem to know what to do with this cut over land. We have
not a single tenant on our 20,000 acres near Gulfport. We
do not get a dollar in revenue from all those 20,000 acres of
land, which is nearly all cut over. On the 50,000 acres near
Jackson in the early days, settlers and squatters and others
settled on this land in spots, clearing 20 and 30 and 40, and
sometimes 100 acres, making little farms — little indentations
in the great timber belt, and when we purchased our timbered
land, we purchased these farm lands along wth the timber,
our primary purpose, of course, being to secure the timber, and
the land was thrown in as a sort of "for better title" proposi-
tion. We never considered the land (per sc) as of any ma-
terial value. Only the amount of timber on the land that
was purchased was considered, and the land was taken only

88 Proceedings of the

because the title to the timber was improved by the taking
of the land, and no particular time, therefore, needed for re-
moving the timber. And that is the way nearly all of the
timber land in the State has been acquired. All of the large
holders of land in the State, or nearly all of the large timber
land owners of the State, acquired their land for this very
reason, not that they considered the land worth much, but
because they wanted to get better title to the timber, or longer
time for the cutting of the timber. Probably that is the reason
why lumbermen are so indifferent to the forestry problems of
today. It is economically recognized by the forestry students,
as well as the lumbermen, that it is now economically im-
possible to grow timber on this land under our present system
of taxation which, in Mississippi, is a general property tax.
In other words, as soon as this timber, which requires, say,
fifty years to mature, from a seedling — as soon as this timber
in Mississippi becomes of any commercial value, say at
thirty years, it is the duty of the assessor to assess that timber
at whatever it is worth. At thirty-one years, it is again as-
sessed at what it is worth, and at thirty-two, forty and forty-
five, and we pay taxes on that assessment, not only for the
year's growth, but, on the growth of all the previous years,
that have gone by since the planting of the forest, and at the
time of cutting, as you will see, we will have paid for not only
the year's growth each year — the taxes on the year's growth —
but on fifty years' growth, and each preceding year on all the
preceding years. In other words, it is something like this :
Supposing a farmer — it is not quite a parallel case, but some-
what similar — suppose a farmer would pay taxes on his agri-
cultural products, but in lieu of disposing of them each year,
he would have to store them in a granary until at the end of
fifty years, he would be allowed to sell them and get his re-
ward, but all the time, like we do in forestry, he would have
to begin to pay taxes on not only the crop he raised that year,
but all the preceding years. You can readily see that that
would "bust" any farmer. There is not so much labor re-
quired in growing timber, and that makes a difference. It is
not quite a parallel case. However, they are very similar.
No man is going to engage in a business that is going to break
him if he keeps it up. I think that is one reason that the tim-
ber men have been so indifferent to the reforestation program

Southern Forestry Congress 89

in the several States. Even in our State of Mississippi, where
we are about to pass a forestry law, there is almost no interest
among the lumbermen, who should be the ones interested if
anybody is, because they are the great holders of the cut over
lands of the State.

We are trying to make our holdings revenue-producing. I
will tell you briefly how we attempt to do this. We fence in
large areas. We try to make our units about 2,500 acres.
We put a hog-proof fence around this land. Most of our
land lies in the Pearl River Valley, which is very rich alluvial
soil. The forests are virgin hardwood, mixed in places with
pine, and there is a good deal of mast in there for goats and
hogs, and some good grazing for cattle. We get men, prefer-
ably those that live on an adjoining place, to rent these pastures
from us. We furnish the fences and they furnish the labor to
put the fencing up. The first year they pay no rent ; the sec-
ond year they pay from twenty-five to fifty cents an acre for
the use of this land. In this way we have managed to fence in
about 25,000 acres of our land in the Pearl River Valley. We
are trying to introduce the same plan on our land in the south
end of the State. As yet we have succeeded in getting nobody
to undertake the fencing of any of these lands. It is true it
costs considerable ; about $250.00 a mile for the fencing ; but,
in about three years, if we take in large enough areas, we get
this money back, and the fence ordinarily is good for twelve
or fifteen years, by renewing the posts once. After three years,
we have, therefore, liquidated our investment, not counting in-
terest, and still have a fence and a revenue producing property.
Although the revenue is rather small, it is still better than
nothing.

Another thing about the pasturing of our land : The stock
pastured inside this fence keeps the grass down. Wherever
the land is cut over, immediately it starts up in forest weeds
and grasses and briars and brambles, and so forth. Some places
have only grass and some places only briars, and some places
young trees, and in other places all three start, and the goats
are our principal allies in keeping this growth down. They
would rather have blackberry briars than candy to eat. They
are at home in a blackberry patch. Wherever we have 1,000
goats or more on our lands, the people have to go a long way
for their blackberries. I might say, however, that in our

90 Proceedings of the

stocking of these farms, we never own any of the stock our-
selves. We allow the other man who understands the stock
business, and who must give it his personal attention, to own
and look after the stock. We feel that it is too hazardous a
business to turn good stock over to a hired man. So we wait
until we secure a renter for this land before we fence it in,
because if we do not, these people who have been used to
this open range all their lives, and have a sort of neighbor-
hood claim on it, would not allow the fences to stand. That
would probably be the experence in a large part of the State.
It is better to lease the lands to people who live immediately
adjoining them, for if you bring in somebody from the north,
the local people will feel as though he is an outsider, and does
not, maybe, belong there. In this way we have succeeded in
getting much of our lands under fences, and have kept the
growth down to a considerable extent. The tenants are also
interested then in keeping fires out, because they understand
that fires ruin the range. In the olden days when it was an
open range, everybody's business was nobody's business, and
fires would start and nobody was particularly interested in
putting them out, if it did not threaten their own clearings,
so that the fires would sweep up the valley, taking everything in
their course. The way it is now, in case a fire breaks out, the
tenants leasing pastures will organize little home crews to put
the fire out. We have no organization for putting out fires,
and it is up to them to stop fires when they start. Of course,
we have had unusually favorable weather for the last sixteen
months, and no fires of any consequence have taken place in
our tracts in the Pearl River Valley for two years. I be-
lieve that if we could have all our timber under fence, we
could prevent most forest fires, and if fires can be prevented
we can raise a forest. Fires are the greatest enemy, next to
man, of the forests. With those tenants stationed along at
intervals, with a little assistance, we can soon eliminate our
fires. If we could put in roads across these forests, and give
them some sort of additional protection, besides what they can
give themselves, we could put out any fire inside of a mile
square, that would start. We would have to have telephones
installed, and more or less expensive protective systems, but
that could be done and possibly will be done.

As Mr. Peters told you, we are going to have a bill intro-

Southern Forestry Congress 91

duced, or it has already probably been introduced in our State
Legislature at Jackson. There is a feeling throughout the
whole State that something is gong to be done at this Leg-
islature. Two or three bills have already been introduced,
trying to regulate the diameter of the trees to be cut, but it is
doubtful if you can force people to do the things that they
ought to do but don't want to do. In my opinion, the best
way is try and make it economically desirable for them to
do those things. Of course, there will have to be a few reg-
ulations, but in order to get the lumbermen to do the things
that we want them to do, it is going to be necessary to make
it profitable to do those things.

At present, so far as I am able to see, it is absolutely eco-
nomically impossible for them to plant forests. They can
protect what they have got, and save what comes annually,
probably, but it is impossible with our present law to plant
forests. They are human, like anybody else, and they are not
going to do something that they perhaps ought to do without
profit — they must have at least a small profit. So that it seems
to me that the only thing that we can expect them to do is to
give some degree of protection to the forests that are already
on the lands, and to the cut over areas, as they develop
throughout the State.

Mr. Forbes : Might I ask Mr. Hogue what the status
of the forest on that land is, and to what extent he agrees
with Professor Tracy in his dictum that you cannot raise trees
and stock on the same land, with profit to both.

Mr. Hogue : I am inclined to agree with Doctor Tracy.
As soon as the timber gets big enough to cover the ground,
there is no more grass. The grass is gone. But in a good
many areas, especially in South Mississippi, in cut over lands,
there will be large areas where there is no heavy growth of
timber. You cannot fence in just a small area on a large
tract profitably ; you have got to take in a good-sized area
if you are going to fence it in with a hog-proof fence.
Fencing is expensive. Wherever the trees grow thick, there
is no grass. Wherever the grass is heavy, the trees do not
get a chance. So that if you fail to pasture any land that is
not already in trees, the grass grows very high, and fire,
which inevitably gets into those areas, will prevent repro-

92 Proceedings of the

duction. I do not know whether Dr. Tracy agrees with that
or not.

Mr. Wilkinson : Might I ask the gentleman to state
the source of those fires in his territory?

Mr. Hogue: The greatest source of our fires is the
dummy line — sparks from the engine.

Mr. Spraker: I would like to ask — does not the gentle-
man own the dummy line, and if so, why not take precau-
tions.

Mr. Hogue : We do not control the dummy line. We
sold our timber to another concern and we have no law in the
State to prevent them from doing anything they please. One
might recover at law for damages incurred, but for immature
reproduction there is no recognized value and we never press
it. In some places we have second growth, some dating back
as early as the Civil War, practically, though it is virgin forest
except where our farms are.

Prof. Tracy : I think it is impossible to grow good
timber and grass on the same land. Some parts will grow
good grass and others grow good timber, and others any
where in between them.

A Member: The gentleman says he fences his land prac-
tically in 2,500 acre units. About how many acres would it
take to feed a steer?

Mr. Hogue : We do not try to carry many cattle on our
timber lands. We run them in the woods only in the winter
time. There is a cane that grows on our land which makes
very valuable winter grazing. In summer we take the cattle
out of the woods and put them in the open land. It takes
about five acres of open land, if we wish to keep them in there
all the time, for one steer.

Mr. Hardtner : You were asking about grazing on cut
over lands in connection with growing trees. Our company,
the owners and stockholders, are not foolish enough to own
50,000 to 60,000 acres of land and! not utilize it to the best
advantage. We have 1,000 head of cattle that we pasture on
our land. We find it very profitable. The store manager
looks after the cattle. The cattle almost look after themselves.

Southern Forestry Congress 93

We are not foolish enough to own these broad areas without
having cattle. We raise all the cattle we need for our local
market, and the sawmill people consume a great deal of beef
and mutton and hogs, and so forth. Besides, we ship several
car loads a year to the markets of the North. If there is
anything that I know something about, it is raising cattle and
growing timber at the same time. You can make enough
money out of your cattle business to pay for reforesting, on
ordinary cut over lands. We find that it takes about four
acres of ordinary cut over land that has bushes and trees on
it, to take care of one steer. These piney wood pastures will
take care of cattle about nine months in the year, and then
you must either drive them to a cane pasture close by in the
creek swamp, or else feed them for three months in the year.
It does seem to me though that if you can have free pasturage
for nine months, you can afford to feed them for three months.
That is not nearly as long as you have to feed them in the
North and other places.

We have 2,500 acres fenced, and we keep a great many of
our cattle in that pasture. We also have a herd of elks in
that same pasture which we expect to make a success in rais-
ing as soon as they become thoroughly acclimated. But to
show you my confidence in cattle raising, in addition to the
cost of the land, I am spending $8,000 this year in fences,
and buying a good grade of cattle, in order to make one spe-
cial experiment in Winn Parish. We will put a good grade
of cattle there, and have a man in charge, and while the trees
are growing and the pine seeds falling, and germinating, we
will be raising cattle, and we expect to make a great deal of
money out of it. We will fence 1,500 or 1,600 acres of this
piney woodsland. We are also going to fence three or four
hundred acres of adjacent swamp land that has good grass and
cane on it, and we confidently believe that we can raise those
cattle without giving them an ounce of hay, or any other
kind of feed. However, if necessary, and I think it will be
good business, we are going to feed those cattle two months
in one year, because they are too valuable to be neglected.
The tramping of the cattle does not hurt the pine seedlings.
In the 2,500 acre pasture that is fenced, we have from three
to ten thousand seedlings to the acre, and there are trees
six years old of pine, and all kinds of hardwood, and while

94 Proceedings of the

we have had heavy grazing on that land, we do not find that
it hurts them. Later on we would rather the cattle would
thin this stand anyway. So, cattle raising and tree growing
go hand in hand, and any one owning broad areas of land
who does not engage in the business of both, is really miss-
ing a good opportunity.

I have a reprint here from the Lumber World Review,
that I will be glad to give any of you as you go out. It
relates to a permanent timber land policy, and its plan is for re-
foresting 1,500 acres in Winn Parish. We go into the sub-
ject very fully, and we find that the cost of this venture — I
figured out last year that, including $4.00 an acre for cost of
land, 1,500 acres, was $12,450, and I suppose it will cost us
maybe a couple of thousand dollars more. The point I want
to make is that we are making this experiment — not an ex-
periment, after all, but we are going into this business, be-
cause it is not an experiment with us. We have been over
the experimental stage ten or twelve years. We figure the land
at $4.00 an acre, and the cost of that venture will be some-
thing like $14,850. We expect to get back annual returns
sufficient to more than pay the interest on the investment.
This table shows the cost of operation, profit, taxes and inter-
est on investment, at 7 per cent, and feed for the cattle, and the
annual returns will be 500 cords of wood, and we will have
fifty head of cattle to sell. Thus, we find the annual return
amounts to 7 per cent interest on the investment, and reforest-
ation is accomplished without one cent of cost. Then, I go
on to state how we expect to handle the timber and how we
expect to bleed it for turpentine when it gets about 25 or 30
years of age, and how we expect to make posts, rails, ties and
pulpwood out of the thinnings, and all about the turpentine
operations, and at the end of an investment of $14,850 for
1,500 acres of cut over piney woodsland, yielding 7 per cent
interest for 60 years, we will then have a surplus of $450,000
for the timber. We expect the timber on those 1,500 acres
to be worth $450,000 in 60 years time. If you do not believe
it, just read this paper and you will be convinced, because I
have studied the matter very carefully, and I know what the
price of timber will be 60 years hence. I know what it is now,
and there is no doubt in my mind but what that 1,500 acres
will be worth $450,000 when we have to cut it for lumber.

Southern Forestry Congress 95

You see now that I am engaging in the cattle business while
growing trees. I know that it is profitable.

Col. Woolsey : May I ask Mr. Hardtner a question?
Have you tried raising goats?

Mr. Hardtner : Yes, to my sorrow. About a year ago
I thought that the black jack oak bushes were taking my forest
and were not permitting the young pine to grow as they should,
shading the ground too much, and I decided that I was going
to find a cheap way to get rid of the black jack oaks, so I
got 1,000 goats and put them in there, and on those 2,000
acres, you could not tell that there was a goat in evidence, they
made so little impression on those black jack bushes. So I
decided that if I had to use goats to keep down the bushes,
they would have to be restricted to a very small area, and I
would have to have 10,000 head of goats to keep those bushes
down. Besides, it is not necessary. There is always the sur-
vival of the fittest. Pine will soon reach above the bushes, and
the bushes are not in the way at all.

Mr. Hogue : They interfere with the growth of the
grass, don't they?

Mr. Hardtner : Oh, yes. In this pamphlet I touch on
this that we will have grazing for ten or fifteen years probably,
after we commenced this special experiment or business ven-
ture. We can graze one head of cattle on four acres for at
least ten years. Then when the trees begin to shade the ground
somewhat, you might have to reduce the number of cattle
which you have on that pasture. You can very well afford to
do that, because you will begin to sell bean poles, tomato
stakes, pulp wood and other products from the land, and
maybe when the trees are 20 years of age, you can keep only
a. limited number of cattle on that pasture. That is what
we want to do. We want to raise cattle while we are growing
timber. That i's exactly the idea.

Mr. Pace : Are you getting short or long leaf pine to
replace the growth?

Mr. Hardtner : Both. Where there was longleaf pine
before, we have had considerable bushes growing up, but the
longleaf pine is growing equally as well as the shortleaf or
loblolly. Too much shade may prevent the longleaf pine from

96 Proceedings of the

getting a good start, but it will hold its own with the shortleaf
or loblolly pine, if you give it an equal chance.

Mr. Jones : The great bug-a-boo with the lumbermen in
Texas is taxation, and yet I have never seen an estimate of
what the taxation will amount to in 50 years. I would like
to know this.

Mr. Hardtner : We provide for taxes each year, and we
still make 7 per cent on raising cattle and using up the surplus
wood on the ground, and at the end of 60 years, we will have
$450,000 worth of timber. You have to settle the question
of taxation any where, if you intend to try growing anything
on an extensive scale, but you can pay taxes on a pretty good
valuation, and still make money. No one wants to engage in
the cultivation of timber unless he knows exactly what his
taxes will be for the next 30 or 50 years. That should be
settled, and people all over the State should be foresighted
enough to see that the question of taxation is settled.

The heavier grazing you have on sage grass land, and cut
over land, the better the grazing will become. The only way
to get rid of sage grass is heavy grazing. Fire won't do it.
It makes it grow tougher. We want to get rid of this grass as
it is very poor for cattle and has very little nutriment in it.

Mr. R. C. Jones : What is the discrepancy between Mr.
Hardtner's and Mr. Hogue's experience with goats? I would
be much interested to know why one finds its profitable and the
other does not.

Mr. Houge : Mr. Hardtner said they were unprofitable.
He said they failed to eat down the blackjack bushes on the
longleaf pine land. They do not ordinarily try to pasture them
closely enough to keep the oaks down very much. They keep
the briars and blackberry briars down, and some of the more
tender woods. Unless you pasture very closely, they do not
bother the blackjack. They are not very palatable ; they are
pretty tough. You would have to pasture them pretty closely
to get rid of the blackjack. However, they get very fat on
this cut over land, and they are a profitable crop, because they
cost so very little to raise. They are very hardy, and require
very little attention in the pastures. They are an inmitigated
nuisance, if you turn them out on the range. They get over

Southern Forestry Congress 97

any wire fence, or any other fence that the settlers ordinarily
build, and are not very profitable on the outside for that rea-
son, but, in the pastures, they thrive and help to keep the
bushes down. However, as Mr. Hardtner suggested, prob-
ably, in order to keep the blackjack crop down, you would
have to keep a good many.

A Member: Just a point that Mr. Hogue touched on,
that has no bearing on the livestock question, that I would like
to draw attention to, and that is with reference to planting
forest lands in the South. I do not want any of you here to get
any idea that any forester, so far as I know, Federal or State,
is advocating the planting of these Southern lands.

The Chairman : As I understand it, Mr. Hogue, you
must rely on natural reproduction to come in, provided you
keep out fires. Is that correct?

Mr. Hogue : We cannot rely absolutely on natural re-
production in every case. However, wherever fires are kept
out of the original virgin forests, natural reproduction will
come in. On the old fields, if they are large enough, if you
wish to put them back into forests, planting would have to be
done. There is a limit to the area which pine seed will cover;
that is, will go from the seed tree, naturally, and if we wish
to take in all of our lands and put into forests all fields that
are now in cultivation, we would have to do some planting.

A Member : We leave seed trees on our land for the pur-
pose of reproducing our timber— seed bearing trees.

DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY FROM THE
POINT OF VIEW OF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE

(In the absence of the author Mr. R. S. Maddox read the
following paper).

SOUTHERN FARM FORESTS
By Mr. E. E. Miller

EDITOR, SOUTHERN AGRICULTURIST

Any state or national program of forestry must concern it-
self largely with the farmer. Forest conservation is a matter
of vital importance to the farmer even though he so seldom
realizes it; and the farmer is a vital factor in any program of

98 Proceedings of the

forest conservation. A large part of the country's forested land
is owned by farmers. This land may roughly be divided into
farm woodlots and farmer-owned woodlands. The farm wood-
lot is the plot of timber kept on the farm to supply the farm's
timber needs, in part or in whole. Farm woodlots are not
nearly so numerous as our talk and our habits of thought some
times lead us to believe. The wooded lands owned by farmers
embrace lands that the farmer expects some time to clear, lands
that are in the process of being wholly or partially cleared, lands
that are left uncleared because it would not pay to clear them.
Farmers own a lot of these wooded lands, first and last, and
most of them are handled with little thought or care as to for-
est preservation. Some of them the farmer himself lumbers
as he needs lumber or money, or has an opportunity to put spare
time to profit ; and he usually does his cutting as if the here-
after were not a doubtful proposition at all, but a thing certain
not to be. Large areas of stumpage are annually sold by farm-
ers to lumbermen, usually with no cutting regulations at all,
and the lumbermen having no future interest in the forest, sel-
dom gives a thought to its future welfare. On vast tracts ef-
fort is made to convert the woodlands into pastures by burn-
ing. The result, of course, is an appalling waste of timber, of
soil fertility, and of the forest's ability to hold back and con-
serve the rainfall.

The tendency is for the farmer to dispose of the woodlands
he does not expect to clear or is not preserving particularly for
his farm use. This is a tendency to be encouraged. It is bet-
ter, as a rule, for large areas of woodland to be owned by the
companies that cut the lumber off of them, and who are there-
fore likely to have some interest in keeping up the supply of
timber on them, than to be held by owners who think of the
timber only in terms of immediate return. The sooner all non-
agricultural forest land passes into the hands of government or
into the hands of men who have a direct interest in forest pre-
servation, the better it will be for the country. That time,
however, is yet a long ways off. Until it has arrived there
must be no let up in the effort to make the farmer understand
that trees, too, are a crop, a crop to be harvested at long inter-
vals, but a crop which can be kept constantly renewing itself
if the seed stock is protected. The farmer who owns wooded
lands needs to be reminded over and over that the cutting of

Southern Forestry Congress 99

timber may be made a constructive process instead of tbe usual
destructive process. Above all, perhaps, he needs to be re-
minded over and over that the burning oil' of the woodlands is
always a destructive process. The laws against forest fires need
to be strengthened in almost every state, and a campaign of
education that will teach the criminal folly of such burning, is
one of the things the whole South needs.

Land clearing needs to be discouraged too, in many cases.
Of course, much land now in woods is suitable for farming and
will ultimately be brought into cultivated fields ; but every year,
especially in the hill country, land is cleared that should remain
in timber for all the years to come One can go into any moun-
tain section of the South and see cleared lands that prove be-
yond all question the utter lack of vision or foresight possessed
by the men who did the clearing. The pioneer idea of the
forest as an obstacle in the way of agriculture still persists ;
countless thousands of farmers still think of the woods only as
something to get out of their way.

The farmer who finds himself without timber, or who finds
his timber supply running short is not likely so to think. Once
in this condition, he soon perceives that a plot of woodland is
one of the necessary parts of a complete farm. Then comes the
woodlot stage — the stage where timber is valued and the forest
more or less well taken care of. Usually the farm woodlot is
a patch of uncleared forest land that the owner attempts to pre-
serve. In some cases it is a plot that he has himself planted,
too often it is a tract of timber the future of which has already
been sacrificed to the live stock by pasturing. Usually the
woodlot is mismanaged. New farm woodlots impress one as
things of permanence. With most of them it is only a question
of time when they will cease to pay their owners to keep them
in timber. The average farmer does not know how to care for
his woodlot so as to preserve it, and at the same time make it
profitable, and there is a deplorable lack of information avail-
able on the subject. I know of none except a few bulletins of
the most general nature, or a few even less explicit chapters in
text books on forestry. There is need of some close special
study of the farm woodlot to secure and make available the
special localized information that is needed. Where could one
get for instance, the detailed information about its management

100 Proceedings of the

that a Tennessee Bluegrass woodlot owner needs ? Or the
owner of one in Piedmont North Carolina?

Farm woodlots are bound to become more numerous and
better appreciated by farmers ; but I do not think they can be
counted on to supply any large proportion of the lumber the
country needs. Indeed, I believe they will tend more and more
away from the general forest type and more and more to the
specialized planting type They will contain fewer and fewer,
comparatively speaking, of the forest lumber trees — oaks and
hickories, maples and pines — and more of the rapid growing
species that meet the farm's immediate needs for fence posts,
poles, and so on. Black locust, catalpa, black walnut we may
expect to see farmers planting these trees, even in preference
often to preserving their old forest growths. We may expect,
too, to see them harvesting them at an early age. In a word, the
farm woodlot is going to be a place where the special kinds of
timber needed on the farm are grown, and not a place for the
production of the lumber of commerce.

It will seldom be a profitable business for the individual
farmer to grow lumber on land that is suitable for cultivation.
Yet the fact remains that some lands of agricultural value can
be of more value to the community, if not to the individual
owners, in forests than in anything else. What may be called
strategic forests, forests about the headwaters of streams and
in other locations where they will have a direct influence upon
stream flow and the control of rain waters, are going to be
increasingly important as the years go by. It seems that as a
people we have determinedly put off any serious consideration
of them; but we shall one day have to consider them, and to
provide them. They will have to be provided, however, by the
community, the state, the nation, rather than by the individual.
Forest preservation will not cease to be an individual business,
but it will become more and more a government function be-
cause we are all the time more fully realizing its importance
to the state and to society, and more fully understanding the
increasingly public character of the woodlands and their con-
tribution to human welfare.

Mr. Ff. B. Holroyd: Our corporation maintains an Ag-
ricultural and Industrial and Immigration Department, all com-
bined in one, purely for development work within the territory
served by its line. We enter 13 States, and consequently that

Southern Forestry Congress 101

calls for a great variety of work. We have carefully built up
an organization all of agricultural men but we have specialties
in forestry lines, horticulture, animal husbandry, economics and
all those various lines of agriculture. With us it is purely a
business proposition.

I am unalterably of the opinion that our Southland is des-
tined to be the greatest live stock section of the United States.

I agree thoroughly with Prof. Tracy, because I understand
his statements and understand the points made from a practi-
cal standpoint. You take it in the dense woods along what we
call, in forestry terms, the pole stage, in most of the land you
would have very little but the wire grasses, round grasses, as we
call them. They are mighty poor feed, but the moment that
forest is cut away or there is a natural opening made by some
damage, like fire or lightning, or such as that, what we call
blade grasses come in. Some are sweet grasses, but the most of
them are still sour grasses. The next step in graduation is the
carpet grass, and they are sweet, and then lespedeza and na-
tive clover, the latter coming, however, mostly on land that has
been ploughed at the same time and permitted to come back.
So there you have the transition from the strictly dense forest
on native grazing area.

Native cattle will grow rolling fat on these blade grasses
for about three or four months in the spring. They will fatten
even more rapidly than our Western cattle do on what we call
our Buffalo grass ranges. But after they have put on that
quick fat, they will simply carry along — perhaps decline a little.
Then comes the necessity of providing supplemental winter
feed, and with that feed those cattle will go through on the
same dry grass in the same condition, but will not hold up to
their spring fatness.

It would be the height of folly and absolutely wrong for
this Congress to leave here with the idea that cattle raising and
forestry cannot go hand in hand. There is coming a time when
forests are full grown or even at an earlier stage, where cattle
grazing will not be practical from the standpoint of putting fat
on the cattle in the timber, but up to that time it can be carried
on very, very advantageously.

102 Proceedings of the

DISCUSSION OF A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY FROM THE

POINT OF VIEW OF THE PAPER AND PULP INDUSTRY

Led by Mr. McGarvey Cline

consolidated naval stores co.

Mr. Cline : The pulp and paper industry is one which is
divided into three or four rather distinct branches, and in con-
sidering the relation of Southern forests to this industry, we
have to consider the needs of those different branches. First
the most important, from the standpoint of tonnage produc-
tion, is the news print industry. A sheet of newspaper con-
sists of approximately 70 per cent ground wood pulp and 30
per cent of high grade sulphite pulp. In making ground wood,
the principal requirement as far as the qualities of the wood are
concerned, is that they produce a white fibre, having sufficient
length to felt well in a sheet and be free from rosins. It re-
quires about 100 continuous horsepower to produce one ton of
ground wood pulp. This requirement alone limits the points
at which the ground wood pulp can be produced. As a rule, it
has to go into regions where there are large water powers
available that cannot be used for more profitable purposes. One
hundred horsepower means, when fuel is used, something like
5 tons of a good coal. In other words, it would take 5 tons
of coal to produce one ton of ground wood pulp. When we
go into chemical pulp fuel, there again the power requirements
are quite large. In the production of chemical pulp, it takes
from 55 to 60 horsepower to produce one ton. One-half of this
power requirement is for steam, and means that that fuel has
to be had. In terms of ground wood all the power can be me-
chanical power from the connection of turbine to water.

One other very important requirement of the industry is a
pure clear water supply. It takes about 40,000 gallons of wat-
er to produce one ton of paper. So when you consider these
limitations upon the location of pulp and paper mill enterprises,
it somewhat narrows down in its scope as far as wood is con-
cerned. In other words, paper mills must be located where
they can have a sure supply over a long period of years, of a
comparatively cheap fuel, and an abundant supply of clear
clean water.

The second large definition of the pulp and wood industry
is the book and print papers. These are the papers which you

Southern Forestry Congress 103

wish to use in having a permanent print record of something.
News print has a short life. It turns yellow and hecomcs brit-
tle, and is only used for a very temporary record. Book print
papers, in order to get the durability which is needed, must be
entirely made of chemical pulp. The chemical pulps are the
pure wood cellular, which is a very durable material. In al-
most all these pulps, some of the hardwoods furnish the bulk
of the pulp, such as poplar, aspins and gum, could be used, al-
though they are not now extensively used. There are hard-
woods which give a high yield of cellulose. Other hardwoods
such as oak and birch and maple do not give a high yield of cel-
lulose, so they are not well suited for the production of pulp
and paper. In time the Southern region may contribute more
to the production of those papers then they do now, although
even at the present, large quantities of these papers are pro-
duced in the Ohio River Valley, and draw upon the Southern
hardwood supply for their pulpwood.

The third large definition of the paper industry is in the
making of wrapping paper and boards. These are papers in
which the chief requirements are strength, and where color is
a secondary consideration, and in their production any of the
long fibre conifers are all right, and those which would prob-
ably be favored in the long run are the ones which will give
the greatest yield per cord of cellulose suitable for making pa-
per. We find that the yield of cellulose from different coni-
fers varies about with their dry weight per cubic foot. From
a cord of pine wood we can get about 1,400 pounds of high
grade pulp suitable for making wrapping paper, and boards.
From a cord of spruce, we can get about 1,200 pounds of pulp,
which is not only suitable for wrapping paper, but for practi-
cally all other grades of paper. Spruce will probably always
remain supreme as a paper wood, due to the fact that it has a
white pure cellulose.

Pine pulps are difficult to bleed and get white. They will
probably be limited in their application to the dark grades of
wrapping, or, at best, papers having a light cream color. It is
fairly easy to produce a light cream colored paper without ex-
penditure of too much money in the form of bleaches. If we
find sites in the South, which is such a very essential feature
to the pulp and wood industry, then we can look forward, and

104 Proceedings of the

we might find the Southern conifers in this region suitable
for the production of this paper.

If wood waste were used as fuel for paper, it would re-
quire about nine tons of wood waste to produce the power re-
quired to make one ton of paper. For those reasons, it has
always occurred to me that the paper industry — pulp and paper
mills — would have been a very valuable adjunct to the sawmill
in the working over of our timber tracts. There has been a
large amount of wastage that results from lumber operations
which would have had a rather high value, if they had only had
a market for power, and what I have just said has shown what
a wonderful market for power a paper mill creates. In fact,
there is not any part wasted.

This consideration of the needs of various industries has al-
ways made me feel that there would be quite a variation in the
various forest types of the future — the type and proper method
of forest arrangements would be largely determined by the
need of the industry that the forest was serving. The ideal
pulpwood would be a rather tall straight tree, not necessarily
over eight inches in diameter. It would be easier to handle and
easier to work and easier to work up than a larger tree. And
if longleaf pine were used, or grown for the production of pulp
and paper, it would always be advisable to turpentine it before
it was cut for wood pulp. The question of fixing a time limit
upon the turpentining of timber — to put an arbitrary time lim-
it— might not be fair ; that is, provided the wood was to be cut
for pulp. This is, I mean, if there was a legal provision that
wood could not be turpentined before it was ten inches in diame-
ter, and it was desirable to cut it for use when it was eight
or ten inches in diameter, it would simply mean that the tur-
pentine value of the timber could not be utilized.

I think that these remarks I have made will probably show
the limitations on the extension of the pulp and wood industry
in the South.

Mr. Jones: From what is bristol board made? Is there
any chance of having old cotton stalk cut into bristol board, or
to practical use, to save the supply of timber?

Mr. Cline: It can be truthfully said that paper can be
produced from any fibrous material. Papers can be produced
from cotton stalks, or corn stalks, or grass, or from a number

Southern Forestry Congress 105

of other natural crops. The thing that limits us in these ma-
terials is the question of mechanical handling. First, they pro-
duce a low yield per ton — much lower than wood. Wood is the
concentrated form of cellulose and produces a high yield per
cuhic foot. The significant thing that complicates the use of
those materials is the necessity for harvesting enough material
at the time that the crop is harvested, to conduct a paper mill
until the next crop comes.

The use of nitro plants, especially corn stalks, is a subject
that has been gone into a number of times. Corn stalks con-
tain some sugar. As soon as these stalks are stored in large
quantities, fermentation starts and destroys the value of the
material for paper, and the yield is low, so that it means that
in order to make a ton of paper from corn stalks, you would
have to have about five tons of corn stalks.

Now, about the smallest unit in a paper mill that can be
run economically is one that will make about 50 tons of paper
a day. We figure on an operation of 300 days, and you can
just see what the problem of storing and harvesting enough
material to run a mill all that time continuously would be, when
we have to depend upon an annual crop to do it.

Now, there is hardly any wastage in the making of paper.
All the old newspaper — all the waste from the office — is col-
lected and baled, and is sent back to centers where they work
these chip board mills. They usually crowd about large cities,
but even waste is baled and shipped to those mills. The waste
paper is stored and worked into pulp, and worked into pulp
again, and run on the machine, and worked into a sheet. A
good mechanical pulp is added to that stuff to give it the nec-
essary strength, but it is used over and over again, adding, to
it from 10 to 15 per cent of a new pulp to keep its strength
up to the requirement.

Mr. Jones : What are the requirements for a site for a
paper mill?

Mr. Cline: I might summarize that idea by saying that
there must be a sure supply of cheap fuel, first. If it takes
three tons of coal to produce one ton of paper, it will take in
terms of fuel oil about nine barrels of oil to produce one ton
of paper. A mill, in other words, that produces 100 tons of
paper a day, would use over 900 barrels of oil a day, or would

106 Proceedings of the

use 300 tons of coal a day. So the mill must be located where
it can obtain this fuel in an open market over a long period of
years. The investment cost in a paper mill is probably more
than any other wood working plant. A 100-ton plant at the
present costs, in building, would cost something over $3,000,-
000. So, with such a large investment, it means that you have
to look ahead for 25 or 30 years for all of your material, es-
pecially fuel, and next in importance comes the water supply.
It requires 40 gallons of water per ton of paper, which means
that a 100-ton mill would consume 4,000,000 gallons of water
a day, which is sometimes a problem to obtain that much water
at certain localities. So you first have a place where you can
get a reasonable fuel cost, and next an adequate water supply,
and next, cheap wood. But the other two considerations are as
important as the wood supply — even more so. Take three tons
of coal at $6.00 a ton, that is $18.00 alone for fuel in a ton of
paper.

A Member: Can you tell us the names of the paper mills
in the South, where paper is made?

Mr. Cline : I am familiar with the location of all mills in
the South. One of the first mills that ever produced paper on
a commercial scale is at Orange, Texas. That mill was a pio-
neer in the use of pine in the production of paper. In recent
years it has, I think, fully justified the support that its original
promoters gave it. They stood by the enterprise very gamely
and persevered in their efforts even when losses had amounted
to large figures, but in the last three years I understand they
have been paid back fully for all money put in it.

Probably the largest paper enterprise that is now operating
in the South is at the plant of the Great Southern Lumber
Company, at Bogalusa. It is not producing, strictly, a paper, as
I understand it. They are making the boards, of which sam-
ples are around the room here. There is another mill which
has been followed with quite a little interest, by the men in-
terested in this subject, at Moss Point, near Pascagoula, Miss.
That mill was considered a well designed mill when it was
started. It had difficulties, but they have all been worked out.

The principal difficulties in the use of pine for paper have
been in the recovering process — not in anything which is pe-
culiar to the wood, but in the recovery of the chemical. The

Southern Forestry Congress 107

pitchy matter in the wood has made the liquor foam badly, and
in driving the water off, in order to retain the chemicals, they
have had troubles due to that foam, and it has taken them some
time to work out the detail of the process, but they have made
good headway now, and I think as far as the technical points
are concerned, that there is little difficulty about the feasibility
of producing a good wood-paper from pine.

Mr. Drolet : Might I ask the speaker what he considers
a reasonable price per cord delivered of that raw material —
that is, pine, especially?

Mr. Cline: Well, on the present prices, you could have a
very handsome figure for pine, but as compared with other
woods, it is felt that pine should not cost more than seven or
eight dollars a cord delivered over a period of years ; that is,
with a wood supply that would assure you that price of wood,
a paper mill enterprise looks more attractive provided the other
things are all right. Of course, there is quite a little inertia to
overcome in the shaping of any industry that involves such large
investment of capital as the paper industry. It is not like a
sawmill. It takes an enormous investment in the plant, and
that means that it looks out for its supplies — long supplies —
much more carefully, and has to do it much more carefully, than
a mill enterprise.

Mr. Calver : What about the price of newsprint? Is it
likely to advance, and what is the possibility of getting it, and
why is it so high?

Mr. Cline : The reason why it is so high is why every-
thing is so high. That is, it is partially that, but there has been
a very enormous increase in the consumption of newsprint pa-
per, and I just mentioned the fact, and cited, that the manu-
facture of ground wood is limited to places where large quanti-
ties of cheap power are available, and where the wood supply
is available. So there are decided limitations on good mill sites
for the making of newsprint paper, and I think if the increase
in the consumption of newsprint paper goes on as it has been,
and as it seems it will go on, that it is in that grade of paper
that we will see the western forests come in heavily, because
the western forests produce the number of species which
are excellently adapted to the production of the ground wood,

108 Proceedings of the

and there is a large amount of power available which can
be developed at very little cost per horsepower, and at the
present price of ground wood for newsprint, the freight into
the consuming point would not be a prohibitive thing. Every-
thing has gone up enormously. The mills, in 1914, or earlier
than that, charged $40.00 a ton for newsprint paper, and that
was a profitable price. I think it is selling now — I do not keep
in very close touch with the quotations — at $160.00 a ton.

Mr. Holmes : I would like to ask one question in regard
to what Mr. Cline said about turpentining a tree before you
use it for pulp. Would not that harden the fibre?

Mr. Cline : I neglected to say that in the production of
chemical pulp, there are two processes ; one, a sulphite process,
known as the acid process, that can be applied successively to
resinous wood, or alkali process, of which there are two —
soda and sulphite — that can be applied to resinous wood. The
alkali process can handle any amount of pitch. That is, the
presence, of pitch does not affect the application of the pro-
cess. It increases the chemical requirement slightly, but does
not affect the use of the wood. This paper could be made
from low wood by the alakli process. It would take more
chemical per ton of pulp to do it, but it could be done. The
question of the amount of pitch in wood, while the less there
is the more desirable it is, yet pitch does not bother in the alkali
process. The only trouble that it has caused is the one I have
mentioned before, in recovery. It causes more trouble in re-
covering the chemical output, but the foaming has now largely
been overcome.

Mr. McCurdy : I would like to ask the gentleman if he
has any information on the use of tupelo gum in the manu-
facture of the higher grades of paper? I know nothing about
the manufacture of paper myself, but in these latter years,
when print paper has gone so high, my mind has persistently
turned to the great tupelo gum forests of the South, which are
composed of a number of soft woods that have no gum, and
it has often occurred to me that that offered a very golden
opportunity to some man to make a fortune out of print paper.
I don't know anything about it.

Southern Forestry Congress 109

Mr. Cline: Well, the gums and poplars are good wood
for the production of pulp that is used in the manufacture of
book and print papers. They can only be used for the pro-
duction of chemical pulp. That is, they have to be made by
chemical process. And it is in that expensive class of paper —
writing papers and print papers, such as they use for printing
books — that these woods would find a use.

Mr. McCurdy : That is a feature in its favor ?

Mr. Cline: It is, and the time will probably come when
they will be used more and more as available wood. A lot of
poplar and cotton wood is used now. Of course, we find that
a paper industry will cling to a site a very long time due to the
heavy investment in a mill, and it very frequently pays to
haul wood from a long distance rather than to abandon a mill.
Mills are located in certain places and frequently high freights
are paid in order to bring wood to them.

Mr. Sinclair: I belong to that part of the game, gen-
tlemen, where we destroy timber, and that is for providing
cross ties for the different roads. We have purchased 25,000,-
000 feet. I am very much interested in the conservation of
timber. There is so much good timber everywhere being
wasted. Almost every day I go through woods and I find thou-
sands of feet of good timber wasted in the production of cross
ties that could have been utilized for some purpose. These
cross ties are, of course, very necessary for the upkeep of the
railroads, and we have to continue, I suppose, to butcher tim-
ber in order to get them. I do not know what can be done in
my section of the country, that is, in South Georgia and Flor-
ida, to stimulate the production of new timber for the purpose
of producing ties in future. There should be something done
along that line.

PROJECTS OF THE FORESTY COMMITTEE OF THE NA-
TIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

By Dr. H. E. Howe

VICE-CHAIRMAN, DIVISION OF RESEARCH EXTENSION

The question of forestry never comes up without recalling
to my mind that my maternal grandfather built his log house
of black walnut and that many of the rails of the original

110 Proceedings of the

fences were of the same wood, now so valuable. Of course,
one could hardly afford to raise black walnut on Indiana farm
land, and as the population increases and there is a greater
demand for suitable areas where settlements can be made
and agriculture pursued with profit, those regions which can
be devoted to the growing of timber become more restricted,
and at the same time increasingly important. It requires
no emphasis to have you realize the great difference between
yesterday and today, even here in the south, for as lumber-
men, you know far better than I what vast resources the south-
ern virgin forests represented and how rapidly these natural
resources have been used or dissipated. Whereas but a short
time ago timber resources of the south were described as in-
exhaustible, today statistics prove that the remaining mer-
chantable timber is very apt to be cut out within the next ten or
fifteen years.

What I have to present, however, does not concern the
more efficient utilization of present timber so much as ques-
tions involving land upon which the timber grows and its
importance to the continual supply of merchantable timber.

We all recognize the desirability of having settlers take up
their abode in the south, for under the climatic and economic
conditions here the settlement becomes attractive. It is be-
lieved, however, that this settlemnt will be slow, and that there-
fore those who now own cut over lands and who will remain
the owners of such land for sometime in the future must
continue to have considerable interests here. In other words,
notwithstanding the desire of many to dispose of cut over
lands and re-invest the proceeds in other parts of the con-
tinent where timber is still to be had, the lumber and timber
owners are sure to be interested for some little time in cut
over lands.

We must recognize that in many instances the old forest
land is not suitable for agriculture, that it is best fitted for
the production of forests, and that those of us who have
profited so greatly by the exploitation of these natural re-
sources owe it to posterity to replace at least a part of what
we have consumed. There is a moral obligation in perpetu-
ating the forests in those areas particularly well suited for that
purpose. Besides this, such forests tend to make the settle-

Southern Forestry Congress 111

ment of adjacent lands more attractive and the economic
well-being of the community depends upon adjacent timber to
a remarkable extent.

The people at large, as well as the holders of the land, can
no more afford to have it idle than can the owner of a busi-
ness block afford to have it untenanted, or the factory owner
to have part of his equipment unused. You have already
sensed a certain growing sentiment in our country averse to
the private ownership of large tracts of land, and it seems
reasonable to expect this feeling to be augmented in cases
where such holdings are productive.

The utilization of cut over lands is by no means a new
topic, and the work which has already been done in the south
is to be commended and supported. The southern foresters
deserve great credit for their work on the question, while
the Southern Pine Association and similar groups have under-
taken to question the problem in a serious and persistent
fashion. The foresters generally, and particularly the United
States Forest Service, have determined many factors that
bear upon the solution of these problems, and too much can-
not be said in praise of the work as a whole. Principles have
been laid down, and many stones set in the foundation of a
knowledge upon which we must construct our policy for the
future. It is felt, however, that the problem is so large that
progress cannot be made as rapidly as is desirable unless a co-
ordinated attack upon a large scale can be made.

The desirability of turning this guerilla warfare into a
well thought out campaign has been discussed with a number
of those interested, and the plan which I shall now present
has the approval of the United States Forest Service, State
and other foresters, and upon the recommendation of Secre-
tary-Manager Rhodes, the Southern Pine Association will
provide the funds thought necessary to carry out work here
in the south. I can assure you at the outset that the keynote
of the whole projects is cooperation, and that it contemplates
bringing together all of those who have already undertaken
work along this line who can be interested in joining in it.

It is believed that the National Research Council offers the
best opportunity for bringing together these forces and agencies
for research, and a brief description of that organization may be
of service here. The Council is not a Government Bureau,

112 , Proceedings of the

nor is it supported by Government funds. It was organized
by some forty national and technical societies and rests upon
the Congressional charter of the National Academy of Sci-
ences. It is a war product, having been established to co-
ordinate the scientific resources of the country upon work on
war problems. Such success attended the cooperation obtained
that by executive order of the President of the United States
it has been permanently established on a peace basis, and will
promote and stimulate research, with particular reference to
educational institutions from which our research workers must
come, and to the industries which are benefactors in the first
instance of results obtained through scientific study. The
Council means to accomplish in a democratic way in our de-
mocracy even greater scientific results than did autocratic Ger-
many by methods unsuited to American conditions. The Coun-
cil derives its support for general maintenance and organiza-
tion from an endowment granted by the Carnegie Corporation,
granted upon conditions which have been met through the
generosity of a number of public-minded men, and some of
its special work is supported by the General Education Board,
the Commonwealth Fund, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

In suggesting that the National Research Council undertake
work along certain lines in forestry, it may be pointed out that
funds required are for the traveling expenses of those who
must do the field work, for clerical assistance, and for publi-
cation expenses. The money will not be used for salaries of
those who may be considered directors in the movement, for
already a considerable number have expressed the willingness
and desire to serve gratuitously. Fortunately, the National
Research Council can accept such services, is enabled to invite
anyone to cooperate, and is in an unusually advantageous po-
sition to act as a clearing house.

A particular advantage which th£ Council affords is due
to its organization, in which the services of related sciences
can be brought to bear .quickly upon the solution of problems
engaging the attention of the Forestry Committee. Thus, in
addition to the other committees in the Division of Biology
and Agriculture we can mention the Divisions of Physical
Sciences, of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, of Geology
and Geography, and of Engineering.

Southern Forestry Congress 113

In this connection, I may mention a calendar of current
forestry research which is about to be published, and in which
will be outlined the forest research projects under way in the
United States and Canada. Those to whom the work has been
assigned will be indicated, as well as the present status of the
undertaking and the plans for the future. The publication
of such information is certain to be of direct value to you.

The personnel of the Forestry Committee is as follows :
Prof. I. W. Bailey, Bussey Institute, Jamaica Plain, Mass.;
Mr. C. C. Bates, U. S. Forest Service, Denver, Colo. ; Prof.
Donald Bruce, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.;
Prof. H. C. Cowles, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. ;
Prof. B. L. Grondal, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.;
Prof. C. D. Howe, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada;
Prof. J. S. lllick, State Forest Academy, Mont Alto, Pa.;
Mr. W. H. Kenety, Cloquet Experiment Station, Cloquet,
Minn. ; Prof. Raymond Pool, University of Nebraska, Lin-
coln, Nebr. ; Mr. W. N. Sparhawk, Forest Service, Washing-
ton, D. C. ; Dr. Harry D. Tiemann, Forest Products Labora-
tory, Madison, Wis ; Prof. J. W. Tourney, Yale Forest School,
New Haven, Conn.; Mr. Raphael Zon (Chairman), Forest
Service, Washington, D. C.

Following a number of meetings and discussions on the
part of the Committee, four major problems were outlined as
those which deserve the earliest consideration. These are, first,
The Quantitative and Qualitative Forest Increment on Cut
over Lands ; second, The Standardization of Silvicultural
Practice in the Various Forest Regions of the United States ;
third, Correlation of Biological Factors with Physical, Mechan-
ical, Chemical, and Structural Qualities of Timber; and
Fourth, The Effect of Forests of the Atlantic Plain in the
Path of Prevailing Winds upon the Humidity of the Central
Prairie Region of the United States.

Any one of these problems interests the entire profession
of forestry — forest schools, state forest and federal forest ser-
vices. The solution in every case is more complex than would
appear upon casual examination. For example, the quantita-
tive and qualitative forest increment on cut over lands involves
the consideration of a large number of factors. One of these is
the succession of vegetation on cut over lands. It is a matter
of common knowledge that a certain type of forest, after it is

114 Proceedings of the

cut over, particularly if the cutting is very heavy and followed
by fire, does not follow itself, but is often succeeded by an en-
tirely different type of vegetation, frequently of an herbaceous
or shrub character.

It becomes important that we should know just what cut
over lands will produce in the next twenty-five or fifty years,
and even further in the future. We need to know not only
the kind of trees that are coming up, but how fast they are
growing and the kinds and grades of material that will be pro-
duced at the ends of definite periods. The study involves the
measurement of thousands of sample areas well distributed
over all the forest regions of the United States, and because
of its wide scope it cannot be undertaken by any single academic
or state agency, or even by the Forest Service. It calls for the
cooperation of the entire forestry profession with the business
interests. It is distinctly a research problem, the results of
which will be of immediate value in determining policies of
management with respect to this great natural resource.

The standardization of silvicultural practice has to do with
providing practical ways and means of securing continuous
forest growth on lands unsuitable for any other purpose. This
task involves a basic knowledge of the part played by such nat-
ural factors as light, soil moisture, exposure, effect of fire,
number of seed trees necessary per acre, longevity of seed
stored in the forest floor, and anything else which applies to the
solution of the problem of perpetuity of our forests by natural
means.

With respect to the correlation of biological factors with
physical, mechanical, chemical and structural qualities of tim-
ber, it may be pointed out that notwithstanding the excellent
work done in the studies of mechanical, physical, and chemical
properties, the work has been carried on in most cases without
taking into consideration the biological features involved. The
work has been done as upon any structural material, using prac-
tically the same methods of testing, and while much valuable
knowledge has been secured, we are still far from possessing
definite laws regarding the structural properties of our timbers.
It should be handled as an organic product and in the light of
the organic processes that produce it. The effect of wide and
narrow rings on the strength of the timber is well known, yet

Southern Forestry Congress 115

the width of the rings is a direct result of conditions of growth
and can he varied almost at will hy forest operations. The
presence of knots in timber is a source of its weakness, and
the production of clear or knotty timber is entirely dependent
upon the density of the stand in which the timber grows —
again a forest condition that can he modified hy forest opera-
tions. The age of the tree, the amount of sap in the wood, the
season of cutting, the falling of the timber, and the subsequent
handling of logs all enter into the problem of strength. It is
our firm conviction that without correlating the biological fac-
tors that affect the growth of timber with its mechanical, phys-
ical, and chemical properties we shall never be able to reduce
our structural properties of wood to some definite laws of
general application.

The fourth problem has to do with proving or disproving
the theory that the forests of the coastal plain, which are in
the path of the prevailing moist, southerly winds, play an im-
portant part in helping to carry the moisture further into the
interior, acting in a sense as relay stations, giving up by evapo-
ration moisture to winds which begin to give off their moisture
in the form of rain after they strike the land as they move in-
ward from the sea. If there were no forests these winds would
soon be drained of the moisture absorbed by them from the
ocean close to the coast, and would be relatively dry in their
movement northward over the great granary of the country.
If this theory could be proved correct, then it would have a di-
rect bearing upon our entire forest policy and its effect upon
agriculture in the central states.

The broad scope of this program is, of course, very clear,
and in order to concentrate their efforts the Committee proposes
the following as the program which shall be undertaken here
in the south : The determination of the factors that hinder or
help forest growth to the end that the best means of bringing
forest lands into the greatest productivity may be determined.
It is believed that within three years sufficient data can be ob-
tained to judge the economic conditions and to form a rational
policy based on scientific facts. It is at once evident that this
work must be tied up with that now in progress, as for ex-
ample, with that of the conservation commissions, experiments
such as those which Mr. Hardtner is conducting, the proposed
work for the new experiment stations to be established in the

116 Proceedings of the

south, and the cooperative undertaking in which the Southern
Pine Association has joined with the Department of Agriculture
on the development of better forage grasses. The first work
will be to learn what is being done and what is planned by those
now at work on the problem. Much of this information is al-
ready in hand. Next a large number of plots must be examined
and studied, and the Forestry Committee of the National Re-
search Council is in a position to bring to bear the experience
and training of many of the recognized leaders in special fields
who can contribute knowledge of unusual value. It is also
planned to ask that an Advisory Committee be appointed from
among the southern lumbermen who are very close to the prob-
lem in question, in order that the Committee may confer with
them for the benefit of their practical experience.

The plan has been worked out carefully and represents the
best judgment of a considerable number of specialists, and it
is felt that the willingness of those interested to join in the pro-
gram will be regarded favorably by the public at large, which
is interested in seeing forestry and the utilization of forest
products become less of a speculation and more of an estab-
lished industry. To be sure, other sections of the country are
also interested in the productivity of cut over lands, and the
Committee will seek cooperation in the region of the Great
Lake States and the northwest in work of a similar character
to be carried on under conditions peculiar to those localities, and
financed by the interests to be benefitted. Further studies on
silvicultural practice will be encouraged in those regions where
there is yet time to so manage the forests that they will be-
come self perpetuating.

It is hoped that if you see faults in the plan thus briefly
outlined you will contribute your constructive criticisms and
suggestions. I trust you will find in the project much that
meets with your approval, and that we can count upon your
valuable support in carrying the plan through to a successful
conclusion.

The Chairman: I would like to call attention to the
movement in the South for two Federal forest experiment sta-
tions, one near Asheville, North Carolina, and the other in the
Florida National Forest. A bill has already been introduced
in Congress, one in the Senate and another in the House, to

Southern Forestry Congress 117

provide for the station in the Southern Appalachians, at Ashe-
ville, and similar hills will he introduced with reference to the
Southern pine station in the Florida forest. This section will
have to do with the determining of such questions as the best
use to which land may be put and the most practical methods of
forestry to adopt, and the like. The movement is very worthy
of your support, gentlemen, and I earnestly hope that you will
give it such.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Mr. J. C. Jones, for the Nominating Committee, reported
the names of Mr. Henry E. Hardtner, President, Urania Lum-
ber Company, Urania, La., for president ; and Mr. J. S.
Holmes, State Forester, North Carolina Geological and Eco-
nomic Survey, Chapel Hill, N. C, for re-election as secretary.
On motion these gentlemen were then nominated, and elected
by a rising vote.

FRIDAY MORNING SESSION

Mr. Henry E. Hardtner, President of the Louisiana For-
estry Association, in the chair. Mr. Hardtner introduced Ex-
Governor Jared Y. Sanders of Louisiana, now member of Con-
gress from that State.

Mr. Sanders spoke with pride of the twenty-seven conser-
vation laws which he and Mr. Hardtner had been instrumental
in framing and passing in the legislature during Mr. San-
ders' term as Governor. He said that Louisiana was an excep-
tion to the rule that communities do not practice conservation
until all of their resources have disappeared. He felt that if
the lumbermen had shown very great ability in exploiting the
forests, their ability to preserve them should be as great, once
they determined upon forest preservation. The Governor said
that it was not necessary to destroy the forests entirely in or-
der to secure the lumber which is so essential to human pros-
perity, and that in his opinion it is possible to devise ways to
remove the mature timber without injuring the smaller stuff.
It is essential in his opinion that the forest industries be made
permanent through forest conservation, and the practice of
forestry. He declared emphatically that he would back proper
conservation laws both State and National.

118 Proceedings of the

The Hon. Fred J. Grace, Registrar of the State Land Of-
fice, was introduced as the first forester of Louisiana. Mr.
Grace told how he had helped in framing the early conserva-
tion laws and had been instrumental in securing the chair of
forestry at the Louisiana State University.

Resolutions were presented by Hon. J. H. Wallace, Conser-
vation Commissioner of Alabama, providing for the appoint-
ment of permanent committees to carry on the work of the
Congress until its next meeting; and by President W. Good-
rich Jones of the Texas Forestry Association calling upon the
President and Secretary to draw up by-laws for the Congress,
to be presented to the next meeting. Both this and the former
resolution were subsequently adopted.

Mr. Henry E. Hardtner, President of the Louisiana For-
estry Association in addressing the annual meeting, spoke in
part as follows :

Mr. Hardtner: "The evils resulting from deforestation
are too often blamed on the lumberman, when in reality he is
no more responsible than any other individual and is only car-
rying on a business encouraged by the government and giving
employment to thousands. A lumberman knows the lumber
business just as the banker, the merchant, the mechanic, the
farmer knows his, though some obscure individual may have a
better idea of the plan and need of forests and reforestation
than the lumberman who only knows the art of cutting trees in-
to lumber. The lumberman has had to fight for the protection
of his business and the government is equally persistent in
getting as much taxes as possible from that business ; so the
warfare will continue until the last tree is cut when the people
will look around, take an inventory and wonder why they were
so careless. I have no censure for the lumberman because of
our fast disappearing forests, show him the remedy — the cure,
and he will be the first one to act.

There is one thing, however, that I am ashamed to ac-
knowledge— Louisiana in her feeble efforts to perpetuate her
forests has not kept faith with the lumberman in the original
plan of conservation.

The Conservation Commission created in 1908 under the
Sanders' administration decided that it was the duty of the
State to protect and perpetuate the forests. In order to have

Southern Forestry Congress 119

the necessary funds to carry on the work the lumbermen agreed
to pay a license tax on all timber severed from the soil ; and in
order to make this tax effective a constitutional amendment had
to be ratified by the people. Ample funds were to be secured
in this way to be used for the prevention of forest fires and the
purchase of denuded lands for state forests. The very next
administration diverted every cent of this "severance tax" to
other purposes and thus the forests have suffered. Governor
Pleasants' administration has in a small way righted this
wrong.

Governor Sanders, Harry Gamble, Fred Grace, Sam Wood-
ring and Col. Sullivan know that these are the facts and the
records speak for themselves.

The lumbermen have been mute, seemingly content to pay
tribute so long as they were not further molested. All I ask
of the lumbermen is, that they join with the Louisiana Forestry
Association in urging the incoming administration to use this
"severance tax" as the law intended and as the people by their
votes said it should be.

If the Federal and State Governments do their part and
point out the fair, correct way, I am sure the lumbermen and
forest owners will do theirs and the evils that come from com-
plete deforestation will be averted."

N. B. The legislature of Louisiana met some weeks later
and appropriated $60,000 annually for two years for forest
protection ; also passed a new forestry act which is almost per-
fect. Thus the administration of Governor John M. Parker
has righted past wrongs and set the pace for Southern States
in perpetuating forests.

LAND CLASSIFICATION

By Austin Cary
u. s. forest service

A man drafted at nearly the last moment to fill in for
another listed for an important paper, particularly if he has
given no systematic study or thought to the subject, may be
allowed to treat it in a free way.

First, I would like to indicate a general attitude toward the
Southern Country and its problems, the region to which in the
main the paper must apply. Coming from New England, a
section more densely populated and further developed in in-

120 Proceedings of the

dustrial lines, more or less acquainted also with most other
sections including the Far West, this Southland seems to me
the land of greatest opportunity and promise in the United
States today. The vast area involved, its immense productivity
in various lines, an industrial development simple and primitive
as yet, with development of corresponding volume and va-
riety yet to come — these are the elements of a situation most
interesting, of vast promise, at the time unique.

A word may be said too as to the spirit in which this sit-
uation should be met by those concerned. A narrow, individ-
ual, selfish attitude may on the one hand be maintained. That
will indeed accomplish some things, meet the situation in a
somewhat effective way ; but there are so much better possibili-
ties than that. True, each man must look after his own in-
terests, hoe his own row, but the complimentary fact may well
be in his mind at the same time that his sound and permanent
prosperity depends on that of his neighbor as well. Then the
big idea appropriated to oneself, the sense of being a free and
loyal unit in a country growing, developing, becoming great,
is a stimulus to the heart and mind.

Given these conditions and this spirit, the next thing to
secure is development according to sound methods and plans,
and here we touch on the subject of this paper. Every useful
thing is derived from the land. Timber, grass, farm products
— we do not create any out of hand. They come out of the
earth though labor and care may combine with nature in their
production. This is patent to all in connection with the two
last named, and coming to be a fact and to be recognized as
such in connection with the first of the trio. From that it is
a very short step to the further idea that some land is best
suited to one sort of production and some to another.

Land classification began in fact with the first settlement of
every country. Prof. Lovejoy of Michigan in a late article on
the subject has clearly recognized that fact, and while he would
no doubt, like others, admit the frequent effectiveness of such
classification, unconscious often and untrained, he gives illus-
tration on the other hand of its frequent weakness and failure.
This is one case he does by the career of the father of Abra-
ham Lincoln who spent his life in moving from one location
to another because after the long and laborious process of land
clearing and home building he found in each case that he had

Southern Forestry Congress 121

chosen a spot on which it was hardly possihle to make a living ;
and Prof. Lovejoy goes on to say that the region in which he
spent his efforts has proved unrewarding to this day, is now
a region of small, unthrifty and dwindling population.

With that, however, I feel like putting in a word for the
untrained pioneer, for if he did work at disadvantage, on the
other hand he worked hard and was resolute in it. The high
qualities displayed hy the son in the case above mentioned per-
haps arose in large part out of the very limitations of the
father. 1 think too of my own New England stock. It has
been told of the piece of land in Maine on which I was born
and brought up that when first put under cultivation about 100
years ago, after the timber was cut and the stumps removed,
it cost $100 an acre to clear the rocks off it. But a very sturdy
and admirable life was in fact built on that and other such
foundations. Those men meant single mindedly and without
question to possess that land and to rear on it their social fab-
ric. In that they succeeded, and furthermore as the years have
passed when opportunities have arisen or calls been made they
and their descendants have done their share in the develop-
ment of and service to the country.

Poorly rewarded labor due to unskilled selection of land,
we cannot, however, in a broad way consider good and de-
sirable ; it goes against our deep-seated judgment. Therefore,
with increase of population and a growing volume and variety
of industry based on the land comes, or may well come, skilled,
professional classification.

Let us in the first place draw a distinction between classifi-
cation of land and soil classification. The latter is a purely
technical thing, based on mechanical and chemical elements of
the soil itself, and with relation, as thus far carried on, to
adaptability to agricultural uses. The former is, or should be,
broad, taking into account topography, location, relation to
present population and markets, and should result in clear and
specific statements as to what the land in question is actually
and in the circumstances and time best suited to produce. Uti-
lization for some purpose is, of course, the key ; we are all
agreed that when the products of land, as they are in this
country today or promise to be in the near future, are all needed,
no great areas should be allowed to lie idle.

122 Proceedings of the

I might, in the next place, define and illustrate this matter,
and that will be done in part through instances derived from
late experience. These I can derive best from Florida, and on
mentioning that state I am reminded of a story which, however
good or poor in itself, bears as will be seen on another aspect
of the subject before us. The point of this story is not compli-
mentary to Florida, but I can fairly tell it because it was told
me by a Florida landowner and because I am perfectly free
and ready to say in connection with it that along with what
according to present knowledge is some of the poorest land
known, Florida has also much that is good and some of the
very richest that can be found anywhere. The two extremes in
fact lie often side by side or checker-boarded in small areas.
The story is as follows :

A northern man, from Chicago perhaps, bought a piece of
land sight unseen from Florida real estate agents. He did
really know considerable about land when he saw it, but this
time, for some reason unknown, trusted to representation. Af-
ter a time, however, he had opportunity to visit the state and
while there took a look at his property. He procured a guide
and as is common practice in land examination started at one
corner to go around it. It wasn't an attractive sight at the
start — Florida has a lot of pure sand within its limits — and as
they proceeded further it got no better. Down one side, across
the end, up the other side they went. Finally, as they were tra-
versing the last boundary, they came to a hole in the ground
several inches in diameter. The landowner, new to Florida,
asked what that was and received the answer that it was a go-
pher hole. "What is a gopher?" was the next question, and
the guide explained, what may be new to most of those here,
that the gopher in Florida is a small land turtle. "Is he in
there?" again asked the landowner, the guide answering that
he probably was as he is a nocturnal animal. The visitor then
reached in his pocket and pulled out a paper which proved to
be his deed, shoved it down the gopher hole and made this
sententious remark, "Well, he is in possession and I guess he
might as well have legal title."

To come back to the subject, two of us, a Bureau of Soils
man and myself as forester, were recently examining with a
view to its possibilities for timber production in future, a large

Southern Forestry Congress 123

tract, now covered with longleaf pine, in the lower part of the
Florida peninsula. For several days we had heen finding very
slow growth, and soil factors responsible for that were readily
identified in the shape of nearly pure sand, hardpan, and a wat-
er table close to the surface. But one day we struck the prop-
erty at a new point, found the young timber looking better, and
stopped to cut a couple of trees and ascertain the rate at winch
they were growing. And almost with first glance at those ax
cuts I realized that the timber was growing at a vastly greater
rate than we had previously found, and I said to the man who
was doing the cutting that the soil man would surely find
something different from what we had been having. Sure
enough, the words were hardly out of my mouth when he
came up saying that he had struck clay five feet down, at the
end of his auger.

Many other instances might be adduced in the same line —
distribution of tree species in accordance with soil types, types
of grass varying with the depth of the water table, etc. But
such things, at least in relation to agriculture, are in a general
way familiar. Scientific men work with these elements, and
poorly educated but observant farmers, as was recognized in
a late paper by Prof. A. D. Hopkins, very frequently use these
elements, and that to the best advantage, as their guide.

I may next bring out concretely, what was referred to in a
general way before, the difference between soil and land clas-
sification.

We have for instance over large areas of the South, land
whose soil is capable of high production, but of too strong
topography to allow it to be profitably cultivated. It washes
when stripped of a close cover of vegetation and the farmer's
efforts are lost, perhaps the results are disastrous also on neigh-
boring territory. Such land to be useful ought to do something
else — bear grass or timber.

Here I would like to refer to a phenomenon at the South,
which strikes one coming from New England as peculiar. It
seems in fact to be confined to the South at the present day,
an heirloom from its earlier history That is the very small size
of farm units in many sections, these embracing only such area
as the farmer wishes to actually till, he depending on surround-
ing land, the legal property of others, large lumber concerns
in many cases, for his pasturage and perhaps also for his fire-

124 Proceedings of the

wood and small timber. This system it seems to me is an un-
desirable one for these and coming times, leading to irrespon-
sible treatment of large areas. Just when or how or to what
extent it will be changed is a question difficult to answer. Were
the condition otherwise, the farm pasture and woodlot would
take care of the matter of most desirable use for such land as
I have mentioned on a large area.

Of other elements outside the soil classifying land as suit-
able or not for agricultural settlement, nearness to markets
and the possibility of building up communities, so much su-
perior generally to the detached farm, are others which need
only reference.

One other element, however, enters — that of timeliness, the
date at which a given piece of land promises to be needed agri-
culturally ; and here the key has been given by that sturdy
worker for the sound upbuilding of the South, Mr. C. S. Ucker.
He suggests that land in the South should be thrown into the
three following classes :

1. Lands immediately available for general agriculture.

2. Lands of lower grade, that will not be wanted agricul-
turally for a considerable time but well suited to grazing and
timber growing.

3. Lands which as far as can be judged, it will not pay
to handle with care for any of the above purposes for one or
two generations. Those of this last classification in the South
are certainly of small area.

The advantages to be derived from general availability of
sound information on the suitability of different bodies of land
should be evident. In the first place, much misdirection of ef-
fort on the part of large landowners would be saved. I
think for instance of a recent occurrence not very far from
this place — a large area cleared and put in crops to furnish
winter feed for a big grazing enterprise. As a matter of fact
the crop failed two out of three years following, and the con-
clusion was finally arrived at that the soil, which bore grass
naturally and before clearing was covered with a handsome
second growth of timber, was fundamentally unsuited to cul-
tivation.

Take also the following: The land of a big lumber com-
pany having the idea that it may perhaps be able to grow sue-

Southern Forestry Congress 125

cessive crops of timber as a basis for a permanent manufactur-
ing enterprise, is examined by a soil expert. As a result it
comes out that about half the area owned by the company is
underlaid by two of the most productive and reliable types of
agricultural soil known to the South and when cleared of tim-
ber, if knowledge of its existence spreads, will be wanted at
once for agricultural purposes. That was a surprise to the
company. Without the knowledge it stood a chance of mak-
ing large expenditures to no good purpose.

Great advantage to the proposing settler may also be de-
rived. All are familiar with cases of unsuccessful settlement
due to poorly selected land and the loss and demoralization of-
ten resulting. This is frequently due to sheer ignorance on the
part of those concerned ; sometimes it is due to commercial
scheming. This last, to right-minded men, I think, appears
about as criminal an act as any that can be perpetrated. Waste
of years of effort, destruction of the life hopes of well-mean-
ing people, — can anything be better calculated to tear down
the morale and cohesion of the country? Really sound and ex-
pert land classification, its results made available and utilized
by all who may profit by them, would obviate very much of this
difficulty.

Then there is a third service which such information may
render, and that more in line with the aims of this Congress —
it might in a broad way designate what lands are clearly suit-
able for early agricultural settlement and on the other hand
those areas, if any, which is not worth while for any purpose
to spend money on. That done, it would be clear that grazing
and timber growing were the best uses to which much land of
an intermediate character can be put, at least in the early fu-
ture. Minds would then be cleared, owners and the public
would settle down to the idea, and measures and adjustments
might be freely carried out designed to get the best that is
practicable out of them. The great gain to all parties and the
state which would result from the frank adoption of this course
I think should be evident. It is clear, however, that the work in
mind cannot be entrusted to men of merely technical training
and viewpoint. Broad, informed judgment must be applied to
the matter.

Turning next from the facts and needs of the situation to
study what may be done actually, it would appear that what

126 Proceedings of the

is required in the first place is clear and general understanding.
If the relations above set forth are agreed to, (I believe I may
say that in the minds of men of the forestry profession that has
long been the case) it will be admitted that they have not been
clear in the minds of many who are in one way or another in-
volved, or will be. That remark is not meant to apply to the
public and to business men only, but to scientific men who have
been working on the borders of this problem. Soil surveys to
date for instance have had in view almost without exception,
value for crops alone, and have not considered these broader
and equally important questions. A first step in advance, it
would seem, might well be to get this idea of broad use clearly
seated in the minds of workers in this field, a matter of adjust-
ment among government and other scientists.

Take the following, for instance, as a result of misconcep-
tion on this subject. Soil men in some cases have indeed desig-
nated what they called land suitable for forest, and that land
as far as I have noted has soil so poor that it cannot possibly be
utilized under American agricultural methods. This also is
true with regard to some portions at least of the land so desig-
nated— that its power of producing timber and grass is so small
that for the present at least it is hardly, even for these purposes,
worthy of attention. We would, in fact, by taking a fraction of
the better soils (and there is an abundance of these not required
for settlement for a very long time) raise our timber very
much cheaper. This conception of absolute forest soil then,
has sometimes had among us a rather misleading influence.
Similarly, men seem often not to realize that considerable frac-
tions of our very excellent soils are now and long will be avail-
able for timber production for accidental reasons.

What, however, may be done, specifically and practically,
to secure for the service of business and the guidance of broad
development at the South the benefit of sound information on
this head ? One possibility comes to me from my own expe-
rience.

A year and a half ago application was made to the Forest
Service from Florida for a study of forest fires and their ef-
fects in that state. I happened to be the available man and as
a first measure spent a month in looking the ground over. As
a result of that I concluded that if the matter was to be ade-
quately handled three men of different training were required,

Southern Forestry Congress 127

an expert on soils, a grass man and a forester. Going baek to
Washington with this idea, I met with a very friendly response
in the Bnreau of Soil Survey, and Mr. J. (). Veatch, a man of
wide experience and thorough training in the fields of geology
and soils, and a pretty fair systematic botanist as well, was de-
tailed to go back with me. We spent a number of months to-
gether on that work last winter, and have since cooperated in
doing a couple of jobs for large and broad-minded landowners.

What comes of this work? Men cannot, indeed, working
as we do, make a detailed survey of men's property, its soil
types and aggregate producing power for timber. They can,
however, in a relatively short time, determine the types of soil
and of land existent and place an approximate rating on the
grass and timber-producing power of those types under speci-
fied methods of treatment. The owner, getting results in a
clear and understandable form, may then make more detailed
surveys for himself, or the information so secured may in it-
self be sufficient for business purposes. Reliable and pointed,
even though incomplete, information may be of great service in
mapping out sound policies in connection with a big property.
The results derived from one such piece of work have been
cited already, and I have just come from another, the owners
stating that results would be particularly valuable to them in
settling development policy for 600,000 acres of land in con-
nection with the local railroad. My suggestion is that the gov-
ernment bureaus or state institutions train and make available
men who on demand may be employed to make such land ex-
aminations.

Nor need this sort of work be done under public auspices
entirely. In that connection there comes to my mind a fine
piece of work, in another but equally important line, done on
the initiative and at the cost of the Southern Pine Association.
In making a survey of standing pine timber in the states from
North Carolina to Texas, that great commercial organization
has shown broad-mindedness and public spirit and done a piece
of work of great value to the country no less than to its mem-
bers. These are so many and own in the aggregate such a vast
area of land that it seems as if the Association might very profit-
ably employ a small group of well equipped men to settle the
sort of questions we have been considering. Other bodies might
perhaps usefully do the same thing, for instance, either the

128 Proceedings of the

state or the parent organizations of those now being organized
by Mr. Ucker.

So much, to my mind, seems desirable, and practicable as
well an opportunity for highly rewarding expenditure of
money. Some indeed have gone further and suggested thor-
ough-going, state-wide land classification. The idea is submitted
here without comment further than the remark that such thor-
oughgoing treatment of a subject generally takes a long time
for completion, to set on foot even, and on the principle that
half a loaf is better than no bread I think we would do well in
the present instance to keep at work on lines of least resistance.

Mr. L. V. Spraker, Land and Development Agent of the
Natalbany Lumber Company of Hammond, La., described the
careful survey which his company is making of their large land
holdings, aggregating a hundred thousand acres or more. In
this survey topography, types of soil, amounts of standing tim-
ber and young growth, amount of down material, etc., are being
recorded, and notes are also being made as to the accessibility
of the various tracts, the cost of clearing, and similar data. The
final object is to classify the land into agricultural land, grazing
land, and other land.

Mr. B. T. Gallaher, Logging Superintendent of the Trout
Creek Lumber Company, Trout, La., described the holdings of
his company as being very largely grazing lands.

State Forester, Wm. T. Cox, of Minnesota, suggested that
the foresters eschew the term non-agricultural in speaking" of
land not suited to farming or grazing. He pointed out that
owing to local pride many communities will resent having any
of their land described as non-agricultural, but that they would
on the other hand welcome statements showing the high value
of the land for timber growing.

Mr. H. B. Holyroyd, Agricultural and Immigration Agent
of the L. & N. Railroad, described some of the late agricultural
developments on what had been considered the poorer piney
woods soils of the South.

Miss Caroline C. Dorman, newly appointed chairman of
the forestry committee of the Louisiana Federation of Wo-
men's Clubs, made a plea for the reservation of a small area
of virgin pine timber in Natchitoches parish as a State Park.
She expressed the hope that this movement, which was based

Southern Forestry Congress 129

on purely sentimental consideration, would not interfere with,
but rather help in, the larger movement for the practice of
forestry on great areas in the state.

State Forester, Wm, T. Cox of Minnesota, described the
part played by the Minnesota Forestry Association in further-
ing the work of forestry in his state. Mr. Cox was emphatic
in declaring that the Association had played a vital role in se-
curing the passage of much of the State forest legislation, and
in championing the establishment of state forests. He urged
every Southern state to develop a strong state forestry asso-
ciation as an effective means of support for the constituted au-
thorities.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON SESSION

FORESTRY IN THE LANDES (SOUTHERN FRANCE)
By Theodore S. Woosley, Jr.

MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE INTERALLIED WAR TIMBER COM-
MISSION, 1917-1919

Introduction : The reclamation and f orestation of the
sand wastes of the Landes and Gironde between Bayonne and
the Garonne River (north of Bordeaux) is perhaps the best
possible illustration of the benefits of forestry to the individual,
to the community and to the nation. The individual who pio-
neered in sowing these sands made a handsome profit, the com-
munities were saved from obliteration by the encroachment of
the sand dunes and became rich after being bankrupt, and lastly
France found itself sovereign of departments producing a
handsome revenue instead of having to furnish them assis-
tance. Nor should the indirect benefits of this work be over-
looked ; a region formerly fever stricken became healthy and
today places like Arcachon and Mimizan are health resorts
both in summer and winter. And I wish to emphasize that much
of this land was sand worthless for agriculture, mediocre for
grazing but nevertheless an ideal soil for the rapidly growing,
resine producing, maritime pine, which yields up to 20 M.
ft. bd. m. per acre at sixty years. Bremontier, a great engineer
and believer in forestry, was able to put the work of stabilizing
the dunes and forestation on a sound basis during the years
1787 to 1817 and the problem was solved during his adminis-
tration. He proved to the canny French that the work was
sound financially. The parallel between the so-called sand

130 Proceedings of the

wastes of the South and the great Landes Region in Southern
France is most striking. What will the South do with its
sands? Surely it will profit from the example set by France
and avoid its costly early mistakes. Let me give you a picture
of the Landes conditions before and after the application of
forestry and the measures that were necessary to repair the
results of past improvidence.

Preliminary Work: The "Landes" is a triangular area
of some 1,977,00 acres *bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, and the
three rivers, Agronne, Midouze and Adour. Three quarters
of a century ago this was mostly an unhealthy level sand waste
of swamp land, ponds, brush, and limited mediocre stands of
maritime pine with a scattering of oak with other broad leaves.
There was no system of roads and the chief industry was
sheep and goat grazing. As early as 1737 the reclamation of
this waste land was under consideration but only after Cham-
brelent, Bremontier and others had shown that drainage and
forestation were practicable did the state secure the law of
1857 which provided for the (a) drainage of communal land
and (b) the construction of a system of roads to tap the areas
drained.

The drainage was finished in 1865 and cost only $172,484
to drain 468,767 acres (which had been purchased from the
communes) and by 1860 they had spent $1,238,095 on roads.
The communes had forested 183,000 acres by 1891 (or y!\ the
waste area they owned) and the forestation of private land had
not lagged behind. The foundation stones were thus drainage
and good roads.

But before forestation, the coast dunes also had to be sta-
bilized.

Dunes: The maritime dunes of France are formed of
sand drifted from the ocean, f The sand dries out on the beach
at low tide and is blown inland. The normal dune is entirely
a natural phenomenon, but its movement far inland is usually
caused and accentuated by the destruction of bordering forests
and soil cover.

*Huffel, Economic Forcstiere, Vol. 1. pp. 177-184.

t Notes sur les Dunes de Gascogne par J. Bert. 1900.

Southern Forestry Congress

131

Huff el says there are the following maritime dunes in
France :*

DEPARTMENTS

Nord, Somme
Finistere, Morbihan
Loire-Inf., Vendee,
Charente-Inf.
Gironde, Landes

On depts. on Mediterranean

Totals for France

AREA IN ACRES MAIN OWNERSHIP, PRIVATE

30,147

3,954 % private, % state

33,606 State

252,046f Vz state, y2 private or
communal

2,422 Private

322,175

private, Yz state

The dune areas in the Gironde and Landes are about equal.
The maritime pine covers considerable ground outside the
dunes. There is a total of 1,656,630 acres of forest (mostly
maritime pine) in the Lot et Garonne, Landes and Gironde
divided as follows :

OWNERSHIP

Private and communal forest
Communal forest under state control
State forest

ACRES

1,510,549

17,411

128,670

1,656,630

By 1899 there were 140 miles of artificial barrier dunes in
the Landes and Gironde Departments alone, the first barrier
dune having been constructed in 1833.

Construction and Objective of Coast Dunes: We have al-
ready seen that the ocean said, if unchecked, drifts inland
and submerges everything of value in its path. The theory
of fixing or stabilizing the sand is to secure and maintain the
following- conditions :

DESIRED CONDITION

Gradual shelving beach
Barrier dune

OBJECTIVE

To allow the waves to break their force
without eroding or washing the dry sand.

To dam the drifting sand.

* Huffel, Vol. 1, 149-150.

f This is substantially the same area as was reported in 1822 ; in
1800 Bremontier had estimated it at 271,815 acres, and at over 181,420
acres in 1803 while Villiers had grossly over estimated the area in 1779
at 878,913.

132 Proceedings of the

DESIRED CONDITION OBJECTIVE

Grass or vegetable cover To maintain the sand in place on and

around the barrier dune.

Forest protection belt To help maintain the sand in place and

to protect the merchantable stands from
the effects of the wind.

The underlying principle is as follows :

*"Every fixation system is founded on the following prin-
ciple : In the mass of bare sand, susceptible of being eroded
by the wind, the transport takes place grain by grain. There-
fore, if the displacement of the surface particles can be stop-
ped, there is nothing to fear regarding those underneath, and
the entire mass is fixed.

"The method consists in sowing the maritime pine under
cover. It is to a landowner at Teste, Pierre Peychan — often
known under the name Maitre-Pierre — that we owe this
method, both simple and practical which he advised Bremontier
about, and which we still use, almost without modification.

"To keep the seed from being buried by the sand a cover of
brush is laid over the entire surface seeded. This precaution
is necessary not only for holding the seed but also for protecting
the young plants against the action of the moving sand ; for
the moving crest of particles, projected without end against the
growing stems, wears them out to a point where they fall over
being no longer able to hold up their heads ; most of them
would thus die. In practice, bundles of fagots, up to 1,000 per
acre, are scattered over the area to be forested. These fagots
are 3.3 feet in circumference and 4.3 feet in length. For their
manufacture the furze (a jouc) is the species preferred ; then
comes the genista (genet), then the heather, tree heathers, the
rouches (reed of fresh water marches) and pine branches; but
these latter have the disadvantage that too often under their
cover, cryptogamic diseases break out. The thorns, briars,
ferns and light woods do not protect the soil sufficiently.
Immediately after the sowing of the seed, the areas sown are
covered over, or better still, the two operations are carried
out at the same time. The brush is placed as you proceed to-
wards the sea, the large ends facing (the sea) and the branches
of each tier covering the base of those which precede them.

♦Boppe, p. 478-481.

Southern Forestry Congress 133

Then in order to keep this cover in place the workmen put
good sized piles (pelletees) of sand on the portions where no
seed has been sown, and spread it on the outstretched branches,
about twenty-four inches apart, measuring from the centers.
The sole improvement made on the system of Pierre Peychan
and Bremontier, is that of fixing the cover in place by means
of small poles placed across and held down by notched stakes
driven into the sand. At the end of the day's work the last
row is securely fixed so any wind storm will not wreck the
work already done.

"To sum up, it is really a dead cover which has been placed
on the soil. P>ut it would not last indefinitely, it is clearly but
the beginning to be followed by a living cover which will
carry on its role."

At Lacanau, there were four kinds of barriers against sand
erosion: (1) To prevent the erosion of the tops of barrier
dunes; upright stakes were placed 1.6 feet apart, 1.3 to 3.3
feet in height, with interwoven branches and genista to pre-
vent the sand from shifting through. Here the ordinary pali-
sades had been abandoned because the natural method just
described is considered cheaper to maintain when once the pro-
tective dune is raised to the proper height by use of the pali-
sade method. Here the artificial dunes were fifty-two feet in
height.

(2) To protect the rear of the protective dune ; rows of
genista 2.3 feet high were sunk 1.1 to 1.3 feet in the soil. This
resulted in keeping the rear of the protective dune to the proper
height.

(3) To hold the sand; branches were laid on the sand to
prevent wind erosion.

(4) To hold and build up areas where the sand had been
excavated by the wind near the ocean; clumps of genista (1.6
feet in circumference) were planted in quincunx.

Forcstation : We have seen that the first step is to make
sure that the protection dunes are stable, and that the first
essential is to sow or plant grass on the slopes towards the sea
about sixty to seventy feet from high tide.

The present method of sowing takes about eighteen pounds
of seed* of maritime pine per acre, 1.8 of genista, and 1.8 of

♦Maritime cones are collected from Jan. 1 to March 1 ; genista seed
is collected June to July and thrashed the end of July ; maram grass is
collected in August.

134 Proceedings of the

maram grass. The tendency is to sow too densely. The cor-
rect method of sowing means scattering the seed, theoretically
about one to two inches apart. The seed is then covered with
branches held down by sand. The cover is absolutely essential
so that the sand will not burn the seed and so that the surface
will not blow. A second method is by holes four inches deep
and twenty inches apart ; covered with genista and held down
with sand. Where forests are sown or planted taxation is re-
mitted for thirty years. But natural regeneration is the rule.

Cost Data: Bremontier's original estimate for the dune
control and forestation was about $772,000. The final cost*
of reclaiming 195,212 acres totaled $1,854,344 or $9.50 per
acre. In addition $656,200 was spent on maintenance for roads,
forest houses, fire lines, and barrier dunes, making a grand to-
tal of 2^2 million dollars. But just as Bremontier predicted,
the annual revenue from this land, which would otherwise have
been worthless, is more than the original amount spent. Ac-
cording to Huffel f the total "Landes" pine forest (including
state, communal, and private) comprised 1,611,121 acres which
represents an investment of 10,331,290 on the following ba-
sis:

* The details were as follows :

Cutting 1,400 fagots at 80 cents per 100 $11.20

Working them up at 80 cents per 100 11.20

Transport 1,500-2,000 metres at 4 francs per 100 56.00

Drying at 1 franc per 100 14.00

Miscellaneous fagot expense at 75 cents per 199 10.50

Yz hectolitre maritime pine seed 10.00

5 kilograms genista seed 2.50

Miscellaneous expense and repairs 4.60

Total $120.00 (or $9.26 per

per acre)
tHuffel, Vol. I, p. 159.

Southern Forestry Congress 135

TOTALS IN DOLLARS

74,131.3 acres of dunes reforested by the state at a cost of

$10.75 plus per acre $926,400

1,536,989.3 acres of private and communal interior holdings

forested at $4.25 per acre 6,602,530

1,611,121 acres of soil at cost of ^.77 plus per acre 1,258,360

K.7K7.290
Road betterments 1,544,000

Grand total expense $10,331,290

This is equal to an average investment of only $6.41 per
acre. A conservative estimate of yield (before the war) was
$2.22 per acre per year. Thus if taxation is eliminated the
original investment yields over 30% as a national "speculation."
But it must be noted that the real soil value was almost nothing
at the time the investment was made. Huffel estimates the
average forest revenue in the Landes at $2,702,000 net per
year representing a new capitalization (including timber) of
at least $86,850,000 or about $54 per acre. As a matter of
fact, state forests with growing stock have been sold for around
$60 per acre and today average more than $93 per acre for
land purchased at less than a dollar. Bare land sold for $16
to $32 an acre prior to 1914 for what it could produce. And
today there are winter and summer resorts where formerly it
zvas a fever district.

The artificial barrier dunes cost about $96 per mile. The
forestation cost has been as high as $38.60 per acre in the
Landes, and in Coubre dunes only $14.20. In 1817 a large
area was sown at a cost of $15.05 per acre. In 1827 Dejean*
reported the cost per acre had been reduced to $9.26. Today it
would be double or triple, but the average is largely reduced by
natural regeneration. The cost per acre for hoeing (to eight
inches depth) and clearing fire lines has been (according to
Bert) about $6.50 or for fire line thirty-three feet wide $26.00
per mile.

THE MANAGEMENT OF THE ESTABLISHED FOREST

Once the forest is established it is managed so as to produce
timber and rosin perpetually; the French had learned their les-
son. First comes a protection belt bordering the dunes. On
the Lacanau (Gironde) State Forest the dune protection strip*

*According to current working plan.

136 Proceedings of the

is 2,625 feet wide where only the dead and dying trees are cut.
In the state forest of Carcans (Gironde) the protective zone is
in three distinct parts, and the growth of the dune forests as
you approach the ocean (east to west) is similar to the decrease
in growth as you near the limit of tree growth in the moun-
tains. (1) The littoral zone of mere shrubs which is 535 to
1,322 feet wide. (2) A zone of badly formed trees of no com-
mercial value, of slow growth and open formation. (3) A
third zoneN where the stand is sufficiently dense to be tapped
but which is maintained without tapping as a protective bar-
rier. It is very significant that these trees which are exposed in
part to the rigors of the ocean winds are not tapped at all but
are maintained exclusively as a protective zone.

Silvicultural Systems: Next to the protection working
group ( which is in the shape of a long strip parallel to the
ocean) additional working groups (in strips Y% of a mile wide)
are laid out from west to east. These are treated as high for-
ests by the shelterwood computment system with the usual seed
fellings and secondary fellings omitted since regeneration is
easy by clear cutting without the necessity of seed trees or the
shelter of a portion of the mature stand. The seed is furnished
by the felled trees. Immediately around Arcachon, the maritime
pine is under the selection system and is kept entirely cleared of
undergrowth, since it is maintained as a sort of pleasure park for
the tourists. In the nearby forest of LaTeste, some clear cut-
ting was practiced entirely too near the sea and after two
years, the regeneration had only partially succeeded. It would
have been much better to have left a protective zone of virgin
timber for seed since clear cutting close to the sea is always
dangerous, especially with the current fire danger.

Intermediate Fellings: After the stand has been regen-
erated, the sapling thickets are thinned to avoid fungus damage
(before they reach merchantable size) by the so-called "de-
pressage" and cleanings are sometimes necessary to protect the
pine against the heather. In the forest of Biscarrosse partly
logged by the A. E. F. (Landes), thinnings by tapping alive
are conducted as follows :

Southern Forestry Congress 137

"The thinnings made every five years* will aim to open up
the forest. This favors both the production of wood and resine
in maritime pine. The thinnings will aim to maintain the tim-
ber in a good state of growth by placing it under the best con-
ditions for increment owing to the fact that maritime is a light
demanding species ; one should not forget that in the case of this
species the underwood as well as the suppressed trees are
valueless and that the upper story alone is of interest. This
cultural rule seems much surer than that given in the working
plan report.

"In the regenerated stands the thinnings with tapping will
commence at about twenty-five years of age, as soon as the
timber shall have attained a sufficient size to enable it to stand
a face. Except when the removal of a pine is more or less ur-
gent, tapping to death or 'tapping to exhaustion' will be fol-
lowed. The tapping to exhaustion will precede the application
of tapping to death by at least the length of a period (five
years)*. It can be accomplished by one or by two faces ac-
cording to the size of the trees. This method of tapping will
be applied to the entire stand of each periodic block during the
period which precedes regeneration. The tapping without kill-
ing (gemmage a vie) will continue to be applied to the pine
thirteen inches and over at breast height. Very vigorous trees
measuring at least sixteen inches in diameter can be intensively
tapped without killing and receive two faces. This method of
extracting the rosin can be made general and will be justified
chiefly during the three or four periods preceding regenera-
tion.

"The application of 'exhaustive tapping' and of intensive
tapping without killing (without injury to the stands) has been
rendered possible by the decision of the Director General dated
March 23, 1908, who has authorized the Mont-de-Marsan in-
spection to reduce the sizes of the faces in height and in diame-
ter."

It should be particularly noted that so-called exhaustive
thinnings which precede the usual thinnings by tapping to

*But see "new tapping" scheme where the period will be four years.

138 Proceedings of the

death, are a new feature of French practice aimed at the in-
crease of rosin production* in state forests.

According to present methods it takes seventy to eighty
years to grow maritime pine in state forests, and fifty-five to
sixty-five years in private forests, which are usually on richer
soil. The scheme of management is simple. Each forest is
divided into working groups (or logging units) which are
in turn divided into compartments. These compartments are
tapped for rosin and finally cut for timber when ripe, and the
brush scattered on the ground. The equal annual yield is ob-
tained by cutting and tapping equal areas each year. The tim-
ber is thus thinned, tapped and cut when it reaches maturity.
The new forest comes from the seed in the tops of felled trees
which are protected from fire.

New Tapping Scheme: The French have officially aban-
doned the fifth year of tapping because of the following ob-
jections: (1) difficulty of chipping the face when it is over 9.8
feet high. (2) this high face (which is often too deep because
of the difficulty of accurate chipping) heals poorly or at least
very slowly. (3) an important part of the bole is damaged by

* The rosin industry has been prosperous in France during the war
and according to Conservator De Lapasse, writing from Bordeaux De-
cember 16, 1919, the average price per liter (1.05671 liquid quarts) of
rosin (resines ou gemmes) for the past fourteen years are as follows:

YEAR

1906

PRICE PER LITER

$

0.050

YEAR

1913

PRICE PER LITER
$

0.048

1907

0.052

1914

(a)

0.054

1908

0.052

1915

(b)

0.025
0.046

1909

0.058

1916

0.093

1910

0.071

1917

(c)

0.125

1911

0.079

1918

(c)

0.135

1912

0.071

1919

(c)

0.208

(a) Price up to the war.

(b) Price August 1 to October 1, 1914.

(c) In 1917 the franc ran S]/2 to the dollar, in 1918 about 5l/2 to
S¥A and in 1919, 5*4 to 11^. The normal rate per cent $.193 to the
franc has been used in conversions.

Southern Forestry Congress 139

high face. For these reasons the tapping period is to be chang-
ed from five to four years. The dimensions for the faces now
are:

WIDTH HEIGHT

YEAR

(centimeters)

(inches)

1

9

3.5

2

9

3.5

3

8

3.1

4

7 to 6

2.75 to 2.36

(cent.)

(inch i:s)

60

23.6

60

23.6

75

29.5

it. 95

37.4

2.90

9.5

meters

With the former fifth year system in vogue, the total height
was 3.70 metres (12.1 feet) before 1904; 3.40 metres (11.1
feet) from 1904 to 1909; 3.20 metres (10.4 feet) since 1910.

Technique of Tapping : It is necessary* for a good
worker to be able to cut a thin even slice of wood to increase
the face, and to continue the face vertically following the grain
of the wood. The sliver is about three inches wide, five to sev-
en inches long and usually less than .4 of an inch deep. The
first step is always to smooth the outer bark with an axe. The
tendency is always to bark too much rather than too small an
area. In placing the gutters, care should be taken not to cut
into the tree with the "place-crampon" more than .2 of an inch
since this is a sufficient depth (in as much as the gutter is
glued by the sap as soon as it flows) and besides if the gutters
are set too deep, it is very difficult to remove them in the au-
tumn. The gutter should, of course, be slightly inclined to-
wards the ground so that the sap will run off into the cup.
There seems to be a good deal of variation in the frequency of
tapping. Some chip once per week during the entire season
and others every five days while some will only chip every
twelve to fifteen days, which decreases the rosin flow. On the
whole, it is better to chip at regular intervals with the rule that
the chipping should be more frequent during the hot weather
in the summer than during the spring and autumn.

A common rule followed in the Landes is :

"To chip once every five days from May 15 to September
15 and once per week during the remainder of the period."

* Le Pin Maritime (Manuel Pratique) par R. Cattin et J. J. Saint-
Jours.

140 • Proceedings of the

The cups are usually cleaned seven times a year and the
rain is poured out after chipping. The trees are scraped once,
sometimes between October and December. It is usually rec-
ommended to commence at the first of March and continue un-
til the end of October.

It is not only necessary to secure a quantity* of gum but
also to secure a good quality. Therefore, it should not be al-
lowed to deteriorate in the cups. On the other hand to collect
too frequently means an unnecessary expense. To dip ten times
per season is hardly necessary while seven or eight times is a
good average. Five collections a year on the other hand, is not
often enough. The difference between good clean rosin and
that which is full of chips and other debris may amount to as
much as a dollar a barrel.

French and American Methods Contrasted : The main dif-
ference between government tapping methods in France and
America seems to be in the width of the face and the annual
rate of increase in its height and the number of faces per
tree. In the United States, the first streak cannot begin
higher than ten inches above the ground. In France it can be
anywhere above the root swelling. In American, the maximum
depth of streak is .5 inch ; in France it is approximately .4 inch.
In American, in Federal tapping operations no tree less than
ten inches can be tapped and trees sixteen inches and over can
have two faces, while trees ten to sixteen inches can have but
one face. In France, the minimum diameter of tree tapped on
State forests (unless to be removed in thinnings) is thirteen
inches and the number of faces is especially designated by the
Waters and Forest Agent. In the United States, the face can
be ten to twelve inches wide (on one experiment the faces av-
eraged nine inches) with no specified decrease in width as the
face proceeds up the tree. In France it is 3.5 to 2.4 inches, de-
creasing each year as the distance above the ground increases.
The maximum height increase per year in the United States is
sixteen inches, while in France the face can be lengthened
twenty-four to twenty-six inches, and even up to thirty-nine
inches in case of four-year tapping. Without more exhaustive

*The workman received (before the war) one-half the resin for their
pay and the operator or owner furnished the cups and gutters.

Southern Forestry Congress 141

experiments the best methods to follow cannot be stated ; here
is a field for scientific investigation which must not be over-
looked by the Southern States*.

Accomplishment: What has been accomplished in the
Landes? In place of virtually worthless fever stricken land
the French have a balance sheet of :

( 1 ) Revenue producing forests protected from fire.

(2) A protection for important industries such as agricul-
ture.

(3) A needed supply of timber,** mine props and resine
products.

(4) A healthy land to live in with largely increased popu-
lation.

Is it to be wondered that the French Chamber of Deputies
has declared that producing forests are of paramount neces-
sity to the nation and insist on their perpetuation? But it
should be noted in closing this paper that the French govern-
ment itself took the initiative financially and technically in the
reclamation and forestation of the Landes ; it blazed the trail
for the private owner.

A PREDICTION

If we may judge from what has happened in Southern
France (Landes and Pyrennes) under somewhat similar con-
ditions the following predictions (or guesses) may be made
regarding the future of the potential forest soil of the South,
say twenty-five years hence.

General: When forests must be grown as a crop or a
permanent industry instead of being mined or destroyed as a
natural resource the stumpage prices for smaller trees will be
two or three times the present rates and the business of for-
estry will be next to agriculture the most important industry
of great land states like Louisiana which has the sunlight, soil
and water necessary for the rapid growth of timber. But be-
fore the Southern States have time to start forest production

*Such experiments as were commenced by Mr. Hardtner are needed
all over the South to determine the best methods of forest practice.

**The principal exploitations of the American Forests Engineers, A.
E. F., were in the Landes South of Bordeaux. They cut 41.4 million
board feet.

142 Proceedings of the

in earnest there will probably be disastrous floods and other
damage as well as an economic shortage of wood products
through unwise use of existing forest resources.

Plains : In the level or rolling country unsuited for agri-
culture :

1. Forestry will be the economic backbone of the region;
without productive forests the country cannot be prosperous.

2. Without forests the region would be less healthy.

3. Where forests are cut off the water level would be
lower than before their destruction.

4. With forest destruction the local population will de-
crease, and vice-versa.

5. The yield from perpetual rosin crops on certain soils
will be greater per acre than from timber production.

6. The value of land will decrease with forest destruction
and increase according to the net revenue from forest produc-
tion.

7. With a warm climate and species of rapid growth short
rotations will be possible and therefore forest production will
be more profitable than in the Northern States.

Mountains: Unless the steep slopes remain forested there
will be millions of dollars of damage from floods and erosion.
At least yi to % the Appalachian ranges will be in public own-
ership, and the public will own a much larger per cent of
forests in the mountains than in the plains.

These mountain forests when publicly owned will pay in-
terest charges on the money invested from a sale of the timber
products produced, will give the necessary soil protection, and
will furnish a summer playground for the Southern people.

Mr. J. E. Rhodes, Secretary-Manager of the Southern
Pine Association, spoke briefly on the economic conditions
which are making forestry a possibility in the South. Mr.
Rhodes described the members of his association as producing
six out of ten billion feet of pine lumber manufactured in the
region which it covers. He declared the recent rise in lumber
prices, which have been accompanied also by a rise of stumpage
values, have made the practice of forestry more and more
possible. He cited the fact that longleaf pine stumpage five
years ago was worth $4 to $5 a thousand, and is now worth
$8 to $10. Saying that there is a 12 to 15 per cent loss in lum-

Southern Forestry Congress 143

ber manufacture due to the inability of the mills to dispose of
odd widths and odd lengths; he described the efforts of the
Southern Pine Association to persuade the lumber retailers to
accept odd lengths and widths and lower grades, fie said that
the retailers are beginning to consent to accept such material.
Laminated construction is another conservation measure which
his association is urging. He remarked upon the fact that vir-
gin white pine stumpage in the Lake States has reached a price
of $25. Mr. Rhodes cleared away the misconception which
has existed with regard to the responsibility of the Southern
Pine Association for the stumpage figures given to the public by
the Emergency Fleet Corporation during the war. The Fleet
Corporation's survey had shown a total volume of standing pine
timber in the South of slightly under 100 billion board feet, of
a quality suitable for ship construction. This estimate while
quoted by the Southern Pine Association in some of its bulle-
tins was not originated by the Association. During ' the past
year the Southern Pine Association had undertaken to check
the estimates of the Fleet Corporation, and in so doing its
agents had secured data on 5,531 mills in the southern pine re-
gion. This survey had shown that about half of the timber is
in the hands of the operators, who for the first time were able
to make money out of the actual manufacture of lumber as
distinct from the realization upon stumpage advances. During
1919 the Association found that 800 new mills, stimulated by
the possibilities of profit in actual manufacture, had been es-
tablished. Most of these were small and many are cutting
small growth. The Association figured that the year's output
of southern pine was about 15 billion board feet, which is al-
most a record, and is unlikely ever to be reached again. In its
survey of standing timber the Association had made an at-
tempt to report on the annual increment through second
growth, and believed it to be 3 to 5 billion feet, or possibly as
high as 6 billion feet, annually. Mr. Rhodes touched on the
possibility that with the increasing substitution of other ma-
terials for wood the annual cut in the South would drop until
it was equalled by production. He declared that the practice
of forestry is becoming a serious commercial possibility.

Secretary C. E. Van Camp of the American Hardwood
Manufacturing Association of Memphis, Term., was called on
to comment upon conditions in the hardwood industry. He

144 Proceedings of the

said that these were not unlike the conditions in the pine in-
dustry as described by Mr. Rhodes. He cited as an
instance of high prices the fact that the present stumpage value
of gum is $6-$7 per M., while gum veneer logs are bringing
$70. He stated that the present high prices of hardwood lum-
ber are due to high wages and to very bad weather, which has
greatly depleted the stocks on hand. He stated that there is no
immediate shortage of hardwood stumpage, and deprecated
"scares" based on a timber famine. Upon being questioned by
Colonel Graves, however, he admitted that hickory, walnut and
ash stumpage is getting scarce.

Mr. R. C Jones, State Forester of Virginia, was prevented
by work connected with the session of the Virginia legisla-
ture, from preparing a formal paper on "Fire Protection and
the Private Owner," but spoke informally on that subject. He
described how individuals, mostly lumber companies and land-
owners, had cooperated with the state of Virginia in fire pa-
trol, in the construction of roads, trails, telephone lines, and
other improvements necessary to fire protection, and in slash
disposal. The extent of this cooperation had been very consid-
erable. He mentioned a number of new forestry bills which
are to be presented in the present legislature, particularly those
dealing with the railroad fire situation. Among these was a
proposed law which would permit railroads to burn strips for
protective purposes parallel to their tracks of greater width
than their rights of way where the latter were too narrow to
make effective fire lanes.

State Forester, J. S. Holmes of Chapel Hill, N. C, and J.
G. Peters of the United States Forest Service, Washington,
spoke briefly on the fire situation — Mr. Holmes touching upon
cooperation with the railroads, and Mr. Peters upon statistics
concerning fires in the South.

After the passage of a number of resolutions in addition to
those passed on the previous day, President Hardtner called
upon Conservation Commissioner, J. H. Wallace of Alabama
for a concluding address. Mr. Wallace paid a tribute to Louis-
iana and the South. The Congress then adjourned.

Southern Forestry Congress 145

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE SECOND SOUTHERN
FORESTRY CONGRESS

1. FOREST DENUDATION

Whereas, The supplies of softwood and hardwood timber in
the Southern States are rapidly diminishing, with a consequent
influence upon the price of lumber and other forest products,
and

Whereas, The customary practice in lumbering and turpen-
tining results in the denudation of the forest and the leaving of
large areas unproductive and idle for indefinite periods ; there-
fore

Be it Resolved, By the Southern Forestry Congress that it
deplores the continuance of such practice of denudation and
urges, in order that such practice may be avoided, the enact-
ment of legislation by the Southern States that will require or
make possible the adoption of measures by owners that will
prevent such denudation and will afford an opportunity for a
natural replacement of forest growth on lands not suited or
not now needed for agriculture or settlement ; and, further-
more, the Southern Forestry Congress urges the States and
the Federal Government jointly to cooperate liberally with
owners in this direction.

2. SEED TREES

Whereas, The South is approaching the end of its virgin
timber supplies, and

Whereas, Great necessity exists for retaining on cut over
lands enough seed bearing trees to restock these lands ; there-
fore

Be it Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges
all owners of forest lands in the South to pay particular at-
tention to this matter which is of such vital concern to the
South's welfare.

3. TAXATION

Whereas, The present system of annual taxation on grow-
ing forests encourages or compels early cutting, and

Whereas, Special consideration in matters of taxation is
often necessary in order to encourage the investment of pri-
vate capital in timber growing ; therefore

146 Proceedings of the

Be it Resolved, By the Southern Forestry Congress that it
approves and recommends passage by State legislatures of spe-
cial tax legislation relating to forests, based on the separation
of land and timber values, and the deferment of taxes on the
timber until harvested , also laws giving special tax relief on
properties devoted to timber growing ; provided means be de-
vised for reimbursing the counties for any lack of revenue in-
curred by such deferment or relief.

4. state forestry departments

Whereas, The forestry problems of the South are of mo-
mentous importance, and

Whereas, The science of forestry involves in its practice
long periods of time, and necessitates continuity of work ; there-
fore

Be it Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges
upon the Southern States to immediately organize strong, non-
political forestry departments and to make adequate appro-
priations for their effective maintenance.

5. forestry department FOR MISSISSIPPI

Whereas, The supplies of timber in the South are rapidly
diminishing, and

Whereas, There are large areas in the South lying unpro-
ductive and idle as a result of the denudation of the forest, and

Whereas, It is essential to the welfare of each Southern
State that such denudation be prevented ; therefore

Be it Resolved, By the Southern Forestry Congress that it
urges the Legislature of Mississippi now in session to enact
the bill recently introduced which provides for the establish-
ment of a State Board of Forestry, and the appointment of a
State Forester.

6. STATE FORESTS

Whereas, The Federal Government recognizes the economic
importance of forests in the preservation of stream flow, and
the production of timber, and has in consequence set aside por-
tions of the public domain and acquired other areas through
purchase as National Forests, and

Southern Forestry Congress 147

Whereas, Public forests are of equal importance to the sev-
eral States; therefore

Be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the Southern Forestry
Congress that the Southern States should purchase and main-
tain State Forests for these reasons ; and, also, to serve as dem-
onstrations in practical forestry.

7. weeks' law purchases

Whereas, The Southern Forestry Congress is heartily in
accord with the principle of increased ownership of forest
lands which are chiefly valuable for timber production and the
protection of streams ; therefore

Be it Resolved, That we do hereby urge the Federal Con-
gress to enact the measure now before it for continuing the
purchase of forest lands under the Weeks' Law appropriating
two million dollars a year for the next five years.

8. federal cooperation in fire protection

Whereas, The problem of forest fires is the most serious
one in connection with the regeneration of our Southern for-
ests,

Be it Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges
the Federal Congress to increase the cooperative fire protec-
tion appropriation to $200,000 for the purpose of cooperating
with the States in fire protection under the Weeks' Law, which
appropriation is contained in the bill appropriating funds for
the Department of Agriculture for the Federal fiscal year 1921.

9. FEDERAL FOREST EXPERIMENT STATIONS

Whereas, There is great need for demonstration areas in
the Southern pineries and the Southern Appalachians, upon
which methods of forestry practice may be tried out ; therefore

Be it Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress urges
the establishment by the Federal Government of a forest ex-
periment station in each of these regions, with adequate ap-
propriations by the Federal Congress for their maintenance.

10. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Whereas, The Southern Forestry Congress recognizes the
importance of scientific research and the value of close cooper-

148 Proceedings of the

ation in work of such fundamental character ; therefore

Be it Resolved, That the projects of the National Research
Council in regard to Forestry be endorsed and the support of
the Southern Forestry Congress be pledged to the undertaking.

11. COMMITTEES

Be it Resolved, That the following standing committees be
raised to consist of five members each, except the Committee
on Finance, which shall consist of ten members, said commit-
tees to be appointed by the President of the Congress ; namely

1. Executive

2. Finance

3. Forestry Policy

4. Legislation

5. Publicity

Resolved further, That the Executive Committee shall con-
sist of its chairman, appointed by the President, and the chair-
men of the four other above named committees, together with
the President and Secretary as ex-officio members.

12. BY-LAWS

Be it Resolved, That the President and Secretary of the
Southern Forestry Congress be authorized and requested to
draw up a set of by-laws suitable for the government of this
Congress to be presented for consideration to the next regular
meeting.

13. TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING

Be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the Southern Forest-
ry Congress that when practicable its session be held at a State
Capital while the Legislature of that State is in session.

14. EXPRESSION OF THANKS

Be it Resolved, That the Southern Forestry Congress here-
by expresses its thanks to the management of the Grunewald
Hotel for its courtesies extended to this body as a whole; that
hearty thanks be expressed to the public press for the gener-
ous cooperation it has given in bringing before the South the
vital forest problems discussed at the sessions of this Congress ;
and, that the Congress as a whole, and the members individ-
ually, express their appreciation to the Louisiana lumbermen
for their courteous and generous hospitality.

APPENDIX I

LIST OF REGISTERED DELEGATES ATTENDING
THE SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONGRESS

Alexander, M. L., Comm'r. of Conservation, New Orleans, La.

Anderson, Miss Lola, Kingsport, Tenn.

Angle, Mrs. N. P., Rocky Mount, Va.

Angle, N. P., Bald Knob Furniture Co., Rocky Mount, Va.

Arber, j. B., Gulf Lumber Co., Fullerton, La.

Baird, C. A., Geologist, Simms Oil Co., Houston, Texas.

Beal, J. M., A. & M. College, Agricultural College, Miss.

Benedict, Mrs. J. T., City Federation of Women's Clubs, New
Orleans, La.

Berckes, H. C, Sou. Pine Association, New Orleans, La.

Bievenharn, Mrs. J. A., Pres. 20th Century Book Club, Mon-
roe, La.

Bishop, L. L., Forest Supervisor, Fla. National Forest, Pensa-
cola, Fla.

Booze, J. M., Lake Charles, La.

Breland, Mrs. R. O., Moss Point, Miss.

Breland, R. O., Moss Point, Miss.

Brisbane, Mrs. Sherard, Rep. of La. Federation of Women's
Clubs, New Orleans, La.

Browne, Margaret, New Orleans, La.

Browne, Mrs. Virgil, Chairman of Conservation, Dist. 1 and 2,
State Federation of Women's Clubs, New Orleans, La.

Buck, B. A., Mobile, Ala.

Calver, V., Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La.

Camp, Vaughan, North Carolina Pine Ass'n., Norfolk, Va.

Campbell, W. M., Fire Marshal of La., New Orleans, La.

Cary, Austin, U. S. Forest Service, Washington, D. C.

Chestnut, I. B., Prof, of Forestry, Agr. College, Berea, Ky.

Clayton, W. D., 1226 St. Mary Street^ New Orleans, La.

Cline, McGarvey, Consolidated Naval Stores Co., lacksonville,
Fla.

Coates, F. J., I. C. R. R., Chicago, 111.

Cocks, R. S., New Orleans, La.

150 Proceedings of the

Cohen, Mrs. L. S., City Federation of Women's Clubs, New
Orleans, La.

Corbett, H. B., Gulf Lumber Co., Fullerton, La.

Core, Norman, La. Dept. of Conservation, Folsom, La.

Cox, Wm. T., State Forester, St. Paul, Minn.

Cushing, D. T., Great Sou. Lumber Co., Bogalusa, La.

Day, F. H., New Orleans, La.

de Coriolis, E. G., Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

Dorman, Miss Caroline C, Chairman Forestry Committee,
State Federation of Women's Clubs, Campti, La.

Dorman, Miss Virginia T., Natchitoches, La.

Drolet, Geo., Forester for Kaul Lumber Co., Birmingham, Ala.

Dunn, T. R., Chicago, 111.

Everley, H. E., National Council of Furniture Ass'ns., 530
Monadnock Building, Chicago, 111.

Fechtig, F. H., Purchasing Agent, A. C. L. R. R., Wilmington,
N. C, and Atlanta, Ga.

Ferry, E. A., 111. Central R. R., New Orleans, La.

Fitzhugh, J. E., Supt. Fire Prevention, Sante Fe R. R., Gal-
veston, Texas.

Forbes, R. D., Supt. of Forestry, Dept. of Conservation, New
Orleans, La.

Fulham, Mrs. Fannie, City Federation of Women's Clubs, New
Orleans, La.

Gallaher, B. G., Trout Creek Lbr. Co., Trout, La.

Gassie, H. J., New Orleans, La.

Gerrans, A. T., Vice-President John L. Roper Lbr. Co., New
Bern, N. C.

Gilmore, A. B., Modern Farming, New Orleans, La.

Glenk, Robert, La. State Museum Building, New Orleans, La.

Grace, Fred J., Registrar, State Land Office, Baton Rouge, La.

Graves, H. S., Chief Forester, U. S. Forest Service, Washing-
ton, D. C.

Gray, Mat., New Orleans Correspondent American Lumber-
man, Chicago, 111.

Hallowell, R. M., Industrial Lumber Co., Elizabeth, La.

Hardtner, H. E., Pres. La. Forestry Ass'n., Urania, La.

Hart, W. O., New Orleans, La.

Haydock, C, Development Agent, 111. Central R. R., Memphis,
Tenn.

Southern Forestry Congress 151

Hendrix, U. R., La. State University, Baton Rouge, La.
Hewes, H. B., Sou. Cypress Mfg. Ass'n., Meanerette, La.
Hogue, Roy L., Interior Lbr. Co., Jackson, Miss.
Holmes, Mrs. Lydia VV., Federation of Women's Clubs, New

Orleans, La.
Holmes, J. S., State Forester, N. C. Geological and Economic

Survey, Chapel Hill, N. C.
Holmes, W. S., Supt. of Game, Dept. of Conservation, New

Orleans, La.
Holroyd, FI. B., Agril. and Immigration Agent, L. & N. R. R.,

Louisville, Ky.
Howe, H. E., National Research Council, Washington, D. C.
Jones, R. C, State Forester, Charlottesville, Va.
Jones, W. Goodrich, Pres., Texas Forestry Ass'n., Temple,

Texas.
Johnson, Ira, Greenleaf Johnson Lbr. Co., Norfolk, Va.
Johnson, Mrs. J. F. Kingsport, Tenn.
Kaul, John L., Kaul Lbr. Co., Birmingham, Ala.
Kopman, H., Dept. of Conservation, New Orleans, La.
Kress, S. F., Corning, N. Y.

Law, Geo., Lock, Moore & Co., Ltd., Westlake, Ga.
Lee, Mrs. J. G., Baton Rouge, La.
Lee, J. G., Prof, of Forestry, State University, Baton Rouge,

La.
Maddox, R. S., Forester, State Geological Survey, Nashville,

Tenn.
Marsh, Chas. E., Lumber, St. Louis, Mo.
Marshall, R. D., Natalbany Lbr. Co., Hammond, La.
Morton, Mrs. J. A., Pres. Dist. 1 and 2, La. Federation Wo-
men's Clubs, New Orleans, La.
Moore, J. M., Marion, La.
Moore, Wm., Raleigh, N. C.

McCall, S. P., Dept. of Conservation, New Orleans, La.
McCurdy, W. O., Department of Conservation, Alexandria, La.
Nalty, J. B., Pres., Plammond Lbr. Co., Hammond, La.
Neal, W. T., T. R. Miller Mill Co., Inc., Brewton, Ala.
Pace, John H., Pensacola, Fla.

Palmer, L. J. O., Lumber Trade Journal, New Orleans, La.
Parker, John M., Governor-elect, Baton Rouge, La.
Pet"rs, J. G., U. S. Forest Service, Washington, D. C.

152 Proceedings of the

Poe, John H., Lake Charles, La.

Raine, John, Meadow River Lbr. Co., Rainelle, W. Va.

Rhodes, J. E., Secretary, Sou. Pine Association, New Orleans,
La.

Richey, S. W., Alexandria, La.

Robinson, C. H., Jr., New Orleans, La.

Ryan, Thos. H., Purchasing Agent, Ala. & Vicksburg R. R.,
New Orleans, La.

Salmen, Fred W., Pres. Salmen Brick & Lbr. Co., New Or-
leans, La.

Samuels, T. L., New Orleans, La.

Sanders, Jared Y., House of Representatives, Washington,
D. C.

Senac, E. R., Dept. of Conservation, New Orleans, La.

Shirers, W. O., Marion, Ala.

Silvera, T. A., New Orleans, La.

Sinclair, Jas., Purchasing Com., U. S. Railroad Administration,
Atlanta, Ga.

Spraker, E., Natalbany Lbr. Co., Hammond, La.

Storm, Mrs. A. F., Pres., State Fed. Women's Clubs, Morgan
City, La.

Thomas, B. A., New Orleans, La.

Tierney, D. P., Asst. State Forester, St. Paul, Minn.

Townsend, W. B., Little River Lbr. Co., Townsend, Tenn.

Trabue, R. B., New Orleans, La.

Tracy, S. M., U. S. Bureau, Forage Plant Investigations,
Washington, D. C.

Tyler, W. D., Clinchfield Coal Corp., Dante, Va.

Van Camp, C. E., American Hardwood Mfgrs. Ass'n., Mem-
phis, Tenn.

Wallace, John H., Jr., Commissioner of Conservation, Mont-
gomery, Ala.

Watson, Geo. E., Secretary, Sou. Cypress Mfgrs. Ass'n., New
Orleans, La.

Weston, H. S., The H. Weston Lbr. Co., Logtown, Miss.

Wilkinson, L. W., County Agent, Gretna, La.

Wisner, Mrs. Ed., City Federation of Women's Clubs, New
Orleans, La.

Woodruff, F. K., Kansas City Sou. R. R., Kansas City, Mo.

Woolsey, Theo. S., Jr., Asheville, N. C.

Wurts, G. O., Coryville, Fla.

APPENDIX II

SECOND SOUTHERN FORESTRY CONGRESS

List of contributors to the entertainment fund under the aus-
pices of Louisiana Forestry Association*

Krause & Managan Lbr. Co., Westlake.

Lock, Moore & Co., Ltd., Westlake.

Gulf Lumber Co., Fullerton.

Poitevent & Favre Lbr. Co., New Orleans.

Brooks-Scanlon Co., Kentwood.

Peavy-Byrnes Lbr. Co., Emad.

F. L. Sanford, Zona.

Miller-Link Lbr. Co., Orange, Texas.

Natalbany Lbr. Co., Hammond.

Pickering Lbr. Co., Cravens.

Good Pine Lbr. Co., Good Pine.

Hammond Lbr. Co., Hammond.

Crossett Lbr. Co., Crosset, Ark.

Lutcher-Moore Co., Orange, Texas.

R. H. Downman, New Orleans.

Calcasieu Longleaf Lbr. Co., Lake Charles.

Louisiana Central Lbr. Co., Clarks.

Great Southern Lbr. Co., Bosralusa.

*Acknowledgment is made with hearty appreciation of contributions
amounting to four hundred and five dollars for the banquet and other
local expenses connected with the meeting.

APPENDIX III

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO PUBLISHING FUND
SOUTHERN FORESTY CONGRESS

ALABAMA

Allison Lbr. Co., Bellamy.
Bell, A. E., Carrollton.
Big Sandy Lbr. Co., Hull.
Blacksher Lbr. Co., Magazine.
Black Warrior Lbr. Co.,, Knoxwood.
Cahawba River Lbr. Co., Brent.
Carney, W. M., Mill Co., Atmore.
Chickasaw Lbr. Co., Demopolis.
Himrod-McKay Lbr. Co., Flatwood.
Horse Shoe Lbr. Co., River Falls.
Jackson Lbr. Co., Lockhart.
Jackson, E. E. Lbr. Co., Baltimore, Md.
Kaul, John L., Lbr. Co., Birmingham.
Lathrop Lbr. Co., Birmingham.
Miller Mill Co., T. R., Brewton.
Oden-Elliott Lbr. Co., Birmingham.
Scotch Lbr. Co., Mobile.
Smith, W. T., Lbr. Co., Chapman.
Vredenburgh Sawmill Co., Vredenburgh.
Whitewater Lbr. Co., Autaugaville.

ARKANSAS

Arkansas Land & Lbr. Co., Malvern.

Arkansas Lumber Co., Warren.

Eagle Lumber Co., Eagle Mills.

Edgar Lumber Co., Wesson.

Fordyce Lumber Co., Fordyce.

Fourche River Lbr. Co., Bigelow.

Freeman-Smith lbr. Co., Millville.

Gates Lumber Co., Wilmar.

Southern Lbr. Co., Warren.

Stout Lbr. Co., Thornton.

Union Sawmill Co., Huttig.

Wisconsin & Arkansas Lbr. Co., Malvern.

Southern Forestry Congress 155

LOUISIANA

Alexander, M. L., New Orleans.
Alexandria Lbr. Co., Alexandria.
Bel Lbr. Co., J. A., Lake Charles.
Calcasieu Longleaf Lbr. Co., Lake Charles.
Forest Lbr. Co., Oakdale.
Frost-Johnson Lbr. Co., Shreveport.
Great Southern Lbr. Co., Bogalusa.
King-Ryder Lbr. Co., Bonami.
Louisiana Central Lbr. Co., Clarks.
Tremont Lbr. Co., Rochelle.

MISSOURI

Central Coal & Coke Co., Kansas City.
Chicago Lbr. & Coal Co., East St. Louis, 111.
Long, R. A., Real Estate Co., Kansas City.
Missouri Lbr. & Land Exchange, Kansas City.
Pickering, W. R., Kansas City.

NORTH CAROLINA

Johnson Lbr. Co., Greenleaf, Norfolk, Va.
N. C. Pine Association, Norfolk, Va.
Silverstein, J. S., Brevard, N. C.
Smoot, C. C, Sons Co., North Wilkesboro, N. C.

TENNESSEE

Babcock Lbr. & Land Co., Maryville.
Bedna Young Lbr. Co., Jackson.
Bellgrade Lbr. Co., Memphis.
Card, J. M., Lbr. Co., Chattanooga.
Farris Hardware Lbr. Co., Nashville.
Ransom, John B., and Co., Nashville.
Southern Lumberman, Nashville.
Van Buren Coal & Lbr. Co., Nashville.
Williams Lbr. Co., Fayetteville.

TEXAS

Alexander Gilmer Lbr. Co., Remlig.
Carter, W. T., & Bro., Camden.
Fidelity Lbr. Co., Doucette.
Hickerson, A. E., Conroe.

156 Proceedings of the

Jones, W. Goodrich, Temple.
Kendall, Harry T., Houston.
Lufkin Lumber Co., Lufkin.
Miller-Link Lbr. Co., Orange.
Southern Pine Lbr. Co., Texarkana.
Vaughan, Geo. C, Lbr. Co., San Antonio.
Wier Long Leaf Lbr. Co., Houston.

VIRGINIA

Clinchfield Coal Corporation, Dante, Va.
Ritter, C. L., Lumber Co., Huntington, W. Va.