Date of Award

6-1956

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The study, Henry Hardtner, Pioneer in Southern Forestry: An Analysis of the Economic Bases of His Reforestation Program, was under— taken to analyze the economic and institutional bases of an early decision to reforest cutover land as a private business venture. The case chosen is that of Henry E. Hardtner of Urania Lumber Company, who in 1913 secured the first reforestation contract with the State of Louisiana.

Chapter I portrays the streams of cultural influence which blended to form Louisiana’s forest land use heritage. The land-use traditions of the southeastern states, the naval-stores industry, the development of industrial logging in the South at the time of its migration from the Lake States, and the influences of German forestry ideas on the thought of the day, are considered.

Chapter II traces the beginnings of the Hardtner timber investments and the early growth of the Urania Lumber Company, followed by a biographical sketch of Henry Hardtner in Chapter III.

The silvicultural measures taken to implement the Urania reforestation program are considered in Chapter IV.

The economic aspects of the Urania reforestation program are dealt with in Chapter V. In a discussion of the cutover land problem in the South, Hardtner’s views are contrasted with those of his contemporaries. Hardtner’s analysis of compound interest in relation to forestry investments is developed.

Chapter VI deals with the economic aspects of the relationships involved in the transition of the lumber industry from a mining to a reproducing or regenerative one. The failure of Hardtner’s contemporaries to accept his thesis of the profitability of reforestation is attributed to the time span in timber production which was beyond the grasp of current economic expectations.

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.8323

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