Chapter 3 FORESTS

Word Count: 9990 | Released on: 01/12/2017

here is no other resource so important to man as the f

als, the shelter from storms-all these things appeal to our love for the beautiful, and touch our higher

shadeless ways, and

g open eyes, has n

earned to love the

loves the life that sp

gilds the clouds, and

eneficence; his sou

nal charter of Connecticut remained hidden from the agents of the king; "Eliot's Oak," under which the gospel was firs

army. It is visited every year by hundreds of persons, who stand with uncovered heads beneath its spreading branches. Many years ago it was struck by lightning and the upper part torn off, but all the broken edges have bee

on account of their beauty, stateliness or some event connected with the

ng over the damp, cool air that rises from a forest, are more likely to be condensed into rain, and so we can establish th

ests and crops the farmer plants the more rain comes to water them. The great droughts which used to ruin their crops year after year no longer disturb them. The hot winds which could undo a whole season's hard work in a day

water as in a vast sponge, and, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, they keep the waters in check and distribute the ra

greatest of all their direct uses, they fu

. There is no wood for manufacturing and the natives search the hillsides for even the tiniest shrubs to burn and even for grass scratched from the soil. Once this part of China was a great

peoples have entirely passed away; and the destruction of their forests, as we h

lture. For a long time there was no attempt to restore them, and now a large area, once productive, has become a sandy d

ar, bringing destruction to property and crops all along their way. But France has long ago learned the lesson of forestry, and as soon as

the planting of forests on these dunes was begun. Of 350,000 acres, 275,000 have been planted in valuable pine forests. More than half of these belong to private owners and there is no record of their value, but the portion belonging to the government has yielded a larg

overed with thick forests hundreds and hundreds of miles in extent. Evergreens-the pines, hemlocks, cedars and spruces-gr

e mighty forests. The soil, which was very fertile, could not, of course, be used f

a small amount of the wood that came from the clearing of a farm. No man could give it to his neighbor when all had more than they c

ned or left on the ground to decay. As towns sprang up, there began to be a demand for lumber for houses, for furniture, for vehicles and for fuel from those who had no trees of their

n every township there has been a steady clearing of the land as it fills with new home-mak

emand for wood. The building of ships and steamboats, the opening of mines, the establishing of telephone a

we shall face an actual shortage of timber. This is not true of all parts of the country, of course. Maine, Washington, and parts of Oregon, Alabama, Arkansas, and Miss

ew years how general is their destruction. Those who, riding about a small portion of the country familiar to them, have been struck with the disappearance of the woods

l our resources in such great abundance that we have not hitherto needed to learn the lessons that the Old W

resent use, their wastes, and the best means of preserving them. When all the people have learned thes

e still forested, but most of the land has been cut or burned over, some of it several times, and the amount remaining of salable timber, which includes only the best part of the trunk, is from two to two and a half trillion, that is from 1,400 to 2,000 billion, feet. The yearly cut for all purposes, including waste, is now over two hun

ven at the present rate, the forests now standing, without allowance for growth, would be exhausted in from ten to sixteen years. The yearly growth of timber in

a year. The other eight months we shall be using our forest reserves, and each year t

thirty-five years. The government figures indicate that they will last about thirty-three years, at the present rate, but as the rate has been doubling every twenty-f

ld mean that the manufacture of wooden articles would practically cease. The thousand conveniences that we enjoy as a matter of course would become rare and costly. It would mean that only the rich could build houses of wood, and this would for

o save all that we could before the calamity overtook us! And we should set about the savin

ry of the nations that have fallen, and the nations that have risen to power. It is only necessary that all the people shoul

prevention are

careful and conservative way wi

reas of forests that a

ent loss fr

se other and cheaper materials to tak

es have been cut, until all land that is not f

e not followed any of them in the past, and now it will be necessary to do all these things if

umber for every man, woman and child as the people of Germany use, and twenty-five times as much a

n inhabited, and all the land, as fast as it was occupied, must be built up with entirely

tion from other countries, so the increase of population is much greater here and the proportion of new homes needed is far greater. Improvements of all kinds, public bu

ife, vehicles, musical instruments, and the large variety of small conveniences to be

better nation than we could otherwise have, with a higher standard of living, and while in some particulars, as we shall show,

his is largely the decaying or faulty trees from farmers' wood-lots, or the waste product of a lumber region, so this

any other way. Nearly 40,000,000,000 board feet are thus used, but lumber is

s, barns, sheds, out-buildings, fences, and for window-sashes, doors and

rriages and other pleasure vehicles, including parts of automobile bodies, agricultural implements, plows, harrows, harvesters, threshing machines and other farm implements. Though these are built l

ht cars, passenger cars, and trolley cars use each year an i

elves small, are used in every home and are turned out in such vas

utter dishes, fruit crates, baskets, wooden boxes of all kinds, tools and handles, kitchen utensils, toys and sporting goods, picture molding

ds. A very large percentage of this is of yellow or souther

-ties are made from young oak-trees, or from hard-pine, cedar and chestnut. Without them no more railroad or trolley lines could be built, and the present sy

pers, wrapping papers, etc. The woods used for this purpose are mostly spruce and hemlock. The great sources of supply of pul

ls, which are mostly made of the best white oak, and that flour, starch, sugar, crackers, fruits and vegetables, glassware, chemicals, and cement are shipped in what are ca

e three feet of lumber are used in mining every ton of coal taken out. Assuming that 450,000,000 tons of coal are mined each year, this wou

from lower class wood or logging camp waste. Then comes the wood for distilla

entieth of an inch and glued to cheaper woods as an outside finish in the making of furniture. The other use is for veneer

tension of the service, and all replacing caused by wind or decay, means the cutting of a tall, straight, perfect tree, usually cedar or chestnut. If we thi

nut wood. This has caused one of the most criminal wastes of trees, for a great deal of timber was cut down solely for the bark, and

an tree, are being imported for use in tanning, and a

avy winds or are attacked by insects and fungi. Many destructive fires also follow turpentining, so that on the whole the turpentine industry is responsible for the destruction each year of large areas of the southern pine forests. The

the Lake States alone, and the entire number

but necessary for our comfort and happiness, and that we would not willingly sacrifice one of them, and in order that this shall not b

gest forests are now all located far from the great manufacturing regions, and that means far from the lumber market. The cost of transportation must be added to every car of lumber sol

o local market a large part of each tree is burned. All the upper end of the trunk an

high as a two-story house burns night and day throughout t

uld be utilized, all the small articles, shingles, lath, posts, tan-bark and extract, pulp-wood, w

ies cite the fact that no farmer will gather a crop of corn which will not pay for the labor cost of gathering, and say that at the present prices of lumber they can not pay t

he unnecessary wastes in use. The next step is to take meas

est fires. The loss of life of both man and animals, the sweeping away of houses and crops, the homelessness and misery of tho

l burned-over lands, in much of which the standing timber is not destroyed, but the saplings and seedlings are killed as well as the grass for grazing and for the protection of the roots. Much land is burned over in this way year after yea

f the Forest Service in fighting fires and the great clearing of the forests, has reduced this somewhat, but it still amoun

omfortable and happy, but all that is lost by fire is a loss to all the nation in comforts for the futu

riages, our farm implements, all our home conveniences, our railroad cross-ties, our trolley and telephone poles, our papers and magazines, and burn them all, the whole world would be roused by the fearfulness of the loss. B

whole seasons on account of the dense smoke, and the fires were allowed to burn till the snows of winter put them out. The writer further stated that he believed fr

government. This care, and the breaking up of the forests into smaller tracts by clearing the land in alternate sec

sary, in order to show how much our forests suffer in this way, to state that the yearly loss from this cause is placed at no less than $100,000,000 a year, and the loss to fruits is counted at one-fifth of the entire crop. Some slight idea of the danger to our forests will be seen by the sim

ater, and by having smaller forests, more carefully watched, some personal care can be given to the trees. In Germany

f course, be prevented, except possibly in the turpentine forests, but care should be taken to use all the wood, ne

t of zinc chlorid, but it is much more effective and durable. A fence post can be treated with creosote for about ten cents, a railroad tie for twenty cents, and a telephone pole for from seventy-five cents to a dollar. In every case the timber treated will last twice as long as it would without such treatment and in view of th

s of wood which nothing else will satisfactorily supply. For example, no railroad cross-tie has ever been designed of

Some articles might be replaced in metal, but it makes them too heavy or too expensive. But

ntirely satisfactory, but it is hoped that they can be perfected soon. Cement and concrete are tak

a line of use where cheaper substitutes should always be used if possible, because a package is usually used only once, nev

a forest region or near saw-mills to use the scraps and sav

cause it is made from wheat straw, and where it is manufactured, uses a large amount of straw that would otherwise be wasted, but the great wheat fields of the West stil

. Rice-straw, hemp, flax-straw, cotton fiber and peat have all been tested in a small way and found to make excellent paper, and it is thought corn-stalks can also be used, but none of these is n

s, the one which needs the most careful attention of all-the replanting of the lands th

s and many trees have been planted in town and country, but unt

this purpose, but in no state does it hold so important a place as i

one who is not too poor-and he must be poor indeed-plants a tree in his own garden, or in

or flowering trees which have been planted in neat, orderly rows. These things are in striking contrast to the observance of Arbor Day in this c

nut trees supply us with large quantities of the most wholesome and delicious food. The apple, pear, peach, plum, and c

small fraction of the seeds of fruit trees which are wasted each year were planted, the general fo

went through what is now western Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana while the country was sti

lly true. At least one poem has been written about him, and the Reverend Newell Dwight Hillis

pay always in the seeds of apples, peaches, pears, plums, and grapes. The farmers and their families saved all their seeds for him and when spring came he filled

started on again. And so he traveled on and on, through all the spring and summer months, year

planted by Apple-Seed John. The story of this man who in his humble way devoted his life to others is one that may well be told and imitated, f

plan should be followed. Much can be accomplished with no expense at all, even in ci

hich are growing close together, where they can never develop, may each be planted in a place where it will have a chance to grow into a thrifty tree. Most farmers would be entirely willing to allow the pupils to take such

ing on Arbor Day which would yield them fruit as they grow older, and be a source of pride and pleasure. Such trees will of course usually be planted at the children's own homes, but it would be an excellent idea to f

to plant and transplant trees in the best way. The following directions

When the planting is done in the spring, the right time is w

o a rough soil and then be expected to flourish. They should be planted in properly worked soil, well enriched. If they can not be planted immediately after they a

iginally. Fine soil should always be pressed firmly-not made hard-about the roots, an

s, "Come, let us plant the apple tree," and suitable talks or papers on trees, dealing with their kinds an

hool, and some simple work in forestry may be undertaken by the pupils. Sometimes a farmer may be induced to give a small bit

seedlings and saplings from the forest, it will be a source of keen interest, and will give an added pleasure to the school work. Watching the growth of the trees and caring for them will keep this interest alive year after year, and in time it will become a valuable property belonging to the school. Sometimes the school officials will set aside a sum

ing it. It then becomes the duty of the school, year after year, to plant and care for the land. After a t

school yards should be well planted and care taken that the boy with a new knife does not try it on the bark or that the

rnest, adding as many trees as possible each year. In this way they could insure an abundant supply of fruit,

carried out in an entire neighborhood, and setting aside days in which all the members may work together t

lessen the cost of living and increase the variety of food. Every farm should have a good assortment of fruit. Any nurseryman's catalogue wil

return, as the more popular maples and poplars will not. The chestnut is one of the best trees for such planting, though it is of a

ll be an abundance of fruit free to every passer-by. This is a most excellent plan, but indivi

y, haws, elder, dogwood, mountain-ash, and other wild

tree for planting is the basket willow, which thrives well near the water, has a

orests of oak, hickory, walnut, maple (especially the sugar maple, which yields a steady return during the lifetime of the tree), elm, chestnut, and locust will sell for a good price, and are always

r the future, and this is the greatest duty of all, for much of the most important work can onl

and south, and pass through many states. These mountains were originally covered with a heavy fores

isastrous floods on the lowlands, filling up the streams, and carrying away much of the most

for the government to buy the land at the head-waters of the rivers and reforest it. The same cond

he West. They consist of national forests, national parks, Indian and military reservations and land open to entry as timber claims. In all they contain nea

e more advanced nations of Europe who saw that destruction was coming on them through the cutting away of their forests. Now forestry is practised by every nation except Tu

ndition, how to make them grow rapidly, and when to cut. All these things should be thoroughly understood by every land owner, large or small, but at present forestry

nty-five years ago. There is three times as much saw timber in a tree as there was at that time, and the money returns from an average acre of forest are now nearly ten times what they were sixty years

eive from them an income of $30,000,000, or nearly three times as much, while the Un

sts. New York is taking the lead in the work of planting forests, but even here the amount done is much less than it s

area larger than the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, in order to supply our

future supply of timber is assured, till the head-waters of our streams are protected and our waste lands made into valuable forest tracts; till every farm has

der the head of forestry, but which should be considered here, is the c

than any field crops, and their cultivation is made the subject of careful scientific study. But there are many other states where the raising of fruit in commercial quantities is al

lity of fruit in abundance; but usually, after being planted, the trees were left to take

unpruned trees, frosts often blighted the entire crop of fruit, and the uncultivated, so

g paid both for the land itself and for the water-privilege, and the orchards are seldom more than ten acres in extent. Wind and fros

sible for the owner properly to care for every tree, and each one must be made a source of profit. E

ions of the eastern and central part of the United States. The neglected orchard will prove a failure anywhere, as surely as will a

perishable, can be shipped long distances, and the demand, both at home and abroad, is always greater than the supply. The home orcha

duce the best farm crops, but it must not be too steep and hilly to be

op. If corn be planted in young orchards, as is often the case, potash should be used as a fertilizer

the principal soil elements. All fertilizers should be applied not merely around the b

ttention paid to trimming the tops low to prevent

der to make the roots strike deep into the ground, and afterwa

d a dense smoke is raised over the orchard by burning pots of crude oil. This smoke is hel

e methods of their control are given in the chapter on Insects, and include principally the disposal of all decayed fruit, the raking up and burning of all

r the honey they produce, but because they assist greatly in carrying

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