The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-08-25
The American Forestry Association
Begins It's Session With a.
Warm Discussion.
Arabic Qualities of Jack and Nor
way Pine Lands Causes
Debate.
There Is Good Attendance and the
Meeting Will Be In
teresting.

| rooms of the Minneapolis Whist club FOR
| it's summer meeting. The forestry people
came to Minnesota in order to get III
touch with the white pine lumbermen, pc
| Loving that this was good place 1or
missionary work Altho the discussion
of Minnesota forestation was supposed to
come up tomorrow, it was precipitated
| early to-day by the paper of Herman II.
| Chapman, superintendent Of the expert
| ment farm at Grand Rapids. He spoke OF
| the Effect of the Chippewa Forest Re-
| serve on the Locality" He emphasized
| the fact that the agricultural character Of
| the land involved could be judged by the
| timber growing on 1t. Jack pine and
| Norway grew in pure sands only, on sandy
| land with a sandy subsoil, unfit for agri-
| culture. Settlers on such lands would
| Invariably become impoverished and be
dettriment to the community. The eXpe-
| rience Of Michigan and Wisconsin was
! cited. Soil bearing other kinds of timber
was not condemned, but the claim was
! made that nearly all, If not quite all, OF
! the forest reserve was jack or Norway
pine land, and better left unsettled. The
| ten sections of pine land set aside for
| park, taking In thirty miles of lake shore
and much beautiful pine, were regarded
as Of great commercial value to the local
| ity in attracting summer residents, and
! q prophecy was made that this business
| would grow to enormous proportions.
Bernard Defends Jack Pine Land.
| A. G. Bernard Of Cass Lake took issue
with Mr.. Chapman and questioned him
rather sharply about his condemnation of
the jack pine land. Mr.. Chapman said
that not over one-tenth Of the land in
northeastern Minnesota would come under
the classification he condemned, but that
this land could not be farmed profltably
without fertilization.
DR.. Hilbert Roth Of the University of
Michigan college of forestry came to Mr..
Chapman's rescue in lively fashion. He
declared that large tracts Of sandy land
In Wisconsin which had been settled early
was now abandoned, or was farmed by
paupers, and that such soil should never
be devoted to agriculture. He pictured
the condition Of these sand farmers In
graphic style T. 3. Walker said he
| thought Mr. Chap1nan's estimate of the
non agricultural land was small, and that
1t would come nearer one-half, but he
could not agree that all jack pine land
was unfit for cultivation.
r. l.. Mccormick, president of the Mis-
sippi Valley Lumbermen S association,
and until recently a resident Of Hayward,
Wis, came to the defense of the "sand
| farmers. He said he could not agree
that there were deserts in Wisconsin and
! Minnesota. A traveller in New England
would find many farms there abandoned.
II WAS no reUSCLlOn on the CuC-OVer tracts
that they could not match the fertile val
leys in crop production. There were mil
lions Of people who could not buy these
valley farms, and they must settle on the
less valuable lands, which were good at
least for stock rasng. Mr. Chapman re-
iterated his statement that the land with
sandy subsoil could not be farmed prof
itably for many years, and had better be
| used to grow trees. Professor Roth ex-
planned that he had meant no reflection
on Minnesota and Wisconsin. Such states
as Iowa and Illinois were rare. One
| eighth Of France was. not under cultiva-
ton, and Prussia had for years been buy
ing UP abandoned farms. What he con-
| tended was that we should not put poor
man on poor soil and everlastingly make
| pauper of him. Mr.. Mccormick wanted
to know what the poor man should do to
live. j. w. Cooper Of st. Cloud said that
some Of the best land in the country
could be found in the cut-over timber dis
| tricts.
Secretary Wilson Delayed.
The discussion then passed to other
subjects. The attendance this morning
was not large, about a hundred being
present. Secretary Wilson, who is presi-
dent Of the associat ton, did not arrive
| this morning, and DR.. B. Il. Fernow of the
Cornell forestry school presided. Edwin
Bowers of Connecticut, the secretary was
present. Among the wellknown forestry
men present were r. Stewart superin-
tendent Of the Canadian forests, and Eu-
gene l.. Bruce, lrlmberman of the United
States bureau of forestry.
General c. c. Andrews, state fire war
| den, made the address of welcome,
synopsis of which Is given elsewhere.
The Itasca Park Plan.
! Attorney General Douglas then told
about Itasca state park, of which he is
the custodian. He explained that the park
was little known but that it was we'll
covered with Norway pine, and it was the
policy Of the state to preserve the forest
intact, and to acquire the tracts held by
private owners within the park. He de-
| scribed his experiments in reforesting
some Of the tracts denuded by fire. There
were 10000 young trees planted last year
Of which IS per cent are living and thriy-
| Ing. number planted this year met
with unfavorable weather, and only IS per
cent were surviving. Experiments ha d
shown that trees could not be raised from
seed successfully. His work had shown
the advisability Of leaving three or four
stalwart trees on each forty, for the pur-
pose Of demonstration.
| Secretary Bowers inquired whether the
park was first set aside for forest reser-
walton or for park purposes. Mr.. Douglas
replied that it was originally intended as
| a park, but that state laws had since de-
clared the policy Of the state to preserve
the forest in its original condition.
Results at Bltmore.
After Mr.. Chapman's paper, referred to
above, DR.. G. Alvin Schenck, forester of
the Vanderbilt estate at Biltmore, s. c.,
followed with paper on Financial Re-
| suits at Biltmore.' His address was in
| substance as follows:
| Forestry means, for the private owner
the financial development of forestal in
vestments. Where timber has little value
and is not expected to have value in the
future, forestry. as an enterprise, offers no
inducement to the capitalist.
BY improving the means Of transporta-
tion the present value Of the trees and
the prospective value Of the saplings
growing near Biltmore on 100, 600 acres OF
woodland has been greatly enhanced.
The original investments have been re-
duced on the one hand by the removal OF
hyper-mature trees, and have been in
creased. on the other hand, by BUILDING
roads, dams and chutes. by erecting saw.
mills by clearing the forest where il
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