East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-03-17

Many people in this country think
that forestry had never been tried
until the government began to prac-
tice it upon the national forests. says
a forestry bulletin. Yet forestry is
practiced by every civilized country
in the world except China and Turkey.
It gets results which can be got in no
other way, and which are necessary to
the general welfare.
What forestry has done abroad is
the strongest proof of what it can
accomplish here. The remarkable
success of forest management in the
civilized countries of Europe and Asia
is the most forcible argument which
can be brought in support of wise for
est use in the United States.
The more advanced and progressive
countries arrive first and go farthest
in forestry, as they do in other things
Indeed. we might almost take forestry
as a yardstick with which to measure
the height of a civilization. On the
one hand, the nations which follow
forestry most widely and systematical-
ly would be found to be the most en-
lightened nations. on the other hand,
when we applied our yardstick to
such countries as are without fores-
try, We could say with a good deal Of
assurance, by this test alone, Here
is a backward nation"
AT
taken together, have passed through
all the stages of forest history and ap-
piled all the known principles Of for
estry. They are rich in forest ex-
perience. The lessons of forestry were
built up gradually as the result Of
hardship. They did not first spin
fine theories and then apply those
theories by main force
on the contrary. they began by fac
ing disagreeable facts. Every step Of
tho way. toward wise forest use, the
world over, has been made at the
sharp of want suffering or loss. As
a result, the science of forestry is one
OF the most practical and most direct
~ useful of all the sciences. 1t Is a
serious work. undertaken as a measure
% relief, and continued as safeguard
against future calamity.
Take the case of Germany. Start
ing with forests which were in as bad
shape as many Of our own which have
been recklessly cut over, it raised the
average yield Of wood per acre from
20 cubic feet in 1880 to 65 cubic feet
In 1904. During the same period Of
lime It trebled the proportion Of saw
timber got from the average cut,
which means. in other words that
through the practice of forestry the
timberlands Of Germany are of three
times better quality today than when
Tn system was used. And in "a years
O. Increased the money returns from
an average acre Of forest sevenfold.
In France forestry has decreased
the danger from floods, which threat
en- TO destroy vast areas Of fertile
farms, and in doing so has added
many millions Of dollars to the ma
tional wealth in new forests. 1t has
removed the danger from sand dunes
ana in their place has created a
property worth many millions OF dol
lars. Applied 10 the state forests,
which are small in comparison with
the national forests OF this country,
u causes. them TO yield each year a
net revenue Of more than $4,70O,O 900.
though the sum spent on each acre
Tor management is over 100 times
greater than that spent on the forests
oi the United States.
France and Germany together have
population Of 1OO,OOO,OOO, in round
numbers, against our probable 85,000,-
900. and state forests Of 14,500,000
acres against our 100000 acres Of
national forests: but France and Ger
ny spend on their forests $1,000
200 a year and get from them in net
returns 100000, 900 a year, while the