Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-11-20
A PLEA FOR THE FOREST AND
SHADE TREES OF VERMONT.

TO the Editor of The Free Press:
During the last few years popular inter
est has seemed to be awakened to the
fact that some form Of tree preservation
must he adopted. or our forests would be
swallowed up by pulp mills. match fac
tories and the wooden tooth pick craze,
while our shade trees would be left with
out so much as an arm to raise in protest
against the little tuft OF green left on
their crowns, lest they obstruct an cleo
trio light or brush telephone wire,
No subject can be of more vital i'm
portance to Vermontcrs than forest pre-
servation, not merely as matter of SEN
timent but of practical importance as a
matter of dollars and cents. For Yer
mont has many thousand acres OF land
that arc worthless except as woodlands,
and they should he made to yield the
greatest good to the greatest number.
In confronting this problem it is nee
essarY that some intelligent system of
harvesting this crop be used. Instead
of denuding the forests of all trees there
by killing the goose that lays the golden
egg" the owners should thin them out
by taking the matured specimens and
leaving the younger ones to grow and eX-
Pand. By this simple process the forests
are made continuous producers nature
simply needing the cooperation of man
TO carry her forest work to perfection.
Forests have appealed to man in all
ages chat is. TO some mem yet there
are many others who are never satisfied
until the woodland Is cleared of every
tree, little and great, and converted into
money, with never a thought for the fut-
ure. Such men are often owners Of these
lands and can never be reached by law
but must be by education. Good litera-
ture on these subjects should be sent over
lhe State. In this Europe is far ahead
of the United States. forester could
oe engaged to help in this work.
Many Of our sister States, especially
Massachusetts, New York and Pennsyl-
wanna have appealed to their Legislatures
TO enact laws providing for the carry
ing on Of this work, and encouraging the
setting out of threes upon land that has
been denuded, especially such trees as are
becoming scarce, as for instance, our
pine and spruce, for ii is an undisputed
fact that our New England woods can
no longer furnish the tall masts for the
ship builders, but the woods of Oregon
and Washington have to he ransacked to
secure trees of the right length and qua
lity.
This work has met with much opposi-
ton and the oft repeated cry 1T takes so
long to grow tree, 1t does not pay"
What better legacy to leave a child, or
more sure investment for old age, than
several acres of well-grown forest?
Can we not use our influence to bring
this matter before the Legislature, not
forgetting to add n plea for Vermont to
purchase a few acres of State forest re-
serve where she can try some of these
experiments in forestry, Many eyes are
now turned toward Cornell University,
and the thirty thousand acres in the
Adirondacks. granted them for thirty
years by the State of New York, to try
the different methods of planting and
harvesting trees. We in Vermont are
watching with great interest DR. w.
Seward Webb. who sets out annually
from twenty-five to one hundred thous-
and trees.
Again. we find encouragement and sti-
mulus in the reports Of the successful
workings of the new tree-Warden law In
Massachusetts Under the present law.
the election of tree wardens by each town
Is obligatory. To his care all the shade
trees OF the town are committed and
not single tree that he has marked can
be cot or injured, under penalty of fines
ranging from twenty to five hundred dol
lars, according to the offense.
TO illustrate the need of such wardens
IN Vermont, one Of many instances will
he given. In the writer's own town a
number Of pine trees had been set out a
equal instance around the public common,