The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1915-07-31
FARMERS DEPEND
UPON FORESTS
IS THEORY
Continuance of Agriculture in
Regions Where Timber Is
Resource Depends on Lum.
Der Production.

Washington, July aO.-In regions
where timber is the most important nat.
ural resource permanent forests mnn'
aged with n view 10 sustained timber
production are absolutely essential "a
the continuance of agriculture, accord.
ing to an article in the Year Book of
the department Of agriculture just pub.
lishcd. The result Of exploiting the
timber without thought of the future rs
the final disappearance Of numbering
operations aud therefore the withdraw
vi of an important locul market for
farm products. In addition. forest fires
often ravage the cut over lands and thus
preclude the development Of IA new To-
cal market by the resumption q. lum.
bering, for after fire there is no chance
for a new crop of trees.
From u region where productive tim
bertrand has been converted into q bar,
rem waste. the farmers usually have TO
move out. There are parts of the Unit.
ed States In which cultivation of the
soil has ended with the cessation Of To-
cal numbering, or ut least shortly after.
wards, bcc0use with the withdrawal Of
the woods. workers went the farmers
market for meats, vegetables, hrv aud
grain. There nrc other regions where
the stability Of local agriculture is alb.
soiutely bound mp with forcs; protcc-
ton. This is strikingly true iu parts
of the Appalachian mountains of the
east; IL u 20 less truc bon many Of the
national forest regions of the West.
A few years ago. continues the urti-
Gle, more than a hundred farmers iu
Montana petitipncd against the then
proposed elimination OF their section
from the kootenai national forest. It's
elimination, they know, from the his.
tory OF adjacent land outside the for
est, would mean that IL would re- once
be taken up by timber spectators and
lumber companies to be held for years
without development. They knew also
that IL this came about. n%cighbors could
not he obtained or roads and schools he
developed In the county us rapidly as n
the land remained under government
control, 10y which the portions really
more suitable for agriculture than FOR
forest purposes would in time Ice On.
tered by pcrmnncn' settlers under the
forest homestead act.
IN 1911, an association of Colorado
farmers. who irrigated their farms with
winter from the North Platte river, sent
an urgent request 60 the government to
restrict timber cutting ON the North
Platte watershed. so that, ns far us pos
siblr, high spring frcshcts could bc pre-
vented aud more water made available
for irrigation during the summer month.
when the crops were most iu need. They
said that they relied upon the n%ntiouu.
forest. within which the watershed lay
e.. v.ssW q. us...NHa ft.as. .N Ut.NHr f.f
their crops. A
The uutionul forests, snys the article
besides being the American farmer ?
most valuable source of wood, which i'
the chief building material for rura.
purposes, ARE also his most valuahl,
sourcc of water, both for irrigation and
domestic use. In the Wcat, they afford
him "a protected grazing range for his
stock they ARE the best INSURANCE,
against flood damage to his fields, his
buildings, his bridges, his rouds. and III,
fertility Of his soil The national for
ests cover the higher portions ot ia,
Rocky mountain ranges, the Cascades
the Pacific coast ranges, and 20 larg,
part Of the forcstcd coast and islands rI
Alaska; some of the hilly regions IT,
Montana and iu the Dukotas. oklahoma
md Arkansas, and limited areas In Min
ncsotn, Michigan, Florida, aud Port,
Rico. I'm addition, land is now being
purchased for national forests IN IN,
White mountains of New England am,
in the southern Appalachian. In re-
gious so widely scattered, agriculture
aud forest conditions necessarily diffcI
10 q great degree, bringing about cor
responding differences loo the effect %
the national forests on the agriculture
interests of the various localities
Wherever agriculture can hc practicci
however. the farmer is directly hcuc
fitted hy the existence of national for
csts and 10y their proper management.