McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, July 31, 1930, Image 3
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Thursday, July 31, 1930
McCOmMIGK MESSENGER, McCORMlCK, SaSttl CSrSHlt
Importance Of
Timber Growing In
South Carolina”
TALK ON FORESTRY, LIONS
CLUB, JULY IS, 1930, SPAR
TANBURG, S: C.
<N. T. Barron, District Forester.)
The problem of conserving the
remaining timber of our Nation
has become a public issue involv
ing the action of practically every
state in the Union. No adequate
conception of the forestry move
ment in our country can be had
without a reference to the role
which forests have played in the
development of this Nation and to
the dangers which face us today
from the standpoint of forest pro
duction. This country was origin
ally blessed with a tremendous
area of virgin forest growth, esti
mated at 822,000,000 acres, cover
ing all of the land east of the Mis
sissippi, the Lake States, the Rocky
Mountain region, and. the Pacific
Northwest. Dunng the pioneer de
velopment of the Nation it was
necessary to clear large acreages
of virgin forest for the production
of food crops. In the East, prior
to 1880, there had been 150,000;000
acres of forest Jamfcleared for ag
ricultural purposes. Since 1880 the
clearing of agricultural land has
constituted but a very minute
amount of the total forest destruc
tion.
In the meantime, the unregulated
cutting of our forests for lumber
and other products was well under
way. The lumber industries as
such, started in the Northeast and
from there moved southward and
westward. First, Maine, and New
York, and b^ 1860 the State of
Pennsylvania, led in lumber pro
duction. The next 10 years how
ever, saw large developments in
the Lake States pineries and by
1870 Michigan was in the lead. The
Lake States forests, at first
thought inexhaustible, retained
the lead in forest production un
til 1900, when leadership shifted to
the South. Now, after 30 years,
the timber industry of the South
is waning,* while the States of
Washington and- Oregon are as
suming leadership in forest pro
duction. How long the virgin for
ests of the Northwest will last is
a matter of conjecture, usually
estimated by economists at from
30 to 50 years.
Following the cutting, the for
est areas of the Nation have repro
duced rather poorly and. large
areas are now classified as waste.
The reasons for this have been
largely economic. As long as there
was cheap virgin timber available,
it did not pay the lumbermen to
cut carefully or to provide for re-
growth. Forest fires, the greatest
enemy to the forest, have followed
cutting and carry on the devasta
tion. r
A summary of the forest situa
tion in our country shows at the
present time our heritage of 822,-
000,000 acres of virgin forest has
been rapidly reduced to 138,000,-
000 acres. Besides this area, we
have 250,000,000 acres of culled
second growth lands restocking.
The original stand of timber in this
country was about 5,200,000,000 bo
ard feet while the present stand
totals only 1,600,000,000 board feet,
or about one fourth.
The forest situation in South
Carolina is just as serious as that
of the whole country. South Caro
lina’s original forest acreage of
19,500,000 acres has melted down
to one half million acres, of old
growth timber. Considering the
unstable agricultural condition of
the State it has been estimated
that only 5 million acres can pro
fitably produce farm crops, which
leaves fourteen million acres that
must produce timber crops in ord
er to make the nest use of the
soil. It is a foregone conclusion
^that idle land makes the owner
[poorer. “Many thousands of acres
in the State are not growing
[enough wood to pay the taxes
(when the soil is capable of pro-
tducing value in timber above at
[the annual rate of from two to
tour dollars an acre if the land is
[well set in trees and fires are kept
lout.” South Carolina, through its
State Department of Forestry, is
now making it possible for land-
lowners to purchase forest tree
jeedllngs at the nominal cost of
three dollars a thousand.- A recent
Inventory of the State Forest Tree
mm
:.mf^ M
'natfette
-DER, YES—BUT SOMETHING MORE.
Chesterfield offers richness, aroma, satisfying
flavor.
BETTER TASTE—that’s the answer; and
that’s what smokers get in Chesterfield in full
est measure—the flavor and aroma of mellow
tobaccos, exactly blended and cross-blended.
Better taste, and milder too!
" .sfc.
A,
© 1930. LxooBTt ft MtoftS Tobacco Co. «
CIG6ETT& MYEHS TOBACCO CO.
economic solution to the idle land
problem of this State would be to
plant every acre of idle land to
forest trees.
To emphasize the importance of
timber growing I shall quote a por
tion of an article written by Mr.
E. L. Demmon, Director Southern
Forest Experiment Station, U. S.
Forest Service: “It is assumed
that most of us recognize the im
portance of timber growing in the
South. The fact that fully two-
thirds of its total land area is at
the present time more valuable for
the production of timber and for
est products than for any other
purpose only serves to emphasize
this statement. The bulk of the
South is comprised of cut-over for-
continue to pay taxes on them.
In order to point out even more
forcibly the importance of growing
timber I will cite an example of
successful wood using industry of
the Piedmont region in this State.
The industry I refer to is a timber
treating plant located at Spartan
burg. It is unquestionably one
of the most efficient up-to-date
wood using industries of its kind
in the South. This plant locally
employs 225 men with an annual
payroll of $350,000. The organi
zation is capitalized at $750,000.
Products treated by this company
are poles, piling, cross-ties, beams,
posts, lumber, bridge members, and
mine shoring. These products |
come from the forests and farm
ture ^and secondly, to utilize the
forest land which is idle. Both are
of great importance. Our future
prosperity depends largely on an
abundant supply of wood. To lose
these supplies will put us under
a great handicap. On the other
hand, thousands of acres of land
in the State can be important
economically through forest pro
duction, the only use to which they
are suited Forests growing con
tinually on such land will produce
needed wood and they will also
support labor and capital in their
harvesting.
X
“THIS MAN HARRIS.”
est lands. It is generally conced- ! woodlots of South Carolina and
ed that no great proportion of neighboring states. The future
those will be needed for agricul- prosperity and importance of this
ture for many years to come. Un- , lrKlus , t . ry s P artan ^ urg and . sur -
30
“Who is this man Harris?”
“What Harris?”
“This Leon Hajris, who is run
ning for the senate?”
Such question or questions of
Ijere vrtH* beaver 2
iSt tree seedling#, f
nitioii between dec
ready for distri-
ember 15th and
less these lands are managed for rounding territory 25 or 30 years S j m jj ar p Ur p 0r t have been asked,
the production of timber cr*ips, from now wiU d *Pend largely on
their idleness-must reflect unfav-
never heard from Mr. Harris, nor
did he set eyes upon him until the
ex-high private came to the Am
erican Legion convention in Co
lumbia this week.
So far as we know, he has no
“literature,” no organization, and
has made no pledges beyond the
promise that if elected to the Un
ited States senate he would bring
no shame or discredit upon South
Carolina.
Physically, Leon Harris is one of
the best looking specimens of man
hood to tr^ad a political speakers’
platform in South Carolina in a
generation. And he has that type
of “clear blue eyes” which sug
gests truth, determination and
courage.—The State.
X—
St. Helena Has
An Automobile
whether or not there will be
we believe, at least ten thousand!
'times in South Carolina during the
economic future of .enough timber products in this last fort - days AnsW ers, doubt- the site of Napoleon’s exile and P » n,ore' th an r ft nim»i
Those statements general region to warrant a con- IesSi have been varied> but lf any burlal place for 20 years _ at la3t ^
St. Helena, famous in history as
orably on the
the region.”
made by a recognized authority on Sinuous operation. For that in-j un p re j udiced p erson has suggested has an automobile,
the forest land problem in the dustry to discontinue its operation any thing derogatory to the char- ! Along with Bermuda and > other
South apply equally well to the ( for lack of timber would probably ) ac t er personal habits or mode of insular territories, St. Helena has
land problem in South Carolina, j seriously impair the economic wel- life of solicitor Harris we have not long barred the motor car.
Although, not an expert eco- . fare thls eith ® r t ® m ' iheard of It. [intimation that the embargo had
nomist on land taxation, I believe | or indefinitely. sucn a Those questions have been asked been lifted came in an unsolicited
from the mills to the wharf, we
have had to maintain a large
amount of animal transport which
in this island is very expensive and
allows no comparison with the cost
of transport by mechanical means.
Consequently, directly legislation
permitted, we imported a motor
lorry as mentioned ,and before do
ing so we considered—the vehicle
which would in our opinion be the
most suitable. Of a large number
of vehicles offered, we concluded
that for the price your Chevrolet
30 cwt. I. Q. model was the most
suitable, and this is the vehicle we
imported from England and which
today is the pioneer of commercial
transport in St. Helena.”
Lifting of the ban on motorized
transportation in St. Helena will
mean another new outlet for
American cars in the overseas mar
ket, although a circumscribed mar
ket. While St. Helena is twice the
size of Manhattan, its population
numbers only a few thousand peo
ple, and the roads now open to
it correct to state that we cannot situation applies to other timber
attain equalization of land taxes in ' and wood-using industries of the
South Carolina until every acre of Piedmont region and in fact the
idle land is either producing a pro- [whole State of South Carolina. In
fitable farm cropr or timber crop other words it is imperative that man Harris
according to the proper utilization we down to the business of
of the soil. The neglect and in- growing timber in this State, so as
crease in acreage of idle lands ini to provide for the future develop-
this State unquestionably reflects ment of our present timber and
unfavorably toward an equal dis- wood-using industries,
ursery for this year shows that, tributton of taxation. It.seems!. Summing up the forest situation
tare wiH 11 batlOver 2 1-2 milHon^tdr- IriflipOjSslble to think that we can in- of * the • State, and the 'Piedmont %" life time, but to far as we know the Island has seen.
deftatftely ride on the crest of in- region especially, I believe that our [he l&s never asked editors or oth-| “For the purpose
trails. Steep grades and hairpin
bei\ds abound, with only two miles
of level road on the entire Island,
the letter states. A start has been
Firs,, made t>y government toward
betterment of the highways, how
ever.
After their Chevrolet truck had
The State many times, but The ( testimonial received bv General
State has been prepared to answer Motors Export Company from the 1 de “"" t “ t ed unusual economles
no better than the man In the St. Helena Corp. Ltd., importers ovel . anima! transportation, the St.
street. For in some respects “this and exporters, who do a flourish- Helena Corp., foreseeing the pos-
man Harris is unusual. It is cur- | ing business on the Island. sibilities of mechanical transporta-
rently reported that he has been | Excerpts from the letter state tlon asked to be consld ered for the
conducting .a personal campaign.that “until the commencement of
dealer franchise for that far-away
for the senate for a full year, and j this year, mechanical transport territory
that within that time he has spok-jwas prohibited. It is now sane-, v
en to more people in South Caro- j tioned, however, and we have im- *
lina than most people speak to in ported the first motor lorry that A London tailor declares that
men are'-shapely and women
of collecting shapeless. Probably the nurse
dustrikl prosperity and let our idle forest problem is 'twofold—first to er supposedly “influcfntial” men for raw material from our plantations, dropped him on his head when ho
bruk^y 15th. 'rtfe most practical lands remain unproductive and provide a timber supply for the fu-, their support. So the writer has and the cartage of prepared hemp was a baby.