Arizona republican., 1906-03-01
SAVING THE FORESTS.
The Government Taking Hold in Real
 Earnest.

The government, in making a na- tional issue of the tree, has begun d great movement. which, it is hoped. will place the American forest beyond the ravages of the land skinner" It is replanting denuded forest areas. starting new ones and conserving old ones. IL is studying the problems of the small owners of O,O0O 900 acres of wood lots and showing them not only how they can successfully prac- tice forestry but compete with the holders O. Iar-e interests.
 It tells the ma who owns timber land how to get the most ont of it: the f-rmer vho hos none what trees to plant and how. It shows the lum- herman how to avoid waste and the milIman how to save.
 During the present regime the re- serve areas have been increased by A. 00000O acres. or exactly 6S7.5OO square miles, an area nearly the size Of Ne braske
 It is estimated that forest fires de- strOy 1O.00O,O GOO acres of timber land every year. This is a tremendous ad- dition to tke waste Of reckless Ium- bering men who have assiduously engaged in strangling the goose that laid the golden egg.
 An illustration of the good accom- plished by the forestry service may be taken from the terpentining inter ests. The unbrOken forest of long leaf pine which once extended through the Southern states. practically from the Atlantic seabOard to Texas. had been so far exhausted that expert estimates gave the industry but fifteen years to live. More than half of the original forest had been exhausted, and much If the rest depleted from the reck- less and wastefuI methods.
 The service has introduced Dr. Charles II. Hertys cup system, instead of the old destructive box system, thus prolonging the life of the naval store industry which was threatened with immediate distinction. The Herty sys- tenn produces not only higher grade rosins than were possible to the other. but it increases the turpcntine output by about 40 per cent. At a cost of about $l4,000, all told, the Forest Ser vice has in this one item added $7.O0O.~ 900 a year to the naval stores. products But more important than this is the fact that f. has not only saved the turpentine industry, but the turpentine forests from annihilation.-
 The service has undertaken. as one phase of it's task, thc solution of tho problem of floods and rivers. For fa- stance: The Kansas river floods of 1903 destroyed $20, 000,00O worth of property and 100 lives. One of the most fertile valleys on the continent, 120 miles long was partly destroyed. Here the ricn soil was cut away; there 1t was cover ed with sand six to eight feet deep over; holes were cut out and lakes left behind. Out of 25O,O00 acres of won derfully fertile soil, 10000 were com pletely destroyed, 10000 more lost 50 per cent of their value\and the uncer- tainty left behind depreciated the value of the whole valley.
 The Forest Service has devised sys- tems of tree planting for the river banks. the sand covered and deeply erOded lands. The object of the first is to prevent washing of the banks. to protect the whole area from the full force of the floods and in time of aov- erflOW to cceck the tendency to cut new channels. The last two systems are for ultimately retaining the now destroyed lands and making them pro duCtive. The useless sand lands will grow cottonwood and reclaim the land for crops. A most interesting discovery was made after the flood. Where the protected growth of cottonwood which had not been cut away checked the rush of the flood waters, the land be- yond was generally covered, not with sand but silt, and is often more fertile than before. With extensive planting of trees another flood would bring back instead of further desoIation, return to fertility much of the land now bar ren.-New York Sun
 The people who are forever using the