The Lumberrnen's Side of Conservation

(Continued from Page 18) even greater than with most trees. Man needs Redwood and the things that are made fromthe bodies of these giants of the forest.

_ Today every Redwood tree is taxed. Taxed upon what ? Its commercial value. Not on its value as a tr-ee, but its value in terms of lumber and forest products. Suppose we should prohibit the cutting of such trees ? Automatically the commercial value of that tree ceases to exist. Taxation are few commercial woods that have properties that withstand the attacks of wind, and weather, and storm, and damp, Redwood does. It is particularly useful for rotresisting qualities, surpassing almost all other woods in that regard. Embedded in the damp earth, it resists decay_ Therefore it is a favorite wood for ioffin and casket manufacture. Subjected to constant damp it retains its strength and solid fiber. Therefore it is a favorite wood for building tanks, silos, drain surfaces, cooling towers, etc. It is a wonderful material for siding, and for porch material, and other uses where exposure to the weather soon rots out ordinary building woods..

Jhe great size of the Redwood tree is an asset, because it permits the manufacture of boards and planks of huge, dimensions and clear grain, impossible in- smaller trees. Planks four and five feet wide, any desired thickness and length, may easily be had from Redwood trees. Such planks are highly desirable for a multitude of uses in building and factory work.

Redwood has beautiful grain, and is susceptible to wonderful and varied finishes. It takes and holds paints and stains -marvelously well. In its natural grain -it is very beautiful and makes marvelous interior trim, furniture, eti. Its workability by hand and by machinery makes it doubly valuable, and its strength in proportion to its weight, takes high rank among softwoods.

A redwood resid.ence in Forest Hill, San Francisco's erclusive home d,istrict. upon that tree becomes impossible, for you cannot tax a valueless thing. The land upon which it stands becomes automatically valueless also. You can't grow crops in a forest, and where trees have no cash value, the land upon which they stand has none.

If you should stop the cutting of Redwood trees, you would stop the taxing of Redwood trees. And when you stop them both, total paralysis must come to those districts where the forests are the sole basis oT wealth. The camps, the mills must shut down, employment ceases, men and their families must go elsewhere for employment and a living. They can't turn to agriculture. You can't raise crops in a forest. The tax supported schools close. The tax supported local government must cease for want of support.

When the timber is cut into commercial lumber it goes outinto the world and performs a continual servicJ for mankind. Long-lived in the tree, Redwood is likewise longlived in commercial use, furnishing shelter for man and his possessions. A Redwood home may last for generations, for centuries in fact.

Redwood is a specialty wood-a premium wood. There

H. S. MORTON IN NORTHWEST

H. S. Morton, of Hill & Morton, Inc.. Oakland. is on a visit to the Northwest, where he will visit a number of the Oregon mills in company with T. L. Driscoll, manager of the company's Portland office. He expects to be bick at his desk on July 7.

And Redwood, unlike most woods, is not destroyed without replacing and rebuilding. More replanting and reforesting work is done in Redwood than in any other American commercial wood, by far.. For.-many years the, leading Redwood manufacturers of California have co-' operated in a magnificent campaign of reforesting. For every Redwood tree they cut down, they plant and protect thirty young Redwood shoots, and it is estimated that onethird of all these shoots survive and grow into the new forest that the Redwood interests are protecting frofn fire. So that for every Redwood tree that falls-and goes into the woll! furnishing service to mankind-ten young commercial Redwood trees come into existence.

So the Redwoods shall go on. The old trees fall, and perform their service. The young trees spring forth, and prepare for theirs. The virgin Redwood forests of California are being cut at a rate that would require from one hundred to one hundred and fifty years to remove. And fifty _years fr.om now there will be millions of young Redwood trees of commercial size, ready for the second cuttine. So we shall always have Redwoods in California.

It is proper and splendid that certain of the Redwood groves that extend along main highways in the state should be preserved for posterity. And proper and sacred that the bulk of these Redwood forests, ifter fruitless generations of _stretching upward toward the sun, should 6egin their endless terms of service to the race of Man.

S. M.HAUPTMAN RETURNS FROM NORTHWEST TRIP