Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-28

furnish q permanent supply of lumber.
ties and bridge timber. telegraph poles
and other wood for the use OF the state
railway.
The Germans have been practicng for
estry for SO long that the greater part
of the waste land in that empire Is al
ready covered with forest. During the
six years from 1901 to 1895 100000 acres
were acquired and planted with trees. and
in 1903 an appropriation OF $4,000 was
made by the reichstag to assist private
individuals in resOresting swamp lands
and uplands that are not susceptible to
agriculture.
In Denmark similar work has been go
ing on for generations. and the govern
ment now appropriates about fifteen
thousand dollars ANNUALLY for planting
trees along the coast of Jutland to pre-
vent the encroachment Of the sea and
the drifting sands upon the farms. The
Denmark forests are In such good shape
that they yield an annual revenue OF
| about 100000 to the government.
Policy of the United States.
Other countries have also practiced a
similar policy for generations, while the
people Of the United States have been
stripping from their forests three and
one-half times the annual growth OF
| trees, and It is estimated that for forty
years past the annual loss by fire among
the timber lands belonging to the United
States has been more than $50OOO'OOO
| The waste of wood because of fires and
+, from cutting immature trees has amount
| ed to one-third Of what has been used,
and hereafter we shall be dependent upon
| what we produce. In other words, the
people Of the United States have got 70
point where they must go grow TIM
Der or do without it,
But the I94.'OO.OOO acres Of national
! forests which have been placed in pre-
serves comprise nearly one-third or the
timber now standing. and are worth more
than two billions OF dollars. They are
being administered In such way that
they will soon be in shape to supply lun-
j Der. poles and ties for the greater part
of the country. Already the revenues
! from them are large and they are In
cre-asing very rapidly.
| Nearly 4OC.GO0.GcO feet OF mature tim
Der was taken out of the forest reserves
under contract last year, and 1.5Co.OOC
| cattle and horses and 100000 sheep and
/ goats are now grazing upon lands leased
| from the government in the forest re-
serves. That is nearly p per cent OF
the sheep and goats owned i'll the coun-
| try. and more than l. per cent OF the cat
tie and horses.
Services Interdependent.
ests are not limited to producing timber
and furnishing pasturage. Their value
In protecting and preserving the sources
of our water supply cannot be estimated.
particularly when it is considered in con-
nection with the reclamation service.
which is dependent upon the forest
streams for water to redeem more than
! 5N,UUOOO acres Of desert land and trans
| form ii into farms and homes. The use
/ fulness of the irrigation works which
the reclamation service Is building must
depend upon the thorougllness with
which the forest service does it's duties
| The two enterprises are SO interlinked
| that one is dependent upon the other.
Without forests to check the run-off the
| streams will 1uctuate. They are torrents
/ for IA few months in the year. while they
/ go dry for the rest.
1 The forest service is becoming one of