Bogalusa enterprise and American. (Bogalusa, La.) 1918-19??, 1918-10-24
RAISE PINE TREES ON cuT-ovER
PINE LANDS
Sabine Tram Company.

I
written in your journal and others re
garding the development of the cut
over lands OF the South.
/ The writer has been in the lumber
business since 1885, during all Of which
i time with the exception of the las
| ten years. he spent in the woods end
of the business, and as a result ne has
had an opportunity of studying the
various phases of the cut-over land
proposition in a most intimate way
and he thought that possibly his OBJ
servations on the Subject would be Of
some interest to landowners and tc
the coming generation.
Had the lumbermep of the South
| protected our eut-oyer lands from fires
and hogs for period of at least five
years from the time it was cut. we
would to-day not have been CONFRONTED
with the much-mooted question: What
shall we do with our cut-over lands p
Instead, we would have had solid
growth Of pine trees all over it, which
would bring about five times the price
we originally paid for it some 20 to 80
years ago.
Undoubtedly, the lumbermen Of the
South never thought it possible that
the forests could ever be cut like they
have been, and for that reason the
idea OF according protection to the cut
over lands, as indicated in the pre-
ceding paragraph, never occurred to
them. Or the reason for our neglect
of the cut-over lands along these lines
might be ascribed to the mad desire of
lumbermen generally to rake in the
almighty dollar, with never a thought
of the future That is, we did not
think of the immense benefits that
those who are to follow US 80 to SO
years hence would derive from pre-
cautionary measure such as this.
AT any rate, the precaution was not
taken, and, as the old saying goes,
There is no use grieving over split
milk" But this sort of thing can be
done to-day if the Government viii
buy all cut-over pine lands that the
owners will sell at a reasonable price.
The Government is looking out for
lands to sell the soldiers for farming
purposes after the war, and the cut
over pine lands of the South have been
discussed at length as being the cheap
est and best lands fer that purpose.
This idea is all right as far as it
goes, but to my mind it would be the
mistake of our lives If the cuI-oYer
pine lands Of the South were sold and
cleared NE altogether. The people Of
tomorrow are going to need lumber.
Why not raise pine erees at the same
time we are raising farm products?
If the Government owned all the cut
over pine lands. it could sell that part
of section Or whole section that had
the least number OF growing pine
growing timbers en- it to the soldiers
or settlers, as the case may be, re-
serving that part of the section or that
section that had the best pine timber
on it. In this way trees already there
would be saved. and we would also
save more cone-bearing trees that in a
few years would result in one solid /
growth Of young pine growing on the
land having fire and hog protection.
TO protect the Governments re-
served sections of land in the most
economical and practical manner, it IS
my idea that these reserved lands be
leased to the farmer located nearest
such sections. rent free, with the pro-
viso that be was to at all times pro-
tect the land from fires and from hogs
for period of at least five years.
The payment for lands sold to the
farmer should stretch over period Of
40 years, with interest at the rate Of
s per cent, the prices for the land to
be double what the Government has /
paid for it. In this way, when the !,
shall have disposed Of
one-half of the lands, the other half,
or the pine-growing half, will virtually
have cost the Government nothing, the
cost being principally loss of interest I
on capital invested until such time as
all of the laads are disposed of. To
make up for this however, the Gov
eminent would be growing pine tim
Der on the half it owned, which is
going to be needed in q few years.
It has been estimated that within
eight years from today IS per cent
Of the mills in the South win be cut
out Of all virgin timber. What viii
happen then? Some Of them viii be-
gin cutting on their 'cut-over lands I
that had been cut some 20 to 80 years,
and when they do this they win, cut,
every cone-bearing tree on the land.
In that event, in order to get stand
Of pine, they win be compelled to plant