Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-18
SOME FACTS ABOUT FORESTS.
Fabulous valas Of Their Yearly Crop-whst
They Are Worth to the Country.

Fabulous val6s Of Their Yearly Crop-What
They Are Worth to the Country.
HnD 1T EVER OCCUR TO You TO
~ consider what an enormously valuable
inheritance man has received in the forests
Primsvsfr' said Prof Fernow Of the Depart
ment OF Agriculture In conversation with .
STAn writer. ''of all the natural resources re-
served BY nature for our benefit they are the
most directly useful. In the woods we ind
ready 81 hand and obtainable for mere harvest
ing materials applicable TO all needs and means
70 satisfy every immediate want
Probably you will be surprised when tell
You mat the annual increase Of the forests by
natural growth, representing the interest which
We are at liberty to draw without impairing the
principal, exceeds in the United States alone
zen times the value Of the gold and silver out
pas OF this country and IL worth more than
three times the product Of all our mineral and
coal mines put together. II TO the value Of our
total mining product be added the value Of all
the stone quarries and petroleum resources.
sue WIS sum De increased by the estimated
Naue OF all the steamboats,, sailing ves-
sells and canal boats plying in American waters,
~ VIII sun be less than the value of the annual
sorest product OF the nation by a sum sufficient
70 purchase at cost of construction all the
cahAis, buy up at par all stocks Of the telegraph
companies, pay their bonded debts and equip
All the telephone lines. The annual product Of
the woods 10 worth three times as much as the
wheat crop. 1t exceeds the gross income of all
tne railway and transportation companies and
u would more than wipe out the entire public
debt
FOREST AND SAW MILL rRopucrs
More than 100000 people are occupied to-
day In the direct manufacture Of forest and
an r<l,,
an enumeration OF the uses 20 which the pro-
duct Of the woods il put. IL would be necessary
Tor me to mention all the phases and employ
ments OF human life. RAILWAYS annually con-
sumo bO0, 000, 600 feet of timber. The same
material builds the houses and yields for two
n Thirds OF the population the fueI
and 70 prepare their food. Upon
charcoal the iron industry largely depends
Not only In its natural form does the substance
serve our needs, but our ingenuity has devised
methods for transforming il into all sorts Of
useful things. Paper il made from il, and even
SIX, while lately IL has become possible TO pre-
| pare from brush wood feed for cattle as nu
| tritious 40 hay. BY distillation are derived
from II alcohol and acetic acid, while the bark,
yield indispensable tanning material, resin and
Tar Tor pitching vessels. turpentine, sassafra,
"The decayed vegetation Of forests has fur
nished to the fields their present fertility upor
which man depends for food In the tire,
growth OF virgin woods and in the floor o.
rotted foliage beneath are stored the sccumu
| lauons OF centuries. Nature does not chr,
whether this growth is useful to the human
race or not. II is left for us 10 encourage tn,
growth OF such trees as we find valuable, TO tn,
exclusion Of others. Thus an economical us,
Is made OF the resources at hand and new
conception of the forest arises. The fores
prlmeyal becomes woodlands while the new
forest includes only cultivated woods.
WHAT NATURE WOULD DO.
| "If left without interference BY man natur.
would keep the entire earth covered with for
ests, save only few localities. The treeless
ness Of the great central plains of the United
States has been accounted for by the deficienc,
OF rainfall. and the belief is generally held thai
| BY reason OF this lack Of moisture trees car
never grow there. Nevertheless the conclusion
does not Of necessity follow. There IL excel
lent cause for believing that these prairies were
not always treeless. and that their nakednes,
might once more be covered by the adoption
OF proper means to that end. The barrennesi
occasioned by prairie fires and herds Of
trampling buffalo may yet be made fruitful
lou must remember that the entire earth is
depth OF any kind Of soil for the roots, IL IL Il
not too frigid a climate and man does not in
terfere, arborescent growth will ultimately pre-
vail, on account Of its perennial character AND
its power to shade out lower vegetation. Ii
such localities as the interiors Of large CONT
nents forest planting must progress by gradua
| advances from the borders Of the unpro
ductive territory. Once let woods be spreat
over the now arid plains of the ives
and there would be rain in plenty there
But success in this matter can onl,
be achieved through cooperation systemati
cally and methodically carried out, command
ing knowledge, means and power such as
government, whether of the nation or of states
can alone control. A step preliminary shoulC
be the establishment in the region of arboreta
where experiments car be made for the pur
pose Of finding out what trees are best adapted
Many valuable suggestions can be obtaineC
from abroad, where forest planting has becom,
a science; but there is no use In even the best
possible methods, nor hope for reforesting tn,
prairies so long as those destructive agencies
the reckless AK, fire and marauding animals
are permitted to do mischief unimpeded."