Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1906-06-19
FORESTRY.

roreSCry looks TO the conservation
and utilization of the various forest
products in order that the greatest re-
turns may be obtained. 1t may apply
to the planting of a new forest or the
preservation of an old one, the preven-
ton Of unnecessary destruction, or the
utilization of forest products as crop.
The uses of a forest are to supply
timber and fuel; to afford protection
against winds; to conserve moisture by
storing water, or at least by checking
its loss by seepage and evaporation,
and to minister to the enjoyment of
man in providing parks and game
covers.
In many new countries forests are
considered detrimental to the growth Of
the varied interests upon which the
new community is dependent, and they
are removed as rapidly as possible.
In old countries the lack Of forests is
felt in various ways and attempts have
been made to restore in part the form
er wooded area.
In some form forestry has been prac-
ticed for several centuries. The grow
ing scarcity of timber and fuel began
to be felt in England early in the six
teenth century, and attempts were
made to supply the failing resources by
making new plantations and by more
scientific cutting of the native growth.
About the beginning of the 18th cen
fury paintings were begun in Scotland
and later in Ireland; now the artificial
ly planted areas exceed the natural
ones. About this time there was great
activity in the introduction of foreign
species of forest trees, many of which
were SO we'll adapted to their new con
ditions that in places there are today
more foreign than native trees.
In France, Belgium, Germany and
other parts of Europe, extensive areas
OF forests are now under systems of
management that result in increasing
rather than decreasing production. In
Germany and France the management
OF forests has received the greatest
attention and government schools are
maintained for the education Of skilled
foresters, and special attention is paid
this important subject.
/ Forest regulation did not for q time
seem as necessary in the United
States with it's great forest wealth as
in Europe. However with the de-
structive methods Of numbering and the
enormous waste by forest fires the
supply has been 30 encroached upon
that means have been taken to repair
the damage and to provide against its
continuance.
| Various states enacted law designed
to correct the former abuses by grant
ing bounties for tree-planting and re-
mission of taxes upon purely forest
areas.
/ Forests are of two kinds, pure and
mixed. The pure forests are less COM
mon than the mixed, and are usually,
though not always, composed Of cone
bearing trees. One advantage of the
pure forest is the greater ease in lum-
boring; one disadvantage is it's liability
to destruction by drought, insects and
diseases. For general purposes mixed
forests are most satisfactory.
The financial returns from forests
depend upon number Of factors, but
in any case the returns are not obtained
for period of several years. In woods
of small growth the whole area may be
cut over every 20 or 80 years, while
forests grown for timber must be of
greater age. BY good management,
where the land is too valuable at the
beginning and markets are convenient.
it is believed that four per cent can be
realized in European forests and there
are records of even greater returns in
the United States.
Since it has been shown that private
holdings Of forest areas can be so man