time to time, but the Company still owns tracts of various sizes, aggregating about 18,000 acres, for which no market has been found, for the reason that much of it is too wet for farming. But it is ideal for growing pine trees, especially the water-loving slash pine. Last year a system of forest management was inaugurated on a tract of about 10,000 acres near Pregnall, S. C., and smaller near-by tracts.

All of these lands had been cut, but, fortunately for the future of the forest, lumber was not so valuable then as now and a large number of trees were left which have served to keep the lands thoroughly reseeded. The original stand was loblolly and long leaf pine and several varieties of hardwoods. As a result of having an abundance of seed, notwithstanding the frequent burning of the land, most of it is covered by a fine stand of young trees of varying ages, but the second growth trees are almost all long leaf, which is more fire resistant than loblolly. On some areas where the fires have been more frequent or intense than on others not even the long leaf has survived. These areas are being replanted. All plantings are being made with the quicker-growing and more valuable slash pine of which there was none in the original stand and of which there are no seed trees.

A cruise of this tract showed enough mature trees to make immediate lumber operations possible, and in June, 1925, a saw mill was installed by a contractor working under the supervision of the Company's forester. All of the long leaf pines of nine inches or more in diameter at breast height are being turpentined by a conservative system which will not materially reduce the rate of timber growth. This operation has already conclusively demonstrated that lands of this character can be made to yield satisfactory profits from the growing of trees. Based on current prices for lumber being paid by Southern Railway Company, this forest. has produced a profit after absorbing all expenses.

Fire is the most difficult problem to be dealt with on this tract and we have shown that forest fire damage may be kept within narrow limits. Prior to the inauguration of our forestry work, this tract was burned over in whole or in part every year. Owing to the unusually dry weather of the last summer and fall, forest fires were particularly severe in that part of South Carolina. The lands embraced in this project were constantly patrolled and, although several fires were started or spread into the tract from adjoining lands, they were quickly extinguished and not more than fifty acres were burned over. As an additional means of preventing the burning of these lands, fire breaks are now being plowed

and it is believed that, with an efficient patrol, destructive fires on this tract may be prevented.

These lands, topographically and with respect to the character of growth on them, are representative of large areas throughout the South Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains, and the main purpose of the Southern Railway operation is to demonstrate to the owners of these lands that it pays them in dollars and cents to keep out fires and give the trees a fair chance even though they may not go to the expense of planting.

There is need for additional information as to the rates of growth of long leaf and slash pine and the effects of thinning upon the growth, although data is now being assembled at several points in the South. As a contribution to this information, plots of long leaf pine in this forest have been turned over to Mr. H. H. Tryon, State Forester of South Carolina, who has inaugurated thinning experiments and the accumulation of growth data. On these experimental plots each tree is numbered and a yearly record of growth will be kept for each tree and will be compared with the growth of similar trees in a check plot where no thinning will be done. Similar growth and thinning experiments will be carried out in the slash pine plantings.

Another purpose of the operation is to test out various methods of turpentining with a view to demonstrating that conservative turpentin ing may be done profitably in the long leaf and slash pine forests of the South without retarding the production of saw timber. It will require some years to carry on this operation to the point where valuable data as to growth and the effects of thinning and turpentining on growth will be available. But it is hoped that, even before these experimental data are available, this project will have an educational value that will contribute substantially to the conservation and reproduction of the forests of the South. This will have the result of preserving to that section one of its great economic advantages, that of being able to grow crops of trees much more quickly than can be done in the colder North. Inspired by the results obtained in our demonstration forest a large lumber concern in that locality is already planning a similar system of forest management on its large holdings. The general adoption of this system will bring into profitable use vast areas of land that are more valuable for timber growing, under present conditions, than for any other use, and will, at the same time, assure the important woodworking industries of the South perpetual sources of raw materials.

APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES

Chairman George D. Pratt announced the appointment of the following joint Committee on Resolutions to represent both the American Forestry Association and the Southern Forestry Congress.

President Tilghman of the Southern Forestry Congress announced the appointment of the following Committees:

The National Forests and their administration by the Forest Service under the able leadership of such men as Gifford Pinchot, Henry Graves and W. B. Greeley have, I believe, been one of the underlying and main forces, and influences, that have brought about the general interest now

shown in timber growing, management, and protection, by states, lumber companies and individuals. The headway that forestry is now making throughout the country can be traced, in the South at least, to the influence exerted by National Forests.

Until the agitation was started for the preservation of the forests of the Southern Appalachians in 1898 there was little or no thought given to the need of the preservation or protection of our forests. The main idea at that time was not a National Forest, because they were unknown in this country, and the forest areas on the public lands were known as Forest Reserves, and it was not until 1905 that these were taken over and administered as National Forests.

In 1898 a group of Southern men, following the suggestion of Gifford Pinchot and Henry Graves, met in Asheville, N. C., to discuss the question of how to induce the Federal Government to take over certain of the forest lands of the Southern Appalachians, so as to insure their perpetuation and use for recreational purposes by the people of the country. The name first suggested for these areas was "National Parks," but as the campaign went on, it was changed to "National Forests." This agitation for the preservation of the forests through Federal acquisition of the land began to attract the attention of the people of the country to the wonderful beauty of the forested areas of the Southern Appalachians, but it was not, however until the southern forces joined with the people of New England in a similar request and agitation for the establishment of Federal forest reservations in the White Mountains that the campaign made decided headway. It is very probably that this campaign which was carried on continuously by both the Southerners and the New Englanders, was one of the main causes that led, in 1905, to the Forest Reserves being declared National Forests and administered as such; or it may have been, that the changing of the name from "Forests Reserves" to "National Forests" was one of the causes that led to the change for "National Parks" in name to "National Forests" for the White Mountain and Southern Appalachian areas.

It was not, however, until 1911 with the passage of the Weeks' law that the Federal Government began to acquire land in the White Mountains and Southern Appalachians for National Forests. Since that time the Federal Government has acquired 87,304 acres in Alabama; 59,337 in Arkansas; 159,878 in Georgia; 354,289 in North Carolina; 19,522 in South Carolina; 267,938 in Tennessee; 502,016 in Virginia; and 219,124 in West Virginia, making a total of 1,701,767 acres in all.

This agitation for National Forests in the South is also largely responsible for the interest created in forestry that led to the establishment of the forestry departments in North Carolina and Virginia.

This one and three fourths million acres of National forests represent at the present time the only real definite source of our future timber supply of that section. The administration, however, of these areas had and is having an influence upon the states and lumber companies to acquire and hold forest lands and administer them in the interest of a future timber supply. I haven't the time to go into the reasons and causes why this is not taken up more generally by lumber companies, but will only refer to one cause, which is perhaps the chief cause, namely: taxation of timber lands. Several of the states have acquired forested areas, but such acquisition has not extended to anything like as large an extent as in the Northern States. In several states it is being advocated that it would be policy for the state to acquire at least as much land for state forests as the Federal Government has acquired in that state for National forests. National forests have also had a certain influence in creating an interest by cities and towns in acquiring land for municival or town forests. At the present time there are at least 250 towns which own forests comprising an area of more than 5000 acres. Thus far, however, only a few of these are in the south. Asheville, N. C., has the distinction of owning the largest municipal forest in the south. In most cases the prime purpose of the municipal forest has been the protection and conservation of municipal water supplies.

As stated in the original Act passed by Congress authorizing the creation of National forests, they were for the purpose of protecting the water sheds on the headwaters of navigable streams and their tributaries, in order to protect the navigability of our rivers. This protection has extended, not only to navigation, but has been a wonderful influence in conserving the water and protecting the water supply of our water powers. There is no question but what the National Forests have had a decided economic influence in water power development in the Southern states, and the fact that the Federal Government own these large areas of National forests, were protecting the same from fire, and were continuing the acquisition of additional areas, has also had a decided influence on the extension of water power development in the South.

National forests have also been of real economic value to several of our cities and towns by the fact that these towns were able to lease certain areas in the National forests for their water supply.