The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-03-12
TREES AS CROPS.

1T is as sure that forest land can
be made to grow successive crops OF
trees under proper methods as that
pillow land can be made to grow sue
cessive crops of wheat" says the
secretary of agriculture in the part
of his annual report wherein he
speaks of the national forests.
This country which once could
boast of forest resources richer than
any other nation in the world, has
been cutting three times as much
timber for a number of years as
there is grown, and the consideration
of timber as crop to be carefully
harvested has come at time when
many of the virgin forests are al
ready depleted. Continuing, Secretary
Wilson says in part:
Just as American farming has
had to develop and is still develop
ing methods adapted to the condi-
tons of each region to make the best
use of the agricultural lands, so
must the forester learn by scientific
study and practical trial to make the
best use of our timberland. And the
best use means, of course, not mere
ly it's best use for the growing of
trees, but its best use with reference
to all interests directly or indirectly
affected by it.
LAS time passes, it will doubtless
appear that the principles which
centuries of experience in older
countries have placed at our COM
mand can be applied with increas-
| ing good results as we grow more
| familiar with our own special condi-
lions. The issue is sharply between
caring for our forests by applying a
system of known efficiency, or suffer-
| ing certain loss not only of the for
well, through the operation of caus-
es as certain to act as are the rivers
to run to the sea-
The forest service now has admin
| istration over more than 164 900, 600
acres of land. This is slightly more
than one-ffth of the country's total
forested area; the remainder is in
the hands of private owners. Nearly
all the cumberland of the unappro-
priated public domain is now in the
national forests. This means that it
is being protected against fire, theft,
and wasteful exploitation, that its
power to grow wood and store water
is being safeguarded for all time,
and that nevertheless, its present
supply of useful material is open to
immediate use whenever it is want
ed. The report says:
The timber in the national for
ests, which is the legacy of the
growth of centuries, is now in the
truest sense public property, admin
istered for the benefit of the people
primarily for the benefit of the
people of the west, since they are
nearest at hand, but on the whole,
for the benefit of every part of the
country, since the welfare of every
section is interviewer with that OF
all others. The communities and set
tiers adjacent to the forests are safe
from any fear of monopoly of one of
| the chief necessities of civilized
man
The secretary tells interestingly
of how the government manages its
timberands as trustee. 1t gives
timber away through free-use per-
mits in small quantities to the &C
tual home-maker, who comes to de-
velop the country, and in larger
quantities to communities for public
purposes It's system of management
lis vastly different from that of a
| landlord. When large quantities of
timber are harvested from the ma
tional forests, sales are made to the
highest bidder, but under such re-
strictions as look to the mainten-
ance of a lasting supply answering
| to the needs of the locality, to be
had without favoritism and without
extortionate demand based upon the
, necessity of the consumer.