Ogden Sun | 1905-11-14 | Page 4 | Forests Disappearing

FORESTS disappearing in tho old days wood was burned by the engines 0 the galena and chicago union alho parent company of the present chicago and ern system at one ot the annual meetings of this parent company president van announced to the stockholders that no had bought a certain woodland at elgin illinois now little more than a suburb of chicago and that he felt like lating the company that this wood tract would forever secure sufficient fuel for the companas comp anys locomotives some years after when the chicago northwestern was perfected the attention of one of the officers wag called to president van statement this officer made a rapid computation which showed that the elgin woodland would not furnish kindling ivoyd enough for tho roads locomotives tor even a single year which suggests the tact that the annual consumption of railroad ties alone in tha united states is or fully one sixth of the total cut 0 timber in addition to this there are vast drains upon the forest for telegraph and telephone poles and for cross arms and tor timbers for railroad construction at the present rate of forest destruction the united states within forty years will bo absolutely denuded of merchantable timber there are millions 0 acres in the united states today in private ownership which are not adapted to farming tout which would pay a return on the investment if planted to trees and systematically cared for as a forest plantation when the trees have once reached a period of growth which gives them a marketable value intelligent management cutting each year only a portion of tho timber and allowing for reforestation would mako such forest plantations a source ot revenue as long as the country continues to be inhabited by men the whole forest problem Is a one the idea that a forest is to be cut over clean and then abandoned Is nothing short of ridiculous freih a national business standpoint if wo would begin as a nation today to planta tree in every place where we cut one down and to replant forests that have already been destroyed and we would noc need to fear a timber famine in the future or tho drying up of our rivers and streams and oss of the water power they suppa