St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1922-11-04

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erage cases the estimates. I will
quote below are tar too high and
therefore unreliable. Fire and storm
! losses they quite overlook, and in
| terest charges are not allowed for as
they should be on long time invest
ments such as the growing of mark
etable timber. But, although the
lumber companies generally place no
confidence in the speculative profits
sought to be proven by these state
ments, nevertheless exaggerated as
they are they show good reason why
reforestation should be kept out of
this parish because it would bank
rupt us.
| Quoting from Bulletin of the
| Department of Conservation, by Mr..
r. D. Forbes (1921):
s.Using average land values and
taxes, it is fair to predict that lob
Jolly pine cordWood or pulpwo0d can
be raised in farm woodlands at soc
to $3.50 cord in fifteen years. The
lower figure is for the better piney
woods soils, and the higher for the
poorer soils. On soils Of medium
quality the cost is TIC per cord In
large tracts, where fire protection is
considerable item, the cost OF
growing loblolly pine cordwood or
pulpwood in Is years runs from 75c
to 1886 per cord; II the trees are
allowed to stand for Is years ON the
good soils the cost per cord drops to
| SIC, and on the poor soils at so years
the figure is $1.70. All items OF ex-
pense in the above calculations are
compounded at rate of 6 per cent.
Cordwood or pulpwood Of lob1olly
pine brings 81 per cord on the stump
nearly everywhere in Louisiana to-
day, and in some communities, near
railroads and large cities, the price
is $500. Fifteen years from now
these prices are certain to be higher;
moreover, it should be possible to
thin out young timber to secure fast
er growth, larger yields, and lower
costs of production. It is. therefore,
plain that the growing Of loblolly
pine for cordwood and pulpwood in
farm woodlands of average quality is
a profitable Undertaking, yielding
well above per cent, compounded
annually"
When analysed the above is an
exceedingly interesting paragraph.
In a country where the interest rate
is per cent per annum, Mr.. Forbes
thinks possibly that per cent in
| vestment in timber is attractive 1t
is notable that he says nothing about
fire and storm losses, Ct whicr the
latter is the absolutely deciding fac
1 To iruf t3nn hor0
But. Mr.. Forbes is careful, too,
not to predict any profit on any but
farm" woodlands. It has always
been our contention that none but a
farmer living on the land can afford
to grow timber. To the farmer a
timberlot is a valuable thing, for it
furnishes him posts and fuel. If ne
| has in his farm tract unfit FOR pas
ture or fields, he can profitable grow
small forest or timberlot there;
otherwise 1t will seldom pay the
farmer to grow timber.
But the second objection to re-
forestation should make the land
owner hesitate who is about to swal-
low bait, hook, line and sinker, all
| because of the attractive tax fly
dangling near his nose. Let the
landowner mediate whether he
wants his land values to stand abb
solutely stationary for Is to 40
years. Timber-growing depreciates
land or ground values, Timber can
be profitably grown at best only on
low-priced lands, lands unfit for any
other uses. II it is proclaimed to
| the world that st. Tammany lands
are only fit for growing trees, the
only argument which can justify
growing trees ON them, and that was
| substantially the argument of Mr..
Alexander in his courthouse speech
| at Covington three weeks ago, who
but a timber buyer will seek to buy
to growing timber, it will practically
cease to have value as land, and be
valuable for the timber on it. There
is a speculative value in these lands
today on account of their possible
use Immediately for farm lands. Az
prospective timber lands they are
worth less than IS per acre, while at
the present time probably not one
single large landowner would sell
his entire holdings of denuded lands
for $40 per acre.
It is indeed within the power Of
every large landowner who will unite
with other large holders in this par
ish to sell out in the next three years
at price Of $25 per acre. If this
is true, there can't be the slightest
question that It would be inadvis-
able to enter into this timber-groW-
ing contract offered by the depart
ment.
Proclaim St. Tammany parish as
a reforestation area, and land values
generally will be considerably less
than at present On the othe.' hand
a cooperative undertaking to put
agriculture into this parish by
colonization plan such as the writer
can put before those who are inter-
ested will greatly increase values
and bring prosperity to this parish
in measure it has never dreamed
would come to it.
Lastly, a timber country and a
farm country never join hands. We
must decide to be either one or the