it."

"I thought Pennsylvania was a great lumbering state," protested Lew.

"For a good many years it led the nation in the production of lumber,
young man, but now it ranks twentieth among the states. If only fire could
be kept out of the forests, we might some day raise our own timber again.
But the lumbermen chopped down the big trees and fire has destroyed the
little ones and even burned the forest soil so that nothing grows in it
again. We have not only destroyed our forests, but we have so injured the
land that new trees do not grow to take the place of those we cut."

The two boys stared at the lumberman in amazement. "Where do we get our
lumber from?" demanded Lew.

"Practically all of it comes from the South. That's one reason lumber
costs so much here. The people of Pennsylvania pay $25,000,000 a year in
freight charges on the lumber they use. That's one of the reasons those
cedar boards you were looking at cost so much. When the new freight rates
go into effect the cost of hauling our lumber to us will be something like
$40,000,000 a year."

The two boys were very thoughtful as they made their way back to Charley's
shop.

"What are people going to do for wood pretty soon?" Lew inquired of his
companion. "If we can't build a little boat because the wood costs too
much, how are people going to get homes and furniture and wagons and
motor-cars and a thousand other things? Seems to me pretty much everything
we use is made of wood."