The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1908-05-29
NEEDED
TO BENEFIT SOUTH
Some Timely Advice Concern
ing the Preservation OF
Timber Supply.

from the People, the following
timely suggestions are excepted
from a recent letter of Mrs. A.
B. Avery for the preservation OF
Southern forests:
One of the most serious and
quite imminent problems con
fronting our country is the ap-
preaching scarcity of timber of
all descriptions. especially such
timber as is used for the manu-
facture of lumber in Its different
dimensions. The scarcity of tim
Der Is not only imminent but is
actually at our door, and it Is a
hard matter now, and the task
becomes more grave with each
year, to find suitable timber out
of which to manufacture firstclass
lumber.
Forestry is a science not much
practiced 10 the Southern States.
Timber in the South has been
cheap and very plentiful, and no
one was very much concerned
about what time might bring
forth in this respect. But the
numerous saw mills and other
working plants which have sprung
up in the last few years make the
serious mind look towards q more
serious future on account of the
number of plants which are now
in operation and the growing de-
mand for lumber. The Govern
ment preserves are too far from
the Southern market to be of
great advantage, and when the
timber famine does strike the
South-as it will 10 the near flu
ture-it will find it unprepared
and seriously suffering from the
handicap of its scarcity of forests.
unless some measures are lOL ted
whereby every intelligent owner
of timber lands or working plants
can be induced to cut down no
sound timber less than tell inches
in dianeter, and unless he replen-
ishes at least one-half of his cut
over lands with the same kind of
timber as he has taken off.
Saplings are easy to be had,
and one has simply to look upon
the young forests in the European
countries to see what forestry is
capable of DOING. Every tree
grown from a repIanted sapling
is straight and sound and the
quality of timber of the best.
This also applies to oak timber.
The best class of oak that we have
in the South today grows on the
banks of rivers and creeks, beau
tiful. long white-Oaks and cow
oaks, which. after having been
cut down, will find no substitute
unless forestry causes them to be
replanted in the locations from
which they were taken.
Tie Government is doing its
share of preserving and of re-
planting. but every individual
should assist by replanting his
own lands and by outstanding his
present supply in the best posi-
BILE manner. for only in this way
can we feel secure that the coun-
try some day will not suffer de-
trimentslly for the want of timber.
as it does ut other times suffer
for the want of other necessities
and is obliged to buy them in
other countries at ruinous rates
to itself. One has to look at
China and such other countries
who have been devastated of the
forests. There foods are preva-
lent, and the scarcity of frewood
is appalling.
What we need and must have
is, more forestry. more replant-
ing-either By Government aid or
privately; but forestry is the only
remedy against diss trous conse-
quence.
MRS. A. B. AVERY.
Quarterly Conference.
Next saturday nioht- Nav an