The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-06-07
FORESTRY AND SOUTHERN
PINE LUMBERMA AN

never will be undertaken. II Is useless
to expect men to look at it in any Other
light American business men are too
shrewd to waste raw material which
can be converted into dollars.
The lumber business. like any 9TH
er, is subject to the laws Of supply
land demand. The waste OF raw ma
lteriai IS avoided only when it can Be
handled without loss. Citizens should
mot be expected, and certainly cannot
be compelled, to adopt those methods
Inf connection with manufacturing op-
erations which would drive them into
bankruptcy. II forestry cannot be
adopted with profitable results, IL can
not be considered, as individuals can
mot be expected to conduct a work OF
this kind at a loss to themselves, no
matter how much they may be prompt
ed by sentiment or regard for future
generations.
for which market could be found has
been reclaimed, and lumbermen have
developed improved methods of log
ging and saving as rapidly as human
| ingenuity and invention could cope
with new conditions. AS the value OF
the manufactured product has in
Icreased it has been possible to reclaim
and manufacture an increasing por-
ton of the raw material. Formerly only
the best portions OF a. tree could be
marketed. Many millions OF trees Of
inferior species and of defective mater
| iaI have been burned up simply be-
cause they would not produce the
character OF material which the pub
! lie was willing to pay for and use.
AS the demand for lumber has in
creased with the growth OF the coun-
try and the disappearance of more &C
cesible forests, the value Of the yellow
pine timber OF the coastal plain and
gulf states has gradually advanced.
There has been a great economic
change in the lumber industry OF the
south since the time the first sawmill
was built,
The evolution of the lumber business
in America is REPEATING the history of
the industry. in older countries of the
world. The experience Of the latter
shows that when the value of standing
timber reaches point which makes 1t
financially possible to protect it and
utilize 1t with some chance Of financial
gain, methods are adopted which re-
suit in the perpetuation of the forests
as a source of revenue. Anticipating
that they may live to see the time
when these conditions may come about
in America, lumbermen are beginning
to investigate forestry as business
proposition. Many OF them, particularly
the younger men, realize that before
many years changing conditions viii
make the adoption Of forestry COM
mercially possible.
Here desire to emphasize that
lumbermen make a marked distinction
between reforestation and scientific
forestry methods OF logging. BY refor-
estation they mean the growing of
new crop OF trees from the seed,
whereas by scientific logging methods
they mean the cutting OF the virgin
crop so that it will reproduce itself.
Lumbermen believe that the denuded
lands, not suitable for agriculture,
must be replanted from the seed, II at
all, by the state and national. govern
ments. It Is a work which cannot be
considered by the present generation
of business men as private enterprise
or investment, simply because the re-
turns to be expected are inadequate
and wholly problematical.
The leAgth of time required to ma
ture the ordinary crop OF trees for
saw logs is much too great to interest
Americans. The individual must pay
taxes in some for or other, while the
state is exempt The actual planting Of
trees, therefore, for the benefit of fu-
ture generations must be done by the
state, and upon state lands, II any
great quantity OF forests are to be
grown for the future.
The lumberman IS asking the pro-
fessionaI forester TO show him how
he can cut his trees so that his forests
NAV be perpetuated This involves
what is known as scientific forestry,
and is the point where the lumberman
and the forester are to meet upon |
common ground. It means the cutting
of trees of certain diameter, permit
ting the smaller and younger growth TO
mature: the leaving of seed trees for
and absolute protection
from fire. It requires an exact knowl- |
edge of the relation Of lumber produc- |
ton to the annual forest growth. These |
conditinos vary in every locality and |
in every kind of timber. and with the |
changing conditions Of the lumber |
market.
I wish to make it plain that the |
economic conditions surrounding the |
lumber industry have not yet deyel- |
oped to a stage, except possibly in a |
few of the more valuable species in |
sections most favorably located with |
respect to transportation to markets, |
where methods OF the kind described |
can be adopted.
Just how far the value OF standing l
timber viii have to advance before /
owners can afford to practice forestry |
and provide adequate protection It is
Impossible TO say. Yellow pine stump
age has advanced from nothing per
thousand feet to an average Of be-
tween SIS and IS. There is an impress
sion that yellow pine timber is worth
an average OF SO per thousand, and
Il may have that potential value, but I
the great majority of numbering oper-
atoms have not realized any such re-
turn for many months.
The attention OF our people is FREE
quently called to the efficient manner
In which the Germans protect their