St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1921-06-04
Two Questions Are Raised
That Are Quite Perti-
nent To Matter.
BASED ON FIGURES
u. S. GOVERNMENT,
Is Cost of Clearing and Ee
tablishing Farms
Prohibitive?
(By A. L. Briggs)

There are two question quite per-
tinent to the question of whether
drainage is the test policy for this
marsh. The first is whether it would
not be more profitable to reforest the
parish than to transform 1t INTO
Farming. land. The second, whether
cost OF clearing the alnd does not
make the cost OF establishing farms
nrohib.t.ve 1t will be remembered
that the United States Government
maintains a forestry service as well
as a farm service, and its expert an-
thority may be taken as unprejud ced
n and unb 3ased, nd therefore pro-
no:e IN the present article to- brlng
forward such data as | have at hand
+ in government publications bearing
on the first Of the two questions
aforesaid. -.: z-.-
Obstacles to ReforestratiOn.
Concerning r-Iorestration, radl-
cal change must be made from pres
- .oudltaonS to accomplish -
Profitable refo. .estrat on must. stop
the preyail ng ,i,es and it must get
V r,d of the open range. AS to INJURY
from IRE and from livestock to trees
Z hullet.n OF the forestry service
says:
..,rhe chief essentials in keeping
,he trees grow n5 are excluollls Hle9
and allowing the huMus TO collecl oh
.ha forest moor. Fire kills the
lttIe trees and Weakens 1ull-gfoWl:
1rees so that they may become dr.
eased or infec, ed W tn insects. IL
also destroys the humus cover OIL
leaves and lwIgs that ordinarily pre-
tect; the trees against summer
drought and heat, conservej water
IL for the slrings eand streams, and en-
riches the soil oy adding nitrogen.
rhe loss of tn natural fertilizer by
burning amounts to very larse
sum, entirely sufficient to Warranl
complete fire protection OF the coun- cou
try's forests.
Burning over the ground with the
aim of improving grazing IS an eA-
y pensve mistake, Although lt.-.ls
.S possible to secure green grass lot
stock a week or two earlier IN the
spring. most of the rich legum'nous
plants and annual grasses are 'ex-
Terminated, leaving as Survivors only
InG ndFuN ~UuHIs1, >~AAN~
coarse perennial grasses. The< reau-
er will remembe:' what was sa IA
ny LIST December article concerning
the injury Of these fires to our most
valuable grass, the carpet grass.
"While fires were reported from
all timber states, a greater numpeI
of fires and larger losses occurred IN
the Southern pine district than III
any other important forest region.
"Horses and cattle eat and break
down young trees and pack the
ground hard. Sheep and goats de-
stroy large numbers Of small trees
by eating them. Hogs root up the
ground, digging up the young trees
and roots and sometimes eating the
roots. They also prevent young
trees from starting by devouring the
nuts and other seeds from when
they grow" Probably in these pine
woods the hog IS far the most deVas-
tating animal agency, and is the only
one much worthy of note, except that
the burning is charged to be chiefly
due to the owners of plney-WoOds
cattle, practice much to pc con-
demned and as injurious to their M
tarests as to the timber interests.
However, l raise the question II l.
is not a much easier matter Cbecause
less people are requ1red) to OBTAIN
concerted action among the lanI-
owners 10 im.,~ove ther lands for
farming purposes than TO OBTAIN the
good Will and consent Of the entire
community to eet rid of the plney-
woods hog or razorback and stop mr.
ing the grass. What is necessary &c
be done TO get rid of the obstacles
to refore@tration? In starting the
fires there are undoub, ,edly other fac
tors or persons o be controlled than
chose named Many fires are start
ed bv SHARKS frOr, railway 1ocomo-
tives, some no doubt by campers and
hunters, and It i"salso said to be 4
prevalent pract ce for turpentlne
workers to set the grass afire to
make their lahors less arduous by
thus Gearing the ground. At any
rate the frns continue and there ara
considerable tracts in this parish
which were cNt over several decades
ago, | am informed, but because OF
the fires have not grown, single
tree in A generation. 1t IS evidenF
that to reform his disastrous cOndi-
ton a concerted action recurring the
cooperation of more INDEPENDENT
factors and persons must be brought
about than is necessary for the ac-
complement OF drainage and
,arm development program.
Which Paws Rest: To Reforest
Or To Farm?
Whether REPRESENTATION Of most OF
all of orr lands would pay better
than to dram and farm them car
be shown ~ 4 comparison OF annual
income. net profits. and the compara
tive influence on the land values.
Prof Shirley w. Allen, of New
York State College of Forestry
states in Farm knowledge" the fol
lowing test of profitable reforestra.
ton: Where a market can be de