Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-05-12
SAVE THE FORESTS.
A Subject Of Great Interest to
Maine People.
TimbeIland Owners We're First TO
Realize Its importance.
What Has Been Done to Acccrs,.ish II
and Prevent Forest Fires.

1
there WAS an article which was of cs-
jpeci,l interest to Maine people. as it
dealt with the forestry problems Of th.
Irountry. The article WAS prepared ~,
Prof. Il. j.. Fcrnow, OF the New York
State College of Forestry, who WA,
from 1856 to 1895 chief of The division
Of for, stry of the L. S. department If
Ia:ricultur". and who is well uuaIifinl i
To writ" upon this important subject.
at III" very outset he says thai the SEN
ltimt .Italist who shouts "woodn;an spare
that tree" has done more harm than
heal good, for there has ~ cn 10 rational
work don by thCm, Simply Il misguide!
effort To save trees. AS President
RonSovclt has said, the forests grow to
hc used and true forest preservation
does not mean, cannot mean that no
trees snail be fcllcI for the use of the
lumhcrinan, the pulp maker or fire
wool aal the various uses To which
wood is npw pat. Forests. ike The hu-
man flmily. must nc preserved by re-
placing the old with the Young. in nth-
cr words a young tree must he grown
for ca'n old tree that is cut down.
Prof. FornoW then sets forth the
prUpositiun that the problem is not how
tU prevent tie wood chopper from S,lu-
| ,lyiu~ the ne; cS Siry wood materials.
but, rather, how to so conserve tlc
present forests 50 as to supply WIN,
wood is me- cSsury fGr the lr, sent ana
to insure q future supply. Her" III
Maine there has como to- be a rcaliZl
,tion Of this problem. 1t has cone with
in the last hilf GoZcn years, since the
owners of timbcrlandS came To 4 r"1li-
zttio:l of the magnitude of the r'ul3 and
lrapcr Industry of toi1y. for it is that.
as much as the saw mill industry.
which has threatened the forests OF
| Maine.
| Since the timherlantl owners came to
realize this, ana il is net str; nsc that
they were the first to re liza ii, for &c
nude of ices these Thousand acre
townships Of northern Maine were n;''
very valuable real state. they have be-
gun taking measures to prevent Unno-
ccs=ary WASTES. Tie nuip min ownnrS.
too. rs pointed out by Commissioner of
Labor, Samuel W. Matthew's, in a re-
cent interview with the Journal, have
come to understand the need Of con-
serving .hc forest resources of th@
State AS stated by the commissioner
|
fast replacing the IKE in the woods and
there is greater care in the selection OF
the trcc.; which shall bc f"llcd.
1T is fast coming to be the correct
mcthc! for all operators in the woods
to have an expert wh""c sole duty is to
select the trees which are to be cut and
to mark th" place at which the cut
shall be made. In addition to this H..
fnr.4tcrs To work urrn their timber
lands IEI to care for thcm.
in the article referred t" above, the
subject of tho effect OF forest. Oh eli
mate and water supply is touched upon.
ANA the results Of the recent congress;
of expert: vEj,n rliu that these n;lu
cnt"s wore practically rnthiuG il: Eiv' II.
The professor, however. diS;,grccs with
Tie eminent scientists who compose i
the cor grcsa. Iir believes that under
some conditions the forests have 4 rou
; Yilt rnblc influence in this line. but says
It is in no sense 50 great as pupIIl II
opinions gives it credit for.
Touching upon the future demands
for wood Prof. FcrroW says that 10 ono
can forctcll what it Will ho. Int %.t:&
present conditions must ICt"rn uS ~
coming tC Il conclusion on that point.
: fJo calls attention to the fat thIt lr+t
year England imported wood to th"
: value of $f25. .OO0. .0o0. while her imports
Of pig iron for the same period were
t $1,000, 900 less than that antu lie
further says that while coal, iron ana
. :.torc have. to Il large extent. h"rii sub
stitutcl for woCd tIr IL mnnd for w"od
=; las not decreased. II is interesting to
, note tl.nt IN the past 40 -tnrs The con-
sumption Of wood has iucr, ;..>ed far
beyond the Increase in population. The
Yer capita consumption has Elown ut
the compound rate OF : to Ter cent
, per anuum 1t is also worthy Of nntr
. that til" CONSUMPTION Of wood for :. II
| II has not decreased III pro portion to the
, increase in the use of ctII.
Where one Of the ;Srcltc.it resources
II Il commonwealth is its forests. iS IS
tho case nero in Maine. these figures
: are of moro than p3:sins Interest
rh"y furnish food for much thought
t and VII. or. ut least, shuuli. cause c,"ii
: the most hccllcss to :;toj, ;lIr! think -
| it not for the best interests Of c.",.
resident OF the State to take an ACTIVE,
, interest in the u,t. stinu of preserving
, tho great timber tracts Of the state?
, III WouiI :'.'cfl til;'t th irt' these HS"tli
, of thc piCucdiu;, paragraph is alone
efficient to MAKE any G,ir of ordinary
intelligence 50" ti' great valur Of IL ~
wood lands and 10 feel that it is in
rumbcnt upon him To !" what he a.,
to 500 that proper measure; are tsI5cL
, for their prot ctlCn.
The subject OF forest fires is treated
ut great length in the article from
!. which quotations hive hcen ln;ttlc, ard
Prof. Fctnow points cut that today tie
greatest danger of the destruction or
=, the forests of the country is from fir.
IIc sets forth the many causes from,
which these fires originate and sns-
grsts some remedies therefor. In thu
main he says tha. the only means of
, absolute safety from this danger is ly-
! froper laws. rigidly enforced: eternal
watchfulncss on The part of officials
and hearty co operation ot land own
tcls. In Germany, whore forestry has
Tie longest been practiccd. this danger
is reaii2td al so guarded against that
! II has b.cn reduced TO a minimum. In
that country the average fire loss for