The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-24
THE CONSERVATION
 OF TIMBER LANDS
RIancha Frank.l


 Next to the earth itself the forest is the most useful servant of man z This fact forms the nucleus around which one of the great questions of the day has centered, nameIy-the conservation of our timber, or forest lands.
 As. no wise use of a farm can ex- haust its productiveness, so no wise use Of a forest can decrease it's value and it is therefore unpardonabIe for the nation or the states to allow the cutting of timber in such a manner as will diminish, rather than increase, the supply for the succeeding gen eratfons.
 Every intelligent man strives to leave his family an untarnished name and a fair provision for the struggle in life. "So this natfons as a, whole, should earnestly desire to leave the next generation the National honor untarnished and the National resour- ces unexhausted.''
 The uses of the forest are nuraer- ous. Every forest acts as a sponge The rain water is held by its mass of roots and leaves and is given out gradually and not suddenly as would result if there were no forests With out trees. it is not at all unlikely that many of our rivers would go dry in sudden floods would result This use of the forest is of the greatest impor- tance. In countries where the forests have been destroyed, such as Syria, Spain, and China, the, streams are roaring torrents in the spring and are apt to dry up the rest of the year. In the eastern part of America, where the forests have been largely cut down, such tendencies are noticeable ssFor instance, the Merrimac River, having it's rise in the White Noun tains, has lost much of it's former steady flow utilized by many mills along its lower reaches. In South Carolina the loss to mills by the chok- ing up of the streams and through freshets amounts to millions of dol lars. Is not this reason alone, suff1- cient cause for preserving our forest lands?
 The government is to-day spending millions of dollars in trying to irrt- gate and thus reclaim the arid vests What good are. irrigation projects without water2" And whence is the water coming. once the forests are destroyed ?'
 In California, when the necessities of irrigation cause the people to pay has been increased 25 per cent. since the establishment of efficient protec- tion for the forest cover.
 A forest may stand safeguard against moving sands, snow slides winds, and may moderate the cold of
  CTS in the western parts of this coUn- try have planted thousands of miles of wind-brakes to protect their crops and homes against the wind. Who can deny the importance of forests in such cases?
 Were all the other reasons laid aside the great commercial importance of forests is sufficient reason for their preservation. Wood is by far the most used fuel and with the proper care of our forests the wood supply is in nexhaustible, while our mineral wealth has no such bright future. which our forests are valuable to us and every one of them justihes our attitude toward their preservation.
 Although he may be unconscious of it, man is responsible, either directly or indirectly for the destruction of the valuabale forest lands.
 This is due to wrong and wastefuI numbering and fires. Thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of lumber are wasted annually because the lurn- bermen do not cut the trees close enough to the ground, or because many smaller trees are injured by the careless feIling of the mature ones There is also great waste at the mill E.
 As has been said, the other great enemy of the forest is fire. Rail- roads, or careIessness in making fires in the woods result in losses which run into the hundreds of millions Twenty-Five to 90 per cent. of the fires in forest lands, crossed by railroads are due. to the sparks from coal burning locomotives As a result of this, New York State has made laws