New Britain herald., 1923-01-16
TALKS ON FORESTRY
 BY YALE PROFESSOR
Ralph Clement Bryant Tells Hi-Y
 Club Of His Experiences

kefsily addressed the members or the High School club last night in the banquet hall of the Young Men's Christian association following the weekly supper and meeting,
 The members Of the Junior "" club attended as the guests of the High School elah. President Russell Haigis introduced the speaker of the evening. Professor Bryant is one of the eountry's leading lumber experts,
 He holds degrees from Princeton uni- yersity. Yale. and many honors from societies.
 In 1910 he served as forester for the state of New York. He was also the inspector for the United States Forest Service from 1915 to 1916, He is a member of the Society of Amer ican Foresters and of the Assoeia- ton Of Eastern Foresters.
 Professor Bryant was greeted with hearty applause and responded im- mediateiy. He said in part: T don't know If I can live up to the many things your chairman said about me. However. shall try to tell you some thing about forestry. my life's work. Most people have the idea that the work of forester consists of planting trees. In fact Of the 2b years l spent, engaged in this profession. l don't believe I planted fifty acres Of trees.
 "The department of forestry was organized in 1898 in the state Of Connecticut. Today every state in the country employs forestcrs to pre- serve and build up their territory. Tho state and the nation arc begin- ming to realize the grave peril con fronting them by the extermination Of the forests.
 .r What Forestry Is. "Forestry In reality Is the continn- ous production of trees and building up of forests. A forester has to call into play every source of human knowledge. He must have good understanding of geometry. chem- istry, physics and some engineering. Many problems confront the forester. He is at times, ,called upon to save game and fish.
 "The outlook for our forests is very bad. If you fellows care for figures I shall be glad to tell you some startling things. The shortage of lumber with its high prices. has followed the westward sweep of numbering, while the largest number sof our population and the greatest demands for lumber remain in the central and eastern states.
 "The nations lumber shipment in 1920 was not less than 2,070,0O0 car loads. The average haul for each carload was. 4S5 miles, The freight bill for that year was $275,o00,0o0. Some of this money invested in for est protection and rehabilitation would grow timber; where 1t is most needed. It would reduce the nations freight bill and cteapen the cost of building. It would release vast amounts of rail- road equipment, and labor for un- savoidable transportation. .'The situation is not very hopeful when we turn to our own forests. There has been steady decline in our national output of lumber from s46, GOO, GOO, ,O00 board feet in 1906 to less than 34,ooo, 100000 board feet in 1920. This downward trend doesn't seem to resume an upward move ment.
 'rhe schools of forestry all over the land are today training thousands of men for this profession to save the forests of the land. There are over two thousand foresters engaged in the work in America. Many of them go to other lands for adventure and travel.
 "The nations forests are used by several millions of people yearly for camping. observation and study of all tree life. Thousands of people go to the forests to regain health. Many 20 for hunting and adventure. There fore the forester has to render public service.
 Planting For Future.
 "A forester has to have long vis- ion. The trees he plants today Will not benefit him personally but will serve future generations He does not see his immediate results. For esters are largely employed by state and national sources. Sometime pri- vate enterprises demand his services. Why do we need foresters? This question is often asked. Timber fam inc was predicted seventy-five years ago, and yet today we seem to have an unlimited supply of lumber. This is falacy. With the present con- sumption of lumber, we will use up our natural resources in fifty years at the longest.
 "The state of Connecticut alone uses over 400 million feet of lumber annually. Eighty-five per cent of the | lumber comes from outide the state. Seventy per cent of the forests of | Connecticut remain undeveloped. This is serious waste of land. Some times the cost of transportation ex- ceeds the actual cost of the lumber hauled.
 "China uses less lumber than any other nation of the world. America alone uses more than twice the amount used by any two nations. After we exterminate our forests, we shall have to look to the other na- tions for our supply, unless we hasten to preserve our forests.
 You young men can help to pre- serve the forests of your state. Be careful of forests fires. Millions of feet of lumber are destroyed annual ly because of the carelessness Of peo- ple who build fires in the forests. It is the duty of every citizen to help put out fires endangering the forests. j The life of a forester is adventur- ous He is called to every part of the earth The work of a forester is of wife range. Ii consists of field work mostly. although some foresters are confined to laboratory and research work in the universities of the coun- try. It is hard work an1 demands a