Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1911-10-23
THREE MILLION ACRES OF LOCCED-0FF
LANDS AWAIT DEVELOPMENT
Great Area in Western Washington and Oregon Ready For
Hand Of Farmer. United States Department Of Agri-
culture Tells What Can Be Done in Pasturing.

me CHitcu Ctdlto utpdl lIutul vi
agriculture has issued the following
bulletin on the utilization Of logged
off land for pasture in Western Wash
ington and Oregon" prepared by Bry
on Hunter, agriculturist, and Harry
Thompson, expert, respectively in the
office of farm management of the de-
partment:
Western Oregon and Western Wash
ington for the most part are covered
with dense forests Of evergreen tim
ber For many years numbering has
been one Of the leading Industries of
these two states. AS consequence the
understandable timber has been strip
ped from large areas, leaving what is
KNOWN as logged off or "cut-oyer"
land. AS left by the loggers the land
is usually thickiy studded with stumps
OF various sizes, among which old
logs. tree tops, limbs. small timber,
and underbrush are strewn.
10 bring such land under cult
walton is very expensive. In most in
stances the cost OF the raw stump
land Plus the cost CT clearing it eX-
ceeds the value of the land after it is
under cultivation. For this reason the
permitted to lie unImproyed ana un-
used since the timber was removed
In the meantime it has grown up to
ferns, underbIush, and thlckets OF
young evergreenS.
In this condition cut-oNer lands yield
nothing to the owner and becomes
drawback to the community. During
the summer months, when the logs,
tree tops, and other rubbish on the
surface OF the ground become thor
oughiy dry. uncomfortable fires not
infrequently sweep over these waste
areas. In this way the logged of land
..iay become menace to the adjacent
| standing timber and to the homes and
property OF the settlers who are max
ING fai ms OF these lands.
Extent OF LOgged.Oif Land.
At the present time there are APP
prOXimately 100000 acres OF unim-
proved logged-o1f land in Western
oregon and Western Washington. The
area OF land OF this description is al
SO increasing very rapidly. In 1908
the IL counties of Washington west of
the Cascade Mountains mad in round
numbers, total area OF o,1oU,uUU
acres OF standing timber. BY 1910 this
was reduced TO 4,4oU,UuU acres, a de-
crease Of 365,UUU acres per annum. A
decl ease in the area of standing tim
Der means corresponding increase
III the area Of IOgged-olf land.
Logged-Off land is being cleared and
brought under cultivation very slowly
when compared with the area strip
ped OF its understandable timber. In
1903 these 10 counties OF Western
Washington had $4,000 acres of asses
ed cultivated or improved pasture
land. This had increased by 1910 to
$4,000 acres, an increase OF approx
mately $4,000 acres per year. From
these figures it will be seen, therefore,
that the area stripped of its merchan-
table timber in Western Washington
exceeds that cleared and improved for
pasture by $4,000 acres per year.
The rapid increase in population of
bOtn Oregon and Washington during
the last decade has created great
demand for farm produce. To meet
this it has been necessary TO ship into
these two states enormous quantities
Of food supplies. This necessity in
turn has made a great market for
farm land and has brought the ques-
ton OF utilizing lOggedOff land promi
nently before the people. In spite Of
the nigh cost OF clearing cut-OVer land
the great demand for farm produce il
causing the fertile creek and river
bottoms and much of the bench land
adjacent to the cities and transporta-
ton points to be cleared and devoted
to market gardening, truck farming,
dairying, poultry raising, fruit growing
and general farming.
AS the merchantabe timber becomes
scarcer and logging operations are
crowded farther and farther back into
the mountains, large areas of very
rough land will be logged over. Per-
haps the most satisfactory way to use
such land is to burn in over after
the understandable timber is removed
and then allow it to reforest itself.
Steep hillsides are also to be found
here and there throughout the logged
off areas which should be reforested.
In future years when all of the cut
over land that is suitable for cultiva-
ton has been cleared, these steep hill
sides, if allowed to produce a growth
of evergreens, will not only be valu-
able for the timber produced but will
add much to the attractiyeness of the
country.
Between the land that is now being
cleared and brought under cultivation
and the rough land that should be re-
forested lies the bulk of the present
and future logged-off land. Eventual
ly the most of this will doubtless be
cleared and cultivated. Owing to the
rapidty with which the timber is be-
ing cut and the slowness with which
the loggedoff lands are being cleared,
it is very evident that it will be many
years before the bulk of this land will
be brought under cultivation. If al
lowed to lie unused it produces a
growth of underbrush and evergreens.
1t therefore becomes more difficult to
clear the land as the years go by.
The climate of Western Oregon and
Western Washington is wei! adapted
to the growing of grass and clover,
and the primary object of this bulletin
is to show how these loggedOff lands
may proftably be used for pasture
and how, under proper management,
i'll