The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1926-12-09

whose land the fires are situated and
attempt to put out all small fires him
self. L r
He must call the attention of all
people unlawfully destroying trees or
shrubs to the law and if his warning
is not needed report to the forest
warden and to the owner or tenant of
the property the names of the tres
passers, or the number of the auto
mobile transporting them.
Junior foresters by showing an ac-
tive interest in forestry will be con-
tributing to one of the greatest orga-
nized movements of the age. Civil
lization is based upon an abundant
supply of forest products. Our for
ests are being largely destroyed by
poor management and forest fires.
To fight these evils should certainly
be an incentive and an honor to the
boys and young men of Maryland.
Next Generation Benefits
"The State Department of Forestry
of Maryland is leading way for for
estry education that will have a ire
mendous effect on the next genera
tion," said Charles Lathrop Pack,
president of the American Tree Asso-
citation.
GAS a feeder to American Forest
Week, April "a to 80, next year,
Maryland has in her Junior Forester
campaign a plan that should be
worked out in every State.
"The American people must become
forestry minded and the place to be-
gin is where Maryland is beginning.
F. W. Besley, the State Forester, has
put nearly 10000 of our forestry
primers into the schools. Teach the
children forestry and we need not
fear the future of our forests"
When the Indian roamed this coun-
try there were some eight hundred
and twenty-five million acres Of for
ested land. Much of this has been cut
for farm and pasture, for cities and
suburbs, as our population has grown.
1t is estimated, according to Mr..
Pack, that we now have one hundred
and thirty-eight million acres Of I'M
touched forest and two hundred and
fifty million acres of what is called
second-growth timber of commercial
value.
Acreage Standing Idle
About eighty-one million acres of
land fit for nothing but growing trees
are now idle. These acres should be
put to work so that there may be a
continued timber crop every year.
According to Dr. Raymond Pearl,
Of the Institute for Biological Re-
search at Johns Hopkins, we probably
shall have population of three hun
dred million or more within a COM
paratively short time. That is almost
three times what it is now. With the
population going up hill and the for
ests going down hill, simple aritnme-
tic shows result that may well mean
economic disaster for this country.
Today, points out Mr.. Pack, our
greatest forest resources are long dis
tances from the points of greatest
need Our centers Of largest manufac-
ture and densest population and,
therefore, of most intense use, are in
the Eastern half of the country.
Tremendous tracts of forest land in
this section have been cleared to pro-
vide food-producing areas for this
everincreasing population. AS re-
suit there are no extensive forest
areas near at hand.
Where Have Forests Gone?
Just where have our forests gone?
Estimates show that we use, in one
form or another, about 23,000,000,0
cubic feet Of wood every year in this
country. This means that about
250,00O,000 trees Of average size are
cut from our forests every year, or
trees that would cover 1880 square
miles, or an area equal to Massachu-
sets, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Forest fires, decay and insects de-
stroy annually about 2,000,000,0OO feet
more. During 1924 forest fires swept
100000 acres Of private and public
lands. Every year forest losses by
fire are tremendous.
The railroads use about 13O,OOO,OOO
new wood ties every year. There are
about 5000 ties under every mile of
track. Each tie ordinarily lasts an
average of eight years. We have to
cut 100000 trees every year to main
tain telegraph and telephone wires.