The sun., 1908-10-11
Two LESSONS In FORESTRY
Waste ON DUNDERBERG; AT
WEST POINT, THRIFT.


UgIT sSara On ths Mountain ssdes- Record
eha UnsCientiAo Methods Ubed 20
supply Fuel Fer the Ever Burning
FiFet or the Eiudsen Valley BFicikyaFds
One does not hear much about the fres
which arc destroying forests near the
city or about the waste and unscientiho
methods which are helping the fires In
the work Of destruction. Nevertheless
conditions hereabout are about as bad
In many rcsp0cts as they are IN the remote
regions oe the AdirondaclEs and tbs West
and the results are 40 harmful. The fires
are thoee ever burning In the bricEyards
Of the Hudson valley and tbs unscientifo
and wasteful methods are those used to
supply them with fuel.
The brickyards are practically re-
sponsible for all the woodcutting which
goes on smong the highlands Of the
! Hudson. Possibly bricks may be made
without straw. but apparently they can
not be made without wood. OIL and coal
have been tried sftiel but the brickmakers
have sone back to wood. and 90 the de-
Knands on the woodlands continue.
Therefore the most interesting forestry
question to-day TO the people who live
In this city is that relating TO the preserva-
tlon and Improvement Of the forests,
close 10 their doors. Few towns In the
country, II may be said. are 90 fortunate
as New York, which has several hundred
square miles OF almost unbroken wood
lesds close by.
They are not the virgin forests which
the early settlers encountered, but TO all
intsats and purposes they cover country
quite as wild in some respects as ever
Il was. The particular problem is how to
protect them IN such q manner az shall
preserve for the city and State q wilder
neas remarkable for Its natural beauty.
It Ia also desirable to improve the condi-
ssos CT The goods themselves.
ANewYofk man who spends much Of his
leisure time among the bills Of the Hudson
highland region met some time ago on
the summit Of Dunderberg q native who
! earns his living by chopping wood. What
he heard from the woodohopper and was
able to see Of his work convinced the New
Yorker that there is forest work to be done
In a region much nearer the city than the
Adirondacks, and work also Of q some
what different kind. In the opinion
4 Of many persons who have considered
the subject and would like to see this
particular region preserved in Its natural
beauty the work Of forest betternent
in the highlands is matter for the State
to take mp In connection with the work
already being carried on in its Catskill
and Adirondack forest preserves.
AZ the New York man and the woods
man stood together on the summit Of
Dunderberg their gaze wandered over
miles Of this forested country, an I'M
broken expanse Of trees with the excep-
ton Of the settlements and clearings
along the Hudson valley and the imme-
date top Of the mountain itself.
Here some two hundred acres Of fine
forest had Just been laid low. with
scarcely single tree left to bear seedsfor
future forest generation. Only the un-
desired cedars and hem1ocks had been
spared II is an example Of what 10 going
on In increasing amount all along the
wooded range north Of New York city
from the lake region o, northern New
Jersey through the Ramapo Hills and the
Hudson highlands northeastwardly into
Connecticut.
Another thing which the New Yorker
learned from his friend Of the mountain
top Illustrated the lines Of least resistance
along which progresses the practice Of
burning up these forests.
The brfckyards find in the woods a
z fuel that is cheap. close by and well
suited to thelr needs. The man who sells
them the wood not only finds a ready,
constant market but furthermore does
not need to be q capitalist to enter into
business with them. He does not. IN fact,
need TO own q foot Of soil.
The native who lay resting on the noun
tain top, looking out with satisfaction
over the 200 acres Of denuded country,
was not land owner there. He had
merely bought the trees on the stump,
and he might well look satisfied, for he
had cleaned up in addition to the area
before him q sum Of money expressed
) In four figures.
!