Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-01-04
Our Forest Interests.

TeGlOH, NI6 sOllCltSN Dy LuSbl I Ensign, forest commissioner, Colorado Springs, Colorado, who will endeavor to supply, in part at least, local de- mands for printed information of this nature.
 When forestry is first brought to their attention many persons think | chiefly of tree planting, of the effect of | forests on rainfall, and other things | which are not essential or of the | greatest practical importance. Their
 first impressions are likely to be super
 fcial and inadequate. The question of the effect of forests on rainfall has not | been determined. It is q matter for accurate and continued scientific inves- l tigatiOn, without which all opinions and theories regarding the subject are alike worthless, because they cannot be verified. The point of general prac- ] tical interest here is the function of
 forests, especially of mountain forests, in the distribution of the water that
 falls upon them as rain or snow. The
 doctrine of rational and practical for
 estry regarding this matter Is, that for
 ests retain the water in the spongy
 mass of their floor, retarding its de
 scent to the channels of streams, and
 thus prevent or modify both freshets
 and drought. This effect of the for
 ests upon the streams which have
 their scourees ln them Is of great prac-
 tical value; it is not beyond the range
 of popular appreciation, but can be
 verified, without special scientific
 training, by any observing person who
 will go into the woods in hill-country
 during heavy rainfall This is one i of the essential facts or fundamental
 principles of forestry; and 1t should be
 urged upon the popular attention untlf
 its "in the air" everywhere, part of
 the universal thought and established
 knowledge of the time.
 Tree planting on small scale, if in
 telligently and carefully done, would
 be useful almost anywhere as an edu-
 caiOnal experiment. It would help
 10 awaken and increase interest in sub
 JeCts connected with the care and uses
 of trees, and it should everywhere be
 encouraged. But 1t is not forestry, is
 not necessarily any part or feature of
 it, and it is not best that people should take one thing for another without : knowing it. In all the eastern part of
 our country the trees will come in
 again, and the forests reproduce them
 selves, if they are cut of in the right way, and the land is afterwards guarded ; from fire and pasturage, and this nat , ural perpetuation of the forest IS of lar ; greater importance here than planting trees.
 Looking at forest interests in this
 country in practical way, it is plain that the care of individual holdings of timber lands, and the methods best adapted to perpetuate the growth and production of timber on the farms of 3, the United States, are matters of great and increasing importance. The ex- isting condition and practice are unsat
 isiactory, because there is generally,
 very little system, plan or management. , The future is largely left to chance, or l to take care of itself This branch of l forestry is obviously a part of agricul s ture. It is chiefly an economical sub feet, and there is not much need or ; 5 nected with it. It has not yet begun } to receive adequate attention among } the farmers of our country. The diflu- sion of knowledge and propagation of } sound and practical ideas regarding the r care of farm woodlands, end the value II of timber as a, permanent crop. should Ben pfofainciit part of the work ol } Che 6fanees alsd other organizations l Of farm fssas well as Of local and stete foreStgg assoc tlotls x !.S .ity 6t inaihtaiifing forest
 ions per siientft 9n lands afo5iDd the seohrces of mountain q Streams, are most vital and important 2 features of scientific and practical for estry. They urgently require atten- 5 ton in this state, in Pennsylvania, . New Hampshire and other states inter ' sected by our eastern mountain sys- . tenn. The effects of the permanent
 destruction of forest-conditions over
 large areas of mountain country are so
 far-reaching and fatal that indifference
 and inattention constitute q crime e against civilization and the nations e life The fate of the mountain forests - on the lands which still belong to the k nation is one of the most momentoua T of all the problems now presented tc :. the American people, and it's decision will determine the future of vast area; in the western part of our country ) whether they shall be fertile, populou: l and prosperous, or irreclaimably bar n red. and, in large degree, uninhabita }, ble. The danger, and the necessity O.
 prompt action in withdrawing the for t est lands of the public domain from s sale, and of guarding them effectively z, from spoliation until a competent com l mission decides what portions should ' be kept permanently in forests, anC t presents plan for national forest t management, should be urged upon d congress and the president by the peo y pie and press of the entire country ir }, the most direct, clear and forciblt e manner.-Garden and Forest.
 The Desert Land Law.
 r Now that Congress is once more il 0 session the all important question a, z to what will be done with the deser 2 land act, is agitating the settlers 1T
 ]