The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1944-11-09
Southern Forests
Resources Told
In R.. R. Booklet

Stoneville, Especially Senator James r.
Clark, of Crosby, Mississippi, President
Of the Mississippi Forestry and Chemur-
gic Association, recently filed with Delta
Council the following commentary or a
new publication of the Illinois Central
Railroad. The book discusses in detail
the renewable resource of forests with
in the Southern Region and should be
of paramount interest to the Delta sec
ton, forty percent of which is in wood
land.
Senator Clark states: "Appreciating
the necessity for resource use educa-
ton and conservation, the Illinois Cen
trail Railroad has recently released one
of the most interesting and complete
resource studies on Southern forestry.
This study deals with statistics and
facts on our forest problems and can
we'll be used by the people of our State
as a guide and Instruction. book on
the development of this depleted natur-
al renewable resource. To the many
people that are manifesting interest in
forestry and are seeking education on
a practical basis this book will be high
ly satisfactory and very practical in
the development of their forests. The
book is released by the Research and
Development Bureau of the Railroad
under the direction of Mr.. R. f.. Barr
Vice President, of Chicago, Illinois.
at is interesting to note what an i'm
p~ortant part forestry has played and
now plays in the economic development
of the South. More than 1872 million
acres of land, almost 60 percent, in the
Southern Region is in productive forest
growth, but, because of uncontrolled
fires, 80 percent man-caused, and poor
cutting practices, these forests are not
growing more than one third of the
timber they should. Eighty percent of
the forest fires in the nation occur IN
the South and cause an estimated dam
age of thirty million dollars annually
The South's primary advantages as a
timber-producing area are the adap-
ton of soil and climate, adequate rain
fall, and long growing season, many
valuable native tree species, good log
cling terrain, good transportation facill-
ties, convenient nationwide and world
wide markets, ample labor supply, and
industrial development well under way
1.-THE use of cellulose in the produc-
ton of s~ynthetics, such as nylon, rayon,
camera film, alcohol feeding yeast, plas-
tics, and many others, bids well to make
forest products be our principal source
of raw materials within the near future.
The tree is the most efficient converter
of solar energy in the realm of plant
life.
Experiments show that moderately
productive Southern pines will produce
from five to eleven times more eellu-
lose per acre per year than cotton will,
and the man hours required for the job
| are considerably less. Every farmer
! should be a tree farmer.
There are many other developments
in the use and conversion of woods that
, make new fields for their utilization
but unless we redevelop our forests we
will be in a similar condition as those
of the old countries now, with depleted
| forest resources and an unbalanced
economy. The principal tasks in rebuild
ing a forest are protection from uncon-
| trolled fires and proper harvesting.
Farmers should learn selective cut
ting, by removing a small percentage
of the timber from their forests at in
~tervals of about five years and utilize
for fuel or other purposes, or destroy
ing the undesirable trees that will not
produce a saleable product.
"Tree farming is of equal Importance
to other kinds of farming and because
Of the use of mechanical farming il
The better adapted areas, competition
from world markets, and lack of farm
labor. the cotton farmer must now look
to additional sources of income. Tn
small farmer must diversity his activi
ties and prepare to produce a new kind
Of CROP.