Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-04-13
by HERBERT COREY.

NE Of these days we, as a
II people, will be as smart as
Y the Swedes, Or, at least, we
! may be. Chief Forester Will
liam b. Greeley points out that we
are beginning to brighten up. The
national noodle is, so to say, being
I rubbed on the grindstone of necessity.
Shiny spots are beginning to appear
on It, II is only a matter of time
! This is by no means a literal rem
/ dering of the chief foresters remarks ..
No person holding an appointive posi-
ton under the national government
could by any possibility be SO frank.
There would be a dirt farmer in his
place in no time. Yet the conclusion
that we are by no means as smart
a people as we think ourselves but
! that we are getting smarter, might, /
think, be drawn from Col. Greeley's
statements.
! we are learning" he said. Again
this is not a literal quotation. Not
| as fast as we might. But learning"
Studied Trees and knows Them.
>.
/ of course Trees have occupied the
major portion of Col. Greeleys walk
ing thoughts since as a child he was
taken out of the walk around chair
and given an AK to play with. He
was born in Oswego. Y. Y, in 1879,
and New York was in touch. at least.
with the great northern forests. Then
| he went TO California and lived
among the big trees as a. boy OF ten.
Yale Forest School put A finishing
touch TO his education, and then he
! headed for the big woods again. SO
he came to be chief forester of the
forestry bureau in good time But
| the point is that lie loves trees.
| Let's get hack to the Swedes.
Sweden is a rocky. cold. inclement
country. There are large parts of IL
where the soil is so very poor that
a farmer cannot even raise a flag.
A warm summer in Sweden would
be considered desperately early fall
anywhere else. Yet the Swedes have
managed to live comfortably, raise
| large families OF pink and white chill
dren and maintain their independence
for several centuries. One reason is
that they preserve their forests We
destroy our forests. But Col. Greeley
says we arc learning better.
Our eyes are being opened to the
cash value OF a tree" says he.
Did Valuable War Service.
The Swedish forests will be an
asset to that small land forever. be-
cause they are carefully managed.
Tree cutting is conducted under di-
rectian of the government foresters,
and so is tree planting. There Is no
reason why Sweden's most profitable
crop should not continue to bear in
porpctuity. During the war Chief
Forester Greeley was lieutenant
colonel Of that expansible unit known
as the forestry section in France,
; when he directed the operations Of
some light and portable sawmills that
could get under way almost as quick
lily as fire engine. They were OF
immense value to the American Army.
then in need of every sort of lumber
from ENHANCEMENT stakes to bung-
starters in a hurry.
But we had to fell trees in the
government and city owned forests
in obedience to the rules of the
French foresters," said he. 1--WE
Americans were only in France for
the day-just to win the war. The
French proposed to go on living there
and so they preserved their forests
as carefully as though war had never
been heard of. We were allowed to
cut a fiye-year growth of trees,
where in peace tina we could have