Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-01-29

on stands give data as to the rate of
growth per acre and for certain classes
of trees. These data are available as
standards for comparison.
The future value of national forests
depends upon the success attained in
mee1Alg the objectives for. which they
were created. Future timber supplies
are impossible unless the cut-over
areas are promptly and fully restocked
with reproduction. That virgin west
ern yellow pine stands are not sup
porting timber up. to. the full capacity
of the site is indicated by research.
They should yield at the rotation age
Is M. to 80 M feet per acre instead
of half that amount as at present.
Such stands will not only give guam
tity but will yield quality.
Wood products are now meeting and
will continue to meet competition for
substitutes. AS wood prices increase,
there will be- increasing sales resist
ance Present selling prices, due to
over production, are influenced but
not controlled by the cost of produc-
ton from virgin stands. AS the virgin
supply nears exhaustion and the cut
from second growth stands increases,
the price will be controlled by the
cost of growing wood produced as a
crop. If wood is grown as a crop,
there must be favorable margin be-,
tween the cost of growing plus conver-
sion and the selling price of the prod
uct. The one sure way to reduce the
unit cost of growing the crop is to
increase the quality and quantity Of
10 1oi hI1i I'm
the soil, securing prompt and COM
plete stocking of reproduction and
maintaining the growth of the stand
left on the cut-over areas.
Forest products consumed in the
southwest should be produced locally.
However, at present the consumption
is estimated at 100000 M. feet. The
cut is 100000 M. feet Only 80 to 40
per cent of the cut is used locally
The remainder is exported to some Is
or 18 other states. The timber i'm
ported bears a, freight charge in Ari-
zona of $15.78 per M and in New
Mexico $1426 The consumer pays a
freight charge of only $477 per NJ for
the local product. The imported prod
uct can overcome this big freight
charge at present. This will probably
not continue to be the case in the
future, and the southwest should pro-
duce timber up to the limit of the
available tin1berland.
The annual cut, concludes Mr.,
Randles, of forest products in the
southwest will increase during the next
20 years to approximately $50 million
feet annually. This will be followed
by a decline as the accessible virgin
timber is exhausted in so to Is years.
What the total area of absolute forest
land in the southwest can ultimately
be made to produce is, of course, un-
known 1t should yield 400 million
feet annually, This yield can not be
attained unless results on the ground
are checked, failures corrected, and
practices constantly improved through
taking advantage of all available data.
Since most of the timber oducing
land is directly or Indirectly under
control of the federal government, it
is up 90 the forest service to take the
Ieed in keeping the land productive.
The district investigating committee
meets annually in January in Albu-
querque. The members of the investi-
eating committee for 1928 are the fol-
lowing: Randles, Chairman, Pooler,
Pearson, Kerr, Krauch, Lang, Jones,
Cooperrider, Culley, Garfield, Wales,
Kimball Wilson, Calkins, Scott, Hus-
sey, Cheney, Arthur. In these meet
,ings there are discussed problems
which come up with the administra-
ton of the national forests OF re-
search nature
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