Putnam patriot., 1909-10-15
FOREST PLANTATIONS.

Il
 l FOREST PLANTATIONS. l lAn abstract of the addrcss delivered before the Connecticut Forestry Asso ciation on October s, laoe, at "rhs Larches,s South Woodstock, Conn. by samuel N. Spring, State Forester. appreciate greatly this opportunity y of addressing meeting of this asso ciation and of having the pleasure ol making your acquaintance 80 soon after beginning my work as State For. 1 ester.
 We all feel that there Is great field for forest work in this State and il Is s privilege to have part In it's steady development.
 Since taking up my duties on octo. ber there has been ttme to familiarixe myself little with the work,of the of- fics at New Haven and examine brief. ! ly one of the state forests.
 You are to be congratulated on the progress thus far made by those who have held the office of Forester and 1 hope to continue the work vigorously and progressively.
 Forestry in the United States Is quietly advancing each year and with the good work of the past in Gonnccti- cut We ought to be able 10 place our 1 state we'll in the lead among the states. In reviewing some statistics gather ed last year for the Nnsional Conven- ton Commission 1t was interesting to note that a total of less than million acres of land in the United States had been planted with forest trees. The greater part of these werc plantations made In the middle west primarily for purposes of protection. II hAs been estimated that there are at least sixty million acres of non-ag ricultural land in this country In need of plant ing If they are again te be made pro. ductive. IL is evident that only be- , ginning has been made in forest plant. ing.
 1t is equally interesting that some of our oldest plantations were estab. lished in New England and that Con- neclicut has several Of these. We scarcely know the original purpose of l such forest planting but It seems as If these persons had an almost prophetic vision of the needs of this decade Tor an example of practical results to be SC. cured from forest plantations. Careful precise experiments in all departments of forest work carried out now will Dc of inestimable value to the next two generations at time when the need of good forest growth will be more sharply felt.
 Extensive commercial forest plant ing Is of recent development only. Notable examples that come to my m ind are the Santa Fc R. k. in south ern California, the Willamette Paper and Pulp Co. in Oregon, the Pennsyl- vania K. R. in Pennsylvania, the Met fopolitan Water Board in Massachu' setts, and several water companies in Connecticut. These show the practi- cal trend of the work by private com panies. Forest planting k perhaps more tangible and more easily under stood than other forms of forest work and K often the first kind of forestry undertaken. In the case of the Penn syivania R. R. Co. this work led up to a complete forest policy. This com pany has done as much forest plant ing within n few years ss any other | private company, perhaps more, and yet this iS now the smallest part of the work which includes the purchase and management of additional forest tracts and the chemical treatment of railroad ties and other materials for use by the road. The cuttings and cIose utilixs. ton of products on one of the compa- ny's tracts near Altoona, Pa, are e. pecially interesting as examples ol profitable and practical forest work done with regard to the development of future crops. The forest plantation, are equally interesting.
 Forest planting Is m entering wedgs In forest practice. It stimuiates thu desire to protect from fire; 1t teaches much about the growth and habits ol trees and often creates desife to pro tect and improve forest lands when the successful results Of planting wastl land have become evidenti
 The speaker then gave . brief e count of forest planting in the United States Forest Service and by reprssen tatiye states such as Michigan, Penn syivania, New York, and Ohio In ordeI
 b show the progress Of work through
 out the county.
 | He said further: The field of work Q
 the national government is clearly de
 nned- It includes the assistance Q
 states in studying their forest oondi tions and In formulating . state fore~
 policy but the greater work hsfose th' united ststes Forest sesvics is tho n
 foseststion of not isss than nve miilioI