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Show IBB WWHMIi H'lli Hill 1 1 i III' III I HI Mill I iHI I II Hi ,i l"lillHll i i LOG BfKCHAULEff TO XILXOAD T&S' JjP SNffiu by lightning, which has also been known to set the woods on fire, and the forest is attacked in many other ways. For example, birds and squirrels squir-rels often prevent young growth by devouring great quantities of nuts and other seeds, while porcupines and mice frequently kill young trees by gnawing away their bark. Most of these foes may be called natural enemies, for they would injure the forest to a greater or less extent if the action of man were altogether removed. Wild animals would take the place of domestic sheep and cattle to some degree, and fire, wind, and insects would still attack the forest. But many of the most serious dangers to the forest are of human origin. Such are destructive lumbering, and excessive taxation on forest lands, to which much bad lumbering is directly due. So high are these taxes in some states for in many cases they amount to 5 or even 6 per cent, yearly on the market value of the forests, that the owners cannot afford to pay them and hold their lands. Consequently they are forced to cut or sell their timber in haste and without regard to the future. When the timber is gone the owners refuse to pay taxes any longer, and the devastated lands revert to the state. Many thousand square miles of forest have been ruined by reckless lumbering because heavy taxes forced the owners to realize real-ize quickly and once for all upon their forest land, instead of cutting it in a way to insure valuable future crops. For the same reason many countries are now poor that might otherwise have been flourishing and rich. YA& WjYD CMy. KY Kentucky, which is one of the chief hardwood producing states in the union, and the first state in the production pro-duction of yellow poplar, is making good progress in the movement for the preservation of its forests. In 1906 the legislature enacted the law providing for the state board of agriculture, agri-culture, forestry and immigration. During the following winter the board asked and . received the co-operation of the United States Forest service-in service-in a stbdy of the forest conditions of the state. This work was begun two years ago and an examination of half the area of forest land in the state has been completed. The result of the first year's work, covering the 11 most eastern counties of the state is published in the Kentucky handbook, 1906-1907. The second report, now in the hands of the state board of agriculture, agri-culture, covers 48 counties, in the coal mining regions of the state. When this investigation is completed Kentucky Ken-tucky will have an excellent inventory of its lumber resources. The manner in which the forestry problem has been approached indicates indi-cates that the people of the state realize that the ultimate solution of the ' impending timber scarcity must, for the farmer, depend largely on how he handles his individual timber re-' re-' sources, and that there is no better way than for him to consider the wood lot as a bank account, using the interest which is constantly accruing, ac-cruing, but leaving the capital undiminished. undi-minished. Much educational work, however, will be needed to secure this desirable end. The second report of the Forest Service suggests a forest law. Among its most important features is a provision pro-vision for the appointment of a state forester. The wisdom of this is evident evi-dent since only by the appointment of a state forester can the work in co-operation with Forest Service be maintained and carried to a successful success-ful conclusion. Until such time, however, how-ever, as the sate of Kentucky is ready to assume the management of its own forest problems, the National Service is willing and anxious to co-operate in every way possible for the furtherance further-ance of forestry among private owners own-ers in Kentucky. In the co-operative investigations of forest resources now in progress, the government spent over $4,000 to duplicate a similar amount appropriated by the state. Kentucky has always been rich in forest resources, but like many other oth-er states has reached the point where the timber will hereafter be produced on a continually decreasing scale, and it is necessary to protect and use carefully the forests which remain. In 1899 Kentucky cut 734,000,000 board feet of hardwood lumber. In 1907 the cut was 854,903,000 board feet, an increase of only 16 per cent. In the nine years. In the same period the cut of yellow poplar has fallen off over 20 per cent. During the same time the prices of lumber at the mill have advanced on an average av-erage of 65 per cent., and the demand has increased accordingly: The forest of the United States is threatened by many enemies, of which fire and reckless lumbering are the worst. Sheep grazing and wind come next. Cattle and horses do much less damage than sheep, and snow break is less costly than windfall. Landslides, Land-slides, floods, Insects, and fungi are sometimes very harmful. In certain situations numbers of trees are killed |