Bulletin 11
July, 1930
Georgia Commercial Forestry Conference
AUSPICES
Georgia F orestrg Association
Savannah Chamber of Commerce
WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE
Chamber of Commerce of the United States
SAVANNAH, MAY 26, 27, 28,1930
2
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
INTRODUCTION
The Georgia Commercial Forestry Conference, held at the Hotel DeSoto, Savannah, May 26, 27 and 28 under the auspices of the Georgia Forestry Association and the Savannah Chamber of Commerce, with the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, is considered to be the most important meeting held in Georgia to discuss the problems of developing the forest resources of the state. Eminent authorities on various phases of forestry and forest products made such notable contributions to the conference that it is considered very important that the addresses be given wide circulation in bulletin form.
The Georgia Forestry Association which held its annual sessions before and after the conference program is the organization through which the conference was initiated. President T. G. Woolford of the association was chairman of the General Committee created to direct the forestry conference and is due much credit for the success attained, and Bonnell H. Stone, secretary of the association, also rendereJ able assistance.
The Chamber of Commerce of the United States, through Mr. W. DuBose Brookings and Mr. Alfred A. Doppel, rendered valuable service, not only in inspiring the conference but in assisting to develop the program.
H. L. Kayton, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Savannah, and the president and secretary of the Savannah Chamber of Commerce and the Convention Bureau, very materially contributed to the success of the conference and added to the reputation of Savannah as a city where conventions are treated with great hospitality and consideration.
One of the features of the conference was the exhibits designed to portray the work being done in forestry in the state and to show old and new uses to which forests are being put. The exhibits were collected by the Georgia Forest Service and consisted of a number of panels displaying its work also a number of appropriate exhibits of the United States Forest Service and exhibits of the American Forestry Association, Carson Naval Stores Company, the Rayon Inst itute of America, the Hercules Powder Company, Masonite Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the Caterpillar Tractor Company which also exhibited moving pictures.
The opening session of the conference, Tuesday, May 27, was presided over by T. G. Woolford, Atlanta, who said that the conference was being held to consider the problems of development of the state's g reat natural and potential forest resoQ.rces.
The afternoon session of Tuesday was presided over by HonP. A. Stovall of Savannah. Hon. W. T. Anderson, editor of the Macon
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
3
Telegraph, presided Wednesday morning, and Hon. George Reynolds, Albany, Wednesday afternoon. The presiding officers added much to the interest of the meeting by their wise comments and suggestions.
The banquet tendered by the Savannah Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday evening with Colonel E. George Butler, president of the Savannah Chamber of Commerce, as toastmaster, and General Lytle Brown, chief engineer of the United States Army, and Mr. W. M. Wiley, director of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States as chief speakers, was a brilliant contribution to the program of the conference.
Appropriate resolutions were passed at the close of the conference which will be found summarized in the latter part of this bulletin.
The Georgia Forestry Association and the Georgia Forest Service are cooperating in having this bulletin printed for distribution. Conference addresses were prepared in manuscript form in most cases, the chief exceptions being some short, informal remarks of representatives of various chambers of commerce. No preparations were made to report these talks and it is, therefore, regretted that they are not available for this publication.
GEORGIA FOREST SERVICE.
4
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
SOME NOTABLE STATEMENTS AT GEORGIA COMMERCIAL FORESTRY CONFERENCE
"Expell'liments have demonstrated that these all-sapwood pines (longleaf and slash up to about 25 years of age) prior to scarification for oleoresin production contain but little physiological resin. The actual crop of oleoresin is a pathological product. The question of resin removal therefore no longer ex;ists and the field is open for manufacture of all grades of paper by any process."-CHARLES
H. HERTY, Chemist, New York City.
"All factors considered, no other equal area in the world can compare with the South as a potential source of an everlasting supply
of wood pulp."-RICHARD WOODS EDMONDS, Manufacturer's Record, Baltimore, Md.
"The business of lumbering, turpentining and other forest uses
represent large outlays in wages among local people. Unlike many
other lines, the proceeds of the fores.ts stay with us."-GEORGE REYNOLDS, Albany, Ga.
"Does the South want to build itself up to a. great forest-producing region? It is easy for it to do so. The public must become forestry minded. The public must assist in fire prevention. The public must insist that timber land owners organize in timber protective units and that the s.tate and the government provide adequate fire protection funds. If these things are done the economic prosperity of
the South in the future is assured."-CHARLES LATHROP PACK, President, American Tree Association, Washington, D. C.
"Georgia is capable of producing $150,000,000 annually from
* ita forest and potential forest area. **** Under the Georgia forest
fire protection system an annual outlay of $1.00 is prevent-
ing $2,500 damage."-B. M. LUFBURROW, State Forester, Atlan-
ta, Ga.
"The region from Savannah west and southwest for about 150 miles has fo~ some years been recognized as one of the most promising regions in the whole United States from the timber production standpoint. Strategic location is evident for one thing. A climate
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
5
and great areas of soil that favor rapid growth, with tree species
among the most valuable are other factors."-DR. AUSTIN CARY, United States Forest Service, Washington, D. C.
"Imagine a field for conservative inves.tment which definitely can be called better than insurance, safer than bonds, and more profitable than preferred stock. An economic situation now exists in the South that permits these specifications to be filled.*****( know that you can find out for yourself that raising slash pine trees is safe,
sound and profitable commercial enterprise."-ALEX K. SESSOMS, Cogdell, Ga.
"It seems to me we are now in a period of transition (in the naval stores indus.try) and that what we have learned is merely the opening chapter of the book and there lies before us a field of wonderful possibilities which in time we shall surely attain:'-H. L.
KAYTON, President, Carson Naval Stores Company, Savannah, Ga.
"The railroads are interested in forestry, not only as a carrier and purchaser of forest products, but because proper conservation,
protection and handling of timber resources promise enhanced pros-
perity for the people of the state."-A. E. CLIFT, President, Central of Georgia Railway Company, Savannah, Ga.
"There is no greater field for true research than right here in our pine belt in Georgia***** We must place ourselves in a position to produce more efficiently and cheaply and through research deYelop our forestry products to a point where our products will have
more value through diversification."-A. S. KLOSS, Brunswick, Ga.
"The South is in a position to assume leadership in forestry. It
is not so much a task as an opportunity."-F. M. OLIVER, Savannah, Ga.
"Four years of protection have brought about in the way of increased growth of s.tanding timber, increased naval stores per acre, increased stocking per acre of young growth. I can show you for one thing areas totalling by conservative estimates more than 70,000
6
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
acres which five years ago our cruise showed to be only 35 per cent
stocked which can now be classified as from 90 to 100 per cent
stocked."-CAPTAIN I. F. ELDREDGE, Forest Manager, Superior Pine Products Co., Fargo, Ga.
"No better objective could be set for the activities of any chamber of commerce. than that of forest pro.tection in its trade territory."
-BONNELL H. STONE, Blairsville, Ga.
"The newspapers are interested because in the forests are hiding the hope of the wealth of this sec.tion in future generationsand cheap supply of newsprint for their own increasing use.'''-
DAN G. BICKERS, Associate Editor, Savannah News, Savannah, Ga.
"The chemist and the chemical engineer are the men who will open up to us the new markets which may be developed from the
forest products ***** If bonds for farm-crop lands are commercially
sound, why may it not be possible to work out a plan of long-time
financing for the development of these timber holdings ?'-GEORGE M. ROMMEL, Industrial Commissioner, Savannah, Ga.
"Selective cutting reduces costs, leaves the land in a productive condition, provides a method of making an operation permanent, and, if widely followed, should have a powerful influence in making forest
practice more practical and more profitable."-R. D. GARVER, United States Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
"Agriculture in this section without the aid of forest products
has not been self-sustaining ***** The State of Georgia could pass
no wiser law than to exempt from taxation lands growing timber, collecting revenue from a certain percentage of price received from
the timber when it is harvested."-LEONARD ROUNTREE, Sum'1f'tit, Ga.
"Reducing waste to a mtntmum, conservative chipping, elimination of low yielding faces, the number of crops (gum) will be reduced and the average crop yield will be raised. In this way the prob-
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
7
lem of getting higher returns from turpentine woods will be met."-
LENTHALL WYMAN, U. S. South.ern Forest Experiment Station, Starke, Fla.
"The Georgis Forest Service is motivated with the thought that state forest-parks as play grounds, recreational centers, breathing
spots, will be the show windows of forestry."-WILL/S B. POWELL, Indian Springs, Ga.
"This remammg land (575,000,000 acres) is far more than we are likely to need to meet our probable requirements (agricultural) during the present century***** In our country there has occurred an ever increasing efficiency in agricultural production*****Agricul-
ture is suffering severely from overproduction."--.DR. L. C. GRAY, Burefku of Agricultural Economics, Washington, D. C.
"A knowledge of the con&tituents of resin is needed.**** *The possibilities in this field are tremendous and very interesting to the speculative chemist with a vision of the fu.ture of chemical industry. In resin we have the largest supply of an available, cheap, organic acid that exists ready to be converted into indus.trial uses when we
have developed the technical processes for it."-DR. W. W. SKINNER, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
8
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
OUTLOOK FOR PRACTICAL FORESTRY
GEORGE REYNOLDS, Albany, Ga.
Saw Mills Introduced Civilization Into Back Country of the SouthLumber Production StUI Major Industry and Commercial Backbone of State-Reforestation of Idle La.nds Practicable and ProfitableGood Roads to Center Production
The Outlook for Practical Forestry is the phase of the subject on which I have been asked to speak in connection with this Conference. In other words, I am requested to talk to you about the prospects for a profit in reforestation.
Profits in any enterprise depend upon the demand and supply. If I undertake to stick close to my phase of the subject, I must deal closely with these two principles.
When we consider profits we cold-blooded business men think of dollars and cents, but many people think of profit from the standpoint of how they can serve the public in general and do a service to humanity. If we consider the profits from this reforestation project, we must think of it from both angles. I am going to try to
Dresent to you each side of the subject, and in my feeble way attempt to convince you that both the supply and demand will meet in a happy way and make it profitable for every one to co-operate in this great movement.
To visualize the demand it is necessary to consider the importance of the commodity and how the country would progress without it. From the beginning of time, when Adam used fig leaves for clothing and Noah built the ark out of wood, the products of the forest have been used for comfort, health, and happiness of mankind; and the demand has increased with the progress of civilization.
It is now difficult to find an important industry that is not in some material way dependent upon the products of the forest. We might assume that science would find a way to dispense with the product of the forest, but scientists have not succeeded in doing so. This is illustrated by the fact that some of the countries of the world most advanced in scientific research are purchasing from this country and other countries lumber and various forest products regardless of
cost.
Timber in abundance was placed on this continent by the Giver of every good and perfect gift to supply directly and indirectly much that is essential to the healtli, happiness and comfort of mankind; to furnish homes, shelter and food for wild and domestic animals; for the protectio.n of human beings; to prevent erosion and floods; and to hold in reserve a moisture essential to the growing of cultivated crops.
This important and essential commodity given us by nature has been wasted, but it is not too late for us to stem the tide, redeem ourselves, obtain forgiveness for the past and place ourselves in the proper light in the eyes of God and future generations.
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
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Carried Civilization Into Wilderness
There was an excuse for wasting timber in years gone by. When
the original settlers located in the northeastern part of our country they found a fertile land covered by wonderful timber and a need for cleared lands to cultivate certain food crops. The excess timber at that time was really a liability to them.
The lumber business started in the north woods many years ago. It then came south through various stages and finally the cut-over lands and cleared lands connect with the Atlantic on the east and
the Gulf on the south. However, while this operation with its wasteful practices was
in progress, tram roads were built, camps set up, and civilization was carried to the extreme sections of the country. The lumber jack
worked hard and long hours and endured hardships, but he rendered a service in his crude and wasteful manner while laying a foundation for permanent railroads, schools, churches, and villages that grew into cities in the wake of his devastation.
The network of railroads in Georgia were very largely logging railroads. The locations of the various towns were certainly picked
by the pioneers of the lumber industry.
The lumberjack, whom I represent, asks for no special consideration. Rather, we would apologize for our wasteful methods; but we remind you of these things to impress you with the fact that forest products have been the leading light in making our country what it is today. Railroads have been referred to as the great civilizing force of the past, and true they were, but forest products made railroads possible and profitable.
Magnitude of Timber Products
We, as a whole, do not value the forests while we are gtvmg
credit to other products less essential and more expensive to pro-
duce, with more hazards involved in the operation.
Lumher products, aside from naval stores and other assets of
the forest, amount to about $45,000,000 per year in the State of
Georgia. Cotton, the major crop, which is very expensive and often
disastrous on account of the boll weevil, runs to about $92,000,000
per year. Please keep in mind that the $45,000,000 of receipts come
from just what you might call the lumber industry. Now, consider
further the fact that tobacco, wheat and corn all together are only
about equal to the total proceeds of the lumber industry, and the
fact that these crops involve a lot of fertilization and toil to make
them produce what they do.
'
The annual cash to our state from forest products is equal to
the value of all cattle, sheep and hogs in the state. These annually
require attention and cost money to feed and grow; on the other
hand, timber grows while we sleep, and it requires more than one year
to produce livestock to a matured, salable condition.
Please consider the fact that the annual value of lumber pro-
ducts exceeds the total capital of all state and national banks in the
State of Georgia. Each year the proceeds from the lumber industry,
which is only a part of the timber resources, would place in the
State equal
of Georgia, capital and
a su
duplicate o rplus. You
f,..e,;anchplestaastee
and keep
national in mind
bank, with that this is
10
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
independent of the naval stores, pulp wood, etc., which have only partially been utilized in years gone by.
Another comparison may be found in taxes. We all feel the sting of taxes and do a lot of complaining about them. Aside from government tax, profit tax, and inheritance tax, just keep in mind the fact that about 40 o/o of all our state and county taxes go to the support of schools, and the schools are certainly worthy of the cost; but the return to our state each year from lumber products is two ond one-half times the $17,357,000, which represents the cost of operating our public schools.
Forest Wealth Stays in Community
Eliminate from our section certain industries directly dependent upon products of the forest and the principal money, or cash, crop is gone. This is the backbone of the entire merchandising business of our section. It makes possible a livelihood from professions (medicine, law, and others).
A wholesale dry goods house doing a million dollar business annually would be looked upon as an asset to your city, but the major part of the proceeds of their sales are sent to foreign markets for the goods they sell and are collected far from our own people, many of whom are dependent upon their incomes from the forest.
A lumber manufacturing plant or a naval stores operation doing a million dollar annual business brings into our section, largely from outside trade, just that amount of money which is distributed among many peopleJ the land or timber owner, local railroads, laboring people, etc. It benefits the merchants, professional men; in fact, every man, woman and child is benefiitted by this industry.
This is an asset that we can not avoid being benefitted by regardless of our own indifference. It can not be carted away over night; the proceeds stay with us.
This must conclude my remarks in regard to demand for the commodity. We will now consider the cost of production and price to be received for it.
Throughout the country there are thousands of acres of nude lands producing nothing. There is entirely too much cleared land. The pendulum has swung too far. Within my lifetime I have seen the changes. Formerly when one had a farm for sale the question was, how much cleared land? Now the question is, how much timbered land? So, it is a fact that at least some people realize the importance of timbered lands or lands that will grow timber.
Production Cost of Timber
The real cost or expense for growing timber should be practically nothing. This is an extravagant sounding statement but, in my opinion, true. Timber, as previously stated, will grow without cultiV!!tion, without mechanical fertilization, without pruning or attention, if we let nature take its course and keep fire out of it. It costs nothing to grow it, if every farmer of every reasonable acreage would set aside half of his lands for a timber crop. Records slJ.ow that farmers of the least acreage are the most prosperous.
In this section too much land has been controlled by one landlord, too many individuals are living in town on the prospective re-
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
11
suits of the farm. In other words, there are t~o many "agriculturists," and you know what the definition of an "agriculturist" is.
In the language of one good editor of a Georgia paper: "What we need down here in this God blessed country is something that will wake us up, something that will make us go to work." We have already had the boll weevil and a number of other things that have given us trouble, but probably we need some additional reverses. We are afforded too many advantages in this section. We are not alert to the situation, and expect too much of nature. It is said that the very best gardeners come from the bleakest spots of Scotland, and the very poorest farmers are produced in territory in Spain where they have very rich soil.
I can consistently say that, in my opinion, many acres of land in this southeastern section, where timber will grow prolifically, should be protected for growing timber, and that in most cases each real farmer owns more land than he can cultivate efficiently, and he should turn over to the growing of timber a good portion of his holdings.
The "Agriculturists" are responsible for the wasted lands which we observe along the highways. They and the speculator are the ones who have made it possible and necessary for the long loan companies to own large acreage and hold mortgages against many other acres.
Who will redeem these lands? Who will place them on a profitable basis? Certainly, it must be the mortgage companies or firms or individuals who are in position to purchase stocks and bonds for a reasonable length of time for investment; and if they invest in this way, subject to the reforms and considerations that must come from the public through our county, state and national governments, they will reap direct benefits with dollars in the pockets of their dependents and, at the same time, serve civilization in general in a very material way.
It will not be necessary for our various departments of government (county, state, and national) to exempt or make very light the taxes on forest reservation lands for a long period of time. Neither will it be necessary for tax supported departments to spend their money and time encouraging individuals to become cognizant of the opportunity to profit by this enterprise, but temporarily it is necessary that not only county, state and federal governments lend their influences through organizations represented here, but make light, for the time being taxes, as well as afford cheap protection from fire and supposed sportsm enwho slaughter the wild game, which is one
These departmental representatives and the independently interested individuals here are essential to a culmination of an understanding that will phce on a profitable basis this industry. I can not conscientiously say that forestry or reforestation will be profitable without it. We must take advantage of the help and advice from various departments of the federal government, and we must solicit the consideration of county authorities.
Low Taxes Desired
We must also co-operate with every movement to encourage low taxes on lands set aside for timber growing, with offers to protec~ lands from ravages of fires, for a more sensible utilization of the full product of the forests. All of these phases will be brought out
12
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
in this conference. I hope that during these discussions the fact will be impressed by the party handling the tax question that reduced taxes on lands growing timber will be returned a hundred fold. It is not a case of charity or special consideration to individuals but an
encouragement to produce a raw material that will bring industry and wealth to our section, that can and will develop more taxable property than the entire value of these lands.
Another essential to a proper encouragement to the producers of forest products in this section is a fatherly consideration on the part of the railroads to keep their freight rates from this attractive ti"!llber growing section to the markets on a fair and equitable basis With rates from other producing sections, particularly the western
states. These rates are now unfair, but I have confidence in the business judgement of railroad officials and believe that this will be voluntarily taken care of.
The railroads and the national government are now alert to the fact that there are, according to expert advice, one hundred million acres in the south better suited for growing timber than anything else and that along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast territory there are over thirty million acres ideal for this purpose and can not be competed with anywhere in the world. The state and county governments through public sentiment are awakening to an interest. These
lands will produce tonnage for railroads, taxes for states and counties, and wealth for the benefit of all citizens.
I would like to go into detail to explain my vision of the future marketing of forest products but must simply mention that within all reason the future harvesting of timber will be along different lines from those of the past. Wasteful practices will be eliminated
because of new devices and new inventions. Hard surfaced highways are extending into the byways, and
light inexpensive logging machinery is now available. Tramroads and
railroads for lumbering, turpentining, and marketing pulp wood are no longer necessary. The motor truck and good roads have replaced the tramroad, and motor trucks and light motor driven machinery have taken the place of an operator's steam engines, cars and expensive equipment of other kinds. This is not a detriment to the rail-
roads but a help, because they have not made money on these short expensive hauls of raw materials to concentrating points except to
m:1ke a profitable tonnage available for final shipment. The future lumber mill, pulp and paper mill, veneer mill, naval
stores plant, etc., will be located at a central point, and through these improvements timber that is ripe can be harvested and delivered to market cheaply without disturbing the youth of the forests.
My opinion and contention is that forestry offers an opportunity for a profitable enterprise, but it is essential that the suggestions made in this conference be given serious consideration because they are pertinent to this success. I have faith in the final outcome and
am following thils course. If you follow the recommendations coming from the govern-
mental departments, from the press, and from others who are trying
to show the way, your investments in this enterprise will bear fruit (from dollars in your pocket standpoint) and leave for your depen-
dents a great heritage. You will be able to pass into old age feeling that you have done something to justify your existence and have profited materially and otherwise.
FoRESTRY CoMMERCIAL CoNFERENCE
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COMMUNITY INTEREST IN FORESTRY IN BRUNSWICK TERRITORY
By A. S. KLOSS, Brunswick, Ga.
County-Wide Educational Campaign-Naval Stores Progress-Poles,
Piling, Crossties, Veneer Exports Grow-Research Must Pre-
cede Greatest Forest Resource Development
It is indeed a pleasure and an honor to have the privilege of appearing before this worthy association in behalf of the Brunswick Chamber of Commerce.
Without taking too much valuable time, I will try to give you a resume of what has been accomplished in Brunswick territory in 1929; what the outlook for 1930 appears to be; and also, perhaps, my personal viewpoint of problems confronting the forestry situation.
The year 1929 may well be recorded as a year of improved in~ terest in forestry. Through the assistance and kindness of Mr. W. C. McCormick, Regional Director, American Forestry Association, cooperating with a local Brunswick industry, it was possible to have a most excellent educational program on Forestry during the past year. This program, conducted by Mr. C. B. Wilson, Unit Director, was far~reaching and came in direct contact with 3800 adults and children in Glynn county. This is mentioned as of primary importance because it will convey to you that the Brunswick community has a great deal of interest in these problems.
Also, you are, of course, aware that practical and conservative forestry practices are in use by Brunswick industries, and it will not be necessary to take your time to discuss the operations of the Satilla Forest, since I understand it will be discussed at another time at this meeting.
From a business standpoint the figures for 1929 indicate the importance of Brunswick in forestry products. Of the industries located in Brunswick, Naval Stores, in all probability, reaches more people and affects the community to the greatest extent; poles, piling, cross-ties, and such products are a close second; and lumber and lumber 11roducts, including veneer, come third.
Classifying the Naval Stores into gum producers and wood producers, we may state that for-
(a) Gum Naval Stores Industry there were approximately: 1. 80,000 units produced. 2. 2,250 crops worked (36 units per crop). 3. 22,500,000 faces worked. 4. 18,000,000 trees worked. 5. 1,000,000 acres of gum producing territory (22.5 faces per acre.) 6. 1,560 sq. miles worked.
If there are 17,000 square miles of plain land in Georgia, the above represents approximately 10 % of these lands. It is also estimated by reliable authority that timber shows an increased value of
14
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
7-So/o per year, and also that about 90% of available timber is now
being worked for turpentine.
(b) Wood Naval Stores Industry.
There has been considerable progress made in the Wood
Naval Stores Industry during the past year, particularly in research
work, about which I will speak later. Production showed no increase
in 1929 over 1928. There were utilized in Brunswick territory in
1929:
1. 181,602 tons of stump and down wood.
2. 45,400 units produced.
3. 51,900 acres worked (based on 3.5 tons per acre) .
(c) While I do not have the figures showing total tons of tim-
ber products (poles, piling, etc.) leaving Brunswick, yet I do have a
comparison which should, in a comparative measure, be indicative
of the business conducted. For the Brunswick Harbor figures there
are shown :
TONS
Outgoing
In Transit
Total
1928 -------------- ------ --- ------ ______272,016 1929 ---~-- _________________________258,602
32,406 51,815
309,422 Tons 310,417 Tons
A slight increase in activity is shown.
The above gives a rough idea of past performance. What about
the present and future?
The present depression of commodity prices must have and has
had its effect on forestry and Naval Stores products. As with other
commodity prices, those of forestry products are low. Under these
circumstances we naturally find curtailed operations, particularly in
poles, logs, cross-ties and veneer packages. Also, with reduced com~
modity prices, we may and are experiencing lower prices for raw
material obtained from the forest.
Since five months of 1930 have passed, it seems certain that the
present year will not offer large returns in forestry, and in many
cases, severe losses will probably occur.
The future outlook may be anyone's guess. It depends to a
large extent on the ability of those engaged in the industry to ac-
complish further research work and to produce such commodities as
will be certain of higher value per unit or acre worked. As I speak
of research, we must appreciate the present trend of process devel-
opment, the changes that are taking place in industry, the over-pro-
duction of almost all types of commodities, and the relative desires
of the consumer in respect to satisfying demand. Certainly there is
no greater field for true research than right in our pine belt of
Georgia.
It is with a great deal of satisfaction that I can bring to your
attention methods of operation in the wood naval stores industry for
production of stump and down wood. If we recall that less than
three years ago, the removal of stumps from the ground was done
with dynamite, you will readily appreciate the research which has
been done in placing forty-ton stump pulling machines and auxiliary
mechanical equipment for the replacement of the dynamite method.
(At this point I would point out the reduction of fire risks and the
making of fire breaks by these machines in the woods.)
The above illustration points to results along mechanical lines.
There is a wider field , and an equally important one, in chemical de-
velopment. The pulp and paper industry should find its way into
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
15
Georgia: research is being conducted in the gum turpentine industry; the wood naval stores industry has, for sometime, produced
paler rosin grades and commercial abietic acid through its extensive and continuous research program; and other forestry industries are conducting studies that will prove valuable.
In a general way, I have given you an idea of Brunswick's interest in these problems.
My personal opinion is to the effect that we must place ourselves in a position to produce more efficiently and cheaply, and through research develop our forestry products to a point where our
products will have more value through diversification. When this is done we will be in a better and sounder position than we are today.
16
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
SAVANNAH'S INTEREST IN FORESTRY PROBLEMS
By F. M. OLIVER, Savannah, Ga.
Forestry a Public Problem, Related to Rivera, Harbors, Erosion of Hills, Floods, Game, Public Health-Savannah Linked to Fores.ts in Naval Stores and Lumber-Desirabl'e for Paper Manufacture-South Must Take Lead in Forestry
No creation of God's inanimate Kingdom is more enshrined in sentiment and, at the S!lme time, invested w1th more practical value than a tree.
In the past, most of the forest land was under private ownership and was stripped of its growth without thought of the future. All the valuable timber of a tract of land was cut and the slash that remained was burned and thus a forest was destroyed. Then the cutting was continued on a fresh tract.
The growth of new timber on these cut over lands brings to the forefront all the manifold problems of forestry. They are not private problems. They have to deal with farm and forest, soil and climate, man and beast. They are intimately related to the navigability of rivers and harbours, the flow of streams, the erosion of hillsides, the destruction of fertile bottom lands, the devastation of flood, the game and birds of the forests, the public health and national prosperity. They influence the life of cities, states and nations.
Savannah's Vital Interest In Forests
To some cities, community interest in forestry problems may be of minor significance; but to Savannah the resultant effect of these problems involves practically her whole existence. Savannah is known as the Forest City. Our children are taught to venerate the tree. Savannah more than any other city in the Southeast is affected in her community life by forestry problems which now await solution.
If Savannah's trade territory does not produce the corn and cot-ton, truck and forage, fruits and vegetables formerly produced, because of change in rainfall or the erosion of hillsides, or the destruction of fertile bottoms, then Savannah's railroads, her railroad employees, Savannah's ships, the men who work on her docks, are direct- ly affected injuriously. If the forests cannot be restored and those re~aining cannot be preserved, then her timber, lumber and naval stores industries will be no more.
Our people are engaged in the manufacture and sale of spirits, oils and rosins from wood and stumps, in the cutting and marketing of ties, the purchase and shipping of piling, in the exporting of logs, the creosoting of ~imber and the manufacture and sale of furniture, paints and varnishes. Furthermore, we have twenty-five wood-working plants with an invested capital of ten millions of dollars, employing nearly two thousand people with an annual payroll of a million and one-half dollars, consuming annually nearly two hundred million board feet of lumber and with an annual output valued at eight mil-
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lions of dollars. The annual production of lumber, within a radius of seventy-five miles of Savannah is approximately three hundred million board feet.
Naval Stores Center
Savannah is the world's naval stores market. In Savannah are made daily the prices which are advertised by the Associated Press to all parts of the world. Ships which load in Savannah distribute naval stores products to all of the principal ports of the world. The naval stores trade in Savannah gives employment to a large part of our population, financiers, executives, clerks, common and skilled labor. The value of naval stores shipped from Savannah, both foreign and domestic, average sixteen to seventeen million dollars annually. Naval stores is one of the most important sources of revenue to the railroad lines which serve Savannah. Naval stores represents the greatest tonnage in our foreign exports and is second in valuation.
Another community interest which Savannah has, in naval stores is the significant fact that more than two thirds of all the rosin oil now used in the United States comes from Savannah factories.
A further community interest for Savannah is the fact that our city is logically the place for chemical manufacture in which naval stores are the raw material. Savannah has shipped spirits of turpentine abroad for years and years. We are happy that such is the case. We hope for this trade to continue and to increase. But we take no pride in the fact that last year nearly five million pounds of synthetic camphor were imported from Germany. It is a reflection upon our city that some of the very turpentine which we shipped to Germany should there be manufactured into synthetic camphor and sent back into this country for commercial purposes, such as celluloid manufacture. It is the old story of carrying coals to Newcastle.
Why should not Savannah have that industry here in our own midst, utilizing our own material and employing our own people.
Logical Place for Paper Manufacture
Savannah should be, and I predict, will be the manufacturing center for pulp and paper in these United States.
Dr. Charles H. Herty tells us that: "Georgia slash pine grows seven times quicker than Canadian Spruce, which is its closest competitor. A tree which takes fifty to sixty years to grow to a size in Canada for naval stores and paper pulp will grow the same size in eleven to twelve years in Georgia."
Georgians must have faith in themselves and in Georgia's resources. There are too many Georgians who are investing in foreign bonds, on paper mills, when they could use their money to construct and operate paper mills at home. It is praiseworthy to urge outside capital to come to Georgia. We need every dollar we may b'e abl~ to induce to come to our State. But what right have we to ask outside capital to invest in our resources when we have not shown our willingness to make a like investment.
Savannah's Chamber of Commerce is now engaged in compiling ~gures ~hich will show the tol'!nage of pulp wood now growing withIn a radms of two hundred miles of Savannah. It is estimated that the supply is sufficient to keep between twenty-five and fifty pulp
18
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
mills running constantly, and it is a significant fact that the reforestation of slash pine will be the main source of the supply of pulp wood. As the new growth of pulp wood is thinned out in order to insure the growth of trees which will produce both turpentine and lumber, the pulp wood which is otherwise destroyed in the thinning out process is the kind and quality of wood best suited for the manufacture of pulp and paper. That which would be a waste product in reforestation will become a by-product of immense value to the South.
Rich Returns in Prospect
Southern forestry promises rich returns. There is no field of conservation which holds out a greater hope of financial reward. One need not be over optomistic when he predicts that the day is dawning when destructive forest fires, wasteful lumbering and archaic methods of turpentining in the South will be things of an almost forgotten past.
Gone are the days of ruthless and even wanton destruction of timber. One need not be over optimistic in predicting that the day is near at hand when "Forest regeneration will be reflected in a permanent lumber industry, in more prosperous communities and in timber lands where the careful husbandry of the forester will balance tree growth with tree use."
Gone are the days of cheap stumpage. Fifty years ago long leaf yellow pine stumpage averaged 5c per thousand feet. Today the lowest stumpage price is $5.00 per thousand feet. More than 225,()00,000 acres of Southern forest soil must be made to continue their important part in the prosperity of the South and the Nation. The migration of negroes to the North and East has left us with the additional acreage for reforestation. These lands when devoted to the production of the slash pine will produce a larger revenue than they did when devoted to the cultivation, half-heartedly, of corn and cotton. The same is true of those lands which are allowed to lie idle because of the boll weevil pest. If nature be allowed to take her course, assisted by intelligent human effort, merchantable trees of the more valuable species can be grown in shorter time than was required for the chance survivors of a century or two of burning, illustrated by the greater part of that which we are proud to call our virgin forests.
The South today is in a position to assume leadership in forestry. It is not so much a task as an opportunity. It will enable us to insure the perpetuation of wood-that most useful of all of nature's gifts to man. So long as the sun shines and the rains fall, so long as hope is the mainspring of human effort, the same wonderfully productive climate, the same deep, fertile soil which produced these forests of yore, will yield, when aided by intelligent methods of reforestation, a more rapid tree growth than was yielded in the days of the regretted past.
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COMMUNITY INTEREST IN FORESTS
BONNELL H. STONE, Blairsville, Ga.
Mountain County With Major Resources Develops Community Spirit In Fire Protection, Good Roads, Recreation and Erosion Prevention
Community interest in Union county has no dividing line between town and county. The only town here is the county site, located 21 miles from the nearest railroad shipping point in another state. The local citizens have profited by a county-wide community spirit, and their cooperation in a good road organization dates back to 1915, while more recent efforts to develop this scenic and healthful section of Georgia are showing results through the Union County Chamber of Commerce. With no manufacturing: interests of any kind, and with a very limited local market for farm crops, the coming of paved roads has stimulated the harvesting of forest products until the truck-loads of lumber, ties, poles, and logs that now go out to the railroad daily are in striking contrast to the few wagon loads of ties and tanbark that formerly reached their shipping point over tortuous miles of mountain mud. Even now, the removal of forest products is limited, in comparison with the volume of hardwoods on the mountain sides, but the fact that 90 o/o of the area is in forest growth clearly shows that community interest should be most vitally concerned in forest protection.
A good record of forest fire prevention has been made through the cooperation of -a large land owner and the local citizens for the past 15 years, for the community began to realize that its main stake for the future depended upon this essential thing. In former years, the old custom of burning the woods had resulted in great losses by fire annually and perhaps 75% to 90% of the forest area was burned each year, but community interest brought about the cooperative spirit which now maintains an average burned area of less than onetenth of one per cent.
The importance of watershed protection can be illustrated to no better advantage than within the boundary lines of this one Georgia county. A perfect picture of the cause and effect of flood waters was drawn by nature only a few days ago in this county when bottom lands and roads were overflowed by a creek which flows out of a small group of mountains that had been burned over last month, while the streams in other sections of the county remained within their bf).nks as a result of no forest fires at their headwaters, and the protracted season of rain clearly brought home to our local citizens this concrete example. Even the younger people of the county discuss the fact that prevention of forest fires on the mountain rim of the area prevent floods in the valleys, and older citizens tell our visitorR how they remember when logs and tree tops were brought down the
rivers when swollen torrents were the result of forest fires. The community appreciates the fact that we now have a better county to live in, and that the attractions of Notalee river valley have brought a colony of Atlanta people who have built summer cottages and who spend week ends at Notalee Orchards Club, of which Mr. T. G. Woolford is president. This group of Atlanta people is appreciated by
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
every citizen of Union county, and community interest makes them realize that no summer visitors or new settlers would be attracted to a fire-swept locality in the mountains where valley farms suffered from constant recurrence of floods.
In Union county the development of community interest in forestry has made it possible for timber land owners to protect their lands from fire at very low cost, and the reproduction of new growth has resulted in greater volume and better quality than could otherwise have been obtained. On the other hand, the results of this community interest in Union county, so widely manifested today, largely influenced the president of Pfister and Vogel Land Company in giving to the state a deed, under the Forestry Act of 1925, to 160 acres of their most valuable lands on the Appalachian Scenic
Highway at Neel Gap, which is now in use as the first state forestr
park in Georgia. Thousands of people visit this mountain beauty spot l!nnually from all parts of the United States, as shown by the register kept at the ranger headquarters, while the picn'ic area and over-night camping places are being taken advantage of continuously by native Georgians and citizens of nearby communities across the Carolina
iine. If outdoor recreation is to be made most attractive in the Geor-
gia mountains, the local citizens have come to realize that forest fires
must be stamped out. The progress being made along that line in Union county is most encouraging and, in contrast with the many
who openly advocated burning the woods prior to 1915, today there is not one outspoken advocate of woods burning, and the fire this past spring was the first in four years. The grand jury promptly investi-
gated and brought two indictments against the guilty party at our last April term of court. No better objective c~uld be set for the activities of any chamber of commerce than that of forest protection
in its trade area. In order to have better returns in agriculture, the prepetuation
of forest crops, and the many other beneficial results of fire prevention, the cost in Georgia is only 3 .! cents per acre. What greater interests could a community have than in the basic forest industries? Other speakers at the conference will discuss the great opportunities
in the proper handling of Georgia's "Acres of Diamonds", so aptly named in a recent editorial.
May we all leave this Conference with the determination that Georgia shall solve her idle land problem, protect her waterpowers,
develop her agriculture and all forest products industries through
adequate fire prevention and just forest taxation.
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THE NEED FOR A STATE PROGRAM OF LAND UTILIZATION
By DR. L. C. GRAY, Chief, Division of Land Economics, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Washington, D. C.
Land Classification Essential in Determining Public Forest Policy,
Local, State or Nation-Georgia Undergoing Readjustment in
Land Utilization With Much Idle Farm Land
Available for Forests
According to the laissez faire doctrine of our forefathers, the proper use of land could be safely left to the private individual, whose self-interest was supposed to lead him to use the land in the most efficient manner, not only from the standpoint of private profit, but also from the point of view of public welfare. The main role of government was conceived to be to transfer public land into private ownership as rapidly as possible, and then to leave the individual free to use it according to his own devices In the presentation of this paper some fifteen charts were shown, which served to illustrate and amplify a number of the points. Since a large proportion of the charts have not been officially released, it has not been feasible to reproduce them. We have followed this comfortable doctrine since the foundation of our government. That which provides the essential basis of our National life, not only in the present but also in the illimitable future, has come to be regarded as the object of private rights of disposition and use over which but little restraint can be exerted in the public interest.
The results of these policies and attitudes are now apparent in all parts of our country; the Nation's heritage of timber so largely used up that it is possible to foresee an acute shortage of commercial timber within a very few decades; in your own Southland the virtual exhaustion of the bulk of your comrrtercial supply of timber probably little more than a decade away, if present tendencies continue; immense areas of cutover land which are growing up to brush and uneconomical types of timber, except where fire or the depredations of livestock make even this form of reforestation impossible; throughout this and other States millions of acres of agricultural soils so depleted in fertility that they are no longer capable of profitable cultivation; in many regions, extensive farm abandonment and tax delinquency, decaying rural communities, and local governments seriously embarrassed by declining revenues.
These widespread conditions should make it apparent, even to the most obstinate apostle of laissez faire, that we must begin to take thought, in the interest of the public welfare, regarding the utilization of our land resources.
Our traditional outlook has been one of expecting a virtually
unlimited increase of population, and consequently the prospective
use for agriculture of all the land physically capable of being so
empl<zyed. This point of view has coincided with the natural inclina-
tions of the real estate promoter and of local business interests.
There are many reasons, however, why we must modify this
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
traditional outlook if we are to make progress in the development of a rational program of land utilization.
The first important reason is the outlook for populatioll increases. Restrictions of immigration, and a birthrate, which for various reasons, is declining much more rapidly than death rates, make it appear probable that we are approaching a stationary population, which, it is estimated, will be attained at a maximum of 145,000,000 to 175,000,000 people, assuming no drastic modification in immigration policy. Furthermore, a similar tendency is occurring in those parts of Europe which have always constituted the best market outlets for American exports of farm products. Apparently, a rapid decrease of birthrates is occurring wherever industrialization and urbanization have become prevalent
Agricultural Requirements
We have a large amount of potential agricultural land not yet cultivated. Somewhat less than 400,000,000 acres are now employed for crops; there remain approximately 575,000,000 acres physically capable o.f being used for crops, though not now so employed. Most of this land either is of low quality or requires heavy expenditures for drainage, irrigation, clearing, or fertilization, in order to make it available for use. This remaining land, however, is far more than we are likely to need to meet our probable requirements during the present century.
A more important question, however, is the present condition and immediate outlook for American agriculture, which is suffering severely from overproduction. In the decade ending in 1919 there was a large expansion in our crop area in nearly all parts of the United States. Since the close of the World War this expansion has continued in many parts of the western half of the United States where conditions are suitable for the growing of grain and cotton in spite of the depression. This increase occurred not only between 1919 and the census of 1924, but also, according to our estimates, has continued since 1924.
This increase of crop acreage in spite of price depression represents a very significant tendency for agriculture to expand into semiarid areas where the land is sufficiently level for the use of the combine harvester, the tractor, and other kinds of labor-saving machinery. This expansion has been made possible also by the adoption of drouth resistant varieties of grain and cotton and the introduction of the grain sorghums, which provide forage crops adapted to semi-arid conditions. These developments make possible a very low cost of production for grain and cotton. The tendency toward expansion of agriculture into areas of semi-arid land have been manifested also in Canada, Australia, and Argentina Large areas of land of this chara1;ter in these countries and in the western part of the United States capable of being devoted to crop production have not yet been cultivated. There is an enormous potential area of grain land in Russia which can become a most significant factor in world production whenever political conditions and economic organization become favorable to effective production and marketing.
In our own country there has occurred an ever increasing efficiency in agricultural production, as for instance, through substitution of machinery for man and horse labor, shifts from low yielding
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to high yielding kinds of varieties of crops, increased use of commercial fertilizers and fertilizing crops, adoption of more productive types of livestock, and employment of more efficient methods of feeding.
Along with these tendencies toward increased production therE: have occurred certain changes in demand conditions which have als(l operated to the disadvantage of agriculture. We are consuming much more sugar per capita (largely ilnported) and much less flour and cornmeal per capita than before the world war. The substitution of tractors and automobiles for horses has eliminated a large part of the demand for feed. That the decrease in horses and mules is likely to continue for a number of years is indicated by the small number of colts on farms. European demand for American cereals has decreas-
ed, due to the recovery of European agriculture from War conditions and the policies of a number of the European governments to promote greater self-sufficiency in food supply.
Dislocation of Agriculture in Georgia
The various conditions of production and demand which I have mentioned have notably reacted on the agriculture of the United States, and particularly on the agriculture of the Southeastern States. From 1919 to 1924 there was a very general decrease in the area of crop land in the eastern half of the United States, and the decrease was particularly serious in Georgia, and other Southeastern States. Corresponding to this tendency, there has been a decrease in farm population, also extremely serious in Georgia and other Southeastern States. The dislocation of agriculture in Georgia is indicated by a great decrease in the annual value of the cotton crop, which was especially noteworthy in the old plantation counties of middle Georgia, due entirely to decreased acreage and lower yields per acre There has been some recovery since the low point in 1923, but the recovery
is only a partial one. In 1919 the gross income from crops in Georgia, excluding seed and crop fed was estimated at $457,942,000; in 1928 the corresponding figure was $193,789,000. In 1919 gross income from livestock products was $91,302,000; in 1928, only $76,~ 721,000. Thus, the gross income of Georgia agriculture decreased from $549,244,000 in 1919 to $270,510,000 in 1923.
Obviously these conditions suggest the existence of an important problem of readjustment in land utilization, a problem which Georgia has in common with a considerable proportion of the area east of the Appalachian mountains and south of the Corn Belt. Partly on account of earlier conditions of development and partly on account of the fact that much crop land has gone out of cultivation in the past decade, the percentage of the total land area used for crops is very small in a number of parts of the State, and a good deal of the land which is not incrops is reported idle. A great deal of land in Georgia is in farm woodlots, and during the period of depression very serious inroads have been made upon the timber by the farmers, who have resorted to this method of supplementing the scanty returns derived from growing crops. There are also considerable areas where the acreage of land in farms is not a large proportion of the total land area. These are regions of large timber holdings, which, as you all know, are beginning to present the serious problems that come with the passing of the timber and the increase in area of cut-over land.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
Idle Land Problems
The conditions that have been described are not merely transitory tendencies. The cutting of the timber is a continuing and cumulative evil. A large proportion of the farm land in these older areas will likely remain uncultivated for many years, due partly to the increased competition of areas better adapted to modern methods of farming, but partly to depleted soil fertility, the elimination of the income hitherto available from woodlots, and particularly because higher standards of living and of wages have caused many farmers to become unwilling to continue working for the small returns which they formerly accepted as normal. A vast re-grouping of our rural population is also taking place, with reference to obtaining the advantages of good roads, better schools, electric power, telephones and other facilities of living.
The all-important question, of course, is, what are we going to do about it? You will probably become impatient with me if I suggest that the starting point of the solution is the making of an economic classification of the land. You will doubtless say, as practical people are likely to say, "Why start out by proposing investigation rather than action?" I maintain, however, that an economic classification of land appears to be prerequisite to constructive action in the areas where these problems are most acute.
Land Classification Survey
The primary objectives in land classification are: (1) to define the areas that should continue to be considered agricultural, including range grazing, where this appears desirable; (2) to determine what use can be made of the land which is concluded to be nonagricultural, land classification in this sense is not merely an inven tory of physical resources, such as oil topographic, and timber surveys, although all of these provide an important foundation for economic classification; nor is it a mere mapping of present utilization of the various kinds of land, although a knowledge of existing forms and methods of use provides an important point of departure and frequent significant indications for subsequent conclusions. On the contrary, economic land classification is aimed at reaching conclusions as to the feasible continuous mode of use of each class of land during the next several decades. It involves taking account not only of the physical environment, but also of the economic conditions of utilization, including market outlets, transportation facilities and costs, and tax rates.
It is sometimes said that prediction as to future uses for so long a period is virtually impracticable because of unpredictable changes in technical methods and other factors. The same objection could be raised to the making of a long range plan for any great business; yet the most astute business leaders do not hesitate to spend money in order to chart the probable course of their business development, taking present conditions as a starting point, allowing for such probable future trends as may be foreseen, and then later modifying the blue-prints at those points where unforseen changes make it desirable. The annual gross production of Georgia farms and forests is probably between a third and a half billion dollars annually, not counting the value of the services and products of the more or
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less dependent business, such as railways, processing plants, factories, wholesale and retail distributing agencies, financial and real estate interests. What great business of such magnitude would hesitate at attempting to make a carefully worked out plan for its future
development? What practical benefits would be derived from land classifica-
tion? In the first place, it provides a means of dealing fundamentally
with the problem of farm relief. In areas where agriculture has suffered serious economic dislocation, as for instance, in the Piedmont areas of this and other Southeastern States, there are thousands of farmers and other landholders in a condition of economic suspense, many of them attempting to continue operations under physical and economic conditions well-nigh hopeless. The local out;.. look concerning basic economic trends is frequently so vague and uncertain that the futility of attempting to continue operations becomes apparent but slowly. In some cases the difficulty is not pri-
marily one of physical handicaps but rather, one of inefficient farm organization. A far-reaching reorganization is requisite, sometimes beyond the managerial capacity and the available capital and credit of many of the present operators. A program of organization
needs to be developed which may be gradually promoted by bankers, farmers' organizations, extension forces, and other public agencies.
Farmers incapable of fitting into a program of reorganized agriculture, and especially those occupying farms, which would be submarginal under any system of farm organization should in many cases, be encouraged and aided to engage in farming elsewhere or in other occupations.
In some cases, it would be good policy for the County or the State to facilitate the progress of abandonment by purchasing some of these submarginal farms; not merely as a means of acquiring land for reforestation, for larger woodland areas can generally be bought more cheaply, but partly as a means of reorganizing the economic and social life of impoverished areas and especially of economizing public expenditures by eliminating the burden of maintaining schools
and roads in areas now sparsely settled and due sooner or later to be largely abandoned.
In the areas where economic conditions have become seriously dislocated, an economic blueprint would provide an extremely valuable basis for planning the future progress for schools, roads, and
other public institutions. The way some local Governmental Units are "going it blind" in these regards, taking little account of the radically changed economic outlook, is little short of astounding.
Land classification provides also a basis for discouraging the occupation of areas for farming where the inevitable result is sure to be not only economic disappointment and loss to the individual settler, but also the compelling local governmental units to assume unnecessary burdens for supplying a sparse and scattering population with schools and roads. During the past ten years I have had
opportunity to observe these tendencies in many parts of the United States, and am convinced that they result in an enormous wastage of private and public resources, not to speak of the human wastage and disappointment.
Finally, I believe, land classification is wellnigh essential to the effective definition of our public forest policy, local, state, or na-
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
tiona}. Public opinion is not likely to be moved to provide for an adequate program of reforestation until it is made clear not only
how much such a program is needed, but how such land and what specific lands are available for the purpose.
The task of providing adequately for the forest needs of the future is one of enormous magnitude. Making due allowance for changing requirements for timber, it is clear that within the next few decades we shall experience an extreme scarcity.
If we refuse to permit the rapid exploitation of our National and State forests, the period of scarcity will appear earlier and will be less serious; if we do not succeed in preventing such exploitation, the period of scarcity will be somewhat postponed, but the degree of deprivation will be ultimately more extreme.
Although there are certain areas, such as the seaboard counties of Georgia where conditions would appear more than usually favorable to private reforestation, provided suitable conditions of fire protection and taxation shall be brought about, it is becoming more and more apparent that, in many parts of the United States, we cannot rely in any large measure on private enterprise to develop an adequate program of reforestation. The period of growth is too long, human life too short, fire and other hazards too great, and the accumulation of costs at compound interest too rapid. Modifications in tax rates and methods and improved fire protection may encourage private initiative here and there, particularly in growing timber for uses requiring short cycles, but we should not wait for private enterprises to solve the forest problem. At the meeting of the American Forestry Association at Minneapolis a few weeks ago, Governor Christenson, of Minnesota, declared that he had been compelled reluctantly to accept this conclusion. Of the 340,000,000 acres of woodland in private ownership, hardly more than 5 per cent is being operated with a view to sustain yield. Much larger areas, of course, are undergoing a measure of natural reforestation under various handicaps of fire, disease, grazing, and wasteful destruction of young timber but the rate of destruction in the Nation as a whole is probably several times the rate of growth.
Public reforestation is justified not onfy to provide a future supply of timber, but also for the many unmeasurable benefits, including flood control, prevention of erosion, the preservation of wild life, and recreational and scenic values. In a number of important countries of Europe where basic economic conditions are far more favorable to private reforestation than in the United States, a much larger proportion of the forest area is in public ownership than in this country.
Is the development of a program of land utilization, a State function or a Federal function? It is both; and a county function as well. State and local agencies are immediately concerned with promoting local economic stability with economizing the cost of local government, and with the development of farsighted plans for the provision of schools, roads, and other services. There are many advantages justifying the development of State and County forest holdings. The carrying out of a program of land utilization must
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depend also largely on local public opinion and initiative. On the other hand, the Federal Government is also vitally interested in promoting a sound and prosperous agriculture, in an ample provision
for future timber needs, and in the various other benefits derived from the maintenance of forest areas.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
FOREST PROTECTION HAS PROVEN PROFITABLE
By B. M. LUFBURROW, State Forester, Atlanta, Ga.
Geo,rgia's 23,750,000 Acres Capable of Making Steady Prosperity for Georgia With Annual Income of $150,000,000--Georgia System of Forest Protection Saves Loss of $2,500 for Every Dollar Spent, Costing Less Than 4 Cents Per Acre Annually-Accomplishments of Timber Growers Given-Forest Wealth Profitable to All Lines Of Industry, Business and Profession
Forest Area and Resources
Georgia has 23,750,000 acres of potential forest land that is so classed because the timber crop on this area will show a greater profit on the investment to the owners than any other use of this vast area. Land utilization should be based largely on profit to the owner, and every acre in Georgia should be at work producing that crop which will yield the highest returns-all of the many ramifications and complex angles of cost being considered in this computation. Georgia under such utilization would truly be an Empire State that would feel a steady pulse of prosperity regardless of stock markets, inflations, over production and other conditions which cause hard times.
The forest area represents 63% of the total land area of the State and, under present adverse conditions, their forest products rank third among Georgia's natural resources.
The present agricultural policy of fewer acres more intensively cultivated means a larger area of abandoned marginal land left to produce timber, thus adding materially to the already staggering burdens of insufficiently manned forestry departments.
Abandoned Land Increase
At the present writing, the 1930 census indicates that in Georgia the decrease in population will be confined, almost without exception, to the rural sections, indicating abandonment of farm lands and turning back to forests perhaps 6lh million acres of farm land that should be growing a timber crop. If this great forest resource of Georgia, capable of producing a total of over $150,000,000 annually were developed under adequate fire control and proper forest management, it would attract the lumberman, naval stores, the pulp and paper industry, the rayon, cellulose, automobile, furniture, box and crate industries that would mean progress and prosperity for Georgia.
Forest Fire Responsibility
The forest fire evil must be overcome before this can be accomplished. The responsibility rests upon the private owner first. He should carry 50% of the load. The State recognizes 25% and the
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Federal Government 25 o/o. Under the American form of government the private owner has inherent rights and liberties in managing his private affairs, but in order to enjoy these he has a direct responsibility to Mr. Public.
The basic principles of state~wide forest fire control require the owner to render both active and financial support before receiving public assistance. There are certain conditions for which the individual is not responsibile, such as customs that have been handed down for generations; th_e belief that forest fire destroys certain pestiferous insects; the carelessness and indifference of those who start fires; and the ignorance of those who don't know and don't care. Dealing with these constitutes a public responsibility or duty tha: cannot be passed to the owner.
How can these problems be handled? By direct cooperation between the owner, the State, and the Federal Government in organized group effort which recognizes a direct line of responsibility in proportion to returns. The State and Federal Government receive only indirect returns, whereas, the owner receives direct returns and th,;refo1e should assume direct responsibility.
Adequate fire control requires an intimate working knowledge of local people, their customs, habits, beliefs, viewpoints. This the leading citizens of a community have; therefore the groups or organized owners are well equipped to handle local problems with State and Federal backing.
How the Georgia Fire Control Plan Operates
In 1925, whe~ the State Board of Forestry was organized, the
forest fire control nroblem was recognized as a major activity. Various systems were studied, but it was felt that methods in use were not adequate for Georgia conditions. The principles outlined above became the policy of the Board and the cooperative work started under this plan. Cooperation was offered to the timberland owners representing 10,000 acres or more, they to form a Timber Protective Organization (now known as a "T. P. 0.") by electing a President,
Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, each officer to serve without compensation, assuming responsibility for directing the work of the organization under the cooperative agreement with the Georgia Forest Service.
Every timberland owner who pays his pro rata per acre cost of protection is eligible for membership in an authorized unit, and has a vote in proportion to his acreage entered in the protective unit. All collections are made by the officers, and purchases are made and bills paid by the T. P. 0. Books are kept subject to audit by State and Federal Forest Officers and quarterly statements of expenditures rendered. A refund of 50o/o has been made by State and Federal Government on all funds spent under the budget set up for the cooperative agreement.
Forest officers make frequent visit to the T. P. O.'s, assisting in each and every phase of the work, and have an intimate knowledge of what every T. P. 0. is doing, their weakness a nd their strength.
Under this system each owner get the character of protection he wants. If he wants lookout towers, patrol, firebreaks, telephone connection and fire fighting equipment, his assessment covers the per
acre cost of such facilities. When the unit is too small to justify the
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
tower system, he can get the patrol and firebreak form, and in some instances the patrol system only, for the State Board of Forestry believes that the system employed must fit each and every condition in Georgia and be available to the small owner as well as the large.
The results of the past five years work has fully justified the system now recognized and operating in other states.
Our records show that during the calendar year 1929 land owners representing more than 1% million acres, cooperating under the Georgia plan, had only .007% of the protected areas to burn. In many cases the individual T. P. 0., or owner, did not have a single fire. Comparing the organized effort with the large area unorganized and unprotected, we find at least 20 o/o of the unprotected area burned, wbile only .007 o/o of the protected area burned. Taking this as a basis, it is found that for every dollar the State Board of Forestry invested in fire control, they saved the State a $2,500 forest fire damage.
Fire protection has cost the organized land owners representing 1% million acres less than 4 cents per acre per annum under the Georgia system.
Has grouped effort in fire control been a profitable investment for the organized owner? Mr. W. J. Mullis, Route 4, Waycross, began protection work some 22 years ago. He says: " ... If I could have had the Forest Service aid thirty years ago that we now have in educating the people in conservation of the forests, I feel that we could have had a country, now in its childhood, coming to high standard of wealth that it enjoyed sixty years ago.
Mr. John J. Gillis of Soperton, Ga., secured results as follows: He says: "In 1927 I began protecting my timber by plowing firebreaks on about 5,000 acres .... Today I have firebreaks on 12,000 acres and have had no fires to date .... I now have a good, even stand of young timber that is growing very fast, and by keeping fires out this land
has increased in value 100 per cent. When I began work in 1927 my land was worth about $15 per acre. Now I wouldn't sell for $30 per acre." The net returns to Mr. Gillis, according to the above results is $15 per acre in two years protection.
The experience of Mr. J. M. Dyal, of Baxley, practicing fire con-
trol on 19,000 acres, brings out a very important point in that his turpentine labor is very anxious to "keep fires out" of the woods. He says, "I have been trying to practice fire control on 19,000 acres of land in Appling County for the past four years . . . . I am working 18 crops of turpentine timber on this tract and find that it produces
more gum with less dry faces and fewer dead leaves than if burned over each year. I expected to have a good deal of trouble getting my labor to work on rough woods on account of the danger from snakes, but as most of the men are working on a basis of so much per barrel of crude gum they are now anxious to keep the fire out of their crops on account of the greater yield." He expects to continue his organized effort.
All operators are anxious to reduce expenses and increase profits. Mr. H. M. Wilson, Vice-President of Baldwin-Lewis-Pace Company
of Jacksonville, makes a real saving through his investment in organized protection, a part of raking and burning cost. He says, "In the
fall of 1926, after looking over several tracts of flat woodsland that had been protected from fire for from two to four years, I became convinced that all that was needed to establish a second growth of slash
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
31
pine timber on our place near Stockton, Ga., was protection from fire. After consulting with my associates, we decided to place our tract of
approximately 15,000 acres under fire protection. We immediately
began construction of fire lines, and supplied ourselves with one-man water tanks, torches, etc., for fire fighting. We were working at that time 15 crops of faces on part of this tract and as we wanted to es-
tablish new growth on the land on which these faces were being worked, we decided to protect this land also and not rake the boxes at
all. We have not raked a tree for the past four winters and in that
time we have had not more than 500 faces burned out of an average of 16 crops per year worked on the place. In this connection, we ac-
knowledge with sincere appreciation the community cooperation we have enjoyed. The average cost of raking being $75,00 per crops, we
saved approximately $4,800 during the four years, and the total cost of our reforestation work on the entire 15,000 acres, including tractor and thinning, has not exceeded $5,000 to date.
Other owners are securing similar results. The possible solution for wholesale woods burning in the naval stores belt lies in organized
fire control, and will come when favorable local sentiment is built up through demonstration areas established by leaders of the community who have the vision and see the possibilities.
Another very interesting angle of forest fire control which reduces the cost as well as increases the profits, is brought out in the work of Mr. J. Henry Gaskins, of Nashville, Ga., on his 6,500 acre tract. He uses every one of his 125 tenants as fire fighters. Their contract calls for fire fighting duties. He says, "Every farmer I have is a fire fighter, and it takes organized help to stop t'lre. I have prac-
tically a full stand of slash timber on all my land from small ones in the grass to 20 feet high, and where there has been no burning (as most of mine has been protected) timber grows much better and is not
stunted by fire. You cannot have first class young timber and burn the woods. Fire and timber don't go good together. Woods can be kept rough with proper care."
Fire control is necessary for capacity production. Capt. I. F. Eldredge, Forester for Superior Pine Products Company of Fargo, says,
"If we can average over a period of ten years an annual loss of not to exceed five per cent of the area, we will consider our work very satisfactory. As a result of four years of fire protection, we have re-
stocked with slash pine over 70,000 acres of cut-over land that previously was less than 25 per cent stocked with longleaf pine . . . . It is necessary that there be no idle acres of land; avery acre must bear as nearly 100 per cent of its tree-growing capacity as it can be made to do by good man~gement and fire protection."
Many T. P. 0. members have not had any fires. Mr. J. C. Dunn of Baxley says, "We operated our timberland in cooperation with the State Forester, in cooperation also with the local Timber Protective Organization. Firebreaks have been constructed, patrol work done, etc., in an effort to protect our trees and make conditions better to
produce more on the same lands. Our experience has been satisfactory. We have not had any fires even though our lands are in an area that has been used to more or less regular burning."
Timberland owners in the hardwood section of Georgia find profit in protection work. Here's what Mr. J. M. Lindsey of Armuchee, Floyd County, Georgia, says: "In the year 1893 I bought 200 acres of
32
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
timberland covered with pine and hardwood near Armuchee, Georgia. I have practiced forestry after some fashion ever since I owned it. The tract cost me $40 at that time. I took 150,000 board feet off the tract, doing my own cutting, during the next three or four years. This was mostly a selection cutting. One instance of 3uch a cutting was the price I was offered for one white oak tree taken off of the tract. I was offered $60 for this one tree. After ten years I sold the sawmill rights to an operator and made him cut to a diameter limit of 10 inches. The cut ran to 600,000 feet. This represents the second cut. Three years ago I sold the timber rig-hts again and the operator cut
200,000 feet from the tract. I have endeavored to keep fire out during my ownership of the
land because I believe in timber protection in every way, and hope that with the cooperation of the Georgia Forest Service I can get better protection for my land in the future."
Shippen Hardwood Lumber Company, of Ellijay, protect virgin stand until second growth is established; then the cutting operation begins. Their policy is: "This company owns approximately 50,000 acres of forest land .... Practically all of this area is virgin forest and most of the timber is hardwood .... The present owners of this tract have this land under organized protection from forest fires in cooperation with the Georgia Forest Service .... The owners fully appreciate the value of fire protection and it is their hope that when the mature timber is removed that a second growth will have been established to take the place of the original stand."
The first forest management work in the South under a technically trained forester on a large scale was that of the Pfister &
Vogel Land Company, of Blairsville, Ga., which began in 1913 on 65,000 acres. Their forester, Mr. B. H. Stone, of Blairsville, says: "The company employed a trained forester in 1913 and a definite policy of protection was established in 1915. A report made by timber cruisers has convinced the owners that 65 to 75 per cent of these land were being burned annually, so the first lookout towers and telephone patrol system of the South were constructed on these lands in 1915-16, rangers and patrolmen being employed to direct the tenantfire wardens. A good tenant system was used instead of paid fire fighters, and free range privileges were included in other concessions in order to secure cooperation in the prevention of forest fires. As a result of these methods, the average burned area per year has been less than one-tenth of one per cent from 1915 to the present time (1930). The owners are satisfied with this work as a paying investment, and are convinced that values in new growth more than off-set the cost of protection and all carrying charges on the property."
Forest protection is necessary for maintaining an adequate and
pure municipal water supply. The Chicopee Cotton Mills of Gainesville, Ga., are managed by E. A. McCormick, who says: "The Chicopee Manufacturing Corporation purchased a tract of 3,652 acres sit-
uated in Hall County, Georgia, three miles southwest of Gainesville. The tract was acquired by the Chicopee Mfg. Corp. to get sites for reservoirs for the water supply of the mill and mill village and to get con-
trol of the watershed draining into the reservoirs. The object in undertaking to pra ctice forestry on the property is to protect the watershed from erosion, to secure a more regular stream flow, to create an attractive setting for the mill and village and to secure a maximum production of forest products. The area has been placed
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
33
under intensive fire protection. A full time forest and game warden has been employed and devotes his time to patrolling the area, and is
responsible for protecting it from fire." Our schools profit by organized fire control. Mr. Green of the
famous Martha Berry Schools of Rome, which owns 15,000 acres of
land, says in part: "In 1928 Berry Schools cooperated with the Georgia Forest Service in establishing a timber protective unit, thereby working out a better system of protection. A lookout tower has been erected on a high point within the school property which overlooks the entire area. Telephones connect it with all buildings. When a fire starts it is soon put out because every boy on the campus is sub-
ject to call, if necessary. As a result of protection, much new growth has been started,
the old timber has grown to a better advantage, reproduction is coming in as under-forest to older timber. The results of protection are apparent, and this a fine example to hundreds of boys and girls who are students at Berry."
Dalton believes in promoting forestry and in forest fire protection. The Mayor says: "Through the efforts of several of Dalton's
leading citizens cooperating with the Georgia Forest Service, the town forest of Dalton, Georgia, was created. Some 30 acres of the city property was set aside for a town forest in 1929. This 30 acres
is covered with a 100 per cent stand of 8 to 12 year old shortleaf and loblolly pine. This forest was established more for a demonstration
of forest possibilities to the people of Dalton and Whitfield County than for its commercial possibilities. Efforts are being made to establish fire breaks and adequate protection from fire. A fire line on one
side of the tract is being established the first year.
These few statements of organized land owners are typical of the owners of 1% million acres cooperating with the Georgia Forest Service. In this connection, your attention is called to Bulletin No.
10, "Profitable Forestry in Georgia," which is now available for distribution here. It contains many records of profitable results from grouped effort in forest fire control.
Summing up, we find that "Forest Protection has Proven Profitable" to the State, the Federal Government, the county, the town, the
small and large commercial forestry industries, the leather company, the cotton mill, colleges and schools, the turpentine operator, naval stores factors, the lumberman, large and small land owners, and the
farmer, which in turn reflects through indirect influences on all phases
of commerce and industry. It is for this reason that forestry merits and is receiving the support of these many and varied interests.
34
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
MESSAGE OF CHARLES LATHROP PACK, PRESIDENT OF AMERICAN TREE ASSOCIATION
Easy to Build Up South as Great Forest Producing Section and As-
sure South Economic Prosperity With Annual Forest Crop-
Message Sent to Conference Through P. S. Ridsdale
"The South is awakening to the fact that it can be the future forestry storehouse of the nation, a storehouse teeming with all those products of the forest that keep the wheels of industry turning.
"Trees grow more rapidly in the South than anywhere else in the United States. The day of the big tree as a forest crop is rapidly passing for thousands of uses have now been found for the smaller sizes.
"The meat packers say they use every bit of the hog except the squeal. I say to you the day is not far distant when every bit of the tree will be used, including the bark.
"Science is making a wonderful stride forward in utilization of wood fibers. Soon will come the day when forest crops, only a comparatively few years old, will be marketed.
"The South has vast acreages of land most suitable for growing trees. It has the ability to protect those trees from fires while they are growing. All it needs for such protection is wide spread public cooperation, proper organization of timberland owners, plus adequate financial assistance by the states and the National Government.
"At one time there were 650,000,000,000 feet of pine timber in the South. Recent figures show there are now only 139,000,000,000 feet.
"Only about 20 % of the virgin hardwood stand is left. "Is it necessary to increase the present stands of softwood and of hardwoods in the South? Your foresters, and your timbermen, will tell you that it is. Your economists will tell you that the annual value of the naval stores products in the South per year is $30,000,000,00. "Does the South want to build itself up as a great forest producing region? It is easy for it to do so. The public must become forestry minded. The public must assist in fire prevention. The public must insist that timberland owners organize in fire protecton units, and that the states and the government provide adequate fire protection funds. "'If these things are done the economic prosperity of the South in the future is assured, for then the annual forest crop will be a financial crop, and public prosperity will prevail."
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
35
A NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR FORESTRY EDUCATION
P. S. RIDSDALE, American Tree Association, Washington, D. C.
Cooperative and Continuous Forestry Education of All Agencies 'Essential to Put Idle Landa to Work Growing Trees-News papers Important Medium-Economic Independence Of Forest Products Pou~ble
I have been assigned to speak on the subject of "A National Program for Forestry Education." There is no such program being carried on by any government agency, nor is there ever likely to be one. If anyone argues that the United States Forest Service should carry on such a program, the answer is that Congress would probably never appropriate a su:trlciently large amount of money to make it possible to do so effectively. Nor can one hope that any state legislature will appropriate all that a state should have for a state forestry program of education. So, the so-called national program of forestry education must consist of the best the federal and state governments can do, supplemented by the work of numerous other agencies, and if this is kept up long enough this kind of education will produce good results. It is certain that if the thought of the nation can be united on any given economic problem a solution of that problem is in sight. For instance an interesting thing about the proposition of putting our hundred million acres of idle land to work growing trees is that no one, to whom you talk about the problem, is against it. All agree with you almost at once--and yet little is being done to put this idle land to work, because there is no insistent public demand for this most necessary planting.
A national program of forestry education must be carried on all the time. The American Tree Association under the leadership of Charles Lathrop Pack is directing its effort to that end. One of the important phases of this work has been the giving of three and a half million Forestry Primers to the schools of the country. Why? Because the pupils by .reading and discussing the fifteen lessons the Primers contain acquire a knowledge of forest values-and these pupils-<lur coming citizens-will grow up forestry minded.
The forestry problem in this country will never be solved until the American people do become forestry minded. In the last analysis it is the great taxpaying public which must demand that our forest lands be made to produce an annual crop of forest products so that we will not have to import what we need from other countries.
Public education may be conducted in many ways but the chief of these is---'and always will be--publication in the newspapers of facts about our forest conditions. The publisher himself is dependent directly upon pulpwood. Paper is the messenger of the greatest educational force we have; the printed word. Consequently the editor, that great force in making the nation forestry minded depends absolutely on trees for a living. Editors became forestry minded long ago.
36
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
Today more than half of the wood used for paper in the United States comes from outside our boundaries-ehiefly from the spruce
forests of Canada and even far off Russia is called upon We must de-
pend on foreign imports for millions of cords of wood and wood pulp. This is not through any failure of our own forests' ability to produce what we need for with our vast area of forest land we could grow annually more wood for paper than we shall need annually for many years. The great fertility of our forest soils should make cheap domestic sources of raw materials entirely practicable. So far we have made no serious effort to become self-supporting.
Yet the time is not far off when we shall have to adopt some na-
tion-wide program for raising all the wood we need for paper making, or our industry will have to depend almost entirely on imports
from foreign countries. The enormous demand for paper which today consumes ten mil-
lion cords of wood yearly is bound to increase. To offset this, it is of course quite possible that methods will be discovered for using other products than wood. But the main reliance for abundantly meeting our pulp wood requirements must be placed ultimately on the United
States growing our paper producing species. Alaska, with her practically untouched forests, will supply two million cords annually or one-fifth of our present needs. And, since these forests are owned by
the Government, they will be so cut that they can produce this amount year after year forever. But Alaska is a long way from our pulp and paper mills which, for the most part are clustered about the Atlantic seaboard.
This is only one great industry dependent upon forests. There are many others. You can apply a set of cost figures to a great many industries and you will find the basis of costs in forest products. It is all a question of plain economic sense. The center of the greatest forest resources is now in the far west and the great industries are
away on this side of the continent. What army could last a week two thousand miles from the base of supplies? What industry operates without wood in some form? We must look to the future; get out of this age of forest neglect, put idle forest land to work on a wholesale scale, and adequately protect our forests from fire.
So it is we must have continuous forestry education to create a demand for a continuous forestry crop ample for our needs. Every opportunity must be taken to advance the proposition that national prosperity depends upon a steady flow of forest products to the great
manufacturing centers. This is another way of saying idle land must be put to work growing forests. This message, along with fire prevention, must be carried home to all of our citizens all of the time.
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
37
SELECTIVE LOGGING AS A PROTECTIVE MEASURE
R. D. GARVER, Senior Forester, Forest Products Laboratory, United States Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin
Sauthern Pines Cut Below 12 Inches in Diameter Are Unprofitable-
Selective Cutting of Hi-inch Timber and Over Admits of Permanent Operation and Frequent Cropping-
Also Increases the Incentive for Fire Protection
Selective logging as here used does not mean a "creaming" of the stand to reap the highest present value without regard to the future, nor does it imply cutting to a rigid diameter limit, but it does mean a partial cutting practice which takes out enough trees, usually the larger sizes, to make logging profitable and yet leaves sufficient smaller thrifty ones to restock and keep the land productive. Such a method of cutting has a place in the proper handling of Georgia's 21 million acres of timberland and is discussed here as a protective measure from the standpoint of fire, community and industrial stabilization, soil erosion, and finally as a measure to bring about more efficient use of forest land.
Most people quite naturally wish to protect certain kinds of property, such as houses and automobiles, from fire, because they realize that there is a loss if such property is burned. But no such consciousness is universally present in people's minds when fires run through woods or sweep over clear cut land. On the other hand, if an area of planted trees is burned, nearly every one realizes the loss and appreciates the necessity for keeping fire out of such tracts. Is it not reasonable to expect the same reaction to fire protection for stands which have been logged only partially with the idea of allowing the small trees to remain on the ground and grow into a future cut? The logger's or owner's interest does not end with the last log removed from the land, for he has an investment that will increase in value in direct proportion to the protection and management he gives it. Waiving all other considerations, it seems almost certain that fire protection would be much better on large areas handled under a selective cutting system than on areas that were logged clean without a thought of a return cut. In addition, the fire hazard is less on selectively cut areas than on clear cut lands because there is less slash, the humidity of the air is higher, and the wind velocity is less. For example, in a hardwood forest in the Lake States' it was found that during the summer months the maximum temperatures were four to five degrees lower, the amount of moisture in the air 6 to 7 per cent higher, and the average wind velocity only one-fourth as much on forested areas as on clear cut areas.
It is not easy to create a protective interest in a cut-over burned-
'Maintained at Madison, Wis., in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin.
38
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
over country dotted with "ghost" towns, silent sawmills, grass covered railroad tracks, and boarded-up depots. Such a country may come back in time if a few seed trees have escaped and are protected from fire, but the reincarnation into a thriving, prosperous community lies a long way in the future and even if accomplished can never repay the social and financial losses incurred when the last log of virgin timber was cut and the industry moved on."
Such a prospect faced a community in the Lake States, but the Lumber company did not choose to follow such a course. A technical forester was called upon to prepare a program which would make it possible to keep the mill running for all time. The plan involved a slight reduction in the capacity of the mill, a small land purchasing program, and the introduction of selective logging into the woods operations. After careful consideration of all the facts the company adopted the plan. Fire protection is being tightened up and is taking on a new importance. The company is going ahead with an eye to the future and business and social developments are no longer based on the time when the mill will cut out, but are planned for all time. This change has been brought about because the lumber company decided to make its operation permanent and chose selective logging as the best method of handling its timber lands so that they would yield a crop of logs periodically. To make more certain that the full productivity of the land is obtained, a nursery has been established to supply stock for filling in on small cut-over areas where seed trees or a stand of young timber are lacking. Extremely close utilization is practiced. Cordwood, slabs, edgings, trimmings, and small unmerchantable logs supply the material for the alcohol plant. The high grade logs keep the veneer plant in raw material, and the sawmill cuts the medium grade logs into lumber." A forest properly handled not only contributes these various classes of raw material but at the time it offers resistance to soil erosion and gullying. In addition, forests actually build up the soil instead of running it down."
Protection Against Erosion
Over one-half Billion tons' of suspended matter is disgorged annually into the sea by the rivers of the United States and twice this amount is deposited along the water courses, on flood plains, and, last but not of least importance, in large reservoirs. Such a condition impoverishes the soil on the upper slopes without a compensating enrichment of the areas on which it is deposited, reduces the impounding capacity of storage reservoirs, changes stream courses, interferes with navigation, and on the whole does a large amount of damage. No one can gainsay that a vegetative cover reduces erosion and the gullying of the soil. If this cover, in addition to holding the soil, is growing a crop of salable and valuable material, such as lumber, so much the better. This is one of the main reasons why forests are of outstanding importance in the control of erosion and flood damage.
Soil conservation goes hand in hand with control of water move----
'U. S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 164, "Selective Logging in the Northern Hardwoods of the Lake States" by R. Zon and R. D. Garver.
'U. S. Department of Agriculture Circular 33 "Soil Erosion a National Menace" by H. H. Bennett and W. R. Chapline.
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
39
ments in and on the soil. These two factors together with climate pretty largely determine the extent to which a country dependent on soil crops for its prosperity can be developed. The importance of forests in checking erosion and reducing floods can not be overempha-
sized. The greatest efficiency will come when the forest and ground cover are kept fairly well intact. Moreover, this requirement is directly associated with methods of handling timberlands so as to get a profitable return and yet keep the land stocked with a growing crop.
Profitable Selective Cutting
There are several different ways of handling southern pine stands, such as clear cutting followed by planting or by leaving seed trees. Selective cutting, however, has several advantages not found in the other forms of management. This method takes out only a portion of the stand, mostly the larger mature trees, and leaves the smaller thrifty ones to restock the land and provide a future cut. Under such a plan it is possible to get a cut from the land at more frequent
intervals than in the clear cutting or seed tree method and in addition
a fairly good ground cover is maintained at all times. Furthermore, it costs less to handle large trees and the quality of lumber obtained
from them is better than that from small trees. Before a selective
logging plan for a tract of timber can be formulated, it is necessary to know something about the cost of producing lumber from trees of different sizes and the value of the product. Realizing this need the Forest Service has been carrying on studies to get just such information. Work has been done in the Coastal Plain and in the Gulf section
of the southern pine region. In most cases it was found that trees too small to pay their way were being removed from the land. The
actual costs and lumber values obtained in a band mill operation, which was cutting second-growth shortleaf and loblolly pine about 55
years old, will best illustrate this point.
Diameter
of tree Inches 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Production cost per
M board feet
$32.11 25.81 23.14 21.20 19.87 18.87 18.06 17.47 16.93
Value of lumber per
M board feet
$21.62 22.52 23.35 24.12 25.22 26.06 26.89 27.79 28.66
Difference
$-10.49 -3.29 + 0.21 + 2.92 + 5.35 + 7.19 + 8.83 +10.32 +11.73
The figures show three important points: First, the cost of producing lumber from trees 24 inches in diameter is only about one-half that of trees 8 inches in diameter, second, the lumber from 24-inch trees is worth 32 per cent more than for 8-inch trees, and, third, trees below 12 inches in diameter are cut at a loss. No stumpage has been charged, but without this cost a loss of $10.49 is sustained for every thousand feet of lumber cut from trees 8 inches in diameter.
40
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
Making Operations Permanent
The study shows that even though an operator has no thought of a return cut but wants to get the greatest profit, he makes the most money per acre by cutting only trees 12 inches in diameter and larger. If on the other hand he desires to make his operation permanent and has enough timber to supply the mill, he makes the most money on each thousand feet by taking only trees 16 inches in diameter and larger. In such an event, however, an operator would not wish to cling rigidly to a diameter limit ecause he would not want to place his stand in the best possible growing condition. To do this it will be necessary to cut some poor trees below the 16-inch limit in order to clean up the stand and perhaps to leave a few above the limit in order to fill in thin places in the stand. The volume removed, however, would correspond roughly to the 16-inch diameter cutting limit.
The results of these studies are to be supplied to operators interested in practicing forestry on their lands. Along with selective logging plans should come improved utilization, not necessarily to cut the timber closer but to get more returns from that cut. This is particularly important among the small mills of the South because they are cutting at least 50 per cent of the total production of the region. Some progress is being made in improving small mill equipment, as for example, the portable band mill which is operating in the Coastal plain. This mill cuts a saw kerf less than one-third as thick as that of the circular mill.
Among the agencies that are working to improve the efficiency of the small mill is the Forest Products Laboratory, where especial attention is being given to manufacturing, marketing, and seasoning practice. There are also many developments in the pulping field which will make it possible to use more of the tree. No matter whether a stand is managed for pulpwood, or for sawlogs, or for a combination of both, a proper selection of the material to be removed is exceedingly important and will have an effect on the cost of carrying on the operation. Costs will be one of the most important factors in determining the extent to which wood and wood products hold their place in competition with other materials. Selective cutting reduces costs, leaves the land in a productive condition, provides a method of making an operation permanent, and if widely followed should have a powerful influence in making forest practice more practicable and more profitable.
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PLANTING AND PROTECTING SMALL FOREST AREAS
By JAMES FOWLER, Soperton
Experience Indicates that Fenced and Closely Grazed Pine Planta-
tions Have Greater Growth-Cooperation of Tenants Obtained to Control Fires-Planted 1,000 Acres
to Pines in 1930-Treutlen County Leads
State in Tree Planting.
I am indeed, very glad to be here this afternoon. And then you know there's always something about you Savannah people that makes a countryman feel at home. And another thing, when we Naval Stores Operators get broke we just strike a draft on Savannah, and if it don't come back, our local bank places it on our overdraft.
I consider it a very great privilege to have been born and raised in the country. My father taught me forestry from childhood and he would not allow we boys to cut any kind of a green tree that we could not use. He said to let it grow seven years and we would need it. And one of the many regrets of my life is that I did not put in practice this one thing taught in early life. But, after giving many of our forefathers credit for conservative cutting and protecting the forests, they did not realize the greatest enemy of the forest and that is FIRE. They believed it was necessary to burn the woods at least every two years, in order to have better grazing for their cattle.
We all know that fire is still the greatest enemy of the forests. But in Treutlen County (my home) we have what is generally known as Billy goats, and after having closely watched two separate herds of these goats for the past two years grazing on woodlands thickly coverea with young slash pine, I have almost come to the conclusion that goats are almost as destructive to young slash pine trees as fire. Fire will leave some trees in wet and clean places, but the goats will bite out the buds and tops of the young trees all over the forest. I have recently noticed hundreds of small slash pines from three to four years old, with trunks not more than twelve inches high, and I don't believe these trees will ever be of any commercial value, but only be in the way of other timber coming up. Personally, I have put goats in the class with rattle snakes.
Please do not understand that I am opposed to all forms of grazing lands set to young timber. I believe that cattle grazing where the fire hazard is great, to be both practical and profitable, and I am glad to give you the following facts, which I am sure will be of interest to most of you. On May 19th, 1930, assisted by Mr. Jack Thurman, State District Forester of Georgia, we measured the growth in height, made this year, on one hundred representative slash pine trees, which were set out in the spring of 1926, on deep, sandy soil. Fifty of these trees were measured on one tract of timber that had not been grazed since planted, and fifty from land that had been grazed hard for the past three years. The ungrazed land trees showed a growth of 27 and 82-100 inches, and the hard grazed land showed a growth of 29 and 6-100 inches or 1 and 84-100 inches growth in favor of the grazed land trees. When I say hard grazed land, I mean grazed so clean that, by
42
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
my permission, Mr. Thurman placed a lighted match and fired five of the thickest places he could find on this tract of land and in less than five minutes, all the fires went out, and th:is was on a dry and windy day, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Now, I am unable to account for the more rapid growth on the grazed land unless the heavy growth of broom sedge and other grasses deprived trees of some of the water and plant food. I will ask Dr. Cary and Miss Guerry to solve this problem for me.
I did not measure last season's growth of these trees but from observation, I was so well pleased with the growth on the grazed land, that I increased my herd of cattle from 150 to 300 head, and have grazed several hundred acres of land growing young slash pines, so that the fire risk is nominal. I not only find cattle good fire fighters but very profitable. 88% of my cows have raised a calf during the last twelve months and I have sold all calves offered at $30.00 to $50.00 per head, age from six to eight months old. I had never owned any cattle before and in order to find out the type best suited to my grazing, I tried the Black Angus, Short Horn, Red Polled and Hereford, I find the latter the best grazers for wire grass and broom sedge.
I have just sown 500 acres of my lowest woodlands, which has a good stand of young slash timber on it, to carpet grass, and have a very nice stand of young carpet grass coming on, and if it can be grazed close as the wire grass and broom sedge, I feel that I have gone a long way toward solving the fire problem in my woodlands. The land I have just mentioned is all under fence, and the land not under fence will have to be protected by plowing and burning fire lanes, because it will be impossible to hold cattle close enough to graze unfenced land on an open range.
After having been quite successful in keeping fire out of my wood' lands for three years, I am almost sure it's because I have made all
my fire lanes from 25 to 30 feet wide and burned clean between the furrows. Also, cut up into small tracts, the lands where the fire risks is greatest, this of course depending on the density of the undergrowth and kind of grass growing on the land. Fire will cross a 20 foot fire lane, in dry, windy weather and we usually have this kind of weather in March, and this, too, is about the time of year that the tenant farmer, with two or three old cows starts to plowing up his velvet bean fields, and he thinks he must set fire to his neighbor's woods, so that his cows may get some tender grass. Just as soon as we find out how to handle this situation most of our :fire troubles will be over.
I'll tell you how I handled 300 acres of timbered land that I bought in 1926. This land had been burned over every spring for the past twenty years and was everybody's cow range. In the spring of 1926, I plowed and burned fire lanes through the woods, cutting it up into about ten acre tracts, and during the month of March, almost every night, one or two of these tracts would burn, first on one side, then on the other, and here is what I did. I first cut all the fence posts I could find on the place and piled them up close to the only farm house on the place that was occupied, bought some three or four miles of wire fence and piled it down and then went around the land getting every fellow that I thought had a cow, to help me locate the land lines, and made it a point to tell him why I had to fence the land and enquired if he knew of any cattle for sale, as I would keep all cattle out
but my own when the fence was finished. Well, it worked, for in less
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than a week I had several delegations and committees from the adjoining lands call on me and offer to do anything I might suggest if
I would not fence the land. Some traded, they were to watch for and fight fires any time of the day or night, and I agreed to hold up on
the fencing for a year or two. I used my wire for fencing other lands more than a year ago and have hauled most of the posts away. I have had less than 1% of these woods to burn since 1926 and this fire was traced to fishermen camping on the Ohoopee river, which is the northern boundary of this land. I have increased the size of the protected tracts from ten acres to twenty and twenty-five acres, which cuts my
cost down from 15 cents per acre in 1928 to 6 cents per acre in 1930.
As most of you all know, my country-TREUTLEN-is one of the youngest and smallest counties in the state, yet, it ranks first in artificial reforestation. We have an active T. P. 0. with several members and 26,000 acres of timbered lands listed, and have had less than 2 o/o of our lands to burn this year. The number of acres of slash pine seedlings planted this year are as follows: Jim L. Gillis, 400 acres;
J. B. O'Conner, 150 acres; M. H. Newsome, 25 acres; James Fowler, 1000 acres in 1930 and 500 acres in 1926-27-28-29.
Practically all these trees are planted in ten-foot rows and from six to ten feet in the drill. 6 per cent of these trees are set 6 x 10, giving us 2,075 acres of planted trees and 1,280,000 in number. And
the trees set out by James Fowler shows a loss in dead trees of less than 10 per cent to date, and I understand that none of the planting
shows more than 5 per cent loss. I am sure that this was due to better methods of transplanting and to the cold wet weather, we had during the winter and early spring.
As far as I know Treutlen county has the only T. P. 0. member, who has a pack of blood hounds to chase woods burners. This honor
goes to M. H. Newsome, who is one of the largest farmers, land owner and turpentine operator. Mr. Newsome ran down and caught the last
fellow that fired his woods-a negro by the name of Sylvester Jordan, who pleaded guilty and got twelve months on the chain gang.
I am glad to tell you people that the State and federal governments are giving the Treutlen county T. P. 0. wonderful cooperation and assistance, and it is certainly an inspiration to work under their guidance, and we are very grateful to them for their help. But
the greatest assistance we need right now, to help carry forward our leading forestry program, can come only through our state legislature, and that is a reduction in taxes on the lands while we are growing
timber and I hope this body goes on record with some resolutions to
this effect. I believe this is the opportune time to push this legislation through, while the newspapers and magazines are giving us so much favorable publicity.
You know, that I have about decided that growing and protecting timber is about the most popular business a fellow can engage in right now. I don't mean it is so great for the fellow trying it, but, what the fellow on the outside looking in, thinks about it. The reason I say this is, that before I got into the forestry business, I cannot recall ever
having my name and picture in the papers. But, since some of the
boys from Washington and Atlanta came down and looked me over, I have had my picture on the front page of several forestry journals,
The Atlanta Journal and other dailies. I have been invited to appear before the Congressional Forestry committee, at Washington, received dozens of telegrams and letters from various clubs and organizations,
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
all about over the United States, asking me to make them a talk on reforestation, etc. Even Mr. Gamble, with the Naval Stores Review and Mr. Bickers, with the Savannah Morning News, two of our most
valued papers have offered me space in their papers, and if you gentlemen are present, I want to thank you and promise here and now,
that if I ever have any photos made that don't look like me, I'll send
you two or three. I thank you.
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FIRE PROTECTION IN A LARGE FOREST
By CAPTAIN I. F. ELDREDGE, Forest Manager Superior Pine Products Company, Fargo, Ga.
Protection Plan on 200,000 Acre Forest-Steel Towers-Fire Bre,._ks, Fire Fighting Equipment, Organized Crews-90 Per Cent Area Free of Fire Cost Average Below 4 Cents Per Acre--Stand of Cu.t-Over Land Increased From 35 Per Cent to 100 Per Cent in Five Years
In covering my subject I shall hold rather closely to a description
and discussion of the fire protection measures we are taking in Su-
wanee Forest, and shall not attempt to lay down general rules for fire
protection good on any large tract.
First, let me briefly describe Suwannee Forest. This is an area of more than 200,000 acres located on the west bank of the Suwannee River, along the Georgia-Florida State line in Clinch and Echols Counties, Georgia. Its area is one hundred per cent timber land. It was logged of its original stand fifteen to thirty-five years ago, about ten per cent of the original growth still standing. The main stand now present is a good second growth of slash and long leaf pine from one to thirty years old.
Thirty per cent of the area is in pond, bays and swamps. The land is a level, loamy sand with numerous streams but rather poor drainage.
We have an average annual rainfall of about fifty-six inches with two extended dry spells to be expected each year, one in April, May and June--the other in October and November. Actual experience has shown that there are wet years and dry years that upset all calculations based upon average figures as to fire hazard.
In Suwanee Forest there are at present six turpentine camps and five logging camps. Including our own there are three standard gauge railroads in the tract, traversing fifty-five miles of land and carrying from eighteen to twenty-four trains daily.
Turpentine farms surround the forest on all sides and the range cattle of at least twenty different owners graze in it; two highways cross the area and many hunters and fishermen are in the woods in season.
It may seem from the above that all of the most prolific sources of forest fires are well represented and that the opportunity for the starting of fires at all seasons of the year is manifold.
The plan of protection I shall outline to you is by no means original, unique or perfect-it follows the well tested principles worked out during the last twenty-five years in the National Forests of the Federal Government, but has been modified and fitted as well as may be to local conditions. Furthermore the plan is more or less elastic and has been changed and will continue to be changed from time to time to take advantage of experience a nd knowledge gained by us and others and to follow closely any change in the situation that may develop.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
Plan of Organization
The aim is to achieve adequate protection from fire at the smallest
possible cost. The decision to protect our timber lands from fire was made after
a careful analysis of all conditions affecting timber growth and the production of commercial forest products and after a weighing of costs against expected results.
The forest area is divided into six ranger districts of from twenty-five thousand to forty thousand acres each, the size depending upon the relative fire danger, accessibility, and the amount of other duties than protection to be attended to. A district ranger, who has both auto and horse, patrols this district against fire and trespassers. In season of high fire hazard this work may fully occupy his entire time -At other times he attends to such work as marking timber for cutting and cup hanging, counting cups, scaling, measuring or counting saw logs, poles, ties, etc., inspecting and enforcing chipping and logging requirem!!nts, enforcing fish and game laws, surveying land lines, building and repairing telephone lines, fences, etc.
The constant presence of these men in the woods is primarily a fire prevention measure and is usually quite effective. They all bear commissions from the State Forestry Service as Deputy Fire Wardens and have the right to carry arms. These patrolmen also serve as smoke chasers; that is on discovery and location of a smoke by the towers they at once, with one or more laborers, go and start work on the fire.
In the flat woods, now so stocked with young timber that you cannot see more than a few hundred yards in any direction, it will not do to depend on the discovery of fires by patrolmen, nor is it safe to count upon the discovery and reporting of fires quickly by employees in the turpentine or logging woods, or by travelers. At the same time it is vitally necessary that all fires be discovered, located and reported quicKly in order that they may be attacked before they have had time to spread over a large area.
Steel Lookout Towers
To meet this need we have erected and maintain three steel lookout towers, each eighty-two feet high, located so as to overlook the entire area. Watchmen are kept in these towers during the season of fire danger; going on duty an hour after sunrise and staying up until dark and going up for final look around at about nine P. M.
The towers are connected with each other and with the office at headquarters by telephone lines and the same system connects the office with ranger stations, sawmills and turpentine and logging camps.
In each tower there is an Osborn Fire Finder, an instrument by means of which the actual location of a fire seen by two or more towers can be accurately determined within a minute or two after the smoke is seen.
The entire personnel of the company in all of its departments, and including that of all of its associate contractors and lessees, are available day and night for fire fighting. All employment contracts are made with the understanding that every man must prevent fires so far as he can and must fight fires when necessary.
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It is undesirable to stop or hold up production activities such as logging, sawmilling or naval stores operations except as a last resort. We have found it more effective and much less expensive to maintain during the fire season one or more small crews of specially trained men equipped with fire trucks and necessary tools that can be dispatched in short order to fires. These men know their stuff and being able to respond quickly and travel rapidly can get to a fire while it is still small and with adequate tools at hand can usually take care of ninety per cent of the fires without calling on the operating departments for help. Between fires these crews are kept on road and bridge work, in thinning out sapling thickets, peeling pulpwood or similar work but always within easy reach and always ready to move, fully equipped, on short notice.
The fire trucks are equipped with hoes, axes, rakes, brush hooks, back-fire torches and hand water pumps and carry one hundred fifty to two hundred gallons of water in drums.
At each ranger station and turpentine camp there is kept a supply of hand pumps and one or more drums of water that may be loaded on turpentine or logging trucks and taken out with extra men to a fire if needed.
If the regular fire crew fails to quickly control a fire, as indicated by the report on the smoke from the towers, additional men are called out from the nearest operating crew and taken to the fire in trucks and added to the force. As soon as a fire is controlled the additional men are returned to their work and the fire left in charge of the regular crew to be secured before it is left.
Fire Breaks Maintained
As an aid in the control of fire and, mainly, as insurance against wholesale destruction of young growth over a large area we make and maintain a system of fire lines which cut our young timber areas up into blocks of from one hundred to one thousand acres each; the size of the area being governed by the relative fire hazard as well as the need for intensive protection. As time goes on we will continue to increase the mileage of fire lines and reduce correspondingly the size of the protected blocks.
Our fire lines are from fifty to sixty feet wide and are made by putting in two single furrows, one at each edge of the strip with a Fordson tractor and a side disc plow and burning out the undergrowth and grass between. The Jines are run to take advantage of the country, usually following along old turpentine and logging roads. Experience has proved that we cannot depend upon swamps, ponds or bays as fire stops in dry weather.
Fire lines such as we make cost about $10.00 per mile. It is my opinion that we would not be justified in this expenditure on the basis of their immediate use in controlling the fires of today. The real need for these lines becomes quite apparent if the conditions that will prevail five years from now are visualized. At that time we will have a number of very large areas covered solidly with dense stands of young slash pine mixed with an undergrowth of gallberry and palmetto. In such stands, in dry and windy weather a fire is very apt to get into the crowns of the trees and become uncontrollable. The only way to successfully combat such a conflagration is to backfire from strategically located prepared lines that interpose a distinct
48
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
break in the crown canopy. It is cheaper to make these lines now, while the seedlings are so small that they and the grass and undergrowth can be removed safely and prevented from coming back by periodical burning, than to wait until the need becomes truly imperative and then cut through dense stands of saplings and face not only a much increased cost but also the difficult problem of burning large piles of felled saplings in an extremely dangerous position.
Needless to say, places of special fire danger, as for instance main traveled roads, railroad right of ways, around sawmills, favorite camping places, etc., are located and given special attention in the way of fire lines. In places where the investment is particularly high such as crops of turpentine cups, buildings, camps, trestles and bridges, etc., are protected by fire lines.
It is an axiom that it is better to prevent fires than to fight them and we use every opportunity to reduce the danger of fire starting by accident, by carelessness and by design. Signs are posted everywhere warning against fire. Employees are kept constantly reminded of the necessity of care with fire in the woods. Locomotives, skidders, loaders, saw-mills and other fire using equipment are inspected frequently. A continuous personal contact is maintained with neighbors, both cattle men, naval stores men and other users of the woods to enlist and keep alive a friendly and cooperative attitude towards fire protection.
Campers, hunters and fishermen are allowed the freedom of the forest only under permits which contain a fire clause."
While there has been, thanks to the splendid efforts of the State Forestry Service and the American Forestry Association and other agencies, a marked change for the better in the attitude of the public towards the burning of the woods, there is much left to the accomplished in this line. By far the greater portion of our annual fire loss is due to man caused fires. The activities of a very small group of little cattle men in a remote section of our holdings who have not been brought to a realization of the harm they are doing us and their community, is responsible for most of this loss. These men are not representative of the general run of cattle owners that use our property, for in ninety per cent of our area we have obtained the successful cooperation of cattle men in preventing fires.
It will take time and continued effort to get a full one hundred per cent appreciation of the benefits and worthwhile results of fire prevention, and to fix in the minds of all men that it is criminal to destroy forest property for the sake of a few range cattle, but it is by no means a hopeless or impossible task. Sustained efforts will give the desired results.
Effectiveness of Fire Prevention Methods
What does it cost to maintain the system of protection outlined above? An examination of our records for the last four years shows that the expenditures charged to fire protection amounts to an average annual cost of 5 7-10 cents per acre. Of this cost the Federal and State governments contribute 1 7-10 cents, leaving the net cost to us of 4 cents per acre.
How effective is the system? In 1926, the first year of protection, we had no towers and were otherwise poorly organized. Furthermore there had been little opportunity to reach the convictions of the woods using people. We had ten per cent of our area burned. The burns being pretty uniformly scattered throughout the forest.
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1927 was the dryest year the Weather Bureau had recorded in thirty years, with ten months of dangerous fire season. Our loss that year was seven per cent of the area, again rather uniformly scattered. In 1928 weather conditions were more favorable and we were well organized. Our loss was confined to 7-10 of one per cent of the area.
In 1929 the loss was 6-10 of one per cent. In the last two years ninety-five per cent of our burned area has been concentrated in tenper-cent of the forest area. That is to say, on ninety per cent of the area of our property we have had practically no loss.
Better Stand Under Fire Protection
The next question that will occur to you is, "What are you getting for your money?" I could show you in a day's inspection of Suwanee Forest much more convincingly than I can tell you what "four years of protection has brought about in the way of increased growth of standing timber, increased production of naval stores per crop, and increased stocking per acre of young growth. I can show you for one thing areas totalling by conservative estimates more than 70,000 acres which five years ago our cruise showed to be only thirty-five per cent stocked which can now be classified as from ninety to one hundred per cent stocked." This young growth is from one to eight feet in height and stands from five hundred to five thousand per acre. I can show you thousands of acres of established sapling stands that have put on an average of ten feet of height growth in the last five years. I can show you hundreds of crops of turpentine timber that five years ago were estimated to hang, according to our ten inch diameter limit, an average of four thousand cups per lot that now will hang from eight to ten thousand per lot, and, finally our crop production records show that using the same method of turpentining we are getting five barrels more of gum per crop now than we did the first year of operations when all turpentine crops were raked and burned. These things translated into dollars and cents pay many times over the cost of protection.
Game Population Increased
"As a side line, not perhaps of interest from a purely financial standpoint, it may be stated that the effect of fire protection on the game population is beginning to be very marked. Deer, bear, fur bearing animals, turkey and quail are increasing very rapidly and while some of this increase is due undoubtedly to protection from excessive hunting the greater part of it can be laid to improved conditions in range and cover."
What of the future? Will the fire hazard increase or decrease with continued protection? How about the cost in the future? What of the danger of tremendous conflagrations? These are all fair questions and must be squarely faced. In my opinion, for a number of years to come we must in Suwanee Forest expect to find our task increasingly difficult, and more expensive, and with greater danger of large losses. Just how long a time must elapse before the situation changes it is difficult to say and I can only venture the opinion that the next ten years will be the hardest. Undoubtedly, somewhat greater damage by fire is done in rough woods than in periodically burned woods. It is easily established that the difficulty of controlling fire in
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
rough woods is greater and therefore its cost is greater. Then too, fires start easier in the rough than in burned woods. However, we have every right to expect that we can improve and cheapen our meth-
ods of protection; that we can educate the woods using people to a point where man caused fires, now the chief source of loss, will be re-
duced to a low figure. We can expect more stringent legislation and greater protection from the Courts and I see no reason why we should not expect an increased participation on the part of the State and Federal Government in the active cost of protection so that altogether it appears to me that while we should not kid ourselves as to the diciculty of the task ahead, we may look forward confidently to its success-
fus accomplishment. I feel certain that no intelligent timber owner
who is planning to hold on to !tis timber land with a view to continuous operations will be satisfied to forego all of the financial benefits
to be obtained by protecting his lands from fire through faint heartedness as to his ability to meet the future developments.
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RAILROADS AND FORESTS
A. E. CLIFT, President, Central of Georgia Railway Company, Savannah, Ga.
Railways Purchase 11 Per Cent of Country's Timber Outpu.t Besides
105,000,000 Crossties-Products of Forest Exceed Agriculture
In Tonnage on the Central of Georgia Railway-There Are
7.48 Acres of Forests for Each Man, Woman and Child
In Georgia-Second Growth Pine Keeps Up Lumber Production and Has Restored Georgia to
First Place in Naval Stores-Wood Pulp
Prospects-lnstensive Education on
Forestry a Need
My assignment is to speak for the railroads on this program, which is to record the true worth of forestry products to the State of Georgia. I wish to begin with the acknowledgment that many railroads now operating in the state owe the very existence of important parts of their mileage to the forests. Indeed, it may be said that no industry except sawmills and naval stores is so intimately related to the history, future and fortunes of forests and forestry, as is transportation.
Much of Georgia's railroad mileage of today was built into virgin pine forests years ago, for the purpose of handling lumber and naval stores. Built as logging roads, these lines developed into common carriers, and are now operating either as short lines, or as parts of trunk lines.
Railroads are large purchasers of timber. In turn, they derive large traffic from forest products. Railroads are co-operating in every way possible for the welfare of the industry. Each of these relationships affords opportunity for discussion that could easily consume the time allotted for this presentation. To touch on all of them permits me only to refer to the high points.
The railways purchase 11 o/o of the country's timber output, without taking crossties into consideration. The various construction industries purchase 60% of the output, the manufacturing industries 18 o/o , and miscellaneous industries the remaining 11 o/o .
The railways last year used 105 million cross-ties, of which 92 million were untreated and 13 million were treated. It is worthy to note that railway purchases are usually of the better grades of lumber, because of the longer service. A railroad's plant and equipment must at all times be kept in condition to render efficient service, hence require frequent renewals.
The lumber industry creates important traffic for the railroads. Most people if required to hazard a guess would perhaps surmise that the principal traffic moving over the Central of Georgia Railway is products of the farm, since Georgia and Alabama are known as agricultural states. As a matter of fact, of the 4 great divisions of traffic, products of agriculture last year stood fourth, with 13 o/o ; products of forests showed 20 o/o ; products of mines and products of factories 29 o/o each.
In a state abounding with mineral wealth, having such a variety
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
of minerals, and particularly such vast resources of kaolin, the casual observer is apt to assume that Georgia's greatest natur;:tl resources are found underground. But when one studies the matter and digs into facts and figures, it becomes apparent that Georgia's greatest natural resource is her forests. The state forestry department--and a very efficient one it is-tells us that there are now 23 millions of acres in forests in Georgia. That is about 64o/o of the total area, or 7,48 acres for each man, woman and child in the state. There are 6 millions of acres more in uncultivated farm lands that could be added to the forest area, without curtailing agricultural production.
The original long leaf pine belt of Georgia, which was then largest of the Atlantic forests, covered 19,000 square miles, or more than one-third of the area of the State. Professor Sargent, who made a computation of the standing timber in 1880, estimated it as 16 billion, 778 million board feet.
Georgia led in the production of long leaf pine lumber until 1904, yielding first place to Louisiana and dropping from first to eighth in rank. The peak of production in Georgia appears to have been reached in 1899, when it was one and a quarter billion feet.
It is interesting to note that while the production of long leaf pine in Georgia has declined rapidly since 1900 and is now almost negligible, the production of second-growth pine and other species has kept the producton fairly constant. The total production of lumber in 1900 was one billion, 311 million feet; in 1909 it was one billion, 342 million feet; in 1924 one billion, 89 million feet, and in 1927 one billion, 201 million feet.
The virgin pine was cut principally by mills of large capacity located on the railroads. These mills were equipped with dryers, planers and other finishing machinery. As a rule, the mills owned thousands of acres of timber or timber rights consolidated in large bodies. Logging was done by tram-road and in a few cases by rafts or drifting.
Today the second-growth timber is rough-sawed by small mills, located maybe several miles from the railroad, and the rough lumber is concentrated at central points on the railroad for drying, finishing and shipping. This change in the methods of manufacture is shown by the fact there were 335 mills on the Central of Georgia Railway in 1903. Our latest directory, issued in January last, showed 468 plants. Timber is now bought in small tracts and the mill moved where it can be reached by trucks or teams.
Income From Georgia Forest
Georgia's receipts from her forests, including naval stores, approximate 125 million dollars annually. These industries give employment to some 35 thousand people with a payroll of 24 million dollars. At an average of five people to the family, it means that something like 150 to 175 thousand people in the state derive their support from this source.
Taken alone, these are impressive figures, but we are getting the best returns from this crop and these industries which occupy more than two-thirds of the area of our state and contribute so materially to our welfare. The State Forester tells us our losses from forest fires every year are four to five million dollars, and that organized fire protection, which would obviate the bulk of this loss, can be had
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at a cost of three and a half cents per acre per year. The Commissioner of Revenue o:f North Carolina stated recently:
"Some of our forestry experts, who are familiar with timber growth in this southern area, are of the opinion that an acre of woods land, fairly set in thrifty growing young trees, properly protected and intelligently thinned in a process of gradual harvesting, will yield an average of $5.00 per acre per year in the value of added timber growth."
Naval Stores' Revival
The come-back of the naval stores industry in Georgia is a gratifying and encouraging aspect of the present situation and the future of our forestry problem. I observe that in 1890, when Georgia had great areas of long leaf pine, that were the resource of our naval stores, the state produced 52lh o/o of the total production of naval stores. By 1900 the percentage had dropped to slightly less than 40 o/o, and there was a steady decrease until it reached the lowest figure in 1918, which was 19'4 o/o. Beginning the following year, 1919, the production made a steady increase, and in 1928, the latest figures available, the production in Georgia reached 46%, o/o, and has led all other states in volume of production since 1923, when the lead was wrested from Florida.
Such a recovery is unusual and is due, I think, (first) to the beneficient act of nature in re-planting our cut-over and waste lands; (second) the improved methods of extracting and distilling gum, and last, but not least, the constructive ecorts of the naval stores factors, dealers and exporters in Savannah, and perhaps elsewhere, to maintain the market and develop new uses for the products.
Despite the waste in the old method of boxing, as well as in the logging and manufacture of our virgin pine, the two industries, crude as they were, gave employment to a large number of people and contributed many millions of dollars to the welfare of the South.
I am persuaded, however, that if we will reforest our idle and waste lands; give the proper attention to the protection of the forests; practice selective logging; our slash and second growth varieties will prove vastly more important commercially.
New Uses for Georgia Pines
We are indebted to science for this happy outlook. Dr. Charles ~ .
Herty, with his improved methods of extracting the gum, restored and made permanent the naval stores industry. Kraft paper is now derived chiefly from second-growth pines. Recent experiments give hope they will soon be available for book and newsprint paper and a base for rayon and other products.
Obviously, this is primarily an educational problem and we must be patient and persistent in solving it. I think much credit is due the State Forestry Department, the State Agricultural College, the Forestry Associations and the individuals who have co-operated in the work that has been accomplished, but with more funds and more sympathy and co-operation, better results could have been obtained.
We need an intensive campaign extending down through County Agents, railroad Agricultural Agents, Chambers of Commerce and others who can be enlisted to bring to the individual farmers or land owners the methods of re-forestation, the necessity for fire protection,
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
selective thinning and the other things they should know, to the end the farmer or land owner may have an additional source of income from these abandoned or waste lands. The railroads co-operate in fire
prevention by burning weeds and brush from their rights-of-way in the Fall of each year. Railroads also prolong the life of ties and timber by treatment with creosote.
It appears to me our objective at present, after reforestation and the protection of the trees, is to find new uses which will bring larger returns.
Pulp and paper appear to offer a hopeful prospect and for a large consumption. The South has made a good start in the manufacture
of Kraft and other of the coarser grades, but recent experiments give hope we can also make newsprint and book paper from our slash and perhaps other second-growth varieties.
Farmers of Louisianna received $1,650,589 from the sale of pulpwood from their farms during 1929, according to figures compiled by the agricultural extension service of Louisianna State University. This sum was paid by six pulp and paper mills of the state to farmers in 13 parishes. The amounts spent by individual concerns ranged from $24,000 to more than $800,000. Many farmers of the state with these splendid markets at hand are beginning to grow timber as a crop, according to Robert Moore, extension forestry specialist.
The United Shtes imports about 60 % of our total paper rf'quirements. The domestic demanq is rapidly increasing, while the foreign supply of pulp and paper is not only decreasing, but advancing in price.
The State of Georgia offers many locations where paper mills can secure the two requisites of pulpwood supply and suitable water.
The country needs the lumber and finished products of our forests. The production and manufacture of these affords a field for labor, management and capital that is important to our people as a whole,
and to the railroads that serve them. In the last analysis, the railroads are interested in forestry, not
only as a carrier and a purchaser of its products, but because proper conservation, protection and handling of timber resources, promise
enhanced prosperity for the people of the state.
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WOMEN'S CLUBS AND FORESTRY
MRS. S. C. TOWNSEND, St. Marys, Ga.
How a Woman's Club Helped Organize an Entire County in a Timber
Protective Organization-Education Campalign Won Results
It is indeed an honor to represent the Women's Clubs of Georgia. They are composed of fine, loyal women wielding a powerful influence for good in any community. The woman's club is an excellent school for the older woman, who has been entirely occupied hitherto with home affairs, in which she may learn to readjust herself and to get her bearings for new phases of usefulness, after she suddenly realizes daughters and sons are educated, married and gone; husband is still absorbed in business affairs, and that now she must fine new interests and diversions.
But why Mr. Woolford selected me to take Mrs. Gaffney's place on this program, I do not know. I am not an outstanding club woman. I do not know what the State Federation has contributed in behalf of forestry interests. This morning this report of the Forestry Com-
mittee of the Atlanta Woman's Club was handed me by an Atlanta friend of Mrs. Guy Woolford, who was chairman of their department. Mrs. Woolford originated the idea of planting Peachtree Street in peach trees, and who can say she isn't largely responsible for our president's interest in forestry? My selection must be due to the fact that of the three women in constant attendance at the conference, two were identified in other ways and, on such short notice, I only wa:. available. When I was asked yesterday to make this talk-realizing my ignorance of Federated facts and data-l was aghast. Yet, I could not refuse one who has already done so much for Georgia along the lines in which I am most interested, and who, I predict, will accomplish a great deal more. So, the only way I know to keep my promise is to tell you what one club woman has done for forestry in Camden county.
In 1912, I believe it was, I organized the little Woman's Club of St. Marys, and was its president until 1922. An awful thing to inflict on those people, but in those days the woman's clubs idea was not so popular, and I had to take care of "my child."
In trying to carry out the many worth-while things attempted by the average club, such as better schools, better health, etc., I found a woeful lack of funds, and this thought came to me--why not help to increase the income of our people to supply this need? A mental survey convinced me that Camden county's greatest asset was her pine trees-97 % of her total acreage-except, of course, her magnificent harbor and extensive waterways. With the help of our State Chamber of Commerce, which was then the Georgia Association, and friends of my husband from over the state, a county-wide association was organized. This club woman was elected secretary treasurer.
Through this association, county agents were secured, and we all began immediately to preach the gospel of forestry and game conservation. Hundreds of posters were secured from the State Forestry Department and put up everywhere possible. Mr. H. B. Reddick, an outstanding naval stores operator, assisted me in putting
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
up a forestry exhibit showing the right and wrong way to scar a tree. The State Forest Service brought along a fine exhibit. The forestry exhibit and the best exhibits from the county fair were taken to the
district fair and won second prize. The Club Woman and the County Agents put up the exhibit.
Forestry essay contests were put on in the five splendid consolidated schools in Camden county, and prizes were awarded by the local Woman's Club. At about this time the president of the 11th District Federation of Woman's Clubs appointed me Chairman of Forestry and Natural Resources-a department not in existence in this district up till the time of my appointment. More posters and
literature from the State Forest Service was sent to the various clubs. A forestry essay contest in the Eleventh District schools was sponsored by the Eleventh District Woman's Clubs. Prizes were awarded by the clubs except in Clinch county where Captain Eldredge's company-Superior Pine Products Company-gave the prize. Forestry programs were also held in the clubs and the subject really studied.
The State Forest Service has grown during these years and has done a lot of very fine work in my district. In Camden county their efforts were crowned with a measure of success last fall by the large land owners, together with some of the smaller ones, coming together
into a Timber Protective Organization. Solely because of her efforts in behalf of forestry, this club woman was elected secretary-treasurer.
The lookout tower system is managed by the secretary. The T. P. 0. has two lookout towers one hundred feet high. Forty-eight
miles of telephone line will be completed this week. The third tower
in Camden has been independently owned and operated this first season, but will be affiliated with the organization, we believe, after the meeting to be held June 14. We expect to have two forestry
school demonstration plots next year, situated on the railroad and the coastal highway. At this meeting, reports will be given and plans made for next year which begins July 1. Mr. R. E. Price, open-minded and progressive, is manager of approximately 125,000 acres of land. He is working tirelessly in the timber protective
organization for the conservation of game and forests. Our ambition is to see two towers north of the Satilla river, which would make Camden county 100 o/o under protection.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I have enjoyed doing this work. In
fact, it has been a real pleasure, BUT I have not enjoyed talking
about it. I would have much preferred that the subject could have been covered by someone else or in some other way. I do not know anything about forestry. (I don't feel so ignorant, however, since I have heard a number of these eminent men say the same thing). I have been trying all these years to learn something about it, and I came up here for that purpose. I would like to say here that I have received a great real of valuable information, which I hope to take back and disseminate to the club women and the public generally. However, what one club woman has attempted to do, any and all can
do. For in the last analysis, it is what you and I d()-in our clubsin business, and all through life, that makes the final record.
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VALUE OF FORESTS TO POWER COMPANIES
By CHANNING COPE, Field Representative, Georgia Power Company
Forests Provide Insurance Against Reservoir Depletion During Droughts and Retard Erosion Which Eventually Would Fill Reservoirs and Decrease Available Power-Power Companies Regard Forestry Resources lmJX>rtan.t to Development of State and Are Anxious to Promote Forestry.
The question of the value of forests and forest products to power companies brings the observer at once to the question of water power development. While it is true that great quantities of
forest products are used by power companies at present it is also true that these products are becoming of less importance as the .art of generating and transmitting electrical energy progresses.
The production of power through the utilization of waters of rivers and streams is a many-sided problem. Values of the separate
sides of the question are rapidly changing, each one in itself, and in relation to the others. Probably the most important phase of the question is the ultimate cost of power to the consumer. Twenty-five years ago the generation of power by steam, utilizing fuels then available, fixed the cost of power at the point of generation, at what
would be considered as compared to today's cost, a very high figure. At that time many of the water power situations, although requiring large sums of capital investment, could be developed and the power sold at less cost than power generated by fuel~consuming equipment. Many of the water-power projects developed and put into service at
that time could not be considered today because the total cost of securing power from these sources would be considerably higher than for the same amount of power generated by other means available to the industry today. This has been brought about largely by recent advances in the art of generation and in new economies in the use of fuel. Twenty to twenty-five years ago the generation of one
kilowatt hour at the output buses of a central station averaged, in the over-all operation of plant, approximately four to four and onehalf pounds of coal of good grade. This figure, expressed in terms of heat units, considering a fair average of coal heat unit value, would amount to between fifty-four thousand and sixty thousand b. t. u. per kilowatt hour at the busbars. Today in well-designed, carefully operated, large output generating plants, one kilowatt hour delivered to the output busbars of a steam station can be secured for an expenditure of twelve to fourteen thousand b. t. u. And the end is not in sight. In some instances a kilowatt hour is being produced at an expenditure of only 10,000 b. t. u. and the more optomis-
tic men in the industry look forward expectantly to the time when a kilowatt hour can be produced at an expenditure not to exceed 8500 b. t. u. This means that the production of power from combustible fuels can be accomplished for approximately twenty-two percent of the fuel requirements of the earlier period. This relative figure will hold among all those steam plants that have been designed and con-
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
structed within the last three or four years. Another important phase of the problem of power production
thru the use of water power lies in the fact that as a matter of course practically all of those potential water power sites which could be developed under the most advantageous conditions as regards capi~ tal outlay, taxes, stream control, and availability to market, have been constructed to meet the power needs of distributing companies. This means that today available water powers in certain sections will cost more per unit to develop than the average of those that have been developed have cost in the past. Lands to be used in reservoirs cost more per unit. Construction difficulties at many of the remaining sites are serious obstacles because of their overall cost.. Many of the potential water power sites can be developed only for rela-
tively small amounts of water, and the cost of developing the multiplicity of these relatively small power units, and the added cost of operation, all tend to prohibit the utilization of these sources of power at this time.
In Georgia, however, we have a rather different set-up than in
most of the other states. Water power developments are of prime importance. About 94 o/o of the power generated by the Georgia
Power Company comes from hydro plants and very properly so. Owing to the location and size of these developments it is of economic advantage to maintain the present plants and continue to build other hydro developments of suitable size and at strategic locations. One of the principal difficulties of a power system based almost entirely on water power is the matter of insufficient water supply during periods of drought. This problem has been met in Georgia through an inter-connected transmission system throughout the Southeast whereby the physical properties are connected and power delivered to the required point. This Southeastern inter-connected system is the first of its kind. It provides power insurance. It makes Georgia's hydro developments commercially practicable. It provides the way for continued development of large hydro plants located at suitable points. But it should be regarded as power insurance rather than as a ready source of power. It will be seen then that steam plants will be needed from time to time to meet the continued demands for additional power. These plants will be located at strategic points, where the costs of transmission from hyrdo plants would
be more costly. In a word the situation in Georgia is about as follows: Hydro electric power will remain our principal source of power
for sometime to come. New hydro developments will be undertaken as demand warrants and in such cases as the location and quantity of water justifies, due reference being made to new economies in
electrical generation by the utilization of fuels. The interconnected system provides power insurance. New steam plants will be added as conditions warrant, due ref-
erence being made to the transmission costs of hydro electric power.
Viewing the problem of preservation of timbered lands and reforestation and taking into consideration the statements above,
it would seem that the electric power industry would be directly concerned in the general forestry problem to the extent that this
movement in forestry would tend to offer some measure of insurance so that those reservoir developments which have already been con-
structed would be, in a measure, protected from the gradual filling up
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
59
by unrestricted run-off, which carries with it excessive amounts of
silt. Under the best of forest and undergrowth conditions surrounding our streams there will always be some considerable amount
of silt which, through a long term of years, will sooner or later reduce the storage capacity of these reservoirs to the point where their
value as reservoirs will cease, and only normal run of the river will be available for the generation of power at any time. The chief
interest of the power industry at this time would seem to lie largely in determining what increased length of life will be secured for those reservoir capacities which are now developed.
However there is another phase of this question of the value of
forests which affects power companies indirectly but to considerable degree. Power _companies are permanent institutions, if any busi-
ness can be called permanent. They do business within a certain locality. They grow or decline with that locality. Anything that makes for the betterment of that locality is of interest to them.
In the company which I represent, we regard it as good business to do anything we can to further the prosperity of our territory. We
now serve more than three hundred towns. We are tied up with
Georgia definitely and permanently. Anything that adds to the material welfare of Georgia adds to our welfare. Then again, we claim
to be citizens wherever we serve. We want to be good citizens, valuable citizens. A good citizen is interested in his community and
state even beyond the pocket-book factor. It is obvious then that the power companies have a genuine in-
terest in the forestry program. We are directly interested in the movement in that it helps conserve our reservoirs without which
hydro electric developments would not be commercially feasible, we
are less directly, though still vitally interested in the movement in its aid to the economic and social progress of our state.
I predict that you will find the power companies of Georgia ready to cooperate with you in the future as they have in the past.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
FORESTS FOR RECREATION
By WILLIS B. POWELL, Indian Springs, Ga.
Cool Retreats of Forest Haven& and Nature's Temples Need of the
Times-State Forest-Parks Windows to Forestry-Georgia's
Forest-Parks Described.
The forests were man's first temples. There in the darkling wood, amidst the cool and silence, surrounded with the mystery of the jungle, he knelt and offered up his solemn thanks and supplication. Through the dim and misty pathways of civilization the deep wood has been the refuge of mankind. Here was found solace and relief and c:>mfort from the blazing sun or the blasts of winter. He would be an anchorite who would not stand in awe and veneration of the handiwork of God who has woven into the fabric of the woodland a majestic grandeur and overwhelming loveliness.
To-day a condition, not a theory confronts us. One can travel interminable miles without finding a cool retreat open to the public. The remaining woods are only to look upon as part of the scenery but not to enjoy physically.
Realizing this condition the Georgia Forestry Service is trying to maintain areas of woodlands of greater recreational value by setting them aside as state properties under a definite plan of management which will safeguard their value to the greatest number of people.
The Georgia Forestry Service is motivated with the thought that these playgrounds, these recreational areas, these breathing spotswill be the show windows of forestry. They will create in the average person, a greater desire for further knowledge of the problems of timber growing, protection and utilization.
Forestry will not lose any of its commercial importance coupled with pleasure, nor sentiment suffer through thoughts material. The contact with these recreational centers will strip forestry of all its mysteries and translate the general purposes and methods into terms the layman may understand.
While the Georgia Forestry Ser11ice, in its plans and purposes, to establish five recreational centers, located as regards its boundaries ;--east, west, north, south and one central-is, primarily altruistic it also has under consideration that its main objectives will be amplified and strengthened through these enterprises. The indirect benefits would be
1-To fetch the general public in closer touch and sympathy with the work of the forestry department.
2-To those who love hunting the lesson will be brought home that without a forest home there can be no game.
3-To those who love to fish the lesson will be brought home that without an adequate water supply there can be no fish. Fish cannot breed and live in raging torrents one week and dry bottom the next, nor will fish bite when waters are laden with silt.
4-To those who love the Great Out Doors and the trees and the forests the lesson will be brought home that one of the greatest
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
61
questions before the American public today is forest conservation and reforestation.
The Forest Service of the state has under its management at
present Indian Springs in the central part and Neel's Gap in the Northern, the latter known as the Vogal State Forest Park.
Indian Springs gets its name from a mineral spring located in 1792 by a hunter named Dunlap, escaping from a band of Creek Indians. The Indians called the spring "Healing Water." Fearful that the gambols of the squaws and pappooses might drive the spell from the curative properties of the water they ne'\7"er camped near it. Indians of the Creek tribes came from vast distances to drink of the water and when a cure was effected would return to their wars or hunting grounds. About 1800 General William Mcintosh, a half
breed and a cousin of Governor Troup, erected a cabin here and spent his summers with his family close to the spring. Rival factions of the Creeks, headed by General Mcintosh and Napothlehatchie began warring in 1821 and continued the onslaught until 1825. It was in 1821 that Mcintosh ceded to the United States government all the Creek lands lying between the Okmulgee and Flint rivers, except about 1000 acres of which the springs were the center, Mcintosh reserving this land for his own purposes. In 1825 a second treaty caused the warring factions to meet at the Springs the government
agents being protected by United States troops. Under the treaty entered into then the Indian possessions in Georgia were ceded to the whites. This treaty was the undoing of Mcintosh who was assassinated a few months later. The speech to incite the natives to this action was made from a rock which remains on the Varner
estate, suitably inscribed by a bronze tablet. In 1826 the property was divided by the state into town lots, the state reserving ten acres around the mineral springs for the free use of the public for all time. Here the state has a large casino, pavilion, bath rooms, lodging
rooms, and so on, and the acreage landscaped and beautified as funds will permit. Three years ago the state placed this property under the management of the Forestry Board, and the Forestry Board created an advisory board to pass upon improvements. More than 100,000 people visit the springs annually, some Sundays the attendance being in excess of 12,000 people.
The Vogel State Forest Park is located in Union county, Georgia, near Blairsville, on federal route 19. This park has an area of 160 acres, the gift of Mr. Vogul, of Wisconsin. Through the park
runs Neel Gap, a popular scenic highway from Atlanta to Asheville penetrating one of the most picturesque areas of the Southern Appalachians. At the highest point, 3108 feet, the Georgia Forest Service maintains ranger's quarters and a concession for the benefit of passing travel. Loyal citizens of Blairsville have created a picnic grounds and tourist camp near by the ranger's home, where the people luxuriate beneath majestic trees, and surrounded with rhododendron and laurel and riot of mountain flowers. A stream bisects this recreational area. This year the American Legion of Georgia
purposes to construct on Blood Mountain a memorial to the Georgia World War dead on the summit of Blood Mountain, some 1500 feet higher than the highway elevation. The top of Blood Mountain is now reached with a two-mile path winding up its sides. The possibilities of this recreational area are unlimited. It has an appeal that is irresistible. Here one can look upon a number of waterfalls, or a
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
vista for miles where on clear days the highest mountain in Georgia, Enotah Bald Mountain, 4800, can be seen; oft times one is above the clouds. Thus we have the mountain scenery of the North and the mineral springs of the central parts of the state provided for. There is still on the program a recreational area for the ocean border; the enchanting beauty of the Okefenokee swamp, and the hill country of the Caloosahatchee river.
But I would not stop there, nor do I think that the people of this great commonwealth will stop with the example set by the state forestry service. There will come a broader understanding of forestry, in all its ramifications, when every county of the state will
set aside an area of virgin timber for the use of the public, the area to be beautified and developed and maintained through a small levy on general taxation, thus insuring perpetuity and ever-inviting all" peal. By county units the plea and plan of forestry would be broadcast locally and practical demonstrations made that would register. It would afford each county a playground, a retreat, a community center. The Boy Scouts, the Camp Fire girls, the American Legion and other civic and cultural and religious societies would have a home in the Great Outdoors, and where their combined energies would be centralized, drawing the communities closer in bands of fellowship. Their activities would find vent in building lodges, community houses, swimming pools, amusement devices, and in beautifying the grounds.
That this would have an appeal is without question. In every one of us there is a craving to wander out into the romantic and appealing regions where life is different.
And after I have written, in my humble way, it was Cowper who covered the entire ground in that classic which goes rebounding through the ages:
"God made the country and man made the town, What wonder then that health and virtue, gifts That can alone make sweet the bitter draught That Life holds out to all, should most abound And least be threatened in the fields and groves?"
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THE PRESS AND FORESTRY
D. G. BICKERS, Associate Editor, Savannah Morning News
Georgia's State Seals Emphasise Forestry-Hope of Future Lies in Forests-Ample and Cheap Supply of Newsprint Await Development of South's Paper Manufacturing Opportunities-Newspapers' Responsibility to Aid in Education Along Line of Conservation, Protection and Reforestation.
It should be extraordinarily interesting in a significant way that this conference is held in Georgia, the heart-state of the Southeast, in which hope of the future lies in timber in a state which has signed her name officially six times in her great seal with symbols of forestry. Men can interpret signatures. In this signature of Georgia is
revealed the thought of the best minds of the state, the core of what leaders were thinking about when the seal was designed, considered
and adopted. On every seal of Georgia has appeared a Tree or Trees. Trees on Yamacraw Bluff attracted Oglethorpe to the spot on which the colony was founded in this city of Savannah, mother settlement of the state. We have been in some ways thinking trees ever since; and now we are, by force of circumstances, impelled to be forestminded. What is important in the development of the state and section is a major concern to the newspaper editors-who get and distribute the news and daily express their views about the news. Georgia papers have more news about forests and carry more editorials about the natural resources as seen in the trees than almost any other one subject, not excepting politics. This is appropriate and
wise.
The newspapers are interested in THE big item which for the future has to do with the permanence of prosperity in this section. And it is significant that the words in our language which mean paper or book, and this is true in the Latin, and the Greek and the French and the Spanish and in almost every other tongue, come from old original terms which meant something about TREES or the relation of the trees in smaller growth-like the papyrus reeds. Library comes from the inner bark of the trees. Book is from the same source. The newspaper, the current, daily, universal medium of letter is printed on paper that in the very name comes from the
trees. But the newsprint itself is actually manufactured from the pulp from spruce and other trees. And now the spruce supply is threatened; prices are rising; the big supply area is in a region where
spruce growth is slow. Here in the Southeast is the inexhaustible supply of a rapid growing tree that offers to relieve us of the burden in Canada-the slash pine. Dr. Herty and the International Paper
Company and the state and federal forestry services have been looking into the slash pine, growing seven times as fast as the spruce, as a potential future supply for paper pulp. The solution has been found and more than once announced by authoritative statements in the past few months. The newspapers are interested tre (e) -mendously -get the pun-in timber other than political timber, because in the
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
forests are hiding the hope of the wealth of this section in future generations; and aside from that unselfish interest there is the inti-
mate dollars-and-cents interest of the solution of the problem of
ample and cheap supply of newsprint for their own increasing use. With such interest, direct and general, in the future of the for-
ests, the newspaper finds a great responsibility in the opportunity to aid in education along the line of conservation, protection and reforestation. Continuing publicity by editorial, news story and special feature will help much in the pine tree area. The Morning News averaged for the past year an original or a reprinted editorial a day on forestry and not a day passes but the news columns carry something to help the cause of intelligent handling of the pines in
the Southeast.
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65
CHEMISTRY AS AN AID TO PROFITABLE FORESTRY
DR. CHARLES H. HERTY, New York, N.Y.
Second Growth Pines Do Not Involve Resin Problem in Paper Manu facture--Triple Purpose Pines, Thinnings for Wood Pulp, Naval Stores, Lumber-100,000,000 Acres Available-Rapid Grow.th Assures Permanent Supply of Material for Paper Mills.
Dr. Charles H. Herty, industrial chemist of New York,
native of Georgia and formerly on the faculty of the University of Georgia, declared in his address before the Georgia Commercial Forestry Conference that he is more convinced than ever that the young slash pine is as suitable for the manufacture of white paper as red spruce now largely used for producing news and book
paper. Dr. Herty's subject was "Chemistry as an Aid to Profitable For-
estry". He spoke without manuscript, and it is with regret that no
provisions were made to report his address in full, an address which is considered gave the greatest encouragement and assurance to the timber owner that his trees are to find a greater and more profitable market in the future than in the past. But Dr. Herty has provided a summary of his statement which is presented further on in this article.
Dr. Herty's epochal discovery that the slash pine up to the time it begins to form appreciable heart wood, estimated at about 25 years, is as free from resinous substances as the red spruce, was announced about a year previous to the meeting in Savannah. He said that the chemical determinations made by A. S. Kloss of the Hercules Powder Company of Brunswick on which his original statement was based, had been checked by analysis made by the Research Bureau of the International Paper Company at Glenns Falls, New York, and the findings had tallied with remarkable exactness. This had added to his confidence in declaring that the young slash pine is suited to the manufacture of white paper.
The statement obtained from Dr. Herty embodying the substance
of his remarks before the conference about paper manufacture from southern pines is as follows:
"Four misconceptions have misled public opinion regarding the South as possible center for the future paper industry of the United States.
"First, paper manufacturers have thought of forests of Southern pine in terms of the original forests which once covered the South Atlantic and Gulf States, consisting chiefly of the old trees, practically all heartwood, which once gave to Southern yellow pine its reputation for structural purposes. Such pine is rich in resin and capable of manufacture only into kraft paper. Saw mills have removed the great bulk of these original forests. It is the second-growth forests, the trees in which heartwood does not form until they are about twenty-five years of age, which are the actual material to be dealt with in the present and future.
"Second, because the slash and longleaf pines produce abundant
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
supplies of spirits of turpentine and ros'in it has been assumed that
these pines are too rich in resin for consideration other than for kraft paper. Experiments have demonstrated, however, that these all-sap-
wood pines, prior to scarification for oleoresin production contain but little physiological resin. The actual crop of oleoresin is a pathologi-
cal product. The question of resin removal therefore no longer exists, and the field is open for manufacture of all grades of paper by any process.
"Third, cattle owners and turpentine operators have annually burned the carpet of wire grass, the former through the misconception that cattle were thereby given better grazing, and the latter through
the assumption that burning the woods was the necessary protection for a crop of naval stores. It has not been demonstrated that better
grazing is found on unburned land, and the official records of State Forestry Departments show that through timber protective associations, with resultant intensive fire-control, ample protection against fire can be secured at the low cost of 3 1-2 cents an acre.
"Fourth, the states have failed to provide -just measures of taxation of cut-over lands where reforestation is being attempted. A heal-
thy sentiment is now rapidly developing for laws which will establish a minimum taxation during the period of early growth of new forests, and until they become revenue producers.
"The rapid growth of these pines, especially the slash pine-about two cords per acre per year-is in startling contrast with the slower growth of northern woods, though from a chemical point of view it is perfectly reasonable and to be expected.
"These pines can be termed "triple purpose" trees, namely, utilization of the thinnings from natural reforestation for pulp wood, then
production of naval stores, and. finally utilization of the maturer trees for lumber. More than 100,000,000 acres of cut-over lands in the South
are available for such development, while further millions of abandoned farm lands can be readily converted into revenue producing
areas through pine tree growth. Such abundant and rapid growth assures a permanentsupply of raw material for a paper mill, and therefore justifies the conviction that gradually the South will become the natural home of the paper industry."
Dr. Herty said in closing that for a long time, industrial chemists
have been centering attention on coal tar products. Now they are turning to cellulose and such significant advances have been made in this field that he had said more than a year ago that we are entering upon
the cellulose age. He sketched the progress made in producing nitroglycerine for gun powder, rapid-drying paints, artificial silk, cello-
phane paper, non-breakable glass for automobiles, artificial leather, etc., and declared that the chemists are opening up almost unlimited possibilities in the use of wood cellulose.
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IMPROVED PRACTICES IN NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY
By H. L KAYTON, Savannah, Ga.
Second Growth Pine Brought Back Naval Stores Production-New Problems Faced Which United St<>.tes Forest Service Aided in Solving-Improvements 'in Chipping Methods and Distallation Practices Recounted That Have Reduced Production Costs and Improved Naval Stores ProductsLand Ownership Important Factor for Future -Field of Wonderful Possibilities Opening
When the "tar heelers" from North Carolina, after depleting the magnificent forest of long leaf pine which had cradled the American naval stores industry, cut and hacked their way through South Carolina into Georgia, they found a continuation of pine forest growth which to them seemed endless and which, therefore, called for no modification of the ruthless methods of lumbering and turpentining which they had originally adopted. The marvelous specimens of this primeval forest were first "boxed" to the limit--three, four and even five "boxes" being cut deep into the base of these trees,-then bled to the maximum through the medium of weekly chipping or hacking with the old No. 2 hack. After a few years of intensive turpentining, the lumberman claimed his toll and the sawmill was kept busy working up the logs which came to it in an endless stream. Lumber was needed for building and numberless other purposes, cleared land was required for farming and forest devastation was a mark of progress, testimony to the advance of civilization. Why worry about a few thousand square miles of pine forest? There were limitless areas to the South and West. I need not repeat history to you who know as well as I do how, within the course of a comparatively few years, the naval stores business found itself apparently nearing the end of the trail and centered in the last of the remaining virgin fields, the splendid forests of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Second Growth Pines to the Rescue
It was freely predicted that the American crop of rosin and turpentine was doomed to practical extinction and the laboratories of industry m;ing these commodities were set to work finding substitutes therefor. Then came the miracle of the second growth and the discovery of healthy stands of young trees which had unobtrusively established themselves in the cut-over fields; volunteer growths, despite lack of any human aid but, to the contrary, in the face of fire, hogs and other obstacles to successful reforestation. Especially in Georgia did these young forests thrive, and again the sound of the hack was heard in locations which had been abandoned years earlier and declared "worked out."
Experience soon showed, however, that former methods of operation, those applicable to the original pines, were not suitable to the smaller trees. These latter, while vigorous and generous producers, permitted less expanse of face and consequently yielded in lesser vol-
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
ume than the larger tree. Profitable operation was a problem and producers were not financially_ able nor equipped nor trained to make the required experimental processes and secure the correct deductions therefrom. At this stage the U. S. Forest Service interested itself in the naval stores industry, recognizing it as the key to the successful reforestation of the southern pine lands. Field men were sent into this territory, studies of gum flow and the effects upon tree growth of various methods of turpentining were made, miscroscopic examinations of the chips and ring growth followed and gradually conclusions were reached that have been of material aid to the turpentine operator in reorganizing his woods work to meet the changed conditions he now faces. Without Government aid, unquestionably the progress made would have been impossible.
Improvement in Chipping Methods
The first and most important advance step in turpentining was the abandonment of the "box" in favor of the cup system. The "box" was a cavity cut into the base of the tree, 12 to 14 inches wide and about 7 inches deep and held about three pints. While not a menace when cut in a large tree, it was not suitable to trees of smaller size as it weakened them at the base and made them susceptible to being blown down by heavy winds. Naturally a "box" close to the ground and containing inflammable material offered a constant hazard during the season of ground fires and to it may be attributed the destruction of many splendid trees. In the French forests a cup system had long before been developed and Professor Charles Herty
first caught the vision and advocated its adoption by the American producers. Professor Herty personally conducted a series of field experiments, modifying the French methods to suit the local con-
ditions. As a result, the Herty cup and gutter came into being and
rapidly gained favor. The first cup was made of clay and shaped like the ordinary flower pot; it was heavy and easily broken and would not stand freezing temperatures. Galvanized iron was found to be more practical, hence later cups were made from such material, though there are still some operators, usually those working in the lower portions of the turpentine belt and immune to freezes, who prefer the clay cup. Zinc cups have been tried but the material is soft and in case of ground fire fuses too readily. Aluminum is more satisfactory but its higher cost precludes its more general use.
The manner of placing the apron and gutter has passed through various stages of development and there is a great diversity of opinion as to the best method. Originally, installation was made by us-
ing a broad axe and maul and placing the apron or gutter in the incision thus produced but again weakening of the tree resulted, as evidenced by the large number of trees which snapped and broke under the pressure of high winds. Especially was this the case in instances where cups had been raised and the apron incision made
with the axe. Operators studied this situation and the more progressive ones resorted to the small nail affixing the aprons by tacking to
the tree. This change proved beneficial and is slowly growing in favor, in fact, one of the factories will now furnish a flanged apron.
one ready formed for tacking to the tree.
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Progress in Gum Collecting Methods
There is a great diversity of opinion as to the best method of guiding the gum flow into the cup. Some use the one-piece concave apron, some the two~piece tapered apron, some the double gutter system. There are various modifications and combinations designed to secure the best results and to eliminate waste wherever possible. In the case of raised cups the apron is sometimes moved up upon the scarified face and the chipping carried on from the place of the previous year's discontinuance. In other instances, the operator "jump streaks", leaving an inch or two of the bark at the peak of the face and securing a dam, under which he may firmly set his cup and over which the gum must flow into the cup. This method is considered good turpentine practice since the small area of lost face consists of light wood which would probably have to be chipped away in any event in order to reach live gum producing tissue.
Reference has been made to the No. 2 hack, the chipping tool which was generally used in the earlier days of the turpentine business; this hack ate deeply into the tree, or to use the trade expression, "climbed" rapidly. A streak of 3-4 of an inch or about 24 inches per year pertically was the toll exacted by this hack. Experimentation developed that a shallower chip was equally as effective in keeping the wound open and running freely and that 1-4 inch streak would result in an equal production of gum over a three year period; the tree would be climbed more slowly and as a consequence the face could be worked over a longer period; also, the tree would better stand the bleeding process, remain more vigorous and continue its wood growth at a higher rate. Gradually the larger hack has yielded to the smaller tool until now there are but comparatively few No. 2's in use. The No. 1 hack is probably the most popular but a great many No. O's and even some No. OO's are in the hands of progressive operators.
Progress in Distillation
Proper methods of distilling the crude gum have not materially changed but through ignorance and carelessness, efficiency had been gradually discarded and bad practices had crept into the business. Kettles were improperly set so that the heat from the fire was not uniformly applied and poor yields of turpentine and low grade rosin resulted; worms, often of too small capacity, failed to entirely condense the vapor and a considerable portion passed from the tail pipe in a gaseous state and was lost; still tubs of insufficient capacity, or not supplied with an adequate quantity of fresh cold water produced a similar loss. The majority of present day operators have eliminated these bad practices and maintain substantial and efficient stilling outfits. Furthermore, they equip their stills with recording thermometers which enable them to run their gum scientifically, rather than by the old sound method and consequently they secure !Jetter yields of turpentine and higher grades of rosin. Abandonment of the fire still has been attempted but steam stills have not been successful in operation, though the obstacles to be overcome are probably not insurmountable. Considerable improvement has been accomplished in minor details, such as packing and especially so in the rosin barrel, which has been standardized and made practically
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
uniform. The old riven stave has disappeared entirely and has been displaced by the cylinder sawed stave, crozed and chamfered, with standard specifications as to length and thickness.
Land Ownership a Factor
Probably the factor which will most likely govern the future of the gum naval stores industry is that of land ownership. Until a few years ago, practically all rosin and turpentine were produced from trees worked under the lease system. The "privilege" was secured for a period of years, usually three, later for four. The only interest of the leases was to secure the utmost in gum flow during the life of his lease, regardless of the effect upon the timber. Naturally abuses were common. Trees were hacked to death; small trees were worked with no regard to their size or vigor and forests were frequently left in condition where the first winter fire practically completed their destruction. Scarcity of timber, resulting in steady mounting lease costs, forced producers to the idea of land ownership and timber raising, the possession of sufficient acreage to justify forest administration with a view to continuous production.
This thought has been followed in a number of instances and is working out most successfully. Our native pines lend themselves admirably to this plan, being prolific seed bearers and of rapid growth. Protection against fire is about all they require, other than thinning as the young stands develop. The formation, by individual land owners, of timber protective associations, under State super>vision and with Federal assistance, has blazed the way for forest rehabilitation, upon a very large scale. Naturally, the working of
one's own timber will be by conservative, rather than wasteful methods; selection of trees suitable for cupping will supersede promiscuous hanging; small trees will be taboo and such will be given the opportunity to develop into workable size; misshapen trees and weaklings will be thinned out in order to give healthier specimens the light and food they require. Survivors will be stronger and more robust and when properly worked will give higher yields of gum and at lower costs.
It seems to me we are just now in a period of transition, that what we have learned is merely the opening chapter of the book and there lies before us a field of wonderful possibilities which in time we shall surely attain.
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RESEARCH PROSPECTS IN THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY!
By DR. W. W SKINNER, U. S. Department of Agriculture, WasJrington, D. C.
Pine Tree lndustl"y of South Passing Through Period of Evolution-
Primary Need Well Organized Naval Stores Industry Willing
To Support Research on Which to Develop Future Prog-
ress of the Industry-Standards of Products Estab-
lished-Economies of Distillation Methods
Developed
It was with real pleasure that I received the invitation to participate in the program of this convention because of the opportunity to renew personal contacts with the many ple:j.sant and interesting people engaged in the forestry and naval stores industries of this region, and because of the opportunity it affords me to bring to your attention personally some of the research work and some of the accomplishments of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, particularly of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, along lines which are of peculiar interest to the several groups brought together here in this convention.
It might be of interest for me to outline very briefly how the Department of Agriculture is organized to conduct the investigations and research made necessary by an expanding and progressive national agricultural policy. The activities of the Department are organized largely on a subject matter basis, under carefully planned and definitely formulated projects. These projects may be allocated to several administrative units, usually called Bureaus, but leadership in a project is assigned to that Bureau or unit which is most favorably situated or most efficiently equipped to do the work. Thus it happens that more than one administrative unit may be engaged in work in a general field of activity, and this is sometimes confusing to those who find it necessary to make contacts with the work of the Department. In order to prevent duplication and overlapping, the research work of the Department is correlated and coordinated under one supervising official directly responsible to the Secretary of Agriculture. This liaison or coordinating official is known as the Director of Scientific Work.
In that branch of agriculture which deals with trees as a product of the soil, the Bureau of Forestry, or the Forest Service, as it is officially designated, has the natural leadership, but several other Bureaus of the Department of Agriculture are vitally interested in a collateral way. For instance, the Bureau of Entomology is interested in insec>ts that attack all plants, including forest plants; the Bureau oi ?lant Industry is interested in diseases that affect all plants, includmg forest plants; the Bureau of Agricultural Economics is interested in problems of the marketing of forest products and the utilization of marginal lands; and the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils is interested in the soils on which new forest farming is to be undertaken, as well as the effects upon soils of deforestation. This Bureau also is interested in these technological processes, chemical and physical, which con-
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
vert the raw materials of the farm or forest into products ready for inaustrial consumption. The conversion of one of the products of pine tree farming-that is, the raw gum-is the foundation of the naval stores industry, the problems of which are assigned, in the U. S. Department of Agriculture, to the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils.
Thus, in this word picture which I am very briefly placing before you of the activities of the Department of Agriculture, as it applies to the pine tree farming of the South, you see in the background the activities of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils in relation to the many soil problems involved; then, in the body of the picture, appears the great work of the Forest Service, in forest management, in forest protection, in forest utilization, and in reforestation; and, here, to one side in the foreground of the picture, is the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils in its naval stores work, solving the technological problems of making ready for industry the raw gum of the pine.
The pine tree industry of the South has been passing through a period of evolution, comparable to that experienced by many other industries depending upon natural resources for raw material. This is particularly true of the naval stores part of the industry. Beginning in the South in North Carolina, where the naval stores industry first attained a position of primary importance, this interest shifted, because of the exhaustion of the natural first growth forests, first to South Carolina and Georgia, then on to Alabama and Mississippi, and, finally, to Texas. Now, It is shifting back, with Georgia today again the leading naval stores producing state of the South and Savannah its greatest port. This shift has been in response to definite economic factors, to which the time at our disposal permits only this brief allusion. The return of the naval stores industry to the Atlantic seaboard has been made possible by the remarkable natural reforestation of cut-over lands. This phenomenon has attracted attention to the great possibilities of a rational, systematic effort at reforestation of countless acres of land which are not needed now for general agricultural production, but which are ideally suited for pine tree farming, as is evidenced by the memory of the magnificent forest these same lands once supported.
Pine Tree Farming
I like to use the phrase, "pine tree farming," to define the selection, the planting, the caring for, and, perhaps, the fertilization, the protection, the thinning, the chipping, and the harvesting of the gum from the glorious long leaf pine and its equally interesting slash pine cousin. A rational and profitable development of pine tree farming is dependent, no doubt, upon several factors. One primary factor is, I believe, a profitable, progressive, thoroughly organized naval stores industry, an industry which must apply scientific principles to its daily activities, and which must be willing and ready to set aside a tithe of today's proceeds to provide for that research for fundamental facts that will permit the industry to meet the changes in demand and the utilization of its products which are sure to come with the morrow. In a progressive program of research upon which the future of America depends, the Federal Government, the State Government, the Boards of Trade, and Chambers of Commerce all have important parts to play, but with the industry itself rests a most important obligation to foster and support fundamental research on problems, upon the so-
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lution of which it needs no occult power to perceive the future prosperity or, perhaps, the very life of the industry may depend.
The naval stores industry has seen both the opportunity and the necessity. It has created worthwhile organizations which have good leadership and which are doing splendid work. It is bringing together, at stated intervals, producers and consumers to discuss and debate matters of common interest. It is seeking ways and means to expand new markets for its products.
I have said before that I am glad of the opportunity to tell you of what the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, the unit which I am here to represent, has done and is doing to aid and to stimulate the naval stores industry. While we believe we are able to report some substantial results, this is not done in a boastful spirit. I rather like to think that I am here as an officer in a great corporation to make a report to you as a part of the "Board of Directors" of the corporation. I should also like to say that what we have done is what you and other directors have asked us to do and we have done it to the best of our ability and to the extent that you directors have provided us with the funds with which to work.
Work Accomplished
One accomplishment of outstanding importance to the rosin industry Is the perfection of official physical standards which are the outgrowth of experimental work. The fixing of those standards has helped to eliminate trade controversies in the barter of rosin and has removed a baffle that had interfered with the desired easy flow of trade. These standards are now used universally in this country and also in foreign lands. They have been made the official standards in law enforcement regarding grades. A set of these standards, such as I have here, is obtainable at cost from the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils.
Another notable accomplishment is the result of research work on the setting of the fire still, which has increased the yield of spirits and resulted in a material improvement in the grade of the rosin produced. It has made possible a reduction in the cost of operation. There has been an increasing demand on the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils for the blueprints of this set up from those who are building new stills or resetting old ones.
The development of a new type of steam still has been, we believe, a real achievement. This still produces a much higher grade of rosin at a lower cost, as compared with the old fire still. The use of the steam still may mean a change in the handling of the gum so that its introduction, except where larger acreage is involved, may be slow. We believe, however, that, ultimately, the industry will adopt the steam mill as a matter of economy and efficiency.
The Bureau of Chemistry and Soils maintains here in Savannah a Naval Stores Field Station under the direction of Dr. George Shingler, known, probably, to everyone here at this convention. The function of this Station is consultation work and the demonstration of improved technological processes of rosin and spirits production, taking to the stiller in the woods the most approved methods of conducting his operat.ions, such as gum clell;ning, still practice, rosin straining, barrel glumg, and proper packagmg. The importance of the demons-
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
tration work lies in the introduction of standardized processes and equipment which permit the production of a uniform product, the lack of which has in the past been a serious handicap in the expansion of the market for the products and has, perhaps, seriously retarded the development of new uses.
At the staff laboratories in Washington, work is being conducted on several important problems, one of which I think has recently been solved by the development of a new type of filter for cleaning gum before it is delivered to the still. This filter, which is of new and novel design, produces really remarkable results. I have here a sample of the rosin from such cleaned gum which I should be glad to have you examine and note its remarkable clearness and brilliancy.
We are conducting research on the various constituents of turpentine. These data are fundamental and may have an important bearing upon the greater utilization of turpentine in chemical manufacturing, such as, for instance, the production of synthetic camphor, which may open up a wide market for turpentine with a greatly increased demand. We are not willing to admit that the last word has yet been said on the synthesis of camphor.
A knowledge of the constituents of rosin also is needed, and can be acquired only by painstaking, time-consuming, fundamental re-
search. The possibilities in this field are tremendous and very interesting to the speculative chemist with a vision of the future of chemical industry. In rosin we have the largest supply of an available, cheap, organic acid that exists ready to be converted into industrial uses when we have developed the technical processes for it.
The needs of the naval stores industry as we see it, are: First, better methods of operation to prevent wastes, which is real conservation; second, the enlargement of research activities for the purpose of expanding the present market and creating new markets for pine tree products. The immediate need of the industry is to so improve its methoas as to materially prevent waste, thereby lowering the unit cost of production. I am advised that present methods of operation result in securing, perhaps, only about 60 per cent of the turpentine in the original gum as produced by the tree. Assuming that this is so, it is no compliment to our intelligence or our Ingenuity, and is a challenge to our technical science. While practices have been and are being improved, there are losses in the handling of the gum itself from the tree to the still. Undue exposure of the gum by present methods of harvesting is undoubtedly affecting the character of the materials, and may have a profound influence on manufactured articles made from them. An undue amount of foreign matter or a failure to adequately remove it not only affects color but probably influences certain chemical characteristics of the finished products. These and similar problems must be solved by careful experimentation, and then the results of the laboratory must be demonstrated in field practice. The second need is more knowledge, a great deal more, of the products themselves, their chemical constituents, physical and chemical properties, and how the methods and steps of production affect those properties. Then, we must learn how to change those methods so as to meet the needs of the consumer.
Dr. Herty has been vigorously and forcibly preaching the possibilities of pulp wood from southern yellow pine as a factor in a rational system of reforestation, the pulp of the surplus young trees
FORESTRY C OMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
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helping to carry the fixed charges during the time of bringing the pine
tree planting into bearing. It seems quite possible that an intelligent
scientifically developed naval stores industry depending entirely upon
second growth pine may materially aid this desirable result. Indeed,
the naval stores industry may be the economic key to the solution of
the reforestation problem for southern yellow pine. The problem, I
believe, needs to be considered under three major subdivisions: First,
the woods operation; second, the handling and processing of the gas;
and, third, the development of a definite, well supported research pro-
gram tq ascertain and make available those fundamental facts upon
which the future must surely depend, such a program as other large
and successf:ul industries have found it necessary and profitable to
support. A satisfactory solution of such problems will mean bringing
into productive use millions of acres of land, the creation of millions
of dollars of new wealth, the employment of thousands of people,
which, together with the development of new industries here at home
to profitably utilize your raw products, such as outlined to you yester-
day by Mr. Oliver, will make a large contribution to the industrial in-
dependence of the South.
-
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
THE SOUTH AS A FUTURE SOURCE OF PULP WOOD
RICHARD WOODS EDMONDS, Manufacturer'$ Record
All Factors Considered No Other Area in the World Can Compare
With the South as Potential Source of an Everlasting Supply
Of Pulp Wood-Nearness to Consuming Market, Abundance
Of Good Water, Hydro-Electric Power, Capable Native
Labor, Are Other Advantages in Paper Manufac-
ture-Reforestation, Reasonable Taxation
And Forest Management Would
Increase Supply
When we study the South as a source of pulp wood, the one fact that stands out most conspicuously is that when all factors are considered, no other equal area in the world can compare with the South as a potential source of an everlasting supply of pulp wood.
There are two main forests regions in the South-the turpentine pine belt, and the hardwood belt. In a subject as large as this one, and with only 25 minutes of allotted time, it would be desirable to draw a ring around a part of it, and stay inside that ring. However, book and white bond papers are now being made in large mills from the hardwoods of the hills and mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina; and the possibilities those mills represent cannot be ignored. Accordingly, while I am going to draw a ring around the pine belt, it will be necessary for me to step outside of it occasionally.
It is a common saying that all measurement and evaluation go by comparison, and in order to set up a background for appreciation of the South as a source of pulp wood, I want to describe pulp wood production in that section from which comes most of our competitionour own northeastern states and Canada.
In that section the shrinkage of the available supplies of spruce has already forced adaptation of pulping processes to other species of trees; but all species now are scarce in our own states, and the favorite Canadian wood for pulp-making is still spruce, by long odds. Canadian spruce will grow to pulp wood size in from 60 to 80 yearsprovided it is given a fair start. But where a spruce forest is burned over, or cut over clean, it will not reseed naturally at all. Spruce seeds will not germinate and grow in an open field. In fact, spruce seedlings as much as a foot high and 10 to 15 years old, growing up under a cover of their own species, will be promptly choked off by growth of worthless species if the larger trees are all cut away.
A leaflet published by the U, S. Forest Service describes reproduction of conifers-spruce, fir and pine--in the northeastern states. This leaflet states that "where a goodly supply of reproduction two or more feet high is already present in a forest composed entirely, or predominantly, of the conifers", clear cutting of all merchantable timber will not prevent reproduction, but "where adequate reproduction is lacking a 'shelter-wood' system of cutting should be practiced. By this system one-third to one-half of the stand may be removed in such a way as to open up the stand uniformly and permit the establishment of additional reproduction under the shelter of the remaining trees.
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Ten to fifteen years later, when under normal conditions sufficient reproduction will have come in, the remainder of the old stand-which generally will be found to have put on increased growth since the first
cut--may be logged." The fact that stands out between all the lines of this paragraph-
and of nearly all paragraphs on the subject--is the amazingly slow growth of those species as compared with our own southern pines.
However, the paragraph I quoted represents reforestation under the most favorable conditions. When land is cut over clean, or burned over, conifers simply will not reseed themselves at all. A paper mill consulting engineer who had a large practice in our own North and in Canada used to describe the cycle of reforestation to me very much in this fashion. Following the cutting or burning over of a spruce forest comes a growth of blackberries, fireweed, pincherries or other worthless species. Gradually, then, comes a growth of deciduous trees, usually birch and poplar. Upon the maturity of the deciduous trees, and in their shade, pine may spread in from a neighboring pine forest, eventually overtop and kill off the deciduous trees. Finally, in the year-round shade of the pines and the spruce from surrounding
spruce stands gradually reseeds.
Evidently this cycle must require centuries where any large area is concerned. It has never been observed in full, but merely conjectured from study of different areas in various stages.
As for replanting by hand, spruce nursery stock must be three years old, and must be transplanted in the nursery at least once, before it will be ready to set out in the field. The result is that the planting of a spruce forest in the Lake States will cost from $10.50 to $18.75 per acre. With such a cost to start with, the forester must then wait 60 to 80 years for hand-planted seedlings to grow to pulp wood size.
Compared with this dismal forest picture, southern pine will reseed itself naturally and spontaneously wherever seed trees have been left standing. The young seedlings, if protected from fire and from the razor-back hogs that love their juicy tap roots, will grow to pulp wood size in from 15 to 20 years. Compared with the 500,000 acres
or more that are required to maintain a perpetual operation for a 100-ton mill in the North, the area required in our southern pine belt will range upward from a minimum, under most favorable conditions, of 75,000 acres to more than double that area on very poor land.
Thousands of acres of land logged off so clean that nothing was left for regeneration have been planted by the Great Southern Lumber Company, in Louisianna, at a cost, including nursery seedlings, of $3.42 per acre. On smaller and less carefully organized operations, the cost would be higher, but at any figure reasonable for the South, and with 15 or 20 years to wait for pulp wood, compare the cost with from $10.50 to $18.75 and 60 to 80 years in the North!
According to the latest estimates of the U. S. Forest Service, in twelve of the Southern states there is a total of more han 114,000,000 acres of pine area. This includes not only land now in pines, but land that has been denuded of pines and is not now restocking.
There is about 90,000,000 acres of cut-over pine lands, of which a pproximately one-third is in saw timber, one-third in young second growth, and one-third is not restocking at all.
One hundred and fourteen million acres of land is an area almost
/
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
exactly three times as large as the entire state of Georgia. But these
figures are for pine alone. "The South Atlantic and Gulf States," says Bulletin No 1241 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, "contain
nearly 178,000,000 acres of forest lands," and on the next page, "pos-
sible growth of pine alone under intensive forestry is estimated at
more than 40,000,000 cords a year." Considering all species, it is esti-
mated that the Southern forest growth could be increased by good
forest management to over 90,000,000 cords a year. Naturally, much of this will be needed for lumber, but our entire requirements for pulp
wood, including imports of pulp wood and of wood pulp, are only about 10 per cent of this total possible production of Southern forests, managed on a perpetual-yield basis. It must be evident, then, that the ex-
isting forests of the South, if properly managed, could indefinitely
supply all of the pulp wood needs of this country, on top of a great
lumber industry, and keep it up just as long as the United States
wants to make its paper of wood pulp. While immense forest areas, large existing stands and a pro-
digious capacity for growth are the primary factors in making a great source of pulp wood, they are not by any means the only ones.
The claim I made for this section is that when all factors are consid-
ered, no other equal area in the world can compete with the South as a potential source of a continuous supply.
Pulp wood is a bulky, low priced raw material, and cannot stand
a high freight rate. In less degree wood pulp is subject to the same limitation. No other like area that can produce as much pulp wood, year in and year out, is so near to great markets or so well equipped
with all the other facilities that go to make a great and successful
source of pulp wood. Our own Pacific Coast can meet its own needs
for pulp wood, but freight rates impose a heavy handicap for compet-
ing in the greatest markets of the country. Russia will be able to sup-
ply enormous quantities for a time, subject to freight rates for the
water shipment and the handicap of slow regrowth. None of these
areas can by any possibility reach so large a market, so close at hand; for our own people are the greatest consumers of paper in the world, and the South is, therefore, in a preferred position in regard to mar-
kets.
,
Paper mills require large quantities of both water and power. One of the big and essential advantages enjoyed by the South for paper-making is an abundance of good water.
Further, the many streams contribute to the highly developed,
interconnected electric power system that covers the South with a network of electric lines, and provides power anywhere it may be wanted.
But Southern paper mills are not limited to central station power. Mills desiring to supply eastern markets settle down along the cost,
where they can buy power and ship their product by water, while those
desiring to reach the interior markets build further north, near coal fields, and generate cheap steam.
Not paper mills only, but many other industries, have found the
untrained labor of the South apt at learning new trades. Tens of
thousands of men are existing on farms in the South today because
no jobs are available. The great need of the whole section is factories,
factories and still more factories, to take up the surplus of available
labor, and strike a balance between agricultural output and the local
market. Let a mill or factory be opened anywhere in the South, and
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79
the labor flocks in from all directions. Many years must pass, and enormous industrial growth take place, before there can be a situation even remotely resembling a labor scarcity. Transportation facilities by rail, water and highway are adequate and extend into nearly every
nook and corner of the area.
But while all of these factors-large existing stands, rapid growth, great markets, accessibility, power, water and labor-make the South the great potential source of pulp wood that it is, they will not make it a perpetual source. Throughout, I have been careful to refer to this section as a potential source of continuous supply, and that word po-
tential is packed with significance. Unfortunately, the South is not yet such a source, and only prompt and wise action of the Southern people can make it that. Today our forests are being destroyed much more rapidly than they are re-growing; about four times as fast, the usual estimate is. E. L. Demmon, Director of the Southern Forest Experiment Station, sums it all up in a few words in his last annual report when he says that "although a few forward-looking companies have made a very good start in planning for future forest crops from
their holdings, it must be admitted that the timber growing industry in this region is still in its infancy." And he adds, "The various states are helping very materially in furthering the practice of forestry, particularly where state forestry organizations exist."
The various states are helping-yes; but most of them could help a great deal more. They seem strangely slow to realize the enormous values that are so seriously jeopardized by the prevailing indifference and lack of progressive legislation and education for the care and perpetuation of our forests.
I wonder how many of our people have ever seen a vision of what modern forest management could mean to the vast turpentine pine belt of the South? You have all heard discussions of French methods of chipping trees, and French methods of refining the gumbut how many read--or having read, remember,-the description of the French turpentine forests, published six or seven years ago by a committee of naval stores men who went to France and studied the methods at first hand? It presented a striking contrast to our own temporary, crude camps. Exactly as the wood pulp industry of the North has wandered from place to place, and as the lumber industry has done everywhere, seeking fresh forests to destroy, so has done the naval stores industry of the South. In the last few years both industries are undergoing a momentous transformation, not only settling down to cultivate the soil where formerly they despoiled it, but, in the turpentine pine belt, combining to get naval stores, pulp wood and lumber in perpetuity from the same soil. No other section can draw revenue from its growing pulp wood as can the turpentine pine beltstill another reason for the region's pre-eminence as a source of pulp wood.
The American naval stores men who visited France six or seven years back, reported that about 80 years ago the French Government
tried a huge experiment, planting pines on a vast tract of land which, under summer suns, was a parched desert and under winter rains, almost a vast swamp. The planting took a good many years, for a large area was involved. As the young pines reached sufficient age, experiments began in chipping them for gum, and the French naval stores industry gradually developed. Its methods today set the
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standard for the world. When the Americans visited the region they found, instead of our temporary turpentine camps, towns scattered through it, homes, schools, churches, banks and stores substantially built of brick or stone, and all connected by good highways. They found in brief, that the industry, which, in this country supports its workers in wretched camps with few of the advantages of civilization, there supported them in comfortable homes, where men could live with their families. They reported further, that the people of that section had suffered less from the post war depression than those in any other part of France and were, accordingly, the happiest and most prosperous of the whole country.
While private industry in this country is making some little headway, here and there, toward the realization of small communities like that great one in France, how pitifully far behind what it could be is nearly all of our great turpentine belt!
The states are vexed by the reversion of cutover lands for delinquent taxes; and landowners cannot afford to reforest bare lands unless the area in young second growth at any one time is a small proportion of the total holdings. But a state, with such lands on its hands and no revenue coming in, cannot afford not to plant and cultiV!lte its own pine forests. Much of such land is unfit for anything but pines; will never produce revenue except from pines, and cannot be sol~ unless the state first makes it salable by establishing pine forests on 1t.
The subject of forest taxation was assigned to other speakers, and I will not go into it; but it may not be amiss for me to relate an experience I had once, because it has such direct bearing on the development of the South as a perpetual source of pulp wood. Six or seven years ago I was in the office of a consulting engineer-the same one I quoted awhile ago, in fact-and we were, as usual, discussing
reforestation and paper making in the South. He took me into his library and handed me a bound volume four or five inches thick of typewritten pages, charts and photographs, and left me to study it. It had been compiled for a large Southern lumber company which had nearly exhausted the timber on its holdings, and had asked for a report as to whether it could profitably go into the paper business, cultivate a perpetual supply of pulp wood on its tens of thousands of acres, and forever settle down to the production of payrolls from land that would otherwise remain idle. The report was exhaustive, and I spent the full morning on it. It listed all the advantages-and a very few, minor, disadvantages. It showed that the lands owned by that company were admirably suited to the cultivation of forests; that the company, with a perpetual supply of cheap pulp wood at its doors, could undersell existing mills in the North and still make a handsome profit. As I read, I grew enthusiastic over the golden opportunities that mass of cold facts and figures set forth. But the last paragraph of that report dashed all my enthusiasm, for the gist of it was that there was just one obstacle to the successful realization of the reforestation program; and that obstacle was archaic forest taxation. Until the tax system of that state should be revised, the report concluded, the lumber company could not afford reforesta tion.
At least six years ago, that was. Today, on both sides of that state, where more advanced forest tax laws have been adopted, great paper mills have been built. Tens of thousands of acres of pine lands
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are under the most careful forest management, and are producing a perpetual source of wealth for those states to tax and payrolls for
their citizens to spend. In the state that I speak of, a start has been made in the protection of existing timber stands from fire; a forest department has been created and some sort of a revision made of forest tax laws. But as far as the new tax laws are concerned, they are so half-baked and inadequate that, as the state forester wrote me a few weeks ago, not one acre of land has been listed under them for relief during the growing period from the older tax laws. If that were the only state in the South where such a situation exists, it
would be worth while to name it; but since it does not stand alone, I will not point it out. Oh, I know that progress is being made; that
state after state has created a forest department, and has set out to protect its forests from fire. But, gentlemen, the progress is so painfully slow. Foresight is the rarest thing in the world in this matter. The New England states are far ahead of the South in their forest legislation-taxation and otherwise; but why are they? Is it because they were more farsighted? Not on your life! They were forced to it, by a degree of forest denudation not yet reached in any Southern state.
In the South, Louisiana is the leader in progressive legislation.
Why? Deos Louisiana deserve any more credit than other Southern states for foresight and statesmanship in pulling out in the lead in forest legislation? She does not! With lumbering the great industry it has been in Louisiana for years, no other state in the South has so drastically reduced its forest area. The latest figures I have indicate that only about 3,500,000 acres remain in forests of an original stand
of 22,000,000 acres, while about 13,500,000 acres are idle and not restocking. Louisiana had to take the situation in hand. I elieve you could almost lay down a rule that the states with the most progressive forest
legislation are the ones with the least forest values left-the ones that are feeling most keenly the loss of forest industries and the reversion
to idle lands for delinquent taxes. Why won't the states protect their forest values while they are great? Does a bank dismiss its guards and relax its vigilance when its vaults are bulging with wealth, and
guard them jealously only when that wealth has been squandered or stolen?
Lumbermen and paper mills can't cultivate timber unless the laws of the State permit them to make a profit on it. Let the state legis-
latures do their part, and you can depend upon it, the paper mills and the lumber companies will see to it that pulp wood grows wherever pulp wood will pay a profit.
Sometimes one is inclined to feel that where a legislature is so flagrantly negligent of the state's interest, there should be some way
to indict it for neglect of duty; but legislatures are not altogether responsible; to a great extent they must follow public opinion. As long as the public remains indifferent to the values that are being
wasted in our forests, we can expect nothing better of our legislatures. It is true enough that no other equal area in the world can
compare with the South as a potential source of a continuous supply of pulp wood, but those potentialities can never be realized unless the people of the South can be aroused to the wealth they are annually throwing away through indifference, carelessness and bad legislation.
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THE WOOD INDUSTRY OF GEORGIA
GEORGE M. ROMMEL, Industrial Commissioner, The Industrial Committee of Savannah, Ga.
Unlimited Forest Resources Await Market Demand-Most Rapid
Tree Growth, Herty's Discovery of Absence of Resin in Young Pines and Long, Uniform Fiber of Pines Make Paper Production Inviting-Chemical Research for
Larger Use of Organic Acid of Resin Needed in
Naval Stores Development-Financing Tim-
ber Production on Long Term Loans Sound
I observe several things as I take my place on this morning's program: First, I am the last of a heaping baker's dozen, each assigned at least ten minutes, to some of whom (not me) you would willingly listen for ten hours if you had the time; Second, much of what I might say concerning the wood industry of Georgia has been or will be said as well or better by someone else; Third, instead of tiring you with a lot of rhetorical effort, I might as well jump right to the nub of my remarks, which is the real excuse of my appearance before you and which perhaps may have some of the earmarks of originality.
So, this alleged address will be in the nature of a tabloid summary, the moral of which is that trees grow so fast down here when they have a chance that a man can visualize the possibility of returns from a forest investment within a few years. Therefore, commercial reforestation of cutover lands in South Georgia is a practical proposition which can be worked out by businessmen without interference or subsidies from any kind of government--county, state or national. We do not need the Government to buy our cutover lands to hold for the benefit of a future generation. We do need a market for the forest products which we can grow on them.
The question then, is how and where that market can be found. From the standpoint of present demand, the timber resources of this region are practically unlimited. There is infinitely more wood in the coastal plain than the wood-using industries, including papermaking, can possibly use. It is estimated that, within a radius of 200 miles from Savannah, there is enough gum timber standing to supply three times the present annual cut for a period of 40 to 50 years. And gum will reproduce itself in that time. Within 75 miles of Savannah there are at least 3% million acres of potential timber lands, lands which will return more money raising trees than any other crop, but which today produce far below their capacity in wood and wood products because they are burned over every year or oftener. And they are burned over because there is no market for the forest products which they can readily be made to produce.
Pine Timber Supply
While the hardwood timber supplies of the Southeast are extensive, they do not fire the imagination as do the possibilities of our pine trees. There is something appealing about a pine which a deciduous
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tree does not have. From the time that the young seedling forces its way through the ground, its evergreen foliage holds out to the beholder a perennial promise of use and service, as well as beauty.
We know much more of the reproducing powers of pines than of hardwoods. We know that the rate of growth is much faster than that of conifers of the North. We know this so well that northern foresters think we are exaggerating; they are from Missouri, from Maine and from everywhere else that hardheads grow and think. What we can show them here in South Georgia makes them think things which they never thought before, and that, as you all know, is almost an insult to the intelligence.
Southern Pines for Making Paper
It was only two years ago that we were all talking of the disadvantages of southern pines for paper making. We said that all that was needed was for some bright young chemist to show how to take the resin out of the wood, and all would be well.
I wish to take this opportunity to get myself right and to make a public acknowledgment which is due one of the best beloved and most useful sons of Georgia. I was one of those who shouted about what would happen when the chemist showed how to take the resin out of southern pine wood. I said: "Taking the resin out of Southern pine, so that newsprint can be made of it, is the most important chemical problem in Southern forestry, on which the Southern timber interests could well afford to spend large sums in fundamental research. The chemist who does that will transform the Southern timber industry as Charles H. Herty transformed the turpentine industry twenty-five years ago." It is not often given to one man to effect two sweeping transformations in his lifetime, but that same Charles H. Herty has done it, for he has shown that our whole thinking was wrong in regard to the resin in Southern pine, and that, instead of being resinous as we all thought, the resin is mainly in the heartwood, the sapwood containing no more than is found in northern white pine and spruce. When trees are protected from fire, heartwood does not form in slash pine until the trees are twenty years old or more and have reached a diameter of six to ten inches. Does it need an expert to show what this means, not only to South Georgia, but to the wood-using industries of the Nation? There is nothing just like it anywhere in the world.
Quick Growing Trees and Diversity of Products
Rapidly-grown trees give a quicker return, have a shorter rotation of growth and thus more intensive use can be made of the land, with a corresponding effect on the value of that land; quicker returns from the land make it more valuable to the owner and to the community. Rapidly-grown trees have longer fibers than those which grow slowly; long and uniform fibers are more valuable to the pulp and paper maker. And finally, the trees which we have in mind, slash pines especially, are valuable producers of turpentine-dual-purpose trees, as Alex Sessoms calls them, so that the owner has two sources of income-really three when we consider that the tree at maturity will yield sawlogs-as against one source of income or possibly two in the North.
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So let me remind you again that it was a chemist who showed the naval stores men how to avoid the danger of vanishing supplies which threatened them 25 years ago, just as he is now showing us how we can use these southern pines as a source of other kinds of paper than Kraft. The chemist and the chemical engineer are the men who will open up to us the new markets which may be developed for the forest products of South Georgia.
The possibilities of naval stores are no less attractive than those of the wood from which we tap our gum turpentine. And here again the chemist is blazing the way. A simple arithmetical statement shows what service the chemist can perform for this industry.
Outlet for Organic Acid in Rosin
For every barrel of turpentine produced there are more than three barrels of rosin. It will do no good to find new uses for turpentine unless we discover four times as many new uses for rosin. Rosin is said to be our cheapest source of organic acids, containing about 90 per cent abietic acid. Organic acids have an enormous use in industry, but, while pure abietic acid is now being offered on the market, it does not yet appear to have the outlet which is needed to take up the slack caused by "overproduction".
It is significant that the leaders in the naval stores industry appreciate keenly the importance of this matter, and it is still more significant that research chemists are diligently studying it. The Mellon Institute and other research institutions are engaged on various chemical problems which, when solved as they will in time be solved, will do much to stabilize the naval stores industry. The results which have been obtained are stni locked up in laboratory files, but it is violating no confidence to say that we may anticipate a great chemical industry developing in South Georgia on rosin and turpentine as raw material.
These two great sources of raw material-pulpwood from sap pine and naval stores---can be economically obtained from young trees, for which the owner does not have to wait longer than 15 years and which, with good management on good sites, he may get in 10 years.
Financing Reforestation
Here, then, is the great opporunity which the cutover lands of the Southeast present to their owners. Their possibilities are already being appreciated by paper companies, and in the complete realization of these possibilities the Soutli will point the way to the development of a constructive reforestation and land-utilization policy for the entire nation. In the cutover lands on which seed trees are standing, the investor may find the possibility of an early return which will attract his capital. The financing of reforestation in the Southeast is simplified by the relatively short time which elapses between seed-time and harvest. If bonds for farm-crop lands are commercially sound, why may it not be possible to work out a plan of long-time financing for the development of these timber holdings?
The idea that the farm will follow the logger on the lands of the Southeast has been tried and found wanting. We must realize that we can cooperate with God Almighty to the best advantage with these
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lands when we use them for what they were intended, which is to grow pine trees on them-that there are millions of acres here on which trees will be more profitable than any other crop; in fact that, in many instances, they are the only profitable crop to raise, a crop which can be produced more quickly than in other sections and which can be made continuous, year after year, with the right management.
In working out this development to its fullest consummation, private initiative will lead the way. Only such cooperation from Government is needed that policing and intelligent taxation require and that fundamental research can furnish. With these limitations, on which we should strictly insist, Government should keep its hands off the Southern forests. It is a job for business men.
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PRIVATE FORESTRY AS A COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE
By ALEX K. SESSOMS, Cogdell, Ga.
Settling Cut-Over Pine Lands Proved lmpracticai-Reforeatation Solving Land Problem, Growing 500 to 1,000 Board Feet of Timber Annually Per Acre-Naval Stores Key Industry, Wood Pulp Promising-Pine Forest Investment Better Than Insurance, Safer Than Bonds, More Profitable Than Preferred Stock
Beginning soon after the original pine forests were cut and lasting until about five years ago we had a great problem confronting us known as "The Cut-Over Land Problem." Every land owner whose timber had been cut was impressively reminded each year at tax paying time that he had an apparent asset, which in reality was a
li~bility.
The Turpentine Operator, followed by the Saw Mill Man, descended upon a virgin forest, beginning at Norfolk Va. and extending along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to Houston Texas. While their operations were in progress the country was a bee hive of industry. Railroads were built, towns were established and every one was prosperous. When the turpentine man worked the timber for three years he moved on to a new location. The saw mill man then began cutting the boxed timber, and when the last log was cut the mill operator usually moved to a new location, taking most of his employees with him, and leaving behind him a deserted, bankrupt, ruined country, robbed of its one great natural resource.
The greatest friend of genuine conservation was the ruthless and destructive lumberman. Because of him it is possible now for constructive forestry to pay dividends.
The removal of the forests not only affected the land owner, but the railroads, the merchants, the banks, and everyone in the adjoining territory. We did then just what we do today, we held meetings; we formed organizations; we grasped at every straw that offered the slightest relief. For several years it was thought the only solution to our problem was to put all the land into cultivation or cattle ranges.
Reforestation Solved Land Problem
Large land owners, railroads, real estate companies and individuals all went after new settlers. Some of us even went so far as to clear land, build houses and offer "ready to go farms". We thought we could settle up this country just as the West was settled by offering inducements to turn the tide of migration Southward to our cut over lands. Many of the large land companies and railroads kept special agents in all parts of this country and Canada in an effort to secure settlers for our lands. Efforts were made to get colonies from Europe; but with all our efforts we made very little progress. The outstanding colonization projects can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
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In 1918 there was an organization supported b~ the railroad known as the Southern Settlement and Development Organization. Its president at that time -was the late S. Davies Warfield, President of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Clement S. Ucker, its Exe~utive Vice-President asked the U. S. Forestry Service to send a special representative to this section to make a study to see if, and what, th~ Forest Service might do to help the cut over land problem. Dr. Austin Carey was sent and it was my good fortune to have him come to Cogdell the first stop on his mission. Dr. Carey spent a week with me, the greatest part of each day we spent in the woods and under his tutorship I learned maytr things about the pine tree that I never knew before. The following winter we began protecting our lands against fire. The first winter we kept about seven thous-
and acres from burning, in two years we had a stand of slash pine about knee high as thick as hair on a dog's back. Today these trees are from fifteen to thirty feet high, three to five inches in diameter breast high, standing between three hundred and eight hundred trees per acre. In ten years we expect to begin cupping them for naval
~;~tores.
Forests as an Investment
The standard dictionary defines forestry as "The Art of Develop-
ing or Managing Forests." To be more definite we may say Forestry is the management in the growth and use of forests, which results in a greater continuous and profitable production of timber values than would occur without such management.
Forestry is carried on by two sources, the Government and Private enterprise. Governmental forestry does not have to meet the same acid test that private forestry does. A private forest to be a commercial enterprise, must be a profitable business venture. It must pay expenses of management, operation, taxes, and a fair return
upon the invested capital. If a land owner does not profit in dollars and cents by his methods of timber production, he is not practicing forestry.
Private Forestry is not unlike other private enterprises, it has many problems and it requires the same hard work and careful thought. We are to be congratulated on these problems because they are the seeds of opportunity, without which we might not have discovered the greater and better things in store for us.
Location and type of soil are some of the determining factors of Forestry. In this paper I shall consider only private forestry as it applies to the slash pine in the Coastal Plains of the South Atlantic states. It is here that we have a combination of climate soil, and economic conditions not duplicated elsewhere in the world. It is a unique and limited opportunity. Everyone knows there are breeds of dual purpose cattle, that profitably give milk while growing beef; there are comparatively few people who know of that wonderful dual purpose tree, the slash pine, which will produce pine gum of sufficient value to pay all expenses, taxes and interest on the invested capital while it is growing wood at the rate of one to two cords per acre each year, or stated another way, five hundred to one thousand board feet of lumber per acre annually.
From an industrial standpoint the most promising raw materials for this section are the timber and chemical products of the pine tree.
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The returns from a forest for lumber alone will attract some men, but the greater and quicker profits are to be realized from trees which produce chemical products as well as lumber, it should be clear that the Naval Stores Industry is the strategic key to forest growth in this area. For every dollar of profit made from lumber and thinning products of the slash pine, two dollars are made from naval stores.
Imagine a field for conservative investment which definitely can be called better than insurance, safer than bonds, and more profitable than preferred stock. An economic situation now exists in the South which will permit these specifications to be filled. When you read in your favorite newspaper or magazine that, "Commercial reforestation is in actual progress in the South", it means little to yo_u, unless you realize also its potential affects in the financial and industrial fields and that it may have a direct and personal relations_hip to your pocket book.
C. E. Curran, Senior Chemist, U. S. Forest Products Laboratory, writing recently in the Paper Trade Journal says, "Apparently the South is just entering upon the development of a pulping industry that will make past projects there seem more or less insignificant. To the informed observer this development is not surprising. The only thing strange about it is that it has been so long in coming. Perhaps the chief factor in the delay has been a lack of technical knowledge needed to make the best use of the pulping resources that the South has in such abundance."
Dr. Austin Cary, in an article published recently in the Naval Stores Review, tells of a small grove of slash pine, twenty years old at Starks, Florida; where in 1929 he worked for turpentine 150 faces on an acre and left unworked 114 trees of equal size. At prices which turpentine leases can be sold for, the land owner would realize about $:6.50 per acre annually for the lease on these 150 faces, and the volume of tree growth would increase one and one-half cords of wood or 750 board feet of lumber annually.
Diversified Products
Lands reforested with slash pine have four main products to
sell, the_y are:
First--"Land By-Products", such as game, cattle and sheep.
Second-"Thinning Products", such as poles, piling fence posts
ties and pulp wood.
'
'
Third-"Pine Gum", from which we make Naval Stores.
Fourth-"Lumber."
It has been shown conclusively in France over a long period of
time, and in the United States by isolated examples over shorter
periods, that the growing of turpentine producing trees is a profitable
enterprise for the land owner. It is a sound investment returning
attractive profits and the land owner need not necessarily wait until
his trees reach the age suitable for working because thrifty growing
timber at all times has a sale value the same as growing domestic
animals or orchards.
I know and you can find out for yourself that raising slash pine
trees is a safe, sound and profitable commercial enterprise. There
is rio danger of overproduction of slash pine, we can not raise
enough. Pine trees can be raised with less work and worry than other
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crops. They are natural to our soil and climate, and suffer less danger from insects, disease, drought, rain and winds than any other
crop, in fact about the only enemy they have is fire, the razor back hog, and the destructive type of turpentine operator.
I know that in raising pine trees I am helping my neighbor who prefers to raise other crops. I am creating a foundation for prosperous industries in my community, I am insuring better fortunes for my children and I am also certain to make safely and easily as much as other people with a like investment but who must take more care
and risk.
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FARM, FOREST AND FACTORY
AUSTIN CARY, U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D. C.
Southeast Most Promising Region in United States for Timber Pro-
duction-Outstanding Progress Beiing Made-Towns in Tim-
her Belt Looking Hopefully to the Future of Profitable
Timber Industry-Higher Efficiency and Lower Cost In Naval Stores Industry, Introduction of Wood
Pulp Industries in Program of Progress
The topic assigned me is one that has often been treated in meetings designed to stimulate better handling of woodlands, and that uniformly far as I remember, in a way to serve directly the purpose named. For a meeting held at this city of Savannah in the year 1930, exactly that line of treatment, it has seemed to me, would be a bit behind the times, for the reason that the country around us sometime ago started out on the line of advance indicated. A good deal of this has been made evident by papers that have preceded mine, and to residents of the region it is a very familiar thing. For those who have come from further away, and for the wider audience that will perhaps be reached through publication, a brief summary of the facts of the case may be useful. The speaker has been working here as a government man for 12 years past, mixed up pretty thoroughly with these developments.
The region from Savannah west and southwest for about 150 miles has for some years been recognized as one of the most promis.ing regions in the whole United States from the timber production standpoint. Strategic location is evident for one thing; a climate and great areas of soil that favor rapid growth, with tree species among the most valuable, are other factors. Here is the native habitat of longleaf, and particularly of slash pine, those trees from which are derived the greater part of the world's requirement for naval stores. The naval stores industry, as well as lumbering, was extensively conducted on the original growth in this section; then, after its exhaustion and removal, second growth of the same species came on very generally. This in its turn has been worked for a number of years now, to such an extent indeed that the City of Savannah today holds the place which it held y~ars ago as the largest assembling and shipping point for naval stores in this country, and in the world.
Facts of that nature are bound to make their impression on all men, to create an atmosphere favorable to the generation of progressive ideas, or the reception of such coming from outside sources. In this respect too, the region has run true to correct form; I hardly think that any other section of the United States at this time is more generally permeated with the idea of perpetuating industry through timber growing. This idea is taking very substantial forms too, those of primary interest to this audience being fire protection, which is spreading through the country fast today, and numerous business enterprises based on the idea of permanent timber production that have been started. We of this section, therefore, have something in the wa,y of achievement to tell of; in addition, it may be that we have learned some things from experience to date that may with advantage be communicated to others. At any rate these
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considerations guide largely in what I have put into this paper. Farm, Forest and Factory is the topic, forest central to the
other terms in it. That seems to be a logical arrangement because
the forest itself is a natural, fundamental thing, and because forest industry seems, on sober view, to promise to be the largest economic
support of this section. By "farm" in this connection I think we may consider that not only actual farmers, but all classes not connected with forest industry are designated. Since then the welfare of all these is bound to be affected by the dominant industry
of their section, it is worth while to follow out to some extent relations between them, and particularly to inquire what, if any, favor-
able consequences have already resulted from the movement in the timber field to which I have just referred.
To do this at all adequately, we must go back a little. The traditional attitude of American communities toward forest industry is that with exhaustion of the native timber it must disappear. That idea held here as elsewhere, was in fact held by leaders in the forest
industries themselves only 15 years ago, and by country people apparently much later. The possibility of renewal of useful forest
seems not to have entered the minds of most men. Established habits of country dwellers toward fire best illustrate this. Fire on
uncultivated land was not thought of as a damage to the country, but as a cleansing agent and aid to stock raising. If it were a ques-
tion of human activity and encouragement, there would in fact be no second growth in this territory today.
Contrast is suggested with the present condition of things as pictured at the beginning, and contrast there is in fact, though it is easy to exaggerat~ it. Such exaggeration is not intended, however. The elements of time and degree enter. As for the change from one condition to another, in this respect as in others yet ahead of us,
progress rather than revolution is considered to be the natural and wholesome thing. Progress there surely has been, as others have
made evident. I will only add that from my own standpoint it has proceeded and seems now to be proceeding at a satisfactory rate.
Timber growing is often pictured as an activity suited to the
farmer or small land owner, and it is interesting to inquire how that matter is shaping up in this section. From what has just been
said, it must be clear that conditions at the start were not propitiqus. This also is widely recognized. I think that farmers as a class are not usually alert, quick to change their habits and plans in
response to new economic developments.
It is true that here, as elsewhere, once in a while a farmer has realized the value of growing timber, done his best to keep fire
out of surplus land he owned, even worked his timber. This is well known too- how, especially further north in this state than the section with which I am chiefly dealing, when the boll weevil struck the country and knocked from under hundreds of men their habitual means of livelihood, bodies of timber that in many cases they did
not till then know had value saved them from practical destitution. In the turpentine belt of late years, the small land owner has been getting more and more out of his timber by way of lease; in some cases the amount of this revenue has surprised him ; naturally that fact is changing his attitude toward his own forest land and toward the timber growing idea as a whole. All of this is to the good and what is to be expected. It cannot be said that farmers and small
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land owners are as a rule living up to their opportunities yet. Certainly they are not leading in the movement on foot; that part is
being taken by progressive operators and large owners of land. Another very interesting question arises--whether this move-
ment for timber growing is having any effect on communities as a whole. Time enough has not yet elapsed for that to show up strongly, but I think the tendency is to be seen. With absorption of the idea that their naval stores industry is not doomed to early extinction, but promises to be permanent and very likely to reach a development that it never before had; with thought also of the upgrowth of other industries based on the forest; with the turning
of man's mind into broader channels like chemical research as related to their business and markets for their products in all parts of the world, men have been expanding, broadening, and some of these South Georgia towns have been picking up, respecting themselves more, improving living conditions for their people. Illustration tells in a thing like this, and no odium should attach when comparison is not intended. Homerville in Clinch County, a town that for some years, with a degree of pride apparently and certainly with considerable justification, has been calling itself the pine center of the South, is today a very different place to visit than it was a few years ago.
The final term in my topic is the "factory". By this is doubtless meant in the first place, the turpentine still, the saw-mill, manufacturing plants of any description. We all understand how important these are, to the producing section for the employment they furnish and the returns they bring in, to consumers as well for service rendered in fitting to human use the raw material provided by the forest. I think also that one can logically treat under that head industrial developments in a general way and external or marketing relations also if sufficient reason appears for doing that.
The idea with which I began this portion of my discourse may
seem a strange one for a forester and a government man to formulate; it is this--that it is not industry alone and unqualified, but profitable industry, that benefits a country. It may be well to dwell on that a little, but it ought to be evident enough when men consider it. Industry of any kind is human effort fundamentally. That
should be rewarded, to the extent of tolerable living conditions for workmen and returns that enable reasonably efficient business men to continue and expand; otherwise it fails of its true object.
The above is sufficient on the philosophy of the matter, I am sure. I will go on now to recount some observations and deductions of my own, fortified, however, by long, intimate and friendly association with the people directly concerned.
We may go back again to the state of mind long holding in this section and the country at large in respect to our forest resources. Periodically since 1880 at least, predictions of timber famine have been made, and it is true that in the country as a whole virgin timber has been disappearing fast, while from time to time conditions in the
lumber markets have been in evidence that gave more or less color to the idea. However, incidents have also occurred of another sort. Take a specific example from my own country, New England. Ten
years ago in that territory and lasting for a period of about eight years, white pine lumber brought prices higher than ever before, and the demand could hardly be supplied. Stumpage, too, went up
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to high figures; it seemed clear to a lot of us that to raise timber ought to be a highly profitable line of business. Today, however, as for five years past, conditions are of an entirely different sort. One trouble was that our prices got too high; it was too good to last; West Coast lumber and boxes made of fiber and veneer replaced our products in the markets, stumpage owner and lumbermen alike being
deflated. That is one case; numerous others could be cited. It seems
appropriate here only to refer to a set of events more or less similar that has worked out during the last ten years in the territory we
have under review. Just ten years ago, men's ideas about the future of the naval
stores business as dependent on its raw material came to the surface through a government publication. The outlook pictured was gloomy indeed; there was no future worth speaking of; by this time in fact timber available for the purpose was to be practically at an end. Vastly different however has been the course of actual events. For one thing the process of procuring naval stores from fat stumps and top wood has been perfected and a large volume of production built
up in that line. But in the other field the forecast was wrong utterly. There was more timber in existence than men thought and growth in the country was greater; also the results of studied, intelligent operation proved far greater than men at the start would have thought in the way of producing more gum from the tree. As a result of all these developments, for the last three years crops of gum naval stores among the larger ones on record have been put out, and while the world has absorbed them, prices received have been low, not enough to keep the country comfortable; and no relief is in sight for the present season.
Normal men regret these things as far as they do not represent necessary adjustment to industrial change, working for higher efficiency and lower cost perhaps. The point that I am especially con~ cerned to make on this occasion is that conditions of the kind indicated interfere with and limit the effort and expenditures we are so anxious to have put out in the way of developing our forests. Take fire protection for one thing; that costs some money, particularly in a section under handicap just starting out on that line. Take thinning also, a cultural measure that men arre just coming to understand, when applied to young turpentine timber is hardly less productive. In cases with which I am perrsonally familiar, it is halting today, because income is not available to meet the expenditures involved.
What are fair and useful inferences from all of this? Not
certainly those embodied in words by a couple of men it was my own
chance to encounter-one saying that if government workers had left them alone, operators would now be getting a dollar and a half
instead of less than fifty cents for their turpentine; the other, that he would contribute to any common project except fire protection,
because there was too much timber in the country already. The true
lesson, it seems to me, is moderation, patience with this territory, to realize that soundness of financial and industrial structure is essen-
tial to the interests we have at heart, understanding and sympathy
as men in different ways go about the task of strengthening that
structure.
94
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
To come to matters more directly in line with the interests of this audience, I >nay mention in the first place the judgment of the best informed men, as to future volume of the naval stores industry. That runs to this effect-that while there may be temporary shortages of supply, there need in a general way be no apprehension. A vast resource in stump and top wood is available in case of need. Of standing timber also, a large amount is in existence, promising, it is thought, a greater abundance for the somewhat removed than the immediate future. A step that the industry is today taking of its own motion should help in this direction, as well as toward securing better returns, limitation of the size of trees to be worked.
As evidencing alertness and progressive outlook in this indus-
try, I may mention things now going forward within it or under its auspices,-chemical research started in the hope of finding new uses; fundamental inquiry into methods of manufacture that may conceivably result in radical change; trade organization shaping up as a means of backing the research in part; an inquiring state of mind in respect to marketing methods.
Note of the reaction of the industry and region to specific fea-
tures of what is usually called forestry, will be of especial interest to some. Here I feel myself that the situation is promising. We have heard already of fire in this relation, but men are going, or getting ready to go much beyond that-at least that is true of significant leaders. In this field of forest management, the French are our patterns in a way, and following their ideas, but with modifications adjusted to our own conditions, a system of this kind has just lately been worked out, technical and practical men CO'-operating.
This I expect to see applied as fast as it proves out and is called for. The features characterizing this proposed system lead to the
formulation of other ideas. First, the plan of management framed up involves, in addition to working for naval stores, the outturn of
great quantities of timber of rather small size, not well suited to sawinl!, but on the other hand ideal for the use of paper mills and for other somewhat similar uses. This seems to me true and the most significant point in the field now entered-that this section of the country, given inducement to do so, can produce pulp wood in
vast quantity at lower cost probably than any other section of the United States. The paper mills in their extensive migration to the South have so far skipped us in this section. They may have made a mistake in that. It seems to me they have, and that in all reasonable likelihood they will soon rectify it.
Secondly, it looks to some of us as if, along with production of naval stores and small timber, and rendered all the easier because of these outlets, the production of saw timber also is likely to be a feature of forest management here. The technique of this business I cannot recount now, but will say that it has been worked out on paper, and that sufficient inducement in the way of market and price Is the most we seem to need. That statement may seem strange to some, but it is literally true to the best of my belief and judgment
Of course, we understand that unfavorable conditions may be temporary; men I know would be thankful indeed for information of a br~ad and fundamental nature on which they felt they could place rehance.
With that the time allotted has been used probably, and it only remains to emphasize a few essential points.
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I think it can be said with confidence that the world need have no concern over future supplies of naval stores on the scale it has hitherto required, at prices no greater than it has been accustomed to
pay, nor the United States as to its future predominance in this field. In fact, the forest lands of the Southern States can very readily be
made to produce crops several or many times as large as they ever did.
Vast quantities of bled out timber suitable for paper making and numerous other such industries stand in this and neighboring
sections today, cumbering the ground mostly available therefore at a very low price. The supply can be perpetuated, promises to be, as a by-product of naval stores production. No section of the country,
it is thought, .Promises to provide cheaper pulp wood. Out of and along with these lines of production, that of saw
timber should grow naturally as well-will in my opinion do so unless sufficient inducement fails. Again, in this field also, no section of the country stands in better shape to compete.
To say these things involves a degree of faith-that there is no denying. That in the present instance is in the first place faith in a country, and secondly, faith in men. These last are in part those of
the immediate locality, owning its lands, conducting its industries, performing its labor; in part also our general citizenship here and
elsewhere. These last enter the picture at various points, most evidently in connection with taxation, protection, and in the various ways in which Jaw and community behavior may affect enterprise of this sort. These matters have been developed by other speakers; the promotion of advances in these lines I understand to be the chief
purpose of the present congress.
96
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
HIGHER RETURNS FROM TURPENTINE FORESTS
LENTHALL WYMAN, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Starke, Fla.
Proper Cup Adjustments, Regularity of Chipping, Greater Frequency Of Chipping in J uly and August, Removal of Foreign Matter
From Cups, Location of Faces on Sides of Trees With Greatest Limb Growth Avoidance of Placing Cups
Above Fire Scars, Lower Chipping of Trees, Nar-
rower and Shallower Streaks, Working Trees
In Excess of 9 Inches in Diameter, Thin-
ning Over-Crowded Stands and Fire
Prevention Will Bring Higher
Returns to Turpentine Operators
Higher returns from turpentine forests may be realized from elimination of wastes, intensive working methods and a gradual building up of the woods which will bring them into greater productivity.
It is recognized that many wasteful practices are employed in handling and stilling of the gum but these are outside of the province of this paper which will be restricted to the production of gum in the woods.
Practically every operator is familiar with the many forms of waste which occur in his woods. Therefore, this phase of the problem of obtaining higher returns from the turpentine woods will be only touched on very briefly. In the aggregate the gum which is wasted in the woods is a considerable factor.
First there are many leaning trees on which the cups are so placed that they do not catch the gum which is produced. These trees are frequently in need of having short side tins inserted at the shoulders of the face to guide the gum into the cups. Flat cups are frequently set in such a way that it is necessary to tip them at a sharp angle in order to remove them for dipping. If these cups are full of soft gum such as is produced by slash pine timber during the hot summer months some is apt to spill out. Very frequently careless dippers replace cups in such a way that they fail to catch the gum on this account.
Another common form of waste comes from a failure to change cups promptly when they are full. Some operators report that many high yielding trees in titi thickets are not chipped regularly because of the brush.
The obvious remedy is to have more careful supervision in the woods. Closer inspection will eliminate most of this waste. To get this inspection it may be necessary to reduce the size of the "ride" from ten crops or so down to seven or eight and to give increased duties to the woods rider. He would then have time to fix any loose aprons or gutters. He could also give closer supervision following dipping to see that the cups are properly replaced on the trees. By reducing the amount of territory covered by the woods rider it would .Qe possible for him to cut out paths to trees frequently missed be-
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
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cause of their occurrence in dense thickets and therefore make it less likeiy that the chippers would miss them. The increased cost of such work would be justified by a saving of 2% of the gum production.
There is a great deal of variation in the matter of carrying paddles to cover the cups and exclude chips and trash at the time of chipping. The amount of chips and foreign matter in the gum as it reaches the still varies between 1 per cent and 3 per cent by weight and even more than this by volume since the chips are lighter than the gum. Not only does this trash soak up rosin in the process of stilling but also the operator who has a large amount in his gum is paying for trash which is not only of no benefit to him but is even a positive detriment. Here again close supervision and a strict insistence on the carrying of paddles are the obvioussolutions which suggest themselves.
So far the points discussed have been ones which are usually recognized oy operators. The next point for consideration is one which may not be so generally appreciated. It deals with the marking of timber in advance of facing. It is believed that this is a field which offers a possibility of large returns.
The proper location of faces on the tree is an important item. It has been shown by experiments that trees with eccentric tops produce more on the side of the tree which has the largest branches. Frequently trees which are growing close together so that the branches have been shaded away on one side yield very poorly when faces are placed on the side with no branches. Many of our trees have been scarred by fires in the past and faces placed above these fire scars are poor producers which almost always fail to yield as much as they would have if there had been no interference with the flow of sap by the fire scar. The proper location of faces can be designated by paint marks or blazes put on by the woods rider in advance of the facing. At the time any trees which are obviously poor gum yielders can be eliminated and a strict adherence to the minimum size of tree which will be faced can be observed.
In order to get the most out of the trees it is essential that they be worked intensively when they are yielding at the maximum. In the summer time turpentine faces cease to yield after about the third day or at least during the last four days of the week is such a small factor as to be insignificant. It is fairly obvious that chipping twice a week during July and August should be productive of higher returns. In the past there has been some question as to whether the timber would not be hurt by such practice. Some of the early Forest Service experiments showed the expected increased yields from double chipping but they also showed a considerable amount of damage to the trees so treated during the second year of operation. However, this test was conducted in old growth yellow pine which is much more susceptible to damage than the younger stands of trees which make up the bulk of our turpentine woods today. Some experiments have been carried on by the Southern Forest Experiment Station in the use of frequent chipping in order to get high yields from second growth pine. Although these tests were confined to a few trees and may hardly be termed conclusive yet they do indicate that short chipping intervals may not be as injurious to the timber as the former experimental work indicated.
In the late fall and early spring when the weather is cold the situ-
98
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
ation is quite different. Our experiments have shown that trees continue to yield for 10 days to 2 weeks or even longer when low tempera-
tures prevail. Therefore a two-week chipping interval should be allowed during
cold weather at the beginning and end of the turpentine season in order to get the maximum production from the streak. There has been considerable discussion in the past about the desirability of prolonging the chipping season. The conclusion reached by the Southern Forest Experiment Station is that winter work is not injurious to the trees although it is doubtful whether a streak put on during the cold weather will be as productive as one made in July or August even though the trees are allowed to run for two or three weeks during the
winter. In the long run winter work is apt to be poor economy. Although the general tendency on the part of turpentine opera-
tors today is toward the practice of low chipping, nevertheless a great
deal more can be done in this direction and by the practice of lower chipping greater returns may be realized from the timber. Some of these returns are direct and some of them more or less indirect. For instance, although wide streaks have been shown to be more productive during the first two or three years of operation than narrow
ones, yet over a five-year period narrow streaks have been productive of as great a yield as heavier work. After a face reaches a height where it is no longer possible to raise the tins the yield falls off rapid-
ly. This point is reached in 3 or 4 years with the current practice of chipping 1-2 inch streaks. With narrower chipping it will be possible to chip for 5 or 6 years before the face is so high that cups can no longer be raised. By using low-chipping methods it will be possible to ~se a h.ack for 5 ye8;rs b~fore changing to a. puper. Furthermore, by mcreasmg t~e workmg hfe through low ch1ppmg and by using narr?wer faces It is possible to work fast growing timber practically contmuously.
The naval stores leasing value, of the timber is of course in-
creased by increasing the number of working years. Since most oper- ators are also timber owners this means an additional asset to them. Finally by working the timber continuously it would be constantly under fire protection and the fire damage which has been almost universal on old abandoned faces would be avoided. The trees would
grow faster and heal in over the old faces more rapidly and back faces yields would be improved.
The practice of a conservative depth of chipping ranging from 1-2 to 3-4 of an inch will be productive of higher returns in the long run. The proper depth of chipping is dependent upon the width of sap wood in the tree. Trees with wide sap rings stand much deeper chipping than those with narrow growth rings and narrow sap wood caused by growing under crowded conditions. It has been found in experimental work at Starke that chipping in excess of 3-4 of an inch in depth increases the amount of damage considerably. Many more trees dry-face and there is a noticeable increase in the number of trees broken down by the wind. Furthermore, the growth of the trees during the chipping period is cut down more by deep chipping
than by shallow work. The elimination of close cupping should also be productive of
higher crop yields. Dr. Cary and others have shown that the yield per face is reduced by working two faces concurrently on tr(!es ranging from 8" up to 10" or 11" in diameter. In fact in some cases the
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
99
total yield from small trees with two faces has been lower than the yield from other trees of the same size carrying only one face. Fur-
thermore, it is recognized that the production of turpentine trees is determined primarily by the size of the tree. During the past months
the desirability of confining chipping to trees above 9" in diameter has been emphasized and this undoubtedly is the most important step
that could be taken by turpentine operators today to obtain higher returns at no increase in cost of production. During times of low prices for naval stores products such as are prevailing today it is important that all trees which are being worked shall be large producers. The
cost of operation of 10" trees is no greater than the cost of working 7" trees, yet the larger ones will yield practically twice as much as the smaller.
Timber owners should take steps to improve their forests. Experiments carried on by the Southern Forest Experiment Station show that the best type of tree for naval stores purposes is a large crowned fast growing tree. Such trees can be obtained by thinning stands which are overcrowded so as to provide plenty of growing space.
Fires are injurious to tree growth. They defoliate the trees in some cases and reduce the fertility of the soil whenever they occur. If tree growth is to be kept at a maximum they must be excluded. Fortunate-
ly, this is becoming an easier matter every year until today the State Forestry organizations stand willing to assist land owners in eliminating fires with every prospect of success.
It is believed that by reducing waste to a minimum, by practicing cllnservative chipping, by avoiding close cupping, and by eliminating low yielding faces the number of crops will be reduced and the aver-
age crop yield will be raised. In this way the problem of getting higher returns from the turpentine woods will be met.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
FOREST MANAGEMENT ON THE SATILLA FOREST
By"E. A. STERLING, Vice-President James D. Lacy Co., Jacksonville, Florida
Large Concern Bought and Managed Forest to Produce Poles--Com-
plete Forest Survey First Essential to Forest Investment-
Response of Young Growing Timber to Fire
Protection and Thinning Remarkable
The Satilla forest is intended as a business investment. Its primary purpose is to grow timber for poles as a permanent source of supply for the local creosoting plant of the owner. It is also part of the economic picture, that the forest produce enough revenue from the salvage of merchantable timber, by-products, and turpentine operations to carry it while being brought up to capacity production.
The Georgia Creosoting Company as a subsidiary of the American Creosoting Company faced no immediate problem of pole or general timber supply. The potential producing area tributary to
the Brunswick plant is some 85 o/o forested land, with streams, rail-
roads and highways which provide transportation. Local contractors deliver poles and other material at the plant, and with over five million acres of second-growth timberland to draw on there was an evident over-abundance of small poles for an indefinite time. The only indication of shortage was in large poles, long piling, and large dimension timber. At the same time, it was apparent that the pole supply must come from available timber in general demand by other consumers.
The executive head of the company was not satisfied with the existing conditions. His concern was not with the next five or ten years, but as protection fifteen, twenty, or even more years ahead he visioned the changes likely to take place and the need of at least a neucleus of company timber uf suitable size and character to serve as a reserve supply. Turpentining was everywhere retarding the growth and reducing the quality of the second-growth longleaf, piling contractors were seeking out the larger pine of all species, tie cutters were supplying their market, and the steady drain for various purposes might at any time be increased by pulpwood production which would take the timber before it was large enough for other uses.
Various factors contributed to the conclusion that dependence could not be placed indefinitely on a satisfactory timber supply from the diversified holdings of the many local owners. In riding through Camden County one sees little except second growth timber, but closer study shows that general appearances are misleading. Some
80 o/o of all available properties are being turpentined, in many cases
down to a diameter of 7 inches. The average tree when completely worked for turpentine will be 9 inches D. B. H., and have two or three old faces 7 or 8 feet high. Such timber will make D and E poles only and are so slowed down in growth that they hold little future promise. Larger timber is found only in the swamps and branches, and without protection and management most of the small
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timber which dominates the landscape will never be much more than it is now. Another factor is that local ownership is unstable and as tracts change hands, each owner tries to liquidate enough of the timber and naval stores to make a little profit. The result is that most of the properties are continually depreciating rather than improving.
The present Satilla Forest comprises about 24,000 acres in two main units. In selecting these lands several fundamental requirements were kept in view. Two major site conditions represented by the pine flat woods along the coast and the pine uplands further inland were recognized. The desired combination was good growing conditions, a reasonable amount of natural reproduction, and enough commercial timber to yield a revenue during the development and improvement period. The "crawfish" type of pine flat land along the coast was avoided because growth conditions are unsatisfactory and there is more swamp than on the better drained lands represented by the pine uplands. Transportation is also important in relation to both streams and highways.
Longleaf pine is the most important tree from the standpoint of volume and quality, and since young growth of this species is excep-
tionally fire resistant it has, as a rule, seeded in on large areas where all other re-growth has been killed by fire. Of equal importance, and encouraged wherever possible, is the slash pine which, with longleaf, are revenue producers for naval stores as well as timber. The remaining species are loblolly and pond pine, the gums, ashes, cypress, and other species of the swamps.
The first step in forest management or in acquiring lands for this purpose is a complete forest survey and inventory. This is usually called for prior to purchase in order to arrive at a basis of value and determine the suitability for the purpose in view. This was the procedure on the several units of the Satilla Forest and was followed by more intensive study of growth and yield. From all of the data, including a forest map, a management plan was prepared which outlines a production and improvement schedule so that each year's operations are budgeted and carried out under a definite program.
Forest management in the Atlantic coastal pine region is essentially systematic protection and production. Protection from fire comes first and is attained by the usual methods of look-out towers, patrol, fire lines, and education. Its importance cannot be over-estimated in establishing a capacity stand of regrowth and in increasing the rate of growth of timber of all sizes. T'he importance of fire protection is so well appreciated that it needs no further elaboration.
Production represents both volume accretion by new growth and conversion of timber ready to be cut. The first has almost unlimited possibilities, and one of the most stimulating and encouraging phases of a management program is the increase in the productive capacity of the land. The aim of the forester is the normal forest, but to the
operator the appeal is a maximum stand on which 200 or more cups can be hung to the acre instead of 30, or a lumber yield or its equivalent of 25,000 to 30,000 feet per acre instead of 5,000. The first means to this end is to have the land fully restocked, and the second and one of the most important aids that can be given to nature is proper thinning so that maximum growth without stagnation from root and crown competition can be obtained. The response of y ....~-".,,
"'"\~ u:.-<~.:::; ""
~
102
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
growing timber to fire protection and thinnings is little short of remarkable, but we as yet have no complete figures covering this because so few areas have been protected and handled in this way.
Production from the standpoint of utilizing material now on the ground is both an important measure and an early source of revenue. The progressive owner and the conservative operator should be able to go much farther than the average owner in utilizing both major and minor forest products, and on the Satilla Forest there is a distinct advantage in having a creosoting plant as an outlet for certain classes of material.
In southeast Georgia turpentine operations are an important phase of management and on many properties the largest source of revenue. Old face trees which will carry another face can be worked several years and then removed, while round timber under the present program will not be turpentined under 9 to 10 inches, and then only by conservative methods which permit a long working cycle with a maximum damage to the trees. These improvements are carried right on through to the still for the purpose of increasing both yield and quality.
On the Satilla Forest and many other favorable locations in the
coastal pine belt extensive areas are already well restocked. This brings an earlier financial return and results can be shown without waiting a long period of years which tends to lessen an individual's interest. The natural regrowth 10 or 15 feet high or 3 to 6 inches in diameter has already got a start of 10 to 20 years so that even a 10 year period brings about a marked transition and improvement
in the character and value of a well managed and protected forest. It has been found that early liquidation or conversion of the
merchantable timber is desirable in order to reduce the capital investment and cut down the carrying charges. Well selected, cutover pine land with 1500 feet of merchantable timber remaining per
acre and good reproduction in various stages should carry itself. In any event, it is in the future that the substantial results from management will be attained and no one should undertake it without a long time viewpoint.
There is a much larger picture in which the Satilla Forest and similar projects appear against a very broad background of diversified conditions and influences. If the conception of commercial for-
estry as applied in these cases is correct, these industrial forests will serve as examples in pointing the way to a better use of extensive-
areas of cut-over pine land in the southeast. There will likely be a difficult transition period during the next five or ten years, but if the present regional competition, over-production and other complications
serve to bring about stabilization of the forest industries, much greater encouragement will be found for commercial forestry.
The universal use of wood will certainly continue, with adjustments and changes which should ultimately favor the producer. Whatever these changes may be, it is reasonably certain that a highly productive forest in a region of growing industrial activity and with
transportation outlets to centers of consumption will be a desirable and profitable investment.
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TA.XATION AND FOREST ENTERPRISE
J. LEONARD ROUNTREE, Summit, Georgia
Agriculture Without Forest Products Not Self-Sustaining-Forests Solution of Abandoned Farm Problem in Georgia-Tax Relief Essential as Reforestation Takes Place Under Organized Fire Protection-Tax Deferred to Time of Harvesting Advocated
To those who have been associated with the Forestry work since its inception, and others, this meeting has been of inestimable value, will produce wonderful results, add interest and renew courage to reestablish forestry, not only in our state, but in this entire section.
We wish to extend again our heartfelt appreciation of those who have come from a distance and outside of the realms of our own commonwealth, and by their wise counsel, experience and training, have materially aided us-and to beautiful Savannah, made famous through the natural beauty of her original forest parks, noted for her hospitality, which was made secure forever, right after the battle of Manilla, when in a burst of patriotic fervor unequalled in any city in these United States, its people welcomed Admiral Dewey and made him feel at home.
It has been only a short time since we created the Forestry Act after four years of untiring effort. Just to realize the interest now manifested in forestry, as compared with then, I remember Hon. B. H. Stone, myself and others, as a delegation asked the late Hon. M. M. Parks, then State School Superintendent, to adopt a course of study on forestry in all the schools of the stat(), and so far as I know this was the first effort in Georgia to demonstrate and teach to the youth of the state the great value of forestry.
Your committee has asked that I say something on Taxation and Forest Enterprise. While this subject could be dwelt upon at length, I shall only make a few remarks without attempting to cover it.
Let us go back, if you will, to nearly two hundred years ago, when Oglethorpe landed on the bluffs of this now beautiful city, and vizualized tne magnificent empire that stretches to the Pacific Ocean for the greater part covered by the most valuable forest the world has ever known.
Immediately, after landing and settling this country, the inhabitants began denuding the forests and converting the land to agricultural usage. This spread all over the state and enlarged until now there are only a few tracts of original forests left, and we are met here today to try to devise some plan and create an interest that will in a way re-establish our much abused, much wasted and more often fire-destroyed forests. The forests of Georgia were the almost direct result of her development, more especially in this part of the state, because practically all of the railroads of this immediate section were constructed primarily to remove forest products. Agriculture, towns, and manufacturing enterprises followed as natural consequences.
Without digressing, let us look at agriculture as allied with forestry. Right here I am going to make the astounding statementrealizing that you may not agree with me--that agriculture in this section without the aid of forest products has not been self sustaining.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
In line with this statement, without knowing the latest statistics,
we have to point out only that there are in Georgia today 55,000
abandoned farms, and to those who have read the census figures that
are being released, you will be coll}pelled to arrive at the conclusion
that this enormous number of abandoned farms in Georgia will be in-
creased further, and from a taxation standpoint we can readily see
that we are losing enormous revenue, potential and real, from those
abandoned acres. Add to that five or six million acres of cut over
lands in this state, most of the growth being retarded annually by
fires and you have a problem of a large percentage of the available
area in Georgia non-productive.
This situation, coupled with the question of taxation, is the
problem that we are faced with today. Another feature that con-
fronts us is that despite the present slump in forestry products, we
are imposing an enormous tax on not only the present, but the future
generations, because they will have to go into distant markets to pur-
chase their lumber and other forest products, paying enormous profits
to those who are fortunate enough to have them for sale, high freight
rates to transport these products, and last but not least, probably
these products will be of an inferior grade to what we could grow
ourselves. This might not be considered from a taxation standpoint,
but it most assuredly is.
What, then, is the answer to the question of what we are to do)
\
with our devastated farms, and our cut-over areas? We have just
(sintagtemd otrheatththaenreanayre
over other
65,000 state
abandoned farms in the union has
in Georgia, this beand is about 75 o/o
of all the farms abandoned in the United States. We see by the pres-
ent census reports daily confirmation of the drift of the rural popula-
tion to the cities. We know that this is caused by the fact that farm-
ing, within itself, is unprofitable, our farm products bringing less than
the cost of production. Therefore, our inevitable conclusion is that
our best remedy is to go back to nature on these abandoned, cut-over,
and devastated area endeavor to re-establish our forests, knowing
that they will pull us out of many financial situations just as they have
done in the past. But to do this, the owners of these lands who are
now compelled to pay high ad valorem taxes on them, although they
may not be producing one cent of revenue with which to pay these
taxes, will be compelled to have some assurance from the state that
they will not be penalized if they should attempt to grow forests by
any method, because we all know we cannot grow these trees over-
night, but that it takes time and care, and ever watchful vigilance
to keep fires away.
After careful study, we know of no better plan than the proposed
Forestry Contract Act that was offered by us in the legislature some
years ago. One of the provisions of the Act provided for stabilization
of taxes on the land proposed to grow forests, and in my opinion, the
State of Georgia could pass no wiser law than to exempt from taxa-
tion entirely, her lands for growing timber for the period of the con-
templated growth. If we can not do this, then let us insist that our
representatives pass a law that would make one safe in the investment
of growing timber by the provisions of the Forestry Contract Act. We
propose that where a landowner had a tract of land that he wished to
set out to timber, or protect it from fires by patrols, that he and the
C01mty Tax Assessors should agree on a stabilized price per acre for
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
105
this l!!_nd for the period of time it took to grow a crop of timber, agreed on between the assessors, the land owner, and the State Board of Forestry, operating with, or without, connection with the Clark-
McNary Act and that the taxes on this land should be agreed upon as to the price per acre. After the timber has been grown, and after it has been sold, the revenue derived therefrom then certain percentages of the price received for the sale of the timber should be paid to the state, counties, and schools, as a part of the accrued taxes while this timber is still growing, but from which no revenue had or could be derived until sold. There are other provisions, but in the main, this is the gist of the act. While there may be other plans for grow-
ing timber, we know that from a business standpoint, very few are going to invest any large sums of money in timber re-growth with the almost certain knowledge that just as soon as they get timber growing
someone will come along and put a prohibitive tax on it, although he may have been spending enormous amounts of money on his timber crop for a period of years and yet not having received one penny in return for it.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS BRIEFED
NAVAL STORES RESEARCH
The United States Department of Agriculture is urged to esta blish at the earliest possible date a naval stores experiment or research station under the direction of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, to investigate the proper methods of handling and stilling crude gum, rosin and turpentine.
REFORESTING WASTE LANDS
To fulfill the purposes intended by the Federal Government in its acquisition of denuded and waste areas unfit for profitable private development it is recommended that Congress appropriate adequate funds to plant idle lands in national forests on a scale and at a rate commensurable with the problem.
EXHIBITS AT CONFERENCE
The Georgia Commercial Forestry Conference extends its sincere thanks to the Georgia State Board of Forestry and to the Georgia Forest Service for the splendid exhibit prepared by its Bureau of Education for the Conference. This exhibit has been one of the features of our conference and has been of undoubted interest and value. We especially appreciate the presence of State Forester B. M. Lufburrow and Director of Education C. A. Whittle, whose activities have proved a great assistance in making this conference a success.
THANKS TO THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Appreciation and thanks were expressed to the United States Department of Agriculture for the attendance and participation in ihe Conference of Dr. L. C. Gray, Dr. W. W. Skinner, Dr. Austin Cary, Dr. E. P. Veitch, Mr. Lenthall Wyman and Mr. R. D. Garver. The United States Department of Agriculture was asked to print and distribute in Georgia 10,000 copies of Dr. Gray's address.
EXPRESSIONS OF APPRECIATION
Resolutions of appreciation were voted the Savannah Chamber of Commerce, the Savannah newspapers, the DeSoto Hotel and the Georgia Forest Service for contributions in making the conference successful. The Georgia Board of Forestry was thanked for a con-tribution to help Dr. Austin Cary in his important research work in connection with naval stores production.
FORESTRY COMMERCIAL CONFERENCE
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GEORGIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION RESOLUTIONS
At its final business meeting the Georgia Forestry Association passed the following resolutions:
REFORESTATION ACT To encourage reforestation on many thousands of acres of
cut-over land, the idea of a Forestry Contract Act was approved, provided such bill can be made satisfactory to the land owner, timber operator and naval stores producer.
FORESTRY EXPERIMENT STATION
In order to secure an experiment station to assist the naval stores industry in solving problems of production, endorsement was given for the Federal Government to purchase a tract of land not exceeding 10,000 acres for this purpose.
THANKS TO PRESIDENT WOOLFORD The thanks of the Association was given to President T. G.
Woolford for his great service rendered to the Georgia Forestry Association and progress made under his splendid leadership during the past twe:ve months.
APPRECIATION OF UNITED STATES
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Thanks were given to the United 'States Chamber of Commerce
for the work of its Natural Resources Production Department, for attendance at the Georgia Commercial Forestry Conference by Colonel W. M. Wiley and Major William DuBose Brookings, and for the Chamber's cooperation in making this Conference a great success. Especial appreciation was expressed for the services so efficiently rendered by Mr. A. A. Doppel, Forester of the National Chamber,
who has been untiring in his efforts to make every detail of the Conference a complete success.
APPRECIATION OF PARK Thanks were expressed to Mr. Fred Vogel, Jr., of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, for the gift of Vogel State Forest-Park at Neel Gap in Union County which, it is hoped, is the beginning of a State system of Forest-Parks in Georgia for outdoor recreation and forestry demonstrations.
EDUCATIONAL PROJECT Thanks were expressed to the American Forestry Association
for cooperation with all Georgia Agencies in visual instruction in the public schools and for the services of Mr. W. C. McCormick, Director of the Southern Forestry Educational Project.
SAVANNAH AGENCIES Thanks were expressed to the Savannah Chamber of Commerce,
the De Soto Hotel, the Convention and Tourists Bureau of Savannah, and all Savannah people who contributed to the success of this best meeting ever held by the Association.
GEORGIA FOREST SERVICE
Thanks were expressed to the State Forest Service for its efficient work in the State and its cooperation in making this Conference and Annual Meeting of the Association a success, and special thanks were given to the Bureau of Education of the State Department for the exceptional display of exhibits for this meeting.
108
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEORGIA
OFFICERS OF GEORGIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
The Report of the Nominating Committee was unanimously adopted and the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:
Mr. T. G. Woolford, Atlanta, President Mrs. M. E. Judd, Dalton, 1st Vice President Mr. S. H. Morgan, Guyton, 2nd Vice President Mr. Wm. Folks, Waycross, 3rd Vice President
Mr. Joseph A. McCord, Sr., Atlanta, Treasurer
Bonnell Stone, Blairsville, Secretary The Executive Committee included the above named officers and Mr. C. B. Harman, Atlanta; Mr. H. L. Kayton, Savannah; Mr. A. K. Sessons, Cogdell; Mrs. Nora L. Smith, Ashburn; Col. R. E. Benedict, Brunswick; Mr. Jas. B. Nevin, Atlanta; Miss Emily Woodward, Vienna; Mr. Gordon E. Reynolds, Albany; Mr. B. C. Milner, East Point; Judge Ogden Persons, Forsyth; and Mr. W. T. Anderson, Macon.