Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1916-06-23

RF the censors permitted, we would
be hearing frequently these days
Of battles In Herzegovina that
would make us think OF how Han
nibal fought his way through the
Alps, for down In that country there
are passes so narrow and slopes so
steep, just where desperate fights have
taken place, that even Napoleon might
we'll have been deferred.
Warfare is bringing sad havoc In its
wake to the folk of Herzegovina. Not
only are towns being ruthlessly de-
stroyed, not only are the men and boys
mustered into the armies of Franz Jo-
zef and away, but, among others, in
vading armies are living off the coun-
try and that means using up the great
herds of goats upon which the prov
ince largely lives. In fact, the one
trouble Herzegovina has ever given
the Austrian is its revolutionary spirit
over the goats. So true is this, so deep
the feeling on either side. that the
place has often been dubbed "a nation
at war about the goat!"
THE goat" Baron Ritz, governor of
view in Mostar, is the great factor in
the life Of our people. A goat ranges
in value from $3.50 to $3.50 and a
mans wealth is often stated in terms
of his herd. The state has long been
striving to suppress the goats. as they
destroy the vegetation which we feel
is the great essential for the rehabili-
tation Of Herzegovina; while the peo-
pie who care nothing about reforesting
the mountains, for the benefit of flu
ture generations, raise the cry that
the goat is to them everything. and
that we are no better than despots.
All Of the Goat Utilized.
Their praises OF the goat are, of
course, well founded. AS the rein
deer to the Eskimo, so is the goat to
the Herzegovina. Hide and hair, meat,
milk, horns, all are utilized. Then,
too, the goat is hardy and hunts its
own food, wherefore the people ask:
why prefer the vegetation, which
there would be no animals to devour
to the goats, who seem already to find
all that they need?
Accordingly, to pacify them, the
goat-tax has been made very low and
1t is regulated by the number of ami
mails man may possess, in direct
ratio. A peasant who has but ten
goats returning to his barns from the
mountains each evening. pays eight
cents a head, while he whose herd IL
|, 100 strong, it is felt, can pay more
per capita.
Nov this is the governments side
: of the matter. Forests are absolutely
necessary to Herzegovina. to regulate
: the climate, If for no other reason. W.
need them, too, to yield humus, ant
thus stop the spread of the Karst, o.
desert region, and we also need then
to regulate our water supply. We ar
trying to reforest and make the noun
tains green in order to get all thes
benefits for the peasant. But h
doesn't see it that way.
Different methods are being en-
. ployed to accomplish our purpose On
= of the commonest, is to blast, wit
: dynamite, holes for the trees, the
] carry soil to the pit and create here
/ forest reserve. Frequently what al
9 pears from the road as a mere slop
of rock is covered with tiny oaks an
other very young trees and is edge
D with signs. prohibiting pasturage i
/ the area. On the sly, however, an
d frequently from mere laziness OF spit,
e the peasant will drive his goats int
t the area and then, when he is fine
n heavily for the destruction that II
d suits, he, too. becomes an opponent {
I the government.
Creating Forest Reserves.
7 According as these plants thrive 8
l. the outset, we judge il it will pay
) plant further in the locality and ais
, in Just how many years such trat
s may be termed fertile. Some place
l. have been covered by green vegetl
II ton in two years and are then hel
Y as reserve to the end of the thir
year, when they become partly TO
ested. Sheep are the first animals a.
mitted to the new pastures. as the
= do not rise on their hind legs to d
Q YOUR the growing tops of the plant
Then, the year after opening to tn
o sheep, the cattle are admitted, q
II these also do not reach the tops, an,
finally one year still later, the goat
q admitted, the shrubbery being no
high enough to care for itself.
Parallel plots of these reserves al
!. laid out over the province, so thu
when plot No. is entirely reserves
IN the next there are sheep and II