Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-04
STRIVING TO- MEND OUR WAYS
National Awakening to the Need Of
Forest Preservation.
ADVANCING SCIENCE OF FORESTRY
Forest Lands Under Management OF
states and Nation and school for
Training of Tree Ex-
merits,

TN the last ten years" says the Year
book of the Department of Agriculture for
1891, forestry has advanced in this coun-
try from an almost unknown science to a
useful, growing profession. In that time
the number of technically trained foresters
has increased from less than a dozen to
over 400. Ten years ago there was not a
single forest school in the country. Now
there are several professional forest schools
which rank with those of Europe, and a
score more, with courses in elementary
forestry, whose usefulness is steadily grow
ing. Forest lands under management have
grown from one or two tracts to many,
a~ggregatIng 1868, 600 acres, scattered thu on h
thirty-nine states. The national forests
have increased from $4,000, 900 acres, prac-
tically unusued and unprotected. to 1885,
100000 acres. used, guarded and improved
both In productiveness and accessibility.
The number of states which have state
forests has increased from one to ten, and
Of those which employ trained foresters
from none to eleven. The membership of
forest associations has increased from 5000
to 1890. Ten years ago, except for a few
OF the foremost botanists. European forest
ers knew more about American forests
than did the people Of the country. In
Europe they were then using preservatives
to prolong the service Of beech ties, and
so adding from twenty to forty years to
their life. Here, on the other hand. scarcely
a treated tie had been laid, though there
are now sixty treating plants, twenty-seven
of which treat ties exclusively. and an en-
gineer who recently returned from Europe
reports that both in size and mechanical
perfection the treating equipment Of this
country is ahead OF any to be found
abroad.
"And yet American forestry has only
safely passed the experimental stage and
got ready to do something. Action. i'm
mediate and vigorous, must be taken II the
Inevitable famine of wood supplies is to be
lessened. We are now using as much wood
in a single year as grows in three, with
only twenty years supply of virgin growth
in sight. Only the application of forest
knowledge with wisdom, method and
energy. in the next ten years, can prevent
the starving of national industries for lack
OF wood"
Timber IA Profitable Crop.
THE growing of timber as a farm crop
has gained a permanent place in American
agriculture. Each time a thrifty farmer
sees a neighbor cutting a supply Of fence
posts and obtaining, out of the same stock,
enough firewood to pay for the work, or
selling on the stump a quantity Of saw
timber. the product OF a far-sighted in
vestment OF fifteen, twenty or twenty-five
years ago, he realizes more keenly the i'm
portance Of the wood crop. A farm with
out a good wood lot is incomplete.
where the rainfall is heavy the wood
lot can be maintained on land not the best
for other purposes. while in a region where
good land must be selected It is the opin-
ion Of experienced men that the trees pay
for the ground they occupy In protection
to the farmstead. the orchard or adtoining
fields. With the shelter OF a windbreak
less feed is required to winter stock. danger
10 an orchard from late frosts is reduced,
and the comfort OF the home, as well as It's
beauty, is greatly increased. Indeed, some
owners have stimated the value OF good
groves at $1,000 an acre. on the ground that
! the value OF their property u increased TO