Arizona republican., 1902-09-29
FORESTRY ON A BIG SCALE.
Company Will Put Into Practice Plans
 Affecting Pine Lands

Affecting Pine Lands.
 The bureau of forestry of the depart ment of agriculture will. on Novembe.. 15, begin the preparation of a working plan for the extensive timber lands of the Kirby Lumber company, in south east Texas.
 Messrs. Price and Sherrard If the bu- reau made a preliminary examination last winter and the proposition / them has been accepted by the company. The task of preparing the working plan will be under the direction of MT Sherrard. who will esta blish three camps on the Kirby property ard will have thirty men under him. They will consider. among other matters, the protection of the forests from ii. as, large and small. which kill the prod lction. The idea at present seems to la to apply the sys- tenn of fire prOtectCl to those sections which have been cut over within the past five years. A ether matter which will receive partICul;r r attention is the cutting of trees for railroad ties The bureau wishes to GsI ertain whether it will be better to trees between nine and twelve inche" il diameter for ties. CT to allow these ces to grow into the more valuable sau timber and get the ties out of the upper parts of the larger trees. On the whole, the work will be along more extensive lines than ever before known as far as d private com pany is concerned.
 The numbering operations of the Kirby company are probably the largest in the world. They extend over tract of one and a quarter million acres of pine lands, which contain about 80 per cent of all the long leaf pine of Texas "a vast single body of virgin forest reaching out over seven counties, and uninterrupted except for the clearings around the villages and farms which it incloses.
 This great forest is estimated to have contained, uncut-and the estimate is low-six and a quarter billion mer- chantable feet of lumber, board meas ure. The cuttings already made amount to only a small percentage of what the great forest originally contained.
 The company operates seventeen mills, which now make an annual cut of 250 million feet board measure. and supports a population of 15OOO people Since the forest is mature and is helped
 
 larger trees. the annual cut is to be in- creased to 400 million feet. In addition to the trees, used for lumber, which are cut down to as low a. diameter as twelve inches. seven million ties are being cut out of the forest from trees between nine and twelve inches in di- ameter to fill contract with the Santa Fe railroad.
 It is just because its operations ara on such a huge scale that the Kirby company has decided it must protect itself by adopting some system of for estry.
 Even if the obligations to the 15.000 people dependent for a living on the numbering operations should be ig- nored. the investment made in mills and equipment is too great to imperil by exhausting the lumber supply.
 Forestry receives little encourag ge- ment when the profits of numbering are small. the markets poor and the Oper- ations conducted with difficulty: but on the KirbW tract these conditions are reversed. The company is making q high profit on its timber, the demand