Colon High School - Magi Yearbook (Colon, MI)

Page 33 text:

— — ■ . ■ = .......= =1 - latmtni iryartnuutt L — ,- =■ - ■ ■ ■ i- :. C- FOREST PRESERVATION ORATION Forestry is more and more becoming a national problem that must have careful and immediate attention. Forests are of the greatest importance to our nation. W hat would we do without wood for fuel and building? There are none of us who do not like the shade of the trees on a hot, dusty summer day. Besides these, there are uses of forests that do not conform to the rules of forestry. These uses must be abolished and artificial materials must take their place. It is very important that the trees annually cut for Christmas should have a chance to grow to maturity. These trees belong to the evergreen class and are valuable for lumber and many other things. Why cut a young tree when it is of so much use when mature? Our Christmas trees last us for a few days only, then they are laid aside or destroyed. Already our forests are in a critical condition because of the many uses of wood. In fact, wood is one of the most used substances in the world. If we would plant as many trees as we cut we would always have enough wood to supply our uses. But this has not been done in the past two centuries, and now our woods are being rapidly exhausted. Some time, our mineral supplies will give out. but with careful attention our forests will last throughout the ages. We should be willing to plant trees for their beauty alone. After many years one can look at a large stately tree that he has planted, with pride and satisfaction. It is a worthy deed to plant a tree. A century after we have planted a tree it will be of use to mankind, and were we living we would he honored for our work. When Christopher Columbus discovered America, this country was almost entirely wooded. But in about four hundred years the slaughter of our forests began. The pioneer thought nothing of cutting and burning wood, for there was lots of it and it was easy to get. He cut large tracts of forests to clear the land, and often he would do this by burning down whole forests. There were no forests when the Indian had dominion over the land. He knew that fires would destroy his villages and kill his people. But the white men were more careless. They often would leave smoldering fires which would take fire and burn large amounts of timber.

Page 32 text:

 CLASS ROLL Adams, Harold Bartholomew, Erwin Boussum, Cleon Bower, Bertha Bubb, Clare Burke, Bulah Danbury, Charlotte DeBaek, Leona Decker, Thelma Doran, Jack Godfrey, Louise Guthrie, Jessie Guthrie, Lucile Johnson, Bernice King, Lorene Knecht, Charlie Krick, Margaret Lamberson, Frank Lepley, Helena Loudenslager, William Maurer, Medford Miller, Aneta Phelps, Lela Rathburn, Evelyn Schrader, Lucile Scott, Waneta St urges, Floy Valyer, Merlin VanNortwick, William Wilder, Ray C SD Teacher “What is the last letter of the English alphabet?” John Yours Truly.” Miss Struble “Name a collective noun.” C. Boussum “A vacuum cleaner.” ALGEBRA CLASS Mr. Jaffe “jack Doran don’t tell anything.” J. Doran “Didn’t.” Mr. Jaffee “Probably not.”

Page 34 text:

111MI ((111111 f 111111111111111111111II1111111II111111M111 III 11111 (T, It ■ 11' 1111111ii11iiiiiii111111111111•1111•111111111111111111111111 As more people came to America, more land was cleared. Lumber companies were organized and the lumber cut was shipped to other countries. Soon we had a large lumber trade. This encouraged more companies, and soon our forests were being rapidly ruined with no young trees to take the place of the old ones cut. This slaughter continued until we now' have only a few' forests left. Most of these are in the hands of the government. The government has done much toward the preservation of our forests, but more must be done. The government forests are cared for and protected by men called forest rangers. These men have to always be on the lookout for forest fires. They have to report all fires and stop their progress with the aid of fire fighting crews. Resides owning forests, the government has nurseries in which young trees are grown and transplanted to make more forests. The preservation of our forests is of importance for several reasons. First, the water supplies of our cities are dependent indirectly upon the forest. For instance, the water supply of New York City comes from streams headed in the wooded peaks of the Adirondack mountains. If the trees w'ere removed from these streams, the streams would dry up in the summer and in th ‘ spring there would be great floods. The trees retain the moisture from the rain and snow and feed it gradually to the stream. Where, if there w'ere no trees, the snow' would melt quickly and run into the stream, causing floods. If these trees were removed, our great city would be destroyed. New York is not the only city that is affected in this way; there are many cities that get their w'ater from wooded streams. These forests must and will be protected by our government. Second, without our forests, in a few years the available supply of material for fuel would be exhausted. You may say, why should we bother about fuel, we have coal to burn. Most of you know that coal is derived from wood. If our forests were destroyed, there would be no vegetable matter to form our supply of coal, and in a few years our supply would be exhausted. Third, forests not only furnish fuel, but they add humus to the land. This aids in two ways. First, the humus goes through certain processes of decay to form coal. Second, the humus prevents the washing away of the soil. An example of this can be seen on hillsides from which the forests have been removed. In a few years gullies will be formed and the remaining humus will be washed to the foot of the slope. Streams will not wash away wooded banks. This is caused by the humus present.