St. Paul daily globe., 1892-04-19
OUR FORESTS.
Mai. Jones Writes an Interesting
Letter Upon Them.

| Letter l. pom Inem.
Mai. Jones, of the corps of engineers,
i has written TO j. o. Barrett, secretary
of the Minnesota State Forestry asso-
citation, as follows:
Forestry, to me, seems a matter of
great public Importance, and am glad
| of an opportunity to say something con-
cernmg il. 1t will give me pleasure to
| join the movement for the perpetuation
| of forests. Good judgment, however,
would found it upon premises which
| can be easily maintained. The adyan-
tage and necessity of furnishing prod
ucts of the forest cheaply and contln-
uously. for all time. appears to me good
and sufficient for the purpose.
The demand for these neceSsarles and
comforts Of life is rapidly increasing
with the population. If We allow the
supply to gradually decrease there Will
surely come time when their cost will
become terrible burden. We cannot.
therefore. enter too soon upon sys-
tematic procedure for reaping and per-
petuatlng so valuable crop.
But cannot recognize the injurious
influence OF defOrestati0n upon climate
as safe, basis from which TO proceed.
| have studied climate for quarter OF
a century, and fail to observe, so far,
that the operations of man are seriously
affecting it. That climate is changing
continually is fact. but in the present
state OF our knowledge it would be rash
to precisely formulate the causes.
1t will, perhaps. be reasonable for me
to make some suggestions: The move
ment can only be directed upon lands
now in possession Of the United States
or the Individual states. Those OF the
former are very rapidly being given
away or sold for bagatelle. An oppOr-
tunitv is thus afforded enterprising citl-
zens of getting something for nothing.
and i'm the rush after this cheerful OBJ
lect, a select and favored few are rap
idly possessing themselves of most of
the valuable timber land. In the mean
while the average citizen, for whom the
law intended it, has practically slen-
der chance. The very first thing to be
done is to put stop to this. The benef-
icent land laws, when applied to 0tlmber
lands, have come to be premium upon
corruption and fraud, and the United
States is actually throwing away an i'm
mensely valuable property. 1t is valu-
able in money now, but vastly more so
in its influence upon the comfort and
necessities of future generations. There
is neither reason nor necessity for CIV
ing away the timber lands OF the public
domain. They are valuable chiefly for
the timber upon them, and men en-
gagged in the wood and lumber business
should be perfectly willing to pay fair
price for the crop. They don't want
the land, SO there is no need OF selling
il to them. 1t is entirely feasible to es-
innate the crop and place a fair valu-
alton upon it. Also to so direct and
govern the culture and reaping as to
perpetuate it forever. This, take 1t, is
the object and aim of the forestry move
ment.
Something more, however, IS in it.
There never was spot OF earth where
the native crop could not be improved
by the skill of man. This is doubtless
true Of trees, and leads to the PROPOSE
ton of government reserves for forest
culture. Let US learn by actual expert
ence how to produce the best quality of
native trees and also how to introduce
useful and valuable varieties from all
over the earth.
Let me summarize:
With all possible dispatch put stop
to the senseless throwing away of the
government timber lands.
Establish in the forestry bureau of
the department of agriculture an exec
utive management for the sale OF forest
products and their propagation.
Establish forest culture stations at
suitable points for the propagation and
distribution of young trees and study
of forest betterment. Very truly yours,
w. A. JONES,
Major Corps of Engineers.