St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1922-08-19
CONSERVATION
DANGER TO ST.
TAMMANY in
SURVEY
Agriculture More Valuable
To This Parish Than
Reforestration
FAIR PROSPECTS
FOR LAND OWNERS
Unfair To Advertise Our
Lands as Unfit for
Agriculture.
lBy A. E. Briggs)

(By A. E. Briggs)
There has been a movement n,
4 foot for some time In the government
and state forestry departments to
make a so-called soil survey of this;
parish to determine what lands ar,
fit for agriculture and what are ii,
only for forestry. Now, this would
beaa very good thing, ii it were nee
Y essary, and If it were not foregoan
conclusion that a survey by the For
estry Departments will be affected
by the selfish interest they have to
extend as much as possible the area
designated for reforestration.
politicians and Office holders al
ways have an interest in making new
jobs regardless Of the good or ill to
the public. And the Forestry Service
so far has justified itself in this ter
ritory chiefly by its capacity foi
creating new jobs.
Results certainly should prove
that it is time for the forestration
departments to strike st. Tammany'
of the list Of their major operations,
excepting as to timber now standiug.
1t would be a disaster to st. Tam
many parish irretrievable If any con-
siderable area here should be on
soil survey declared to be fit only
for the growing of forests. For that
declaration would remove from any
possible development for agricultur-
al purposes the lands SO designated.
1t would be a detriment to the
landowner, who, If there is a possi-
bility of converting these lands to
even fourth rate agricultural lands
cannot afford to grow timber On
them. 1t takes ten years to make
s'cordwood and paper pulp, 20 years
to make poles, and 40 years to make
saw timber. No one can afford to
raise tif5er on lands which can be
used for any other purpose. The
best crop of timber with no loss from
storms or fires will not make more
than per cent interest on the In
vestfent, and in this country that is
not commercial proposition.
But raising timber on the Gulf
Coast is a very hazardous undertak-
ing because of the frequent blow
downs from hurricanes. Other fac
tors, such as the habit of burning
over range, and worst of all the
pineywoods hog, have prevented any
but scattered regrowths. So that it
Isl virtually impossible to obtain a
setting of every cut-over acre in a
new forest. The greatest care and
expense with good luck return but
a low rate of interest on the bes;
acre, and ordinary care will hardly
pay any net returns. The owner
has better chances in the present
miss-and-catch methods, which cef-
ztainly are not profitable, for interest
and taxes are rapidly eating up the
cut-over landowners equity and
making him land poor.
There is fair prospect for the
land owners in this parish, If they
take advantage of the opportunities
Which will be offered them in a CO.
operative way, to realize considerable
profits by the sale of their lands
for agricultural uses.
do not wish to encourage that
speculative turn of mind which is
likely to jump to the conclusion that
In some unreasonable way a sudden
increase in values is coming to lands
IN this parish without any proper
effort being made to create those
values. That would be quite abb
surd. Values don't come that way.
.Cut-oyer land is valueless for any
purposes In this territory. 1t can
get value only by development And
the only kind Of development which
Is feasible here Is agricultural de-
velopment.
1t is to the interest not only OF the
landowners, but to the merchants
and other business men of this par
lsh, to see that there is no land sur
vey OF this parish made by the for
estry departments for the purposes
aforesaid, and that the matter be
settled once and for all time now
that the future of this parish Is to
pc agricultural.
The location of the parish in close
proximity New Orleans and on
the best railroad lines to the North
their products whenever they can
learn to ship and sell on business
basis. The experiments now beips
carried, if continued, are sure to
develop In prosperous truck and
fruit growing.
Therefore, the landowning and
commercial interests of this parish
both individually and through their
associations should take up with
their Congressmen and United States
Senator's the matter of preventing
the certain injury to this parish
from an unfair soil survey by the
Forestry Department. They should
be made 70 understand that we have
no rocky OR stony lands in the par
lsh, and that both our uplands and
lowlands, the dry and the wet places.
are equally available for farming
purposes, and that we have virtually
no lands which are fit only for re-
forestry.
For it will be unfair and OF un-z
told detriment to this parish to have
It advertised to the world through
The Government Forestry Depart
ment that We have any considera BILE
tract of land which is unfit for agrl-
cultural purDOSeS. That would be