Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-01-31

% the employment Of Special Agents
instructed 90 collect facts and EN- body
them in reports clothed i'm the plainest
language aud unburdened with super
HuOus matter.
The writer had the honor. even In adj
vance Of the appointment Of these
agents, to make a report on the forestry
systems Of the different countries Of
Europe as illustrated st the last Paris
Exhibition.
Since their appointment, the Special
Agents nave i may say, not b0astIuily
/ but truthtuIly, diligently carried ont
] their instructions. a very brief notice
/ Is made Of their labOrs in the Report Of
/ the United States Commissioner of Agrl-
culture for the year 1888. A still more
| concise notice Of the work Of the agents
/ may not be unlnterestang as part Of the
+ history of what the General Govern
ment has done for Forestry.
One OF the agents appointed was
/ DIR. john A. WARDEB, Of Ohio
/ His life prior to his appoint
ment had been devoted to hCrti-
/ culture and Forestry. I do not need, in 2
company ike this to speak of his great
merits and services In the department
1 of knowledge he had made his own. Had
/ he lived he would have done a great
/ work for the Government, but his death
/ occurred shortly after his appointment,
and his field was left TO be worked by
others. Hon. JOHN w. FURNAs, of Ne
added to the literature of Forestry
a clear and interesting re
port on the forests Of California, Oregon.
! Washington Territory and the Western
Slope OF. the Rocky Mountains. Gov
Furnas' report is especially valuable III
its figures respecting the destruction OF
timber in that district. Gov. Furnas has
also contributed an interesting report on
timber-grOWing on the treeless plains OF
! Nebraska. This Is Of special value e.
/ Kansas tree growers. The writer, acting
as a special agent, furnished early IN
1888 Preliminary Report on the FOres-
/ try of the Mississippi Valley and tree
planting on the plains, and subsequent
/ ly supplementary report covering more
particularly the forest resources of the
Southern States In the preparation of
these reports the information received
in response to thousands of circulars was
utilized; the instructions of the Depart
ment being explicit as to the acCum-
ulatiOn of facts rather than Of theories.
Other reports were made, but these
are mentioned as relating NOR"
to matters in which you are interested
and In this connection L may say that
in the collection of information in re-
gard to tree-planting on the prairies
have been greatly aided by gen
tlemen whose names have Ions
been known and honOred in this
society.
1t may be said that official reports
/ made to any Department OF the Govern
ment are slow in reaching the public, ap
pearing annually in CumbTOus and unin
teresting looking volumes; but the re
ports herein mentioned have been more
fortunate. Their brevity has made it pos
sible to publish them in pamphlet form
and they have reached the public within
a few weeks of their reception by the
Department.
The reports thus scattered broadcas
by the Government have been copied by
three of them, to my knowledge, having
appeared in full In four hundred neWspa
pers, and extracts from them in thou
| sands more. The National Forestry
Congress is now publishing weekly
bulletins, or leaflets" In which thu
points made in the reports of the Gov
? eminent agents are given, with othe
! matter relative to the cultivation ant
care of forests.
We may briefly sum up the present at
titude of the Government in regard t
Forestry, as follows:
The Government, by the passage o
the Timber Culture Act, committed Ii
self to the encouragement of tree culture
= and even though the act should be re
! pealed, its principle viii be preserved i
some other enactment.
The Importance of Forestry has beer
recognized by the erection of a FOrestr
= Division in the Department of Agricul
1 ture, the present Chief Of the Division
I being Mr.. n. II. EgglestOn.
Special agents have been appointed, T.
whom has been assigned the duty of In
vestigating the needs of different POI
tons of the country in the matter Of tn
protection and culture of forests.
: A regular system of disseminating In
Z formation has been adopted by the Gov
/ eminent.
As a result of all this the Government
may be said to have informed itself @
the extent and condition of its own fo1
: est domain, and something has beel
Y done, though manifestly not enough, to
ward protecting Government timbe
from spoliatiOn and destruction.
Finally, every believer in trees ma
take courage from the present attitud
I of the Government, and hope that il
/ time, the wise example set by other Gov
4 ernments, as for instance, France wit
= her Bureau of Woods and Waters" ma
be followed by our own.
/ have alluded to the National FOrestr
Congress, and in these Congresses or, L
political language, Conventions, we hay
I proof Of the great and rising interest fel
I in the subject of forestry. These NEE
1 ings are not official in their characts.
but Hon. GEORGE B. LoRHG, Commission
3 er Of Agriculture eVinced his interest b
= attending the great meeting at MOntrel
! and the agents Of the Forestry DivisiO
q were instructed to attend the meeting {
b Minneapolis. Full reports were made {
= the Department concerning these NEE
r ings.
d Considering the brief period durin
! which the Government may be said
Z have been interested, it may be fairl
laid that great progress has been mad
After I'll. thank1uI IS We should I