The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-09-08

to Sun - Product of 300. 900 Acres of
Forest Used for Pulp - Great Waste
of Forest Fires.
WASHINGTON. Sept s. Need of
eliminating waste in the printing bust
ness. as shown in the report just issued
by the committee on elimination of waste
in industry of the American Engineer
ing council, is one of the most powerful
arguments ever put forth for n national
forest, says a statement by the Amer
lean Forestry Association. which has
made it the occasion to call on the
World Press congress which meets in
Honolulu in October to take some ac-
ton on the forestry question.
Upon what does the newspaper de
pend for exiStence?" says the statement.
1T depends upon paper made from wood
pulp. There are about $500 daily
newspapers in the country. Our an
nual consumption of 100000 tons of
newsprint a year means Il strip of pa
per as wide as the regulation daily pa
per and about 4O00O,OOO miles long.
Just as a measure of distance. remem-
Der that the sun is 92.0OO,OOO miles
away. 1t would also make two-foot
wide ribbon of newspaper around the
world LOGO times.
Retrenchment Coming
THE time is coming when the eco
nOmic law of necessity will bring our
own publications. to some sort of re
trcnchment. The editors of the United
States and of the world must take up
this question. Already more than one
third of our pulpwoOd comes from
across the Canadian border. and Can
ada profiting by our mistakes, is now
taking steps to forbid the cutting of
timber at rate more rapid than its
oPov-tb That nPIm1rIIV that
our annual importation of Canadian
pulpwOod has practically eeached the
at least we will have to look after our
selves.
maximum. and for the other two-thirds
IF we once squarely face the facts,
the solution of the problem will not be
difficult. 1t is estimated that about B.
100000 cords of wood per year are
manufactured into paper for magazines
and newspapers. At 10 cords per acre
this would mean 100000 acres. Sup
posing that it takes about 40 to 30
years to grow good pulpwOod spruce,
and allowing for possible loss by fire.
wind. blight or failure of seeding.
tract of 10000 square miles planted
with 40 successive crops of timber, each
crop coming to maturity at one year
intervals. would under proper care and
management. furnish perpetual sup
ply of pulpwOod for newSprint. This
means an area q little smaller than the
one-tenth of the area of our cut-Over
lands. most of which are now almost en-
tirely unprOductive.
Is Practical Scheme.
There is no question but that a per
petual supply of pulpwOOd for all needs
is n possible and practical scheme. 1t
will not however, come merely for the
national forestry law With adequate pro-
visions for fire protection and govern
ment of refOrestratiOn on a scale large
enough to demonstrate the economic
soundness of the idea. second. every
state must adopt thOrOugh-going for
eStry principles with provisions to pro
tect growing timber from exorbitant tax
alton: and. finally, with these laws as
n basis. the pulp and paper industry,
together with all other wood using in
dustries, must be made to see that in
practical refOreStraton and cOnServa-
ton lies their only salvation. To ac-
compliSh these three things will require
the unitesl efforts of every man and
woman. We should not leave to any
group of foreSters and legislators the
sole initiative in solving such an i'm
rortant economic problem; but. by the
continued expression of our thought and
conviction, we can urge those groups
to supply our imminent need.
Waste of Forest Fires
Here is waste that staggers the mag
l1:lTlOn- L crest HftS ANNUALLY uPSIIbA
2O00.O 600 feet of timber. or material
enough to build fve-rOom frame house
every 100 feet on both sides of road
extending from New York to Chicago
With four people TO a house. these 100
600 or more buildings would provide q
home for nearly one-fourth of Ou1
yearly increase in populatiOn-a number
sufficient to populate a new city each
year the size of Cincinnati, New Or
leans. Minneapolis. Kansas City, Mis-
souri, or Seattle.
lenty of Idle Land -.
"There are S1.o00.000 acres of idle
land i'm this country that should be put
tt work growing trees at once" the as
SociatiOns statement concludes This
j. q proposition directly tied mp with ma
t;onal prosperity now and in the future
All the money in the world will not buy
food if there is no food. All the money
in the world will not produce trees to or
der. We must begin right now to pro
tect what forests we have and to have
forest crops every year Just as we have
crn and wheat crops. The committee OF
the elimination of waste in industry ha
performed a valuable service but tn
great waste is idle land and a great par
Of it Is in the East and Middle West clos
to the great newspapers, the greatest con
sumers who are now paying thousands o
dollars on freight rates to say nothing o
q high market price"