The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1902-01-25
FARM AND: GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
s5s AGRICULTURlSTS
Some Up-to-Dato Hints About Gull
IS tayatSon of the Soil and Yields
: Observation-Disclosures vlticulture and
= Elorlcultare.
Save the Forests.

,55sSs Save the Forests.
The preservation of the forests has
become live question with the
American public. Everyone that stud
les the question at all must be con-
WINGED that something should be done
ana done at once. Forests are of slow
growth, and an area denuded cannot
oe retorested In generation. There
are S1ew big trees that are not older
tnan the men around them. Careful
esnmates on the growth of the spruce
SHOWS that the trees now having a di-
ameter OF Is inches cannot be replaced
by trees of the same size in less thar
10y years. 1t takes spruce Seeding
11gyears to attain diameter of
lncnes at breast high from the ground.
-'Io gain the next inch in diameter re-
CURES llrt II years. The next inch of
erowth' is made in IA years; so that
1nS5S years it has attained a diameter
o., only five inches. The diameter of
1906 1oeot and half will be reached when
the tree is 154 years of age. We look
upon upon young forest of spruce without
reahzlng its value. We see trees S, 6,
,1or inches in diameter without sus-
pect1ng that they represent decades of
growth: They are cut down ruthlessly
and sometimes set on fire for pastime.
fet the S-inch trees are more than 80
years old, and more valuable because
olaf,age. A tree that is II inches in d.
ameter makes another inch in years.
1nls fact indicates that the larger the
tree the more rapidly does it increase
IN diameter. The time of waiting is
while the tree is small.
These small but old trees will, in a
lew decades, be very valuable for lum-
Der, II preserved. Yet how often arc
tney sacrificed without thought. The
b.g trees fit for lumber are cut down
and trimmed. The branches are left
on the ground where they fall and in
a Few years become as dry as kindling
wood. They are kindling wood spread
out over hundreds of square miles of
so-called young growth. The day is
sure to come when the fire gets start
IN this material and when the wind is
ina mood to work mischief. Then the
tiny fire becomes a demon .ofssdame,
ll'1 rushing through the slender forests
and deVouring as it goes. Even green
wood will burn when the heat around
II IS intense. We all know the stories
OF the recent great fires in the west
that have had their origin in the rub
o1sn lett by the companies that had ex-
plotted the forests and then left them
PUBIC menace. The record of loss
OF property and life is long. Whole
villages have been obliterated, miles
OF railroads destroyed, trains caught in
the flery vortex and abandoned, herds
OF cattle and f1ocks Of sheep smothered.
AL this has occurred because men or
companies have been given free hand
to conduct their operations with the
sole idea of profit to themselves, and.
with no idea of the profit or even
safety Of others.
Ihere is only one solution to the
problem. The states must secure as
much of the land now in forests as
possible. In some cases this can be
done without expense. In other ap-
preparations should be made for the
purchase OF forest areas. New York
mas already taken the lead in the mat
ter and is showing what can be done.
BY an act of the legislature the state
has entered on system Of forest pres
Tn fhn
the forest preserve amounts to $780,
9S7 acres, and in the Catskill region
to 1891 acres. This large public res
ervation was set apart to 'be forever
reserved, maintained and cared. for as
ground open for the free use Of all
the people for their health and pleas.
ure, and as forest lands, necessary to
the preservation Of the head waters of
the chief rivers of the state, and a fu-
ture timber supply; and shall remain
part of the forest preserve" Addi-
tions to the preserve are made by the
Forest Preserve Board. The superin-
tendent Of state forests has "charge
OF all work connected with the care and
custody OF the forest preserve"
It is perhaps well for the other states !
that New York has taken so vigorous !
lead: for they can profit by her mis-
takes. In their haste to further the
movement for the preservation Of the
forests, the people of New York in the
year 1894 adopted an amendment to
their constitution as follows: "The
lands OF the state, now owned or here
after acquired, constituting the forest
preserve as now fixed by law, shall be
forever kept as wild forest lands. They
shall not be leased. sold or exchanged.
Or be taken by any corporation, public
Or private, nor shall the timber there
on zbe sold, removed or destroyed
This is certainly overshooting the
mark, ar and leading foresters are recog-
nizing the fact. It is believed that the
will be modified at the first
opl,ortunity: It IS manifestly absurd to
permit the state to sell no lumber, as
The annual removal Of a portion of the
trees Is 3 benefit to the forest, and the
rev uue thus secured would be- In time