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NEW YORK FORESTRY PAMPHLETS

VOL. ;z

Instructions for Reforesting Land. Forest, Fish and
Game Commission, C. R. Pettis, Forester.

Forest Fires of 1903, by William F. Fox. Forest,
Fish and Game Commission.

Bulletin No. 1, Vol. I, of the New York State Forestry
Association, June, 1914.

Forestry Affairs in New York. Bulletin of the Forest,
Fish and Game Commission. From the annual report
of William F. tfox, Supt. of State Forests.

Tree Nurseries in New York State, "by James S. Whipple.
Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner of New York.

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STATE OF NEW YORK

jfbrest, jfieb ant) (Same Commtesion

JAMES S. WHIPPLE

Commissioner

WILLIAM F. FOX

Superintendent of Forests

INSTRUCTIONS FOR

REFORESTING LAND

ALBANY

J. B. LYON COMPANY, STATE PRINTERS
1909

Main L-
forestry

-t^Axt'C*

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REFORESTING LAND.

Introductory.

The requests, for some information as to the best methods of
reforesting land have become so numerous that it seems advisable
to issue a pamphlet containing directions regarding the work.

So many of our people are now ready to undertake tree planting
operations that some definite, detailed instructions for their use
should be supplied. Hence we have combined here in one publica-
tion directions showing how to secure planting stock, what to plant,
where to plant, when to plant, how to plant, and some information
as to the results that may be expected.

How to Secure Stock.

The Forestry Department of the State of New York maintains
several large nurseries for the propagation of forest tree seedlings
and transplants — pine, spruce and other species — for reforesting
the public lands and for distribution at a nominal price among
land owners in this State who may wish to undertake reforesting
operations on their own account. The price of these seedlings and
transplants is small, being placed at the bare cost, but varies with
the age of the plant and species.

Any land owner who desires trees for planting land in order to
raise a forest can secure them while there is a supply on hand by
making application to this Commission.

299066

4

The application blank for 1909 was as follows:

jforest, fftsb ano 0ame Commission

Albany, N. Y.

Gentlemen. — The undersigned hereby applies for the following

number and kinds of trees for planting in the town of

County of State of New York :

White pine transplants at $4.25 per 1,000, f. o. b., Saranac

Inn, N. Y.
White pine seedlings at $2.25 per 1,000, f. o. b., Saranac

Inn, N. Y.
Scotch pine transplants at $3 . 75 per i , ooo, f. o. b., Saranac

Inn, N. Y.
Scotch pine seedlings at $2.25 per i.ooo, f. o. b., Saranac

Inn, N. Y.

DESCRIPTION OF LAND TO BE PLANTED.

Topography ... ,

Original growth

Present growth

Previous use of land

Kind of soil

In consideration of granting this application for trees at the
price stated, the undersigned hereby agrees:

1. To pay the purchase price of the trees to said Forest, Fish
and Game Commission within ten days after the granting of this
application.

2. That the trees hereby applied for shall be used by the under-
signed for the sole purpose of reforesting lands within the State of
New York.

3. That the trees shall not be sold, offered for sale, or given away
by the said applicant, or his agents, to any person.

5

4. That the trees shall be planted in accordance with instruc-
tions furnished by the Forest, Fish and Game Commission.

5. That the applicant shall furnish the Forest, Fish and Game
Commission from time to time, when asked for, reports in regard
to the condition of such plantings.

Signed

P. O

190 Express office

It will be noted that this application is a contract made with
this Commission. The first clause calls for payment within ten days
after the trees are granted. This gives us the opportunity to resell
any trees that the applicants do not pay for within that time. The
second clause is necessary because the law under which this work
is done requires that the trees shall be used for reforesting purposes.
No trees will be sold for ornamental planting. The third clause
prevents speculation and the interference with our work. The
fourth clause simply means that applicants should follow the
directions given in this pamphlet in regard to planting. The fifth
clause asks that reports stating the condition of the plantation be
made to this office, such information being desirable in order to
secure data in regard to the work for the benefit of others.

What and Where to Plant.

The soil where the planting is to be done will, in a measure,
determine what kind of trees should be used. The growth already
on the land wrhere the planting is to be done indicates the age or
size of the stock to be used.

Relation of Species and Soils. — No complete directions covering
such a large subject can be given in any small pamphlet, and in
some cases examination of the land would be desirable before
giving advice. There are, however, a few points that can be dis-
cussed generally here.

White Pine. — This species is usually found on sandy or light
soils, but it will do well on any land that is well drained. It will
thrive in good soil as well as any other tree when once established.
The better the soil, the stronger its growth will be.

Scotch Pine. — On the poorest, sterile soils the Scotch and red
pine makes a' faster growth than white pine, but the timber in these
species is not as valuable. These trees are particularly adapted to
such sites because they have a long root which goes deep in the
ground. The white pine is preferable, but on the poorest soils the
Scotch pine will make a more rapid growth.

Spruce. — Our native spruce is a slow-growing tree and difficult
to propagate. It develops so slowly that its use is not recommended.
The Norway spruce, which is used extensively abroad, is a much
faster grower and is equally desirable in all respects. It should be
used wherever spruce is to be planted. The spruces all require soil
of moderate quality, and should not be planted on sandy lands.
They will withstand a large amount of shade, and their use is
preferable for underplanting in an existing forest. It is also better
adapted than most of our conifers for planting in swamps or wet
locations.

Hardwoods. — At present we are not growing hardwoods in our
nurseries; but in the Spring of 1909 we will sow a quantity of
black locust and yellow poplar seed for distribution in 1910.

Whenever it is desired to raise oak or chestnut the acorn or nut
should be planted directly in the field where the future tree is
desired.

Size oj Coniferous Plants Used.— - The smaller the tree that can be
planted and succeed, the cheaper the work can be done and the
greater profit finally secured. There is less shock in moving small
plants than large ones, which makes the risk and expense in plant-
ing smaller trees less. The size of tree required in order to succeed
will be determined by the amount and nature of the vegetation
where the planting is to be done, i. e., the amount of competition
it will encounter in order to grow. Seedlings, two years old, are

large enough for planting on pasture or other lands where there is
little or no shade. If, however, there is a heavy growth of weeds,
or other plants making a dense shade, transplants should be used.
Otherwise, there will be too many failures.

When to Plant.

Planting is best done in the spring, as early as possible, so that
the trees may secure the benefit of the spring rains and become
well rooted before the season's growth takes place. We will ship
trees in the spring as early as possible, and they ought to be planted
at once.

How to Plant.

When the trees arrive they should be taken to the planting field
immediately and unpacked. The roots should be dipped in water
and the plants " heeled in "; i. e., placed upright in a ditch, and
the dirt packed tight around the roots. (See illustration.) They
can be kept in this manner while the planting is in progress.

The number of men required and the organization of the force
will depend entirely upon the amount of planting to be done. In
these directions we will assume that only a small number of trees
are to be set out — i. e., not over 10,000 plants. For larger opera-
tions the force must be increased.

The working unit is two men, one of them equipped with a grub
hoe, and the other with a pail for carrying the little plants. Two
men working thus as a pair — one making the hole and the other
planting the tree — will, after a little experience, set out about
1,000 transplants or 1,200 seedlings per day. If only a few thou-
sand trees are to be planted two men can do the work within the
required time; but if many thousand, several pairs of men will be
necessary.

The planting site having been selected, the men with the grub
hoes will begin making the holes in a straight line across the field.
It is well to set up a stake, or two, in order that the man digging

holes can move forward in a straight line. These stakes or poles
can be moved over and used again when making the next row of
holes. The planter follows immediately behind the grub-hoe man
setting a tree in each hole before the exposed soil becomes dry.
The planter's pail should always have enough muddy water in the
bottom to keep the tree roots wet.

In making a hole, it is well to cut off and remove a thin slice of
sod, as this gives the plant a better opportunity to grow. The
hole should be large enough to give room for the roots without
crowding; but on a light soil the least dirt that is moved in order
to set the plants properly the better it will be. The plant should
usually be placed in the ground at the same depth that it was
before; but on light, sandy soil it may be set slightly deeper. The
earth should be packed about the roots thoroughly, so that the
plant will be able to get all the moisture possible from the sur-
rounding earth. Care should be taken also to place the roots in
their natural position.

Special pains should be taken to prevent any exposure of the
roots to the sun. Once the roots become dry the plants are very
likely to die. The trees " heeled in " should be kept moist at
roots.

The men continue planting back and forth across the field until
the work is completed. The trees planted in these rows should
be set at regular distances apart and the rows also at even dis-
tances in order to properly utilize the soil and light and to secure
in time the greatest product. The spacing varies under different
conditions, but for general forest planting six feet apart both
ways is most desirable. When the trees are planted six feet apart
in the row, and the rows are made six feet distant, it will require
1,200 trees to plant an acre. It will be readily seen that the
interval used determines the number of trees required per acre, the
amount of labor necessary to plant them and the cost per acre of
the work.

It is absolutely necessary that a much larger number of trees be
planted on an acre than would be found in a mature forest. A
close, dense stand of trees is necessary while they are young in
order to produce a proper development in the future growth. The
close planting produces a crowded and shaded condition which
kills off the side branches when the trees are small, reduces the
number and size of the knots and finally makes a higher grade of
lumber. The dense stand also causes the trees to grow much
taller, and hence there will be more logs in a tree. The value of
this close planting is easily seen when we compare the difference
in trees which have naturally grown in a forest with those in the
open.

There are, however, other considerations than growing the
highest possible grade of wood material. We all realize that some
soils will produce much larger quantities of farm crops than others.
The land that is most likely to be used for tree planting will be
the poorer, meager soils of a small productive capacity. Hence,
in order to make the growing of wood crops profitable, considera-
tion must be given to the quality and productive capacity of the
soil where the planting is to be done. If twelve hundred trees
per acre are planted, we would naturally expect to grow a tree
having a diameter of twelve inches in less time than we would if
there were seventeen hundred trees per acre. Therefore, in order
to make planting profitable, we must not only grow good timber
in dense stand, but at the same time aim at a profitable harvest
in the shortest possible period.

Protection of Plantations.

After the plantation is made it should be protected from fire.
Any light fire, even if it burns over only the dry grass among the
little trees will kill or injure them, because their bark is very thin.
The plantation should be protected also from cattle, sheep or other
animals. Grazing should not be permitted.

Value of Planting.

In the destruction of forests by axe and fire which has been
taking place in this country ever since settlement began, vast areas
not adapted to agricultural purposes have been cleared, placed in
farms, tilled for a time, the soil exhausted and then abandoned.
These areas are of varying size, but in the aggregate are extensive.
In some places they include a few acres of an occupied farm; at
others they embrace entire abandoned farms. This land is lying
idle, is not producing any revenue for its owner; in fact, is held
at a loss because taxes must be paid, and the interest on the capi-
tal invested is lost. A large area of such idle land in any state is
just as serious an economic proposition as idle labor, because both
are non-productive.

Such land should be planted with small trees in order to grow
forest crops and reap a future profit. The resulting forests will
also make the country more beautiful, more habitable, more healthful
and more enjoyable. These forests will protect the hillsides from
erosion, prevent the floods which carry down debris and devastate
the low lands, and will make the water in the streams more equable
in its flow. These streams rendered cooler by the shade will sup-
port more fish, and the forest cover will also afford a shelter for
birds and game. We can secure all these benefits, and at the same
time realize a large profit from these idle lands if they are placed
under wood. crops.

Natural-grown forests are not the most valuable, because nature
does not utilize the light and moisture to the best advantage; but
by properly spacing the trees, as done in an artificial forest, more
and better trees can be grown in a shorter period.

We have not many planted forests in this country old enough
to give complete information of what can be expected from them.
Therefore, we have to use natural growth in determining the yields
from prospective wood crops. The quantity produced will, on the
average, be less than what would be obtained from planted forests;
therefore, these figures are conservative.

II

We have not yet had time to secure data in regard to the growth
of white pine in this State, but careful examinations and measure-
ments have been made in New Hampshire and Massachusetts
which are just as reliable as a basis for computing future growths
in New York as in those states.

The following yield table for white pine was constructed after
examining and measuring 177 sample plats in Massachusetts of
various ages in all parts of that state:

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White Pine Seedlings, 2 Years Old, Before Transplanting — ^ Natural Size.
New York State Nurseries.

White Pine, 4 Years Old, Once Transplanted — % Natural Size.
New York State Nurseries.

Scotch Pine, 4 Years Old, Once Transplanted — 3€ Natural Size.
New York State Nurseries.

Norway Spruce, 4 Years Old, Once Transplanted
New York State Nurseries.

Natural Size.

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Making the Hole

Photo C. R. Pettis

Photo C. R. Pettis

Planting a Seedling Tree.

-

This table indicates at a glance that much more timber can be
grown in the same period of time on good soil than on poor
soil. The highest production was found on the rich lowlands,
where the soil was deep, rich and moist, but withal well drained.
The upland pasture, our hillsides and upland plateaus, which form
the largest part of land where wood crops will be planted, is indi-
cated by soil quality two. The rate of growth here is not far below
that of soil quality one, because the pine finds its demands as re-
gards moisture, food supply, etc., well supplied. The third quality
of soil consists of the wet, cold, mucky swamps, or the most sterile
drifting sands. For the purpose of this publication soil of the
second quality will be considered, because this is the kind of soil
that will most largely be used for growing forest, raising crops of
timber and wood materials.

The table shows in a most striking manner how the quantity
of timber increases, with the age of the forest. It, therefore, shows
what a short-sighted policy and poor financial plan it is to cut
growing forests. It will be seen that a forest thirty years old contains
nearly twice as much lumber as one twenty-five years of age, or
a thirty-five-year-old crop three and one-half times as great as
when harvested at twenty-five years; also, that while it takes
twenty-five years to grow the first 6,750 feet of lumber nearly
40,000 feet more can be grown in a second twenty-five years — i. e.,
allowing the crop to grow fifty years.

The land owner is also interested in knowing what he may ex-
pect in the way of financial returns as well as quantity production.
For this purpose the following interesting tables, which were pre-
pared by the State Forest Service of Massachusetts, are herewith
published with the permission of Frank Wm. Rane, State Forester
of Massachusetts :

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21

There is profit not only in growing white pine, but also Norway
spruce and many other kinds of wood. With permission of Mr.
George Aiken, manager of the Billings farm at Woodstock, Ver-
mont, we submit the following data in regard to profits derived
from growing Norway spruce on that farm. One acre was planted
with three-year-old Norway spruce, eight feet apart each way,
requiring 289 trees to the acre. The land was poor, sandy hill-
side, unfit for cultivation. In 1908, when the plantation was
thirty-two years old, or thirty-five years from seed, four average
sized trees were cut. Their measurements were as follows:

No. i 72 ft. high, ii inch butt cut, 46^ ft. of logs 6" at top end

" 2 S7 " IS ' 47i "

3 63 " ' 14 ' 42 '

4 67 " ' 16 ' 40 '

Four trees produced one cord of pulp wood; or the acre, if cut,
would have yielded 172^ cords, which at the prices paid there at
the present time, $6.50 per cord, would give the income from this
acre $1,120.00 in thirty-two years.

Placing the value of the land at $5.00 per acre, cost of trees and
planting at $5.00 additional, making a first cost of $10.00 per acre
computed at compound interest would amount to $65.50. To this
should be added the taxes for the thirty-two years $7.50, making
a total investment of $73.00, leaves a net income of $1,046.86, or
a yearly average of $36.72 per acre, from poor, wornout side hill
pasture land worth about fifty cents per annum for grazing. The
pulpwood cut here was sold to the International Paper Company,
who made it into paper at the Bellows Falls Mill. Mr. Edward
Barrett, superintendent of this mill, reports as follows: " The
Norway spruce test: One cord of rough wood, 71 sticks 4 feet long,
after preparing for grinder room, gave us 98 cubic feet. This made
1,828 pounds of dry woodpulp. The spruce worked nicely on the
paper machine, arid under the same conditions as our regular
spruce, gave us a higher test for strength and a brighter shade,
with the same amount of color."

22

With all these facts we hope our farmers and woodland owners
will be impressed with the profit they can derive from planting
their idle land.

This Commission is just as much interested in the forests or
wood lots of any private owner as it is in the great forests of the
Adirondacks or Catskills,, which are under our jurisdiction, and we
will at all times be glad to render any land owner assistance so far
as circumstances will permit.

STATE OF NEW YORK

forest, jfisb anfc Game Commission

BULLETIN

FOREST FIRES OF 1903

By WILLIAM R FOX

Superintendent of Forests

ALBANY

OLIVER A. QUAYLE

STATE LEGISLATIVE PEINTER

1904

Report of the Superintendent of Forests.

To the Forest, Fish and Game Commission:

Gentlemen. — I respectfully submit herewith my annual report in
relation to the work of the Forestry Department and such other
business as was entrusted to its care during the past year.

FOREST FIRES.

Owing to the prolonged drought last spring, together with certain
causes beyond the control of the Department, the forest fires at that
time were the most extensive and destructive of any that have
occurred since the organization of the Forest Commission. Other
States suffered serious losses also, the extent of the burned areas
and destruction of timber in some of them exceeding that in New
York.

The woodland fires in the Adirondacks generally occur in April
and May. At this time of year the ground in our forests is covered
with a thick layer of dead leaves which, with the first warm sun and
south wind, become so dry that a single spark will ignite them and
start a blaze that will immediately spread in all directions, or, under
the influence of a strong breeze, travel rapidly over brush lands
and through the timber belts. If, in its course, it reaches the slash or
dry refuse of an old lumber job, the flames cannot be controlled,
and the fire increases in its headway and intensity.

In June, or after the hardwood trees are in full leaf, there
is little danger. Fires occur but seldom then; and if they do they
cannot run far, as the dense shade and leafy undergrowth retain
moisture and promote conditions that prevent any serious damage.

During the last eighteen years we have had but one serious fire in
the summer, that of 1899, which was due to the extraordinary heat
and prolonged drought in August and September of that year. The
xfires at that time occurred mostly on open, waste lands; and it
was noticed that in many places their progress was arrested when
they reached a body of green timber. But in April and May of
every year, when the trees and undergrowth are bare, the mass of
dead leaves, stumps, and fallen tree trunks are exposed to the sun
and drying action of the wind, rendering them highly inflammable
and ready to burst into flames wherever a spark may fall or a camp
fire be left carelessly burning.

No rain, except slight local showers, fell in the Adirondack region
from April 4th to June nth. The month of May was the dryest in
77 years — since 1826. In Albany the rainfall was only .15 of an
inch, and it was still less in Northern New York. Combined with
the lack of rain there was an unusually high temperature, the month
of May showing an accumulated excess above the normal of 89 de-
grees. On May 6th and I9th the temperature at Saranac Lake was
in the eighties. On the 2/th the mercury stood at 85 degrees, with
a strong south wind blowing; and on June 6th and 7th it reached
over 90 degrees in the shade.

In the early spring this year, soon after the ground was free from
snow, several small fires occurred ; but, as usual in other years, these
were quickly extinguished by the firewardens and their men before
the flames had attained any headway or done any damage. In the
latter part of April forest fires broke out with alarming frequency
along the lines of the New York Central, the Chateaugay, the New
York and Ottawa, and the Saranac and Lake Placid railroads.

At first the firewardens extinguished these railroad fires wherever
they appeared; but the locomotives continued to throw sparks and

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start fresh ones faster than the men could attend to them. The
dead leaves, bushes, undergrowth, stumps, logs, and leafless trees
became so dry that it was only by the utmost exertion, combined
with skillful, experienced methods, any one fire could be controlled.
The conditions were such that incipient fires sprang up in the wake
of nearly every railroad train. The line of the New York Central,
from Fulton Chain to Mountain View, was bordered with smoke and
flames, except on the eight-mile stretch through the private preserve
of Dr. William Seward Webb, where a large number of patrols were
employed at his expense to follow each train, night or day, and
extinguish the locomotive sparks that fell along the road.

A question may arise here — Why did not the firewardens do the
same? But the law defining their duties does not permit them to
employ men until a fire is seen ; it makes no provision for patrolling,
or for the prevention of fires. Nevertheless, when it became evident
that patrolling was absolutely necessary to save the remaining forest
in certain localities, orders were issued to watch the railroads at these
exposed places, after which few new fires started along the track,
and the larger gangs of men were employed in fighting those which
were already burning.

Another disastrous condition existed in the wind which was blow-
ing steadily most of the time, generally from the northwest, and
which on April 3Oth became a furious gale that filled the air with
sand and gravel, forcing travelers on the highways to seek shelter,
and pelting the buildings with a sound like that of driving hail. The
wind carried sparks and burning brands from the railroad fires a
long distance through the air and started fresh flames miles away.
The dry condition of the forest generated an intense heat when once
fairly aflame, rendering it extremely difficult and dangerous to ap-
proach a burning area except on the safe side. In the fire on Town-

ship 41, where the large trees grew close to the side of a quiet pool
in the inlet of Big Moose Lake, the burning timber threw out a fierce
heat that raised the temperature in the pool so that its surface was
strewn thickly with dead trout. These were the conditions under
which the firewardens and their men were obliged to fight in the
fires of 1903.

At the first outbreak of the trouble the attention of the railroad
authorities was called to the dangerous conditions existing along
their respective lines, whereupon they issued orders that the screen
on each locomotive should be inspected, and that defective ones
should be repaired immediately. Still the engines continued to throw
sparks and ignite the dead grasses along the track, or kindle flames
in the dry brush and fallen leaves along the boundaries of the adja-
cent forest. As the resident population was too small in numbers
to cope successfully with the increasing fires, the New York Central
sent several carloads of Italian laborers to assist in the work along
their line, for which no charge was made to the town or State. The
superintendent of the Adirondack Division in compliance with a re-
quest from this Department placed patrols, one man to the mile, on the
Saranac branch in order to protect the State plantation of 700 acres
near that portion of his line. Freight trains were divided and run
in two sections, for the purpose of lessening the load on the engines
and thereby decreasing the force of the exhaust; and on May 7th
orders were issued discontinuing some of the freight trains tempo-
rarily in hopes that rain would soon relieve the situation.

But the officials of the Saranac & Lake Placid Railroad made no
apparent effort to lessen the danger from their trains, and manifested
a surprising indifference when notified of the destruction caused by
their locomotives. The great fire which at one time threatened the
hotels at Lake Placid, and burned over an area of several square

miles, was started by a locomotive on that road. At this time a
construction company was engaged in the work of widening the
gauge of this line and making a new roadbed in places. In the
performance of its contract this company employed some small
engines — such as are used by contractors in railroad building —
which were evidently starting some of the fires along that line as
well as the locomotives on the regular trains. The chief firewarden,
Mr. L. S. Emmons, while watching one of these construction engines,
saw two fires start up behind it immediately after it passed by. On
its return he stopped it, examined the stack, and found it without a
screen of any kind. He compelled the engineer to put one on before
going any further; but he could not arrest the man, because the
section in our fire law relating to railroads makes no provision for
any such action. Under the law he could only sue the engineer in
a civil action, and, if successful, recover $100. But he would have
the railroad company to contend with instead of the individual as
the actual defendant, the case would be appealed to the higher courts,
and years might elapse and thousands be expended by the State
before he got the hundred dollars.

Although the railroad officials claimed that every locomotive was
properly screened in compliance with the law, there were nights when
the unusual quantity and size of the coals thrown from some stack
could be plainly seen in the darkness, and indicated that the appliance
was not in good condition.

On the other hand we had cases like this : A fire was started May
1 3th near Colby pond, Franklin county, by sparks from engine No.
683 of the New York Central Railroad, which destroyed several
hundred acres of timber. A forestry official immediately obtained
permission to examine the screen of this engine; but he found it
unbroken and in proper condition. Most of the iron netting used

8

for locomotive screens has a mesh five-sixteenths of an inch square,
or two and one-half openings to the linear inch ; and experts assert
that a locomotive cannot " make steam " with a mesh of smaller size.
Still, live coals as large as a pea will be thrown by the exhaust
through nettings of this pattern. The screens are not placed in the
stack as many suppose ; but are bolted firmly to a framework in the
forward extension of the boiler. The sparks and live coals from the
flues or tubes first strike a solid wrought iron shield, which slopes
downward at an angle of 45 degrees, and are deflected to the bottom
of the smoke box, after which such as are carried upward by the
draft strike the screen, which slopes upward and forward, and, with
the exception of the smaller ones that go through this netting, fall
back. But in the little engines used by the contractors on con-
struction work — such as the ones just referred to — the screen is in
the stack.

On the nineteen miles of the Raquette Lake Railway, running
through the State forest from Clearwater to Durant, no fires oc-
curred ; because, in granting a charter for this road the Legislature
stipulated that the locomotives must use petroleum for fuel.

The railroad officials expressed themselves as anxious to do every-
thing practicable to prevent the starting of fires by their locomotives,
as the company is legally responsible for all damages arising from
this source. They manifest an interest in forest preservation also,
because their summer traffic is dependent on it.

Our present law is insufficient in its provisions to prevent a recur-
rence of these railroad fires, and the only remedy lies in an amend-
ment compelling the companies to use electric motors or petroleum
burners ; or, failing to do this, to patrol their lines during the dry
season with a sufficient number of men to extinguish the live coals
and sparks wherever they may fall outside the tracks.

A Knechtel, photo.

SPARK ARRESTER, OR SCREEN, IN LOCOMOTIVE.

The manhole hi the center has a mesh of the same size as

the rest of the screen.

In the forests of Germany, although traversed most everywhere by
railroads,there is no loss caused by locomotives; at least, the fires
from this source are so few and far between that the woodlands of
that country are practically exempt from this evil, a fact often al-
luded to in discussing the damage to woodlands caused by railroads in
the Adirondacks. But it must not be inferred from this that the wide-
spread destruction of standing timber, caused by the railroads in
Northern New York, is due to any inefficiency on the part of the
forest management. The conditions differ widely from those in the
European forests — conditions beyond the control of the Department.

The locomotives in Europe throw sparks the same as here. But
in a German forest, where timber cuttings have been made, there is
an entire absence of tree tops, limbs and brush. All this is removed
when the timber is taken out, leaving the forest floor clean and free
from inflammable material. Moreover, there is scarcely any under-
growth, aside from the seedlings which are to furnish the future
crop; while in some forests, even these are not found, the ground
being as free from litter or young growth as a city park. The right
of way along the railroads is cut out to a greater width than in our
State, and is entirely free from logs, stumps, and bushy growth.
Except in mountainous districts, the land between the railroad tracks
and the adjoining forest is ploughed, leaving a broad strip of fresh,
upturned earth over which a creeping fire cannot pass. Where the
right of way is wide enough two strips of fresh earth are thus
exposed, which are connected at short intervals by cross-ploughing,
thereby preventing a fire running lengthwise in the grass between
the strips. A good example of this may be seen by tourists in travel-
ing along the railroad from Heidelberg to Darmstadt. I mention
this route in particular as so many of our summer tourists travel
that line. For many miles this railroad is bordered on either side

IO

by contiguous forests of Scotch Pine, a highly resinous species.
The ground is level, sandy, and easily ploughed.

But in our Adirondack forests we have entirely different and more
dangerous conditions. The forests along the railroad lines, owing
to their accessibility, have all been lumbered recently, and the ground
is covered, waist deep, with dead tree tops, limbs, and dry brush.
When a surface fire starts at the railroad track and reaches this
mass of tinder a furious conflagration ensues, which can be extin-
guished only by the most arduous work, and at great expense. It
is useless to talk about ploughing along our railroad lines as done in
Germany. Any one who has traveled over the line of the Adiron-
dack divisions and noted the topography will readily understand the
difficulties of attempting such a method. In place of the level, sandy
soil, so often found in European forests, there is a rocky, uneven
surface interspersed with stumps. The right of way presents a
succession of steep knolls and depressions; and even if the stumps
were grubbed out by the roots, the broken rock, which crops out
everywhere, renders plowing impracticable.

Furthermore, it is doubtful whether any law could be passed, even
if it were constitutional, that would enable the State to dictate to
the lumbermen as to how they should conduct their business on
private lands. The lumberman cannot convert his tops and limbs
into money, as is the case in Germany; neither do we have the
peasantry who would go into the woods afterwards and clean up
every faggot and little twig. The time will undoubtedly come when,
with a scarcity of wood and higher prices, our forests will be ex-
ploited in as safe and intelligent a manner as abroad. But, until
then, we must recognize existing conditions, and in our forest
management modify them as best we can. Any talk about European
forestry with reference to our railroad fires is therefore a waste of

H. G. Stevens, photo.
FOREST OF FREIDRICHSRUH, GERMANY.

This forest borders on a railroad ; but no fires occur, for the
limbs and brush are all removed when the timber is cut The
low stumps show where the trees were removed.

H. G. Stevens, photo.
A BEECH FOREST IN NORTHERN PRUSSIA.

The pile of brush in the foreground shows how thoroughly
the ground is cleared of inflammable material. A railroad runs
through this forest.

II

time, and any indulgence in it betrays an ignorance of the actual
situation.

But all the Adirondack fires did not originate along the railroads ;
there were other causes at work. At this season of the year there
are a large number of fishermen in the woods, many of them belong-
ing to a careless, shiftless class, unworthy the name of sportsmen.
They employ no guides, but straggle aimlessly through the forests,
camping out wherever night overtakes them. As they move on from
place to place they generally leave their camp fires burning; when
they make coffee at noon they use little or no effort to extinguish the
small fire kindled for that purpose. With the woods as dry as they
were last spring, several fires which started up in remote, unfre-
quented places were fairly attributable to fishermen of this class,
some of whom were reported as having been seen in these localities.

Hitherto we have had but little success in prosecuting these offend-
ers, because it was so difficult under the circumstances to secure the
positive evidence necessary to conviction. The local juries, too
often in sympathy with the defendant, refuse to render a verdict for
the State on presumptive evidence merely. The only remedy for this
evil is the employment of patrols in sufficient number so that each
fishing party can be followed and closely watched. This plan may
be expensive, but it would be far cheaper than fighting the fires
which otherwise will occur.

With few exceptions the private preserves escaped damage; for
the lands of this description were thoroughly patroled by men in the
employ of the owners. A notable exception, however, was the
Rockefeller Preserve, through which the line of the New York and
Ottawa Railroad runs for several miles, and which was burned ex-
tensively by fires started by locomotives before measures were taken
to thoroughly patrol the road.

12

As in previous years some of the burned area was due to farmers
who kindled their brush or fallows in violation of the law forbidding
agricultural work of this kind between April ist and June ist. But
each offender of this class, as shown farther on in this report, was
arrested and punished.

Some conflagrations were started by incendiaries and degenerates,
prompted by malice, revenge, or criminal instincts. It has been
alleged that some fires were set by men in order to get employment ;
but no evidence whatever has been furnished thus far in support of
this theory. The rate of wages for fighting fire in each town is fixed
by the town board of auditors — not by the State. The price varies
in the different towns from $1.25 to $2 per day. The work, when
properly performed, is the hardest and most exhaustive that men
are ever called upon to do, and the wages paid were none too high
for the service rendered. In view of the scarcity of labor and high
wages in the Adirondacks there was little or no need of any one
becoming an incendiary in order to get work. A man who would
set fire to the woods is a criminal in every sense of the word. Now,
a criminal will commit crime in order to evade work — but not to
get work. The arduous service required by the firewardens offers
no inducement to men of this character. Granted, that bad men will
burn the woods through motives of revenge ; but hardly to get honest
employment. In each case where a man was convicted of incendiar-
ism last spring, it was noticed that he had not applied to any fire-
warden for employment. Furthermore, the towns, as a rule, do not
pay immediately, but wait until the board of supervisors meets in
December to apportion the money for the .payment of their fire
accounts and other expenses; and these payments are delayed still
further until the taxes then levied can be collected. Every man in
the Adirondacks knows this; for the delay is a matter of common

13

complaint. I am aware that some of the lumber companies paid
cash down to the men who protected their property at this time, but
as these men were called from other work for this purpose they did
not have to light brush heaps in order to get a job. Even if it should
appear conclusively that some man had kindled the woods in order
to get work, it would be absurd to abandon the employment of men
for fighting forest fires on that account; for men will not perform
the hard labor necessary for the protection of forest property with-
out pay. If, as claimed by some, the rate of wages is unneces-
sarily high in this service, the auditing board of each town has the
remedy in its own hands. I have discussed this matter before in
previous reports, and regret that it seems necessary to allude to it
again.

Another serious condition which confronts our forest manage-
ment in the Adirondacks is the ever increasing number of residents.
I do not refer to our summer hotels and their patrons. The trouble
is caused by the farmers who are carrying on agricultural operations
of a minor character, and by the large number of men who remain
in the region after the lumbering operations on which they were
employed have ceased. Fifty years ago, when there were scarcely
any people in our woods, forest fires were almost unknown. Fires
do not start spontaneously; some man or railroad is responsible for
them in every case. The more railroads we have, the more of the
idle, shiftless class remaining there, the greater the danger to our
woodlands. It is to be hoped, however, that the State in carrying
out its policy of acquiring lands will purchase the holdings of the
small farmers, together with other petty interests detrimental to the
safety of forest property, and thereby minimize this prolific source
of evil.

Though an unpleasant duty, attention is called to the laxity of

14

public opinion which prevails in certain parts of the Adirondack
region as to the cause of forest fires. In nearly every village there
is a disreputable class whose presence is inimical to the preservation
of our forests. They are the men who, having been arrested at
some time for violation of the Game Law or timber stealing, have a
grievance against the authorities. They hang around hotels or
taverns and when any so-called " State man " is in hearing, delight
in making threats that " the State has got to look out or there will
be more fires in the woods," to which the bystanders listen with
smiles or nods of approval. It is discouraging to post the rules and
regulations regarding the use of fire, only to have them torn down
by a fellow who afterwards struts around some barroom bragging
of his exploit. Nor is this all. It frequently occurs that when a
farmer willfully burns his fallow in defiance of the law and warnings
of the firewarden, thereby destroying the adjacent forest, the citizens
refuse to furnish evidence of the crime although they are fully cog-
nizant of the facts.

Aside from the railroads the remedy for this evil lies with the
residents themselves. It rests with them to create a healthy public
sentiment that will prevent the careless and criminal use of fire.
If the taxes caused by the expense of protecting forest property in
the town become burdensome, they are largely responsible for it ; and
instead of spending their time in useless complaint they can utilize
it better in remonstrating with the men who carelessly or wilfully
violate the law.

Whatever the causes of the fires may have been, there was no
remissness or inefficiency on the part of the firewardens in attacking
them promptly and energetically wherever they broke out. Every-
thing was done that human activity and experience could accom-
plish. I heard some unfavorable criticism at times; but it came

from persons who were hanging around hotels, stores, or railroad
stations — men who refused to work when ordered out, preferring to
spend their time in finding fault with those who were at work, and in
explaining to each other how the thing should be done. There are
132 town firewardens appointed by the Commission, each one of
whom appoints district firewardens in his town, making 66 1 in all.
In this large number there are, undoubtedly, some who are not as
competent, or as well adapted to the work as could be desired. But
so far as I can learn each one of them did the best he could.

As the fires increased in number it became difficult to get men
enough to fight them. The railroad companies brought in large
gangs of laborers from outside the woods to work along their lines ;
but that did not relieve the situation at other places. A great many
who had turned out willingly and fought fire at the start, abandoned
the work after .a while, explaining that they could not afford to
labor any longer and wait on the town nine months for their pay.
I then made an arrangement with some of the lumber companies,
whose lands were in danger, to send in all the men they could spare
from their jobs and to advance the cash needed to pay them promptly,
the companies to wait for reimbursement until the towns could settle
the account. Under this agreement a large number of experienced
woodsmen were set to work.

But this did not help materially in protecting the great areas of
State forest in which there was no resident population, and in which
no one had any individual interest. Everywhere, with few excep-
tions, men refused to fight fire on State land if they had to depend
on the town for their money. In this emergency I applied to Gov-
ernor Odell who promptly requested the Comptroller to place $15,000
at the disposal of the Commission. With this fund available we
were able, whenever a fire broke out in the Preserve, to hire quickly

i6

a gang of selected men and set them to work. Of the total burned
area in the Adirondack and Catskill forests, only 12 per cent, was
State land, this low percentage and immunity from extensive loss
being due largely to the assistance rendered by the Governor.

There seems to be an impression on the part of some people that
the efforts of the firewardens were of little avail ; and that the termi-
nation of the fires was due solely to rain. This is an error to a great
extent. The rain was certainly a great blessing ; but when it finally
came, June nth, the greater part of the fires had been extinguished,
or were under control, although the burned area in many places was
still smoking. By the phrase " under control " I mean that the
wardens had reported that these fires were completely coralled, and
that a crew was on watch to prevent any fresh outbreak.

In many cases, as just stated, the flames were completely extin-
guished— the one on Township 41, for instance, which occurred on
State land in a heavily timbered spruce forest that had never been
lumbered. In other places, where the progress of the fire had been
effectually stopped, the burned area continued to smoke and smolder,
owing to the extraordinary dry conditions; but the ground was
closely guarded, and whenever there was any indication that the wind
might cause a fresh outbreak measures were taken to prevent it.

A noticeable example of good work was seen at Fulton Chain Sta-
tion, where by judicious back-firing and effective work a general dis-
aster was averted and the village saved from destruction. On Town- •
ship 28, Hamilton county, also, the lumber crews, acting under the
direction of Mr. John Anderson and the Chief Firewarden, after
working night and day, stopped a large fire that threatened at one
time to sweep over the entire town. Many other instances where
extensive and dangerous fires were fought to a standstill without the
aid of a rainfall could be cited if necessary.

* ^ 4 *

. ' V4";

17

Though they extinguished many fires new ones were starting con-
tinually, and the question may arise as to why this was permitted.
But under the weather conditions no earthly power or organization
could prevent this evil when locomotives were daily kindling fires in
the dry grass along the railroads, and wandering fishermen were
leaving their smudge and coffee fires burning in the woods uncared
for. The city of Chicago had a model fire department, but that did
not prevent the great catastrophe in 1871, when a large portion of
the city was destroyed by fire. And so the firewardens of Northern
New York, energetic and efficient as they are in fighting fire, have to
work under discouraging conditions so long as the railroads and care-
less natives are continually firing the woods.

Every effort was made to enable the gangs to work to good advan-
tage. The best time to check a large fire is early in the morning — at
daybreak — for the flames die down in the night. The air then is cool
and damp ; there is little or no wind. Where a fire occurred at any
considerable distance from a camp or boarding house, the crew was
ordered to remain there all night and sleep on the ground, arrange-
ments having been made at the same time to send in food and blank-
ets to them. This involved no hardship, as the men were used to
camping out ; moreover the nights, with one exception, were warm,
and there was no rain. In each case of this kind the firewarden was
ordered to make a contract for food supplies and some simple camp
equipment at the nearest store, lumber camp, hotel or boarding
house, and to detail one or more men with pack baskets to carry in
this material. Under this plan many fires were checked and extin-
guished which could not have been controlled by fighting them in the
daytime only, and allowing the crew to leave their work at a critical
time to go some distance for meals and lodging. Expenses thus
incurred were assumed by the towns as well as the wages of the men.

i8

Some idea of the activity with which the work was carried on is
attested by the fact that 6,487 men were ordered out by the wardens,
and that the total number of days worked at the fires in the Adiron-
dacks amounted to 77,290. Moreover there was only a sparse popu-
lation to draw from. Hamilton county, one of the largest in the
State, has only 4,947 people all told — men, women and children.

Had it not been for the active, efficient work of the wardens and
their men during this prolonged drought, the numerous fires would
have coalesced — " run together " as it is termed — and the Adiron-
dack forest would have been destroyed, leaving nothing but a bare
and blackened ruin throughout its entire extent.

A careful tabulation of the firewardens' reports of each and every
fire enables me to submit the following result:

Acres of timber land burned 292,121

Acres of brush land burned 172,068

Value of standing timber destroyed $666,207

Value of logs, pulpwood, etc., destroyed $145,457

Value of buildings burned $34,418

Total number of days' labor 77,290

* Acres of State timber land burned . 33,698

f Acres of State brush land burned " 24,420

CATSKILL FOREST FIRES — 1903.

Acres of timber land burned 20,469

Acres of brush land burned 15,860

Value of standing timber destroyed $29,075

Value of pulpwood, etc., destroyed $7,934

Value of buildings burned $25

Total number of days' labor 4,492

* Acres of State timber land burned 100

f Acres of State brush land burned 65

* Included in first item, t Included in second item.

19

LOSSES BY COUNTIES.
Adirondack Region.

COUNTIES.
Clinton

3 Total days' labor.
f

o>

|

"o

Jl

M
3

jo
o
Bj

3. /(7O

/>

^ Value standing
3 timber de-
£ stroyed.

di

•3-0

o. .-

v o o*
|I5

^ Value buildings,
£j 'fences, etc.,
" burned.

Essex

IO* 704

12,7%%

24, 7OI

% % , 87O

or. •joe

16,80?

Franklin

26,678

84,081

4^,287

T 70 . 272

e, TQ«

Fulton

810

2, 155

2-89O

IOO

7C

Hamilton

. . n, 882

CA, 317

6,638

2C7, ec;o

2, 7/16

7, TTC

Herkimer

5, ego

40,280

1%, 171

Lewis

2O, 990

3O, 8OO

4. ficn

Oneida ,

1 1 TO7

4,66=;

4» 720

9 5

St. Lawrence . . . .

. IO,22I

68,076

=;8»Q74

26o

12, 532

2, 380

Saratoga

271

196

780

I,40O

140

Warren ,

2 , 5 34

6,091

2, 376

11,76%

S62

Washington

860

610

164.

I, 6OO

3^

Total

77,290

292, 121

172,068

$666,207

$I4.C.AC7

$34,418

Delaware

I. "?87

Catskill
3,694

Region.
3,231

10

Greene

921

1 ,207

4,27O

1 2O

Sullivan

i , 775

13, 170

8,884

21,215

2,138

15

Ulster

409

2,368

2,538

405

165

Total

4,4Q2

20,469

15,860

$29,O75

$7,934

$25

L submit here, also, a statement showing the indebtedness incurred
by each town for wages, teams, tools, and supplies, one-half of which
is a legal charge against the State. If in certain instances the amount
stated does not agree with that claimed by the town, it is because
some items were disallowed by the chief firewarden in his examina-
tion of the accounts.

20

Black Brook
Dannemora .
*Altona. .

Clinton County.

$1,044 75 Ellenburg $214 50

103 30 Saranac 175 50

Chesterfield
Elizabethtown .,
Essex ,

Jay • ,

Keene ,

Lewis

Minerva

Moriah .'..

Newcomb .

Essex County.

$228 47 North Elba $8,290 82

1,859 31 North Hudson 6,015 18

St. Armand 1,960 05

242 74

.... 162 63
2725

26 75
413 14 Schroon .. .
1,545 30 Ticonderoga
Wilmington

Altamont
Belmont .,
Brandon ..
Brighton ,
Dickinson
Duane .

Bleecker .,
Caroga . .

119 50

1,581 91 Willsborough 143 66

1,063 °8 Westport 357 17

6,178 84

Franklin County.

$4,673 90 Franklin $5,262 25

2,300 oo Harrietstown 2,003 °°

1,51165 Malone 3.3839°

3,317 oo Santa Clara 3,682 75

1,300 12 Waverly 3,222 95

3,823 65

Fulton County.

$890 40 Mayfield $180 87

370 50 Stratford 740 60

Hamilton County.

Arietta

Benson

Hope

Indian Lake .
Lake Pleasant

*No bill rendered to the

$468 10

606 50

69 50

5,581 34
712 90

Commission.

Long Lake $17,897 54

Morehouse
Wells ....
Inlet .

474 25
876 50
174 40

21

Herkimer County.

Ohio $11165 Webb $8,14838

Russia 445 85 Wilmurt 2,899 75

Salisbury 371 oo

Lewis County.

Croghan $2,402 53 Lyonsdale $663 22

*Denmark *Martinsburgh

Diana 904 27 Montague 5 oo

Greig 1,880 04 Osceola 33 50

*Highmarket Watson 1,515 82

Oneida County.

Forestport $2,300 oo Remsen $185 oo

St. Lawrence County.

Clare $1,420 25 Hopkinton $2,334 23

Clifton 3,598 13 Parishville 1,425 46

Colton 4,780 oo Piercefield 2,127 10

Edwards 388 74 Pitcairn 460 65

Fine 2,41 1 32 Russell 7°4 64

Saratoga County.

Corinth $33525 Edinburgh $12725

Day 250 Hadley... 11960

Warren County.

Bolton $77 90 Luzerne $452 03

Caldwell 471 15 Queensbury 97 1 90

Chester 193 50 Stony Creek 140 oo

Hague 251 45 Thurman 702 90

Horicon 174 80 Warrensburg 300 25

Johnsburgh 1,842 84

*No bill rendered to the Commission.

22

Washington County.

*Dresden Putnam $100 05

Fort Ann $663 oo Whitehall 826 30

*Hart£ord

CATSKILL COUNTIES.
Delaware County.

Andes $134 30 *Roxbury

Colchester 187 20 *Stamford

Hancock 2,040 45 Tompkins $673 50

*Kortright Walton 218 35

Middletown 305 42

Greene County.

Cairo $54 25 *Jewett

Catskill 22 50 Lexington $232 50

*Halcott Windham 124 62

Hunter 1,388 45

Sullivan County.

Callicoon $167 oo Highland $123 50

Cochecton 58 50 Lumberland 579 50

Delaware 99 oo Mamakating 316 79

Fallsburgh 58 36 *Neversink

Forestburgh 707 50 Rockland 368 25

Fremont 188 05 *Tusten

Ulster County.

Denning $97 18 *Rochester

*Gardiner Shandaken $31 1 50

Hardenburgh 12 50 Shawangunk 20 90

*Lloyd Wawarsing 215 55

New Paltz 6 oo Woodstock 377 71

Olive ... 1-22 oo

* No bill rendered to the Commission.

23

SUMMARY.
Adirondack Counties.

Clinton county $1,538 05

Essex county 30,215 80

Franklin county 34486 17

Fulton county 2,182 37

Hamilton county 26,861 03

Herkimer county 1 1,976 63

Lewis county 7,404 38

Oneida county 2,485 oo

St. Lawrence county 19,650 52

Saratoga county 584 60

Warren county 5,5?8 72

Washington county ^589 35

$144,552 62

Catskill Counties.

Delaware county $3,559 22

Greene county 1,822 32

Sullivan county 2,666 45

Ulster county 1,163 34

9,211 33

Total $153,763 95

The area burned over, as reported by each firewarden, was care-
fully proved or corrected by referring to the recorded acreage of
each lot mentioned in his report. At the same time no deduction
was made for the fact that on many lots the fire ran across in streaks,
a part or parts of the tract thus escaping damage. For this reason
the area reported exceeds somewhat the actual acreage damaged.

24

In estimating the value of the standing timber destroyed, the fire-
wardens were cautioned against placing it any higher than the mar-
ket price per acre at which these lands had been selling. The per-
centage of virgin forest was small. By far the greater part of the
timber burned was on what are known as lumbered lands, such as
the State had been buying for $1.50 per acre, but which through the
recent rise in value of this class of property are now worth from $2
to $3 per acre. Some lands of this class, situated near a railroad or
otherwise accessible, are worth more.

The firewardens were directed, also, in making their estimates, to
deduct the value of standing timber that was killed, but which was
still available if cut within a year or so, for timber, pulpwood, or
cordwood. A large proportion of the timber included in the reports
was damaged by what are known as ground or surface fires, that
killed the trees without consuming any part of them. Where this
damage occurred on private lands the owners have been busy all this
season in cutting their dead trees, leaving their live timber for future
operations. This large amount of salvage has consequently reduced
the estimate of loss materially.

But on the State lands the standing timber killed by the fire, though
still in marketable condition, will result in a complete loss, as the
Attorney-General has rendered an opinion that, owing to the restric-
tions in the forestry clause of the Constitution, this material cannot
be cut or removed. This state of affairs is unfortunate, also, because
these areas of dry, dead timber and slash are very liable to take fire
again and burn with uncontrollable fierceness.

The loss in buildings, fences, etc., includes the large hotel south of
North Elba known as the Adirondack Lodge ; the Loomis Camp, on
Little Tupper lake; several miles of wire fence on Nehasane park,
and several barns or outbuildings at various places.

25

The loss in logs, pulp wood, etc., includes the large amount of acid
wood that was cut and piled on the lands of the Brooklyn Cooperage
Company; several thousand cords of pulpwood and cordwood, be-
longing to the Chauteaugay Iron and Ore Company, piled at Pluma-
dore Station, Franklin county; numerous skidways of logs left in
the woods last winter through lack of snow, and piles of cordwood
in forests near villages or shipping points.

There was also a loss in the burning of young trees and seedling
growth ; in the destruction of the forest humus ; and in the creation
of barren conditions that prevent in a great degree the natural refor-
esting of the denuded lands. But no estimate could be made of con-
sequential damages or prospective losses.

The causes of the fires, as reported, were :

Railroad locomotives 121 Wintergreen pickers 3

Burning fallows 88 Lunatic I

From other fires by wind. . 61 Door yard fire I

Fishermen 47 Children at play I

Tobacco smokers 23 Smoking out a hedgehog. . i

Hunters 7 Burning a straw bed i

Incendiaries 6 Burning brakes (ferns)... i

Camp fires 6 Blasting stone i

Burning buildings 3 Sparks from torch i

Sparks from chimneys 3 Lightning i

There were the usual large number reported as "Cause unknown,"
many of which were started by sparks carried through the air a long
distance from other fires, and several that probably were caused by
locomotives, as they began at some railroad line.

As in other years, a number were started by farmers who
took advantage of the dry spell to burn their fallows ; but with a few

26

exceptions these did not result in serious damage. They occurred
mostly at places where there was a resident population, and
hence were seen immediately by some district warden and quickly
extinguished.

The law prescribing a close season, in which the farmers are for-
bidden to burn their brush or log heaps, has been in operation but a
few years. During this time, however, copies of this section of the
law, printed on cloth, have been posted conspicuously throughout the
entire region. Several thousand of these notices are sent each year
into the forest districts by the Commission for posting, or replacing
those that have become defaced or weather beaten. Ignorance of the
law is no excuse for its violation.

When the fires ceased last June, Mr. L. S. Emmons, the Chief
Firewarden, commenced immediately the prosecution of all persons
who had burned their fallows between April ist and June ist, as for-
bidden by law. Suits were commenced against each offender, irre-
spective of the fact that in many instances the fire did not escape
from the owner's premises. The law was intended to stop a dan-
gerous practice, and hence no distinction was made in this respect.
Up to this date Mr. Emmons has obtained a judgment in 56 cases,
and has collected fines to the amount of $1,781.45, not including costs,
which in each case were paid by the defendant in addition to the pen-
alty. The fines imposed ranged from $20 to $175, and in a few
instances, where the defendant refused to pay, he was sent to jail.
Several suits are awaiting trial, and other prosecutions will be com-
menced as soon as the necessary evidence is obtained. This work
has kept the Chief Firewarden busy the entire summer. Several
arrests were also made by the town firewardens, which resulted in
the conviction of the various defendants and enforcement of a
penalty in each case.

27

It may be reasonably expected that this vigorous, wholesale en-
forcement of the law will tend to decrease largely the number of
fires from this source in the future. There are 56 farmers, anyway,
who will not burn their fallows hereafter in the close season, and
their neighbors have had a good opportunity this summer to learn
what they may expect, also, in case they violate this section of the
law.

Of the incendiaries arrested, three are now serving a term in State
Prison for their offence. In some other prosecutions begun for this
crime we were unable to obtain a conviction. Among the different
causes reported by the wardens there are many attributed to fisher-
men, hunters, campers, etc. This may suggest that, as the firewar-
dens knew the source of these fires, some arrests should have been
made in connection with them. But these statements of the wardens
were based upon their opinion in the matter, and not upon any posi-
tive facts or information. While they had every reason to believe
that the fire originated as described, they could not obtain evidence
of the definite character necessary to secure a conviction of the sus-
pected parties. This will always be the case until we are authorized
to employ patrols who can follow and watch fishermen, hunters,
campers, and other persons who would be liable to start fires while
wandering through the woods.

The forestry law of the State of New York so far as it relates to
extinguishing fires is a good one. It is admirably drawn, is well
adapted to the various requirements which it is designed to meet, and
it has been perfected by years of experience in its practical working.
It has been used as a model by the forestry departments of other
states, which have copied it in the main, making only such modifi-
cations ao their peculiar conditions or amount of appropriations made
necessary. While its various sections enable the Commission to use

28

all proper means for fighting forest fires it does not contain sufficient
provisions for their prevention. The best way to fight fires is to
have no fires. Our present law works well enough ,in ordinary
years, but it does not accomplish its purpose in a season of exceptional
drought, and it fails to eliminate the danger from railroads. Unless
amended in these respects it will be only a question of time before
there will be a recurrence of a similar or worse disaster.

The patrol system may be expensive some years, but it will cost less
than fighting fires that otherwise will surely occur, to say nothing of
the loss of property and injury to forest conditions. It cost $153,000
to fight fires this year, the most of which could have been prevented
by the expenditure of a small proportion of this money in hiring
patrols to guard the railroad lines and to watch the dangerous par-
ties who were strolling through the woods. I doubt, however, if any
law or force of patrols can prevent incendiary fires ; for the men who
commit these crimes select places and opportunities that enable them
to avoid detection in most instances.

The patrols are needed only during a part of April and May, and
in many years a rainy spring would render their services unnecessary.
A summer drought may occur some year, as in 1899, when the
firewardens would have to order them on duty to guard the
forest. That portion of the expense incurred by patrolling railroad
lines should be borne in part by the railroad companies, the propor-
tion to be determined by the Legislature. But, however this may be
arranged, the patrols should be under the sole authority and control
of the local firewardens. In other • localities the expense should
be borne by the town and State, as provided under the present
law for fighting fire. If the railway managers would consent to the
use of petroleum in April and May, and at such other times as the
forest conditions might require, the number of men needed for this

1 «

« oi

8 S-i

M **
«

<J 5

be

§

• 1:

W ^ in

5 P a

M n

u; !-' i

1 1:
III

M ® O

g 5 5

29

purpose would be greatly reduced. But petroleum is much more
expensive than coal, and so the companies may prefer to employ
patrols rather than make any change in their motive power.

This is no new idea. The system has already been in force for
several years by the Canadian government with good results. In
1902 there were 234 rangers employed on the Crown lands at an
expense of $34,200. This plan was put in operation in 1885, at which
time 37 men were employed on this duty. The result was so satis-
factory that the number was increased from year to year, until now
there are 234 men employed on this work. The great Algonquin
Park, in the Province of Ontario, which has an area of 1,109,383
acres, is also watched carefully by forest guards, whose principal
duty is the prevention of fires. The Dominion government has found
that in the administration of its own lands the method of prevention
is the cheapest in the end.

I wish here to call your attention to the important services ren-
dered by Mr. L. S. Emmons, the Chief Firewarden of the Commis-
sion. During the fires last spring he was on the ground every day
from first to last, assisting the wardens in organizing working parties
and, at times, superintending the men personally. When this work
was finished he devoted his time to the prosecution of persons who
had violated sections of the fire law, after which he returned to the
Albany office, where he has been busily engaged in the adjustment
of the accounts between the various towns and the State.

I desire also to acknowledge the valuable assistance received from
Foresters Knechtel and Pettis, each of whom worked faithfully dur-
ing the critical period of the fires. Through the energetic care and
activity of Mr. Pettis the extensive plantation of seedling trees at
Lake Clear Junction was saved from destruction. With a party of
men he stopped a dangerous fire that burned its way to the edge of

30

the plantation, and extinguished it there before any loss was sustained
except on a small area of planted ground along the border: Forester
Knechtel rendered valuable assistance, also, in the tabulation of the
statistics in the 643 reports received from the firewardens, and in
preparing for future reference a practical digest of other information
which also appears in. these returns.

ANNUAL FOREST PRODUCT.

As customary in my previous reports I submit here, also, for your
information, the yearly statement showing extent of the timber cut-
ting in the Adirondack and Catskill forests and amount of the pro-
duct. The statistics given are for the year 1902, as the returns for
the current year are never obtainable in time for my annual report.

A tabulation of the returns made to this office from each sawmill,
pulpmill, acid factory, cooperage plant, and wood consuming indus-
try drawing its supply of raw material from the Adirondack forest,
shows the following output:

ADIRONDACK FOREST.

Feet B. M.

Spruce 148,859,31 1

Hemlock 60,177,715

Pine 40,218,643

Hardwood 34,851,571

Pulpwood, 461,806 cords 253,531,494

Wood for chemicals, cooperage, etc 34,383,870

572,022,604

Shingles 32,826,000 pieces

Lath 45,987,200 pieces

This is the largest output of any year in the history of the State,
and exceeds that of the previous year by 27,767,71 1 feet.

The sixth item includes 35,000 cords of wood cut by the Chateau-
gay Ore and Iron Company and used in their works at Lyon Moun-
tain, Clinton county, N. Y.

The lumber companies using the largest amount of stock were :

FIRM.

Location.

Feet B. M.

Norwood Manufacturing Co. . .
Finch Pruyn & Co

Tupper Lake ....
Glens Falls

22,355,000
20 ^ ?o ooo

Beaver River Lumber Co

Castorland

12 900 OOO

Kenyon Lumber Co

Sandy Hill

12 7 ^ •? 260

Buck's Bridge Lumber Co

Canton

I I OOO OOO

Moose River Lumber Co

McKeever

IO, T.2 ^.OOO

Sherman Lumber Co

Tupper Lake ....

IO O?2.O^cT

The industries consuming the largest amount of pulpwood were :

COMPANY.

Location.

Cords.

International Paper Co

Watertown

40,688

J. & J. Rogers Company

Ausable Forks . .

'I'i O4.Q

Hinckley Fibre Co

Hinckley

37.OOO

Union Bag and Paper Co

Ballston Spa ....

\j \J "

T.O OOO

International Paper Co

Piercefield

28. 2Q2

International Paper Co

Cady ville

2T..Q2T.

Dexter Paper Co

Dexter

l8,OOO

International Paper Co

Glens Falls

17, cic

These figures do not indicate the relative amount of business done
by the pulp companies, as many of them get a large proportion of
their stock from Canada, and hence some of the largest concerns do
not appear in this list.

CATSKILL FOREST.

The output of this region and the industries in which it was used
were as follows :

Feet B. M.

Lumber, mostly hardwood 58,618,352

Acid factories, 92,099 cords 50,562,361

Excelsior, pulp, etc., 17,333 cords 9,515,817

118,696,530

32

Shingles 4,698,000 pieces

Lath 4,454,500 pieces

The lumber product of the Catskill region, by counties, was :

Feet B. M.

Delaware 26,770,858

Greene 6,205,794

Sullivan 17,218,840

Ulster 8,422,860

58,618,352
Summary.

Feet B. M.

Adirondack forest 572,022,604

Catskill forest 1 18,696,530

690,719,134

As the collection of the information relating to the annual forest
product necessitated a correspondence with 655 different firms or
individuals, and the tabulation of the statistics thus obtained, it will
be seen that no small amount of time and work was expended on this
part of our office business. In some instances where a firm or indi-
vidual failed to make a return a special journey to the mills of these
parties was made in order to obtain the desired information.

The thanks of the Commission are due to the various persons en-
gaged in these industries for their prompt and courteous replies to
our request for a statement, their cooperation in this respect enabling
us to ascertain definitely the facts as to the extent of the annual out-
put, a knowledge of which is so essential to a correct understanding
of the forestry situation in our State. In the collection and tabula-
tion of the statistics thus obtained I am indebted to the assistance of
Mr. A. B. Strough of this office, his previous experience for several

33

years on this same work enabling him to collate the figures with

accuracy.

FORESTS AS A SUMMER RESORT.

The annual Supply Bill passed by the Legislature of 1903 con-
tained the following item :

" For the expense of collecting and publishing statistics and other
information relating to amount of capital invested, number of persons
employed, wages paid, and volume of business done at the summer
resorts in the counties containing the Forest Preserve and public
parks of the State, one thousand five hundred dollars, or so much
thereof as is necessary."

It was further provided in the act that the work necessary in secur-
ing and publishing this information should be done by your Commis-
sion. During the summer a list was made of the 3,526 hotels and
boarding houses in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and at the Thousand
Islands. A circular letter was mailed to each proprietor explaining
the object of the Commission in thus addressing him, and with the
circular was sent an information blank which he was asked to fill in
with the desired statistics. The forms used for this purpose read as

follows :

3

34

STATE OF NEW YORK.
FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION.

ALBANY, October i, 1903.
DEWITT C. MIDDLETON, Commissioner.

J. DUNCAN LAWRENCE, Deputy Commissioner.

, N. Y.

Dear Sir:

We shall include in our annual report for 1903 some statistics showing
the extent of summer resort business carried on by the Northern hotels and
boarding houses, — the total capital invested in buildings, the number of
guests, number of employees, total wages paid, and gross receipts from all
sources. As it is essential that these statistics should be based on statements
furnished by the proprietors of the various hotels and boarding houses, in-
stead of on estimates made by others, a copy of the enclosed circular has been
mailed to each.

The figures thus obtained will not be printed, but will be treated as a
confidential communication. In no case will they be shown to any as-
sessor, or used in any way that might influence the assessment of property.
The published statistics will contain no information as to any particular hotel
or boarding houses, but will show only the total footings of the returns.

Will you kindly fill out the blank in the enclosed circular at your earliest
convenience and remail it to us. In case you cannot readily refer to your
accounts or hotel register, you are at liberty to fill out the answers from
memory, or as near as you can.

The combined figures from the returns will show the volume of the North-
ern summer resort business of New York, the large amount of money dis-
tributed there for wages, and the influence of this business on the develop-
ment and prosperity of that region. This valuable and interesting informa-
tion, together with a schedule of the summer hotels and boarding houses,
their proprietors, and the capacity of each place will be printed in a special
report, a copy of which will be mailed to your address.

Trusting that the interest you must feel in all information of the kind
will prompt you to cooperate with us in this work, we remain,

Yours very truly,
FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION.

35
The information blank enclosed read as follows :

STATE OF NEW YORK.
SUMMER HOTELS AND BOARDING HOUSES.

SEASON OF 1903. * , •'

Name of hotel or boarding house,

Name of proprietor,

Postoffice address,

Railroad station,

Capacity,

Total number of guests, boarders, fishermen and hunters in 1903,

Number of guests that remained over two weeks,

Number of guests from outside of the State of New York,

Total capital invested in buildings of all kinds, and furniture, not including
land, , $

Total number of employees : Clerks, cooks, porters, waiters, chambermaids,
bell boys, house mechanics, musicians, stablemen, drivers, house guides,
etc.,

Total wages paid employees and help, male and female, $

Total receipts for board, laundry, carriage hire, boat hire, golf grounds, etc.,

<fi

s>

NOTE. — If your hotel is open all the year, please omit any figures for your
winter or commercial business, but include tourists, pleasure and health
seekers, fishermen and hunters.

As a general thing the replies were prompt and satisfactory. But
many of the proprietors, fearing that the information might be used
to their disadvantage by the town assessor, answered only in part,
and omitted the figures showing the value of their buildings, or capi-
tal invested. This omission was unnecessary, as the circular sent
them stated plainly that their replies would be treated as a confidential
communication. Still, some persons flatly refused to furnish this par-
ticular item, and so an official of the Commission, competent to make

- 36

a fair estimate as to the value of this class of property, was sent to
obtain the lacking information.

In some instances where parties made a complete return the value
of the property was evidently an understatement, the owner having
the assessors in mind when he filled out his report. On the other
hand, some hotel proprietors, actuated by a feeling of rivalry or pride
in their business, reported their yearly receipts at an amount be-
yond that which the extent of their buildings and accommodations
would indicate. For these reasons the figures in the condensed state-
ment may be regarded as approximate rather than strictly accurate.

The information compiled in the course of this work is too volumi-
nous for insertion here, and hence it will be sent to the Legislature
as a special report. I am able, however, to submit the following

summary :

Summary.

LOCALITY.
Adirondacks

T3

f*

1

32,863

g

:* Total number
n guests.
*>

x
^ Guests remaining
O over two weeks.

&

•f|.

.S'ct/j

•?!>>-

pi

o
22,876

Catskills

89,978

224,382

89,732

44,866

Lake George

•5,389

26,272

5,237

3.110

Thousand Islands

4,918

47,209

4,3l6

17,251

Total

133, 148

502,386

144,241

88, 101

Adirondacks

.Sj2
8 "8*8

H
$4, 164,620

vj

: Total number
n employees,
o

b*
J\

h,

'T' Total wages paid
O employees.
j\

o

(A
it

5 Total receipts.

M
g

Catskills

. . . II, 131,200

17,986

539,580

4,443,848

Lake George

. . . I, 131,500

1,009

48,508

282,227

Thousand Islands

I , 243 , 500

1,155

63,694

350, 156

Total

. . . $17,670,820

27,602

$i, 193,741*

$9,075,370

*Does not include board.

37

These figures show that our forests occupy a valuable place in the
political economy of the State, aside from their product and the
industries dependent on them. In addition to the sanitary benefits,
the esthetic advantages, and the maintenance of fish and game, they
offer this peculiar source of wealth and further diversification of busi-
ness. But it must be remembered that this desirable condition is
solely dependent for its continuance on the preservation of the forests,
which constitute the sole attraction to the thousands who throng these
summer resorts. If the mountain slopes and upland plateaus of the
Adirondack and Catskill regions are denuded of their forest cover —
if in place of these sylvan attractions there is to be only a dreary
waste of stump fields and fire blackened areas — the thousands of sum-
mer visitors will seek other places, the hotels and boarding houses will
be tenantless, and the people of the State will lose this source of reve-
nue. The permanence of our forests will depend largely on the per-
manence of tenure. And there is no permanence of tenure aside
from that of the State.

I append to this report some extracts from the firewarden's reports

which you will find readable and interesting. They throw a side-

• light on the situation and furnish certain items of information that

are necessary in obtaining a full and correct idea as to events in the

Adirondacks during the fires of 1903.

Trusting that the discussions in this report will meet with your
approval, and that the suggestions may receive your favorable con-
sideration, I am

Yours very respectfully,

WILLIAM F. FOX,
Superintendent State Forests.

ALBANY, N. Y., December 31, 1903.

What the Firewardens Had to Say.

I append here some extracts from the reports of the town fire-
wardens which furnish additional information of a special character
and serve to give a better idea of the conditions under which their
work was carried on. They are from practical, experienced men
whose opinions are entitled to careful consideration. While I do not
always agree with the firewardens in their views and suggestions, it
seems proper to call the attention of the Commission to what they
have to say about these matters. In these extracts from the " Re-
marks " in their reports, it is highly satisfactory to note the keen
interest and zeal which they evidently take in the discharge of their
duties. Nowhere have I found anything indicating apathy or indif-
ference. I include also some extracts from letters and telegrams
received from them, which were sent in order to get instructions or
advice as to doubtful questions that came up in the course of their
work; also, some from letters sent by citizens in relation to the
fires in their towns or on their property.

Mr. George W. Header, firewarden of the town of Dannemora,
Clinton county, N. Y., says in his report under the printed heading
" Remarks " : — We had a drought lasting sixty days. The land had
been cut over and left with brush and some standing timber in small
spots. I worked two days in putting out fire at the edge of a coo-
acre tract of State land near Dannemora Prison, and stopped it before
it did any damage. I have arrested five persons for building fallow
fires without permission, and so have stopped any more setting of
such fires.

Mr. William Hopkins, Ausable Forks, Clinton county. — I do not
think the fires this season were of incendiary origin. Never In my
experience have conditions been so favorable for fire. For seven
weeks not one drop of rain fell, and the drought began so early

39

that vegetation did not get a chance to start. If it had, it would
have retarded the fire materially.

Mr. B. R. Brewster, Newman, Essex county. — This fire was the
worst of all. A terrible wind arose on the 3d of June about 12
o'clock. The wind carried the sparks through the woods at a rapid
rate. In the territory around the South Meadows and Adirondack
Lodge about 6,000 acres had been lumbered. The spruce and bal-
sam brush made good fuel, and the fire swept over an area of 10,000
acres in one afternoon. The timber burned was of little value, as
it was all hardwood and too far from market.

Mr. Robert H. Wilson, Olmstedville, Essex county. — This tract
was lumbered last season, and all the large timber was cut off. There
was quite a lot of small spruce and balsam left which in time would
have been valuable; but now everything is killed. There was so
much brush to feed the flames that the fire burned very fast.

Mr. Washington Chase, Newcomb, Essex county. — This fire would
have been very disastrous had it not been for the prompt action of a
large force of men who stopped it and held it under control until
rain came.

Mr. William H. Broughton, Moriah, Essex county. — We could not
put the fires out ; but we kept them from running by leaving men to
watch the ground after they were once under control.

Mr. Charles Giddings, Ausable Chasm, Essex county. — This fire
was on pine land that had been lumbered. The tops and brush left
in the woods made a very hot fire; the young timber was mostly
killed. This fire (May 4th) was on Trembleau mountain. It did
very little damage, for we kept it out of the valuable timber and held
it at the top of the mountain, where there was very little to burn.
We fought it for three days against a strong south wind; then the
wind shifted to the west and the fire was soon extinguished.

Mr. C. W. Rowe, Chesterfield, Essex county.— The D. & H. Rail-
road has about ten miles of track in this town — nearly all of it along
a mountain side and with very few buildings in sight of the road.
This mountain side was covered with forest when the railroad was
built; but it has been burned over so many times since that nearly
all the timber has been killed and is falling down, making excellent
fuel for a forest fire. The law requiring railroad companies to pay
all losses from fires caused by their engines has been utterly ignored.
Not a dollar has ever been paid for damages, the company claiming
that we must prove that their engines set the fires ; and to prove this
we must see the fire leave the engine and strike the ground. If the
railroads cannot prevent these fires by putting proper appliances on

40

their locomotives, then it is a serious problem. If they can do so and
do not attend to it they should be prosecuted. The fires in this town
are now under control ; but the engines on the D. & H. R. R. set fires
on the mountain south of Port Kent nearly every day. If the train-
men on this road make any effort to prevent them, such efforts are
of no avail. Their fire screens are not worth a straw, and if the
officials of the road don't know it, it is time they did. I venture to
say that 100 fires have been set by engines on this road within sight
of my residence, a distance of four or five miles.

Mr. C. A. Jordan, Elizabethtown, Essex county. — In regard to my
estimate on the value of buildings destroyed I would say that it was
made up as follows: Euba Mills, $2,000; house, barn and black-
smith shop, $1,000; three tenant houses ($500 each), $1,500; one
farmhouse, barn and outbuildings, $1,500; total, $6,000. No fences
or bridges of any value were destroyed.

Mr. James Wood, Schroon, Essex county. — I have been putting up
posters, and I find that I have a good many fallows to burn, if they
don't burn them before they have a right to. The people claim that
they can burn on their own land when they have a mind to ; for the
law is no good. If that is the case I don't see any need of firewar-
dens. But I gave them to undertsand that I should do my duty, and
that I would report them. But they said that I could not prove that
they set the fire. I told them if the fire was there it was evidence
that they started it or knew who did. I told them further that if
they did not have a printed permit from me they were liable to a
fine. I told them you had written me cranky letters and said for me
to report them, and that you would put the law in force. They say
you cannot unless the fire goes off their land. I told them it made
no difference whether the fire got off their land or not; that they
were liable to a fine just the same. I mean to do my duty as long as
I am firewarden.

Mr. Charles Hooper, Westport, Essex county. — I spoke to the sta-
tion agent at Westport about these railroad fires and he got quite
mad about it. He said the railroad was blamed for everything. The
agent admitted that he did not think there was anything to prevent
the sparks from escaping. Most of the damage is done by freight
trains.

Mr. George H. McKinney, Ellenburg, Franklin county. — The fire
did not run much until a high wind drove it over a large area. On
April 3Oth the wind blew again very hard, and it was then that nearly
the whole tract of 500 acres was burned over. The spruce had been
mostly cut off, leaving only hardwoods. The fire ran in the spruce
tops left in the woods. I could not get men enough to stop it, as the

LOOK OUT FOR

LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

to Of LAWS OF 19OO. AB AMEXDKC Ot i»O9

By order of Forest, Fish and Game Commission,

WILLIAM F FOX,

A. Knechtel, photo.

A WARNING TO THE THOUGHTLESS.

Five thousand of these notices, printed on cloth, are sent each year by the Forest
Commission to the firewardens for posting or replacing ones that are defaced
or worn out.

wind was blowing so hard and the timber was so dry. The fire was
checked the next day (May ist) by the weather becoming cold.

Mr. B. L. Reynolds, Reynoldston, Franklin county. — The district
burned over was mostly brush and wild lands. It was not very valu-
able, but it was quite near to buildings, and work was directed prin-
cipally to protecting these. It is almost impossible to extinguish
fires completely now. The best one can do is to be sure it is out all
around the edge far enough so that it will not throw sparks. But to
put out absolutely all old logs, stumps, etc., all over the tract would
take a whole pond of water. This fire (June 9) came from the ad-
joining town of Dickinson, and could be controlled only on the virgin
forest land. It was held there by continual work until rain came.

Mr. Benjamin A. Muncil, Paul Smith's, Franklin county. — I had
miles of ditches dug.

Mr. Fremont F. Smith, Loon Lake, Franklin county. — The timber
on some of these burned lots is falling down. I think something
should be done in regard to the donkey engines they are using on the
new road which they are building. They have burned the whole
country up now, and they are going to run up to the outlet of Loon
Lake with them in a few days. We cannot keep men enough over
there to keep the fire out, as they start flames wherever they go. I
don't think they are using any screens at all.

Mr. Perkins Smith, St. Regis Falls, Franklin county. — I went over
the burned area — 300 acres — and found that it was entirely virgin
forest, heavily timbered with white pine. But I think this pine will
not die for two or three years yet. The hardwood had been cut
before this fire occurred, but a large amount of pulp timber was
standing which was badly damaged. Shall I allow men pay for
fighting fire on their own lands ? The point in question is this : The
agent for O. P. Dexter has worked his men in connection with other
men warned out to fight fire on Dexter's land.

Mr. A. N. Skiff, Onchiota, Franklin county. — There were times
when the men were away in other places fighting fire, and so I got
the women out to help. If I hadn't done so nothing could have
stopped the fire from burning every building for miles around here
The women fought two nights all night long, and waded brooks clear
to their knees. I say they fought fire better than the men, they were
that scairt, and were more thorough in putting it out than the men
were. I kept their time the same as the men and made out their
account and swore to it, and then the town firewarden would not
allow them anything for it. The board said they ought to have it as
well as the men, but he wouldn't allow it. When Henry Paye was
firewarden he had to get the women out in some places, and he

42

allowed them the same as the men, for he said they fought better. Up
in the town of, Brighton they had women fighting fire and they got
their pay the same as the men. There are lots of times when the
fires are raging so bad that everyone has to turn out. I am
going to send this account to you and see if you don't think they
ought to have their pay. I say it is a shame if they don't, and I think
you will pay the same.*

Mr. Edward M. Smith, Saranac Lake, Franklin county. — I think
the railroad company should put more men on the track in a dry
time.

Mr. William J. Bellin, Fulton county. — The fire is still burning in
the ground at places. It cannot be extinguished now as there is no
water. I am watching it all the time so that it will not spread.

Mr. Netus Lancaster, Stratford, Fulton county. — The fire is burn-
ing into the muck very deep.

Mr. F. W. Abrams, Piseco, Hamilton county. — I can see how a
camp might have prevented this fire. There is no camp on this lake
(Sand lake), and this is the second time that a fire has occurred
there. A fire for cooking is built in the woods, and a high wind
arising, sparks are blown into the forest, starting a fire that soon gets
beyond control. I have had no fires where there were camps for
people to use.

Mr. R. B. Nichols, Indian Lake, Hamilton county. — We kept the
fire from running except on the day when the wind blew so hard.
Then it got the advantage of us, but as soon as the wind went down
we surrounded it again. I have the fires under control and nearly
all out at this time (May 2d). No great damage has been done, as
the fires ran mostly in the leaves and did not burn very deep; but
over in Minerva, Essex county, on Township 15, it burned pretty
hard. I think perhaps it would be well for you to come here after
the fires are over, as we will have to do some business with some of
those fellows for burning fallows ; also with some that would not go
to the fires when ordered out to do so by the district wardens.

Mr. Wellington Kenwell, Inlet, Hamilton county. — All of the men
turned in and carried water. At night three of them carried water
and had the fire all out by morning. Then three men connected a
pipe line, turning a one and one-half inch stream of water on the
burning ground. We kept this pipe line running for three weeks.
One fire started opposite the mouth of Indian river, just about the
Beecher camp. I think it was started by a smoker, as there were
parties fishing there. The fire on Lime Kiln lake was started by
parties camping there. I employed a man to get the names of the

"The women were paid. W. P. P.

43

sportsmen who were seen there the day before the fire was discov-
ered. This case seems easy of proof. Smokers start most of the
fires in this locality. A match thrown down, or a pipe knocked out,
will start a fire in a few minutes.

Mr. Byron Ames, Nehasane, Hamilton county. — The origin of this
fire will always be a mystery. There appears to be no reason to sus-
pect malicious intent ; and there is small probability that it was due
to carelessness. It started near an old stump where some bottles
and tin cans had been thrown from unoccupied camp buildings for
many months. Some claim that the rays of the sun acting on the
bottoms of the old bottles were brought to a focus, the same as when
passed through a sun glass. Another theory is that the fire caught
from flying embers blown there from other fires. This is a very
plausible theory, because for days the air had been full of sparks, and
of the millions falling some few must have carried fire. Only the
day before, May I9th, the men at work there found a small fire
spreading on the surface of a path or road in some old sawdust, and
they extinguished it. Thev could not account for its origin. Mr.
Conklin, a log jobber within four or five miles of this point, about
this time found two fires in the woods, the origin of which he could
not account for. It is very probable that they caught from wind-
dropped embers. The chief firewarden of the State and the war-
den of the town of Long Lake were at this fire. They approved of
the course pursued in handling it, and no unfavorable criticism was
made to me either during or after the fire. The situation was a try-
ing and desperate one, and the wonder is that the destruction was
not greater.

Mr. W. D. Jennings, Long Lake, Hamilton county. — I sent Dis-
trict Firewarden Michael McManus to the fire. He claims that it
was the same one which had been burning in the muck, and that the
wind blew it up. We supposed it was entirely extinguished. I sent
to Newcomb for help, and by June ist we had 125 men on the line
backfiring and trenching.

Mr. Martin Boh, Morehouseville, Hamilton county. — This would
have been a very serious fire but for the promptness of Theodore C.
Remonda, District Firewarden, to whom great credit is due for
reaching the place with men and team as soon as it was possible to
do so. By sundown we had it under control, so that on the next day
we wholly extinguished it.

Mr. Frank Stanyon, Wells, Hamilton county. — I am sorry to say
we have got three fires in this town, but they have not done much
damage yet, as they are burning on land that has been burned over
before. It is covered mostly with briers, brakes, and dead tim-

44

ber. You are aware, perhaps, that it is hard to put out fire in such a
place as that when it is so dry as it is now, and we have quite a wind
every day, which makes it bad. I am doing my best to stop it with
as few men as possible. It is not near any valuable timber yet. It is
the opinion of some of our citizens that these fires are started to
make feed for deer.

Mr. J. H. Higby, Big Moose, Herkimer county. — We have a bad
fire up at Sisters Ponds, in Township 41. I put on about 60 men
yesterday and some 30 more last night. The belt is about half a
mile wide by one mile long, but it is burning like a furnace. The
smoke and heat is intense, but we have held it on the west and south.
I have got another tough proposition. The men say that I have no
right to order them to go into Hamilton county to fight fire. If
you will do so, please send me a written order that I may show them.
That is not all ; there is a lot of men that refuse to go, not knowing
where the pay is to come from. You know there is no provision for
the pay before next winter. You see I am handicapped all around.
I am sending in seven men that I will pay myself, and the other
hotels are sending in some men also. These floating chaps demand
their pay at once, but I am unable to advance the money. Mr. Par-
sons, the town firewarden, cannot send in men because he has a
bad fire down at Old Forge.* I have no idea how the fire started,
nor can find out anything about it. I have now 60 men on the
ground night and day. We are doing all we can and will save every
rod of timber possible. I go around the fire line myself and direct
the men where the work is needed most. I was not on the ground
this morning, but I put my son in charge in my absence. He was
up day before yesterday, night before last, and all day yesterday with-
out sleep or rest. The men have worked in heat and smoke. I think
I can handle affairs now. I have taken up blankets, put in boats,
tools and provisions. I haven't weighed out anything as yet be-
cause my time has been so much taken up. But I will make an offer
to board the men at $4 per week, to save the bother of weighing out
provisions. Now, another thing, how many hours is a day's work?
The men say eight hours. I don't know what you think about it,
but I am keeping the time by the hour.

Mr. J. E. Roberts, district firewarden, Old Forge, Herkimer
county. — The fire at Fulton Chain is not the same one when you were
here. Another one caught near the railroad and is burning on the

* This letter was received the same day that the Governor placed funds at the disposal of the
Commission. The Superintendent notified Mr. Higby to hire all the men necessary to extinguish
this fire, which was on State land and was running in the direction of the Raquette Lake township.
The State has 100,000 acres of virgin forest land in a solid block where this fire occurred, but it
was completely extinguished before it burned a very large area. The fire was in Hamilton
county and there were no residents within several miles, except a few who were in a lumber
camp near Big Moose Lake. It could be fought only by sending men in from Herkimer county,
as the firewarden at Long Lake, the town in which it occurred, lived 36 miles away.

W. F. F.

45

east side of the track below Fulton Chain, but I have it under con-
trol. I have 60 men at the Big Moose fire, and have notified the
warden in Long Lake, as it is outside of this town by three miles.
The fire at Beaver river is burning slowly, but Bullock is doing good
work and keeping it from spreading. It is so far through the woods
to the fire on Watson's East Triangle that I have asked Miller to
take care of it from the town of Croghan. A new fire started on the
land of the Adirondack League Club, caused by a camp fire. It
burned fiercely, but to-night I have it down in good shape. Mr.
De Camp is very anxious to know what can be done in regard to rais-
ing money, but I tell him I don't see as anything can be done at
present. He has paid his men upon my orders on bills about $1,000,
and he does not want to wait until the town audits the bills for his
pay. I wish you would see him in regard to the matter. Many of
the fires are greatly exaggerated by people who tell what they hear
but who do not go near the fires at all. They say the fires burn over
more land than they actually do. A report was made to-day of 1,000
acres, when it did not exceed 250 acres that were burned.

Mr. Riley Parsons, Old Forge, Herkimer county. — The way I have
done so far is to give the men a regular voucher okayed by me and
have them paid by the individuals upon whose land the fire occurred.
The latter can turn these vouchers over with the duplicate to the town
board when they audit accounts, and I will see that they correspond
to the abstract sheet which I keep of them.

Mr. Duane Norton, Brantingham, Lewis county. — We take our
tents with us and stay right at the fire line. I tell you we don't lose
much ground where we drive our stakes. I have been at work along
the Lewis county line and have not been driven back more than half
a mile at any time. Mr. Marvin admitted that he set his fallow* on
fire Thursday, the 7th. The district firewarden discovered it, and
calling out all the available men stopped it in the face of a heavy
wind. An hour's delay and it would have been beyond control. He
did excellent work, and at the right time. We paid our men $2 per
day and board, as we had to keep them in camps and tents along our
fire line. Our town board, at my request, came together and bor-
rowed $500, and I got two other parties to advance as much more.
So you see our men knew they would get their pay as soon as they
were through. I tell you I could do as much with that class of men
as could be done with a trainload of city men. We took none but
thorough woodsmen.

Mr. D. D. Graham, Harrisville, Lewis county. — The air was so
full of smoke that we could not see a fresh fire when it started. The
whole country seemed to be on fire at once.

* This man was arrested and fined for burning a fallow in the close season. W. F. F.

46

Mr. Charles Corbett, Osceola, Lewis county. — I went to the fire as
soon as I could on the I4th, and got help from the sawmills and three
men — a clerk in a store, a minister and a farmer. These three men
do not want any pay. This fire — May 4 — was on the farm of Adel-
bert Kinney. He lost 30 cords of stove wood and all of his pasture.
The pasture was an old slash that had been burned over and sown to
grass seed.

Mr. Stephen Waldron, Chase's Lake, Lewis county. — In reply to
your telegram I beg to say that I am at work with about 80 men, and
am doing all that can be done. The supervisor and members of the
town board are also at work with me.

Mr. Eugene Hathaway, Diana, Lewis county. — The situation here
is bad. We have been on the fire line since April 28th, and no signs
of a let up. It is hard for me to get help enough to take care of
the fires. We have to employ all the men we can get and the most
of them are poor men with families, who must have their pay as fast
as they can earn it. I have to find some man that will buy Jieir
account so they can have their money to live on. Any help you
can give me at this time will be greatly appreciated.

Mr. John A. Leyndecker, Croghan, Lewis county. — Mr. Hecker
has shown me the telegram you sent him in regard to the fire. Miller
and Parsons have not sent me any help as yet ; but I have sent some
men across the Herkimer county line to fight the fire in Watson's
East Triangle. The fire here burns through the mucky land 12 to
15 inches deep, and therefore we have to dig trenches for miles on
both sides of it. We are digging them 3 feet wide, and have thus
far done fine work since your telegram to Mr. Hecker.

Mr. G. V. Norton, Chase's Lake, Lewis county. — Fires will sweep
the forests if the towns will not pay men honest wages in the future.
Men will not work without pay. All they paid men for labor in our
town was $1.50 per day, and a man must board himself at that price.
Kindly write me what to do about the board bill as I have waited all
summer now.

Mr. Warner Yeomans, Forestport, Oneida county. — This was a
hard fire to extinguish because it was burning in the muck. When it
was apparently all out and no smoke could be seen a high wind
would fan it into life and cause it to break out again. Please send
me two dozen blank reports as soon as possible. I have been very
busy driving from one fire to another organizing squads of men.
The fires have been in different parts of the town at once. When
I would go to one fire I could see another one in a different- direc-
tion. I would organize squads to fight the fire and then start for
another. All of my district wardens were just as busy. I cannot

47

report exactly the number of days each warden and his men served
at each separate fire, as they were on from two to four different ones
the same day, and back and forth. Will get it as near as I can;
but will give you the accurate amount. This has been a lively time
in this town. Each warden and I have done our best to quench and
prevent fires.

Mr. R. R. Prichard, Remsen, Oneida county. — In answer to your
telegram and the complaint that was made to you, that I neglected
to do my duty as firewarden in this town, I will say that I have done
everything that could be done to stop the fire, and it was done in
good shape. I had men out working at all points where there was

danger. I went myself with five men to work at

place and got that fire under control. But JVIr. - had seven

or eight men working on his barn and he, by spells, put them to
work in the woods to put out fire, and sometimes doing other work.
He called out lots of men to come to help him. He wanted me to
say that I called them out so that they would get paid from the
town and State. I refused to do that. I told him that I would not
lie for him or for any other man, and that is the reason why he
makes the complaint. I wish you would write to any officer in this
town and ask him about my work as firewarden. I will do what
is right with all persons ; but I will not lie for any man and I know
that you don't ask me to do it. Please let me know if there is any-
thing wrong and I will correct it.

Mr. A. C. Hickok, Corinth, Saratoga county. — The fire started
about eight miles west of South Corinth. It was reported to me at
a time when the air was very smoky ; ashes and burned leaves were
falling thickly. Everybody was frightened and supposed the woods
all around us were burning up. I telephoned District Warden
Eggleston to start at 3 o'clock the next morning with all the men
he could get and look for fire. He was busy nearly all night ordering
out his men. The next day he traveled over a large territory, but
finding only this one fire, which was soon extinguished, he concluded
that the smoky condition was due to fires outside of the town.

Mr. Horace Webb, Edwards, St. Lawrence county. — There were
springs and small streams in the woods from which the men carried
water. They also dug ditches where practicable, and used dirt to
cover and smother the fire. Men were kept constantly on the watch,
and yet it would spread to some extent, usually during the afternoon.

Mr. Edgar Reed, DeGrasse, St. Lawrence county. — The men
fought fire until midnight, some of them without any supper.

Mr. J. F. Evans, Fine, St. Lawrence county. — The past week has
been the worst time for fires that I have seen in years. The entire

48

woods in the west half of this town, and, in fact, clear to Cranberry
lake are on fire. The New York Central Railroad started seven
fires on one run last week from Carthage to Oswegatchie. This fire
is burning from the line of the railroad and Bear lake clear through
the woods. I have had out nearly seventy men at times.

Mr. Emery P. Gale, Piercefield, St. Lawrence county. — Have you
any funds on hand to pay these men? There should be some way
provided to pay men for fighting fire. These poor men have to live
by day labor and it is hard to make them wait until the following
winter for their money.

Mr. Arthur Flanders, Hopkinton, St. Lawrence county. — I came
out of the woods on Friday night (May 3Oth) for the first time to
get a day off since May 8th. I wish you would come here if you
can as there are about 4,000 acres burned over, mostly lumbered land.
There is very little timber land burned. When you telephoned me
from South Colton to meet you on Sunday I did not get the word
until afternoon. I was seven miles away in the woods fighting fire,
and was short of help. Must I get the number of acres and the
timber land burned over? If so, it will take me a month to do it.
Will report again as soon as I feel it is safe to call off all the men.

Mr. William W. Cheney, Caldwell, Warren county. — The grade
from Lake George south to near the point of this fire is very heavy.
There is also quite a heavy grade from the south to near this same
point, and when trains pass up these grades a large number of live
coals are thrown out from the smokestacks of the engines.

Mr. Miles Frost, Thurman, Warren county. — I would have writ-
ten you before now, but since the death of our firewarden, Mr. W. J.
Fuller, I have been trying to ascertain whom we could appoint in
his place. I think we had better appoint one Henry Combs. He is
a young man and has always lived here. I think it is best for me
to see the deputy wardens in Districts Nos. 2 and 3 this spring and
have a talk with them, as they are young men and I would like to
consult with them. The firebugs you speak of are now in jail. A
boy caught them setting a fire, and there was a bill found against
both of them, the leader on two indictments — one for shooting at the
boy who caught him and the other for setting a fire. These fellows
have set a great many fires in our town.

Mr. E. H. Sturtevant, Fort Ann, Washington county. — Mr.
Charles DeGolyer, a justice of the peace, was called on by the owner
of Lot 24 at i o'clock Wednesday night. He got the men out early
the next morning and did a good job ; for the people were frightened
almost out of their wits on account of the drought, heat, smoke and
desperate fires. These men say that they had rather lose their pay

49

than have to lose a day and travel thirty miles to get their bills sworn
to. They are the best lot of men I ever saw to climb mountains and
fight fires. But some of them say they will answer no more calls to
fight fire. They are all poor men and cannot afford to lose their
time and have so much trouble to get their pay. The deputy wardens
claim they cannot get help for the price, which is $i per day, as
fixed by tho. town board.

Mr. Robert Steves, Whitehall, Washington county. — At the com-
mencement of the fire we had hard work to get men to fight it, as
the town hoard had voted to pay only $i per day. Later, when the
supervisors instructed me to pay a fair price for the work, the fire
had gained such headway that the district warden had difficulty to
manage it even with a large gang of men. When the fire reached
the village limits the hose company were called upon by those endan-
gered, and I would like to have you instruct me who will settle
the claim.

Mr. John D. Graham, Putnam Station, Washington county. — I
wish you would call the attention of the officials of the Delaware
and Hudson Railroad Company to the danger of fires which are
being set by their locomotives nearly every day in this town, and
to the fact of the insufficient work being done by their trackmen in
putting fires out when they do occur.

Mr. C. W. Rowe, Chesterfield, Essex county. — These fires were
set by engines on the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. Fires are
started every day, and I have to keep men watching all the time.
Engines Nos. 55, 113, 388, 139 and 71 have been known to set fires,
and we are willing to swear to it.

CATSKILL COUNTIES.

Mr. George A. Eller, Callicoon, Delaware county. — We worked
until midnight, and could stand it no longer on the mountain with-
out food and water, so we retired for the night and started again
at daybreak, when we succeeded in putting the fire out.

Mr. Thomas S. Miller, Andes, Delaware county. — The fire is sup-
posed to have been started by William Van Kuren. He told differ-
ent stories about it; one was that he was smoking out a hedgehog;
another, that he lit a cigarette and dropped a match.

Mr. Thomas Ford, Shavertown, Delaware county. — A backfire was
set, though forbidden by the district firewarden. In my opinion
the fire from this cause burned over 100 acres more than it would
have done otherwise.

50

Mr. M. W. Knight, Hancock, Delaware county. — This fire oc-
curred on the line of the Ontario and Western Railroad, and the
work train coming along with its gang extinguished it, so I had
no men to pay. The other fire started in a fallow and spread to
State land. There is quite a lot of hemlock timber burned on the
State land, and it ought to be cut and peeled this year in order to
save it. In another year it will all be spoiled.

Mr. E. A. Howes, Trout Creek, Delaware county. — This fire had
to be watched. It was extinguished several times; but as it was a
very dry time it would start up after we thought it was entirely out.

Mr. Jeremiah E. Haines, Haines Falls, Greene county. — The fire
was so far from where men could be obtained to fight it that it was
necessary to employ teams to carry the men back and forth. The
dead spruce branches made a fierce blaze, and one that was hard to
fight and control.

Mr. W. B. Hall, Cairo, Greene county. — I shall either appoint a
new warden in his place or a deputy as you suggest. He is a good,
practical man ; but on account of rheumatism he is unable to climb
mountains. I have given plenty of warning to certain careless peo-
ple, and they had better look out this summer. I think it about time
that they realize that the State is not doing this for fun.

Mr. J. W. Darbee, Roscoe, Sullivan county. — Thunder and light-
ning began, and looking over on the mountain I saw a fire about
the size of a barrel. It burned rapidly ; but the rain stopped it from
running. Three men about a mile distant from one another claim
to have seen the lightning strike a stub where I noticed this fire.

Mr. Plymouth Davis, Livingston Manor, Sullivan county. — I have
had the following notice inserted in the newspaper: On account
of the great number of forest fires I wish to inform farmers and
taxpayers in general, that it is to their interest to see that the law
relating to setting forest fires is fully observed. After June loth
fallows may be burned, and farmers may burn the same by applying
to the firewarden of their town and obtaining permit. From Septem-
ber ist to November loth no person will be allowed to burn any
fallow or brush heap, and they should arrange accordingly. I earn-
estly request all taxpayers to inform me of any person who starts
a fire, and to see that no fires are started on their own property. By
so doing they will greatly lessen their taxes and at the same time
contribute to the safety of our forests.

(Signed) PLYMOUTH DAVIS,

Firewarden,
Town of Rockland.

Z a

a 01
P h.

Mr. M. O. Sergeant, Eldred, Sullivan county. — The town board
has fixed the price for fighting fire at $i per day. There are a
number of men here who say they will not fight fire if ordered out,
claiming it is unconstitutional to force a man to work for so small
a sum. What will be my duty in case they refuse to go when
ordered out? I do not anticipate any trouble unless fire should
break out on lands of some individuals who are very strict in regard
to trespasses. Is this town obliged to pay those men for putting out
fires inside Mr. Chapin's enclosure ; men who get their pay also from
Mr. Chapin? The park consists of several thousand acres, only a
small portion of which is in this town. It is fenced with barbed
wire to the height of 10 feet and any man found on his grounds,
inside or outside, is prosecuted. His men shoot every dog that
comes within gunshot; so you can see why there are so many fires
near his park. Of course, the sympathy of all honest men is with
Mr. Chapin.

Mr. Philip Gerhardt, Fremont, Sullivan county. — On examination
I found that a party of hunters had passed through the woods and
immediately thereafter the fire was discovered. The fire was un-
doubtedly started by them. I wish to state further that I warned
out one Charles Stosser, who refused to go. This has a bad effect
on others, and I would recommend that something be done in his
case.

Mr. Jay H. Simpson, Phoenicia, Ulster county. — Fire started in
Broadstreet Hollow May ist. The wind was blowing fifty miles
an hour and the fire swept towards Phoenicia. I warned out men.
Fought it all night Friday, Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday,
and held it from coming into Shandaken. Walter Evans (firewar-
den) held it on the other side. We ditched and backfired. In
places the wind would carry the fire 300 feet over our lines.

What the People Had to Say

Mr. Harvey J. DeSilva, a citizen of Grant Mills, Delaware county,
writes as follows : I have a brier patch which I want to burn over.
It is contiguous to my woodlands with a front of only ten rods. I
apply for permission to do so, providing you will permit me to
inform our district firewarden, Mr. Everett Butler, to be present at
my expense. The forest is in full leaf now, and I am sure that by
diligent effort this proposed fire can be fully controlled. I do not
wish to disobey our laws, and therefore make this request of you.*

Mr. Reuben Lawrence, custodian of the John Brown farm, North
Elba, Essex county. — Please come here at once. The firewarden,
Mr. Byron Brewster, was here this morning and said he would like
to have a private talk with you right away. He wants you to see
the condition the fires are in near the John Brown farm and other
State lands. The men are doing all they can to keep it from the
house. The fire is under control now, but I cannot tell how long
it will stay so if the wind comes up. We are all living in hopes
that God will send rain in a short time to help the poor men that are
trying to keep the fire down. All the men in this town are tired
out and sick and exhausted. Still they will have to work. The fire-
warden is doing all he can.

Mr. Fred Clemens, Lassellsville, Fulton county. — The origin of
that fire was a peculiar one, and I would be pleased to have the board
pass upon it. It was set by school children whom the teacher sent
into my woods to gather flowers. A teacher whom the State helps
to pay I should consider the first cause ; therefore I believe the State
is responsible to a certain extent for the damage done. This person
whom the State has sent out as a proper one to manage children has
caused me this great damage, and I think the State ought to help
me bear the loss.

Mr. William S. de Camp, Fulton Chain, Herkimer county. — I tele-
graphed Mr. Emmons and you yesterday under the spur of a raging
fire. I addressed myself also to Firewarden Parsons, who replied
that he " thought he had done pretty well for me." He gave me
the following authority in writing : " In my capacity as firewarden
I hereby deputize you to hire and pay men to extinguish the fires."

*Permission was refused. W. F. F.

53

Signed, Riley Parsons, firewarden. I proceeded to engage men
upon the strength of the above. I have good evidence that the
railroad, up to last Saturday, continued to use defective engines
through this district, thereby continuing to set fires. Roberts, the
district firewarden, has just now telephoned me in reply to a request
for help, that he " cannot be everywhere." I address this note to
Colonel Fox in particular, as I am personally acquainted with him
and am in communication with him on this matter by telegraph;
also knowing that he will connect up with the proper authorities.

Mr. Eugene M. House, Big Moose, Herkimer county. — There is
due me $23 for fighting fire on State land in Township 41. I was
left there on duty after all the other men had gone out of the woods.
I agreed to pay $20 to any man who would find fire there after 1 left.
This was not a political job like tending a bridge or canal lock,
where a man would not do enough for healthy exercise; but good,
solid, hard work with axe and shovel. I think I have waited long
enough. Please send check by return mail.

Mrs. Ella Flagg, Saranac Lake, Franklin county. — I would like
to call your attention to Messrs. Stratton & Lundstrom, contractors
engaged on construction work along the Saranac and Lake Placid
Railroad, in regard to their engine setting fires. This morning the
engine named " Grace " set a fire and ruined our private park. It
would have burned our cottage only for myself and daughter fighting
fire until the fire department arrived. The fire department of this
place said that not one engine had a screen. One of the engineers
told me that he had put on the screens to-day. They are setting
forest fires from this place to Lake Placid.*

Mr. Chester W. Chapin, President New England Railroad Com-
pany, 511 Bullitt Building, Philadelphia, Pa. — They are making it
very hot for me up in Sullivan county. As soon as the wind blows
towards my woods in goes the fire. The damn scamps have made
the boast that they would burn me, and they are doing their best.
The elements are in their favor, for we cannot get a drop of rain.
I wish some of the rascals could be caught, for they must have injured
me 6,000 or more acres already, and they have injured others even
more. I am keeping a sharp watch and plenty of men, horses, and
wagons, with water barrels and pails. These same fellows that fire
the woods violate other laws. I would like to work with the Com-
mission to help catch them.

Mr. W. K. Benedict, New York city. — I was a passenger on the
New York Central train from Saranac Lake to New York last Sat-

* These are the small locomotives employed by the contractors on the construction of the
new line ; the contractors are in the employ of the D. & H. R. R. The engines are the ones re-
ferred to in my report. W. F. F.

54

urday night, and happening to stand in the rear vestibule of the last
car of the train saw what I consider a good demonstration of how
most of the fires that have been devastating the Adirondack forests
recently are started. At very frequent intervals the tracks in the
rear of the train were strewn with live coals dumped from the loco-
motive, and in many instances these coals, dropping on the wooden
ties, burned into bright flames, which only required a slight breeze to
spread to the side of the tracks and to the forest. After seeing the
miles upon miles of blackened ruin, caused by the recent fires, this
struck me as a piece of wanton carelessness on the part of the rail-
road company that calls for investigation by the authorities, and
should be stopped at once if we care to save what remains of our
fast-disappearing Adirondack forests.

Plattsburg Sentinel, May 29, 1903. — On Wednesday, while a man
named Sancombe was driving along the road between Hunter's
Home and Goldsmith's, his horse was struck by a falling tree, which
had burned off near the bottom, and was instantly killed.

Ticonderoga Sentinel, May 7, 1903. — A farmer's boy near Ever-
ton went to the pasture after a horse, and both boy and horse were
burned to death.

Evening Journal, Glens Falls, June 9, 1903. — Yesterday, at Indian
Lake, some cattle were turned out in a swamp which had been burned
over, but which was apparently free from fire by reason of the recent
rains. However, the cattle sunk into the soft earth and fire burst
forth in several places, seriously burning the animals.

Troy Record, June 4, 1903. — A dispatch from Plattsburg says that
at Cadyville the woods were all afire near the village. The Catholic
cemetery was burned over, and a large force of men finally succeeded
in saving the Catholic church. At Twin Pond, on the Chateaugay
Railroad, a wooden trestle took fire from the forest fires, and a freight
engine broke through, carrying Engineer Kelly down with it. He
escaped, however, with slight bruises.

Essex County Republican, May 29, 1903. — George McDonald's
camps near Tupper Lake were destroyed. Mrs. Joseph Prevost had
given birth to a child only a few hours before. She was carried on
a mattress to the railway, where she was placed on a handcar and
removed from danger. Members of her rescuing party were severely
burned. A woman was left in one of the camps through some mis-
take, and when this was discovered George McDonald and Chester
Carr ran through the flames and rescued her. They found her on
her knees praying and, strange to say, this camp did not burn, al-
though another a short distance away and seemingly in much less
danger was destroyed.

55

The loss of life in all of these fires, if any, was small. There were
reports from time to time of persons who were burned to death, but
thus far I have been unable to verify these rumors.

While I was at the Fulton Chain fire there was a story afloat that
two of the Italians belonging to a large gang sent in by the New
York Central Railroad had lost their way, or been cut off by the
flames, and were burned to death. I cannot learn, however, that
their bodies were found, as would probably have been the case if
this accident had happened. The Utica Herald of June 5th states
that William Howe of Lake Placid was shut in by the flames while
fighting fire near the foot of Mt. Marcy and smothered to death by
smoke. I have been told since that this was a mistake. In view of
the thousands of men who were at work under extremely dangerous
conditions it is a matter of congratulation that there was no greater

loss of life.

W. F. F.

BULLETIN

OF

The New York State Forestry Association

VOL. I

JUNE, 1914

No. 1

VIRGIN FOREST IN THE ADIRONDACKS

Conservation Means Proper Use

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION

Organized, 1913; Incorporated, 1914

The New York State Forestry Association was organized in January 1913 for the
purpose of amalgamating all of the allied interests in the State into one compact body.

Its Executive Committee is composed of representatives from every organization
interested in the various phases of Forestry activity in the Empire State and consequently
its recommendations represent the harmonized opinions of all forces working toward the
solution of our Forestry problems.

The Association is now entering upon the second year of its existence, has held three
regular meetings, has a membership of over 300; will publish a magazine quarterly devoted
to the dissemination of information upon the Forestry situation within the State and plans to
vastly increase its membership and influence during the coming year.

Too often an organization of this kind dissipates its energies in generalities. Appreciat-
ing this fact, the New York State Forestry Association has definitely set for its goal the
following :

I. The promotion of the Forestry movement in New York State by uniting in a single

organization all who are interested.

II. The dissemination of information concerning the purpose, value and effects of
forests and to provide an organ in which interests of the lumberman, sportsman
and owner, manufacturer and all others may be brought together and to solicit
free discussion on all public questions.

The Association also sets itself on record concretely in endeavoring to achieve the
following:

To extend the protection from forest fires to all forest lands and to reduce the annual
destruction caused by forest fires.

To educate public opinion in order that a rational policy be pursued in managing the
forest lands owned by the State.

To extend the reforestation of idle land.

To insure a future supply of timber for the wood industries and provide the coming
generations with sufficient building material etc. for their needs.

To protect our watersheds and conserve our stream flow.

To maintain our forests so that they will protect game and fish life and best serve as a
health resort and play ground.

To secure more equitable taxation of forest land.

To take an active part in securing proper legislation necessary for forest conservation.

The present officers of the Association are as follows :

JAMES S. WHIPPLE

FORMER FOREST, FISH AND GAME COM-
MISSIONER
PRESIDENT

CHAS. M. Dow,

Amer. Scenic & Hist. Society

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT,

Assist. Secretary of Navy

WILLIAM H. VARY,

Master State Grange

JOHN B. BURNHAM,

Amer. Game Prot. Ass'n

PRANK A. CUTTING,

Timberland owner

EDWARD H. HALL,
Ass'n Prot. Adirondacks

SAMUEL N. SPRING,
State College of Agriculture

C. R. PETTIS
VIRGIL K. KELLOGG
WARREN H. MILLER
SAMUEL N. SPRING

DR. HUGH P. BAKER

DEAN OF THE STATE COLLEGE OF
FORESTRY
SECRETARY

VICE-PRESIDENTS
CALVIN J. HUSON,
Commr. of Agriculture

JAMES R. DAY,
Chancellor Syracuse University

GEO. N. OSTRANDER,

Timberland owner

GEO. E. VAN KENNAN,

Conservation Commissioner

DR. LIBERTY H. BAILEY,

Agriculturist

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

CLIFFORD R. PETTIS,

Supt. State Forests

FRANK F. MOON,

The State College of Forestry

COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP
NELSON C. BROWN
ALLEN I. VOSBURGH
JAMES ANNIN, JR.
GEO. N. OSTRANDER

WARREN H. MILLER

EDITOR, FI3LD AND STREAM
TREASURER

DAN BEARD,

Naturalist

DR. AUGUSTUS S. DOWNING,

Education Department

DR. HENRY W. HILL,

State Waterways Ass'n

MRS. DONALD MCLEAN,

Daughters Amer. Rev.

MRS. E. G. COLBURN,

Federation Women's Clubs

FRANK L. MOORE,

Empire State Forest Prod. Ass'n

OTTOMAR H. VAN NORDEN,

Camp Fire Club of America

OTTOMAR H. VAN NORDEN
JOHN G. JONES
CHAS. H. WILSON
MRS. E. G. WHITMEYER

The list of officers indicates wide representation. As a matter of sentiment, policy
or business every public spirited citizen of New York State should be a member.

JOIN AND URGE YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN !
[2]

TAPESTRY TREES

OAK. I am the Roof-tree and the Keel :
I bridge the seas for woe and weal.

FIR. High o'er the lordly oak I stand,
And drive him on from land to land.

ASH. I heft my brother's iron bane;
I shaft the spear and build the wain.

YEW. Dark down the windy dale I grow,
The father of the fateful Bow.

POPLAR. The war shaft and the rhilking-bowl
I make, and keep the hay-wain whole.

OLIVE. The King I bless ; the lamps I trim ;
In my warm wave do fishes swim.

APPLE-TREE. I bowed my head to Adam's will;
The cups of toiling men I fill.

VINE. I draw the blood from out the earth;
I store the sun for winter mirth.

ORANGE-TREE. Amidst the greenness of my night
My odorous lamps hang round and bright.

FIG-TREE. I who am little among trees
In honey-making mate the bees.

MULBERRY-TREE. Love's lack hath dyed my berries red:
For Love's attire my leaves are shed.

PEAR TREE. High o'er the mead-flowers' hidden feet
I bear aloft my burden sweet.

BAY. Look on my leafy boughs, the Crown
Of living song and dead renown !

William Morris.

[3]

CITY FOREST, FRANKFORT, GERMANY

A stand of no year old American White Pine that is the property of the
city of Frankfort. German cities quite commonly own woodland which is
managed as a producing forest and recreation ground combined.

FOREWORD

THE Forestry situation in New York State is and always has been unique.
Owning more timberland than any other State, 1,800,000 acres, the State
cannot practice real forestry on this vast area owing to Constitutional
prohibition. With a splendid administrative force of men protecting the Adiron-
dacks and Catskills against fire, the remainder of the State is left to the mercies
of the ex-officio wardens, since a State-wide fire law is not in effect, and finally
with all of the interest in Conservation, with the organizations formed for the
protection of animal life and forests, with the enormous State owned domain con-
taining 25 per cent, of the remaining timber, it was not until 1913 that a State-
wide Forestry Association was formed that would amalgamate all of the forestry
interests of the State and concern itself with the woodlot and idle land problem,
as well as the protection of the State owned play-ground in the Adirondacks.

It is true that in 1885 a meeting was called at Utica and presided over by
Theodore Roosevelt, then State Assemblyman. This Association led a rather
tame existence for some years and finally died a natural death.

Following this several organizations sprang up, each concerned with a certain
aspect of the forestry movement within the State ; the Society for the Protection
of the Adirondacks. organized in 1901, for the purpose of guarding this area
against lawless cuttings, being the most notable, and other organizations also
have left their print upon the forestry legislation of the Empire State either in
the form of suggested changes in the fire law or by suggesting a plan for a com-
plete conservation law.

In May, 1912, it occurred to some Foresters of New York that the need of
a State Forestry organization was imperative ; that there should be a single organi-
zation in the State having representatives on its Executive Committee of each of
the other associations and bodies concerned with some special phase of forestry
work. It seemed that this State Association could coordinate all the forestry
recommendations that might otherwise emanate in a rather inharmonious manner
and that by threshing the various matters over " In Committee " as it were,
present a solid, concrete, harmonious set of suggestions for the consideration of
the legislative bodies within the State.

With this end in view a meeting was called at Syracuse for January 16,
1913, and on that date the New York State Forestry Association was launched.

New York is the greatest wood consuming state in the Union. We use over 2,000,000,000
board feet every year in our wood-using industries.

New York sends out of the state over $100,000,000 every year for forest products which
could just as well be grown in the state on lands that are now idle or non-productive.

Among the 20 different states engaged in the wood pulp industry, New York leads
them all, consuming annually over 1,000,000 cords to supply which over 40,000 acres of
good virgin timber are cut every year. We will soon be forced to grow under systematic
forest management all of our wood for paper pulp.

[51

OUTLINE OF PROCEEDINGS

OF

FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY
ASSOCIATION, JANUARY 16, 1913.

The meeting was well attended and over 50 Charter Members enrolled. The following
program was carried out:

Opening of Meeting Dean Baker

Address of Welcome Acting Mayor Rill

Statement of Purpose of Meeting Dean Baker

Mr. Frank L. Moore, President Empire State Forest Products Association, elected temporary
Chairman and Professor F. F. Moon elected Acting Secretary.

"Forest Mapping in New York" Mr. H. R. Bristol, Forester for D. & H. Railroad Co.,

Plattsburgh, N. Y.

Address — " The Forest and the Nation " Hon. Gifford Pinchot, Former Chief Forester of

the United States.

"Forest Management ".... Frank L. Moore, President Empire State Forest Products Assn.,

Temporary Chairman.

"Branch Associations and the Kindergarten of Forestry,'' Mr. John Dennis, Editorial

Staff, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, N. Y.

"The Farmer's Interest in Forestry "... .Prof. Walter Mulford, Dept. of Forestry, State
College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y.

"The Administration of State Lands " Mr. Clifford R. Pettis, Supt. of State Forests of

N. Y. Conservation Commission, Albany, N. Y.
" Progress of Forestry in New York " Dean Hugh P. Baker, N. Y. State College of Forestry,

In addition the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce held a special meeting with
Mr. Pinchot as the speaker and guest of honor and in the evening a banquet was
held at the Onondaga Hotel.

The meeting on the whole was most successful. All of the forestry associa-
tions and organizations in New York State were represented and a number of
excellent papers were presented.

Unfortunately, space will not permit the printing of all of these papers in
full but such portions are given as show the need of a strong State Forestry
Association or any analysis of the forestry problems peculiar to New York State.

New York has fallen from her position as the greatest lumber producing state in the
Nation until at the present time 22 states are found to cut more lumber every year. Over
one-half of New York is suited to forest growth and in the future there is every indication
that Neiv York will return to her inportant position as a timber producing state.

New York has more excelsior plants than any other state. Some of our large
department stores use over a ton of excelsior a day. One toy company uses over a ton and
a half every day. Basswood and poplar are the best excelsior woods. Besides packing
purposes, excelsior is used for filtering, upholstering and a fine grade of excelsior, called
wood wool, is used for carpets, mattings and even clothing.

^ York uses about 150 different kinds of foreign and domestic woods in her many

varied wood-using industries.

[6]

THE FOREST AND THE NATION

By HON. GIFFORD PINCHOT

MR. Pinchot said in part : I don't
wish to talk upon ' 'The Forest
and the Nation " today except
in a very general sense, but I do want
to talk upon the formation of a New
York State Forestry Association and I
want to say .something to the Forest
Students who are about to enter their
profession.

First, as to the object for which you
are here — the formation of a New
York State Forestry Association. It
has happened to be my luck to come
into contact with the work of other
similar organizations in other states.
Take, for instance, the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association. The work of
getting together the superb State Forest
Reservation of Pennsylvania would
have been entirely impossible if it had
not been for the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.

In the early days before Forestry had
come to mean anything to the great ma-
jority of people, the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association under Dr. Rothrock
had begun to bring together a few men
who knew what Forestry actually was,
who had a definite plan in their minds
and who were so devoted that they were
willing not only to put their money but
their time into the work. They got at
first scant attention, but afterward se-
cured a strong hold on the citizens
throughout the State. This is one of
the State Forestry Associations which
is directly responsible for the advance
of the States in Forestry, so far as land
reserved for state use is concerned.
And so I might cite other State Forestry
Associations which have helped in a
very important degree the advancement
of Forestry in other States.

IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
THERE IS NEEDED A SINGLE
STRONG BODY ABLE TO
HANDLE WITH AUTHORITY
THE THINGS WHICH WE HAVE
BEEN FIGHTING ABOUT IN

FORESTRY FOR A GOOD MANY
YEARS PAST. When in 1882 the
first Forest law was passed in New
York and then in 1885 the law was
passed setting aside lands for the
Adirondack and Catskill Preserves,
Forestry in New York was still a very
vague and uncertain thing. The Forest
Commission which was then appointed
furnished a temporary focus toward
which men and women anxious for
good work in Forestry might bend
their efforts, but since that time through
all the fights which were so necessary
to prevent bad forest management,
through the passage of the constitu-
tional amendment which prevents today
the cutting of any timber on State land
and UNTIL TODAY THERE HAS
BEEN ENTIRELY LACKING ONE
CENTRAL BODY THAT COULD
SPEAK WITH AUTHORITY AS
TO WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE
STATE NEED AND DO NOT
NEED TO HAVE DONE.

We are not entirely a unit by any
means. There are vital questions on
which we do not agree. The top-lop-
ping law is an example. There are
many men in the State who take the
position that the top-lopping law is un-
necessary and that the forest is safer if
the tops are not lopped. I take the
position, and I take it with vigor, that
the top-lopping law is absolutely neces-
sary and that unless it can be enforced
effectively forest destruction by fire is
certain to continue. There will be laid
before you the plan of the Camp Fire
Club for the control of private forests
through taxation; so will a number of
other plans. The great gain is that
there will be one central body in which
all of these questions can be discussed.

I have long been a member of the
Camp Fire Club and I had the honor to
make for it a report as to what was
needed in the Adirondack forest but
that report did not unite all factions by

[71

8 NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

any means. There were others who of the State, you will have done what

differed, sometimes in minor things and seems to me one of the largest pieces of

sometimes int important things, from civic work now open to be done in New

what the Camp Fire Club thought was York. Therefore, it has been a great

necessary. Now, if by getting together pleasure to me to come and wish you

as you are doing you can bring the godspeed, for you have as large a future

united efforts of all organizations and of usefulness as any organization could

all men of good will to bear on the possibly have,
tremendously important forest problem

Ten million board feet of lumber are used for cigar boxes in New York State every
year. Most of this is made of Spanish cedar. Other substitute woods are being gradually
used for cigar boxes such as basswood and yellow poplar.

The Forest Preserve contains approximately one million, eight hundred thousand acres
of land and two hundred thousand acres of water. This area is twice the size of the State
of Delaware, larger than Rhode Island and is equivalent to about half the size of the State
of Connecticut. It embraces 6,850 parcels situated in 16 counties with approximately five
times as large an area of private property and is bounded by over nine thousand miles of
lines.

The Constitution of this State prevents any direct use of the Forest Preserve. This
prohibition was adopted in 1894. Important economic, industrial and administrative changes
have taken place during the two decades since the present constitution took effect. The
area then was 720,744 acres, or about 45 per cent of the present 1,800,000 acres. Our popu-
lation during this period increased from six to nine million people. The State lands then
contained only about four billion feet of lumber or about 10 per cent of the total quantity in
the Forest Preserve counties. At present there is upon the State land approximately twelve
billion feet or nearly 50 per cent of the total amount in the Forest Preserve Counties and
nearly 25 per cent of the total stumpage of the State.

The utilization of the mature and dead timber on the New York State Forest Preserve
of 1,800,006 acres would yield a revenue of at least one million dollars every year without
impairing the beauty of the forest or its value for future timber supply and water shed
protection purposes.

Trees are like other plants in that they reach maturity, die and decay. The constitu-
tional restrictions which prevent utilising the growth upon State lands result in a large loss
to the State. It has been estimated that the annual production of lumber upon the Forest
Preserve amounts to two hundred fifty million feet per year; that this material is worth
$4.00 per thousand feet on the stump, therefore, the loss to the State itself amounts to one
million dollars. In addition to this direct revenue the utilisation of this product would
inaugurate increased business in the forest section and furnish employment to laborers.

Of all the trees cut in our native forests only about 40 per cent is ultimately used in one
way or another. The remaining 60 per cent is wasted in the form of stumps, tops, sawdust,
slabs, etc. In Germany about 06 per cent of the wood grown is utilized in one form or
another. Our virgin timber supply is disappearing so rapidly that more and more attention
is being paid to closer utilization of our forest products.

FOREST MANAGEMENT

By FRANK L. MOORE of Watertown, N. Y.
President Empire State Forest Products Association

NATIONS, as they pass from one
decade to the next, have a mys-
terious way of imposing new
and added obligations upon each suc-
ceeding generation. It has been so from
the beginning and will be so until the
end. In measuring time from the be-
ginning it is comparatively but a few
years since the Pilgrims landed at Ply-
mouth Rock. Amazed at the richness
and vastness of the natural resources of
the country that lay before them, they
little realized that in a few short years
human hands and human ingenuity
would be called upon to control and
regulate those same resources from
which they carved out the foundation
of the richest nation in the world.

To maintain the supremacy of our
Empire State we must bend every effort
to see that the vast natural resources
which lie within our boundaries are so
regulated and managed as to produce
the greatest amount of good for the
greatest number of people.

The two great problems in this State
which confront us today are the prac-
tical management of our forest lands,
and the regulation and control of flood
waters. Reforest the land surrounding
the head-waters of our streams and na-
ture will do much to assist in regulating
their flow.

As this is a Forestry meeting, I shall
endeavor to confine myself strictly to
the first problem, and that is, Forest
Management. For two centuries man
has been felling the forests of America
to make fields and to produce certain
articles manufactured from this timber.

This State owns today 1,663,000 acres
of wild forest lands. Of this acreage,
according to the Superintendent of
Forests, there is available for reforesta-
tion about 125,000 acres. Of the bal-
ance, about 60,000 acres are water and

the rest either virgin forest or partially
cut-over lands.

Has it ever occurred to you that this
property was purchased by levying
taxes, of which you and I have paid
our proportion, and that we are de-
prived by the Constitution of this State
from receiving any return upon that in-
vestment? Is that Conservation? NO
— it is Confiscation. You and I would
not tolerate that for a moment in any
enterprise in which we might be inter-
ested and we shall not solve the problem
by shunning it.

Why should not the people, the real
owners of this vast estate, arise and de-
mand that its management be ad-
ministered so as to increase its value,
and at the same time yield annually a
revenue of millions of dollars? If this
is accomplished a direct tax will be un-
heard of. I am opposed to the State,
which means you and I, when we pay
our taxes, appropriating any more
money for the purchase of forest lands
under our present Constitution. In-
stead of allowing a maturing and ripe
crop to rot, the Constitution should be
so amended as to permit, under the
direct supervision of trained foresters,
the cutting of matured and down
timber.

The great objection that is raised to
amending section 7 of article 7 of the
New York State Constitution to permit
the above, is that succeeding administra-
tions will sooner or later use it for
political purposes or for political re-
wards. To avoid this and to safeguard
it in every possible way, I would sug-
gest the appointment of an advisory
board to act in conjunction with the
Commissioner in direct charge of our
State forests ; also that the actual work
of cutting and removing the timber be
under the direct supervision of an ad-

IO

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

visory board composed of the Dean of
the New York State College of Forestry
and one member to be selected by the
Association for the Protection of the
Adirondacks, The Camp Fire Club of
America and The Board of Trade and
Transportation of New York, the third
to be selected by the Empire State
Forest Products Association.

If anyone can suggest a safer board
to protect your interests and mine, I
will immediately withdraw my sugges-
tion. Amend the Constitution and you
have taken the first great step towards
developing the richest asset of any State
of the Union. Then reforesting should
be undertaken along broad and compre-
hensive lines. The intermittent planting
of today will not produce the deep
forest cover necessary for the perpetua-
tion of our forests and the regulation of
our rivers.

Believing that some means should be
adopted whereby the people of the
State might acquire larger interests in
our forest area, I made the following
suggestions as a basis for legislation at
the last annual meeting of the Empire
State Forest Products Association:

First. An individual or corporation
to make application to the Conservation
Department to reforest certain lands.

Second. This growing crop to be ex-
empt from taxation.

Third. The trees when matured to be
cut under State supervision and a
stumpage fee paid to the State.

Fourth. The stumpage to be a lien
against the growing crop.

Fifth. The amount of stumpage to be
agreed upon by the owners and the
Commission in charge. In case of dis-
agreement, the two to select a third and
his decision to be final.

Sixth. The trees to be considered ma-
ture when they have reached a diam-
eter of 12 inches on the stump.

Seventh. Careful surveys and records
of all parcels planted shall be filed with
the owners and the Commission.

Please note that the two fundamental
ideas underlying this suggestion are,
first, the investment ultimately will
yield a large income to the State;
second, it makes possible the continuous

forest which we know must grow in
order to obtain the greatest possible
results.

Owing to the long time involved and
the consequent impossibility of prompt
financial return to the individual, the
growing of these tree crops must de-
pend largely upon governments, and
governments will act only in this direc-
tion in response to the pressure of in-
telligent people. The following sugges-
tion is not original with me, but I be-
lieve it to be thoroughly practical, pro-
vided the Constitution is amended as I
have already suggested. In doing this
I am going to give a few figures.

Let the State appropriate $1,000,000
annually for 30 years, and purchase
50,000 acres of land per year anywhere
within the State. Reforest this and add
the interest for 30 years, and you have
a net investment of $1,700,000. At the
end of this period cut the land clean, as
is done in Germany, and you will have
a yield of approximately 44 cords per
acre or 2,200,000 cords. A very con-
servative estimate of its stumpage value
thirty years hence would be $6 per cord
or $13,200,000. Thus leaving a credit
balance of $11,500,000. Deduct from
this the cost of a second reforesting
with administrative expenses, or al-
together $1,000,000 and you will have
left a net income for the State of $10,-
500,000 per year.

The correctness of the above figures
1 have had confirmed by the experience
of trained foresters. If you think they
are wrong, cut them in half, and you
have an income of $5,000,000. In ad-
dition to the above income you would
have a large revenue from the private
lands reforested and also from our
State lands. The three combined should
treble the amount of the income from
the 50,000 acres. Is it not worth trying?

Why, gentlemen, we have been asleep,
and if it were not for the pride I have
in being a citizen of this State I would
almost be ashamed to raise my voice in
behalf of this cause at so late a day.
Certain things that are definitely and
vitally true are definitely and vitally
worth while, and the time for far-seeing
constructive work has come.

FOREST MANAGEMENT

ii

At the risk of being criticised I am
going to give you a few more figures.
The Conservation Commission reports
for 1911 show manufactured lumber
from spruce, hemlock and pine cut in
this State 293,971,774 feet and 552,229
cords of pulpwood. Reducing it all to
feet we have as coming from our lands
625,309,174 feet of lumber. According
to the Forest Service Circular No. 120
of the United States Department of
Agriculture of 1906, which is the latest
I could obtain, there was used in this
State 1,295,904 cords of wood. Reduce
this to feet we have 777,552,400 feet.

The yield from 50,000 acres reduced
to feet would be 1,300,000 feet, or
double the amount that was cut in this
State during 1911, and nearly double the
amount that was used by the pulp and
paper mills in this State in 1906.

Please bear in mind that the only
figures of yield I have given are esti-
mates upon the 50,000 acres, and I have
not added to them what would be a
large yield from our State lands and re-
forested private lands. Thus it appears
reasonable to assume that from these
sources you would receive timber
enough to make good the estimates I
have given and which have been con-
firmed by experienced foresters.

The possibilities are so great as to be
almost incomprehensible to the layman.
Is it not time we should demand that a
big, broad gauged business man of large
administrative experience take hold of
this property and make it yield for us
what it should yield ? In doing this the
natural beauty of our forests would be
enhanced a thousand fold, and you
would see forests growing on every acre
of waste land in the State.

Reforestation, however, will accom-
plish but little unless fires are kept out
of the forests. We should lend every
assistance possible to the Commission
to further improve and perfect its al-
ready excellent fire fighting department.
Suggestions will be made to the Legisla-
ture for improving this service.

There are already in the State several
organizations interested in our Adiron-
dack problems and I can point with
pride to the fact that we are all work-
ing in harmony to accomplish the same
results. As one of the speakers has out-
lined, I believe this Association, State-
wide in its scope, will reach many that
could not be interested by any of the
other organizations, and I am glad to
be present today to lend what little
assistance I can to its formation.

The topography, character and forest growth upon lands constituting the Forest Preserve
are very diversified. There arc no exact figures as to the character of the growth upon this
area. The best estimates which are available are as follows :

acres.

Virgin forest 70,000

Lumbered lands • • i,45O,ooo

Denuded lands.. 120,000

Water 200,000

The State should, as other owners do, make a valuation survey or inventory of its
property in order to determine the area of the different classes of forest ^growth, location
and the quantity of material contained. Information of this character is of the utmost
importance in any consideration of a possible change of the constitution.

The State Forest Preserve is at the present time a luxury. Its initial cost represents an
investment of approximately four million dollars. The interest on this amount ^at 5 per
cent is two hundred thousand dollars per year. This land bears its share of taxation in the
towns in which it is located and pays annually for this purpose one hundred fifty thousand
dollars. The expense of fire protection and administration is fully fifteen thousand dollars
additional, therefore, the total annual carrying charge upon this property is not less than
three hundred sixty-five thousand dollars per year.

THE HOUSE OF THE TREES

Ope your doors and take me in,

Spirit of the wood,
Wash me clean of dust and din,

Clothe me in your mood.

Take me from the noisy light

To the sunless peace,
Where at mid day standeth Night

Signing Toil's release.

All your dusky twilight stores

To my senses give;
Take me in and lock the doors,

Show me how to live.

Lift your leafy roof for me,

Part your yielding walls :
Let me wander lingeringly

Through your scented halls.

Ope your doors and take me in,

Spirit of the wood;
Take me — make me next of kin

To your leafy brood.

— Ethelwyn Wetherald.

[12]

SUMMER IN VIRGIN FOREST, TOWNSHIP 40, ADIRONDACK^

The potential forest land in New York is fully as
productive as the forest lands of Germany and France.
On the Continent annual revenues range from $1.50 to
$5 net per acre.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF STATE FORESTS

By CLIFFORD R. PETTIS

THE State of New York is one of
the largest land owners in the
East, and, as a matter of fact,
the administration of the area embrac-
ing over 1,800,000 acres is somewhat of
a problem. The present Constitution is
so drastic that it practically prohibits
any use of this great area which is one-
half as large as the State of Connecti-
cut ; therefore, our efforts are directed
largely to protective measures.

This area is not a solid block but con-
sists of nearly seven thousand parcels
of varying sizes scattered over sixteen
Adirondack and Catskill counties. It is
bounded by approximately nine thou-
sand miles of lines and the title to it has
been derived in many different ways ;
one-half has been acquired by purchase
and most of the remainder by tax sales
through the nonpayment of taxes.
Some of the finest timber lands, virgin
forests, have been thus acquired. The
purchases have been the best invest-
ment the State ever made and the lands
could be sold today at a very handsome
profit.

In order to protect the land it must
first be located, this usually necessitates
surveys. The original locations were,
in most instances, made soon after the
Revolutionary War, and during the
century or more since, lumbering, fire
and decay have obliterated many of the
monuments. This, therefore, increases
the actual work because it is often nec-
essary to run lines of adjacent lots in
order to be satisfied as to the exact de-
termination of the lines as any subse-
quent survey is governed entirely by
the old monuments. A large amount of
poor surveying by incompetent and
careless persons has resulted, in many
instances in numerous erroneous lines,
and, therefore, it is necessary to make
a study of the same to determine which
of them should be accepted.

Another difficulty in this connection
is that the original grants were usually
made for large areas. These field notes
and maps are usually on record, but
the interior allotments of those tracts
were not made by the State but by the
grantees, and unfortunately they did
not, in some instances, appreciate the
value of the records of those surveys
for future generations in locating
parcels of land. This causes searching
through various channels and office
records to discover the necessary data.

It is also necessary to make searches
in order to determine the quality of the
State's title to certain lands. This is
not as simple a matter as might be ex-
pected because in many instances parties
did not place their deeds on record and,
therefore, there is a break in the chain
of title; also many of the old grants
were given to foreigners and we have
been unable to find some of the records.

As already stated, the Constitution
prohibits lumbering on State land, there-
fore, "one of the principal duties in con-
nection with the administration of State
property is to protect the land from
trespass. This not only necessitates
knowledge of surveys and titles but also
the location of the lands in the field and
familiarizing the forest rangers with the
location of the lines.

The first consideration in our plan of
administration is to secure protection
from fire. As many of you are aware,
a new system was adopted in 1909 after
the disastrous experience of 1908. At
that time the old town fire warden
system was abandoned and an organi-
zation was affected with paid fire rang-
ers. The Adirondack and Catskill ter-
ritories are now divided into five dis-
tricts with a district ranger in charge of
each district and the work is conducted
under their immediate direction. The
plan is two-fold ; first, preventive, and

[14]

THE ADMINISTRATION OF STATE FORESTS

second, extinguishing any fires which
may occur. The rangers are patroling
the customary lines of travel, points of
danger, watching for fire, cautioning
people, posting fire notices, and other-
wise trying to educate people in regard
to the ease with which forest fires may
be set and the consequent damage which
results.

One of the most effective plans of
this system is the establishment and
operation of observatories on high
mountains. At the present time tele-
phone lines have been built to the top of
fifty-one mountains. Men who are
familiar with the territory surrounding
the mountains are located on them dur-
ing the fire season keeping a careful
watch of the territory by means of field
glasses, and whenever a smoke is ob-
served they immediately telephone to
the ranger or fire warden who is the
most accessible and notify him of the
fire. Any of you who have had the
pleasure of climbing some of our
Adirondack mountains and enjoying
the wide view can appreciate what a
point of vantage these mountain tops
offer and how an observer in a few
seconds by looking in all directions with
his naked eye can practically patrol a
few hundred thousand acres and easily
detect any fires. On the other hand the
forest ranger may travel through the
dense woods and pass within a very
short distance of a fire and fail to ob-
serve it unless the wind happens to be
blowing the smoke toward him. The
efficiency of these mountain stations has
been demonstrated many times.

The increased price of forest prod-
ucts and the scarcity of the material in
some places, coupled with the fact that
in various localities the State owns so
much land that there is but a very
limited source of supply for local use,
tends to induce trespass. The present

Constitution was adopted in 1894. At
that time the conditions were very dif-
ferent than at present. The acreage of
land was less than one-half as much as
is now owned. The amount of timber
affected was probably not more than 25
per cent, of what is now owned. The
amount of timber affected was probably
not more than 25 per cent, of what is
now upon these lands, and furthermore
was a much smaller percentage of the
entire stumpage of the State. In other
words, during the past twenty years a
very decided change has taken place in
regard to the proportion of timber lands
and timber affected and its relation to
the requirements of the State. There
are instances of where people are re-
quired to pay about $20 per ton for coal
when there is more than enough fuel
going to waste at their very doors.

The use of State land is a very im-
portant proposition. About three hun-
dred miles of camp sites on State land
in the forest preserve are open to free
use of the public, provided they do not
cut any trees or erect any structures ex-
cept tents. The care which it is neces-
sary to exercise in watching these people
of a transient nature is very great, and
it has often been argued that if it were
possible to lease camp sites these people
instead of being transient would have
a personal interest in the land which
they occupied and it would greatly in-
crease the fire protection. There are
several hundred people who are living
on State land in the forest preserve
under varying conditions, and the policy
of dealing with these problems is very
important.

There are many other things in re-
gard to the administration of this im-
portant proposition that might be of in-
terest to you, but there are so many
ethers here that I will try and give
some one else a chance to be heard.

In New York's railway mileage of over 8,000 practically all of the ties used in the
tracks come from other states. Long leaved pine and oak are brought from the South
and chestnut from the southern Appalachian Mountains. These ties now cost the railroad
from 65 to 80 cents a piece whereas 15 years ago they could be purchased for from 35 to 50
cents a piece. Many railroads are planting trees to supply ties for the future.

PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IN NEW YORK

By DR. HUGH P. BAKER
Dean of The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse, Neiv York

Some fifty years ago New York led
in the production of lumber in this
country. Today she has dropped to
24th place and there promises to be a
continual downward trend in the curve
of production until the great areas of
State land are thrown open to careful
cutting and more of the second growth
now coming on is ready for the axe. In
spite of this rapid downward trend,
nearly a billion feet of lumber were
sawed during the past year. Every
phase of the present status of both the
forests and the lumber industry indi-
cates that New York will eventually
take a leading place among the forest
producing States of the country.

Recent statistics show that out of the
34,000,000 acres in the State but 22,-
000,000 are included within farms. Of
this 22,000,000 but 15,000,000 are actu-
ally in agricultural crops. This means
that there are 7,000,000 of idle acres in
the farms of New York which should
be productive. It is probable that not
all of this large area is actually non-
agricultural but without question there
is an area larger than the State of Mas-
sachusetts enclosed within farms and
nonproductive. Of the 12,000,000 acres
outside of farms, it has been shown that
less than a half contains merchantable
timber. About 4,500,000 of the 12,-
000,000 acres are covered with more or
less valuable growth, but not merchant-
able. There are nearly 2,000,000 acres
with no valuable growth. IT IS SAFE
TO SAY THAT BETWEEN 12,000,-
ooo AND 14,000,000 ACRES IN THE
STATE WILL EVENTUALLY BE
DEVOTED TO FORESTRY. This
represents an area as large as all of
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachu-
setts and forty miles north in Vermont
and New Hampshire, or all of New
York State north of the New York
Central lines.

Forest land in Europe, not nearly as
well adapted to the production of
forests as much of the forest areas of
New York, is producing as high as $3
to $5 per acre per year net profit. Last
year this State sent out through the
ports of New York, the Tonawandas,
Plattsburgh and elsewhere over fifteen
millions of dollars for wood to be used
in the industries. There is absolutely
no reason why the 12 to 14 millions of
acres of forest land in the State should
not eventually produce more per acre
than is now being produced abroad.
This would save to the State the mil-
lions now sent elsewhere for timber and
make it really an export state. At the
same time the millions of acres at pres-
ent unproductive would be sharing their
support of the commonwealth and
would become of immense indirect
value in aiding conservation of water
and soil.

Great progress has been made during
the past few years in the protection of
the forests of the state. Out of the
3,500,000 acres enclosed within the blue
line in the Adirondacks, the State owns
over 1,800,000 acres. A great deal of
the land and especially that which has
been purchased recently, has been cut
over or burned over and yet there are
considerable areas of virgin forest more
than ready for the axe which have
been tied up for a number of years by
the constitutional provision preventing
the cutting of timber on State lands.
There has been a fairly rapid extension
of the use of observation towers con
nected by telephone with settlers and
villages and it is expected that the
number of these towers will approxi-
mate 50 before the end of the year.
It is difficult to estimate accurately to
what extent the erection of these towers
has diminished the area burned over
each year and yet the general evidence

[16]

PROGRESS OF FORESTRY IN NEW YORK

from all sections of the Adirondacks
is that the right kind of protection is
now being given but should be greatly
extended and the force largely in-
creased. About one cent per acre per
year is now being expended in the
Adirondacks for protection and there
should be at least 4 to 6 times this
amount. Large timber owners in the
Northwest are spending as high as three
to four cents per acre per year and it is
difficult to see how the great State of
New York can expect to protect its
valuable forests without larger appro-
priations for fire protection.

The constitutional provision which
served an excellent purpose for the
first years after it was passed is no
longer desirable and should be so
changed as to allow of the harvesting
of the over-mature trees of the Adiron-
dack forests. With better understand-
ing of fire protection and a wider and
saner interest in Forests and Forestry
throughout the State, it seems as if the
time was ripe for the removal of this
constiutional provision and the placing
of the State's forests under State ex-
perts who will not commercialize them
but who will perpetuate them through
careful methods of cutting and more
thorough protection. The proceeds re-
ceived from the sale of stumpage on
State lands would go far toward in-
creasing the area of these lands and
their better protection and reforesta-
tion. There is a growing feeling that
the State should purchase waste lands
throughout the section of the Adiron-
dacks and Catskill so that it eventually
will be by far the greatest forest owner
in the State. The purchase of these
lands within the next few years would
be great economy as there is no ques-
tion but what New York must be a
great producer of timber and with the
extensive water powers to be developed
in the northern part of the State, the
State should by all means control not
only the headwaters of the streams and
rivers but the absolute forest lands all
along the streams and rivers.

No State in the Union is more favor-
ably located, climatically or otherwise,
for the producing of profitable forests.

There exist the right conditions of rain-
fall and soil and after studying the
forests of Europe for more than a year,
the writer believes that there is not an
acre of so-called " waste land " any-
where in the State where there is soil
which with proper care will not grow
a valuable forest. There is absolutely
no reason why the Adirondacks should
not within the next 50 to 100 years be
covered with as fine, if not finer forests
than can now be found anywhere in the
Black Forest or other forest regions of
Europe. Market conditions are unex-
celled as the Adirondacks and other
great forest producing sections of the
State are almost surrounded by water
and easily accessible by rail.

The two problems which will con-
front Foresters in putting the forest
areas of the State under careful man-
agement are:

I. To obtain satisfactory reproduc-
tion of the right kind of species in the
shortest possible time.

II. To increase the growth to the
maximum amount which the soil and
situation are capable of producing.

The excellent work which the Con-
servation Commission has been doing
in the reforestation of burned and cut-
over lands is of tremendous value ex-
perimentally. While the amount of
planting in the aggregate is exceeding
small, yet it is a start in the right
direction and will allow of comparisons
of species and rates of growth which
can be used to great advantage in the
next few years. However, it is safe to
say that artificial reforestation or the
use of seedlings and transplants will be
resorted to only where we cannot re-
produce the native species naturally or
where there are not satisfactory native
species occupying the ground. Facts
do not bear out a statement made often
by those who are apparently familiar
with the forest regions of this north
country. This is, that if you keep fire
out, a satisfactory forest will come in
over the ground previously cut over and
burned. True some kind of trees or
half trees will come in but if this
method is followed it will take often
from 100 to 200 years to allow nature

i8

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

to finally bring about the most profitable
forest cover. There are considerable
areas in the Adirondacks which have
been so severely burned and cut that
seed trees are not present and con-
siderable planting will therefore be
necessary. However, as rapidly as
forests of the right species are put back
onto the ground, they should be handled
under methods of natural reproduction.
Wherever there is a forest as in Town-
ship 40 for instance, natural .methods
may be used to great advantage and at
very much less expense than planting.

The growth of many of our native
species now being used commercially
has been so slow that should they be
equally as slow growing under scientific
management we probably could not
afford to grow them. The struggle for
space and light in the virgin forest is
intense and growth is retarted thereby.
Take for instance the Red Spruce in
the Adirondacks. It has been estimated
by well known known authorities that
it takes on an average from 170 to 180
years to produce a 1 2-inch tree. Where
the forest is handled as similar forests
are handled in Germany, it should not
take longer than 80 years to produce
such a Spruce. Again, the question of
growth has been gotten at by the state-
ment that our natural forests here in
New York are producing on an average
of about 12 cubic feet per acre per
year. The forests of Germany are
producing on an average of over 50
cubic feet per acre per year. That is,
given practically the same soil and
moisture conditions and almost the

same species, careful forestry methods
will be from three to four times as
effective as nature left to herself.

The progress of Forestry in the State
of New York during the past few years
seems to point to four lines of improve-
ment which should appeal to every tim-
ber owner, forester and public spirited
citizen. It is believed that these lines
of development will appeal when con-
ditions in the State are more thoroughly
understood and in a short time all the
people of the State will appreciate and
aid in this phase of the State's develop-
ment which is founded upon sound eco-
monic principles.

1. The repeal of the constitutional
provision forbidding the cutting of trees
upon State lands. The throwing open
of the State Forests as a recreation
place for all the people.

2. The large increase of the State's
holding of forest land.

3. The wider extension .of methods of
protection now represented by observa-
tion towers, telephone and patrol and
the breaking up of forests into smaller
and more accessible working units.

4. (The repeal of the constitutional
provision and the proper handling of
the forest lands already owned by the
State would aid greatly in carrying out
these last two suggestions.)

5. The gradual introduction of simple
methods of Forestry which will demon-
strate the advisability of using natural
methods of reproduction and the possi-
bility of doubling and more the present
rate of growth.

The Conservation Commission offers approximately eight million trees of various kinds
and ages at cost price to land owners for reforesting.

The Nezv York Central Railroad Company is going to equip smoking cars which operate
thru the Adirondacks with screens to prevent smokers from throwing cigars, cigarettes and
matches from car windows.

The Board of Water Supply of the State of New York, who has charge of the Ashokan
and Kinesco Reservoirs, have advertised for bids to furnish stock to reforest one thousand
acres of land adjacent to these reservoirs.

WOODNOTES

When the pine tosses its cones

To the song of its waterfall tones,
Who speeds to the woodland walks?

To birds and trees who talks?
Caesar of his leafy Rome,

Where the poet is at home.
He goes to the river-side —

Not hook nor line hath he;
He stands in the meadows wide, —

Nor gun nor scythe to see.
Sure some god his eye enchants :

What he knows nobody wants.
In the wood .he travels glad,

Without better fortune had,
Melancholy without bad.

Knowledge this man prizes best
Seems fantastic to the rest :

Pondering shadows, colors, clouds,
Grass-buds and caterpillar-shrouds,

Boughs on which the wild bees settle,
Tints that spot the violet's petal,

Why Nature loves the number five,
And why the star-form she repeats :

Lover of all things alive,
Wonderer at all he meets,

Wonderer- chiefly at himself,
Who can tell him what he is?

Or how meet in human elf
Coming and past eternities ?

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

[19]

o.>

ANNUAL MEETING

FOLLOWING the meeting at Syra-
cuse, Dr. N. L. Britton, Director
of the New York Botanical
Gardens and President of the State
Forestry Association called a meeting
of the Executive Committee to be held
at the Bronx Gardens, March 18, 1913.
At this meeting purely routine business
was transacted and it was decided to
accept the invitation of Director Britton
to hold the autumn Forestry Association
meeting at the Botanical Gardens, Oc-
tober 17, 1913.

The autumn meeting brought forth
the various committee reports and in-
formal discussions on the following
subjects:

" Stock taking of Forests of New
York State " led by Professor Moon of
the New York State College of For-
estry.

" The Farm Woodlot '' led by Prof.
Walter Mulford of Cornell.

Dr. N. L. Britton spoke of the rela-
tion of trees to children and promised
to continue the discussion at the next
annual meeting.

THE Second Annual Meeting of
the New York State Forestry
Association held January 22,
1914, in the auditorium of the State
Education Building, Albany. The meet-
ing was called to order by Dr. Augustus
S. Downing in the absence of President
Britton. The regular program was
opened by a paper presented by Prof.
Samuel N. Spring of the State College
of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y., on Com-
mercial Planting in New York State.

Hon. Charles M. Dow spoke on
Forest Arboretums for New York and
Dr. Henry S. Drinker, President of
Lehigh University and the American
Forestry Association, presented a paper
on Forestry in New York and Through-
out the Nation.

A vote of thanks was given Doctor
Drinker for his excellent paper and for
the cordial spirit shown by his coming
up from Pennsylvania to be present at
the annual meeting.

Mr. Robert Rosenbluth of the Con-
servation Commission desired to pre-
sent a paper on the opening up of the
Adirondacks but in view of the limited
time the paper was delayed.

Professor Mulford was invited to
read a communication regarding the
Adirondack situation and the matter

presented was referred to Committee on
Resolutions.

The afternoon session was called to
order at 2 p. M. with Dr. Augustus S.
Downing in the Chair. Hon. James S.
Whipple of Salamanca presented a mo-
tion to the effect that it is the sense of
the Association that the Legislature be
petitioned to appropriate funds for the
printing and distribution of 50,000
copies of Bulletin No. 9 on Woodlot
Forestry as printed by the Conservation
Commission, seconded by Professor
Spring. Suggestions were then made
that this motion be referred for action
to the Committee on Resolutions.

Dr. E. H. Hall, Secretary of the
Association for the Protection of the
Adirondacks then presented a paper on
the Policy of Increasing Forest Hold-
ings of the State.

Mr. Ottomar H. Van Norden, Mem-
ber of the Forestry Committe of the
Camp Fire Club led a discussion on
legislation, bringing out the chief points
of a bill to be introduced at the coming
session of the Legislature and which it
is planned to have take the place of the
present forest laws.

Hon. J. S. Whipple was appointed by
the Chair to call on Governor Glynn
and escort him to the meeting. Mr.
Whipple returned later with the state-
ment that pressure of business pre-

[21]

22

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

vented the Governor coming over at
that time but that he would either come
over to the meeting at 4 o'clock or
would be glad to meet the members of
the Executive Committee in the Execu-
tive Chamber.

Mr. W. L. Sykes, President of the
Emporium Lumber Company spoke ex-
temporaneously on the lumberman and
the Adirondacks.

Dr. John H. Finley, Commissioner of
Education, gave a very delightful talk
of 10 minutes in which he spoke of the
original forest conditions of the State
and welcomed the Association to the
Education Building and to Albany.

Prof. Nelson C. Brown of the New
York State College of Forestry at
Syracuse presented a paper on the
Progress of Forest Utilization in New
York.

The Committee on Nominations, Mr.
Frank L. Moore, Chairman, presented
their report and the report of the Com-
mittee was accepted unanimously by the
Association in regular form. The new
officers were as follows :

President. — Hon. James S. Whipple,
Salamanca, N. Y.

Executive Secretary. — Dr. Hugh P.
Baker, The N. Y. State College of
Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y.

Treasurer. — Warren H. Miller,
Editor, Field & Stream, New York City.

Vice-Presidents. — John B. Burn-
ham, Essex, N. Y. ; Frank A. Cutting,
Boston, Mass. ; George N. Ostrander,
Glens Falls, N. Y. ; Hon. W. H. Vary,
Master, State Grange, Watertown,
N. Y. ; Chancellor James R. Day, Syra-
cuse, N. Y. ; Hon. Calvin J. Huson,
Albany, N. Y. ; Hon. Franklin D.
Roosevelt, New York City; Hon.
Charles M. Dow, Jamestown, N. Y. ;
Hon. George E. Van Kennan, Albany,
N. Y. ; Dr. L. H. Bailey, Ithaca, N. Y. ;
Dr. Augustus S. Downing, Albany,
N. Y. ; Dr. Henry W. Hill, Buffalo,
N. Y. ; Dan Beard, Flushing, N. Y. ;
Mrs. Donald R. McLean, New York
City; Mrs. E. G. Colburn, Schenectady,
N. Y.

Executive Committee. — Dr. Edward
H. Hall, New York City ; Prof. Samuel
N. Spring, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Ferris J.
Meigs, New York City; Clifford R.

Pettis, Albany, N. Y. ; Prof. Frank F.
Moon, Syracuse, N. Y. ; Frank L.
Moore, Watertown, N. Y. ; O. H. Van
Norden, New York City.

The new President, Hon. J. S.
Whipple, of Salamanca, was called upon
for remarks and spoke of the situation
of forestry in the State and the future
of the Association.

Mr. Frank L. Moore of Watertown
introduced a discussion as to the ad-
visability of the Association putting it-
self on record in the matter of amend-
ing section 7, article 7 of the Constitu-
tion. It was moved and carried by the
Association that it endorse the so-called
Sweet amendment introduced last year.
Dr. Hall and Mr. W. L. Sykes spoke on
the endorsement of this amendment.

Moved and passed unanimously that
it is the sense of the meeting that the
State of New York shall make appro-
priation or bond itself for $10,000,000
for the purchase of forests or idle lands
in the Adirondacks and Catskills for
forestry purposes. This was also re-
ferred to the Resolution Committee.

Moved and passed that it is the sense
of the meeting that the Legislature of
the State shall appropriate sufficient
sum of money with necessary provisions
and establish such necessary machinery
at as early a time as possible as shall
allow of the defining of the limits of
State lands.

The Auditing Committee, of which
Mr. Whipple was Chairman, made a
partial report declaring it to be im-
possible to make a complete report, as
the records were not complete. At
5 :3O the annual meeting was adjourned
to meet at the annual banquet in the
evening.

Some thirty men sat down to the an-
nual banquet at Keeler's Hotel which,
while not largely attended, was very
enthusiastic in spirit.

Former Commissioner Whipple acted
as toastmaster for the evening. In-
formal talks were presented by Com-
missioner John D. Moore, Hon. Frank
L. Moore, President of the Empire
State Forest Products Association, and
Dr. W. A. Murrill, Assistant Treasurer
of the New York Botanical Gardens.
Dr. Murrill's talk was illustrated.

" FORESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES "

DR. Henry Sturgis Drinker, Presi-
dent of Lehigh University, and
President of the American For-
estry Association, speaking on the For-
estry movement in the United States,
said in part :

Foresters and the friends of forestry
in your sister States are noting with
great interest, the discussion in New
York looking to a revision of the policy
adopted in the past of denying to New
York the benefit in the management of
the State's woodlands of the principles
of forest culture, viz : cutting and re-
production, that have been generally ap-
proved in Europe and America as con-
ducive to the economic and profitable
management of forest lands.

Local conditions may have made it
necessary or advisable to deny to your
State Forest Lands the exercise of the
principles of forestry — in the interest
of retaining your forests for a time in
a wholly wild condition as a refuge for
game and a wilderness home for the
man who would for a time fly from
civilization, but surely with forests
aggregating over 1,600,000 acres in
New York State, by far the largest
State Forest Reserve of any State, the
time must soon come when the State
Constitutional prohibition against all
cutting shall be amended, and these
great Forest Reserves shall be handled
as the National Reserves are so admir-
ably handled, with the view to the best
care and conservation of your wood-
lands for the benefit of the people at
large of the State and the State's indus-
trial interests.

The Forestry movement in the United
States, originating with the early work
of Dr. J. T. Rothrock in Pennsylvania
and of Dr. B. E. Fernow in New York
and elsewhere as pioneers, has grown
and spread to the dimensions of a great
national work. The earliest organiza-
tions for its study and support were the
American Forestry Association and the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
There was also an early Colorado Asso-
ciation. The Pennsylvania Association

started in 1886, has, continually since
that date, .published and circulated its
magazine, Forest Leaves. The exact
date of organization of the American
Forestry Association is involved in
some uncertainty, but it appears to
somewhat antedate the Pennsylvania
Association, and it has now a large and
nation-wide roll of members and
through its meetings, publications and
its magazine, American Forestry, is do-
ing good work for the cause.

The above initial movements have so
spread that the Forestry organizations
and the various Forestry associations in
the United States today cover —
33 States having Forestry departments.
17 States having Conservation Commis-
sions and similar organizations.
2 National Conservation organiza-
tions.

2 National Forestry organizations.
23 State and local Forestry organiza-
tions.
42 Conservation, timber protective and

allied associations.
And there are in operation —
23 Schools with courses leading to a de-
gree in Forestry.
ii Schools with courses covering one

or more years in Forestry.
42 Schools with short courses in For-
estry.

This is the machinery now in exist-
ence and rapidly enlarging, for the
study and care of our forest interests.
Now, what in fact, do those interests
comprise, succinctly stated.

The forests of the United States at
this date, 1914, cover 850,000,000 acres,
National, State and private, divided as
follows :

295,000,000 acres corporations and in-
dividuals.

140,000,000 acres National forests.
100,000,000 acres farm wood lots.
10,000,000 acres Indian Reservations.

3,246,000 acres State forests.

2,000,000 acres National parks.

The lumber industry ranks first in
number of wage-earners and third in
value of products in our country. Ac-

[23]

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

cording to the census of 1909, the latest
actual figures available, the number of
wage-earners is 734, 989. The value of
forest products in that year is given as
$1,156,129,000. The forest service esti-
mates the present value as approximat-
ing $1,250,000,000. The money paid
out for salaries and wages was in 1909,
$366,167,000, of which $47,428,000 was
for salaries and $318,739,000 for wages.

Surely, interests so large are worth
caring for. What are we doing to pre-
serve and foster them?

It was first said by, I think, Gifford
Pinchot, that the two great enemies of
forestry, of our woodland growth, are
forest fires and unwise taxation. The
country has measurably been awakened
to the fire danger; the United States
Forest service notably has done and is
doing immensely good and valuable
work in this direction and not less than
twenty-nine States make annual appro-
priations for forestry (including fire
protection) — ranging in some few
States from small amounts, up to $164,-
500 in New York last year, and $328,-
ooo in Pennsylvania, the total amount
in all States so appropriating being
$1,340,000.

The various Forestry and Fire Pro-
tective Associations are unceasingly
active in fire protection work, led by
the example of the great Western For-
estry and Conservation Association
which embraces the States of Washing-
ton, Idaho, Montana, California and
Oregon. This association set the ex-
ample of printing and distributing
among the school children of those
States, circulars containing succinct ex-
pressive lessons on the fire danger,
luridly illustrated with pictures of for-
est fires and this example was followed
in Pennsylvania in 1912 by the issuance
and distribution among the 1,000,000 or
more public school, and parochial school
children of the State of a fire circular
prepared and published jointly by the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association, the
Pennsylvania Conservation Association,
the Philadelphia Commercial Museum
and Lehigh University. This circular
has been copied and issued in Massa-
chusetts by the Massachusetts Forestry

Association and distributed among
the 450,000 public school children of
that State, and also in North Carolina
by the North Carolina Forestry Asso-
ciation and such issue is contemplated
in other States — the importance of im-
pressing on school children throughout
the country the danger and the useless
and great loss resulting from woodland
fires being widely felt. A burned
building can be comparatively soon re-
built, but it requires a great many years
to grow a forest. When fire runs
through the woods practically all the
young trees are killed and most of the
older ones are greatly injured or de-
stroyed and so also are all the live
seeds and nuts on and in the ground, all
the laurel and berry plants, and the
humus or mould soil which holds the
stored water from the rainfall and from
which our springs, creeks and rivers
are kept flowing through the burnmei
and in times of drought.

These views are trite and well known
to foresters, but we are meeting here to
talk to and confer with the public, with
many men and women who feel in-
terested in the forestry question and are
seeking elementary information — and
to them it is well to say — in regard
also to the other important question,
Unwise Taxation — remember that a
farmer growing grain may annually
harvest and sell his crop and have
wherewith to pay his taxes, but the
timber grower raises a crop that does
not mature for 30 or 40 or 50 years, or
more, and the taxes should be adjusted
so as to bear on the yield when it comes
with the cutting of the timber and not
be assessed and made payable annually,
for the owner will cut and sell his tim-
ber to avoid the annual tax on a crop
giving no annual return.

Legislation of this nature is now on
the statute books of New York, Penn-
sylvania, Louisiana and Connecticut
and is in contemplation in other States.
Massachusetts and Ohio have recently
adopted constitutional amendments per-
mitting such legislation. Other States
are moving in that direction and its
importance is becoming generally ap-
preciated.

ANNUAL 'MEETING

Whether timber growing will be
undertaken on any large scale by
private owners in this country, even
under the most favorable conditions of
fire-protection, taxation and location
is problematical. The work is appar-
ently one mainly for the National and
State Governments though much can be
done by the private citizen who bears in
mind the Scottish Laird's injunction in
the " Heart of Mid-Lothian," when on
his death bed he enjoined tree planting
on his son, saying, u Jock, when ye hae
naething else to do, ye may be aye
sticking in a tree ; it will be growing
Jock, when ye're sleepin'."

Walter Scott in a footnote says of
this, " The author has been flattered by
the assurance that this naive mode of
recommending arboriculture (which
was actually delivered in these very
words by a Highland Laird while on
his death bed, to his son) had so much
weight with a Scottish earl, as to lead
to his planting a large tract of country."

Finally turning to what has actually
been done so far in our National and
State Forest Reserves, we find that the
National Government has, under the
provisions of acts of Congress enacted
in 1891 and 1896, set aside for National
Forestry Reserves in some twenty
States, areas comprising in all about
140,000,000 acres (not counting lands
located within the boundaries of the Na-
tional Reserves, but which have been
alienated) in addition to which there
are nearly 27,000,000 acres in Alaska,
and about 66,000 acres in Porto Rico —

167,066,000 acres of Government re-
serves; if we reckon with this the land
located within the boundaries of the
National Forests, approximately 23,-
000,000 acres, which have been alien-
ated, we have about 190,000,000 acres
in all. These reserves are admirably
managed by the United States Forest
Service, organized in the Department of
Agriculture, and under the charge of
Henry S. Graves, United States For-
ester.

Fourteen States have set aside areas
ranging from 1,950 acres in one State
to 231,350 in Michigan, 400,000 in Wis-
consin, 983,529 in Pennsylvania, and
1,644,088 in New York, as State For-
ests, the total areas so set aside in all
States being 3,426,832 acres, and these
States in their Forestry or Conserva-
tion Departments are studying and pro-
moting the best utilization of these lands
for the public needs and in this work
we cannot too heedfully remember the
wise words of Dr. C. W. Hayes, who
when Chief Geologist of the U. S. Geo-
logical Survey well epitomized the work
of Conservation by characterizing it as
" Utilization with a maximum effi-
ciency and a minimum waste."

That is the lesson of all Conservation
and of Forestry as one of its branches
• — to so conserve and handle our natu-
ral resources that our people shall have
their benefit and use and that they shall
not be locked up for the possible needs
of future generations to the exclusion of
the needs of the men of today.

The Neiv York Central Railroad, on their lines from Utica to Malone, from Harrisville
to Newton Falls, the Delaware & Hudson R. R. from Plattsburgh to Lake Placid, are
required to use oil as a fuel from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m., from April^ i$th to November i,
pursuant to an order of the Public Service Commission issued early in 1909.

The N. Y. C. R. R. has applied to the Public Service Commission for relief from that
order upon the Adirondack Division upon the ground that the increased price of oil and
the increased number of trains have increased their operating expenses to the extent thrtt
the cost of oil over coal amounts to $106,000.00 per year. They offer as a substitute a
so-called super heater locomotive with perfected ash pan and careful employees working
under instructions which they claim will eliminate the danger of forest fires from coal
burning locomotives.

COMMERCIAL FOREST PLANTING IN NEW

YORK STATE

By PROFESSOR SAMUEL N. SPRING
Dept. of Forestry, N. Y. State College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y.

CONCERNING Forest Planting in
New York State, Professor
Spring spoke as follows :

The question on the program, " Is it
desirable to begin general reforestation
of idle lands of the State?" is not one
which can be satisfactorily answered
by a mere yes or no. It cannot be
answered without detailed study in the
field and a very careful consideration
of the many factors and policies that
are involved.

What data we now have is more or
less fragmentary or localized. Rather
sweeping estimates have been made of
the area requiring reforestation. No
doubt seems to exist in many minds
that there are large areas suitable only
for forest production, but there is need
of much more intimate knowledge.

First, the national aspect must be
considered. This has been presented
before two associations in the past
year, the summer conference at Sunapee
of the ^Society for the Protection of
New Hampshire Forests and the f Fifth
National Conservation Congress re-
cently held at Washington. The neces-
sity of reforestation on an extensive
scale on nonagricultural land in order
to meet at least in a measure the future
needs of the nation for timber was
strongly advocated. It is then reason-
able to assume that the people of New
York State wish to do their part in fur-
thering national prosperity which is
founded upon the highest productive-
ness and best use of the land in all the

States. New York as a State is fully
able to enter upon a plan of reforesta-
tion whenever a sound basis is fully es-
tablished by facts and a rational policy
presented.

Reforestation is, then, a part of the
forest policy of New York State and
must be considered, not separately, but
as an important phase of forest con-
servation. The part which the State
should take in forest planting should
measure up to its interest in maintaining
an adequate timber supply and the
economic use of nonagricultural land.

This leads to the consideration of the
present natural forest area in New
York State and the area of unused
lands suitable only for forest produc-
tion.

Agricultural statistics of the State,
gathered and compiled by the Bureau
of the Census in 1910, present some in-
teresting figures.

Farm land is divided into (i) improved
land, (2) woodland, and (3) all other unim-
proved land. . . . Improved land includes
all land regularly tilled or mowed, land pas-
tured and cropped in rotation, land lying
fallow, land in gardens, orchards, vineyards,
and nurseries, and land occupied by farm
buildings. Woodland includes all land cov-
ered with natural or planted forest trees,
which produce or later may produce, fire-
wood or other forest products.

The approximate land surface of the
State is 30,498,560 acres. Of this area,
72.2 per cent, is in farms. The follow-
ing statistics show the general nature of
these farms :

* "A Plan to meet our Needs for Wood Timber," bf Dr. B. E. Fornow, American
Forestry, Vol. 19, No. 3, p. 521.

t Report of the • Sub-Committee on Planting, 5th National Conservation Congress,
Washington, 1913.

[26]

COMMERCIAL FOREST PLANTING IN NEW YORK STATE

27

Acres.
*Land in farms 22,030,367

Lands in farms in 1900 22,648,109

Improved land in farms 14,844,039

Improved land in farms in 1900 15,599,986

Woodland in farms 4,436,145

Other unimproved land in farms 2,750,183

By deducting the farm area from the
total land surface there is found to re-
main 8,468,193 acres. Of course a por-
tion of this is occupied by cities, towns
and villages. It is presumable that a
large proportion is forest land. We
cannot exactly determine what part is
cut over, burned over and not restock-
ing. However, if we assume it to be a
quarter of the area mentioned that
would be approximately 2,000,000
acres. To this may be added at least a
part of the class known as " other un-
improved land in farms " in the table
already mentioned, possibly 2,000,000
acres. This gives a total of 4,000,000
acres. Undoubtedly there are addi-
tional areas that are now farmed which
are not well suited to agriculture, and
there is woodland which can best be re-
newed by planting after cutting or by
underplanting. On the other hand,
there are areas now wooded which are
suitable for agricultural purposes and
will be cleared.

I have given these conservative
figures to show that the people of the
State have a definite problem before
them which attains decided importance
in the maintenance of New York's
timber production. Much unused land
represents retrogression and not prog-
ress.

The first principle in the maintenance
of a timber supply is efficient protection
from fire. This we have on our State
Preserves, but not organized service in
the rest of the State. Last summer on
one day during the drought period I
could from a hill near Ithaca, see a
dozen forest fires burning. Can planta-
tions in woodland regions outside of the
Preserves be safe from loss by fire?
Shall the Association recommend plant-
ing on a great scale without the assur-

ance of organized means of control and
prevention of fires? A commercial
basis for forest planting must rest pri-
marily on the safety of the investment.
This applies equally well to an invest-
ment in woodland and its improvement.

Measures of prevention rest not
alone, however, with the State, but
must be supplemented by the efforts of
individuals and of corporations who
undertake planting. Local protection
by fire lines and by other means has
proven adequate to protect planted
forest adjoining railroads and which
was open to danger from other causes
of fires. Educational work and organ-
ized fire prevention can remove to a
large degree this objection or stumbling
block to the planting of forests. Ade-
quate fire protection is sure to come if
extensive planting is done. Planting
creates and increases interest in fire pre-
vention.

The danger of losses due to insects,
fungi and other injurious agencies does
not necessarily render an investment in
planting unsafe. Careful judgment in
the selection of species and mixtures,
as well as subsequent economic meas-
ures for preventing losses or reducing
the damage, are reasonable safeguards
in this respect.

So far as taxation is concerned, there
is steady progress in legislation to do
away with injustice arising from re-
peated taxation of the forest crop.

Another important principle is well
stated in a report f presented at the
Fifth National Conservation Congress
as follows :

" The second principle is to establish a
timber supply on a permanent basis. To
accomplish this purpose, work must naturally
begin with a classification of the land, de-
termining as closely as possible what lands
are agricultural in character and what lands
are non-agricultural and should therefore
be devoted to the growing of timber. This
classification should be carried out by the
State irrespective of the ownership of the
land classified. Theoretically, this work
should precede attempts at reforestation, af-
forestation, application of silvicultural

*Agriculture : New York, I3th Census of the U. S., 1910, Bulletin of the Bureau of the
Census, Department of Commerce and Labor.

t Report of Sub-Committee on State Forest Policy, Fifth National Conservation Congress
Washington, D. C, 1913.

28

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

methods of cutting, attempts to equalize the
tax on timber and timberlands, or State
ownership of lands used for forestry pur-
poses. However, in practice it has been
found expedient to develop forestry work
along such of these lines as the public under-
stands and is ready to accept. Nevertheless,
non-agricultural lands must be determined,
and the classification agreed to by the people,
before one can consider forestry as estab-
lished on a permanent footing in the State."

Further than this a State cannot
enter on a broad intelligent policy of re-
forestation without sufficiently detailed
knowledge of conditions.

This does not apply to reforestation
on denuded lands now owned by the
State but rather to the so-called " idle
lands " outside State areas.

Successful commercial planting de-
pends upon a good future market, lands
of low value on which to plant, a choice
of species suited to the needs of the
market and to the conditions, local and
regional, relative freedom from sources
of damage, a low initial cost of planting,
and a return on the money invested
equal to at least a fair rate of interest.
Many examples of successful planta-
tions exist which meet these conditions.

If forest planting is to be conducted
on a large scale in New York State,
who shall do it? State ownership of
forests is increasingly favored because
it assures management of forest lands
to furnish continuous crops of timber.
New York has a large area in the Pre-
serves representing approximately 12
per cent, of the total forest and wood-
land area of the State. Extensive
planting of denuded areas in the Pre-
serves each year should be generously
provided for by legislative appropria-
tion.

Outside of the Preserves, because of
the excellent policy of the State in fur-
nishing trees at cost, considerable pri-
vate planting is being done. It is
doubtful if planting by private owners
will be sufficiently great to meet the
needs of our present situation. Such
planting will indeed be a factor in the
solution of the problem. Short time in-
vestments in planting for fence post
production are very attractive to the
farmer. Improvement of nonagricul-
tural land on the farm by means of

forest planting is receiving increasing
stimulus annually.

Although reforestation for timber
production is not quite so attractive to
the private owner, many small planta-
tions are being set annually. Planting
by individuals is often a matter of per-
sonal interest in such work for the pur-
pose of improving property so that no
part of the land is idle, and with no
idea on the owner's part that he him-
self will harvest the timber. He simply
sees his property improved and en-
hanced in value, more easily sold or left
in better condition for his children.

As an investment, timber planting by
private owners must be considered in
connection with the steady appreciation
in value of forest products and in the
price of land. There are many locali-
ties in the Eastern United States where
waste lands are remarkably cheap.
These are nonagricultural, but with the
increase of values for other types of
land in the locality the price of these
lands is rising. Good roads and trans-
portation by automobile have put ex-
tensive areas within reach of larger and
smaller cities for country residence.
This line of development will continue.
Planting on such lands will add dis-
tinctively to future sale values.

In view of what has been done, and
in the light of opportunity, there is an
excellent field for planting by railroad
companies, public and private water
companies and many corporations. The
State should render these as much as-
sistance as possible through co-opera-
ation in planting. Such planting, how-
ever, cannot compass a large percentage
of the land which should be reforested.

Granting that an adequate knowledge
has been obtained concerning area,
location and character of waste and de-
nuded land, and that the factors al-
ready discussed have been considered,
an answer can be attempted to the
question, " Who shall plant and manage
these forests?" The answer may be
that the State should obtain additional
holdings^ in counties where the refor-
estation area is very large and continu-
ous in extent. It is also possible that
acquirement of forest land and waste

COMMERCIAL FOREST PLANTING IN NEW YORK STATE 29

land should be the function of local
governments, counties, cities and towns.

Practically the latter plan has very
many advantages, especially because it
means local pride and endeavor in
maintaining local forest resources.
Such a movement for local acquirement
of land, if properly developed, could,
under State control and with adequate
reforestation solve the problem of the
maintenance of timber supply in New
York.

New York legislation has already
paved the way for such a development
in forestry by the law permitting
counties, town and villages to acquire
lands for forestry purposes. It is
doubtful if this measure alone will
suffice to attain the objects desired.
Further than this two plans are sug-
gested as follows : ( i ) A loan by the
State with interest at 3 per cent, for a
5O-year period to the local government
(county, city, town or village) for use
under State regulation in acquiring land
and planting it ; loan to be secured by a

lien on the first crop of timber. (2)
Let the State purchase at cost lands
owned or acquired for reforestation
purposes by counties, cities, towns or
villages ; the State to reforest such lands
and manage them. Within ten years,
however, the local government origi-
nally giving deed of such lands to the
State may redeem them by paying the
State the original cost at 3 per cent, in-
terest plus reforestation charges.

In conclusion : Any program of gen-
eral reforestation must be based on in-
vestigation and land classification. Re-
forestation of State lands now denuded
is of first importance ; assistance of pri-
vate plantings (corporate and individ-
ual) by the State is next and the for-
mation of a plan for the establishment
and management of community for-
ests and its execution is next.

A solution of the problem involves
effort by all classes of owners and re-
forestation must be put on an extensive
plan soon.

Metal and concrete ties have been proven to be unsatisfactory and in Germany they are
going back to wooden ties in spite of the gradually increasing cost.

New York uses more zchite pine than any other wood. The other trees used in order
of importance are spruce, white oak, southern pine, hard maple, hemlock, chestnut, etc]
Large quantities of red wood and Douglass fir from the Pacific Coast as well as yellow
pine from the South are imported into this state when our own native woods are better for
general purposes and could be just as well grown here.

The Conservation Commission has issued under date of January I, 1914, a revised
" List of Lands in the Forest Preserve." The former list published in 1909 places the area
of the Forest Preserve at 1,634,261 acres. The present publication states this area to be
1,825,883 acres, of which 201,827 acres are lands under water. The previous list included
lands under water but no effort ivas made to classify them separately. This publication gives
a list of the 6,850 parcels owned by the State. The edition is limited and is not available for
general distribution nor is it of interest to the general public.

The season of 1913 was one of extreme drought in the forest sections of this state.
Six hundred eighty-eight forest fires -were reported in the forest sections of the Adiron-
dack and Catskill Mountain regions. This territory was protected through a force consisting
of 5 district rangers, 69 local rangers and 49 lookouts on mountain stations. Each ranger
was assigned a territory approximating 100,000 acres. Although the drought made the
fire danger great but 7/10 of i per cent of the area under protection was burned. The
entire cost of protection, including the expense of extinguishing fires, was less than 14
mills per acre which is, on the average approximately 2 mills per dollar of valuation. The
effectiveness of the present system has been fully demonstrated. It can be made more
effective by the increased number of Mountain Stations and rangers.

THE WOODS OF WESTERMAIN

Enter these enchanted woods,

You who dare.

Nothing harms beneath the leaves
More than waves a swimmer cleaves.
Toss your heart up with the lark,
Foot at peace with mouse and worm,

Fair you fare.
Only at a dread of dark
Quaver, and they quit their form :
Thousand eyeballs under hoods

Have you by the hair.
Enter these enchanted woods,

You who dare.

George Meredith.

IS

< ^

in

U

ug

rt c

FOREST - ARBORETA

By HON. CHAS. M. Dow

GENTLEMEN.— I am to have
the privilege of talking to you
about forest arboreta. But
with your permission, I shall extend
that privilege somewhat, and talk a
little about forests and forestry as well.

A practical man would satisfy him-
self as to the reasons for doing a thing
before he considered the method for
doing it. Before we take up the ques-
tion of the method of establishing a
forest arboretum, let us first see
whether such an object lesson in forest
planting is necessary or desirable.

A lecturer in the science of medicine
would not be likely to impress or prop-
erly instruct his students, did he talk
glowingly about the hospitals, but omit
all reference to the patients themselves.
And I think we would all be disap-
pointed, if we attended a lecture on
scientific farming and listened to a
lengthy dissertation on hoes and plows
and rakes and fertilizers — and heard
not a single word about seeds and crop
yields and how to harvest them.

It is the same with forestry. Before
a man talks about an arboretum or
about silviculture or forest manage-
ment, or forest utilization, or before he
advises others to practice them, he
wants to be wholly sure in his own mind
that all these things are wise and neces-
sary and wholly practicable. I want to
make this point very clear — the need
for being sure about the justification
and the need for doing a thing before
we talk about the method of doing it.

I am not a professional forester in
the technical sense, but a business man
who has dealt in private and some pub-
lic affairs, an American citizen, and
therefore deeply interested in the forest
and its welfare ; I did not become en-
thusiastic over forest arboreta in gen-
eral and over one forest arboretum in
particular until I came to realize that

such object lessons were greatly needed
to help get this whole great principle of
practical forestry into effect.

First, however, I had to convince my-
self that practical forestry was needed
in America. I looked about me and 1
traveled. I traveled somewhat widely.
And the more I looked the more I saw
apart from all matters of statistics, that
wherever trees are, men follow. And I
saw that these men, this army of log-
gers, which contains no fewer numbers
than the army of the United States, is
busy everywhere. For the loggers are
busy in the resinous, snow-laden north
woods and in the forests of the Lake
States. They are busy in the Rocky
mountains from Montana to Arizona,
among the lodgepole and the western
yellow pine. They are busy among the
great rock fir and cedar and sugat pine
of the Pacific forests. And the size of
this army of loggers grows steadily with
the years. It is a varied army, is this
army of loggers, facing many different
conditions in this great country of o-irs.
French-Canadians, Americans, Irish-
men, Scotchmen, Negroes, Indians,
mountaineers and plainsmen, go to
make it up ; and the army is fighting
forests quite effectively. And you will
readily realize, gentlemen, that the
lumber cut in one year in the United
States would make a row of wooden
houses more than 10,000 miles long, or
about the same distance as the mail
route from New York to Hong Kon^.

But, while lumbering is interesting
and even picturesque to watch, while it
is varied in its methods, ranging from
steam skidders to the aerial tramways,
to the logging railroads, and to river
driving, and while each method has its
elements of interest, still, the thing
which counts most is not just how the
loggers do their work, but what results
they leave behind.

[32]

FOREST — ARBORETA

33

I hold no brief against the lumber-
men, they have been pioneers in in-
dustry. They have added greatly by
their initiative, their abilities, and their
remarkably skillful methods in turning
forests into lumber and lumber into
money, in the material development of
the United States. But in the woods
work they have done, their last thought
as a rule has been the safety and per-
petuation of the forest. Their first
thought has generally been to take the
cream, and to leave the skimmed milk
behind.

What has been the result? The re-
sult has been to devastate some one
hundred million acres of forest land in
America. This land has been stripped
so clean by careless use of the axe and
the saw and the following fires, that
trees must be planted by hand upon this
vast area to bring back a commercial
forest upon it, and thus to restore it to
productive use.

We do not need to go far from home
to see this waste. We have it at our
doors, right in the Adirondacks. Some
one has made the forceful state-
ment that forestry is practiced in the
Adirondacks everywhere except right
in the woods. I realize that here and
there Adirondack forest owners have
turned their thoughts to thrift. But on
the whole the Adirondack forests are
not being perpetuated or improved by
careful utilization but are being de-
stroyed by reckless use.

Where is the remedy for this waste-
fulness? For this obliviousness to the
future? For this feverish appetite for
wood, about twenty times as great per
capita as that of the great nations of
Europe? Where lies the remedy for
this ? What shall I say — for this some-
what perverted, artificially stimulated
appetite? What are the methods under
which our forests may be made not only
storehouses but factories of wood?
Three great forces must work together
to save our forests — the nation, the
States and individual citizens. No one
force can in time accomplish adequate
results in forest conservation.

In regard to tree planting, the United
States naturally falls into three regions

— the Eastern, the Central and the
Western. The Eastern region is that
one which lies east of the Great Prairie
States. In it is a vast aggregate of
denuded lands suitable only for forest
growth on which as the result of re-
peated fires following logging, natural
reproduction has not and probably will
not take place. Cut-over and burned-
over lands in urgent need of forest
planting in the Atlantic region, and in
the northern portion of the northern
States, alone aggregate over three and
one-half million acres.

Then there is the great area of aban-
doned farm lands, mainly in New
England and in the southern moun-
tains ; and then again there are the
woodlots rendered unproductive by
misuse, on which planting is essential to
bring back the forest crop.

The Central region comprises the
prairie country. Tree planting is
urgently needed there to protect crops
from wind, to grow timber for ordinary
farm purposes in a mainly treeless
country. In the far west the planting
problem is mainly federal and on it a
good beginning has been made.

To sum up, gentlemen, without going
too deeply into the dry realms of figures
and statistics, we have planted in the
United States just about one acre in
every ten thousand acres which it is our
duty to ourselves and those who follow
us to plant forest trees.

There is the task. Now, what is
needed for its accomplishment? As I
see it, these are the main things: A
much more wide and more definite
knowledge on the part of the land-
holding citizens of the returns and
profits who follow us to plant forest
trees. There is much need for that.
Mention tree planting to the average
man. What is his response ? " Plant
trees," he says, " Why, I can't wait that
long for my returns. Tree planting is
all very well for States and Govern-
ments, but I am merely a man with a
little span of life ahead of me. When
I invest I must at least live long enough
to harvest the crop."

You see, gentlemen, that such men
are apt to think not in terms of white

34

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

pine, which as you are aware will
yield box boards in something less than
thirty years, or in terms of the quick
growing hardwoods which yield fence
posts in eight or ten years and fir wood
in maybe ten more,. and lumber in per-
haps thirty or forty years. Most men
are apt to think of the results of tree
planting in terms of long lived, slow
growing oaks, which take perhaps a
century to grow, twelve inches through.
To make the facts plain to such men,
not only about money returns from tree
planting but about how soon these re-
turns can be had, is an urgent task be-
fore all foresters.

Now, the next task. That is to get
tree planting done so well that disap-
pointment will not be the crop instead
of posts or lumber or fire wood. Suc-
cessful tree planting is a wholly prac-
ticable thing. The Germans have dem-
onstrated that fact for well over two
centuries ; and of course being foresters,
you are well aware of the fact that to-
day one-third of the reproduction in
German forests is from planted trees.

But we do not need to go to Germany.
Go to Biltmore, North Carolina, to the
estate of George W. Vanderbilt. You
will see forest plantations there, grow-
ing on steep hills which twenty years
ago were bare and red and gullied by
erosion and which today are already
yielding useful products. If you do not
care to go so far, why then travel in
your own State here at home, and see
the admirable results already obtained
by planting good forest stock from the
splendid State nurseries under the di-
rection of Mr. Pettis ; nurseries which
yield the palm to no nurseries in Ger-
many or France or anywhere else !

Successful tree planting is a practical
thing; so is successful farming. But
there are farmers who fail. Now what
is needed in order to insure as low a
percentage of failure as possible among
tree planters? My impression is that
object lessons are needed more than
anything else. One cannot learn how
to be a forester from books. You will
grant that. I will affirm with equal
vigor that one cannot learn how to be
a banker from books ; and possibly we

will agree that men cannot learn how
to do good tree planting wholly from
books. They need to see the thing in
operation. Of course, the obvious
answer is as I have just stated, that
successful plantations are to be seen in
New York State and elsewhere in
America.

But, gentlemen, can you conjure up a
life sized picture of an up-state farmer,
a thrifty cautious farmer, traveling east
and west and north and south, and
spending largely of his means to see
plantations which contain the trees he
wants or the trees which he should or
might or could consider setting out on
his worn out lands, or in his woodlot,
or elsewhere where trees are needed on
his farm ? You might say, " Why are
forest arboreta needed?" There are
a great many arboreta which contain
practically every kind of useful tree.
Let the prospective tree planter inspect
those.

There are such arboreta at Harvard,
and elsewhere. Deep and undying
credit and honor is due to Dr. Sargent
and the other eminent gentlemen who
established them. They serve a most
valuable purpose to landscape archi-
tects, to foresters, to land owners and
to all classes of men who wish to study
the habits and behavior of individual
trees, but they are not planted in forest
conditions.

I have made some study of arboreta
around and about the world. I think
I may say I have seen with some degree
of thoroughness nearly all the great tree
arboreta of the world, both in America
and foreign lands. I do not need to
recount to you who are foresters, the
wonderful living museum of trees in
the Arnold arboretum ; nor do I need to
describe the great arboretum in Kew
Gardens, near London, where many
foresters have worked, including possi-
bly some of yourselves ; nor do I need
to describe the great arboreta in semi-
tropical countries, as in Ceylon on the
island of Java, or which are in the mak-
ing in several other foreign lands.

I am thankful as an American citizen
for the Arnold arboretum and for all
such wonderful and useful evidences of

FOREST — ARBORETA

35

the great ability and devotion of scien-
tific men. In promoting, as we have
done, the establishment of a forest
arboretum at Letchworth Park I feel
we are simply carrying the arboretum
idea to a further progressive develop-
ment. For I am convinced we should
have here in America, not only tree
arboreta but a forest arboretum — not
only one either, but several — but one
at a time.

My old friend, William Pryor Letch-
worth, a man of great beauty of char-
acter and of great service to mankind,
spent his leisure moments throughout a
long and busy life in beautifying and
developing his estate, upon the bank of
the Genesee river near Portage about
sixty miles from Buffalo. In the twi-
light of his life, Mr. Letchworth felt
more and more the need for forest
conservation. And through his wide
vision and his great generosity, he left
Letchworth Park to the people of New
York as a public park; and he left a
very definite request that it should be
used so far as practicable for purposes
of useful and educational afforestation,
and he also left the means for its
accomplishment.

I shall always remember my talks
with Letchworth on this subject. And
' it was with a vigor inspired both by my
friendship for him and by my contempt
of the great needs of such an object
lesson in tree planting as the custodians,
The American Scenic and Historic
Preservation Society, are now establish-
ing at Letch\vorth Park, that I have
devpted all the time I could to the de-
velopment both of the forest arboretum
idea and of the work itself upon the
grounds.

Our purpose is to develop the forest
arboretum at Letchworth Park deliber-
ately — forest arboreta do not spring up
like mushrooms over night — and in
doing so establish a great object lesson
for this region, illustrating the results
of forest planting. We wish to see es-
tablished at Letchworth Park — and a
small but satisfactory beginning has al-
ready been made — • blocks of planted
forests seldom left less than an acre
in extent, and each containing a useful

tree or a useful combination of trees
which will grow in that vicinity. We
want foresters, farmers, landscape gar-
deners and tree planters, present or
prospective, to go to Letchworth Park,
to walk among those planted blocks of
forests, to make a right selection for
their uses ; and then to go home and
plant forest trees for themselves.

At the inception of the movement,
the principle upon which the Letch-
worth arboretum was to be established
and certain plans for carrying out the
principles were adopted by the custo-
dian society. This principle and these
plans are in part as follows : " The
principle upon which the Letchworth
arboretum be established is that it shall
consist of a permanent collection of
the various species of the world's timber
trees, likely to thrive in this northern
climate, planted scientifically to test
their value and illustrate their proc-
esses of development, thus supplying
not only knowledge for knowledge's
sake, but also knowledge for practical
use.

" In carrying out that principle we will
have a collection of the valuable timber
trees of the world and the Letchworth
arboretum will become the first of its
kind and its contribution to the cause
of forest conservation in the United
States will be of great economic and
scientific value.

"After the arboretum has been estab-
lished, planted singly and in groups will
be every important tree species with
which experiment under local condi-
tions of soil and climate will justify,
and visitors will thus have ample oppor-
tunity to study the value of trees of
many kinds for ornamental planting,
but the object lessons of enormous eco-
nomic significance which will lie spread
before their eyes will be blocks .of
planted forest in each of which has been
set out one or more kinds of trees of
commercial importance.

" By this course Letchworth Park will
aid materially in laying an exact scien-
tific basis for the successful extension
of practical forestry in the United
States. Every practical step will be
taken, not only to insure results of the

NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

highest scientific value from forest work
at Letchworth Park, but also to de-
velop its usefulness as an object lesson
to all Park visitors."

I wish with all my heart that this
object lesson were in its full fruition.
But I do not need to say to foresters
that forest trees grow — well we won't
say slow — but not fast, we will say.
So possibly after five years, certainly in
ten, the Letchworth forest arboretum
will have some useful forest lessons to
teach; for by that time the little trees
will be up in forest formation.

In the meantime we are making ex-
periments with different species ; and,
we are doing some things which will,
and which will not, and which perhaps,
may work. All men must do such
things who would find out new and use-
ful facts for the uses of other men.

I am hopeful that the Letchworth
forest arboretum will be only a begin-
ning. I want to see such forest ar-
boreta established in other regions of
the United States ; one for example, in
the southeast, in the region of the
southern pines ; another in the Rocky
mountains ; another on the Pacific coast ;
and one above all in far southwest
where trees are needed more than any-
where else in all America.

This, then, is the central idea in the
forest arboretum at Letchworth Park —
to help so far as it can in helping tree
planters and therefore helping foresters
to bring back trees successfully upon
land where trees only can be profitably
grown.

Just a word in closing, gentlemen, —
just one word about this whole matter
of forestry. I believe that there are in
America no more useful citizens than
foresters. I think there are no higher
types of American citizenship than ex-
emplified by some great foresters. I
see for the work, unless my vision is all
wrong, a great and growing and a most
productive future. Upon your zeal,
upon your training, and upon your ex-
perience, and that of other foresters,
depends more than anything else the
future of the forests of America. From
the far flung National forests, set
among the great mountain ranges of

the west, to the woodlots and the timber
tracts right here at home, lies your
work. I believe that the future of the
forests of America is safe in the hands
of American foresters.

The above papers and proceedings
indicate the keen interest that has been
taken in the meeting of the New York
State Forestry Association already held,
but much remains to be done.

With 7,000,000 acres of idle land en-
closed within farms, with 125,000 acres
of true forest soil owned by the State
that are in urgent need of reforestation,
writh the forest resources, camp sites,
etc., tied up by Constitutional prohi-
bition, a definite plan of forest manage-
ment is needed and the New York State
Forestry Association can and must not
limit its activities to papers and dis-
cussions.

A broad constructive forest policy
representing the combined wisdom and
ideas of the various organizations now
represented in the State Association
should be prepared, to the end that State
and private forest resources shall be
wisely and fully used and the future
citizens of the Empire State shall re-
ceive the priceless heritage of pure
water and abundant forests in a con-
dition which reflects credit upon the
wisdom of the present generation.

It has seemed to the Board of Editors
that the first publication of the New
York State Forestry Association could
not be concluded in a more fitting way
than with the statement of its Presi-
dent, the Honorable James S. Whipple.

President Whipple as former Forest,
Fish and Game Commissioner labored
for six years in protecting the wild
life and the forests of the State. To
Commissioner W^hipple, and to the late
Colonel Fox, the citizens of New York
owe a heavy debt.

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By Hon. JAMES S. WHIPPLE

Former Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner, and President New York State

Forestry Association

IN all the States the practice of real
forestry work is very young.
Thought of conserving the forests
in America is very old ; as old as the
time of the first settlement. In fact,
those who settled here first knew some-
thing about real forestry work. Relat-
ing to this subject, there were laws
passed in the Colony of Connecticut as
early as 1640. In New Netherlands
rules were made as early as 1650. The
early history of the Colonies furnish
some very interesting things on the sub-
ject of conserving forest trees.

But real forestry work commenced
in a crude way to be sure, first in the
State of New York. It has come on
very slowly, and has not yet assumed
very great proportions here or in any
other State. Thought on this subject
was first enacted into law in 1869, when
a statute was enacted providing for tree
planting along highways. In 1872, a
statute was passed providing for a com-
mission to recommend or establish State
parks in certain counties. Nothing was
really done until 1883, when a law was
passed prohibiting further sale of land
in certain Adirondack counties. The
first appropriation was made in 1884.
It was for $5,000. A Forestry Com-
mission was established in 1885. Many
societies have been organized, notably
the Society for the Protection of the
Adirondacks.

Yet through all the years from the
first settlements in this country there
was no real effort put forth to interest
the whole people in this important sub-
ject until about 19x35. In this State
from that time on for the next seven
years in the State department, through
the commissioner in charge, undertook

the work of generally awakening the
people to the importance of the sub-
ject and to the necessity of tree plant-
ing, conserving and properly managing
forest covered land. During that seven
years and after this State had com-
menced the work as above noted, the
President of the United States called
the Governors of the States together
at the White House in Washington in
conference to consider the better con-
serving and using of our natural re-
sources throughout the United States
which started a forward movement all
along the line.

The Society for the protection of the
Adirondacks has done much good work
in preventing offenses against State
forests, and has exerted a strong in-
fluence for better laws, relating to
forests, but the activities of that fine
body of men have not reached far
enough. At all times there has been
great need of a broader knowledge in
relation to forests and their benefits,
other than their use for wood alone.
Then too, attention has been largely
directed to the forests owned by the
State. f While those forests are im-
portant, no less important are the hun-
dreds of thousands of acres of wood-
lands throughout the State and the tens
of thousands of barren acres that should
be growing trees. It is also of vast im-
portance that the people in every town,
village and city in the State should
understand the necessity of planting up
the barren acres — acres unproductive
for other things — with trees. It is
equally important that farm lots should
be cared for in the same way and that
more shade trees should be planted and
those we have cared for. For these

[38]

FUTURE OF FORESTRY MOVEMENT IN NEW YORK STATE 39

reasons it has seemed that there was
a large amount of work to be done at
least in an educational way and need
for a society of men and women to .do
that work. It was for these reasons
that the Forestry Society of the State
of New York was organized. Its
members are giving some of their time,
some of their money and lending their
influence for the advancement of real,
true forestry work in this State without
hope of fee or reward, except that re-
ward that always comes in doing good.
The society cordially invites all men and
women who desire to help in this work
to become members of the society and
lend a helping hand. There is enough
work for all to do. Its membership
should be very large and widespread.
The society should exert a good and
strong influence on the next Constitu-
tional Convention and upon every suc-
ceeding legislature. In relations to this
matter the Constitution should be
changed some, but with great care and
its new provisions should be carefully
scrutinized before they are submitted
to the people. New and more liberal
statutes should be enacted in relation to
taxation of forest covered land and for
its protection from fire throughout the
State. Looking ahead for ten years to
come, that which should be done and
the policy to adopt and follow generally,
may be summarized as follows :

1. That so far as the statutes control
and the State has management, forestry
work should be placed in charge of a
separate department, with one commis-
sioner at its head, with a capable,
trained forester as superintendent,
assisted by such other trained foresters
as may be necessary and the manage-
ment should be kept out of politics.

2. A better understanding among the
people of what forestry means.

3. More tree gardens, both public and
private and planting on a much larger
scale, generally throughout the State.
Each municipality should plant up all
vacant places on its watershed.

4. On the State lands there should be
a careful examination and record made
of the location, extent and value of
camp sites.

5. There should be an accurate and
careful appraisement of State lands
outside of the park lines.

6. The Constitution should be
changed to permit the leasing of camp
sites within the State reserves.

7. The change of the Constitution
should also permit the carrying on of
conservative lumbering on the land that
should be lumbered, and the building of
necessary roads.

8. The profits from lumbering on
State land, where lumbering should be
done, should be used to increase the
State's holdings in the parks, for better
fire protection and for reforesting de-
nuded lands.

9. The tax law should be changed
and made liberal enough to permit
owners of timbered lands to hold the
timber and conduct cutting 'operations
in a scientific manner under best, mod-
ern methods, for continued reproduc-
tion and to induce all owners of land
suitable for tree production to plant
commercial forests.

10. We should have a state wide
forest fire service under laws giving
the State department power to create
fire districts in forested sections of the
State where necessary and to build
observation stations, connect them up
with 'phones and to establish a fire
patrol anywhere in the State where
needed.

11. State lands within the "Blue
line " should be inventoried and classi-
fied at least in two classes; "A" where
lumbering should be done ; " B " where
lumbering should not be done, as on
mountain tops.

12. Instruction should be given in
every school, in the "A B C's " of
forestry and the value and uses of trees.
The Boy Scouts and boys in every
school should be encouraged to plant
a considerable number of commercial
trees each year on land owned by the
town, city or village. Towns, villages
and cities should acquire lands suitable
for the work and dedicate them to that
purpose. This ought to result in plant-
ing 30,000,000 trees each year; that
means 300,000,000 planted in ten years
by this way alone.

40 NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

13. The State should appropriate view and among other things, the State
more money for forestry instruction and Forestry Association should be built
for the purchase of small tracts of up by procuring a membership of at
common land outside of the " Blue least ten thousand men and women of
line " throughout the State, in sightly the best type who will spend some
locations. The State then should cause money and do much work without pay,
such lands to be planted as object- prompted by their public spirit and
lessons. The State has too long neg- patriotism. They could do much to
lected real, organized effort in the di- create public opinion. Branch forestry
rection of better general knowledge, organizations should be established in
more and broader work in this field of every city, village and town in the State,
most important endeavor. No subject, foresters should be employed in all
no public enterprise is of greater im- these places, shade trees protected, more
portance to the present and future gen- planted and barren acres everywhere
erations of people. planted up with commercial trees.

14. In order that all of this may be These are the lines of principal effort
quickly done and accomplished, public in forestry for the State of New York
opinion must be more rapidly developed for the next ten years at least,
along right lines. With that object in

New York City is one of the greatest importing centers for foreign woods, especially
Circassian walnut for furniture, dye woods and fancy tropical woods for furniture and
finishing purposes.

New York uses over 8,000,000 board feet every year for such small articles as wooden
novelties and wooden ware.

Three million board feet of lumber are used annually for toys in New York State. An
equal amount is used for clocks.

New York manufactures over 6,000,000 sets of heading and 61,000,000 staves every
year for slack barrels to be used largely for sugar, apples, vegetables, cement, crockery and
other shipping purposes.

More than twice as much cherry is used in New York than in any other state. Over
3,000,000 feet are used every year. It is largely used for fancy fixtures, professional and
scientific instruments, clocks, furniture and musical instruments.

New York uses a considerable quantity of foreign woods. For instance, over 660,000
board feet of Lignum vitae and an equal amount of Circassian walnut are used annually.*
Over 254,000 feet of ebony, 190,000 feet of teak and 63,000 feet of rosewood as well as
11,000,000 feet of mahogany are also used.

Only about one-half of our lumber cut goes for general lumber, floor and finishing
purposes^ The other half is used for a great variety of uses, chiefly box boards, furniture,
musical instruments, wooden ware and a countless variety of small articles such as wooden
pegs, spools, dowels, handles, implements, etc.

New York has 26 wood distillation plants- for the manufacture of wood alcohol, acetate
of hme, charcoal and a great variety of chemicals. Beech, birch and maple are the principal
woods used. This industry offers a big field for the utilisation of some of the tremendous
waste occasioned in the lumber and other forest industries.

MEMBERS OF THE N. Y. STATE FORESTRY

ASSOCIATION

Kind of

Name Address Membership

Adamson, U. H Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Agnew, C. R Armonk, N. Y Annual.

American Geographical Society Broadway, corner is6th street, New York.. Annual.

Ames, William S Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Anderson, A. A Fourbear, Wyoming Annual.

Andrews, W. S Court House, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Annin, Howard Caledonia, N. Y Annual.

Annin, James Caledonia, N. Y Annual.

Archbold, John D 26 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Armstrong, S. T Hillbourne, Katonah, N. Y Annual.

Atwood, George G Albany, N. Y Annual.

Austin, H. LeRoy 83 State street, Albany, N. Y Contributing.

Ayres, C. J Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Barnes, Wesley Olmstedville, N. Y Annual.

Baker, Dr. Hugh P N. Y. State Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

Baker, Laurence, C Comstock, N. Y Annual.

Baldwin, Melvin E Schenevus, N. Y Annual.

Barnes, C. T Olmstedville, N. Y Annual.

Bates, H. E Granite Building, Rochester, N. Y Annual.

Bates, John O Capitol, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Bell, Frank L Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Bell, Robert 172 Woodward avenue, Buffalo, N. Y Annual.

Bemis, W. E 26 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Benjamin, Miss Fl 503 West I25th street, New York City Annual.

Bennett, John D 29 Washington square, New York City Annual.

Bense, Dr. Frederick U. S. Steamship Idaho, Care of Postmaster,

New York City Annual.

Bernegan, Carl M 807 Castle Point Terrace, Hoboken, N. J... Annual.

Boettger Robert 30 Belvedere Drive, Yonkers, N. Y Annual.

Bennett, Charles P 265 Webster avenue, New Rochelle, N. Y. ... Annual.

Bishop, Arthur L 107 Amherst avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Bookmen, Dr. S 46 East 82d street, New York City Annual.

Booram, John Van Vorst 204 Lincoln place, Brooklyn Annual.

Bray, Dr. W. L Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Brewster, Prof. William Columbia University, New York City Annual.

Brightman, Horace I Lake Waccabuc, N. Y Annual.

Bristol, H. R., Forester *. D. & H. R. R. Co., Plattsburg, N. Y Annual.

Brockway, A. L 403 Comstock avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Britton, Dr. N. L N. Y. Botanical Gardens, New York City. . . Annual.

Brooklyn Cooperage Co

R. N. Parker, President. 117 Wall street, New York City Contributing.

Brown, Ernest S Salamanca, N. Y Annual.

Brown, Professor N. C N. Y. St. Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

Brown, W. Scott Elizabethtown, N. Y., summer address, St.

Huberts, N. Y Annual.

Brownell, Cyrus H West Day, N. Y Annual.

Bruce, Eugene S 14 Rhode Island, avenue, Washington, D. C. Annual.

Bryant, Edward S 39 Asticou road, Forest Hills, Boston, Mass. Annual.

Buckley, Henry H Oneonta, N. Y Annual.

Burgess, Edward S Normal College, New York City Annual.

Burke, John H Ballston Spa, N. Y Annual.

Burnett, William H Lake Placid, N. Y Annual.

Burnham, John B 233 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Burns, William Castorland, N. Y Annual.

Cameron, William M Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Campbell, Mrs. Augusta E 55o Park avenue, New York City Annual.

Carpenter, Herbert S Ardsley-on-Hudson, N. Y Annual.

Chambers, Frank 842 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Chaplin, Charles A demons, R. F. D. No. I, Box 42, New York. Annual.

[41]

42 NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

Kind of

Name Address Membership

Churchill, Howard L Care of Finch Pruyn Co., Glens Falls, N. Y. Annual.

Clancy, Hon. John R 1010 Belden avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Clark, Dr. John M State Museum, Educ. Dept., Albany, N. Y... Annual.

Codwise Edward B Kingston, Ulster county, N. Y. . . Annual.

Colburn, Mrs. Hattie L N. Y. State Federation of Women's Clubs,

Schenectady, N. Y Annual.

Collins, Miss K. M 230 Midland avenue, Syracuse Annual.

Conner, Jeremiah F Oneida, N. Y Annual.

Coonrad, Arthur T Elizabethtown, N. Y Annual.

Conway, L. J Troy, N. Y Annual.

Coolidge, Professor P. T 77 Garfield street, Watertown, Mass Annual.

Cornwall, H. D Beaver Falls, N. Y Annual.

Couse, Henry C 2765 Boulevard, Jersey City, N. J Annual.

Covell, Dr. H. H 54 Gibbs street, Rochester, N. Y Annual.

Crary, Dr. Geo. W 535 Park avenue, New York City Annual.

Cristman, F. W Herkimer, N. Y Annual.

Crosby, Maunsell S Rhinebeck, N. Y Annual.

Cross, Theo. L 304 Gneesee street, Utica, N. Y Annual.

Crouse, Mrs. C. E 715 West Genesee street, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Cunningham, F. J North Creek, N. Y Annual.

Cutter, Ralph L 219 Clinton street, Brooklyn, N. Y Annual.

Cutting, F. A Massachusetts Forestry Assn., Boston, Mass. Annual.

Cutting, Spencer A St. Regis Falls, N. Y Annual.

Daniels, Charles M Sabattis, Hamilton county, N. Y Annual.

Decker, Geo. P Powers Building, Rochester, N. Y Annual.

Dedrick, L. B Corinth, N. Y Annual.

DeForest, H 30 Broad street, New York City Annual.

DeForest Robert W 30 Broad street, New York City Annual.

Dennis, John Democrat-Chronicle, Rochester, N. Y Annual.

Dewey, Melvil Lake Placid Club, N. Y Annual.

Dickerson, Mary C American Museum of Natural History New

York City Annual.

Dix, Samuel 45 Nassau street, New York City Annual.

Donodue, John E Blue Ridge, N. Y Annual.

Donovan, Richard J Woolworth Bldg., Law Office, N. Y. City. . . Annual.

Douglas, James 99 John street, New York City Annual.

Dow, Charles M Jamestown, N. Y Annual.

Downer, Jay 22 Pine street, New York City Annual.

Downing, Dr. A. S N. Y. State Educ. Dept., Albany, N. Y Annual.

Drachman, Rev. Dr 128 West I2ist street, New York City Annual.

Drinker, Dr. Henry L Pres. Lehigh Univ., S. Bethlehem, Pa Annual.

DuBois, William A ; 667 Madison avenue, New York City Life.

Durant, R. W Saratoga Springs, N. Y t Annual.

Dwyer, Patrick Witherbee, N. Y Annual.

Eaton, W. R 180 Broadway, Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Ellwanger & Barry. Rochester, N. Y Annual.

Emerick, F. A Oswego, N. Y Annual.

Evarts, Allen W 60 Wall street, New York City Annual.

Farley, William C Waverly, N. Y Annual.

Faxon, William H Chestertown, N. Y Annual.

Ferris, Hon. Clarence Potsdam, N. Y Annual.

Ferry, Mansfield 31 Nassau street, New York City Annual.

Fiebig, John P Candor, N. Y Annual.

Finnigan, Earle H Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Fisher, Clarence L Lyons Falls, N. Y Annual.

Fisher, Jerome B Jamestown, N. Y Annual.

Ford, James B 4 East 43d street, New York City Life.

Foster, Frederick Tuxedo, N. Y Contributing.

Fox, H. F 50 Union square, New York city Annual.

Fry, Hon. C. L Wells, N. Y Annual.

Fullerton, H. B Medford, L. L, New York Annual.

Gager C. Stuart Brooklyn Botanic Garden Annual.

Gannett W. C 15 Sibley place, Rochester, N. Y Annual.

Gavitt, William S Lyons, N. Y Annual.

Gaylord, Frederick A Albany, N. Y. Cons. Commission Annual.

Gelpcke, Miss Anna C 309 President street, Brooklyn, N. Y Annual.

MEMBERS OF THE N. Y. STATE FORESTY ASSOCIATION 43

Name

Gheen, R. T

Gibson, C. J

Godeffroy, A. E...,
Godeffroy, A., Mrs.
Goldwaite, K. W...,

Goodyear, A. C

Greef, Ernest F

Greeley, W. B

Green, James W...

Griffing, C H

Guy, William E

Hagar, Standbury

Haise, W. D

Hall, Charles M

Hall, Dr. Edward H

Halsey, W. S

Harding, John

Harper, R. A

Hasslacher, Jacob

Hastings, A. C

Hayward, C. R

Heath, Claude H

Helyar, F. G

Higsbee, F. C

Hill, Charles B

Hoevenburgh. Henry van...

Holden, H. S

Holden, H. S. Mrs

Hooper, Frank G

Hoove'r, M. H

Hoover, T. L

Hornaday, W. T

Hosmer, Mrs. Estelle De P.

Hough, Romeyn B

Howard, William G

Hoyt,J. G

Hudnut, Richard A

Huppuch, Winfield A

Hutchins, M. C

lies, Walter G

Inman, Charles H

International Paper Co

Ives, Hon. Martin V. B

Jacobs, J. L

Jenkins, Emery

Johnson, Alfred

Johnson, E. H

Johnston, Cassius A

Jones, E. J

Keenan, Henry

Kellogg, Frederick S

Kellogg, Spencer

Kellogg, V. K

Kelsey, F. W

Kendall, Frank E

King, Albert H

Knight, William E

Lakin, Luther S., Jr

Landerburn, D. E

Lane, D. F

Lansing, Miss Gertrude

LaPan, J. H

LeFevre, Egbert M. D

Leland, C. T

Leonard, W. C

Kind of

Address Membership

N. Y. State Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

Albany, N. Y. Cons. Commission Annual.

Godeffroy, N. Y Annual.

Godeffroy, N. Y Annual.

Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Marine Nat. Bank Bldg., Buffalo, N. Y Annual.

334 Fourth avenue, New York City Annual.

38 Park Row, New York City Annual.

Gloversville, N. Y Annual.

255 West io8th street, New York City Annual.

Cooperstown, N. Y. (June 2 to Oct. I5th) . . Annual.

St. Louis Mo. (October i6th to June i6th) . . Annual.

48 Wall street, New York City Annual.

Newcomb, N. Y Annual.

131 Buffalo avenue, Niagara Falls, N. Y.... Annual.

49 Wall street, New York City Annual.

763 Irving avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Saranac Lake N. Y Annual.

Columbia University, New York City Annual.

loo William street, New York City Life.

50 Church street, New York City Annual.

704 South Crouse avenue, Syracuse Annual.

Catskill, N. Y Annual.

N. Y. State School of Agr., Morrisville Annual.

Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

165 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Lake Placid Club, N. Y Contributing.

1000 James street, Syracuse Annual.

1000 James street, Syracuse Annual.

North River, N. Y Annual.

Albany, N. Y. Cons. Commission Annual.

36 Spruce street, New York City Annual.

N. Y. Zoological Park, New York City.... Annual.

Tivoli, N. Y Annual.

Lowville, N. Y Annual.

Conservation Commission, Albany, N. Y.. Annual.

237 Main street, Oneonta, N. Y; Annual.

North Creek, N. Y Annual.

Hudson Falls, N. Y Annual.

6 Beacon street, Boston, Mass Annual.

720 Irving avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Amsterdam, N. Y Annual.

30 Broad street, New York City Annual.

Potsdam, N. Y Annual.

Tupper Lake, N. Y Annual.

Union Grove, N. Y Annual.

Sabattis, N. Y Annual.

Sabattis, N. Y Annual.

Hoosick Falls, N. Y Annual.

Bradford, Pa Annual.

Indian Lake, N. Y Annual.

Utica, N. Y Annual.

Utica, N. Y Annual.

Watertown, N. Y Annual.

150 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Albany, N. Y., Conservation Commission... Annual.

2 Rector street, New York City Annual.

Jamestown, N. Y Annual.

56 Worth street, New York City Annual.

Watertown, N. Y Annual.

71 East 54th street, New York City Annual.

Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

40 West 72d street, New York City Annual.

Schroon Lake, N. Y Annual.

Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

44 NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

Kind of

Name Address Mtmbership

Levison, Jacob J 526 Cleveland street, Brooklyn, N. Y Annual.

Levengston, H. M Saratoga Springs, N. Y Annual.

Loucks William Dewey. . . .... Schenectady, N. Y Annual.

Lundy, Miss E. L Bronxville, N. Y Annual.

Luquer, Lea S 321 West 8pth street, New York City Annual.

Luther, T. C Mechanicville, N. Y Annual.

McBride, James D Sabattis, N. Y Annual.

McCarthy, Professor E. F. . . . N. Y. State Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

McClary, Martin E Malone, N. Y Annual.

McClintock, John Y City Hall, Rochester, N. Y Annual.

McClung, Hon. Benjamin Deputy Attorney-General, Newburgh, N. Y. Annual.

McCoy, George A Woodslake, N. Y Annual.

McDonald, William A N. Y. State Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

McGinn, James Indian Lake, N. Y Annual.

McGrath, J. J Phoenicia, N. Y Annual.

McGrath, Lawrence Livingston Manor, N. Y Annual.

McGrath, William Livingston Manor, N. Y Annual.

McKelvey, St. Clair University of New York, New York City. . . Annual.

McKing, E. P 99 Henry street, Binghamton, N. Y Annual.

McPhillips, Thomas E Friends Lake, The Glen, N. Y Annual.

Macy, Mrs. V. Everit Chilmark, Scarborough-on-Hudson, N. Y... Contributing.

Madden, E. J Lake Placid, N. Y Annual.

Mahl, William Hotel Majestic, 2 West 72d street, N. Y. City. Annual.

Marshall, Hon. Louis 37 Wall street, New York City Annual.

Martin, Bradley Westbury, L. I., New York Annual.

Meigs, Ferris Tupper Lake, N. Y Annual.

Merell, William D University of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y. . . Annual.

Merriam, Lyman L Lyons' Falls, N. Y Annual.

Miller, Mrs. John P 95 West 3d street, Oswego, N. Y Annual.

Miller, S. A Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Miller, Warren H 456 Fourth avenue, New York City Annual.

Moon, Prof. F. F N. Y. State Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

Moore, F. L Watertown, N. Y Annual.

Moore, John D 23 Washington avenue, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Morgan, John G Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Moriarta, D. C Saratoga, N. Y Annual.

Moynehan, J. D Tahawus, N. Y Annual.

Moynehan, Dennis Laurier, Co. Lothbiniere, P. Q., Can Annual.

Moynehan, P Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Mulford, Prof. Walter Department of Forestry, Ithaca, N. Y Annual.

Murrill, Dr. W. A Assist. Director, N. Y. Bot. Gardens, Bronx

Park, New York City Annual.

Nettleton, A. E 705 Walnut avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Nichols, R. B Indian Lake, N. Y Annual.

Nimms, Thomas A Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Ordway, Samuel H 27 William street, New York City Annual.

Ostrander, George N Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Otis, M. W Lake Clear Junction, N. Y Annual.

Palmatier, H. A Indian Lake, N. Y Annual.

Palmer, C. M Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Partridge, Dr. Edward L 19 Fifth avenue, New York City Annual.

Patnode, Edward Lake Clear Junction, N. Y Annual.

Patrie, Hon. J. L Catskill, N. Y Annual.

Peabody, George F Saratoga Springs, N. Y Annual.

Penfield, Samuel F Delhi, N. Y Annual.

Pennington, Dr. L. H Syracuse University, Syracuse Annual.

Perkins, George W 71 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Peters, Edwardi McClure 520 East 21 st street, Brooklyn, N. Y Annual.

Peters, Edward M., Jr 520 East 2ist street, Brooklyn, N. Y Annual.

Pettis, Hon. C. R Albany, New York Conservation Commission. Annual.

Pettit, Franklin 2 Wall street, New York City Annual.

Pine. E. C Riverside Inn, Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Pitkin, Walter J Corinth, N. Y Annual.

Porter, William H 23 Wall street, New York City Annual.

Porter, W. W 1717 West Genesee street, Syracuse, N. Y. . Annual.

Prescott, Charles B Attica, N. Y Annual.

MEMBERS OF THE N. Y. STATE FORESTY ASSOCIATION 45

Kind of

Name Address Membership

Prichard, Prof. R. P N. Y. State Ranger School, Wanakena, N. Y. Annual.

Rankin, W. H Forest Pathologist, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Reed, H. L .- 134 North street, Auburn, N. Y Annual.

Resseguie, F. J Saratoga Springs, N. Y Annual.

Rice, W. O Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Rich, Mrs. Nellis M 512 James street, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Riley, J. Edwin Albany, N. Y., Conservation Commission. . . Annual.

Roberts, J. A Elizabethtown, N. Y Annual.

Robson, Albert N 152 Central avenue, White Plains, N. Y Annual.

Rogers, Archibald Hyde Park, N. Y Annual.

Rosenbluth, Robert Albany, N. Y., Conservation Commission... Annual.

Saratoga Wood Co 467 Broadway, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Satterlee, Mrs. H. L 37 East 36th street, New York City Life.

Schoonmaker, Samuel J Mohonk, N. Y Annual.

Scribner, Eugene D Glpversville, N. Y , Annual.

Seckington, Dan W Elizabethtown, N. Y Annual.

Shepard, C. Sidney New Haven, N. Y Annual.

Shepard, E. C United States Forest Service, Ogden, Utah. . Annual.

Shiffler, Earl 108 Fulton street, Clean, N. Y Annual.

Sifferlen, Charles F 715 Irving avenue, Syracuse Annual.

Simonds, Clinton H Elizabethtown, N. Y Annual.

Sisson, C. H Potsdam, N. Y Annual.

Sisson, Rufus L Care A. Sherman Lum. Co., Potsdam, N. Y. Annual.

Slattery, Roger W Keene, N. Y Annual.

Smith, A. G 621 South Grouse avenue, Syracuse, N. Y. ... Annual.

Smith, Datus C Kinderhook, N. Y Annual.

Smith, Phelps Paul Smiths, N. Y Annual.

Smythe, D. DeW 365 Genesee street, Utica, N. Y Contributing.

Somerville, Robert Sodom, Warren county, N. Y Annual.

Snyder, Charles E Herkimer, N. Y Annual.

Soule, F. C Merrill-Soule Co., Syracuse Annual.

Spring, Professor S. N Department of Forestry, Ithaca, N. Y Annual.

Stanton, Edwin Long Lake, N. Y Annual.

Starke, George L Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Steinway, F. T Dltmars avenue, New York City Annual.

Stephen, Professor John W. . . N. Y. State Coll. of Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

Stetson, Francis L 15 Broad street, New York City..' Life.

Stevens, C. P Loon Lake, N. Y Annual.

Stevens, Paul Lake Placid, N. Y Annual.

Stevens, George A Lake Placid, N. Y Annual.

Strong, John R 717 St. .Nicholas avenue, New York City. . . Annual.

Strough, A. B 231 Ontario street, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Stuart, C. H Newark, N. Y Annual.

Sweigert, John A Plattsburg, N. Y Annual.

Sykes, W. L 940 Ellicott square, Buffalo, N. Y Annual.

Sykes, W. Clyde Conifer, N. Y Annual.

Thomas, Frederick G Ticonderoga, N. Y Annual.

Thompson, Harry Paul Smiths, N. Y Annual.

Todd, Stratton B. D Seager, N. Y Annual.

Turner, Frank H Upper Saranac, N. Y Annual.

Tuttle, M. A Hornell, N. Y Annual.

Van Arnum, George E Northville, N. Y Annual.

Van Ardsdale, Charles A Castile, N. Y Annual.

Vanderveer, Albert 28 Eagle street, Albany, N. Y Contributing.

Van Norden, Ottomar H 55 Liberty street, New York City Contributing.

Vann, Irving G 502 Dillaye Mem. Bldg., Syracuse, N. Y.... Annual.

Vesin, Charles 349 Broadway, New York City Annual.

Vosburgh, Allen I Lake Clear Junction, N. Y Annual.

Vosburgh, Isiah Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Waite, Albert F 115 Lynhurst avenue, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Walrath, John Salamanca, N. Y Annual.

Walrath, W. D Ellicottville, N. Y Annual.

Walton, W. A Saranac Lake, N. Y Annual.

Ward, Samuel B 281 State street, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Warren, Roswell E Hampton, N. Y Annual.

Waterbury, Angus M Whitesboro, N. Y Contributing.

46 NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY

Kind of

Name Address Membership

Watson, Mrs. J. Henry 51 West 75th street, New York City Contributing.

Weatherwax, H. B 58 North Pearl street, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Wellman, A. Miner Friendship, N. Y Annual.

Wells, S. James Fayetteville, N. Y Annual.

West, E. W Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

West, Elmer J Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Westover, M. F Schenectady, N. Y Annual.

Whipple, Hon. J. S Salamanca, N. Y Annual.

White, William A 14 Wall street, New York City Annual.

White, Alfred T 14 Wall street, New York City Annual.

White, Harold T 14 Wall street, New York City Annual.

White, J. D Utica, N. Y Annual.

White, Alexander M 14 Wall street, New York City Annual.

Whitehead, Ralph Radcliff . . . Woodstock, N. Y Annual.

Whitmyer, Mrs 16 Union street, Schenectady, N. Y Annual.

Whitney, Zenas B Gloversville, N. Y Annual.

Wiard, William W 130 Holland street, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Wiard, Mrs Wm. W 130 Holland street, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Will, E. W 914 McBride street, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Will, Louis 914 McBride street, Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Willard, John A Northville, N. Y Annual.

Willets, Elmore Abram Belmont, N. Y Annual.

Williams, Miss Martha T 1226 Main street, Buffalo, N. Y Annual.

Wilson, C. H 53 Warren street, Glens Falls, N. Y Annual.

Winters, Harry B 61 South Lake avenue, Albany, N. Y Annual.

Wirzig, C. F Syracuse, N. Y Annual.

Witherbee, Walter Port Henry, N. Y Annual.

Wood, D. C Herkimer, N. Y Annual.

Wood, E. A Schroon Lake, N. Y Annual.

Wood, Mellins O Pierceneld, N. Y Annual.

Woodworth, Newell B 718 James street, Syracuse, N. Y. Annual.

Wunderlich, Dr. F. W 8 Sidney place, Brooklyn, N. Y Annual.

Yelverton, James W Schenectady, N. Y Annual.

Young, George J Mohank Lake, N. Y Annual.

ANNOUNCEMENT

This issue of the Bulletin of the New York State Forestry Association
contains an account of the first two meetings, and considerable data valuable
from an historical and educational standpoint.

Subsequent numbers will be in a much lighter and more popular vein ; there
will be columns open to communications and discussions by members and short
articles dealing with trees and forests and general out of door subjects, with
the idea of stimulating a wide-spread interest in Forestry throughout the Empire
State.

BOARD OF PUBLICATION,

F. F. MOON, Chairman,
SAMUEL N. SPRING,
F. A. GAYLORD,
WARREN H. MILLER.

APPEAL TO MEMBERS

ALBANY, N. Y., April 27, 1914.

The value and influence of this Association- will be largely determined by
the number and activity of its members. The membership at the present time
is but a few hundred while it is safe to say that there are more than as many
thousand people in the State who should be and probably are willing to join.
It is, therefore, the duty of our members to bring this matter to the attention of
the people generally and secure their membership and forward the same to
Syracuse to the Secretary.

The Association is now in the second year of its existence and the time has
come when it must make progress and become a strong working organization.
It is, therefore, important as a matter of success that everyone put forth as
much effort as possible immediately in securing new members and continue to
do so in order that at the time of the third annual meeting there will be a strong
and effective organization which can show accomplishments.

C. R. PETTIS,
Chairman of the Committee on Membership.

YOU SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN THE SUCCESS OF THE
NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION BECAUSE

You desire a place to spend a vacation and usually go to the woods.

You cannot enjoy this pleasure unless there are forests.

You need wood materials. As a State we use over 1,750,000,000 feet per
year. Our forests are being cut five times as fast as they grow and we use
twelve times as much as is grown. This means exhaustion of raw material
and high prices. We have sufficient land, if planted and cared for, to produce
all we need.

You desire hunting and fishing. The forest is a necessity if this pleasure
is to be satisfied. The forests are the home of our game and they must have
a place to live. The forests furnish clear, cold water, which makes fish life
possible.

You need pure air. The trees are the greatest agents to purify the air.
They absorb the poisonous carbon dioxide gas and give off the living oxygen.

You need the flow of streams regulated. The forest and the forest floor
are great natural reservoirs which catch, absorb and hold moisture. The
supply is given off gradually and has a very great effect in preventing floods
and drought.

You must appreciate that forests have a very appreciable effect on agricul-
ture. They hold moisture which is given off slowly and the benefits are
derived by increased crops and necessary food supplies. The forests check
destructive and drying effects of winds.

You desire a beautiful State. There is nothing that adds more to our
scenic wealth than the trees.

You do not wish to see property destroyed by fire. Do you appreciate
that our great forest fire losses are the results of carelessness? A campaign
of education to eliminate this negligence will save us millions of dollars which
is now lost.

JOIN THE NEW YORK STATE FORESTRY ASSOCIATION

AND URGE YOUR FRIENDS TO LEND

THEIR SUPPORT.

STATE OF NEW YORK

Forest, Fish and Game Commission

BULLETIN

FORESTRY AFFAIRS

in

NEW YORK
1904

From the annual report of

WILLIAM F, FOX

Supt. State Forests

ALBANY

BRANDOW PRINTING COMPANY

STATE LEGISLATIVE PRINTERS

1905

Report of the Superintendent of Forests*

HON. DE WITT C. MIDDLETON,

Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner:

Sir — In accordance with the requirements of the State Forestry
Law I respectfully submit my annual report on the work of the
Forestry Department and matters pertaining thereto for the year
1904.

FOREST FIRES.

It is a matter of congratulation that during the past season
there has been throughout the forests of the Adirondack and Cats-
kill regions an exemption from fire as remarkable as the great
destruction which made the year 1903 a memorable one in the
records of this Department. This result was due largely to the
favorable weather which characterized the season of 1904, the
frequent rains, and the absence of any prolonged period of
drought.' Furthermore, the thorough organization of the fire-
wardens and their deputies in each town, together with the vigi-
lance and activity displayed by these officials, contributed mate-
rially to the almost complete immunity from loss in standing
timber. Profiting by the unfortunate experience of the previous
year, a calamity due, however, to causes beyond their control, the
fire wardens were stimulated to an increased degree of watchful-
ness and efficiency.

Although the damage to the forest this year was merely nomi-
nal, still there were a large number of incipient fires; but these
were promptly attended to at the first sign of danger and were

4

extinguished before any loss occurred. Some of these started
last spring at times when, by reason of a few days of warm sun
and wind, the dry leaves on the forest floor were in a dangerous
condition; and had there been no organized force at hand they
would, as in previous years, have resulted in fierce flames that
swept rapidly through the woods until rain came.

From the consolidated .reports of the town firewardens in the
Adirondack counties it appears that the total area of woodland
burned over in 1904, aggregated 1,635 acres, not including meadow
or waste land ; and that the total damages to standing timber, as
estimated by them, amounted to $930. That the loss is dispropor-
tionately small is due to the fact that most of the reports were
for surface fires that merely burned the dead leaves on the ground
without charring the bark on the trees or killing the timber. As
one firewarden described it in his report, "The fire just skimmed
over the leaves and did not do any damage to standing timber, as
the ground was so damp."

In the Catskill counties, as shown by the tabulated reports of
the firewardens for 1904, there were 992 acres of woodlands that
were run over by fire. On this area the standing timber was
injured to an extent estimated at $570.

The loss of timber on the Forest Preserve was very slight. Of
the 1,635 acres of woodland that were scorched or burned over in
the Adirondacks, only 51 acres belonged to the State; and of the
992 acres thus injured in the Catskills, only 45 acres were State
lands. The total damage to State timber in both sections, as
estimated on the various burned areas, amounted in all to $81.
There were only two fires of any note in the Adirondacks. One
occurred June 20th, on the lands of the Rich Lumber Company,
near Wanakena, Township 15, St. Lawrence County About 100

5

acres were burned over, along the line of a railroad, owned and
operated by this company, which runs from Benson Mines to Wan-
akena, where their mills are located. The tract had been closely
lumbered for both the softwoods and hardwoods, and hence the
damage to standing timber was comparatively slight. But the
fire — which was started by sparks from one of their locomotives —
spread to their skidways and consumed entirely the large piles of
logs which were awaiting shipment to the mills. The value of
the logs thus destroyed was estimated at $5,000 by the Company.

The other fire referred to occurred May 6, on the Cornell Uni-
versity tract, and ran over about 200 acres. The greater part of
this area had been cut over under the contract with the Brooklyn
Cooperage Company to supply its stave and heading mills and
wood acid factory at Tupper Lake. As the ground was thickly
and deeply strewn with dead tops, limbs, and brush, it made a hot
fire, which killed some standing timber on adjoining property.
This fire was started by the manager to clear off the brush and
debris so that the ground could be replanted with seedling trees,
an appropriation of $5,000 having been granted the University by
the Legislature for this purpose. The fire once started was soon
beyond control, and the firewarden of an adjoining town had to
order in a large force of men to fight it. As the manager kindled
this blaze during the close season, in which the State law forbids
the starting of brush or fallow fires, he was arrested by Mr.
Emmons, the Chief Firewarden, and fined $200.

Altogether, in the Adirondacks and Catskills, there were 101
alarms, including brush fires on waste lands and the numerous
small ones that were extinguished on the spot where they origin-
ated. The causes, known, supposed, and unknown were:

6

R. E. locomotives 21

Clearing land 20

Smokers 14

Hunters 9

Fishermen 8

Incendiary 4

Campers 2

Tramps 2

Children '. 2

Firecrackers 1

Burning garbage 1

Burning leaves 1

Lightning 1

Blasting rocks 1

Unknown . . 14

101

In nearly all of the above instances the firewardens reported
the cause as to the best of their knowledge and belief. Although
they had good reasons for attributing the fire to the source speci-
fied in the report, they lacked the complete evidence on which to
convict the suspected party. For this reason the foregoing state-
ment of causes may not be as accurate as could be desired.

From the details included in the report of each fire it appears
that three-fourths of the fires occurred in the spring. The num-
ber of fires in each month, incipient merely or otherwise, were :

April 10

May. . . 66

June . 6

7

July 2

August 4

September 1

October 7

November 5

This corresponds closely to the tabulation of dates made in
former years, and explains clearly why the forestry law forbids
the burning of fallows in certain forest towns between April 1st
and June 1st, and from September 15th to November 10th.

There were 29 violations of the law prohibiting the burning of
brush, logs, or stumps during the close season. Each case was
prosecuted successfully by the Chief Firewarden, and the offend-
ers paid fines varying from $25 to $200 as imposed by the different
Justices of the Peace before whom the delinquents were brought.
The total amount of fines thus collected amounted to $1,022.25, not
including costs, which were paid by the defendants.

Patrols were ordered out and placed on duty at two different
times, authority for their employment having been granted in
an amendment to the forest law at the last session of the Legis-
lature. Although the rainfall was ample during most of the
season, there were times last spring when the conditions became
dangerous. After a few days of dry weather the dead leaves on
the ground became quite crisp, and surface fires started up along
the railroads with alarming frequency, although they were ex-
tinguished quickly in each case by the section men or firewardens.
As a timely precaution patrols were employed at various places
in the Adirondacks ; and on some railroads, at exposed points, the
men were distributed one man to a mile. But on each of the
two occasions mentioned, rain came the day after the establish-
ment of the patrol, and the men were called off.

8

The railroad superintendents evinced an earnest desire to
co-operate with the Commission in its efforts to protect the forests
along their respective lines, and one of them sent out a circular
which was placed in the hands of each engineer and fireman,
notifying these employees that they would be held responsible for
the safe condition of the screen and ashpan on their locomotive.
A railroad which runs through some of the forest towns in the
Catskills was equipped with water barrels at intervals of forty
rods, wherever any woods adjoined the right of way, to facilitate
the efforts of the section men in extinguishing the flames that
start up behind passing trains.

Nevertheless, in times of prolonged drought, even with a well
organized force of patrols on duty, the forests will be in danger,
and until some safe motive power is adopted fires from this force
may be expected. The recent successful experiment on the New
York Central Eailroad, in which an electric engine hauled a
heavy train at a high rate of speed, leads to the hope that the
railroad companies with lines running through the forest districts
may be induced to use electric motors and thus eliminate com-
pletely this most prolific source of destruction to woodlands.

REFORESTING.

But little work was done this year in reforesting, as the appro-
priation for 1904 did not become available until too late for the
spring planting. Still, one of the tracts in the St. Lawrence
Reservation, at Canoe Point on the lower end of Grindstone
Island, was planted this fall with seedlings of broad leaved
species. This tract, which contains 70 acres of cleared land, was
set out with plants taken from the State nursery at Brown's
Station, in the Catskills. The number of seedlings of each species
planted at Canoe Point was as follows:

PLANTATION OF SCOTCH PINE.

Made at Axton, Franklin Co., N. Y., in 1898.

Photographed in 1904.

9

Bed Oak 23,620

Pin Oak 22,300

Chestnut 7,000

Black Locust 3,000

Black Walnut 2,035

In addition there are 6,500 seedlings of white ash and hickory
which were left at Brown's Station, as the weather became so
inclement that it seemed best to wait until the next spring before
setting them out at Canoe Point. For the same reason, 15,115
plants were heeled in at Canoe Point awaiting spring, when they
will be set out also, or used for reinforcing any blanks which may
be found.

The seedlings were planted at intervals of seven feet each way
instead of four as customary in a plantation of conifers, or one
that is intended for timber production only. This work was
placed in charge of Mr. E. M. Moffett, one of the State foresters
and a graduate of the Forestry School at Biltmore, N. C., where
there are good opportunities for studying the technical methods
used in making a plantation of hardwoods. Before selecting defi-
nitely the site at Canoe Point, Mr. Moffett made a preliminary
examination of the soil, which he reported as being of the best
quality, proper depth, and well adapted to the growth of the
various species which we intended to plant.

In order to protect the plantation from cattle which had
hitherto grazed freely on this land, a substantial wire fence, nearly
one mile in length, was constructed across the base of the penin-
sula which forms the Canoe Point tract. The cost of this fence,
however, was not taken out of our appropriation for tree planting,
but was charged to a special fund which had been provided by

10

the Legislature for the betterment of properties in the St. Law-
rence Reservation.

While planting up the land on this tract the attention of the
forester was directed to the field mice which were evidently
there in dangerous numbers. The plantation was therefore thor-
oughly "poisoned" by a liberal distribution of a mixture con-
sisting of corn meal, or wheat, and strychnine. Two formulas
were used for this purpose:

1. Three quarts of corn meal, one-twelfth ounce of strychnine,
one-half pound brown sugar, and one quart of water.

2. Three quarts of wheat, one-twelfth ounce strychnine, one-
half pound brown sugar, and one quart of water.

For such purpose the sugar and strychnine should in each case
be first dissolved in the water thoroughly. If wheat is used the
grains should be soaked in this mixture two days, after which, the
water having been absorbed, it must be dried completely. The
wheat is scattered broadcast; and it is claimed that one kernel
will destroy a mouse. The meal, however, is said to be the most
effective. It should be used while damp, and placed in small quan-
tities— one-half teaspoonful in a place — at frequent intervals in
the runways of the mice. At Canoe Point, a light snow having
fallen the runways were easily discovered.

These formulas have been used with good success in the large
nurseries of R. Douglas' Sons, at Waukegan, 111., where at one
time a loss of $5,000 in white pine seedlings was caused by the
depredations of rodents before their presence was discovered.

Another tract was sown with white pine by the seed-spot
method. The land selected for this purpose is in Essex county,
near the highway running from Lower Saranac Lake to Lake
Placid. The ground on this site was so uneven, rough, and over-

11

grown with scrubby brush that the planting of seedlings at regu-
lar intervals was not practicable. The seed-spot methods con-
sists in breaking up the ground in small circular spots, about
two feet wide, and at intervals of eight feet each way, or as
near that as the obstacles will permit. A few seeds, ten or twelve,
are scattered on the freshly turned ground and lightly covered
with earth. When the seedlings thus propagated are two years
old they are taken up, with the exception of one which is allowed
to remain; the others, so far as needed/ are set out immediately
in the intervening spaces close at hand, forming thereby a plan-
tation with intervals of four feet each way between the plants.
The seed-spot method, owing to its smaller expense, is used also
on smooth, level ground, in which case the patches are made
at the smaller intervals on the start, thus saving any subsequent
transplanting into the spaces.

Another small tract near the Lake Placid road was sown with
white pine seed, scattered broadcast. This method is also prefer-
able on ground where seedlings cannot be set out with advan-
tage, and furthermore, it is the cheapest way to reforest denuded
lands. But it has its disadvantages as well; the seeds are often
eaten by birds or rodents; and, under the most favorable cir-
cumstances, the germination is very apt to be uneven, the sprouts
coming up thickly in some places, and scarcely at all in others.

Still, the broadcast sowing of native spruce, in 1902, under the
poplar groves near Aiden Lair, in Essex county, was successful
in every respect. Forester Knechtel, who did this sowing, was
instructed to make a careful examination of this ground last
spring, and make a report on the result. He found the surface
under the young poplars — trees twenty to twenty-five feet high —
thickly covered with little spruce seedlings, and his report was

12

so encouraging that broadcast sowing will be undertaken on a
large scale as soon as we can gather a supply of seed from
our native spruce for that purpose. The experiment at Aiden
Lair indicates that the numerous areas of poplar forest which
now cover many of the old burns can be successfully under-
planted with red spruce.

SARANAC NURSERY.

The work on the construction of a nursery at Saranac Inn
B. E. Station, Franklin county, which was suspended in 1903
through lack of an appropriation that year for reforesting, was
resumed last spring. Seed beds for various coniferous species
were then made and the seed put in. In order to gain time one-
half of the nursery area was set out with two-year old seedlings
of white pine, Scotch pine, and Norway spruce, planted in beds
four feet wide and fifty feet long. For this purpose 125,000
seedlings were purchased from commercial nurseries in Illinois,
at prices varying from $2.50 to $5.50 per thousand plants. The
white pine seedlings cost, on an average, $4.62%; the Scotch
pine, $3.00, and the Norway spruce $2.50 per thousand.

As the present intention is to use the Saranac nursery for a
supply of four-year old transplants, these seedlings will have to
remain in the beds two years, and will not be available for field
planting until the spring of 1906.

In order to have, in time, a supply of four-year old transplants
each year, one-half of the nursery area was allowed to lie fallow,
with the intention of filling it with two-year old seedlings this
coming spring. After ,that the seed beds will enable us to dis-
pense with further purchases of stock for the nursery. The por-
tion which lay fallow was planted with a crop of buckwheat,
which was plowed under in the fall, and the soil was further

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13

enriched with a light covering of black muck and some compost
taken from a large pile kept on hand at the nursery for this
purpose.

A substantial paling fence now surrounds the enclosure, and
a tool house was built near the north gate. A hydraulic ram
was purchased and placed near by, just below the dam on the
outlet of Little Clear Pond. From this ram water is forced
through a one and one-quarter inch pipe up to a large tank,
well housed, and situated on the side of the adjoining hill, forty-
three feet above the nursery. The tank has a capacity of 5,000
gallons. A two-inch main leads from the tank house to the dis-
tributing pipes and hydrants in the nursery. With this arrange-
ment a line of hose, with a spray nozzle, can be attached readily
to a hydrant, and, whenever it becomes necessary in a dry time,
the beds can be sprinkled or showered without any further expense
or inconvenience. The paling fence, tool house, and tank house
were given two coats of green paint. The stock in the beds is
in excellent condition, the plants are in thrifty growth, and the
commission has reason to be well satisfied with the appearance
of the nursery.

SEED GATHERING.

The year 1904 was a seed year for white pine in New York,
and so arrangements were made for gathering a supply, as this
species produces seed only at intervals of four or five years. An
examination of the pines in Northern New York was made by
our foresters last year, when it was found that the little cones,
which require two years in maturing, were forming to an extent
that indicated a seed year for 1904. As the native red spruce
and Norway pine did not bear cones this year the work of seed
gathering was confined to white pine.

14

Forester Pettis, who was in charge of this work, after a pro-
longed examination of the pine in various localities, selected the
woods in the vicinity of Willsboro, Essex county, as the best
field for operations. An agent for some European seed firms
was already there with a large force of men and boys engaged
in collecting white pine cones.

Work was commenced early in September, before the scales
on the cones had opened, and a supply was gathered between
the 6th and 18th of that month. The men and boys employed
were paid 30 cents per bushel delivered in sacks at Willsboro, at
which price they made very good wages. At the start only 25
cents was paid, but as other parties on the ground were offering
30 cents per bushel, Mr. Pettis was obliged to pay the same.

The cones were dried and threshed in a barn near Willsboro,
rented temporarily for this purpose, after which the seeds were
cleaned and winnowed in a fanning mill of the kind used by
farmers.

A bushel of white pine cones yields on an average a little over
one pound of clean seed, which contains about 29,500 grains. As
the foresters received 500 bushels of cones they secured over
500 pounds of clean seed. This supply cost 471/2 cents per pound,
not including the forester's expenses or the purchase of some
material which was charged to the permanent plant, and is avail-
able for future work of this kind. As the market price of white
pine seed runs from $2.50 to $4.50 per pound, according to the
absence of a seed year and its scarcity, it will be seen that the
work was timely and economical.

Part of this stock is needed for the seed beds in our nurseries
during the years that must intervene before another supply can
be gathered, and the remainder will be used for broadcast sowing

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15

in the field or for seed-spot planting. Next year the red spruce
will bear cones, and the seed gathering that season will be directed
to that important species.

ST. Louis EXPOSITION.

An exhibit was made by this Commission at the Louisiana Pur-
chase Exposition, held at St. Louis, Mo., during the past year.
The exhibit was made, as I understand it, in compliance with an
urgent invitation from the State Board of Commissioners for the
fair, who generously set apart out of their appropriation the sum
of |18,000 for this purpose.

The work of collecting and preparing articles suitable for a
display was commenced in January, and on May 1st, the opening
day of the exposition, the exhibit was completely installed and
ready for the inspection of visitors. The collection was placed
in charge of Mr. A. B. Strough, of this department, who went
to St. Louis in April, and attended to the unpacking and arrange-
ment of the various articles. He remained there during the entire
time, and supervised the boxing and shipment of the goods in
December. Much of the success of the exhibit is due to his intelli-
gent management and diligent attention to every detail con-
nected with its installation. The fair closed December 1st, after
which the greater part of the material was shipped to Portland,
Oregon, where it will be placed on exhibition at the Lewis and
Clark Exposition in 1905.

Each department of the New York Forest, Fish and Game Com-
mission was represented in its exhibit at St. Louis. That of the
Forestry Department was as follows:

1. Native woods of New York, embracing all of the 91 species
of trees indigenous to the State,* two specimens of each, showing

* Specimens of nine introduced species were also shown in this collection

16

on different sides a rough, planed, oiled, and varnished surface,
each specimen having a printed label showing both the common
and the botanical name.

2. Large photographs — 18x24 inches — of each tree, with two
views of each species, one showing the tree in full leaf, the other
showing the same tree when leafless, thus affording an oppor-
tunity for studying its habit and the arrangement of limbs. At-
tached to each photograph were specimens of leaf, flower, and
fruit.

3. Entomological Exhibit. A large table with glass show cases
containing a collection of insects injurious to forest trees,
mounted so as to show the insect at work on leaves or wood.
Prepared expressly for this exhibit by Prof. E. P. Felt, State
Entomologist.

4. Large thick " sheets " of wood pulp, ready for a paper mill,
made from different species of tr"ees, the products of both chem-
ical and mechanical mills; also, utensils of various kinds, pails,
tubs, etc., made of wood pulp or indurated fibre.

5. Complete collection of forest by-products, shown in glass
jars of uniform size arranged on a stand with circular shelves;
28 different kinds, — wood alcohol, acetic acids, acetates of lime,
tannic acids, dry pulp, lamp-black, spruce gum, maple sugar, etc.

6. Complete collection of tree seeds from species indigenous to
New York, shown in glass jars of uniform size arranged on a
stand with circular shelves.

7. Scientific instruments and tools used in forestry work and
in lumbering operations.

8. Sections of white pine and red spruce showing by the annular
rings the maximum rate of growth.

9. Photographs of forest scenery ; also, of hotels in the Adiron-

17

dack and Catskill regions indicating the summer hotel business
in these forests.

10. A small forest tree nursery located outside the Forestry
Building, near its principal entrance, in which was shown the
process of raising trees from seed, transplanting the seedlings
into nursery beds, and thence into a miniature plantation. Young
plants of the principal species raised in forest tree nurseries,
coniferous and broadleaved, were exhibited in seed-beds; also,
in beds of four-year old transplants, and in a plantation of six-year
old trees set out at spaces five feet apart. The germination in
the seed beds was very satisfactory, the seeds having been
planted early in the spring, before the Exposition opened. The
seedlings and transplants maintained a thrifty condition, and
made the usual growth during the summer. This nursery exhibit,
under the management of Forester Knechtel, was a gratifying
success, attracting the favorable attention of the foresters, nurs-
erymen, and botanists who visited it in large numbers. At the
close of the exposition the plants were taken up and shipped
to the Saranac Nursery.

The Fish and Game Department of the Commission was repre-
sented by a collection of mounted specimens showing the fur, fin
and feather of New York. The display of mounted fish, including
all the species found in the waters of this State, and made under
the direction of Mr. John D. Whish, Secretary of the Commission,
was shown in twelve cabinets constructed for this purpose. The
specimens of animals and birds collected by Mr. Strough and
arranged attractively by a taxidermist, were exhibited by placing
the small birds in cabinets and the large ones on trees, while the
larger animals — bear, wolf, panther, deer, fox, otter, beaver, etc. —
were placed in suitable positions at convenient points within the

18

enclosure. The mounted wolf was the last of its species in New
York, and the same is probably true of the panther shown in this
collection. An attractive feature of the fish and game exhibit
was a typical hunter's cabin of the better class, built of logs with
a roof of spruce bark. This building was erected first in the
Adirondacks at Big Moose, after which it was taken down, the
logs numbered, and shipped to St. Louis, together with the rustic
fence of white cedar which enclosed the space allotted to the
Commission. The furniture in the cabin, including a bed and
lounge, was of a handsome and appropriate design, made in the
Adirondacks by an expert in that class of work. The floor was
covered with rugs of various furs, and the walls, decorated with
gay-colored blankets and hunting trophies, were also hung with
gun racks, fishing tackle, paddles, smokers' materials, and many
articles that would attract the eye of a sportsman. Outside the
cabin lay a fine specimen of an Adirondack guide boat, with its
cane-bottomed seats, oars, and paddle. This cabin made a con-
venient office for the official in charge of the New York exhibit,
and the seats on the porch were occupied continually by tired but
admiring visitors.

The Shell Fish Department, through its superintendent, Mr. B.
F. Wood, displayed in cabinets an interesting and instructive col-
lection of various mollusks found in the marine waters of the
State, and the parasitic enemies that prey upon them. This
exhibit served to call attention to the great business interests
dependent on the oyster fisheries in New York waters, and the
connection of the Commission with this industry.

In planning the forestry exhibit, the intention was to make it
instructive rather than spectacular. It was gratifying to note
the interest which some of the foreign exhibitors took in the ex-

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19

haustive collection of native woods, some of them, noticeably the
Japanese -and Germans, evincing their appreciation by copying
the printed labels on the 100 species. A foreign entomologist
spent the best part of several days in studying the large collection
of insects injurious to forest trees, during which he, also, copied
all the labels and printed explanations found there. The forester
in charge of the out-door nursery was in frequent demand by
visitors who wanted detailed information in regard to the tech-
nique of the silvicultural work displayed in that enclosure.

In recognition of the attractive and comprehensive character of
the entire exhibit the Jury of Awards granted three grand prizes,
three gold medals, and four silver medals. The superintendent of
forests was awarded a gold medal as collaborator, and the gen-
tlemen who assisted in the preparation of the collection received
a silver medal each.

ANNUAL LUMBER PRODUCTION.

Although the cutting of timber on the Forest Preserve is pro-
hibited by law, lumbering operations on private lands is carried
on throughout the Adirondack wilderness, and on a scale more
extensive than ever before. In order that there may be a better
understanding as to forestry conditions in this State, and the
extent to which its timber resources are annually decreasing, the
law requires that the annual report of the Commission shall con-
tain a statement showing the amount of timber cut the previous
year in the Adirondack and Catskill forests for all purposes
except fuel.

There are 491 firms or individuals engaged in manufacturing
lumber, pulp, excelsior, staves, heading, wood acid, shoe lasts,
furniture, etc., that obtain their stock of raw material from the
Adirondack and Catskill forests. It does not seem necessary

20

to publish here the lengthy tabulations showing the detailed re-
turns made to this department by the various manufacturers, as
a statement of the aggregate amount of each species consumed
will probably suffice. A consolidation of the figures as reported
from the office books of each firm or individual gives this result :
ADIRONDACK FORESTS.

Ft. B. M.

Spruce, for lumber 159,764,700

Hemlock, for lumber 53,384,050

White Pine, for lumber 28,906,000

Hardwoods, for lumber 47,412,090

Pulpwood, 481,876 cords 289,125,600

578,592,440

Pieces.

Shingles 31,516,450

Lath 52,659,692

CATSKILL FORESTS.

Ft. B. M.

Spruce, for lumber 1,451,910

Hemlock, for lumber 15,732,340

White Pine, for lumber 7,669,400

Hardwoods, for lumber 21,273,750

46,127,400
Woods used for:

Wood acid 106,648 cords

Excelsior 3,116 cords

Wood pulp 7,100 cords

Fuel in brick kilns. 6,914 cords

123,778 cords 74,266,800
Furniture 301,120

120,695,320

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21

Pieces.

Shingles 10,259,660

Lath , 5,261,000

Eailroad ties 26,040

Heading 5,946,800

Summary.

Adirondack forests 578,592,440

Catskill forests 120,695,320

699,287,760
The output of the principal lumber firms was as follows :

Ft. B. M.

Finch, Pruyn & Co., Glens Falls, N. Y 22,635,000

Norwood Mfg. Co., Tupper Lake, N. Y 18,401,450

A. Sherman Lumber Co., Tupper Lake, N. Y 13,694,000

Moose River Lumber Co., McKeever, N. Y 13,541,000

•Brooklyn Cooperage Co., Tupper Lake, N. Y 14,150,000

The amount consumed by the principal pulp mills was:

Cords. Ft B. M.

International Paper Co 127,307 76,384,200

Hinckley Fibre Co 35,000 21,000,000

St. Regis Paper Co 29,128 17,476,800

J. & J. Rogers Co 26,107 15,664,200

Union Bag & Paper Co 26,000 15,600,000

The reports from the pulp mills were confined to the consump-
tion of wood taken from the Adirondack forests, and do not
include stock shipped to the mills from Canada. The large

amount returned by the International Paper Company represents

f
the combined consumption of eleven mills, viz. :

*A11 hardwoods.

22

Mill.

No. 1 Glens Falls..,

No. 2 Fort Edward.,

No. 3 Palmer Falls..

No. 6 Niagara Falls ,

No. 14 Lake George . ,

No. 16 Ontario

No. 17 Piercefield

No. 21 Lyon Falls. . . .

No. 22 Cadyville ....

No. 29 Watertown .. .

No. 31., ..Woods Falls..

Cords.

15,770

11,815

11,608

69

1,933
4,949
15,603
10,718
25,545
15,263
14,034

127,307

On a basis of 600 feet to the cord this would be equivalent to
76,384,200 feet, B. M.

Of the 289,125,600 feet consumed in the manufacture of wood
pulp, about four-fifths was spruce, the remainder consisting of
balsam, hemlock, pine, and poplar. It is impossible to state the
exact proportion of spruce, because many of the mills were unable
to classify their returns in this respect.

From the previous statements of forest production in the
Adirondacks as published annually in my reports, it will be seen
that the consumption of wood for pulp has increased from 51,966,-
262 feet, in 1890, to 289,125,600 feet, in 1904; and the hardwood
output, from 5,835,844 feet, in 1890, to 47,412,090 feet, in 1904.
To the person who is interested in studying the forestry problem
in this State, these figures are full of meaning.

The large output for 1904 was due in a considerable degree to
the forest fires of the previous year which killed the timber on

23

large areas without injuring it materially. This dead timber, if
cut within a year, was available for both lumber and wood pulp.
If allowed to stand the spruce would deteriorate the second year,
and become worthless in three years. In order to save this timber,
and that of other species, the owners cut what they could this
last season. Fortunately, there was a good market and a brisk
demand for all the lumber and pulpwood that was produced, and
hence the loss by the great fire of 1903 was correspondingly de-
creased.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

It is proposed to amend the forestry clause in the State Con-
stitution so as to provide thereby that lands in the Forest Pre-
serve which are situated outside the boundaries of the Adirondack
and Catskill Parks may be sold and the proceeds applied to the
purchase of lands within the parks. This amendment has already
passed the Legislature at its last session, and must be passed
again by the new Legislature this coming winter, after which it
must be submitted to the people at the next election when, if
voted on favorably, it will become a law.

In order that the question may be discussed intelligently some
information seems necessary as to the extent and character of
these outlying lands. To this end I would respectfully submit
here some statistics relating to these important points. A careful
compilation from the printed volume containing the official list of
lands in the Forest Preserve, lot by lot, shows that there are
1,037 parcels or lots situated outside the two parks, and that
their combined acreage, by counties, is as follows:

Clinton county ....

24
ADIRONDACK COUNTIES.

ACRES.

21,289

Essex county

10,652

Franklin county . .

15,172

Fulton county ....

23,484

Herkimer county . .

6,594

Lewis county

4,531

Oneida county

6,651

St. Lawrence county
Saratoga county . . .

3,919

9,472

Warren county ....

16,316

Washington county

2,144

120,224
State Prison Tract:
Clinton county . 14247

v

Delaware county . .

mf^71

CATSKILL COUNTIES.
6,735

Greene county ....

171

Sullivan county . . .

772

Ulster cotfnty

2,349

Total .

10 0°7

144.598

1 1

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25

From an examination made by our foresters these lands have
been classified as follows:

ADIRONDACK LANDS.

ACRES.

Virgin forest 17,966

Lumbered forest 45,424

Second-growth forest 18,932

Waste 7,258

Denuded 13,584

Burned 13,708

Wild meadows 540

Water surfaces 1,064

Improved land 1,748

120,224

CATSKILL LANDS.

Forest 1,961

Lumbered 4,144

Waste land 2,699

Denuded 322

Burned 386

Cleared 264

Improved 251

10,027

The terms used in the Adirondack classification mean, that
Virgin Forest consists of the primitive growth in which no timber
cutting or lumbering has been done; Lumbered Forest is one in
which the lumbermen have removed the softwoods down to ten
inches diameter on the stump, leaving the land under a forest
cover to hardwoods and small evergreens;* Second-growth Forest
stands for tracts that were cut, burned, or cleared many years
ago, since which the land has reforested itself with trees 25 to

*On private lands the lumbermen now take the smaller softwoods also,
cutting down to a diameter of six inches or less.

26

40 feet high; Waste land means tracts covered with a scrubby
growth of dwarfed trees, bushes, and briers; Denuded land con-
sists for the most part of abandoned clearings, or of areas cov-
ered with ferns, huckleberry bushes, or other small growth ; Wild
Meadows are clearings on which wild hay is cut each year and
includes beaver meadows ; Improved land is a term used by asses-
sors to denote farms or fields on which crops are raised, or have
been recently cultivated.

Most of the lots are in scattered situations, a long distance
from the park, and cannot be properly watched or cared for with-
out going to considerable expense. If these outlying lands could
be sold the proceeds would purchase an equal, or greater acreage
within the park, where the holdings wrould be better located,
would help to consolidate tracts already owned by the State, and
would be better adapted to forestry purposes. The timber lots,
though widely scattered, and small in area, would, when duly
advertised, bring large prices on account of their accessibility;
and even the denuded and burned tracts could be sold at fair
prkes for farming purposes. In short, it is better to transfer
this acreage to territory within the parks.

ADIRONDACK MAP.

Your attention is respectfully called to the need of another
edition of the Adirondack map, for which there has been a large
and constant demand since its first issue fifteen years ago.

This map is indispensable in the work of the Forestry Depart-
ment, as it is the only one showing the landed allotment of
that entire region. The foresters and firewardens find it con-
venient, in fact absolutely necessary, in locating the State lots
and acquiring a knowledge of their boundaries in order to protect

27 . ,

and manage these forests properly; and, without its aid, the
Purchasing Board would find no small difficulty in transacting
the business incidental to buying lands.

The map now in use answered its purpose very well at the
time of its first issue, because at that time there was no map
of the entire region except the small pocket editions printed by
various persons for the use of tourists. It was made, under
great disadvantages, by compiling the maps of the various town-
ships which had been made by the old surveyors, some of them
by Jessup, Richards, and others, over a hundred years ago. These
maps, old or new, were drawn to a different scale for the most
part, and had to be reduced to a uniform scale before they could
be united in one sheet. The originals were replete with topograph-
ical errors, as the surveyors in many instances merely ran out the
boundaries of the townships, which are about G1/^ miles square,*
after which they entered on their map the position of the lakes,
streams, and roads as best they could, generally by guesswork
or hearsay. In only a few instances are our original township
maps correct in their topography. Still we availed ourselves of
the information found in the partial and incomplete sheets known
as the Butler Map (1879), the Jones Map (1851), Burr's Atlas, a
collection of county maps made in 1823, and other similar sources.
Utilizing this data a map was constructed which despite its inac-
curacies has answered its purpose very well up to the present.

Since then, however, through the excellent and accurate work
done by the United States Geological Survey, we have come into
pos'session of a large amount of valuable data relating to the

* The townships in the Totten & Crossfield Purchase, 50 in number, are
mostly 6 by GI^ miles; the townships in the Macomb Tract are somewhat
larger; and in the Old Military Tract they are from eight to ten miles
square.

28

topography of the Adirondacks, which is available for a new
map. I would therefore respectfully recommend that our present
sheet be discarded and that a new map of the Adirondack' region
be made in which can be incorporated the valuable data con-
tained in the sheets of the recent Geological Survey. To this
end I would suggest that the Commission ask the Legislature to
appropriate at its next session the sum of $900, or so much as may
be necessary, to pay a competent draughtsman to make a new map
to be used by the engraver before printing the next edition.

In answer it may be pointed out that the Geological Survey
has not yet completed all of its Adirondack sheets. But this
need not necessarily delay the issue of our new map. The
triangulation of the unsurveyed squares has been made, and this
will enable us to block out our map in squares that will be geo-
graphically correct. Having done this we can fill in the topography
from the sheets of the Geological Survey so far as completed.
The remaining squares can be filled in from such data as we have,
which can be corrected if necessary from time to time in later
editions from the sheets subsequently furnished by the Survey.

With a map thus constructed we can overlay it with the lines
of the landed allotment, and the different lots or parcels can be
accurately located by noting on the ground where the blazed lines
and corners coincide with topographical points, thus "tieing up"
our allotment to the distinguishing features shown on the United
States maps. Having done this a forester, map in hand, can go
direct and without loss of time to the corner of any lot or town-
ship on which the blazed lines or boundary marks have not been
obliterated. WILLIAM F. FOX,

Superintendent of State Forests.

Albany, New York, December 31, 1904.

Tree Nurseries in

New York State

By JAMES S. WHIPPLE

Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner of New York

Reprinted from

The Southern Lumberman, August 13, 191O

Nashville, Tennessee

Tree Nurseries in New York State

IT is probable that the forest was the first nat-
ural resource about which mankind acquired an
elementary knowledge. It was his earliest
home, and on account of this close relationship
he became more or less familiar with its various
functions and natural benefits, as applied to hu-
man existence. It furnished him his shelter, his
many utensils and weapons, and, to a large de-
gree, his food. The Greeks possessed some
knowledge regarding the necessity for the preser-
vation of the forests three hundred years before
the Christian era. We find the Romans prohibited
the destruction of forest trees, by law, in certain
sections of their possessions. In 213 B. C. Cato
wrote one h'undred and sixty-two chapters on for-
estry, and at that time tree nursery work (sow-
ing and planting, as well as grafting) was more
or less intelligently understood. Marcus Varro
(116 B. C.) knew a great deal about nursery man-
agement and he wrote with minute detail relative
to the advantage of transplants and of what he
called "double transplant material." The question
whether to plant or sow was much discussed. It
is very likely the silviculture knowledge or prac-
tice, found among the German tribes who mingled
with the Romans in their civilized surroundings
during the fourth century emanated directly from
the writings and teachings that had been handed
down in Roman literature.

Superstitions in Early Ages.

Naturally, there were misapprehensions and su-
perstitions given current credence concerning' tree
planting in the early ages. The work has passed
through many stages of evolution, and to-day has
reached a fair degree of perfection; but silviculture
can never become an exact science because of
the varying conditions in different localities, in
soil, climate, seasons and organic characteristics
of the flora. All the information we have is of
an empirical nature. With a few general principles
to begin with, each state or locality has to work
out the problems as they arise. In America we
have hardly passed the experimental stage.

The history of tree nurseries in New York state
is contemporary with the last decade. They were
brought into being through the recent awakening
in the public mind of the necessity for the con-
servation of our forests. This state, and in fact
the United States, up until 1898, had made no
permanent beginning in the successful propagation
of our native trees, although appeal after appeal
was made to the public conscience. We had been
blessed with a vast wealth of timbered land,, the
product of centuries, and the necessity for restora-
tive measures has only recently appeared; that is.
actual privation. Foreign countries have passed
through a more or less extensive experience in
raising trees from seeds. Switzerland to-day, for
instance, has 781 acres of land set aside as tree
nurseries, the total product of which annually
amounts to about 25,000,000 trees. Germany ex-
pends something like $4,000,000 annually for tree
planting.

Before a commercial tree can be produced a pe-
riod of years, ranging from fifteen to fifty, accord-

ring to species, must elapse. Hence, the time for
a reproductive forestry movement arrives long be-
fore the actual necessity for reforestation is mani-
fest. We should have learned this from lessons
taught by the old world, but we were busy with an
avaricious procrastination, which has approximated
criminality.. We should have begun planting in
New York state thirty years ago, and to offset the
consumption and destruction of our forest lands
we ought now to set out annually 40,000,000 trees
instead of the 2,400,0(K) we are planting. The
quantity of forest growth should be kept normal,
otherwise extreme conditions in wood values, in
variations of stream flow and purity of water, in
the supply of fish and game and the general pros-
perity of our country must prevail. Tree nur-
series and tree planting, to a large degree, except
in the case of afforestation, are the results of
forest mismanagement, inasmuch as they are
thereby made necessary.

The general ideas involved in forestry problems
are well known. There are two phases — the one
which is concerned with bringing about a more
rational management of existing natural forests
and the other which contemplates the need of arti-
ficial forests. With the first part of the prob-
lem, the application of forestry or forest manage-
ment to the virgin woodland, tree nurseries have
a direct relationship. The tree nursery problem
and the creation of new forests usually succeed.
Efforts directed toward better management of ex-
isting timberland. Forestry begins with econom-
ical utilization of natural woods growth, and then,
as necessity requires, the recuperation by artificial
planting follows.

In this country public forests under proper man-
agement do not exist in the fullest sense of the
term. Except for a few sporadic efforts in the
west, wherever planting has been carried on, up
to within a few years, it was done on an infinitesi-
mal scale by private nurserymen for private inter-
ests; but there is a greater interest involved in
reforestation, represented by the public welfare.
It is seldom that the denudation of a water shed
affects a single private interest as it does the mul-
titudinous needs of a great commonwealth like the
state of New York. The ultimate object of the
reforestation is usually timber production, but the
state demands a forest for reasons that transcend
commercial values. A forest is essential to the
protection of fish and game, the regulation of
stream flow, and the preservation of the wild
scenery and health resorts of the state. We are
cutting from New York state about 1,400,000,000
board feet yearly. This does not include the large
amount of timber destroyed by conflagrations, and
the only way in which this annual loss can be
met is by replanting the lands thus denuded.

Much Study Necessary.

There is a vast amount of study and careful
observation necessary in the best conduct of tree
nurseries. The man who manages a tree garden
must have some knowledge of the way forestry,
as a science, utilizes different trees, so as to pro-
duce results in the most economical manner. Na-

ture must receive assistance, must be supple-
mented by human instrumentalities in order to
produce the best wood products in the cheapest
manner and the shortest time. Proper species
must be selected, and this is often determined only
by a long series of experiments and observations.
Soil and climate conditions, as well as locality,
must also be studied to obtain a yield of the most
desirable wood crop. Light and shade is another

the first to be exclusively owned and controlled by
the State, were planned. One consisted of four
acres located in Ulster County, south of Brown's
Station on the Ulster and Delaware R. R.; the oth-
er was located in the Adirondacks near Saranac
Inn Station. The Catskill nursery was designed
to propagate hardwood species principally. This
pioneer nursery, however, was not advisedly lo-
cated. The site was unfavorable on account of

Tree Nursery at Lake Clear, N. Y., showing boxes and beds with 2,500,000 seedlings, one year old.

important factor in the success of growing young
trees.

With the establishment of the Forest Commis-
sion in 1885 activity by the state of New York
in forestry matters received its first practical im-
petus. The law itself contemplated not only the
preservation of grown timber but the planting and
raising of young trees. There were, however, so
many matters of importance concerning our wood-
lands, more tangible and better appreciated at that
time than the propagation of trees,, that this
branch of forestry was entirely neglected until
thirteen years later.

The reports of the Superintendent of Forests in
1898 contained the first recommendation for the
reforestation of denuded land, but it was not until
1901 that any reforesting work was done. The
first nursery with which the state had any connec-
tion was provided by Chapter 122, Laws of 1898.
This act established the College of Forestry of
Cornell University, and it authorized it to plant,
raise, cut and sell timber. It was under this act
that the nursery at Axton and the one at Wau-
beek were established in 1899. They were located
on the 30,000-acre tract in Franklin County set
aside by the legislature for the purpose of teach-
ing and demonstrating practical forest manage-
ment. This was the 'beginning of the first endur-
ing movement in tree propagation in this country.
The state obtained trees from the Axton nursery
to carry on its earliest reforesting work hi 1901.
That year the Assistant Superintendent of For-
ests, accompanied by Foresters Bryant and Knech-
tel, with a representative of the New York State
College of Forestry, made a plantation in the
Catskills; the trees were donated, there being no
available appropriation. The work was done early
\n May at times when the men could be spared
From their regular duties. This planting was lo-
cated on what is known as Simpson's Plateau, a
spur of the Wittenburg Mountains.

First Nurseries Owned by State.

Denudation was progressing rapidly, and the ne-
cessity for immediate planting on an extensive
scale became so urgent that in 1901 two nurseries,

its being on a side hill and the gravelly condition
of the soil made its operation difficult and expen-
sive. It was abandoned with the idea of selecting
a more adaptable place somewhere in the fertile
bottom land of the Bsopus Valley. The commis-
sion, however, has been unsuccessful in obtaining
sufficient funds to re-establish a tree nursery ill
the Catskills, although there is great need for one
in that locality.

The first nursery permanently established by the
state was the Saranac Inn nursery in the heart of
the Adirondacks. It comprised about two and one-
half acres. The work has been attended with
highly satisfactory results, and its present condi-
tion is all that any forester could desire. The
beds are in most excellent shape, and show a
maximum density of growth. The transplant beds
are filled with a fine, thrifty stock. This nursery
has a complete system of water pipes and hy-
drants for sprinkling plants in times of drought.
The supply is obtained from a tank kept full by
an automatic hydraulic ram placed in the outlet of
Little Clear Pond, not far removed from the
nursery. There is also located on the site a tool
house and the forester's office. This parcel oi
ground was selected because of the transportation
facilities afforded by the Mohawk and Malone R
R. station, only a few rods distant. The site is in
the center of a large area of waste land which is
now in the process of reforestation. Soil here it
very sandy, therefore favorable for the growth oi
pine trees; it lacked, however, the fertility re
quired for general nursery purposes, and a large
amount of fertilizer had to be supplied. The ques
tion of fertilizers is tangled in the technical laby
rinths of scientific terms, and would not mak(
interesting reading for the general public.

A great many experiments have been tried anc
advanced ideas as well as beneficial results ob
tained. Our researches have led to discoveries o
incalculable benefit to the art of tree raising, anc
have been adopted by all forestry schools in this
country. From the time when frosts, grass-hop
pers, birds and squirrels depleted the first seec
beds at Axton and almost baffled the foresters
initial attempts at tree propagation, down to 1910

methods of operating tree nurseries have been
revolutionized. Every deleterious pest has been
energetically abated and every devastating dis-
ease successfully combatted until our tree nur-
series now prosper practically without loss

)06 an arrangement was made between the
U. S. Forest iService at Washington, D. C., and the
Forest, Fish and Game Commission of New York
for the establishment and maintenance of a co-
operative nursery, one-half the expense to be borne
by the federal government. A site of two acres
was accordingly selected on a small plateau just
east of the Saranac state nursery. The area was
increased in 1907 to four and two-tenths acres.
This was in close proximity to the tree garden
already established, and therefore could be econom-
ically handled. This co-operative nursery was in-
tended for experimental work. The U. S. Forest
Service sent several installments of trees, which
contained among other species the incense cedar
California white fir, European larch, Douglas
spruce, and pines known as the Jeffrey, Austrian
and sugar pine. Much of the sowing was done
broadcast. Norway pine and Scotch pine were
sown in drills four inches apart to test some ques-
tions as to the best way of making a seed bed. Ex-
periments were conducted to ascertain the proper
density of seedlings. A portion of the area of this
nursery was devoted to transplant beds.

Wawbeek and Axton nurseries came under di-
rect state administration after the 'Cornell College
of Forestry disbanded on account of financial diffi-
culties in 1903. The reason for which these nur-
series was originally designed had been removed;
they were allowed to lie idle for three years, and
then the state cleaned them up, saving and remov-
ing the stock. The Axton nursery was so far re-
moved from denuded areas which might be refor-
ested that an expensive cartage charge was neces-
sitated in case any use was made of the trees.
It was, therefore, abandoned in 1908. Wawbeek
was also abandoned for much the same reason in

the writer) of a law which enabled the commis-
sion to establish additional tree gardens for the
purpose of furnishing citizens of the state with
trees at cost, such trees to be planted under direc-
tions and regulations of the Forest, Fish and Game
Commission. Under this law 28,000 trees were
sold to a few citizens the same year the statute
became operative, the next year, 1909, 1,200,000,
and in 1910, 2,400,000; thus an important move-
ment was set on foot, which will eventually in-
crease our forest acreage and transform large
tracts of idle, undeveloped, unprofitable land into
valuable timber property. Many have taken ad-
vantage of this opportunity to reforest waste farm
land; some with the idea of adding to the aesthetic
values of their possessions, and others looking to
the more material benefits, such as conserving the
regularity of stream flow and the production of
merchantable timber.

In June, 1908, a new nursery was erected at
Salamanca, N. Y. A tract of land containing five
and one-tenth acres was purchased and subse-
quently increased to eleven and one-tenth acres
The soil here is naturally adapted to tree propaga-
tion, specially white pine. The valley along the
Alleghany River at Salamanca was originally cov-
ered with a magnificent pine and hemlock forest.
The soil is a sandy loam with good gravel drain-
age underneath.

It might be well to describe in part this nur-
sery, as it represents the culmination of our ex-
perience in the work in 'New York. A wire fence
forty-six inches high, fastened on seasoned chest-
nut posts placed one rod apart surrounds the lot.
Over the fence is placed a barbed wire. The wire
meshes are closely woven at the bottom to prevent
fowls and animals gaining an entrance to the
grounds. Trees of various species, which in their
mature growth present an ornamental effect, are
placed along the line of the fence about five _feet
apart, to form a wind-break and afford general
protection to the nursery. Two large iron gates

Tree Nursery at Salamanca, N. Y. — Three Years Old.

the spring of 1909. Besides, the soil there was
not at all satisfactory, it being too heavy and
damp. Another and more appropriate site with
an area of ten and one-quarter acres was selected
for a rearing ground at Lake Clear. Soil condi-
tions were favorable, and it was close to the nur-
series at Saranac Inn, which permitted the work-
ing out of an economy in administrative expense.

Furnishing Trees to Citizens at Cost.

A new departure was made in forestry matters
in 1908 by the promulgation (at the suggestion of

open into the enclosure, one is wide enough to
admit teams and the other is used for pedestrians.
Irrigation equipment consists of a two-inch pipe
line running through the middle of the tract, from
which one inch laterals extend in opposite direc-
tions on either side of the main at intervals o»
forty feet; vents are located every forty-two feet
along these lateral pipes, which permit of a thor-
ough sprinkling of the entire area. A six-thousand-
gallon galvanized tank, elevated on an iron tower
twenty-seven feet high is used for storing water
and provides an excellent pressure. Water is

pumped into this tank by a one-half horsepower
gasoline engine from a well thirty-two feet deep.
A neat office and storage room sixteen by thirty-
two feet and eight feet high stands near the en-
trance to the ground. This building is erected over
the well so the engine occupies a. corner of the
storage room. A seed room and a dark room for
the development of photographs, besides a tool
room, occupy the remainder of the floor space.

European Methods Closely Followed.

The methods employed in Europe in relation to
the arrangement of beds and paths have been
quite closely followed. This nursery, when seen
in the spring — its tine bed plots arranged with
mathematical precision, clustered full of seedling
trees, their deep, rich green set off 'by the clean
dirt paths — reminds one of a beautiful carpet of
baize, gold and emerald, figured in squares. This
makes four first-class nurseries with a combined
area of about thirty acres operated by the state,

will produce about 10,000 seedlings per bed. A
box around each bed is constructed by making the
framework nine inches in height, covered by wire
screen, of three-quarter inch mesh. A shade frame
must be constructed for each bed to help equalize
the shade and light, and reproduce the effects of
natural forest conditions as closely as possible.
The beds extend east and west so the angle of
sunlight, in its daily course, will strike through
the lath shade box giving an equality of moving
shadow and sunshine over the entire bed surface.

Gather Native Trees.

When possible, we gather our own seed from
native trees. The best results have been obtained
by using such material, a product of the same
soil, light and climatic conditions prevailing where
the prospective trees are to be grown. We have
not always been successful in collecting seed, cer-
tain seasons being almost barren of yield. A white'
pine cone needs two years in which to mature.

Co-operative Experimental Station at Saranac Inn, N. Y.

the total annual product of which is worth at
market prices $10,000.

Experience has shown that it is better to re-
forest with three-year-old transplants than four-
year-old. They are handled with greater facility.
The rapidity of nursery output is increased just
so much, and the tree itself is much more liable to
escape injury when being taken from the beds
and replanted, because of the smaller development
Qf the root. In 1907 an interesting experiment was
conducted in relation to the rearing of transplants.
A large number of one-year-old seedlings were
pulled up and replanted. When these were three
years old a comparison was made with those left
in the seed beds two years before being trans-
planted. The trees transferred when one year
old in all cases grew to be the sturdiest and lar-
gest. Some attained four times the size of the
others, and the root systems showed a development
on a still larger scale — an important factor in the
growth of a tree.

Seed beds are usually twelve feet 'by four, and

They must be collected at the right time, as the
squirrels and birds are liable to strip the trees of
all cones, and the seeds should be neither green
nor over-ripe. There are about 29,500 seeds in a
bushel of white pine cones, which will weigh, when
clean, one pound. The work of preparing sound
seed for use must be performed carefully and re-
quires the closest attention, especially in the cur-
ing process.

There is an immense amount of work about a
tree nursery. The services of a foreman and a
hundred hands are required in certain seasons.
Transplanting and weeding necessitates consider-
able slow, careful labor. Seedlings must be kept
in a healthy condition. The delicate trees must
be closely observed to prevt-nt what is known as
"damping-off." This destructive influence is prob-
ably brought about by a too moist and unsterilized
soil. The stock must be protected from the in-
roads of all fungus, insects and rodents. It must
not be permitted to freeze in winter when the
snow is too light to cover the tree tops. The soil

Nursery at Saranac, which was the first permanently established in New York State.

should be free from weeds and rocks and the
ground must be well fertilized to obtain the best
productivity.

Many interesting discoveries have been made in
connection with researches and observations of the
deleterious pests frequently found in tree gardens.
Forester Woodruff submitted a report on the larvae
of the June bug or May beetle which has attracted
considerable attention. He states that in 1907 the
tree nurseries at Wawbeek and Saranac Inn sta-
tion were infested by an insect never before ob-
served in forest tree nurseries. The one and two-
year-old white and Scotch pine seedlings appeared
to be dying. It was found that each plant had
been cut off from one-quarter to one-half inch
below the surface of the ground, and that their
roots had completely disappeared. On digging
into the ground a white grub an inch and a half
long and as thick as a man's finger was found.
It was sometimes caught in the act of eating roots
of living seedlings immediately adjoining those
lately destroyed. In the fall their depredations be-
came less apparent, and ceased entirely during the
last week of September. This was probably due to
the fact that the grub burrowed deeper into the
ground to pass the winter in a torpid state.

A single grub would destroy four trees in twenty-
four hours. After devouring the roots they some-
times feed on the tender stems of the young seed-
lings, drawing them down below the surface until
the leaves were level with the ground.

Because of the hidden, subterranean life of the
larvae, its history is imperfectly known. Reliable
observations are almost wholly wanting. The fe-
male of the adult beetle, soon after pairing in
June, creeps into the ground and deposits her eggs
one at a time. These hatch in the course of a
month, and the grubs growing slowly do not attain
full size until the early summer of the third year.
During the summer months they feed near the sur-
face of the soil, but with the approach of winter
descend to a depth of about two feet as protection
against the cold. In June or July of the third
year they construct an ovoid chamber, and within
this begin to change to the beetle. They remain
under ground in this state until the following
spring, when they emerge in large swarms to be-
gin the reproduction of their species.

Out of many suggestions as to how to prevent
the depredations of this pest, and to destroy it,
the most feasible was the employment of trap lan-
terns. These traps are ordinarily kerosene Ian-

Another Section of Lake Clear Nursery Showing Transplants, two and a half years old.

7

terns placed around the nursery in large tin trays,
each containing kerosene to the depth of about an
inch. The majority of the beetles will fly into this
decoy and be captured before they have oppor-
tunity to deposit eggs. Another method of ridding
tree roots of the grub has been discovered by wet-
ting the ground. They either die or abandon a
damp soil. Notable work has been done anent the
destruction of fungus growths and insects. Fungus
is destroyed by sterilizing the soil and sprinkJi
the" trees with dry powder. Rodents and insects
are disposed of by spreading poison mixed with
grain aud the use of poisoned emulsions.

Required Enthusiastic Devotion.

It has required enthusiastic devotion to bring our
nurseries and general forestry management to its
present high efficiency. The state of New York
leads all others in this country in its tree -propa-
gation and planting operations. Public demand
had to be created, however, before this result could
be brought about. Our tree gardens have gradual-
ly expanded under the efficient supervision of
Forester C. R. Pettis since 1901, when there was
not one foot of ground devoted to the purpose. We
now have about thirty acres teeming with young
trees, but it is only a beginning. Our necessities
require two hundred acres. The demand from
private owners can only be fractionally satisfied.
Applications were received this year for five mil-
lion trees.. In addition to this growing demand
comes the need for reforestation of waste land
owned by the state, which this year must be almost
entirely neglected in deference to private planting.
This policy encourages tree growing and engen-
ders a favorable public sentiment on all forestry
matters by placing a tangible example within the
observation of the individual citizen. Certain
schools are setting out trees in large numbers.

On Arbor Day, in the city of Elmira N Y the
children of the public schools planted 5 000 trees
The boys of Glens Falls, N. Y., have formed a Con-
servation League and planted two thousand trees
on Arbor Day. This is the first movement of the
kind and is a matter of practical instruction to
those who are to be the protectors of our forests
in the future. Some of the large lumber concerns
have already established nurseries, from which
they expect to replenish and perpetuate the yield
of their cut-over timberlands. Many town and city
municipalities are reforesting watersheds from
which their water supply is obtained. One of the
largest spring water concerns has also planted
trees to maintain the regularity and quality of
their supply. This movement has taken hold of
the best intelligence of our Commonwealth. Of
course those who are directly interested in a busi-
ness way have been the first to respond to the
sense of the forestry situation in this state.

Each state should carry on planting operations
as rapidly as the forest is being devastated. Rep-
aration ought to be made for constant destruction.
If reforestation is not conducted on this basis we
must continue steadily towards total depletion. Be-
sides the current annual consumption of trees
there is in this state in the aggregate a vast tract
of land bereft of its forest growth in past years
which is ever manifesting itself by floods in spring
and dry creeks and river beds in summer, low
water levels in our lakes, scarcity of fish and
game, high prices for lumber, ruined recreative
and health resorts. Therefore, comprehensive
planting, in addition to that done to make up for
current denudation, should offset these old inroads
upon our forest preserve, and it would seem that
the intelligence of our people must recognize their
forestal obligations defined by the moral principle
that what the future demands the present must
concede.

There is an immense amount of work about a tree nursery.

V.l'J

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