Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-08
PANS FOR NATIONAL
Z FORESTS PROVE POPULAR
EACH STATE SHOULD SET ASIDE
LARGE TRACTS
Permits Owner to Devote
Forty Acres to Tree Culture and
This Land Is Exempted
from Taxation

While the proposition for national
| forests in the Appalachian mountains is
| Incoming more popular day by day, there
| is also a growing inclination for the
states in addition to set oside forest tracts
so far as they can do it with benefit to
| themselves.
From all parts of Pennsylvania are res
| ports of serious drouth. Careful surveys
| by the forest commission of that state
show that only one-fourth of it's forests
remain. Much of the rainfall, instead of
soaking into the soil, now runs away,
producing a decreased amount of water
| IN the streams and an increased aridity
| IN the farms. The only help for this, says
| the Lancaster New Era, is for the state
| to purchase all the deforested lands it can
get at a nominal price, and begin rester-
| ing the forests. 1t is doing this now, but
| not fast enough o make good the con-
tinual waste of forests going on all over
! the state.
| The attention of Pennsylvanians may
| be called to the fact that in Wisconsin
when lands are sold for taxes the forestry
| commission has the first opportunity, and
may use all suitable lands for tree plant
| ing This makes the expense of acquisi-
/ tion small.
| State Forester Halves of Connecticut, in
| his annual report makes this point: Con
| sidering the fact that forest land is taxed
more heavily than any other form of
property, it seems preposterous that own
| ers of such property should have been
entirely without protection from fire from
| the community. Strange as IT. may seem.
the people accustomed to this sort OF ex-
| action from one generation to another
have never thought of demanding any
protection in return"
A Chinese School of Forestry
| Ihe almost worldwide movement to
protect and establish forests has reached
| rqt Chinese
! estry will shortly be opened In Mukden,
| according to a recent report by Consul
| General James w. Ragsdale. at Tientsin.
| The Chinese empire is sometimes pointed
| out as the worst example, among modern
nations, of forest destruction The floods
which are periodically poured down from
| the denuded mountains are destructive
beyond comparison with those of any
| other country, and the want of forests is
assigned as the chi. cause.
| Wood is scarcer In China than in almost
| any other inhabited region of the world,
although the country is well adapted to
| the growing of trees. In the establish
| ing of forest school the Chinese gov
| ernment gives evidence that it realizes
| the need of beginning it's reforestation in
| a scientific manner.
Forty Acres Go Untaxed
| 1t is reported that a recent act of the
| Wisconsin legislature permits the owner
| of any tract of land in the state to set
aside a portion not exceeding forty acres
for forest culture to be exempted from
taxation on that portion of land for
period of thirty years from the time OF
| tree planting. This also applies to firms
and corporations
| This is very good 1t might well go
| farther and allow an unlimited quantity
of land to be thus set aside, If security
is given that the land will be actually
kept in forest until the trees mature.
| The irrigation congress recommended
government ownership of coal mines, to
be effected y the government retaining
| title to coal lands which have not yet
| been alienated, though allowing acqui-
| sition by citizens of the surface of the
| ground for farming and other uses. The
| geological survey also favors this policy.
The discussion of this subject makes
interesting rome facts on the early oc-
| currence of coal in the United States.
| The first information is in the journal
| of Father Hennepin, who, in 1879 recorded
| a coal mine on the Illinois river near
| the present city of Ottawa. Coal was
first mined in Virginia about seventy
years later.
The mining, of anthracite coal In Penn
| sylvania began in 1870, and it is said that
| fifty-five tons were shipped to Columbia,
Penn. in 1907 More than so per cent of
the total production of coal in the United
States from 1914 to the close of 1906, or
| 3,540 $1,000 tons, was mined in Pennsyl-
| vania.
A publication on the production of coal
| in 1906 will soon be ready for distribution
| by the geological survey
| A discussion is going on in Canada as
| to how they should use their forests.
| Our northern states woods being nearly
| used up our invasion of Canada is caus-
| ing great apprehension in that country.
| Wisconsin paper mills are buying pulp
wood in Quebec, 1900 miles away. Some
| Canadians advocate an export duty which
| will force the paper mills to come to
| Canada, but the farmers owning woods
prefer to have their present opportunity
| to sell wood The point of chief interest
| for Americans is the danger of the ex-
| haustion of spruce supply In canada as
! well as in this country. This can be
| averted only by the conservation of ex-
| listing forests and an extensive planting
| of quick growing trees, especially for
| pulp wood.
| Charles E. Bush, vice president for the
chemical fiber division of the American
Paper and Pulp association. says:
Scarcity of Wood
| "a number of mills have reported
| scarcity in their wood supply, and the
| time is coming when the serious inroads
which have been made in our forests
will begin to tell on the paper industry.
| sooner OF lhter Soilie otiiel iildtSiieii tAa'i
wood will be found practically available
| for paper-making purposes, as wood is
| getting scarcer, it's value increasing and
| some substitute must surely beefound.
| 1.-THE constantly rising price of wood
! and the growing scarcity of hard fiber
wastes available for paper making have
| led during the year to a continued and
persistent search for new fbers and new
sources of supply Among these new
sources of fbers he mentions cornstaiks,
bagasse, cotton stalks, peat poplar wood,
| southern gum wood and tupelo. Regard
| ing these last he says;
| '"The woods are so cheap and available
in such great quantity that it Is prac-
ticaily certain that sulphite pulp made
| from them will before long be factor
! in the industry"
| Wide publicity is being given to Secre-
| tary Wilson's statement regarding the
| long foretold lumber famine, This
] fa.,ai.,o is No lonear an object of merely