The Washington herald., 1909-08-01

| CA4eoS soile OIBAHlLe4 elLDIL - llGlc
to preserve the rapidly perishing for
ests Of the South. THIS section will be
stricken by forest famine within twen-
ty-five years. and the results will be fatal
10 agriculture and 20 industry ~ this
part Of the country ! do not say trees
must not be cut down; that is absurd.
But other trees must be planted in their
NStead."
The speaker was Enos A. Mills. United
States government expert on forestry,
who has done more than any other man
to popularize the forestry movement in
the South
In every Southern city OF any size this
rudy faced. keen-eyed man Is known. At
citizens mass meetings. in churches,
schoolhouses, and before women's clubs
he has spoken a: the command Of the
! government. warning our people Of the
dire results Of wanton forest destruction,
and doing more than any man in the
government employ. Clifford Pinchot not
excepted, to arouse popular interest In
forestry which is now sweeping over the
South.
Uses of Trees Enumerated.
Just what do the trees 90 for us?"
asked Mr.. Mills. when reminded that few
OF US are acquainted with the simplest
scientific facts by which trees are related
10 the agriculture. climate. and industry
Of our country.
First. forests heat and cool slowly.
They thus protect a section against sud
den changes OF heat and cold ruinous to
agricultural interests. In Germany. where
| forestry has been maintained by the gov
| ernment for three hundred years. farm
ers know that fully one-third OF the
| farming lands should grow forests. Look
at the waste lands OF the South. and they
VIII suggest possibilities al once.
Second, the even flow OF rivers. the
| equilibrium Of all water power, depends
| on the trees. AS the forests on your
! hills and mountains disappear the floods
come rushing down, breaking the fertile
| lands and causing a shrinkage OF water
power
Third. another important fact is that
trees anchor soil. Recent examinations
/ OF the Mississippi and other rivers in the
South show channels filed with mud.
/ Your rivers are made unnavlgable by the
/ waste OF good farm soil which is annu-
ally washed into them.
]
as home building material. as productive
/ Of pitch. tar and turpentine and as pos
/ sessing invaluable medicinal properties.
/ Is not any one OF these facts sufficient
| 10 interest men and women in the sal
/ vatiOn OF the forests?r
Forestry as Profession.
Ten years ago forestry was an almost
unknown science in America To-day It
Is a rapidly growing profession, Offering
! limltless opportunity 10 the youth OF our
I country Our national forests have in
creased from 100000 acres. unused and
uncared for. to 165.000000 acres. in the
using. protecting. and replanting Of which
foresters are greatly in demand. Cur
| trained foresters have increased from
about a dozen In number 70 more than
four hundred and the remuneration Of a
forester compares favorably with that OF
/ other salar!ed professions. Offering also
many opportunities 10 establish a bust
ness Of ones own.
Ten years ago there was not a single
school Of forestry In America. Now many
/ OF our colleges and universities Offer ele-
/ mentary courses In forestry, while Amer
J lea boasts some forest schools which rank
! with those Of Europe. It IS not generally
known that one Of the first established
]
/ Is located IN the South. This IS the Bilt-
more Forest School. at Biltnore. y. c.
Vanderbilt n Pioneer Forester.
Attracted doubtless by the beauty OF
| the mountains which environ the section,
and by its excellent climate. George W.
/ Vanderbilt. Of New York, purchased In
| Western North Carolina. twenty years
! ago a country estate which was later IN
/ creased to a kingdom in size, extending
| over two hundred square miles A mag
! nifcent country home was erected, and
the place received the name Of Butmore.
At a time when forestry was an almost
unfamiliar term 10 all save a few scien-
tific men in America, and in connection
with lands which had been so ravagcd
/ by fires and tinbernen as 20 offer appar-
| emily no other than agricultural possi-
bilities, Il IS remarkable that Mr. Wander
bilt should have considered reforesting
the denuded fields Of the estate. This he
did. however. and obtained the co-opera-
tlon OF DR.. Hough. of New York. and OF
! Clifford PinchOt. now chief Of the United
States Forestry Service. Later Carl A.
/ SchenclS, one OF the most advanced and
enthusiastic foresters OF his time. took
permanent charge Of the work
Esta bIishes a school.
Recognizing the Importance Of forestry
as profession. Dr. Schenck. in 1895, es-
tabiished the BItmore forest school,
which is doing a work unique in the
South. This school, the attendance Of
which is limited annually TO twenty-five
strOng-bOdied. earnest young men. has
for its working field the vast forests Of
the BNtmore estate. The students learn
forestry by being foresters.
They manage a tract Of 5000 acres for
the production of frewoOd for the market
Of Ashevile and neighboring towns
where about 2,590 cords are sold annually.
They aid in marking trees 10 be cut; in
grading the quality of frewood: in re-
foresting the 1900 acres Of denuded fields
on the estate; in making seed beds, plant
ing and transplanting seeds and estimat-
ing standing timber
| portion Of the students time is spent
I at the planning mill where they learn
the management Of a retail lumber yard
On the first OF April each year the
/ school is moved 10 the borders OF Pisgah
forest an S0.0OO-acre tract Of virgin tim
berland, and later the students penetrate
within the forest until, by May the
camps are pitched at the Pink Beds. Il
section in the heart OF the woods named
from the color OF the rhododendron and
laurel b10Or,frer 4ha-, nr,.t~,- exile sFr,a