The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-11-10
TO SAVE The TIMBER
Ia Texas Company Will Practice For
estry on a Million
Acres. -
Comon-Sense Precautions to Avoid
Waste of the Valuable
Material.

OusSOt00s "0Sntu0ton.
Washington, Nov. 10. - Forestry on a
huger scale than has ever been attempted
before in this country by a private cor
poratfon will be practiced in southeast
Texas when the Kirby Lumber company
puts into use the working plan for it's
lands to be prepared by the bureau of
forestry.
The numbering operations of the Kirby
company are probably the largest in the
world. They extend over a tract Of a
million and a quarter 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-siN and quarter billion merchant
able feet of lumber, board measure. The
cuttings already made amount to only a
small percentage of what the great forest
originally contained.
The company operates II mills. which
now make an annual cut Of 25O,O00OOO
feet. board measure, and supports popu-
lation of $4,000 people. Since the forest
is mature and is helped rather than
harmed by the culling of the larger trees,
the annual cut is to be increased to 400,
,00J feet. In addition to the trees used
for lumber. which are cut down to as low
a diameter as II inches, 100000 ties are
being cut out of the forest from trees be-
tween and II inches in diameter to fill
a contract with the Santa Fe railroad.
1t Is just because it's operations are on
such a large scale that the Kirby company
has decided it must protect itself by
adopting some system Of forestry. Large
as it's holdings are, unless they are prop
erly managed and protected they must
soner or later be exhausted.
Even If the obligations to the 10000
people dependent for living on the lum-
berins operations should be ignored. the
investment made in mills and equipment
is too great to imperil by exhausting the
timber supply.
Forestry receives little encouragement
VIXEN the, profits OF numbering are small,
the markets poor, and the operations con-
Quoted with difficulty; but on the Kirby
tract these conditions are reversed. The
company is making a high profit on its
timber, the demand for lumber is excel
lent ana numbering operations are made
exceedingly easy by the lay Of the land
and the condition Of the forest. The lands
are in Jasper, Sabine. Hardin, Newton
St.. Augustine, Angelina, and Tyler coun-
ties and were bought with an eye to sim
pltfying and cheapening lumber opera
tions. The labor supply is steady and a
railroad runs through the forest from
north to south.
Last winter Overton W. Price, assistant
chief, and Thomas II. Sherrard. field as
| sistant, Of the bureau of forestry, made q
| preliminary examination of the lands al
the company's request and returned re-
| port stating the lines along which forestry
might be practiced with profit in the Kir-
| by company's forest. The company &C
| cepted the report and asked that com
| pete working plan be made.
The task of preparing this working paI
will begin Nov. is. and will be in charge
Of Mr.. Sherrard, who is an expert or
southern pines. :. Thirty men, established
| in three camps. will make the measure
ments and gather the figures on which thu
| plan must be based.
Several problems must be worked out
| whose solution will be Of value whereve
numbering is practiced in the long-lea
pine belt. The most important Of thes'
is the fire problem. The first necessit!
in planning for further crops on numbered
lands is to protect those lands from fires
which kill the reproduction. Light fire
| repeatedly burn over the forest floor il
the long-leaf forest, and while they do n
damage to the large trees, all the youn,
growth is killed. The fire problem. Brief
stated, is whether it is best to attempt t.
protect all the forest or to limit the pro
lection to cut-over areas. Since the long
leaf pine in five years attains size larg
enough to protect itself from any but tn
severest fires. it is probable that the sys
tenn of fire protection will apply only t
lands cut over within the last five years
The cutting of trees for railroad tie
brings up for settlement a matt.r of in
terest not only to the Kirby company, bu
to every tie company in the country 0
the Kirby lands trees between nine an
twelve inches in diameter are used fc
ties, and trees above twelve inches are CT
into saw timber. The question has bee
| raised by the bureau whether it would b
better to allow all the trees twelve inche
and under to grow into the more valuab
saw timber and get the ties out Of tn
tops of the larger trees. A great deal
measuring and calculating will have to (
done to settle this point.