The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1910-05-14

When John Sibthorp, famous Eng
lish botanist, died in 1896, he lef
money to found a chair of rural econ
omy in Oxford University and ten I'm
published volumes on the plant life
OF Greece. 1t was ten years before
they started to publish these books
and it was almost a century before
the university itself began to take Sc
riously the work of the department Ee
founded
This last statement Is made On tnF
authority of the present incumbent OF
the chair. Prof William Someryille
who arrived in this country recently. tc
finish his second visit to the United
States In year, the present one nav
ing been undertaken, according to
Prof. Somerville, mainly that he might
get chance to study virgin forest
before such a thing had ceased to eX
list.
Prof. Som erville is one Of the best
known authorities in England on mat
tiers agricultural. He is a fellow OF
the Linnean society, of the Royal So
ciety of Edinburgh and of the Royal
Statistical society. By birth he is a
ScOtchman, being Lanarkshire man,
but he is beardless and looks like a
prosperous country gentleman who en-
joys life. He is in his fitch year
and had just served five years in the
governmentlservicew when called to Ok
ford four Years ago from the charge
Of the department Of intelligence and
education of the Board of Education.
For three years previous he was pro-
fessor of agriculture in Cambridge Uni
versity, before that held similar po-
sition In the University of Durham,
and this was antedated by lecture.
ship in the University of Edinburgh.
After theaawakening in agriculture
in recent years the University of Ok
ford dterminad to provide full curri-
culum in agricultural science said
Prof. Somerville, to a New York Sun
reporter, "ard is now engaged In en-
deavoring to build up strong depart
ment of agriculture.
In Oxford we undertake the train
ing of all probationers for the English
forest service and part of the work con-
sists in giving instruction in the an
atomy, physiology and pathology OF
ligneous plants.
Il have had the opportunity of In
speeding forests on the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts of Canada and l have
just returned from a weeks camping
In the hardwood forests of the south
ern Appalachian mountains on the
boundary between North Carolina and
Tennessee.
Il find that public interest in the
lumber supply Of the country is at pres
emit very keen, and it strikes me that
1t Is none too soon for the govern.
ments Of the United States and the
Dominion of Canada to be taking the
question Of forest conservation seri-
ously in hand. On the Canadian side
of the boundary the impression LETT
most prominently in the mind Is the
appalling destruction Of valuable tim
Der that has resulted from forest fires
many of these doubtless avoidable.
Canada has established a system OF
forest guards who will doubtless do
much to control fires, and she Is also
taking steps in the direction OF ma
tional forest reserves.
I'm the United States. among the
hardwood forests of the Southeast,
fires in the matured forests are not Sc
rious, but directly an area is numbered
over, fires are apt to occur, which not
only destroy the saplings that are left
but effectively injure all young growth.
I am by no means such blind parti-
san of forestry as to suggest that all
land that has been or is now under
wood should be permanently retained
for sylvicultural purposes. but l am
satisfied that enormous areas of land,
at one time carrying magnificent for
ests, are now bearing neither trees nor
any useful equivalent, such as crops
or pasture.
ALREADY the United States is pay
ing more than 500, 100000 annually for
timber and timber products which 1t
imports, and the seriousness of the out
look cannot be better emphasized than
by drawing attention to these figures.
Il have met Clifford Pinchot, and I
regard him as an able fellow who has
done a great deal for his country. and
It is necessary Of course where one
takes up the conservation of the public
natural resources that one gets up
against commercial and to a certain
extent vested interests, and 1t is nat.
ural that Pinchot's path should not be
perfectly smooth one. but l am per.
fectly satisfied that his policy Of con.
servation for the public good is moral.
In o~A acouoyn}co11u sound