The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1916-04-08

OF lHt NOuIiN 1T OH etltil iiiAi1 1oeN'
That this same result will follow in
many other localities, unless protee
tive steps are taken, is all too evident
If allowed to remain in private hands
much of the splendid forest area Of
Vermont will be left wasted and de
nuded exactly as it has been III Penn
sylvania, New Hampshire, and Con
nectieut, and already to an unfortunate
degree in Vermont. The men and wo
men of the state must come to reali
the vital Importance of state prot C
ton and state ownership Of our 70 es
lands.
The schools must teach the children
the fundamentals of forestry, be- aus,
unless we bring up the future genera- !
tions with a thorough knowledge of |
these needs | have mentioned, and I'M |
less, during the next few years, vigor.
Gus steps are taken providing for the !
setting aside of mountain areas FIR |
preservation as well as refOrestati n,
the children of today, who are cit
zens of tomorrow, will be face to face
with problem which we Of today
have helped to make most difficult.
This is matter for the seri us Coz
sideration of the Federated Women 5
clubs of Vermont. 1t is field III
of the utmost service. Without their
cooperation the work must necessari-
" proceed slowly. The interest which
women have taken throughout the
country has very appreciably lenetheA-
ed the strides of the conservation
movement and Vermont needs the i'll
of women in its move for more and
larger state forests, fer reforestatioa,
and chiefly for the education Of the
children.
\ forestrT committee in every wo
man s club to cooperate with the For
estry Association of Vermont would be
en- effective and valuable asset to the
clubs and to the state.
Tie Protect Water Supply and scene-y.
And now we come to our fifth and
last purpose: to protect the water sup
ply and improve the $ en- ~. We mus
have water. Everybody knows that
but how many people are thinking
ahead on that question: Net many.
We are sitting idly by while the lum-
herman comes to our villages in the
heights, sets up his engine, brings in
his foreign choppers, cuts off the FOR
ests, leaving our hills and mountains
barren and bleak, almost worthless.
What permanent benefit is it to you of
Woodstock, or Burlington, of Newport.
Of Bennington, Of Rutland. Of the 246
towns and cities Of the state? Are you
receiving the lasting returns that are
rightfullv yours?
To continue our illustration Of the
lumbermon: he has harvested MS crop
or rather, orr crop-yours and mine
and he has left our village nd gone
elscwhera to continue the same opera
lions. Nj that remains Of his sojourn
are the dismal treeless wastes, with
possibly sawmiIl standing by the
banks of the brook-an evesore. Oh
well. Won say, that land will soon grow
w again with trees. It will but what
good arc they to us? Berry bushes and
hramblcs. thiekets of bird cherry and
thoraapples will stand in place of the
rines and the hemlocks. While this
hiGhted growth is going slowly on
ward we hear of g snriug that has
CC"e dry for the first time since any
body can remember. in fact, the story
has been naSsyd down from father to
son that ii was never known to be
Try, even in the dryest seasons.
Tho Failing Brooks and Rivers.
The brook, on whose banks stands
the dilapidated mill, now falling into
li1ICltoS iRiii. HAS DCCOlHp Sitla1lpf a3d
smaller each Summer, sometimes Just
a mere triclte, where once the trout
Were wont to Turk. The brook follows
the narrow winding valley down to the
larger towns. Other brooks join it on
the way, but they too are smaller than
before.
The river that turns the mill-wheels
at Bridgewater, West Woodstock.
Taftsville, Quechee and Dewey s Mills
is growing lower and lower each sue
ceeding season. In the summer it is
necessary to put an extra addition on
the dams that more water may be
stored UP to grind the grains, to weave
tho woolens and to generate the cleo
tricty.
The cities still further down depend
upon the brooks and springs which
have, their source in the mountain
towns. 1t is TO us here in the hills of
Vermont that they look for water. Ia
the spring, with the melting of the
{, SHOWS and ice, the torrents come thun-
. dering down the hills. flooding the val
leys, carrying away the bridges, wreck
ing the railroads, swapping the base
ments Of the stores and homes in some
of our towns and making havoc gener-
ally. And why?
, Simply because we have allowed cur
? back hills and mountains to be denud
| ed of their spongelike growth which
, formerly stored up the melting SHOWS
[ Forests Taxed Too High.
Who is to blame! The lumbermant
No indeed. He is doing just what
you or I would do under the same con
$ ditions. The people of Vermont ant
a the United States are responsible
: They have forced him to cut and Gu
e clean. lie cannot do otherwise. TIL
e overta4ing of forests compels the lum
: herman to use his timber. We con
/ slider timber as real estate and yea
l. after wear we tax it like a mine insteat
k of treating it as a crop.
f There are zvoodlots in every town il
t the state upon which the annua
II growth fails to pay the taxes. Fores
,f nrnnarf1- Is 2 assessed hN inclndinn III