The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1885-12-17
THE FORESTRY CONGRESS.
DELEGA FROM SOUTHERN
STATES MEET TOGETHER.
Extracts From an Address, by Mr.. Robt.
W. Best. Showing How Rapidly The
Forests Are Disappearing.

SuUlcltnl III pOrt(llcc To demand attention.
For quarter Of a century thls destruction
has been enormous and little or nothing
has been done TO replace what has been
converted into lumber etc. In the South
ern States no need. comparatively, has
been felt Of planting trees. We have an
abundance of woodlands, but a wise pol
Icy would dictate that We should not al
low our forests to be sold for a song or
cut down and not be replaced by young
trees In Western North Carolina, the tim
bcrS OF which are so valuable and are Just
coming into market. there Is special reason
why the forests should be preserved and
replanted as fast rs the growth Is mar
keted. The CHRONICLE is glad to note that
at De Funiak Springs, Florida. this week
a Congress was held composed of dele
gates from the Southern States, TO discuss
questions relating 10 the preservation Of
our forests.
AT his Congress Mr. Robt. W Best, a
we'll known North Carolinian, now on
nected with the [. 5. Agricultural Del art
ment, made an address, from which We
take the following extracts:
The Forests Rapidly Disappearing.
We have no data to enable Us to form
an estimate of the extent of the forest area
IN the tnited States, one hundred years
ago. That the greater portion of the vast
trees, admits of very little doubt.
But the coat Of arms of the State of
lndlana-a woOdman chop ing down "A
tree-seems TO have been a true repreSen-
tatlon of the spirit that has actuated the
people of America in their treatment of
the forests.
The advance ur the Anglo Saxon across
this continent has been, so far as the trees
are concerned, very much like that of
Atilla, who boasted that no grass ever
grew where his chargers feet had troddcn
Was er any form of destruction more
ruthless, more injurious, more lasting in
its effects, or more difficult to replace than
that which the people of the United States,
for the past fifty years, have effected by
wanton destruction of the forests. Among
all the politicians and Statesmen who have
served their country, now few has been
the number who have thought it worth
while to make the slightest attempt to en-
act such laws as would preserve our for
ests for the benefit of the present and of
future generations? How much might
very easily have been done by them to-
wards this end ! While the Genius of Pre-
servation was absent that of Destruction
had full sway.
The forest area in the United States
which is annually denuded of its growth
| for lumber, fuel, railroad ties, fencing and
| by forest fires, etc, is estimated at 21,
| 21S, ,653 acres, an area larger than the
| State of Tennessee. 1t is as large as In
diana and New Jersey; and larger than
| New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and
! New Jersey combined.
1t will not be out of place to mention
| the following items which go to make up
| this estimate.
! hor
The estimate made by the Forestry Dl-
vision, of the Department of Agriculture
! of the amount of the single item of lumber
cut by the mills in the United States for
the year 1884 is %, 600, 900, 900 feet, board
measure. These figures, to some, may ap
pear incOmprehensible and meaningless
If the above quantity of lumber We're in
boards, one inch in thickness, it would
make plank walk around this globe 220
feet in width. 1t would make a wall around
the United States 80 feet in height and ID
feet in thickness 1t would make bridge
to the moon % feet broad. The number
of acres of woodland required to produce
that amount of lumber allowing 1000
feet as the average yield per acre-Would
be ), 900, 900. An area as large as the State
of Massachusetts,.
The State of Michigan is notable eX-
ample of the rapidly disappearing forests.
Fifty years ago the first saw mill Was
planted in that State. At that time 1t was
estimated that there was $50, ,000, 600, ,000
feet of white pine standing in the forests.
Now there are not more than %, ,00O 600,
900 feet 1t has disappeared at the rate
of over 1000, 0J0, GOO feet a year; and the
amount cut in 1884 was $500, 600, 600 feet
or about one fifth of the whole amount cut
that year in the United States.
Use OF w OOd for Fuel.
This includes fuel for domestic purposes
for railroad and steamboat engines; fol
engines for manufacturing purposes; fol
mining operations smelling furnaces
for charcoal, etc. The estimated amount
of wood consumed in fuel in one year is
159, ,O79, 703 cords, an average of abou
three cords to each person. The number
Of acres of forest cleared in procuring fuel
is estimated at $500, 900.
Use of Timber for Railroad Ties.
On the first of January 1895 there wcr,
136 49G miles of railroad in the tnitct
States For construction it required 2,Gf'
ties to the mile, making in the a4gre-at,
413, 149, 40 ties. Allowing / 90 ties az th'
average product of an acre OF wood land
it required 4, 1872 494 acres to supply tha
numoeI, or an area nearly equal to tina
of Connecticut and Delaware combined.
The average duration of tie is years
To keep these roads in repair, 413, 149 I I
} ties will be required every years, or on
seventh of that number every year; whicl
E will be 80, 021 $50. Add to this numbe
the 13 200, 600 required for the ). 900 mile
of new lines constructed annually, and
J, makes - 321 $50. The forest area nece-
q sarv to produce this number of ties Is 123,
213 acres.
Destruction by Forest Fires.
I The amount of forest destroyed by fol
est fires in one year-aS reported Dy tn
; last census-was 1O,214 ,09S acres. FroI
!, information gathered by the Foresty d
vision it is feared that the area Will nt
be less in 1885.
{ 1t may be of interest to know hoW the-
I fires originated: 1,152 were caused b
t clearing land: 62o by hunters: sos by loce
motives: 262 by malice: 179 BY burn Il
over the surface to improve The pasturag
y by camp fires; - y smokers: -
lightning: 56 By Indians; 10 by prospc
Al tors: by coal pits: ) by wood cutters: al
S 3 by carelesSneso
l. Timber L >ed in Building and Repairii
Fences.
y The cost of building and repairing fenc
- in the United States, IN 1919. accOrdlr
N to the last census. ammounted 70 81, ,1e
le Alb.
n East of the 95th meridian there We
239, III POS acres of land embraced in !:
531.611 farms The cost of building ~
repairing the fences these farms Y
S65. .321 107 or 81 per cent. of the who