The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1925-07-21
9.24O FOREST FIRES
IN GEORGIA IN 1924
DAMAGE OF NEARLY 100000
DONE. RESTORATION BE-
GUN IN SOME COUNTIES.

Mr.. L. B. McLendon, Terrell
county young man who is taking
course in journalism at the University
of Georgia. has sent The News the
following article written by himsell
on a matter of timely Importance:
Preservation of Forests in Georgia.
According to information given out
nv the State Board OF Forestry there
were 9.240 forest fires int eorg1a IN
1924. Four thousand five hundred and
eighteen OF these were over ten acres
in extent and several were over 1000
acres The damage done to young and
mature trees was $3,3l0,744 and other
damages. including that to game, fish
and birds. was $648,056, making to-
tai of nearly four million dollars. Can
Georgia stand these yearly losses
This is one of the problems that she
faces today. The only solution to the
problem seems to be protection OF
trees from fires and reforestation OF
wornout and idle land.
Reclaiming 10000 Acres.
That this can be practically done
has been shown by Mr.. w. .. VIM
gate, of Della, Ga, who has started
reforestation of 10000 acres. This
spring he planted fifty acres to slash
pine for naval store purposes. He has
estimated that the trees can be turpen-
tined in fifteen to eighteen years. At
present he has trees twelve years OF
age which are yielding turpentine,
showing that it is possible for one to
plant trees and receive the benefit
from them during his life time.
Another case where this IS beng
practiced is at Hoshton, Ga, by Mr..
A. L. DeLaperriere, who is planting
500 acres of wornout cotton land to
loblolly pine.
Several vocational schools have Sc
cured seed from the state extension
forester at actual cost that the stu
dents NAV do pactical work in retor-
estation. Several county agents have
taken advantage and secured seed Tor
farmers interested in reforestlng
Georgia's idle land Seed have been
distributed from the mountain regions
to the coastal plains, a total OF about
fifty pounds.
The worst enemy of the forest is
fire, vet, farmers continue to burn
over woodland killing both seed and
seedlings, destroying humus which
causes erosion to set in and in very
short time we find the land in gullles
Devastation in Georgia.
Much has been said and written
about checking devastation of Geor-
gia's rapidly diminishing forest re-
sources, yet very little is said on how
it is done Georgia has wonderful
climate, long growing seasons and
soil suitable for trees Georgians must
turn their minds seriously to the prob
lem of reforesattion and protection OF
forest lands. Information given out
bv the United States Forest Service
and Georgia State Board of Forestry
shows that the total area of forest land
in Georgia is twenty million acres, OF
which all has been cut over with the
exception OF one million acres.
In very important sense the for
est problem in Georgia is primarily a
problem of education. Public agencies
must be employed in helping to solve
the problem. By scientific study OF
timber culture we can make our avail
able forest land produce ultimately all
the timber that we need. This can be
done by experiment stations provided
for the study OF timber At present
there is a bill in the legislature to pro-
mote reforestation over the state.
Whether this bill will be passed or
not will mean much to the future well
fare OF Georgia.