1'
n/
120
FOREST LEAVES.
Sweet Gum, Bilsted (Liquidambar
Styraciflua, L.).
T
HLS attractive tree cannot b^ considered
■ a characteristic feature of our Pennsyl-
^^ vania woods. It could have hardly es-
caped the notice of Darlington, and from the
fact that it does not appear in his J^/ora Cestrica
we may assume that he never found it growing
naturally in Chester County. Yet it i«? quite com-
mon in Delaware County. At Primos and at
Morton, alone the line of the railroad from West
Chester to Philadelphia, some fine specimens of
the tree still remain.
It is, of course, well known that surroundings
have much to do with the shape of a tree, but I
do not know of any species in which this is more
marked than in the sweet gum. In one of our illus-
trations we have the low, spreading form of the
fields, in the other the slender form whose trunk
runs up from sixty to eighty feet with hardly a limb.
The silver m^iple is another species of forest tree in
which this tendency is exceedingly well marked.
It is not always e^sy to distinguish, at a distance,
the sweet gum from a thrifty young tulip poplar.
Both have straight, tall, slender trunks, and the
bark is very similar, and at a distance the persis-
tent fruit of each appears much the same ; but the
poplar is apt to have a larger crown. I have in
mind now, as growing in Delaware County, sweet
gum trees which are more than eighty feet high,
but at four feet ibove the ground the trunk is not
more than eighteen inches in diameter. Of
course, it is the forest form.
We have many things yet to learn about the
sweet gum. Thirty years ago, in this State,
hemlock was not regarded as a tree of much value,
except when the bark was used for tanning. With
the disappearance of the white pine, however,
the hemlock lumber became more highly prized.
So too, in Maine, the abundance of the white
pine dwarfed the spruce in general esteem. It is
doubtful now whether the spruce has not been
of greater value to Maine than the white pine was.
In like manner the sweet gum may come into
greater favor than it was as other woods become
scarcer.
The principal trouble with this species is its
tendency to warp when sawed. It is said that
this may in great measure be overcome by gird-
ling the trees and allowing them to stand for a
year or two. It is not unlikely that the tendency
would be further checked by a gradual but
thorough process of seasoning the timber in the
log before sawing. The hardness of the wood,
together with the fine polish that it takes would
suggest a more extensive use for it in cabinet
work or furniture making, especially as black wal-
nut becomes more difficult to obtain. It is not
likely to be long used in construction of street
pavements, as better material can be found.
The balsamic exudate of the tree has been in
local favor in the South as a remedy in affections
of the mucous membranes. It is probably as
harmless as anything else used in similar troubles.
The sweet gum tree is favorably known to us
as a lawn tree. It is a rapid grower, hardy and
clean. There is no season of the year in which it
does not offer some attraction. Even in winter,
it attracts us by its light branchlets and its neatly
cleft bark. In the autumn, however, the sweet
gum is a close second to the maples in the rich
coloring of its foliage. Whilst it naturally prefers
rich, low grounds, it thrives well in higher, drier
soil. It has a wide range of adaptability. The
leaves are from five to seven inches in diameter,
very slightly heart-shaped at base, and divided
into five or seven conspicuous, pointed, toothed
lobes. The foliage is lush and luxuriant, hardly
less attractive in summer than in autumn. The
fruit consist of an aggregation of hardened ova-
ries into a solid, more or less prickly ball, which
is about an inch and a quarter in diameter. As
before remarked, these fruits, when seen at the
top of the trees, in winter have a general resem-
blance in outline to the cone of the tulip poplar,
though if one's eyes be sufficiently sharp he may
in the case of the poplar, distinguish the scales of
the fruit cone.
In Pennsylvania the liquidambar seldom grows
far away from the tide water. In its general
range it goes as far north as Connecticut, as
far south as Florida and Texas, and even reaches
into the mountains of Southern Mexico. It
probably attains its largest size in Arkansas and
Indian Territory, where it grows, it is said, 140
feet high.
The physical properties of the wood are stated
thus : Specific gravity, 0.5909 ; relative approxi-
mate fuel value, 0.5873 ; percentage of ash, 0.61;
weight of a cubic foot of dried wood, 36.82
pounds ; in relative strength of wood sweet gum
stands 222 in a list of 310 species.
J. T. ROTHROCK.
The Department of Forestry at the Pennsylva-
nia State College, from time to time, has lectures
on different subjects. In April, Mr. Edwin A.
Ziegler, U. S. Assistant Forest Inspector, at pres-
ent in charge of Forest Computation, will deliver
a series of lectures there on Forest Mensuration.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. 8.
SWEET GUM (LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA, L.) FOREST FORM
DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
oo
y.
(A
oi
< 5
QQ Z
< t
Q S
— Q.
O z
o
UJ
Q <
LU
UJ
_ Q
>
cc
ffl
< <
Q Z
— <
5 i
— CO
UJ
O >-
UJ o
UJ o
$ u.
CO cr
<
UJ
>■
yj
\ '.
FOREST LEAVES.
121
Forestry in New Jersey.
DR. HENRY B. KUMMEL, Executive Offi-
cer of the State Board of Forest Park Res-
ervation Commissioners, has issued the
Annual Report of the Board for the year ending
October 31st, 1907, showing decided progress
in the securing of reserves and controlling of
forest fires during the year.
New Jersey now has a law requiring permits to
burn brush during the period from March loth to
May 31st, and it is significant that but 7 per cent,
of the forest fires reported in the past year, whose
origin is known, started from brush fires, whereas
in former years the' proportion was usually about
one-fourth to one-third. Mr. Theophilus P.
Price states that 167 fires were reported and
ii>525 acres burned over, a large reduction from
the smallest acreage reported in any previous year,
viz., 1904, when the amount was 41,530 acres.
The cost of the fire service . for the year, was
;?2,8i3.o5, to which should be added what the
townships have expended, or about $3,600 alto-
gether, which has saved to the property owners of
the State something like $25o|ooo.
Whenever lands suitable for forest reserves
could be secured at fair prices they have been
purchased, providing the title was good. During
the past year title was taken to 6,475 acres at a
cost of $9,676.46. Of this amount 1,043 acres
was in the Bass River reserve in Burlington
County, and 5,432 acres on the Kittatinny Moun-
tain in Sussex County. The commission has also I
contracted to buy 3,100 acres in Burlington I
County. The total acreage of the forest resefves
in New Jersey is now 7,438 acres, with 3,100
acres in the course of acquisition. The character
of the forest on most of the property is such that
little wood can be cut for several years, but
through fire lanes and improvement thinnings it
can gradually be improved.
According to the report of State Forester Alfred
Gaskill there are in New Jersey 2,000,000 acres
of land more fit for growing timber than for any-
thing else. In northern New Jersey it will be
mainly a question of timber lots, while in South
Jersey forestry may concern itself with tracts of a
thousand acres and upwards. In the Bass River
reserve a small nursery was established in April,
and on September 24th it contained 6,500 jack
pine, 3,000 Western yellow pine, 13,500 Scotch
pine, and 1,300 locust seedlings. These will be
used for planting later on. Mr. Gaskill also
speaks of co-operative work undertaken during the
year, forest fires and their control are discussed,
while mention is made of the studies and experi-
ments undertaken during the year, together with
data as to two serious tree diseases, the chestnut
blight and the white pine disease. The report
closes with two excellent papers by Mr. Gaskill,
entitled *^ Chestnut Growing for Profit" and
**Tree Planting," also a bibliography of publica-
tions on Forests and Forestry in New Jersey, and
copies of the laws creating the Forest Park Reser-
vation Commission, and the Forest Fire Service.
The report is illustrated wiih 37 views and topo-
graphical maps.
Forestry Progress in Michigan.
1^
HE first step toward the extensive planting
1 of the 42,000 acres set aside for forestry
work and the summer school of the Michi-
gan Agricultural College, on lands north of Au
Sable, has been taken, in securing 250 pounds of
white pine seed. This is an amount sufficient to
establish a nursery of 2,000,000 trees, and one-
half of the seed will be retained for use on the
college grounds at Lansing.
Charles W. Garfield, President of the Michigan
Forestry Commission, has secured the co-opera-
tion of the Board of Education and the Board of
Trade of Grand Rapids in the purchase of 10,000
two and three-year-old elm trees in France, which
will be delivered in time for distribution to school
children and others at i cent apiece, which will
nearly cover their cost. Especially prepared
literature on how to plant and care for trees will be
given with the trees howg\\X,—Amer. Lumberman.
Mr. Geo. Ward Cook, of Haverhill, Mass., at the
annual meeting of the American Forestry Associa-
tion presented a petition signed by manufacturers
and prominent individuals of New England urging
the establishment of the proposed southern Appa-
lachian and White Mountain reserves.
In speaking of the latter, Mr. Cook mentioned
the increasing destruction from floods along the
Merrimack River and its tributaries, the water-
powers and factories along which employ 79,687
persons, who earn annually about $37,000,000 in
wages, the capital employed being nearly $100, -
000,000, which furnishes about $140,000,000 of
products annually. The population of the dis-
trict is 350,000, the assessed property value being
$240,000,000.
The people of New Hampshire derive a revenue
of about $7,500,000 annually from visitors who
enjoy its scenic beauty, which will be destroyed
by deforestation. While the White Mountain
group is mainly in New Hampshire, of the im-
mense water resources it has only about 25 per.
cent., the other New England States, except
Rhode Island, having the benefit of the balance.
)
A
122
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
a
Resolutions of the American Paper and
Pulp Association.
AT a meeting of the American Paper and
Pulp Association held in New York on
February 6th, 1908, the following reso-
lutions were passed as expressing the views of that
Association : * " .
Appalachian and White Mountain National
Forests.
Resolvedy that the Association endorses the
movement to further conserve our forests and
water powers by the creating of National Forests
in the Appalachian and White Mountain Ranges
under the broad and utilitarian control of the
United States Forest Service.
Forest Preservation.
Whereas^ approximately four-fifths of the forests
of the United States are in the hands of private
owners, of whom those represented by the Ameri-
can Paper and Pulp Association desire to operate
their timberlands conservatively so as to insure
their permanent preservation.
And whereas such preservation inures in many
ways to the benefit of the public, which directly
or indirectly enjoys the use of these private lands.
Resohed, that it is the sense of this Association
that the public should encourage the owners to
preserve the forests by sharing with them the
burden entailed thereby, more particularly in the
following manner : (i) by reducing taxation to a
minimum so as to encourage conservative cutting ;
(2) by applying the taxes received from wild-
lands to their protection from fire and to reforesta-
tion of burned or already denuded districts.
Water Storage.
Resolved, that this Association reaffirms the view
which it has for many years expressed that the
duty rests upon the Federal and State Govern-
ments to prevent the annual loss of millions of
dollars' worth of property and many lives by
floods, and to prevent the enormous waste of
natural resources due to the unregulated condition
of many of our rivers, and that this Association be-
lieves that the storage of water under Federal and
State control is the most practical method of
attaining these ends.
Resolved, that copies of these resolutions be for-
warded to the Forest Service of the United States,
to the Governors and suitable officials of the
various States concerned, the Internal Waterways
Commission, and to the press.
Results of Forest Denudation in Moun-
tainous Regions.
THE earnest workers for the Appalachian
forest reserve, or any other forest reserve
in mountainous regions, could draw a
powerful argument in favor of their contention
from the condition of Dalmatia, a province of
Austria- Hungary, on the east side of the Adriatic
gulf in the southern part of the empire. .
A writer to a San Francisco newspaper says
that if anyone could see the desolation he had
witnessed in poor Dalmatia it would cause a sick-
ening of the heart. That country was once one
of the richest of the Roman provinces, and during
the reign of Diocletian, who had an immense
palace there, it supported a large population.
When it came under the rule of the Venetian Re-
public the trees on its fine mountain slopes were
ruthlessly sacrificed for the building of the ships
of the conquerors, the republic being distin-
guished for the extent of its maritime commerce.
When the timber was cut off the declivijty was so
great that the soil was washed away, the springs
and rivers dried up, so that even the desolation
of Syria does not compare with that in Dalmatia.
The attempts at cultivation by the peasants are
pitiful in the extreme. In trying to get a foot-
hold for olive trees, the fruit of which is their
main dependence for a livelihood, the peasants
collect rocks and stones in great mounds to hold
what earth they can scrape together for the plant-
ing of trees. Often this is done by great labor
in order to hold a single olive tree or a solitary
grapevine. One of the best fields of grapes seen
in the province had the appearance of a pebbly
beach, so thickly had the ground been covered to
prevent the washing away of the soil.
After the forests had been cut away by the
Venetian ** lumbermen," a terrible wind called the
**bora," which blows with great force for several
months in the year, rendered reforestation almost
impossible. One can drive for miles in any di-
rection and not see ten trees growing except those
that have been planted and held in place by rocks
and. stones. This condition is especially true ot
the northern part of the desolate province of
Dalmatia.
Montenegro, a Turkish province, touching the
Adriatic southeast of Dalmatia, also a mountain-
ous country, is in a like desolated condition from
forest denudation. There the country is such a
mass of mountains and the hills are so steep that
the earth, washed down the slopes, seems to have
settled into little potholes, and thus has formed
spaces large enough to admit of cultivation. These
little patches are sometimes no larger than an or-
3/.
123
dinary dining-table, yet the necessitous people
utilize them to grow what they.can for sustenance.
The same writer states that his observations in
Italy lead him to conclude that this storied coun-
try is approaching a ruin like that of Dalmatia and
Montenegro. One cannot help but see the bar-
renness of the Appenines, the rivers muddy with
the soil washed down from the mountains, the
small size and high price of firewood, the total
absence of wooden houses, and the various make-
shifts to avoid the use of wood for any purpose.
Careful observations in all European and Asiatic
countries where are mountainous sections in which
• the rivers rise prove that if the primeval forests
could have remained to clothe the slopes it would
have prevented erosion, washing and the desola-
tion we now see. There is yet time in America
to prevent such barrenness and the drying up of
streams. The Appalachian- forest reserve scheme,
which probably will be legalized by act of the
present Congress, aims at this desired result. It
would be the height of folly if the pending legis-
lation providing for the purchase by the govern-
ment of forest lands in the southern Appalachian
and White Mountain regions should go by default.
No more important forestry measure has been
urged on the attention of Congress than this, great
as have been like measures adopted for the estab-
lishment of forest reserves in the West. Denuda-
tion in Europe and the farther east has been a suffi-
cient object lesson to convince any but the ignor-
antly or fatuously blind of the economic import-
ance of forest reserves in the mountain sections,
which are the sources of our water supply. — The
American Lumberman.
At a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees
of the Iowa State College, Mr. C. A. Scott,
Forest Supervisor of the United States Forest
Service was elected to the Chair of Forestry to
fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Pro-
fessor H. P. Baker, who accepted a position at
the Pennsylvania State College.
His work has been largely confined to the
Middle West and the Rocky Mountain States ;
hence, he has the advantage of being familiar
with the forestry conditions of the Upper Missis-
sippi Valley. Since its origin he has had charge
of the extensive forest nurseries and plantings of
the Dismal River National Forest. During the
past three years he has given a special course of
lectures before the Nebraska .University forestry
students, and during the winters has also rendered
assistance as a lecturer at the Farmers' Institutes
of Nebraska.
The Appalachian Hearing.
THE friends of the Appalachian Forest Res-
ervation had, in Washington, a hearing
before the House Committee on Agricul-
ture on January 30th, and business certainly did
have its say.
The manifold relations of water and water-
power, lumber, protection of the soil against
wash, increasing necessity for wood as coal be-
comes scarcer and higher-priced were thoroughly
and truthfully set forth. It is hard, indeed, to see
how the Committee can fail to report favorably
upon the bill which has such a wide-spread popu-
lar demand back of it, especially as the measure
has already passed the Senate ; but thus far no one,
so far as I have observed, has adequately repre-
sented the importance of these mountain ranges
as a nursery of strong, loyal manhood, and as a
National outing-ground for those who need the
open air to fit them for their life duties, but who
cannot go far to seek it.
The Pacific Coast has its Sierras, Coast and
Olympian Ranges, the middle West its Rocky
Mountains and associated highlands, where already
the National government holds, or assuredly will
hold, millions of acres subject to the allied public
utilities ; but, except in Arkansas, there is no
National public land on the eastern slope with-
drawn from individual ownership and dedicated
to the general good. Whatever else may or may
not occur, it is very sure that the long-approach-
ing wave of public sentiment in favor of out-door
life for the cure of tuberculosis and other chronic
diseases is to be speedily followed by a demand on
the part of the people for public outing-grounds,
where health may be gained and disease prevented.
It is wiser to prevent than to cure disease !
This is fairly a function of government, for the
strength of a nation is merely the aggregate
strength of its citizens, and that people is in the
best case which can, at the shortest notice, sum-
mon the largest number of the sturdiest, loyal men.
Puny, sick, underfed, overworked men and women,
that we all know of, are not the ones upon whom
reliance can be placed in an hour of National need.
There are but two alternatives : either to ne-
glect the weak, or to endeavor to make them
strong. The first is inhuman ; the second is forced
upon us by our Christian religion and by motives *
of economy. To care for the weak, to lighte^i
their burdens, to fill them with new hope is simply
to increase the power of the nation. There should
be outing-grounds, accessible to all, on which no
trespass notice is visible, on which the long-housed,
blood- impoverished can rest and regain health
before passing into invalidism.
)'
(/
J?/ 7
124
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
125
To a certain extent, Pennsylvania and New York
have provided just such places in their forest re-
serves, but neither State has, to the extent that it
should, openly set these lands apart (not only for
the preservation and production of timber but)
for the health of the people.
Those portions of the Appalachian Mountains
which are found in Maine, New Hampshire, Vir-
ginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro-
lina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama are now
desired to complete an eastern Forest Reservation,
and it seems that the several States are unable to
acquire, by purchase, such portions as lie within
their borders. To meet this difficulty, the aid of
the General Government has been invoked in
^^A Bill for acquiring National Forests in the
Southern Appalachian Mountains and White
Mountains y The area involved in this bill is
about 5,700,000 acres. Important as it is to
trade and manufacturing interests that this bill
should become a law, it is no less important to
the people on the score of National health.
If those mountains are to be despoiled of tim-
ber and then given over to destructive natural
agencies, they will become depopulated of the
vigorous race which they have hitherto supported,
or what would be no less unfortunate, become the
homes of shiftless degenerates. .The thought is
intolerable that the vast area which has played so
important a part in the development of our nation
should cease to produce the strong characters that
it has hitherto given us.
It is quite apropos of this subject to remember
that Ethan Allen came from the mountains of Ver-
mont, that it was in the Appalachians of Virginia,
Maryland and Pennsylvania, Washington received
the training which prepared him for his great
career. President Roosevelt has quite correctly
spoken of the Appalachians as the '* great breed-
ing ground and nursery" of pioneers who won
homes from the Indians and afterwards founded
States. The ancestors of Boone and Lincoln
came from within sight of the Pennsylvania moun-
tains, and we can hardly forget that from the lum-
ber camps of the same State the famous Bucktail
regiment sallied forth to defend the National
Union during the Civil War. Life in the south-
ern Appalachians was of a sturdy sort. Each in-
dividual was a producer. There were but few
slaves, and the effort to disrupt the Union in order
to perpetuate slavery did not appeal to the moun-
taineers. For the most part, they remained loyal
when the lowlands east and west were in active
rebellion against Federal authority.
During the Revolution, after Cornwallis had
practically subdued the tidewater regions of South
Carolina and boasted that he would march without
opposition through North Carolina and Virginia^
his most trusted lieutenant, Tarleton, was suddenly
confronted at King's mountain by a thousand vol-
unteer riflemen from the Appalachians. They fur-
nished their own arms, provided their own food,
fought the battle in their own way, and practically
annihilated the British force. It was this undisci-
plined body of heroic mountaineers, of whose ex-
istence Cornwallis was ignorant, that turned the
tide and saved the South to the Colonies.
The Appalachian ranges are needed to perpetu-
ate a race of strong-limbed, brave-hearted patriots.
We cannot afford to abandon such a region to
flood and depopulation. It must remain for the
future, what it has been in the past, an outing-
ground for those who seek health, and continue to
be the nursery of an heroic race.
J. T. ROTHROCK.
*:-•>»:
Unjust Land Taxation.
THE American Lumberman mentions an ex-
cellent address which was recently made
by G. E. Ames, of Port Gamble, Wash.,
before a meeting of the State assessors, held at
Seattle. The object of this address was to show
to the assembled assessors that the timber land of
the State should not be taxed on the basis of such
valuations as pertain to agricultural areas, but
should be so adjusted as to encourage the mainte-
nance of timber lands as permanent holdings. His
argument was that the timber lands of the State
are in danger of being taxed on a basis of value so
high that owners are not able to carry them longer
than necessary to cut off and market the timber.
When the market is good enough to warrant
cutting the slaughter of the timber is rapid and of
the denuding character ; when the market is poor
and unprofitable to mill operators the holding of
the lands causes a serious loss to the owners in in-
terest and tax payments. Taxes should mainly be
paid on the timber or lumber as cut off" and not on
the land. Mr. Ames showed how damaging to the
land it would be to cut off all the timber on the
slope between the Cascade range and Puget sound.
The result would be a washing away of the soil,
such is the steepness of the general declivity, and
the slope thus would become a barren waste.
Rather conditions should be adjusted, including
the rate of taxation, so that the slope should be
kept in perpetual forest, to which it is especially
and best adapted, and thus not only preserve the
water courses and water supply of the region, pre-
vent floods and washing of the land, but secure an
everlasting timber supply for the State and nation.
Following is a reproduction of the main features
of Mr. Ames's address. It is in the line with what
is being advocated in all the timbered States from
Maine to the Pacific coast in the matter of timber
land taxation versus taxation adjusted to stumpage
and lumber values :
There is a limit to the taxes a timber land owner
can aff'ord to pay, and when taxation becomes too
heavy a burden it means confiscation. Citizens of
the United States are guaranteed protection of their
property rights by our Constitution, and any un-
due discrimination as to taxation is surely uncon-
stitutional, certainly unfair. The present rate of
taxation as applied to wild timbered lands in some
•counties in this State is unfair, unjust and out of
reason on account of high valuations and high levies
assessed.
Timbered land should not be singled out to
carry too heavy a burden of taxation. It is not
regular income-producing property. The present
crop of timbered land can not be harvested except
as required, and can not be logged with due regard
for economy. The first great crop of western
Washington must be largely sacrificed. Only trees
fit for use under existing conditions will be cut.
The balance, waste and underbrush, must be de-
stroyed and removed before new seeds will take
root in the soil and develop into the new crop of
forest.
It takes fifty years after the first crop of timber
is removed to produce trees suitable for a sapling
pile ; consequently private owners can ill aff'ord to
hold wild timbered lands for purposes of forestry
at present rates of taxation. The government,
State and county, must assist. The homesteader
clears land at an expense of ^^300 an acre in time,
labor and money, but pays no taxes on any such
valuation, and when he gets his land in condition
never is taxed on his crop.
The timber land owner is assessed on his crop
and is asked to pay an exorbitant tax on the same
crop year after year and generation after genera-
tion, and as there is no return in a lifetime he
must lose his investment.
The taxation on timber, if collected at all,
should be collected when the crop is harvested.
This generation is living beyond its means, devel-
oping the country beyond its resources, and paying
the bills out of a legacy of debt which future gen-
erations must pay or repudiate. If we leave them
a legacy of debt why not leave them a legacy of
resources to at least help pay the debt ?
All lands suitable for the growing of forests, de-
linquent for taxes, should revert to the State and
be reserved for the growing of forests. The gov-
ernment and the State should reserve the forest for
the use and benefit of generations to come and en-
courage private ownership to hold wild lands for
the cultivation of a second and a third crop of
timber trees. It is a slow growing crop and pri-
vate ownership must be assisted and encouraged
to make the investment. This can be done by
proper and just investment and reasonable levy of
taxes.
Assess the land at, say, a flat rate of 2 cents an
acre per annum, and exempt the growing crop of
timber, providing the owner will register and de-
clare his intention of holding specified lands for
the preservation of growing trees and cultivation
of timber. When the growth is cut the State
should collect a stumpage equal to say i cent a
thousand feet, board measure, as a tax for each
year so exempt, and preserve a lien on the growth
for the protection of the State.
For instance, if a crop of timber should have
been exempt for ten years when cut, the State
could collect 10 cents a thousand feet, board meas-
ure. If exempt for fifty years, the State would
collect 50 cents a thousand feet, board measure,
in addition to the flat rate collected annually on
the land.
Until some such plan is developed, the legisla-
ture, tax commfssion, boards of equalization and
assessors should do everything possible for the en-
couragement of growing trees and the preservation
of timber and forests.
In Maine, I am informed, $3.50 an acre is a
high commercial valuation for timber producing
lands, and fifteen years ago such lands sold for 75
cents an acre. In Florida $7.50 to %\o an acre is
considered a high price, commercially, for lands
producing timber.
In this State timber producing lands should not
be expected, under existing conditions and with
such fluctuating markets, to pay a tax exceeding
1 5 cents an acre per annum and logged ofl" lands,
suitable for the practical growing of timber, a tax
exceeding 31^ cents an acre per annum.' The
land itself has only a nominal value.
During the last five years I think the assessors
as a rule have placed too high valuations on these
wild lands and growing timber. Because some-
body pays a big price for a tract of timber, say J25,
J50, or even J 100 an acre, that is no good reason
why other, even adjoining timber land, is worth
that much money. It can not all be sold or logged
or realized on at once. It will take years to cut
off" this growth. Timber is only available when
there is an immediate use for a particular tract and
the owner is willing to part with it. It may be *
located anywhere— on water front or miles inland
— but is only available when there is demand for
a particular tract of land.
The owner of a small mill along a line of a rail-
road may see his way clear to offer a large sum for
126
FOREST LEAVES.
a particular tract of timber, but if the owner does
not see fit to accept the offer it should not fix a
valuation on the tract. It may be the owner's
policy to hold it.
My firm sold a tract of wild land about ten years
ago for speculative purposes, near the city of Ever-
ett, and reserved the right to remove all growth of
timber in one year. Although within a mile from
tide- water we were unable to get the timber removed
and could not find any one to take it as a gift.
It is generally supposed that a movement is on
foot to increase the taxes on timber and wild lands
and make the owner pay more taxes. If you have
that idea in mind, just stop and think a moment
before you do a great injustice to the timber in-
terests of your State, already suffering from a
greater burden than they can bear.
You probably realize the general stagnation of
business due to an attempt to raise the freight rate
on lumber shipped by rail to eastern markets, affect-
ing all branches of the trade and resulting in the
shutting down during the last six months of 80 per
cent, of the lumber and shingle mills in Oregon,
Washington and British Columbia.
We hear of lands for fa^'ming* purposes, fruit
growing, etc., selling for $500 and j;i,ooo an acre,
but fail to find such values on assessment rolls for
tax purposes. A horse may be valued at from $100
to $1,000, or even $20,000, but he appears on the
assessment rolls as a $40 horse. The cow may be
a scrub cow or a blooded animal ; she may be val-
ued commercially at $50 or $250, but for tax pur-
poses she is only a cow and is assessed at $20.
Mutton chops may sell for 25 cents a pound, but
the whole sheep is worth only $3 when assessed as
a sheep to be taxed. The cur dog you can not give
away and the noble St. Bernard which may sell at
hundreds of dollars look alike to the tax collector,
who collects $ I for each dog.
Various kinds of property are exempt from taxa-
tion according to the revenue laws of this State.
These laws were probably passed to encourage cer-
tain lines of investment and industry. The farmer
pays no tax on his valuable and salable crops of
grain, vegetables, fruit, hay, etc. But the timber-
land owner has to pay on the same crop year after
year.
Negotiations have been completed by the Penn-
sylvania Department of Forestry for the purchase
of a large tract of more than 50,000 acres, located
principally in Potter County, with a small portion
in northern Clinton County. This, when title is
taken, will give a grand total of nearly 900,000
acres of reserves.
Value of New York State's Forests.
IN a speech before a joint session of the Legis-
lature recently. State Forest Commissioner
J. S. Whipple, of New York, made the fol-
lowing statement :
** There are 41,000,000,000 feet of lumber,
board measure, in all this State, on public and
private lands, farm lots and all ; and last year
there was cut from these woodlands 1,500,000,000
feet, board measure. That is, 41,000,000,000
feet in all, but a loss of 1,500,000,000 feet each
year.
** Quite largely the total water supply of our
State depends on the existence of its forests. It
is true, without doubt, that, utilized to the utter-
most, the waters of our State are worth more to
our people than the coal mines of Pennsylvania
are to Pennsylvania. If fully utilized, they would
furnish power to generate electricity to turn the
wheels in every manufacturing plant in the State,
to light every plant, every house, every car. In
addition, they would furnish electricity to run
every car of all kinds in the State, and to cook
all our food.
** We must preserve and keep our forests. The
State must acquire at least 1,000,000 acres more
in the Adirondacks, and the Catskills, and then
we must plant forests. Every one who has non-
tillable land must plant tree?. The State must
help by furnishing trees at cost, or free to all who
will plant.'* — The New York Lumber Trade
Journal,
The Minnesota Forestry Association com-
menced, in 1908, to publish its monthly official
organ. The Minnesota Forester, which we wish the
fullest measure of success. In the March issue it
gives the text of the proposed constitutional
amendment recommended by the Forestry Com-
missioner. It is suggested that a tax of three-
tenths of one mill be made on each dollar of tax-
able property within the State. The proceeds are
to be used for the purchase of land adapted for
forest, at a cost of not over $5 per acre, and for
the production and maintenance thereon of forests
according to forestry principles.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
yn
FOREST LEAVES.
127
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
' ' biltmore, n. c.
Yale Hnivei'^itj \mti ^chool
NEW HAVEN - - CONNECTICUT
A two years' graduate course
is offered, leading to the de-
gree of Master of Forestry.
Graduates of collegiate institu-
tions of high standing are ad-
mitted upon presentation of
their college diplomas.
The Summer School of
Forestry is conducted at Mil-
ford, Pike County, Penna.
For further information address
HENRY S. GRAVES, Director,
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestrj- — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and * forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon application^
JAMES L. PATTERSOir,
Head Maiter.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., Fresideni.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. beck.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
JACOB 8. DISSTON. FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES. RANDAL MORGAN. '
FRANCIS I. GOWEN. H. GORDON MOCOUCH,
J. LEVERING JONES. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
1
t
d
128
FOREST LEAVES.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not — Why Not?
SPRING PLANTING DAYS ARE HERE !
BETTER GET ACQUAINTED ! !
ONE ITEM-OUR PIIM OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations. Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES." 3d EDITION, DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECI
Each
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $i oo
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched i 25
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; 1^ to i^ in. cal i 50
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal 2 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2}4, in. cal 2 50
10 to 12 ft. 23^ to 3 in 3 jQ
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
Send for SPRING PRICE L.IST.
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA
EN!
Per 10
Per 100
$8 50
$60 00
10 00
70 00
13 50
125 00
17 50
135 00
22 50
150 00
30 00
275 00
\
>2^ I
Vol. XI.
Philadelphia, June, 1908.
No. 9.
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
Kditorials 129
Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion.
130
•Governor Stuart on Forestry 131
Conservation of Resources 133
Trees as Crops 135
Hackberry. Sugar-berry (Celtis occidentalis, L.) 136
Forest Preservation 137
Foresters for the Great Railway Companies 142
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
/" Forest Lbavbs as an ad7)ertising medium. Rates ivill be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886, .
Labors to disseminate information in reg^ard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membership fee ^ Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, loia Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis
Richard Wood. '
General Secretary^ Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Hitler.
Treasurer , Charles K. Pancoast.
Council-at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
P'razier, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert H. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch. Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. j!
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Latv, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William S. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp,
County Organizat ion, iia.mucl Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St.. Philadelphia.
EDITORIALS.
THK prominence given to the subject of forest
preservation by published reports of the
late conference at Washington, in which
the Governors from nearly all the States and Terri-
tories met with the President of the United States,
promises to he of material advantage. This
conference, to which besides the President and
Governors, Members of Congress and a number
of representative gentlemen were invited, met to
discuss the utilization of our national resources ;
coal, iron ore, and other minerals, oil, gas, water,
and forests were among the resources recognized
as being imperfectly or wastefully used.
In discussing problems of this nature we must
not lose sight of the fact that the utilization of our
national resources means progress, and that the
advanced position which the United States has
achieved has been by using the rich natural re-
sources with which the country has been blessed.
It is not the //se, but the afii/se of these which
needs correction. This was the keynote sounded
by the Pennsylvania f'orestry Association in the
first year of its existence, and it has not combatted
the legitimate use of the forests, or the proper
cutting of timber when it has matured, but it rec-
ognizes the importance of the lumber industry,
and the necessity of a future adequate supply of
lumber for the people.
The Association has contended against wasteful
slashing of timber, denudation of areas of growth
insufficient to make the best returns, the ravages
of forest fires, the burning of the young growth
for grazing and berry-picking purposes ; it has
been insistent in efforts to secure liberal forest
reservations, controlled by the State, and man-
aged to secure and maintain a liberal area of
forest growth. It has also favored a system of
taxation to encourage private owners to maintain
in forests the portions of their lands best adapted
for their growth, and to reforest cut-over lands.
V
y
V
J ^J
130
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
131
We believe similar policies adopted to the
other natural resources will result in material
national advancement, and we trust that the con-
ference at which so many men prominent in polit-
ical and industrial life participated will go far
towards bringing about the desired result. 'I'o
secure this the thinking portion of the people
must be given facts which they can appreciate,
and which will help them in forming opinions as
to the true conditions of affairs. It has not been
our privilege to see a complete record of the con-
ference, which we understand is in preparation,
but from the published statements we were im-
pressed with the view that our wastefulness of re-
sources was emphasized, without due credit being
given to the advancement. As illustrating this,
one statement credited to the President was that
in 1907 the consumption of coal over that of
1906 was greater than the entire product of the
country in 1876. This statement might be made
even stronger, for if the same wasteful methods
were used on the railroad, in factories, mills, and
furnaces, and even in our homes in 1907 as pre-
vailed in 1876 the increased amount of fuel would
have been more marked.
In such comparisons we must remember that
our population in the interval of 31 years has
nearly doubled, that the currency circulation per
each inhabitant, made available $2.00 in 1907 to
every $1.00 in 1876, that the mileage of railways
has been augmented fivefold, and that each mile
is doing a greater amount of business. That in
the manufacture of iron where a large portion of
the fuel is consumed the product is represented
by an increase in pig iron from 1,870,000 tons
in 1876 to 25,780,000 tons in 1907, that the use,
of wood for fuel has been displaced by coal, and
that a million of homes are made comfortable by
a general heating system instead of a multitude
of fireplaces.
If the country is to progress, its natural re-
sources will be used, and it is our duty to see that
this use is along economic lines, and not in
wasteful methods. J. B.
*****
No apology is required from Forest Leaves for
the liberal space given to excerpts from the ad-
mirable address made by Governor Stuart of Penn-
sylvania before the Lincoln Club at Bethlehem,
on May 19th. On the contrary, we are sure our
readers will rejoice that the Chief Executive of the
great State of Pennsylvania has taken such ad-
vanced ground for the protection of our forests.
No small part of the progress which Pennsylvania
has made is due to the cordial endorsement of the
forestry movement by various governors of the
State, and our present Chief Executive, speaking
with earnestness, says that he is a friend of the
forest. We may therefore feel satisfied that in so
far as his duty to the State permits Governor Stuart
stands ready to approve advanced progressive leg-
islative enactment which will insure the acquisi-
tion of additional forest reserves, protection from
destruction, and rapid reforestation of denuded
areas. His suggestion that the forest reserves be
augmented to a total of 6,000,000 acres coincides
with the statement credited to William Penn, that
the State would be most prosperous if one-fifth of
its area was maintained under forest cover. — J. B.
Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association.
AS has already been announced, a meeting
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association
will be held at Chambersburg, Pa., June
9-1 1, 1908.
The following conditional program has been
arranged :
Tuesday, June ^th, 8 P.M, The first session
will be held in the Thomson Hall of the Wilson
College for Women, Chantbersburg. Addresses
of welcome by Dr. M. H. Reaser, President of the
Wilson College, and W. J. Zacharias, Burgess,
followed by the presentation of papers and dis-
cussions.
Wednesday, June loth, leave Chambersburg at
9.50 A.M., on the Cumberland Valley Railroad
for Mont Alto Park Station, arriving at 10.22
A.M., where the Association will be welcomed
by the Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Commissioner
of Forestry. The Mont Alto Park, the Nursery,
the Forest Academy, and the Mont Alto Reserve
will be inspected. Luncheon will be served
through the courtesy of the Forestry Department,
and carriages will convey the party to the Penn-
sylvania State South Mountain Sanatorium for
Tuberculosis, where Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, Com-
missioner of Health, will describe the Sanatorium
and its work. Leave Mont Alto Park Station at
6.31 P.M., for Chambersburg, arriving at 7.00
P.M. 8.30 P.M. meeting at Thomson Hall,
which will be devoted to papers and discussions.
Thursday, June nth, will be given to Caledonia
reserve, members taking trolley cars at 8.45 and
9.45 A.M. for Caledonia Park, where, if neces-
sary, a third session will be held for papers and
discussions, and the reserve will be inspected.
Luncheon will be served at the Graeffenburg Inn,
the price being 50 cts. per capita. Members can
leave Caledonia Park in time to return from
Chambersburg by afternoon trains, or can take
conveyances for (Gettysburg, 15 miles distant.
The headquarters of the Association will be at
the Hotel Washington, Chambersburg, where the
rates will be from ;j2.oo to J2.50 per day, or ^3.00
for a room with bath (American plan). Other
hotels are Hotel Montgomery, Hotel Wallace,
and Hotel McKinley, where accommodations can
be secured for gi.50 per day.
Local members will facilitate visits, after the
meeting, to Gettysburg, Antietam Blue Ridge
Summit, and other nearby points of interest by
automobile or carriage, for which it will be ne-
cessary to make arrangements at Chambersburg.
The estimated cost of transportation in parties of
four will approximate five dollars per person.
The following papers are promised :
*' The Position of Pennsylvania as to Forestry. ' '
John Birkihbine, President The Pennsylvania
Forestry Association.
^^Woodlot Forestry. '» Prof. F. W. Besley,
State Forester of Maryland. '
''What Constitutes Practical Forestry." S.
B. Elliott, State Forestry Reservation Commission.
* ' A Paid State Fire Service. ' ' Alfred Gaskill,
Forester and Secretary Forest Park Reservation
Commission of New Jersey.
''Co-operative Forestry." Prof. W. J. Green,
Chief Department of Forestry, Ohio Agricultural
Experiment Station.
" Desirability of Forest Reserves in the Eastern
Portion of the Country." William S. Harvey,
Vice-President The Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation and President Philadelphia Commercial
Museum.
"Insect Enemies of the Forest and Methods
of their Control," Illustrated. Prof. H. A. Sur-
face, Economic Zoologist of Pennsylvania.
"The Growing of Coniferous Nursery Stock,"
Illustrated. Prof. J. W. Toumey, Forest School
Yale University.
Others who are expected to read papers or
open discussions are :
Prof. H. P. Baker, Chief Department of For-
estry, The Pennsylvania State College.
Col. Wm. F. Fox, Superintendent of State
Forests of New York.
Farley Garmett, Engineer Water Supply Com-
mission of Pennsylvania.
John Ruddle, Superintendent of Canals and
Real Estate, Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com-
pany.
C. K. Sober, Member Pennsylvania Game
Commission. ' .
E. A. Sterling, Forester of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company.
The sketch map of the South Mountain reserve
which appears in this issue has been prepared with
the co-operation of the Department of Forestry,
and shows the location of the different points.
This meeting will afford members an opportunity
to inspect the excellent work of the Department
of Forestry in administering the reserves.
Members of the Association who will be ac-
companied by others of their families, are re-
quested to notify Mr. F. L. Bitler, Recording
Secretary, 1012 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.,
so that proper provision can be made.
Q
Governor Stuart on Forestry.
N Tuesday, May 19th, Governor Stuart de-
livered an address at Bethlehem, in which
he took occasion to dwell at some length
on the subject of forestry, and it gives us pleasure
to quote this portion of his address, as it contains
much of interest and evidences the great need of
systematic forestry, which means so much for the
general welfare of the State :
The American people are on the verge of a
timber famine. The annual consumption of
lumber is now more than three times as great as
the annual growth. At the present rate of growth
and consumption the day is not far distant when
the scarcity of wood will be felt in our homes as
well as in our industries. Equally serious is the
waste of soil, which is due to the reckless destruc-
tion of our forests. Every time our creeks and
rivers become muddy we can see the action of
swollen streams in robbing the land of its fertility.
Forests regulate the distribution of rainfall and
lessen the frequency and the destructive effects
of floods and freshets.
Pennsylvania is especially interested in the
conservation of the country's natural resources
because of the large coal deposits and forest res-
ervations found within her borders. The annual
floods in Pennsylvania, especially in the Pittsburg
district, causing loss of life and enormous destruc-
tion of property, could be controlled, in large
degree, and probably prevented by proper foresta-
tion of the non -agricultural lands on the various
watersheds.
While Pennsylvania was one of the first States
in the Union to undertake the conservation and
development of her forests, and has made a com-
mendable beginning, now owning more than
three-quarters of a million acres of forest land, it
is hoped that the State will ultimately be the
owner of at least six million acres of forest reser-
vations, and that all owners of npn-agricultural
land will at an early date devote it to the grow-
ing of trees. The forestry work in Pennsylvania
began in 1893, principally through the efforts of
Dr. J. T. Rothrock, the ex-Commissioner of
Forestry for Pennsylvania, now a member of the
')
x
A
132
FOREST LEAVES.
State Forestry Commission, to whom much credit is
due for the forest reservations the State now owns.
The first lands were purchased in 1897. The
State has already expended more than $2,225,000
for the purchase and care of forest lands. Penn-
sylvania having thus early recognized the vital
importance of conserving her forests, created the
Department of Forestry, conferred upon it broad
powers and gave it large appropriations. The
Legislature of 1907 appropriated for the two
fiscal years, beginning June i, 1907, $500,000 for
the purchase of forestry land and about $200,000
for the purchase of seedling trees, for the payment
of the employment of foresters and forest rangers
and for other necessary expenses incurred by the
Department of Forestry. As an example of
thorough and systematic forestry, Pennsylvania
has to a large extent been able to prove that the
heretofore vital problems of forest administration,
especially that of forest fires, have to a great ex-
tent been solved. The value of forest timber de-
troyed by reason of forest fires was reduced from
$834,000 in 1900 to $70,000 in 1905, proving
conclusively that the em])loyment of foresters and
rangers by the Department of Forestry in Penn-
sylvania has been wise and profitable.
We have established in our State, and are
conducting a State Forestry Academy with grati-
fying results, wherein young men are taught the
principles of scientific and practical forestry.
After graduation they are employed as foresters on
the Pennsylvania reserves. This Forestry Acad-
emy, I am informed, is the only institution of its
kind in the western hemisphere.
Physical geography and history combine to tes-
tify that a well- watered country is always a pros-
perous country. Nations which fail to conserve
their water supplies have already begun to decay.
The community that has an abundance of pure
drinking water will rear a vigorous and stalwart
race.
There is scarcely a square mile of Pennsylvania's
territory which is not intersected by a stream.
Many of these are mighty rivers of great volume
and length. Others are of very rapid flow, con-
stituting immense sources of supply. All spread
fertility and prosperity along their borders and
promise support to a teeming population so long
as they are preserved in their original abundance
and purity. Pure food and pure air are essential,
of course, but they are less requisites for life than
is pure water.
In the conservation of our water supply the re-
strictions of our drinking waters to their virgin
purity must be held steadily in view as an ideal.
Pennsylvania's possession of other valuable re-
sources readily convertible into cash, such as coal,
lumber, oil and natural gas, has diverted the at-
tention of her people from the prime importance
of protecting her watersheds. Hillsides are de-
nuded and farms too often lie idle. Side by side
with this neglect of a great natural advantage goes
the wilful waste and even destruction of those
other natural resources.
For long to come steam will be our principal
motive power. But steam requires the consump-
tion of immense amounts of fuel. Even if we
succeed in replacing our destroyed forests, some
other source of energy must be sought by which
the consumption of cpal by the steam engine may
be diminished. The only other available source
at the present time is gravity through the develop-
ment of water power. Pennsylvania is both moun-
tainous and well-watered, the two essential condi
tions for the development of water power. To
be available both for power and for transportation
the use of water must be controlled properly.
Fortunately its employment for other purposes
need not in the least interfere with its use for agri-
cultural or drinking purposes if conducted under
proper restrictions.
Undoubtedly stream navigation improvement
would call for regulation and control of the rivers
and their watersheds. Preservation and replace-
ment of forests as conservators of moisture, and
construction of reservoirs to hold back floods and to
deliver the water during dry periods are collateral
matters. The deforestation of the extensive moun-
tainous regions in Pennsylvania has caused the
rivers which rise in our States at times to shrink
to their narrowest limits, and at others to become
mighty torrents overflowing their banks, destroy-
ing lives and damaging property to the extent of
many millions of dollars. By attention to farm
cultivation at the head waters, by reforestation of
denuded areas and by attention to other details ot
stream control, wealth would be added to the
Commonwealth. The waste of each by negligence
now is inexcusable. The life not only of Penn-
sylvania, but of the entire Nation, is absolutely
dependent upon the conservation of her water
supplies, of her fores'ts, of her materials for com-
bustion, and of her other natural resources.
During the spring the students at the Forest
Academy have planted 50,000 seedlings in per-
manent plantation; another 50,000 of pine, spruce,
ash and walnut seedlings were sent to other State
reserves. The nursery has been much enlarged,
and 300 lbs. of seed and 80 bushels of walnuts
planted. The wet weather in May delayed the
work somewhat atid encouraged the growth of
weeds, which is the greatest difficulty in the
Mont Alto nursery at present.
>^
FOREST LEAVES.'
133
Conservation of Resources.
ON May 13-15, there assembled at the White
House, at Washington, D. C, at the invi-
tation of President Roosevelt, a repre-
sentative gathering composed of the Governors of
States, members of Congress, the President's cab-
inet, members of the Supreme Court, delegates
from the principal national associations, together
with some specially invited guests.
This conference was summoned to consider the
conserving of our natural resources, and the first
session was opened by President Roosevelt, who
made an address on '' Conservation as a National
Duty." This was in turn followed by. a number
of papers prepared by persons who had been asked
as being specially versed on specific subjects. We
give below some excerpts from the President's ad-
dress, and on other pages that of Mr. Robert A.
Long, of Kansas City, Mo. , a practical lumberman,
to whom was assigned ** Forests."
Every step of the progress of mankind is marked
by the discovery and use of natural resources pre-
viously unused. Without such progressive knowl-
edge and utilization of natural resources population
could not grow, nor industries multiply, nor the
hidden wealth of the earth be developed for the
benefit of mankind.
From the first beginnings of civilization, on the
banks of the Nile and Euphrates, the industrial
progress of the world has gone on slowly, with
occasional setbacks, but on the whole steadily,
through tens of centuries to the present day. But
of late the rapidity of the process has increased
at such a rate that more space has been actually
covered during the century and a quarter occupied
by our national life than during the preceding
6,000 years that take us back to the earliest monu-
ments of P^gypt, to the earliest cities of the Baby-
lonian plain.
When the founders of this nation met at Inde-
pendence Hall in Philadelphia the conditions of
commerce had not fundamentally changed from
what they were when the Phoenician keels first fur-
rowed the lonely water of the Mediterranean. The
diff'erences were those of degree, not of kind, and
they were not in all cases even those of degree.
Mining was carried on fundamentally as it had
been carried on by the Pharaohs in the countries
adjacent to the Red Sea. 1
In Washington's time anthracite coal was known '
only as a useless black stone and the great fields of
bituminous coal were undiscovered. As steam was |
unknown the use of coal for power production was ;
undreamed of. Water was practically the only
source of power save the labor of men and animals I
and this power was used only in the most primi- 1
tive fashion. But a few small iron deposits had
been found in this country and the use of iron by
our country-men was very small. Wood was prac-
tically the only fuel and what lumber was sawed
was consumed locally, while the forests were re-
garded chiefly as obstructions to settlement and
cultivation.
Since then our knowledge and use of the re-
sources of the present territory of the United
States have increased a hundredfold. Indeed the
growth of this natioL by leaps and bounds makes
one of the most striking and important chapters
in the history of the world. Its growth has been
due to the rapid development and — alas! that.it
should be said — to the rapid destruction of our
natural resources. Nature has supplied to us in
the United States, and still supplies to us, more
kinds of resources in a more lavish degree than
has ever been the case at any other time or with
any other people. Our position in the world has
been attained by the extent and thoroughness of
the control we have achieved over nature ; but we
are more, and not less, dependent upon what she
furnishes than at any previous time of history since
the days of primitive man.
The wise use of all our natural resources, which
are our national resources as well, is the great ma-
terial question of to-day. I have asked you to
come together now because the enormous con-
sumption of these resources and the threat of im-
minent exhaustion of some of them, due to reck-
less and wasteful use, once more calls for common
effort, common action.
The discovery and utilization of coal and iron
have given us our railways and have led to such in-
dustrial development as has never before been seen.
The vast wealth of luniber in our forests, the riches
of our soils and mines, the discovery of gold and
mineral oils, combined with the eftVciency of our
transportation, have made the conditions of our life
unparalleled in comfort and convenience. . . .
Disregarding for the moment the question of
moral purpose it is safe to say that the prosperity
of our people depends directly on the energy and
intelligence with which our natural resources are
used. It is equally clear that these resources are
the final basis of national power and perpetuity.
Finally it is ominously evident that these resources
are in the course of rapid exhaustion.
This nation began with the belief that its landed
possessions were illimitable and capable of sup
porting all the people who might care to make our
country their home ; but already the limit of un-
settled land is in sight, and indeed but little land
fitted for agriculture now remains unoccupied save
what can be reclaimed by irrigation and drainage.
We began with an unapproached heritage of for-
7
rv
V
:jv7
134
FOREST LEAVES.
ests ; more than half of the timber is gone. We
began with coal fields more extensive than those of
any other nation and with iron ores regarded as in-
exhaustible, and many experts now declare that the
end of both iron and coal is in sight. The mere
increase in our consumption of coal during 1907
over 1906 exceeded the total consumption in 1876,
the Centennial year. The enormous stores of min-
eral oil and gas are largely gone.
Our natural waterways are not gone, but they
have been so injured by neglect and by the divi-
sion of responsibility and utter lack of system in
dealing with them that there is less navigation on
them now than there was fifty years ago. Finally
we began with soils of unexampled fertility and
we have so impoverished them by injudicious use
and by failing to check erosion that their crop
producing power is diminishing instead of increas-
ing. In a word, we have thoughtlessly and to a
large degree unnecesarily diminished the resources
upon which not only our prosperity but the pros-
perity of our children must always depend.
We have become great because of the lavish use
of our resources and we have just reason to be
proud of our growth. But the time has come to
inquire seriously what will happen when our forests
are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil and the
gas are exhausted, when the soils shall have been
still further impoverished and washed into the
streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields
and obstructing navigation. These questions do
not relate only to the next century or to the next
generation. It is time for us now as a nation to
exercise the same reasonable foresight in dealing
with our great natural resources that would be
shown by any prudent man in conserving and
wisely using the property which contains the as-
surance of well being for himself and his chil-
dren.
Neither the primitive man nor the pioneer was
aware of any duty to posterity in dealing with the
renewable resources. When the American settler
felled^ the forests he felt that there was plenty
of forest left for the sons who came after him.
When he exhausted the soil of his farm hp felt
that his son could go v^est and take up another.
So it was with his immediate successors ; when the
soil wash from the farmer's fields choked the neigh-
boring river he thought only of using the railway
rather than boats for moving his pfoduce and sup-
plies. Now all this is changed.
So with the forests. We are on the verge of a
timber famine in this country and it is unpardon-
able for the nation or the States to permit any
further cutting of our timber save in accordance
with a system which will provide that the next
generation shall see the timber increased instead
of diminished. Moreover, we can add enormous
tracts of the most valuable possible agricultural
land to the national domain by irrigation in the
arid and semiarid regions and by drainage of great
tracks of swamp land in the humid regions. We'
can enormously increase our transportation facili-
ties by the canalization of our rivers so as to com-
plete a great system of waterways on the Pacific,
Atlantic and Gulf coasts and in the Mississippi
valley, from the great plains to the Alleghenies
and from the northern lakes to the mouth of the
mighty Father of waters. But all these various
uses of our natural resources are so closely con-
nected that they should be coordinated and should
be treated as part of one coherent plan and not in
haphazard and piecemeal fashion.
We are coming to recognize as never before the
right of the nation to guard its own future in the
essential matter of natural resources. In the past
we have admitted the right of the individual to
injure the future of the republic for his own pres-
ent profit. The time has come for a change.
There are signs that both the nation and the
States are waking up to the realization of this great
truth. On March 10, 1908, the Supreme Court of
Maine rendered an exceedingly important judicial
decision. This opinion was rendered in response
to questions as to the right of the legislature to re-
strict the cutting of trees on private land for the
prevention of drouths and floods, the preservation
of the natural, water supply and the prevention of
the erosion of such lands and the consequent fill-
ing up of rivers, ponds and lakes. The forests and
water power of Maine constitute the larger part of
her wealth and form the basis of her industrial life,
and the questions submitted by the Maine senate
to the supreme court and the answer of the supreme
court alike bear testimony to the wisdom of the
people of Maine and clearly define a policy of con-
servation of natural resources the adoption of which
is of vital importance not merely to Maine but to
the whole country.
Such a policy will preserve soil, forests, and
water power as a heritage for the children and the
children's children of the men and women of this
generation ; for any enactment that provides for
the wise utilization of the forests, whether in public
or private ownership, and for the conservation of
the water resources of the country, must neces-
sarily be legislation that will promote both private
and public welfare ; for flood prevention, water
power development, preservation of the soil and
improvement of navigable rivers are all promoted
by such a policy of forest conservation.
The opinion of the Maine supreme bench sets
forth unequivocally the principle that the property
rights of the individual are subordinate to the rights
FOREST LEAVES.
135
of the community, and especially that the waste of
wild timber land derived originally from the State
involving, as it would, the impoverishment of the
State and its people and thereby defeating one
great purpose of government, may properly be
prevented by State restrictions.
The court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey
has adopted a similar view, which has recently
been sustained by the Supreme Court of the United
States. . . . These decisions reach the root
of the idea of conservation of our resources in the
interests of our people.
Finally let us remember that the conservation
of our natural resources, though the greatest prob-
lem of to-day, is yet but part of another and
greater problem to which this nation is not yet
awake, but to which it will awake in time and
with which it must hereafter grapple if it is to
live — the problem of national efficiency, the pa-
triotic duty of insuring the safety and continuance
of the nation. When the people of the United
States consciously undertake to raise themselves
as citizens and the nation and the States in their
several spheres to the highest pitch of excellence
in private. State and national life, and to do this
because it is the first of all the duties of true pa-
triotism, then and not till then the future of this
nation, in quality and in time, will be assured.
Trees as Crops.
** TT is as sure that forest land can be made to
J^ grow successive crops of trees under proper
methods as that plow land can be made to
grow successive crops of wheat,** says the Secre-
tary of Agriculture in the part of his annual report
wherein he speaks of the National forests.
This country which once could boast of forest
resources richer than any other nation in the
world, has been cutting three times as much tim-
ber for a number of years as there is grown, and
the consideration of timber as a crop to be
carefully harvested has come at a time when many
of the virgin forests are already depleted. Con-
tinuing, Secretary Wilson says :
** Just as American farming has had to develop
and is still developing methods adapted to the
conditions of each region -to make the best use of
the agricultural lands, so must the forester learn
by scientific study and practical trial to make the
best use of our timberland. And the best use
means, of course, not merely its best use for grow-
ing trees, but its best use with reference to all in-
terests directly or indirectly aff'ected by it.
** As time passes, it will doubtless appear that
the princij)les which centuries of experience in
older countries have placed at our command can
be applied with increasing good results as we grow
more familiar with our own special conditions.
The issue is sharply drawn between caring for our
forests by applying a system of known efficiency, or
suffering certain loss not only of the forests, but of
usable water and soil as well, through the opera-
tion of causes as certain to act as are the rivers to
run to the sea. ' '
The Forest Service now has administration over
more than 164,000,000 acres of land. This is
slightly more than one-fifth of the country's total
forested area ; the remainder is in the hands of
private owners. Nearly all the timberland of the
unappropriated public domain is now in the Na-
tional forests. This means that it is being pro-
tected against fire, theft, and wasteful exploitation,
that its power t6 grow wood and store water is
being safeguarded for all time, and that neverthe-
less, its present supply of useful material is open
to immediate use whenever it is wanted. The
report says :
**The timber in the National forests, which is
the legacy of the growth of centuries, is now in
the truest sense public property, administered for
the benefit of the people — primarily for the benefit
of the people of the West, since they are nearest
at hand, but on the whole, for the benefit of every
part of the country, since the welfare of every
section is interwoven with that of all others. The
communities and settlers adjacent to the forests
are safe from any fear of monopoly of one of the
chief necessities of civilized man."
The Secretary tells interestingly of how the
government manages its timberlands as a trustee.
It gives timber away through free-use permits in
small quantities to the actual home-maker, who
comes to develop the country, and in larger quan-
tities to communities for public purposes. Its
system of management is vastly diff"erent from that
of a landlord. When large quantities of timber
are harvested from the National forests, sales are
made to the highest bidder, but under such re-
strictions as look to the maintenance of a lasting
supply answering to the needs of the locality, to
be had without favoritism and without extortionate
demand based upon the necessity of the consumer.
The student force at the Forest Academy was
callod out to but three forest fires this spring ; all
of them were small and none, except the first,
which did practially no damage, on State land.
The greater part of the Academy work for the *
winter has been completed, but on wet days reci-
tation and laboratory work is still carried on.
During April and May four special addresses were
made to the students.
!•«
')
V
4
136
FOREST LEAVES.
Hackberry. Sugar-berry (Celtis occiden-
talis, L.).
THERE are some species of trees growing in
Pennsylvania which constantly thrust them-
selves, in full vigor and faultless shape, into
your sight. The problem is, which one of many
beautiful specimens shall you select for illustration.
The case, however, is different when an illustra-
tion of Ce/fi's occidentalis is required. It does not
appear now to be anywhere abundant in Pennsyl-
vania, certainly, at least, not in the eastern half of
the State. Time was when splendid, tall, symmet-
rical specimens grew on the rich bottom-lands of
the Juniata valley. In the places where I. found
them forty years ago I find now*nothing but small
or deformed representatives. This is the more
strange, because so far as I know there has never
been any use made there of the timber. Its favor-
ite region now, in this State, seems to be the lower
Schuylkill valley, and those of the immediate tribu-
tary streams. I am indebted to my friend, Hon.
I. C. Williams, for calling my attention, and ac-
companying me, to the trees taken to illustrate this
brief paper.
The hackberry is a close botanical relative of
the elm, though it differs from it in many respects.
With us the tree occasionally attains (as did the
trunks pecimen) a height of eighty feet and a girth,
at fourfeet from the ground, of eight feet ten inches,
its nearest neighbor being seven feet ten inches
around. We ordinarily see it in the open as a
wide-spreading branching tree, but Michaux (the
younger), who saw it growing in the woods, speaks
of it thus: **The hackberry is easily distinguished
by the form of its trunk, which is straight and un-
divided to a great height, and by its bark, which
is grayish, unbroken, and covered with asperities
unequally distributed over its surface." Sargent
characterizes the bark as '' light brown or silvery
gray, broken on the surface into thick appressed
scales, and sometimes roughened by irregular wart-
like excrescences, or ridges, also found on the
large branches." We have been careful to quote
these authorities, to illustrate the fact that the tree
is as variable in its bark as in its other features.
Undoubtedly both of these statements are correct
when seen by the observers, but neither one would
give the striking character as shown by a midd/e-
stzed tree in this region. With us the bark flakes
are bent abruptly outward in sharp, rough ridges
two or three inches long, and are quite character-
istic. As the tree becomes o/d these ridges are
apt to disappear, and the gray bark returns to a
smoother condition. The bark on. the trunk illus-
tration shows this process to a certain extent. In
other words, the bark is less rough than when the
tree was younger.
In its limbs the hackberry does recall the slen-
der branches and branchlets of the elm, but one
misses the graceful droop of a typical white elm.
The young leaves, as well as the young shoots,
appearing about the last of April, are quite downy.
The adult leaves, on foot-stalks half an inch long,
are broadly, obliquely ovate, sharp-pointed, about
two or three inches long, conspicuously toothed
except near the point, with occasionally little tufts
of hair in the axils of the veins and a few scattered
hairs on the veins of either surface. On any given
hackberry tree the flowers are sometimes perfect
and sometimes unisexual, appearing with the
leaves, and in the axil, /. ^., between the young
leaf and the branchlet to which the leaf is attached.
The inconspicuous greenish-yellow calyx, has four
or five lobes, with usually a slender stamen inserted
on the disk, and in front of the calyx lobes. The
young ovary has two conspicuous, recurved, hairy
tips, or stigmas, and matures into a hard stony
fruit about a quarter of an inch in diameter with
a tough skin for a covering.
After the leaves have fallen, it is possible in this
region, to recognize the hackberry, nearly as far as
it can be seen, by the numberless tufts of clus-
tered, deformed branchlets on the younger limbs,
apparently ** a canker."
From the fact that neither the authors of
general or local systematic works have alluded
to this, one might be led to the conclusion that
it is confined to this region, and in fact that it
has only recently appeared here. How could it
have escaped the observation of Dr. Darlington,
if common in his time? This malformation is of
the character commonly called ''crow's nests,"
or ''witches' brooms," and appears in both of
our illustrations. It is probably due to a fungus.
Porcher says the tree yields a gum similar to
that of the cherry tree, and that the roots and
leaves are aromatic. The fruit has a sweet taste ;
hence the common name of sugar-berry. The
berries are reported as useful in dysentery, on a
somewhat doubtful authority.
In the south, the names nettle tree and beaver
wood are sometimes given to the tree, and
Michaux says that "on the Ohio from Pittsburg
to Marietta it is called hoop ash." The wood is
heavy, though not strong, and hence of small
value in the arts, though Sargent says it is use-
ful as a fencing material and in the manufacture
of cheap furniture. I have never seen it used in
Pennsylvania for any purpose, so far as I can now
remember.
Were it not for its unsightly "witches' brooms"
one might safely recommend it as a lawn tree.
3 2-1
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. 9
BHIPPENSBURs'
WATER CO.
r
I
O
15 M.
^ 5 V
PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF FORCSfRV
SOUTH MTN. FOREST RESERVE
CUMBERLAND, FRANKLIN ^y
>
<
H
•X
W
c
,^ h v'- w. L:^ -.y
CO
<
-J
7
<
<
1-
>
z
>
LU
CO
o
z
z
o
UJ
o
UL
o
>
>
CO
1-
z
3
o
o
UJ
o
>
^-'
cc
UJ
>
s
cc
u
cc
J-
LJJ
z
CQ
o
o
<
P\jREST Leaves, Vol. xi., No. 9.
TRUNK OF HACKBERRY (CELTIS OCCI DENTALIS, L).
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
j^7
FOREST LEAVES.
137
These, however, are only annoyingly visible in
the winter.
Few of our trees extend over a wider geo-
graphical range than this species of Celtis. It
grows, Sargent informs us, **from the valley of
the Saint Lawrence River west to eastern Dakota,
south through the Atlantic region to Bay Biscayne
and Cape Romano, Florida, and the valley to
Devil's River, Texas," attaining its greatest size
in the alluvial regions of the Mississippi and
Ohio rivers.
The physical properties of the wood are :
Specific gravity, 0.7287 ; percentage of ash,
1.09; relative approximate fuel value, 0.7208;
weight in pounds of a, cubic foot of dry wood,
45.41. In strength it stands as, 142 on the list
of our American woods.
J. T. ROTHROCK.
Forest Preservation.
MR. ROBERT A. LONG, of the Long Bell
Lumber Company, at the conference at
^ Washington on the conservation of our
natural resources, presented an excellent paper on
the forest problem of this country, portions of
which are given below, and will interest our
readers :
Aside from the soil itself, no other natural re-
source compares with our forests. Can you think
of one that comes so nearly supplying every want
of man? From the tender, touching song we
hear ** There is no place like home," and we
know that there is no other resource under the
sun that supplies so many homes in every essential
as does the tree ; especially as applied to the large
majority of our people, those whose labors go
hand and hand with the prosperity of our nation.
However crude the workman with only an axe
for his tool, he may go into the forest and build a
comfortable home in which to live. The leaves
and bark of the tree may be converted into
clothing for his body, and the nuts and fruits give
him sustenance. Look within the house, be it
shanty or mansion, and the furniture will remind
you of this natural resource.
The ties supporting the great railway systems of
this country, and nearly all the buildings con-
nected therewith, are of its product.
The mines — coal, copper, gold, silver, yea, all
minerals, from the cheapest to the dearest — re-
quire its use for their production and our satis-
faction.
Data gathered tell us we are using not less than
16,000,000,000 cubic feet annually in this direc-
tion.
What of the millions and millions of tons of
paper on which is printed the news of our great
daily newspapers, making it possible for even the
poorest inhabitants of all nations of the earth to
keep posted as to the daily happenings of the
world ?
It is claimed, and I believe truthfully, that at
least 99 per cent, of the products of our forests ai'e
used for practical and useful purposes. It is also
conceded that they have much to do with the
utilization of our rainfall, as the leaves and branches
of trees and the accumulation of humus and leaf
mould resist the compacting effect of the rain
drops, and hence the soil is kept loose, allowing
the water to percolate readily. This covering of
loose litter, twigs, etc., absorbs and holds back
the precipitation, preventing its disappearing rap-
idly by surface drainage, goes largely into the
ground, and as a sub-soil or underground drainage
reappears in the form of springs, which, being
gradually fed by percolation from above, them-
selves feed rivulets or streams of perennial char-
acter. The snows of winter melt more gradually
in forest-covered areas, giving more time for the
water resulting therefrom to soak into the ground
and pass off through the springs. The streams
fed from such sources have a continuous supply,
to be used for irrigation or such other purposes as
man may require.
- On the other hand, when the forest lands have
been denuded the rainfall passes rapidly away, and
its resulting effect is not long felt or seen except-
ing by the filling of the channels of the streams
by silt, sand, and gravel washed from above, and
the result of the waters having spread over the
adjacent low lands is the destruction of crops, im-
provements, live stock, and sometimes even the
lives of the inhabitants. It is not unusual in some
sections for the fertile valley lands to be destroyed
by pebbles, stones,, and debris carried and de-
posited by the waters.
Water power exerted through electrical energy,
and so imperative in so many industries, is impos-
sible without constant and uniform water supply,
and this cannot be had except along streams whose
headwaters have an adequate protection of forest
covering ; otherwise, the erosion of the soil soon
fills the reservoir, and waters running unobstructed
on the surface converge in great torrents, carry-
ing logs and debris of all kinds, surging irresisti-
bly through the river valleys, taking with then>
dams, gates, power plants, and destroying what
they cannot carry away.
Originally, the rivers and even the rather small
water courses of our country were, to a greater or
less extent, navigable. Their channels were deep,,
their waters mostly clear and free from sediment.
>>
0
^■>(
138
FOREST LEAVES.
At the present time, owing to the deforestation of
the lands along their banks, and especially of their
headwaters, the breaking up of the sod and the
loosening of the soil subsequent upon settlement
and cultivation of crops, these channels, formerly
deep, have been in some instances entirely filled
and everywhere rendered more shallow, until water
transportation has ceased and river navigation has
become almost obsolete on rivers which were once
teeming with commerce.
Our government is at great annual expense in
the construction of levees, dikes, jetties, and other
devices to prevent the destructive overflows, and
in dredging and deepening the channels in order
that sufficient depth of water may be obtained and
preserved to encourage the re-establishment and
preservation of our waterway navigation, so that
means of transportation, competitive with and
supplemental to that furnished by our railroads,
may be had. A substantial proportion of the
money and energy thus expended, if used in the
preservation of our forests, would materially better
conditions in this regard.
The western half of the United States contains
enough fertile land, now barren and unprofitable
only because of insufficient moisture, to support,
under adequate irrigation, a population of prob-
ably 50,000,000 people ; further than this, as it
has truly been said, such population in the west
would support a like additional population in the
manufacturing districts of the east, and the two
would support another large population engaged
in the transportation and distribution of the com-
modities of commerce between them.
The possibility of such irrigation depends
largely on the preservation of the forest cover of
the mountains, which catches and holds the melt-
ing snows, and thus forms the great storage reser-
voirs of nature.
Solomon procured all of the timbers used in the
construction of the Temple, as well as in other
buildings, from the forests of Lebanon by a con-
tract therefor with Hiram, King of Tyre, in whose
dominion they lay, and he supplied 80,000 labor-
ers to assist in cutting and hewing the trees. The
timber was loaded into ships and conveyed to
Joppa, thence by land to Jerusalem. The region
about Jerusalem was fertile, and Solomon pro-
visioned more than 150,000 men for a period of
perhaps twenty years, and supplied Hiram with
150,000 measures of wheat, with as much barley,
besides 150,000 gallons of wine and a like quan-
tity of oil annually, from which we must under-
stand the country was rich and productive. These
forests have all been destroyed, with no renewal
thereof, and with their destruction disappeared
the fertile soil. The rain-bearing clouds no longer
float above the mountains of Syria. The brooks
and small streams of Palestine no longer exist, and
throughout Syria stone furnishes the only material
for building, and wood is as precious as silver.
In Sinai and Palestine, by Dean Stanley, an
authoritative record, appears the following :
**The countless ruins of Palestine, of whatever
date they may be, tell us at a glance that we must
not judge the resources of the ancient land by its
present depressed and desolate state. They show
us not only that * Syria might support tenfold its
present population and bring forth tenfold its
present product,' but that it actually did so.
And this brings us to the question which eastern
travelers so often ask, and are asked on their re-
turn, ' Can these stony hills, these deserted val-
leys be indeed the Land of Promise, the land
flowing with milk and honey?' "
The effect and influence of forests on the
climate, health, and water conditions of the
country are evidenced by the chronicles of the
Mosaic, the Roman, and the Greek writers, and
many of their far-seeing priests prevented the
destruction of the forests. The consecration of
groves to religious uses, and to various mythologi-
cal rites connected with them, are evidences of
the reverence the ancients had for forests. Homer
calls the mountain woodlands the '' Habitations
of the gods, in which the mortals never felled the
trees, but where they fell from age when their
time has come ;" and in his Tree and Woodland
Nymphs, originating in springs, he suggests the
intimate relation of forests and springs.
Aristotle, in his National Economy, points out
that an assured supply of accessible wood material
is one of the *' necessary conditions of the exist-
ence of a city."
Plato writes that the consequences of deforesta-
tion are the ** sickening'of the country." Cicero,
in one of his philippics, designates those engaged
in forest devastation as the enemies of the public
interests.
Mesopotamia, one of the most sterile countries
in the east, was once praised on account of its fer-
tility, where, according to Herodotus, the culture,
of the grape could not succeed on account of the
moisture, and the Euphrates river, once the source
of an ample water supply, is swallowed up in this
desert.
Greece shows the progress of a similar decad-
ence. Sicily, once the never-failing granary of
the Roman empire while it was well wooded,
is now entirely deforested, and crop failures are
the rule. Caesar and other Roman writers de-
scribe the 'Wast forests" throughout the entire
territory.
Since then the progress of civilization has de-
FOREST LEAVES.
139
forested thousands of square miles. Many coun-
tries, where the destruction has been most reck-
less, have taken systematic measures to control the
destruction and secure the reproduction of ex-
hausted areas. To this they have been driven,
not only by the lack of timber and fuel, but also
by the prejudicial effects exerted upon the climate
and the irrigation of the country by this denuda-
tion.
In Denmark, much of the wood which, at one
time, covered nearly the whole country has been
•cut down to make way for agriculture and to sup-
ply fuel and timber, and the vast area thus bared
has become a sandy desert. Parts of Bohemia,
Hungary, and Austria have been rendered practi-
cally valueless because the growing forests were
destroyed.
In France, the frequent inundations of the last
fifty years were caused, as is stated by writers, by
the deforesting of the sources of the Rhone and
Saone. Since that time thousands of acres are
annually planted, and where the forests have
been restored the conditions have changed for the
better.
In the Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 6,
page 4, it is said :
*' Hence, the essential difference between the
■climate of two countries, the one well covered
with forests and the other not, lies in this, that
the heat of the day is more equally distributed
over the twenty-four hours in the former case, and
therefore less intense during the warmest part of
the day ; hence, the nights are warmer and the
days are cooler in wooded districts." And so it
is also said : ** Nothing is more certain than that
forests not only prevent evaporation of moisture
by protecting the surface of the earth, but they
serve to retain the light clouds, which otherwise
would be distributed, until they contain sufficient
consistence to descend in rain or refreshing
mists."
In the American Forest Congress, in 1905, the
Hon. John Lamb quoted the following from Ber-
nard Pallissy, which is so pregnant of truth that
it will bear repeating: **. . for when the
forests shall be cut all arts shall cease and they
who practice them shall be driven out to eat grass
with Nebuchadnezzar and the beasts of the field.
I have at divers times thought to set down in writ-
ing the arts that would perish when there shall be
no more wood ; but when I had written down a
great number I did perceive that there will be no
end of my writing, and, having diligently consid-
•ered, I found that there was not any which could
not be followed without wood, and I could well
allege a thousand reasons, but it is so cheap a phi-
losophy that the very chamber wenches if they do
but think may see that without wood it is not
possible to exercise any manner of human art or
cunning."
China has paid absolutely no attention to the
preservation of her forests ; hardly a twig is left
in what were her great forest fields, while Japan,
close by, has 59 per cent, of her total area under
forests, and the government has reserved under
its control a very large part of the whole. Com-
pare the conditions of these two countries, side
by side, and draw your own conclusions. While
practically all other countries are effectually prac-
ticing forestry, none of them, I believe, save
Sweden and Russia, foresaw the difficulties toward
which they were drifting — at least made any effort
to provide against them until they found themselves
importing lumber in great quantities.
One nation, Germany, paid out in a single year
$80,000,000, and still its timber reserves are
being depleted at a rapid rate. Realizing into
what condition she was drifting, she set at work
to remedy the evil, and to-day is in the forefront
in working out this great problem, and it will not
be many years before she will be producing an
annual crop equal to her consumption. This is
most commendable, but it would have been much
less expensive and more business-like had she
exercised the same judgment and forethought that
our leading business men make use of in handling
the problems affecting their interests to-day. As
is usually true, those spending the most money in
the development of an industry obtain the best
net results.
Considering all of the above, coupled with the
fact that from the viewpoint of the value of annual
production it stands as the fourth greatest industry
in the United States, being exceeded only by,
first, food and kindred products, the annual value
of which is $2,845,234,900 ; second, textiles,
annual value, $2,147,441,418; third, iron and
steel and their products, annual value, $2,176,-
739,726; lumber coming fourth, annual value,
$1,223,730,336, which pays annually in wages
about $100,000,000, providing an income and
living for something like 2,000,000 of our people,
can it be passed licrhtly by without bringing upon
our heads the censure of the generation that will
live after us ?
But need we say more of the important part
forests play in the affairs of our country, or what
bearing they have had and are having on the
nations of the world ? It seems to me we should
determine, if we can, the life of our forests undei:
existing conditions and upon the course necessary
to their perpetuation.
In January, 1903, I prepared a paper on the
subject **Stumpage," to be read at a convention
' \
f.'i
I
i!
>>
V
>>>
.140
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
141
of lumbermen. I spent a vast deal of time in
gathering the data necessary to its preparation ; I
took into account only the white and Norway
pine of the Lake States, the yellow pine of the
south, and the timber growing in Oregon, Wash-
ington, and California, as they were the only
woods entering in any large way into the lumber
. supply of this country, calculating that long
before any of the woods in question had been
exhausted, practically all other woods in our
nation would largely have passed out of use.
My investigation led me to make a statement
that the timber in the Lake States would not ex-
ceed 60,000,000,000 feet ; that within ten years
it would probably play no larger part in the lum-
ber supply of this country than did poplar at that
time. I see no reason to change that statement
unless the effects following our recent panic,
which are very depressing on the lumber indus-
try, should continue longer than now is expected.
As to the life of the southern yellow pine, I
gave it as my belief that eighteen years would
find it cutting no great figure in our lumber sup-
ply. I am more convinced of the correctness of
this statement now than I was then. Adding the
white pine, yellow pine, and Pacific Coast prod-
ucts together, my estimate was that the life for all
was forty one years. I am not so sure as to the
amount of timber on the Pacific Coast, but I do
not believe the total life of all will vary to exceed
five years from the date indicated.
Some calculate that substitutes, such as cement,
will likely curtail the demands for lumber. Judg-
ing from the experience of other countries, they
will not. Even in England, where nearly all of
the lumber used is imported, their lumber con-
sumption per capita is increasing at the rate of 5
per cent, per annum. In France and this country
it is increasing at the rate of 10 per cent, per
capita. But why speculate on our timber supply,
a question of such great importance to this nation,
when definite information can be had? It is
unlike any of our other natural resources. It all
stands above the ground and can be estimated with
great accuracy. Men and money are the only
means necessary for securing this valuable infor-
mation. The former can be had by supplying the
latter. Should a nation as rich as ours hesitate to
furnish the means re(iuired for information of such
great value?
My plan would be to take our timber areas and,
working them by counties, parishes, or townships,
make a complete estimate, as if a purchase were
to be made ; where the timber was practically the
same in several counties, townships, or parishes
near each other., a careful estimate of one and a
reckoning of others on the same basis would be
sufficiently accurate for all purposes. This would
give us a correct basis to start with, and from
which intelligent statements could be made in the
future.
The owner of a given piece of property is con-
trolled, as to retention or disposition, largely by
the net results that may be obtained at different
periods. Carrying charges, or the expense inci-
dent to holding a commodity or article of com-,
merce, enter very largely into such calculations.
Taxes constitute a large part of such charges and
have no little bearing on the subject under con-
sideration. Instead of timber lands being favored
in order to encourage their conservation, not only
for the benefit of the owner but for the use of
generations yet unborn, they are not given an even
chance with other properties.
The crop of the farmer is taxed when it is ready
for the market, and no crop is taxed more than
once. A crop of timber is taxed continuously and
annually until disposed of. The farmer's crop '
matures yearly ; the crop of the timber owner
matures once in about one hundred years.
Let us illustrate : As the value of the timber is
less in its earlier years than when matured, we
will use fifty years as the average life, basing the
value on the matured product. Rice, cotton, and
sugar lands in some sections of the south, in close
proximity to timber lands, are assessed at about
the same prices as timber lands. The rice, cotton,
and sugar lands net the owner at least $7.50 an
acre annually after paying taxes and all other
expenses. In fifty years the owner would get
^37 5 o^ of each acre of his land, besides obtaining
enough annuallv to pay his taxes ; the land itself
being worth $50 an acre, making a total of $425,
plus the interest on the money made annually,
while the timber owner could not get more than
$120 an acre in the gathering of his entire matured
crop, after spending a goodly fortune in building
a plant preparatory to its harvest. Again, the
cut-over lands are taxed practically their full value,
thereby making it burdensome to carry them,
much less to spend anything on them for the
purpose of reforestation.
The effect of such laws is shown in the State of
Michigan, where over 6,000,000 acres have re-
verted to the State. A like condition, to a lesser
extent, exists in other States. I find the consti-
tutions of several States permit them to exempt
such properties from taxation ; others permit
them to classify; others either to exempt or clas-
sify.
And now we come to the vital point of the
subject — namely, the conservation and perpetua-
tion of this great resource. In dealing with this
subject, as it now presents itself to us, it becomes-
necessary to dwell on some features that directly
and immediately affect the interests of the timber
owners. Belonging to that class, we would refer
to these features with some embarrassment did we
not feel it had been our purpose, in preparing
these thoughts for your consideration, to treat
them on broader and more patriotic lines than
any exclusively selfish idea would permit ; besides,
we believe the thoughts presented will appeal to
you as eminently fair and correct, and will of them-
selves prevent your ascribing to us a selfish motive.
I want to give especial emphasis to the statement
that conservation and perpetuation of our forests
and unremunerative prices for lumber cannot
travel the same road ; for conservation means to
handle, to treat, to take care of, and save in such
manner as to retain the use or benefit of a given
product as long as possible. Perpetuation of
forests means so to exploit the forests as to make
them continuous and perpetual, which can be done
only by spending money continuously in planting,
seeding, protecting, etc., while low prices of any
commodity means neglect and waste. This cannot
be more forcibly illustrated than by the conditions
existing to-day as applied to lumber ; on account
of the low prices now prevailing, the logs making
low-grade lumber, secured principally from that
portion of the tree approaching the limbs and
constituting at least 20 per cent, of the forests,
are left in the woods to rot or be burned, because
the lumberman would no more think, of using the
raw material, out of which he could not obtain
cost, than the farmer would harvest a crop of
faulty corn out of which he could not obtain" the
cost of gathering.
This leaving of 20 per cent, of our logs in the
woods, as applied to the yellow pine industry
alone, if we market as much lumber this year ps
last, means that we will have wasted over 300,000
acres of forest land ; and so, in order that the
product of these low-grade logs may take their
place in the lumber supply of the world and our
timber saved or conserved, the manufacturer
must, at least, have cost for his low-grade lumber,
which means a comparatively better price for the
better grade ; and this need not necessarily mean
high-priced lumber, but the price must be removed
materially from the prices now prevailing, and
such as we touch periodically, even in normally
good times. For lumber is like every other prod-
uct— controlled by supply and demand — and if
we build mills with sufficient capacity to supply
the demand of the country in times of extreme
activity, such as we had in 1906 and the first two-
thirds of 1907, we will have capacity beyond our
requirements in normal times, and, under such
conditions, down go the prices.
On account of such varying and unstable con-
ditions it will be found difficult, if not impossible,
to get the timber owner to enter actively into the
methods required for the perpetuation of the for-
ests by spending even the minimum required,
which Lunderstand to be about 50 cents a thousand.
While this does not seem a large amount, there
are concerns making as much as 250,00^,000 feet
of lumber per annum, and hence to these the cost
of this item would be $125,000 per annum. If
his, or its, competitor was pursuing the same prac-
tice, all would be well ; if not, he would, for the
immediate present, be out that much more money
than his competitor ; and during dull periods,
such as now, when prices were close to the cost
line, even for the better grades of lumber, he
would hardly feel disposed to contract for such an
outlay.
The government, owning only about 22 per
cent, of our forest areas, cannot alone, to any
great degree, effect what we are seeking in this
conference,* so far as forests are concerned. It
might, however, accomplish the purpose in one
of the following ways :
First — The government could, by a contractural
relation with the owners of the forests where
lumbering operations are now being carried on
(who constitute at least 80 per cent, of the timber
holders of the United States), provide that con-
servation and reforestation should be practiced
under rules prescribed by the Forestry Depart-
ment, and assess the cost thereof against the
timber lands proportionately.
These rules should provide that the lumbering
operations, so far as conservation and reforestation
were concerned, should be conducted under gov-
ernmental control ; that no more timber should
be cut than was necessary to supply the current
demands, thus maintaining such uniformity of
prices as would justify the operator to utilize every
log the tree would produce ; that only trees-of a
certain size should be cut ; that seed trees, prop-
erly distributed, should be left ; that the young
growth should be protected from fires and other
elements of destruction ; and it would seem clear
that the establishment of such a relationsKip
would certainly accomplish this highly desired
object.
Second — A plan might be worked out jointly
between the owners of the timber lands and the
government by which conservation and reforesta-
tion would be practiced along such lines as the
government might lay down, as outlined above,
and the timber owners be protected in the prices
of all lands cut over and handled under the con-
ditions prescribed.
Whatever plan is adopted must furnish an in-
■>
><
142
FOREST LEAVES.
centive, a substantial inducement, to the timber
owners to forego a present gain for the public
good, and in this matter it can be accomplished
only by governmental co-operation. And what
is done should be done quickly, for the time is
fast approaching when our forests will be so nearly
gone, when the destruction will be so nearly com-
pleted that it will be too late.
Will the government avail itself of this golden
opportunity to lend its aid to conservation of this
splendid natural resource in order to supply the
timber for future generations ? Be wise and patri-
otic enough to provide for the inevitable result
that must occur before the middle of the twentieth
century, and thereby perform the true function of
all good governments in the promotion of the
health, wealth, and prosperity of the people. Or,
with climatic changes following the destruction of
our forests, shall manufacture die with them and
commerce fall as a natural result of agricultural
and manufacturing decadence?
And now, before closing, I want to* say again,
aside from the soil itself, this is the most important
natural resource at the command of the American
people to-day. It has its most intensely practical
side, but it is not by any means devoid of its
sentimental side, the absence of which from the
human breast leaves one devoid of one of the
most beautiful attributes of human kind.
Foresters for the Great Railway
Companies.
THE time has come when all our great rail-
way companies must make suitable provi-
sion for a future supply of timber to fill
the great demand for ties, poles, posts, bridges
and other constructions of timber.
They have found out that to-day the annual de-
mand for timber is from loo to 125 billion bd. ft.,
while the supply or growth cannot be more than
50 billion feet. This means a total exhaustion
of present and future reserves in about 40 years.
It is also known that they have in the aggregate
from 275,000 to 300,000 miles of railway to be
suffplied with not less than 95,000,000 to 100,-
000,000 ties annually ; about 200,000 to 300,000
poles; 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 posts, and many
other construction timbers. In other words, that
they are very large consumers of forest products
and will be for centuries to come. They have
also awakened to the fact that they have, in the
right of way and government land grants, millions
of acres of land suitable to tree growth, which to-
day for the most part lies idle. Therefore, many
of them will follow the example of the Pennsyl-
vania and Santa Fe Railway Companies, of mak-
ing use of this waste land and employing com-
petent foresters, who are to see to it that in from
25 to 40 years they shall be able to harvest ties
and poles from their own land. I am sure they
could not make a wiser move than this. Should
it even be decided to use part of the right of way
along the tracks for raising ties and poles, it
would not come amiss, but in some cases would
beautify the road-bed ; in others it would hold
embankments and prevent wash-outs. Take the
total mileage of all the roads at 300,000 miles,
with 100,000 miles of right of way unsuitable for
raising trees, such as in or about cities, on dry and
arid plains and so forth, there will still be 200,-
000 miles of track that might be utilized for tree
growth. Now if one-half of that amount of right
of way is planted, with but two rows on either side
of the track, six feet apart, 350 million trees can
be raised, suitable either for ties or poles, every 25
years, or a yearly crop of 14,000,000 trees on the
right of way alone. If every tree makes one
pole or two good ties and a post, it would mean
28,000,000 ties and 14,000,000 posts, or, in other
words, a considerable percentage of the demand
for ties and posts.
Besides this, most of the large railway com-
panies, such as the great trunk lines and the
western and southern lines, own enough land
which, in charge of good competent foresters,
could be made to produce for them ties, posts and
poles enough to save the buying of the same in
25 to 40 years from now. Several of the com-
panies are beginning to see that a wiser invest-
ment could not be made than to take what land
they hold and can procure cheaply, planting the
same to timber, suitable for their own use.
If only half of the great railway companies
would do this it would mean the employment of
a large corps of men who understand silviculture,
lumbering, the raising and handling of forest
crops and nurseries.
The following railroads have already made a
beginning in forestry : The Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, The Santa Fe Railway Company, and
The Southern Pacific Railway Company.
C. H. GOETZ.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
^^
FOREST LEAVES.
143
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest. ^
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements^ expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
Yale UniVBr^itg Forest pohool
NEW HAVEN - - CONNECTICUT
A two years* graduate course
is offered, leading to the de-
gree of Master of Forestry.
Graduates of collegiate institu-
tions of high standing are ad-
mitted upon presentation of
their college diplomas.
The Summer School of
Forestry is conducted at Mil-
ford, Pike County, Penna.
For further information address
HENRY S. GRAVES, Director,
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
B0ABDIN6 SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
TUtutrated Catalogue upon application*
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., Prmdmt.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
JACOB 8. DISSTON. . FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES. RANDAL MORGAN.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN. H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
J. LEVERING JONES. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
i>
^
144
FOREST LEAVES.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not— Why Not?
SPRING PLANTING DAYS ARE HERE !
BETTER GET ACaUAINTED ! !
OIME ITEM-OUR PIIV OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations,: =Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES:' 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
' SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
#; »« « f* T u 1- J ^^^^ P*'" ^° Per loo
o to 7 ft. Low-branched «t «« »o ^ ».=
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched .... , ^.
_ _ ^ I 25 10 00 70 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i^ to i^ in. cal ^ 50 13 50 12s 00
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i3,/ to 2 in. cal ^ 00 17 50 i« 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched ; 2 to 2;^ in. cal ^ ^^ ,^ ^^^ ^^
10 to 12 ft. 2^ to 3 in. . . ^
^ , , ^ 3 50 30 00 275 00
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
Send for SPRING PlIICE L,IST.
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Vol. XI.
Philadelphia, August, 1908.
No. 10.
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY- ASSOCIATION,
Z012 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorial i45
Narrative of the Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association, ^4°
Words of Welcome by the Hon. Robert S. Conkliu, Commis-
sioner of Forestry '4°
Words of Welcome by the Hon. Samuel G. Dixon, Commissioner
of Health "49
Forestry in Pennsylvania (Presidential Address) 151
Chestnut Culture 'S^
Shrinkage of Wood when Dried 158
Forestry on the Girard Estate 158
Subscription, $x.oo per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^Forest Leaves as an advertising tnediutn. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual ntemher ship fee. Two dollars.
Life tnetndership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1013 Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. 8. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council- at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W, N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
IVork, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William S. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp.
County Organization, 'SzmxxcX Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
Jamet C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
OVFICB OF THE ASSOCIATION, lOia WaLNUT St., PHILADELPHIA.
EDITORIAL.
7^ T no time has the movement to protect and
h\ preserve our forests had so many friends
as at present, and the number of well-
wishers may be expected to increase.
The President of the United States is an earnest
advocate of forest protection, and Congress has
acted favorably upon some of the recommenda-
tions demanding appropriations. In Pennsylvania
Governor Stuart expressed himself as believing
that one-fifth of the area of the State should be
maintained in forest reserves, and the legislature
has been liberal in providing funds to purchase
reserves, maintain the Forest Academy, and en-
large sanatoria in the reserves.
Governors of other States at the late conference
in Washington expressed a determination to enlist
their people in the cause of forest preservation.
Membership in State and national forestry asso-
ciations is increasing, and with few exceptions the
newspapers and periodicals of the country give
space to discussions of features of forest protection.
Arbor Days are recognized in many States, and
education now embraces some forestal studies.
We are delighted to chronicle these favorable
conditions, but at the risk of appearing pessimistic
we venture the assertion that now is the time for
watchfulness on the part of the friends of forestry.
The expenditures of large sums of money invite
attention of those anxious to profit by its disburse-
ment ; the salaried positions, which the adminis-
tration and care of forest reserves require, are in-
ducements for men to seek these for the compen-
sation, and not because of knowledge or even
interest in forest culture or care, and the popu-
larity of the cause may encourage bureaucratic
administration which will be more serviceable to
coteries of officials than to the cause of true for-
estry. Such influences have damaged other good
efforts, and we should be alert to see that forestry
does not suffer from these.
;
>^
i
146
FOREST LEAVES.
The acquisition of forest reserves and their care
require generous appropriations, but these will be
merely investments, from which profitable returns
will be assured if good business policies control
the actions of those upon whom the responsibility
rests. But the existence and maintenance of forest
reserves is, in most portions of the country, a com-
paratively new departure, which has obtained
popular support after years of persistent urgency
on the part of those who, appreciating future con-
ditions, have been active in exploiting the forestry
movement as a necessary conservation of a resource
of primary importance, and the wisdom of this
course will be decided from the results obtained.
Under capable and conscientious management
forest reserves may be made a source of profit to
the States or nation, but the reverse may follow
if incompetents secure positions of authority, or if
those in charge can consider their appointment as
made for political reasons or primarily to secure
places on the pay rolls. Practical, not academic,
forestry is what is required, and not all who quote
' * Woodman spare that tree ' ' may be considered
as of assistance in the development of forestry.
^^ J. B.
Narrative of the Chambersburg Meeting
of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.
THE Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association will prove a
pleasant memory to all who had the good
fortune to participate, for the exhibition of the
practical side of forestry was a revelation to most
of those present, and the advances made by the
State was the cause of general satisfaction.
A heavy storm on the evening of June 9, which
delayed the assembling of members for the open-
ing session in beautiful Thomson Hall, placed at
the disposal of the Association by the Board of
Trustees of Wilson College for Women, was the
only sign of unfavorable weather. The succeed-
ing days were delightful, and the storm served a
good purpose in demonstrating ocularly the in-
fluence of forest cover in preventing erosion, for
while the streams in the open country were dis-
colored by soil washing, those in the woodland
were clear.
President M. H. Reaser welcomed the Associa-
tion to the College, and Attorney J. D. Ludwig
spoke on behalf of the Borough of Chambersburg, I
and during the entire meeting performed in the
most acceptable manner the duties of a Local
Committee.
Hon. Robert S. Conklin read the following
letter from Governor Stuart :
Harrisburg, June 8, 1908.
Honorable John Birkinbine,
Hotel Washington, Chambersburg, Pa.
Afy Dear Sir : Referring to your favor of re-
cent date, inviting me to attend the meeting of
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association at Cham-
bersburg, on June 9-1 r, 1908, I regret very
much to be compelled to say that, owing to im-
portant engagements for the dates mentioned
which cannot be postponed, I am reluctantly
compelled to forego the pleasure of being with
you.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association is to be
congratulated for its valuable work in furthering
the forestry cause in Pennsylvania. I am in-
formed that no State except the State of New
York surpasses Pennsylvania in area of forestry
reserves, and that no State equals Pennsylvania in
the matter of forestry administration. Pennsyl-
vania is now conducting the forestry movement
in a comprehensive and practical way. Her
Forestry Academy for educating trained foresters
for the work upon the forestry reserves and the
State's tree nurseries attracted wide attention.
I most cordially commend and indorse the
work of your Association, and hope that its
future will prove as valuable as has its past.
Thanking you for your thoughtful and generous
courtesy in inviting me to attend your meeting,
I am, Very truly yours, .
Edwin S. Stuart.
President Birkinbine' s address, which appears
in our columns, described what the United States
had done in securing forest reserves, and com-
pared the result with the records of other coun-
tries ; following the same course as to different
States he demonstrated the advanced position
which Pennsylvania claims in practical efforts for
forest reform.
The next speaker, Mr. S. B. Elliott, of the
State Forestry Reservation Commission, ably and
convincingly discussed '* What Constitutes Prac-
tical Forestry," the last speaker of the evening
being Mr. Alfred Gaskill, Forester and Secretary
Forest Park Reservation Commission of New
Jersey, who presented the subject of '*A Paid
State Fire Service."
On Wednesday, June 10, the special cars as-
signed by courtesy of the Cumberland Valley
Railroad to the Association were run into Mont
Alto Park, where students of the Forest Academy
mounted on horses awaited the party, and after
a short drill dismounted and served as guides.
Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Commissioner of
Forestry, welcomed the Association and made a
brief address, which will be found in another
}^f
FOREST LEAVES.
147
column. Under the guidance of the Forestry
Reservation Commissioners, Messrs. Conklin,
Elliott, Rothrock and Miss Dock, Director Wirt,
his professors and students, the nurseries were in-
spected and the salient features of the work done
at Mont Alto explained. So much interest was
shown in the three million seedlings of pine,
spruce, walnut, etc., the new dormitory and its
class-rooms, where the work of the students was
exhibited, that a call to luncheon was necessary
to bring the scattered party together.
While comfortably enjoying this mid-day meal
an orchestra composed of students of the Forest
Academy enlivened the occasion with music.
Mr. W. S. Harvey offered a resolution which was
unanimously passed commending Governor Edwin
S. Stuart for reappointing Hon. Robert S. Conklin
and Dr. J. T. Rothrock as members of the Forestry
Reservation Commission, and respectfully recom-
mending similar action in the cases of the other
members whose commissions will soon expire.
The President was requested to present this
to the Governor. After lunch carriages con-
veyed the party three miles up the mountain to
the Pennsylvania State South Mountain Sana-
torium for Tuberculosis, where Dr. Samuel G.
Dixon, Commissioner of Health, welcomed the
visitors and described the Sanatorium and its work.
Dr. Dixon's audience consisted of the members
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, 140
patients of the Sanatorium, and others who were
attracted to the grove. His remarks appear in
another column. Then Dr. Dixon, assisted by
Drs. Addison Rothrock and Geo. H. Fox, escorted
the visitors through the older portion of the
Sanitorium, ending in the newer section where 40
cottages are being built together with open air
pavilions and dining-hall, which, when completed,
will enable the Camp to accommodate in the new
portion over 300 patients.
The two illustrations in this issue show forest
views in the Mont Alto Section of the South
Mountain Reserve, and are furnished through the
courtesy of the Forestry Department.
Returning to Chambersburg in the evening, a
second session was held in Thomson Hall. Prof.
F. W. Besley, State Forester of Maryland, spoke
on ** Woodlot Forestry " and the important place
it should occupy.
Mr. Wm. S. Harvey, Vice-President of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association and President
of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, made
an address on the ** Desirability of Forest Re-
serves in the Eastern Portion of the Continent,"
presenting a strong plea for the proposed Southern
Appalachian and White Mountain forest reserves.
Prof. H. A. Surface, Economic Zoologist of
Pennsylvania, closed the session with an illus-
trated address on the ** Insect Enemies of the
Forest and Methods of Their Control, ' ' mention-
ing some of the numerous pests which prey on the
forests, and the best means of destroying them.
On Thursday morning special trolley cars con-
veyed the members to Caledonia Park, where a
third session was held in the pavilion.
Prof. W. J. Green, Chief of Department of
Forestry of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment
Station read a paper on ' ' Co-operative Forestry, ' '
describing the methods pursued in Ohio.
Mr. Irvin P. Williams, Deputy Commissioner
of Forestry, read a paper prepared by Mr. C. K.
Sober, of the Pennsylvania Game Commission,
entitled, ''Chestnut Culture," showing the excel-
lent results which he has attained in the profitable
culture of the chestnut tree.
Mr. Farley Gannett, Engineer of the Water
Supply Commission of Pennsylvania, spoke on
'' What Stream Gagings Indicate as to the Run-
off from Forested and Barren Areas," showing
the influence of forests on the flow of streams,
and the mitigation of floods and droughts.
The following resolution was offered by Mr.
Joseph Johnson and unanimously carried :
Resolved^ That the thanks of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association are tendered for the various
courtesies received during the Chambersburg
meeting. It appreciates the cordial official wel-
come from the Borough authorities, the generous
tender of the beautiful Thomson Hall of Wilson
College by the Board of Trustees, and the cordial
expression of good will by its President.
'* The excellent provision for entertainment and
profitable enjoyment and the generous hospitality
of the Forestry Reservation Commission, the
Director of the Forest Academy, and its faculty
and student corps. The provision made by the
Commissioner of Health to exhibit the practical
utilization of our forest reserves for the good of
our fellows.
''The Association also records its hearty approval
of forest reservations and their utilization, which
have been exhibited to its inspection, and ex-
presses the hope that the encouragement given by
the late conference at Washington which caused
the governors of several States to announce their
intention to appoint forest commissions, will also
cause them to study the legislation and adminis-
tration which has made forestry a success in Penn-
sylvania."
A feature of the sessions was the presentation
of the oldest resident of the vicinity, who, as a
young man, was associated with the Caledonia
3f/
148
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
149
property when it was operated by the late Thad-
deus Stevens, and was followed by an infant from
the Mont Alto reservation who wore an Associa-
tion badge.
The members then visited nearby portions of
the Caledonia reserve, including the Park, the
small Nursery, and enjoyed the luncheon which
was served at the Graffenburg Inn. Most of the
party left to take the afternoon trains to their
homes, but those who remained planted 15 white
pine trees, which were duly named.
Words of Welcome by the Hon. Robert S.
Conklin, Commissioner of Forestry.
Mr. President, and Members of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association : — It is a pleasure to
welcome you to one of the most important re-
serves belonging to the Commonwealth, not only
because of your interest in the work of forest res-
toration, but because it was through the efforts
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association that
State forest reserves were made possible.
You have all given much of your time and con-
tributed liberally of your means in furthering the
cause of forestry, and your early efforts did not
bring much encouragement from those in official
position. However, you did not become dis-
couraged, but exerted additional effort to obtain
State recognition, knowing full well that the per-
petuity of the State demanded that the State itself
take up the work of reforesting its bared hillsides
sooner or later, and the sooner the better.
Finally, in 1893, the Legislature passed, and
Governor Pattison approved, an Act authorizing
the appointment of a Commission to investigate
and report upon the watersheds of the State and
their timber conditions. This was practically the
entering wedge which compelled State recogni-
tion.
In 1895 a Department of Agriculture was
created, one of its divisions being devoted to
Forestry, but under this Act no authority was
given to acquire lands.
However, in the session of 1897, authority was
provided whereby the Commissioner of Forestry
could acquire lands by purchasing at tax sales such
lands as he considered desirable, but at a price not
in excess of the taxes and costs.
In this manner the State acquired 2 1,2 80 acres
48 perches of forest reserves.
In 1899 an Amendment was secured to the
Act of 1897 authorizing the purchase of other
lands than those offered at tax sales, provided
the price paid should not exceed the assessed
value, and provided further that this value should
not exceed five dollars per acre. This was an
advance over the original Act, but still not what
was required.
Under these two Acts no large areas could be
acquired, but in 1901 a Department of Forestry
was created, and authority granted to purchase any
lands at a price not in excess of $5.00 per acre.
After the first Act recognizing the fact that
forest restoration must be undertaken by the State^
the Legislature freely granted all that was asked
by those in charge of the State's Forestry work.
All this occurred during a period of eight years
and was the result of work done by the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association. Your General Sec-
retary was untiring in his efforts during the years
prior to 1893. He traversed the State from end
to end, meeting the people and educating them
to think rightly upon the subject. He gave in-
numerable lectures illustrated by photographic
views, by means of which the truths relating to-
Pennsylvania's forestal conditions were unanswer-
ably presented. As the first Commissioner of
Forestry, he laid the broad foundation upon
which the Department of Forestry stands to-day,
shaped its policy and mapped its course, so that
it remains as planned, with a businesslike admin-
istration of its affairs. In all his efforts he was
most ably seconded by the officers and members
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, who at
all times readily and willingly rendered aid, both
in times of fair sailing and in greater stress of
weather.
To-day the State's Forest Reserves aggregate
nearly 800,000 acres, and we have about 75,000
acres under contract.
For these reasons I congratulate the Association
that it is able to meet here under favorable
auspices after 22 years of continuous effort, to see
and examine the full fruition of its purpose. You
are welcome to the reserve and all its privileges,,
and may you enjoy them to the fullest degree.
The presence of Messrs. Conklin, Elliott, Roth-
rock, and Miss Dock of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Reservation Commission throughout the Cham-
bersburg Meeting was greatly appreciated, as a
recognition of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion, and their individual efforts to add to the
comfort and assist in giving information to the
visitors helped to make the meeting successful.
We are sure that other members of the Com-
mission will join us in special thanks to Miss Mira
L. Dock, whose thoughtfulness and energy were
constantly in evidence.
Words of ^Velcome by Hon. Samuel G.
Dixon, Commissioner of Health.
Members of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
Hon : — This is a pleasing occasion to me, for it
demonstrates the harmonious working of two great
Departments of the Commonwealth in conserving
the interest of the people.
Too frequently specialists do not see very far
beyond their own particular line of work. This,
however, was not the case with Dr. J. T. Roth-
rock, who had a broad and varied education, both
in medicine and botany. Thus grounded, when
he became Commissioner of Forestry he conceived
tha idea of utilizing State property not only for
the preservation of the mountain streams and the
trees, but also for the relief of those suffering from
tuberculosis. Notwithstanding his onerous duties
in educating the people to appreciate the neces-
sity of preserving and cultivating the forests, he
solicited and secured a State appropriation to
establish the first free State Sanatorium in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was a small
camp, but so successful that it convinced the peo-
ple that his plan to use a State forestry reservation
for tuberculous patients was an economic and
feasible one, and that South Mountain was a wise
selection, as he demonstrated by the good results
obtained in treating incipient cases of tuberculosis.
After the State had realized the necessity of
creating a Department of Health, Dr. Rothrock
and the Commissioner of Forestry, Mr. Conklin,
suggested placing the camp for tuberculosis under
the care of the Commissioner of Health, believing
that the newly organized Department with all its
machinery for general sanitary medicine could
better conduct the work. One of my first acts
when made Commissioner was to have the Advi-
sory Board of the State Department of Health
place tuberculosis on the list of communicable dis-
eases, that we might as soon as possible learn how
much we had in our State, where the cases were
located, and thus be better able to make the fight
against one of man's greatest enemies.
The Republican platform pledged the party to
put into practice what members of the Pennsyl-
vania Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis
had long advocated — namely, an adequate system
of State aid for indigent tuberculous patients. On
the election of our good Governor, Edwin S.
Stuart, the realization of this plan was assured.
With the approval of Governor Stuart, a scheme
was formulated to provide for the curable cases
where conditions would permit them going to a
sanatorium, and a dispensary in every county for
those who could not leave their homes, and also
an infirmary for the incurable cases, so that these
might be removed to comfortable quarters where
they would not be a menace to the health of their
families and the general public. This plan met
with an enthusiastic reception by the legislators,
who made its success possible by a generous appro-
priation.
The work was then placed in charge of the De-
partment of Health. Hundreds of poor tubercu-
lous patients immediately made application to be
admitted to the State Sanatorium, and were ur-
gently supported in their plea by friends all over
the State. Few had any conception of the vast
amount of work involved in planning and erecting
such an institution. The old camp at Mont Alto
accommodated 30 persons only, and was then filled
to its full capacity. The first duty of the Com-
missioner of Health was to decide, after careful
and continued measurements of the water flows,
whether or not there was sufficient water to supply
a large sanatorium, including a village for assist-
ance, etc. A survey of waters and the topography
of the land and of the geological formation of the
proposed site was at once made. We wanted to
move quickly, but we did not wish to waste any
of the money appropriated for the relief of tuber-
culous patients. A sewerage plant also had to be
planned, the forest had to be cleared away and the
stumps removed, the new cottages and all other
necessary buildings had to be planned. This took
time, and yet a deaf ear could not be turned to
those poor people who were calling for immediate
relief. By the assistance of Adjutant-General
Stewart, a large number of tents were obtained,
and we at once took care of as many patients as
the feeding, sanitary, and other accommodations
would permit. We have thus been able to care
for about 140 patients while our new buildings are
being erected. Our Sanatorium, as you now see
it being erected, is made up of cottages for sleep-
ing quarters, sun pavilions in which the patients
take their rest in the open air, an infirmary, a large
and commodious dining-room, bath- and toilet-
houses, an adequate storehouse, an administration
building, comfortable quarters for the physicians
and for the other employees, an ice-house, barn,
farmer's house, chicken-houses, etc. A thoroughly
modern sewerage system and water supply system
are being installed.
The cottages, as you will see, are placed with
their corners pointing to the north, south, east, and
west, so that the sun shines on the two eastern sides
in the mornings and on the two western sides in
the afternoons. The eaves are reduced to a mini-
mum, so that no shadows are cast upon the build-
ing. To take the place of permanent overhang-
ing eaves, large hoods are hung on rollers so that
they can be drawn over the windows at an angle
n
V
150
FOREST LEAVES.
of 45 degrees to protect the rooms during heavy
storms.
While the cottages are well-sunned and venti-
lated they are simple and strong in construction,
having fire-proof asbestos shingle roofs. The sills
and steps are set up on concrete piers, so that the
wood does not come in contact with the ground
to rot away. The pavilions take the place of
porches, for the latter would rob the cottage rooms
of the air and sunlight. The dining-room is being
built to accommodate 500 at one sitting, and is so
planned as to readily permit of extension.
The restoration to health of those in the early
stage of the disease is only one portion of the
work assigned to us. We must also provide a home
for those in later stages, when, owing to the un-
fortunate conditions of overcrowding in which the
poor live, they become the greatest possible menace
to their own families and the public as well. For
this class we have the ground cleared and the
plans made for the buildings to be constructed.
. The infirmary will be at a safe distance from the
cottages, of thoroughly substantial construction,
provided with every comfort, where such unfor-
tunates can be cared for and their suffering as-
suaged during their remaining days. In so large
a population as we shall have here accidents will,
of course, occasionally occur, and persons will be
attacked with ordinary diseases. Provision must
be made for such cases, and to meet such emer-
gencies it is proposed to build a small but fully
equipped modern hospital. This will also be
situated at a point so remote from both the cot»
tages and the infirmary that there can be no risk
of the conveyance of acute communicable disease
from one to the other.
So much for our progress.
And now one word as regards the advantages
which I conceive to accrue to a sanitorium for tu-
berculosis from being situated in a great govern-
ment forest reservation. There can be no reason-
able room for doubt that a moderate altitude does
insure a purity and equability of atmosphere and
temperature which are important factors to enable
the human economy to battle against the tubercle
bacillus. This, however, is greatly abetted by an
environment of forests through which the outside
air is, so to speak, filtered, and which also acts as
a windbreak against atmospheric commotions.
The protection from outside intrusion is also a
matter of considerable moment as guarding pa-
tients against undue excitement, and against the
intermeddling of officious friends.
The opportunity for obtaining a water supply
naturally pure and which can be absolutely
guarded from all pollution is of great moment.
In a disease whose treatment consists in so great
a degree of an absolutely strict observance of a
regime in the matter of diet, exercise, rest, occupa-
tion, and sleep, the maintenance of discipline is
an essential, and the regulations of a government
hospital on a governmental reservation are more
apt to be respected than those of a private institu-
tion.
Incidentally, I can see an advantage to accrue
to our convalescents in the proximity of the
School of Forestry.
There will be much work in the pruning of
trees, setting out of nurseries, and clearing out
underbrush, which any intelligent man could da
under the instruction of a trained forester, and
which would give our patients an opportunity to
test their strength before going back to the world
to take up a permanent occupation and become
again self-supporting. On the other hand, the
labor thus furnished the Forestry Department will
be a slight return to the State for the expenses
incurred in the care of the patient.
But in another way the location of the State
establishment involving a plant of many thousand
dollars in a reservation in a certain way is a
pledge to the Forestry Department that no private
interests will be allowed to encroach on the res-
ervation, or deprive the State of its value in the
conservation of its natural resources of timber and
water. To that extent the Department will have
the satisfaction of working in unison for the con-
servation of the natural resources of the Common-
wealth.
When it comes to that question, however, and
a no more important one has ever been presented
to the people of this country by its sagacious and
far-seeing chief magistrate, what natural resources
of a Commonwealth can equal that of a healthy,
vigorous population? As that wise man has.him-
self declared, the health of a nation is its first
asset. Therefore, I call on you who represent
the effort for the conservation of our forests and
water supplies to join forces with me in the effort
to conserve our greatest resource — man himself —
so that your labors may not be lost.
Lack of space prevents publishing in this
issue of Forest Leaves all of the papers pre-
sented at the Chambersburg Meeting of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association, although practically
all of the space has been devoted to them and
the Narrative of the Meeting. We expect in
succeeding numbers to print all of the interesting
articles which were prepared for this meeting.
FOREST LEAVES.
151
Forestry in Pennsylvania.
(Address of John Birkinbine President, at the Chambersburg Meet-
ing of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.)
BY common consent forestry is considered as
embracing any study of or interest in tree
^ growth, especially where the trees are nu-
merous and grouped in groves or forests, and
citizens have been encouraged to unite their influ-
ence in behalf of forests by forming associations.
This co-operation may be suggested by such busi-
ness considerations as the permanence of a lumber
supply, or the steadying of stream flow ; it may
come from a desire to use the beneficent influence
of the forest for pleasure or health-resorts, or from
merely aesthetic reasons, or it may result from
patriotic motives which favor conservation of our
natural resources, but all co-operation is welcomed
as helpful. Although forestry in theory may not
include interest in individual trees, its friends ap-
preciate the helpful influence resulting from the
care of shade trees along streets or roads or even
of ornamental trees in parks and private grounds.
In the older settled portions of the United
States tree growth was so common that appre-
ciation of depletion or possible exhaustion of
forests failed to attract attention until within the
last 30 years, but we value most what is passing
from us ; hence interest in the forest'-y movement
to-day is largely attributable to realization that
the country has been too much denuded for the
public good, and that it is essential that the
remaining forests be cared for and new forests
propagated.
In the portion of the country west of Missouri,
except on the mountain ranges and on the Pacific
slope, forests are valued because of their rarity,
and the efl'orts to secure the growth of forests and
groves, or of individual trees, by planting, are
object-lessons to those of us who have always had
** trees to burn." Have you ever considered how
any familiar section of the country would appear
if there was no tree growth ? Imagine the Cum-
berland Valley, whose scenic beauty is recognized
far and wide, denuded of its trees.
Forestry may be defined as the economic man-
agement of trees in communities as distinct from
arboriculture, which is more strictly concerned
with the individual tree. Forestry looks to the
conservation and utilization of the various forest
products, in order that the greatest return may be
obtained. It may apply to the planting of a new
forest, the preservation of an old one, the reforest-
ation of a mountain side, the prevention of ruthless
forest destruction, the conservation of water sup-
ply, the establishment of sanitorias, or the utiliza-
tion of the forest products as a crop for profit.
Arboriculture covers the scientific cultivation of
trees, and embraces that part of horticulture which
treats of the planting and cultivation of orna-
mental shade and fruit trees, while the branch of
forestry known as silviculture teaches how to form,
tend, and regenerate forests, and dendrology may
be defined as the scientific study of trees, the
department of botany which treats of trees.
It is not the intention to enter into a discussion
of these subdivisions, nor to detail the claims of
forestry, but an effort will be made to show that
Pennsylvania is the leader in forest reform., sup-
porting well-considered methods to preserve, pro-
tect, and propagate forests.
While European countries recognized the im-
portance of forest protection for a century and a
half, appreciation in the United States is com-
paratively recent.
What the Nation has Done. — Attention by the
National Government to forests may be considered
as commencing when Congress, in 1799, appro-
priated $200,000 to purchase and reserve timber
lands for the use of the Navy, supplemented by
Act of 181 7 reserving 19,000 acres for this purpose.
Additional legislation for the preservation of live
oaks for the use of the Navy was passed between
1820 and 1830, and in 1831 an Act for the pun-
ishment of timber depredations became a law. In
1872 more direct interest was shown when the
Yellowstone Park was established, and in the
following year a Timber Culture Act to Encourage
tree growth on western prairies was passed, being
amended at several succeeding sessions of Con-
gress. However, the first decisive action was in
1874, when the House of Representatives ap-
pointed a Committee to consider the question of
establishing a National Forestry Department. In
1877 the late Dr. F. B. Hough, as Forestry Com-
missioner of the Department of Agriculture, pub-
lished a comprehensive report on the value of
forests to the country, which was followed by
supplementary reports in 1880 and 1882.
In 1877 the National Land Office instituted a
service of Special Agents, and abolished compro-
mise for timber theft, and in 1878 Congress made
an appropriation to suppress depredations of tim-
ber on public lands.
In 1 88 1 a Forestry Bureau was established in
the Department of Agriculture, and in 1905 the
** Forest Service" was created in the same De-
partment, but with increased authority, all of the
various details of administration, etc., being
united under it.
National Reserves. — The National Forests were
created by Presidential Proclamations, setting
aside Government lands for forest purposes, none
of the areas being purchased. All are located
i
li
1
■1 A
ir
1
ii
152
FOREST LEAVES.
west of the Mississippi River in i6 States, and
every State in that section has one or more re-
serves, except Texas, North Dakota, Indian
Territory, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota.
The first reserve was the Yellowstone in Mon-
tana and Wyoming, created in 1891, the area
being 1,239,040 acres ; in that year and the one
following additional reserves were added, the total
on January i, 1893, being 5,752,840 acres, or
nearly 9,000 square miles, approximately equalling
the area of the State of New Hampshire. For
four years there were no additions, but since 1896,
accessions in various years have brought the total
on April 14, 1908, to 164,963,555 acres, or over
257,700 square miles, an area nearly as large as
the State of Texas.
There are 163 National Forests, of which four,
with combined acreages of 12,087,626, are located
in Alaska, the balance, 159, aggregating 152,-
875,929 acres or 238,800 square miles (say five
times the area of all the New England States),
are in Continental United States, the greater por-
tion being along the Rocky Mountains and Cas-
cade Ranges, perform important service in con-
serving the water for the arid and semi-arid West.
These reserves represent 8 per cent, of the Conti-
nental area of the country.
The United States also has a reserve of 65,950
acres in the Island of Porto Rico, and all of the
forests of the Philippine Islands, officially esti-
mated at 38,000,000 acres, are under Government
control, being managed in a manner similar to
the National Forests, and titles to these lands can
pass from the Government only when they are
shown to be chiefly valuable for agricultural or
mining purposes.
The National Forests are administered by the
Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture,
with Hon. Gifford Pinchot as Forester.
The United States also has considerable areas
in National Parks and National Monuments created
from time to time for the preservation of objects
of historic or scientific interest.
The American Forestry Association, formed in
1875, was merged into the American Forestry
Congress in 1882, which had been organized early
in that year, and this National Association was
again reorganized in 1889, taking the original
name. It is now a large progressive organization,
with headquarters in Washington and its own publi-
cation to advance forestry and irrigation interests.
The friendly relations between the National
and our State Association should be cemented
by the selection of one of our Vice-Presidents,
Mr. W. S. Harvey, to serve as a member of the
Executive Committee of the American Forestry
Association.
Comparison with Foreign Countries.-— Wh\\Q the
extent of the National Forests above enumerated
is gratifying, it will be interesting to compare their
areas with the reservations in other countries.
The German forestry reserves aggregate 35,-
000,000 acres, or one-fourth of the area of the
German Empire, and one-sixth of the area of
France (23,500,000 acres) is devoted to forest
purposes. Switzerland has 2,000,000 acres, or
one-fifth of its area in forests. Austria has
24,000,000 and Hungary 23,000,000 acres of
reserves. In Sweden one-half of the area, or
50,000,000 acres, is in forest, and Norway has
20,000,000 acres, or one-fifth of its area under
forest cover. Denmark has* 600,000 acres in
forest reserve. The forests of Spain aggregate
12,000,000 and those of Portugal 80,000 acres
under rigid forest laws. Italy has set aside
10,000,000 acres as reserves. It is claimed that
39 per cent, of the area of European Russia,
575,000,000 acres, is in forest, and in Siberia the
reserves are estimated at 350,000,000 acres. The
portion of India under British control maintains
180,000,000 acres, or one-fourth of its area in
forest, and Japan claims to have 58,000,000 acres
of forest, or 59 per cent, of its area.
Our neighbor, Canada, adopted a system of
forest reserves in 1894, and the present area
of the Dominion Forest Reserves is 5,392 square
miles, and of the Forest Parks 10,904 square
miles. In addition, the Province of Ontario has
set aside 18,325 square miles as reserves and
parks, while Quebec has 165,474 square miles ot
reserves, making a grand total of 200,095 square
miles.
Interest Shown by Various States. — Prior to any
decisive action by the National Government, or
by Pennsylvania, the importance of timber growth
was realized in some States and Territories. In
1837 Massachusetts had a forest survey made of
timber lands; in 1868 and 1869 acts for the
encouragement of timber planting were passed by
Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, and later
by Missouri, Minnesota, Maine, Nevada, and Illi-
nois. In 1872 the Arnold Arboretum was estab-
lished near Boston, Massachusetts, and a Commis-
sion appointed to report on the Adirondack Park
in New York. In 1874 a Bill was defeated to
encourage tree culture and the appointment of a
Forest Commissioner in Minnesota, but in Ne-
braska interest had been so awakened that Arbor
Day was instituted. This annual recognition has
been continued, and most of the other States
have established Arbor Days.
In 1876 Amherst Agricultural College recom-
mended instruction in forest culture, and the Con-
stitution of the new State of Colorado recognized
m n
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. io.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. id.
i:
A FOREST RAVINE, MONT ALTO SECTION, SOUTH MOUNTAIN
FOREST RESERVE.
IN THE FOREST, MONT ALTO SECTION, SOUTH MOUNTAIN
FOREST RESERVE.
Ill
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. io.
A FOREST RAVINE, MONT ALTO SECTION, SOUTH MOUNTAIN
FOREST RESERVE.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. io.
m
i
IN THE FOREST, MONT ALTO SECTION, SOUTH MOUNTAIN
FOREST RESERVE.
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSIJRF
X
3y^
FOREST LEAVES.
153
the necessity of preserving timber lands. In the
year following Connecticut sent a Commissioner
to Europe to report on forestry. Acts for the
encouragement of timber planting were passed in
Connecticut, Dakota, Wyoming, and Washington
Territory, and by Iowa and Rhode Island in 1878.
Interest was shown by the other States in the
appointment of Arbor Days, and in 1885 New
York and Colorado formed State Forestry Com-
missions, and California a Board of Forestry.
Forestry is now recognized as an integral part of
the curriculum of leading institutions of learning.
State Forest Reserves. — A number of States
have forest reserves, some having merely made a
beginning while others are well advanced in accu-
mulating wooded areas. Maine has no definite
forest reserve, but maintains ownership over one
township of 20,000 acres. Massachusetts has
the Mt. Tom and Greylock reservations, estab-
lished for aesthetic rather than economic reserves ;
Connecticut has had annual appropriations since
1903 of $1,000, and has accumulated 1,400
acres of forest reserves. New York was the
pioneer in the establishment of forest reserves, and
is still the leader with a total of 1,500,000 acres,
most of which are in the Adirondack reserve,
although over 100,000 acres are in the Catskill
reserve. The Adirondack reserve originated in
1885 with the State owning over 800,000 acres,
an area closely approximating that now held by
Pennsylvania. The forest reserves represents
about 5 per cent, of the land area of the State
of New York. In New Jersey forest reserves
have been provided for since 1905, and the State
has now 10,000 acres, mostly in the Kittatinny
Mountain. In Maryland the forestry movement
was inaugurated in 1898 by a gift to which no
additions were made until the present year. It
has about 2,000 acres of forest reserve. Michigan
is credited with a reservation, although not strictly
for forest purposes, of 40,000 acres in 1876, and
an additional forest reserve of 39,000 acres was
made in 1904. A Commission is now endeavor-
ing to secure a change of State policy in regard
to these. Wisconsin, in 1903, set aside 40,000
acres of forest reserve to which in the following
year 22,000 acres were added. This was increased
largely in 1905, and in 1906 the Federal Congress
granted 20,000 acres of vacant land to the State
for forest purposes. Wisconsin has now approxi-
mately 300,000 acres of what may be considered
forest reserves, which, however, represents less
than I per cent, of its area.
Minnesota has some 31,000 acres of forest land
encouraged by an initial donation and supple-
mented by a Federal grant for about one -half of
the area. In other States there are evidences of
interest in securing reserves, and several have
State Forestry Associations.
Pennsylvania Forestry, — Having discussed the
prominent features of forestry work undertaken
by the National Government, and by States, we
may turn to Pennsylvania and make record of
what has been done by its governors and legis-
lators, and also by association of individuals.
Possibly the first record of interest in the pres-
ervation of forests which affect any portion of
what is now the United States is No. 18 of the con-
ditions and concessions promulgated by William
Penn as Proprietor and Governor of the Province
of Pennsylvania in 1681, which was **That in
clearing the ground, care be taken to leave one
acre of trees for every five acres cleared, especially
to preserve oak and mulberries for silk and
shipping."
With the exception of various laws concerning
forest fires, whose main purpose seemed to be to
prevent damage to farm, buildings, and crops, the
people of the State seemed well satisfied to see
its magnificent forests destroyed and paid no at-
tention to the above suggestions of Penn.
Realizing existing conditions, the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association was formed in 1886, being,
with the possible exception of Colorado, the first
State organization. It started a vigorous cam-
paign of education, and in July, 1886, issued the
initial number of it*? official organ, Forest Leaves,
which has regularly appeared since that date, and
for years was the only forestry publication in the
country issued at stated intervals. Prior to the
establishment of its own publication. Forest
Leaves also represented the American Forestry
Association.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association gave
numerous illustrated lectures throughout Penn-
sylvania, and when the State established a Fores-
try Department, this practice was and is still con-
tinued.
For 22 years the Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation has continued the policy originally adopted,
and its success may be judged by a membership of
1,600, and by the fact that its debts have been
promptly paid, with a fair reserve fund invested.
Without disparaging other efforts elsewhere, Penn-
sylvania may justly claim to lead all other State
forestry organizations in number, influence, and
best of all, in results accomplished.
In 1893 the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a
Bill, prepared and endorsed by the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association, appointing a Commission to
investigate the forested lands of the State, and
present a report giving detailed descriptions, loca-
tion, character of trees, etc., to form a basis for a
systematic and comprehensive forestry policy for
Jt
154
FOREST LEAVES.
the State. As a result, a Forestry Bureau was
created in the Department of Agriculture in 1895,
and this was made the Department of Forestry in
1 90 1. In these measures the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association was active, and its Secretary, Dr.
J. T. Rothrock, was called upon by the Governor
to be a member of the Forestry Commission, and
subsequently the Chief of the Forestry Bureau, and
the first Commissioner of Forestry of Pennsyl-
vania. He is now acting as Secretary for the
State Forestry Reservation Commission. It is
proper to note the influence exerted on forest re-
form by Dr. Rothrock, who, by the Michaux
course of lectures, awakened the attention of large
audiences to the demands of forestry before the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association was organized ;
also to credit him with the initiative in utilizing
the forest reserves as sanatoria, and in the forma-
tion of the Forest Academy. His name has been
and will continue intimately associated with all
forest reform in the State as its sponsor, champion,
and friend.
State Reserves.— i:\i^ first purchase of land for
reserves by the State of Pennsylvania was a tract
of 415 acres in Clinton County at a tax sale in
1898, the total amount thus secured in that year
being 19,805 acres. None were obtained in the
following year, but since 1899 there has been a
constant increase in the reserves, and of that sub-
sequently purchased but 1,484 acres was secured at
tax sales, the balance being bought in the open
market wherever tracts of suitable size better
fitted for forestry than other purposes were offered
at reasonable prices, with satisfactory titles. The
old charcoal blast-furnace tracts, such as those at
Mont Alto and Caledonia, originally selected as
having sufficient areas of wooded land to supply the
timber necessary to produce the charcoal needed
for fuel in the blast-furnaces, afforded nuclei for
reserves, but owing to the difficulty of administra-
tion and danger from forest fires, small tracts, un-
less adjacent to reserves already secured, are not
purchased.
Since 1899 the reserves have been increased to
754,118 acres, or an average of over 90,000
acres (twice the size of the District of Columbia),
per year. In addition to this over 100,000 acres!
in the process of acquisition, will be secured bv
the State. ^
The forest reserves in the State of Pennsylvania
now cover an area about as large as Rhode Island.
The State has made an excellent beginning, and
the money spent for the reserves should be con-
sidered as an investment, for the value of the
lands already secured is more than double the
cost, including all expenditures of whatsoever
character, for administration and care. This
should be an incentive to secure additional re-
serves, as Pennsylvania, to maintain a proper bal-
ance between forested and unforested land, should
have a minimum of not less than 6,000,000 acres.
In a late address Governor Stuart endorsed the
desirability of increasing our forest reserves to
this amount, an area about equal to that of New
Hampshire or Vermont, and closely approximat-
ing the recommedation made by William Penn
227 years ago.
The administration of the reserves is carried
out on a business basis, the State Forestry Reser-
vation Commission having authority to utilize
them in any way which will best serve the in-
terests of forestry. This is in contradistinction
to legislation in some other States, which practi-
cally prohibit all utilization.
Nurseries have also been established and are
rnaintained so that suitable seedlings for reforesta-
tion ^vill be available at a minimum cost.
The greater portion of the wooded lands in the
State, or of those which have been cut over, are in
the hands of private parties, but with some notable
exceptions little has been done in private forestry,
due to forest fires and taxation. During the life of
the Association many changes have been recom-
mended in forest fire laws, and these have been
improved so that under the present progressive
administration, which has also demonstrated prac-
tical methods of extinguishment, the losses from
this source in the State have been reduced from
$834,000 in 1900 to $70,000 in 1906. If fires
started by sparks from locomotives were promptly
extinguished by track gangs, and if public senti-
ment demanded that all persons responsible for
forest fires be promptly and energetically prose-
cuted and punished, still better results would be
secured.
As the laws of the State now stand owners of
woodlands are encouraged by the rate of taxation
to remove the timber to secure revenue, and many
are unable to have them reforested. On farm
land the growing crops are not assessed, and if
the same policy were pursued as to timber land,
property now wooded and other that is denuded
would support forests. At the last legislature an
effort was made to have lands which are timbered,
or in the process of reforestation, placed in a
separate class as *' auxiliary fbrests," under the
supervision of the Department of Forestry, with
proper restrictions, and be taxed at a nominal
rate per acre. Then when the timber is cut an
additional tax was provided for. If the wooded
areas of Pennsylvania are to be retained some
equitable tax law must be enacted.
In 1895 a member of the State Forestry Com-
mission stated in the official report that if all the
7^7
FOREST LEAVES.
155
waste lands were put in timber and the fires kept
out, in 50 years the State would have a timber
crop worth $ i, 500,000,000, and then if one-fiftieth
is cut each year, or the amount which would be
reproduced, there would be an annual crop of
$30,000,000. Without allowance for capital in-
vested this would be sufficient to defray all the
expenses of the State government, and while the
State would gather a regular income, a valuable
industry (viz., lumber) would be preserved, the
severity of floods and droughts decreased, good
water supply maintained, a smaller outlay would
be needed for preserving the channels of navi-
gable streams, water powers would be made more
valuable, outing places and locations for sanitoria
would be available for the public and game and
fish would increase.
As stated above, practically all of the Pennsyl-
• vania forest reserves have been obtained by actual
purchases from the owners, and, including the
land now in process of acquisition, Pennsylvania
has purchased outright as much woodland as New
York, nearly one-half of the reserves of the Em-
pire State having been secured at tax sales. None
of the large National forests have been purchased,
ceded public lands being declared reserves by
Presidential proclamation. Wisconsin is the only
other State having important reserves ; but they
were secured by transfer of public State and
National lands, or by gift, and with a small ex-
ception the same is true of Minnesota. The
greater part of Maryland's reserve was secured
through gifts to the State.
We may be proud of Pennsylvania's record in
forest preservation for the last 15 years, and
especially for the decade closing with the present
year, during which it has accumulated, by actual
. purchase, more than three-quarters of a million
acres of land, which are being administered in a
practical conservative manner. In addition to
the amount paid for these lands, $1,680,000, or
about $2.25 per acre, there has been expended
for maintenance, including care, protection, sala-
ries, special examinations, a total of $460,000 ;
for extinguishing fires, $69,000 ; for road and
school taxes, $93,000 ; and for the Forest Acad-
^rny, $39,000. The total which these three-
quarters of a million acres have cost the State, in-
cluding, with the above, contingencies and other
expenses, is $2,345,400, or about $3.00 per acre,
and Mr. Robert S. Conklin, the efficient Com-
. missioner of Forestry, estimates that to-day these
are conservatively worth $5,000,000. This rec-
ord is not equalled by any State, nor can the
National Government make a better showing for i
its forest reserves, although these were not pur-
chased but merely set aside.
The Forest Academy, maintained by the State,
is a unique institution, there being no other of
this class, and its advantages will . be increased
from year to year. In addition to the Forest
Academy, the State College has established a
Forestry Department, and the Summer Forest
School of Yale University is located at Milford,
while some of our High Schools give instruction
in forestry, and Arbor Day celebrations by Proc-
lamation of the Governor each Spring, and by
the announcement of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction each Fall, show that forest education
is not neglected.
The establishment of sanitoria for the care of
citizens suffering from tuberculosis has also de-
veloped a valuable feature of the forest reserves,
recognized by the appropriation by the State of
$600,000 for the years 1907-1908, and it maybe
expected that under the care of the Department
of Health the number and efficiency of these will
increase.
An attempt has been made to show in a general
way what has been accomplished by our National
Government, by some of the States, and by Penn-
sylvania. Much might be added if we treat of
the administration of National and State forests
and the close relation of the former to reclama-
tion projects, but the purpose has been to discuss
the reserves held by the National Government
and compare them with those which exist in for-
eign countries, also to compare numerous State
reserves.
It is not claimed that the data concerning the
various States is complete, but it is sufficient to
show Pennsylvania's position as a leader in the
forestry movement. Each can judge for himself
and herself what the State has accomplished,
and if the statements made serve as an encourage-
ment to secure additional forest reserves and
united support of the Forestry Reservation Com-
mission in its efforts in behalf of the forests of
Pennsylvania I shall be more than gratified.
The disease threatening wide destruction of
white pine trees in this State resembles, so far as
its characters are reported, the Denmark ** Needle-
blight of the White Pine," caused by a fungus,
Hypoderma strobicola {Rostr.). ** It is a dan-
gerous parasite, kills the needles and young shoots,
and may devastate whole forests. The diseased
needles become brown and fall off during next
winter. "
No effective treatment has been suggested, and
until careful study has been made of the diseased
trees, it is impossible so say that the trouble is
due to the cause indicated. We may only say it
resembles it.
!l
i|
H
^|H
( I. )
i
%
I'
ii
1
vfl
^rf
l5?^
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
157
Chestnut Culture.
(Read at the Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
ABOUT twelve years ago I began a series of
experiments with the Paragon Chestnut
on a tract of nearly four hundred acres of
waste mountain land. The marketable timber had
been removed from the land, which was covered
with a second growth of chestnut and oak. This
land, a part of my farm, is situated in Irish Valley,
six miles from Shamokin, Northumberland County,
Pennsylvania. The land was very rocky in many
places, and most of it when cleared of its valuable
timber was of no value for agricultural purposes,
and if it had been sold, perhaps not over fifty
cents to one dollar per acre could have been ob-
tained for it.
Being inexperienced in the practical methods of
chestnut culture, I, naturally, in the course of ex-
periments conducted the first two or three years,
made numerous mistakes. These errors of com-
mission and omission I profited by, and am pleased
to-day to be in a position to demonstrate beyond
all question that waste mountain land can be re-
claimed by chestnut culture, and, furthermore,
suitable lands thus utilized can be made to produce
handsome money revenues.
Trees on my premises two years old have yielded
three and one-half quarts of nuts ; some at six
years have produced six quarts per tree in a year,
and from trees of twelve years' growth a crop of
twenty-four quarts of nuts have been harvested
from a single tree in one season. Trees twenty-
five years old should yield, under favorable condi-
tions, at least four bushels of nuts in a year.
There are probably ninety thousand grafted
trees, from two to twelve years old, on my four
hundred acres of so-called ** waste land." As
these trees continue to mature the yield will
steadily increase. The sprouts upon which these
chestnuts have been grafted were the shoots that
surrounded the stumps of trees that had been cut
for telephone poles, posts, and lumber.
Preliminary IVork.— The work of clearing on
the mountain side was first begun. Fallen tree-
tops, brush, decaying logs, and other debris which
were left by the axemen were removed and burned.
Roads and lanes were carefully prepared in order
that prospective chestnut graves should not be de-
stroyed by fire ; the passage-ways were from ten
to twenty feet in width.
One year after the land was cleared the new
sprouts from the stumps had reached the height of
from four to six feet, a proper size for the grafting.
Early in May these young sprouts were grafted
with scions of the Paragon Chestnut, care being
taken to select the most healthy native sprouts.
From four to six sprouts about one stump were
grafted with the intention of ultimately sparing
the most vigorous. It is usually best to preserve
in the final clearing of stumps the sprout which
started lowest down on the stump, or which pro-
trudes from beneath the surface of the ground.
The ungrafted sprouts remaining on the stump
were allowed to stand one year as a wind shield
to protect the grafts from being blown off in case
they grew. If none of the grafts grew then the
following season the remaining sprouts could be
grafted. Two or three times during the summer
the sprout was cleared of all buds and shoots
(suckers) starting to grow below the point of
juncture with the graft. If this was neglected,
the new graft, robbed of its strength, would either
die or not survive the first winter.
By this means I secured a vigorous stand of
healthy young chestnut trees, pushed on by a
strong root-system. The trees do not stand in
rows but in groves just as they grew originally in
the forest.' Wherever vacancies occurred we
planted seedling trees, previously grafted, and if
the grafted trees stood too thick they were care-
fully thinned out and the most thrifty allowed to
grow. This weeding or thinning process of trees
must be continued for several years in order that
the trees shall be distributed over the ground uni-
formly or at proper distances apart.
In grafting chestnuts it is more difficult to se-
cure successful results than in grafting the apple or
stone fruits ; greater care is required to set the graft
and wax it. Any ordinary laboring man who is
painstaking can readily be taught to do this work.
All waxing must be done with the hand and not
by applying it with the aid of the brush.
I use the *'whip" or '* tongue" graft, as it
gives a more perfect union between the sprout
and the scion. The scion that I use varies in
diameter from one-fourth of an inch up to one-halt
of an inch or even larger. One bud is left on
each scion. These scions are cut during the
winter months, and they are kept in metal cases
in an ice-house with a temperature of thirty-six
degrees or less. By this method of storing the
scions can be kept dormant for one year. In May,
earlier or later, when the sap is pushing forth the
buds of the sprouts, the grafting is begun, and it
can be continued until as late as the middle of
June, providing the scions are properly preserved
in a dormant state. I am at this date, June 8,
1908, grafting chestnuts at my farm. Great care
must be taken to keep the scions from drying out
in the sun or wind during the grafting process.
When the scions are set in the sprouts they require
to be carefully capped with wax at the tops, and
also must be well waxed at the point of juncture
with the sprout. The second year gave the young
trees a better chance for growth, because the
ground was then cleared of weeds and underbrush.
A gang of fifteen or twenty laborers are kept busy
at this work all the year, going over the ground
twice during the summer. In the third year, as
soon as the trees were tall enough to be beyond
danger or damage from browsing, five hundred
sheep were introduced. When the trees grew
larger cattle followed the sheep. Swine can be
used to good advantage in clearing up the groves.
Fire and Insect Pests. — Danger from fire is a
continual menace to chestnut culture until the trees
have attained a ten or twelve years' growth, and
the ground on which they grow is divested of all
underbrush and debris and becomes pasture land.
To combat insect pests in the chestnut grove
much trouble and expense was experienced. Do-
mesticated fowls, such as guineas, chickens, and
turkeys, were liberated in the grove. Guineas
proved to be the most useful of all in this work ; tur-
keys destroyed many insects, but their wandering
propensities are such that they will leave the
premises. Chickens consume numerous forms of
insect-life, but their timidity and domestic habits
are such that their work was not satisfactory. In
the summer of 1906 the seventeen -year locust
appeared in great numbers in my groves. Chickens
as well as other barnyard fowls consumed great
quantities of these pests. Numerous species of
native birds also fed upon the locust. The much-
abused English sparrow was one of the most
prominent naturalized birds in destroying the
locust. Insect pests, especially the weevil and
bur worms, are a source of great annoyance. The
subject of combating these pests has been care-
fully studied on my premises. Assisted by Prof.
N. F. Davis, Zoologist of Bucknell University,
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, we have devised means
which we believe will be successful in controlling
these enemies. The weevil is more easy to handle
than the bur worms. In the month of September
the weevil deposits its rggs in the chesnuts, and
by the time the chestnuts have matured the eggs
have developed into the well-known chestnut
worm, which soon cuts its way through the nut
and burrows in the ground. All wormv and de-
fective nuts should be removed as soon as possible
from the groves and fed to hogs or destroyed.
There are two distinct species of bur worms,
and Prof. Davis has worked out their life histories.
We discovered one which is new to science, and
Prof. Davis called it Holcocera Soberii. This bur
worm makes a cocoon in the bur or among the
leaves or grasses in the groves. We found that
the best means of destroying it was to clear away
and burn all burs, leaves, grasses, and weeds. The
other bur worm, which has not as yet received a
scientific name, has habits similar to Soberii.
Cleanliness is one of the greatest aids in ridding
the premises of the weevil, bur worms, and other
insect foes which inhabit the grove. All burs,
leaves, weeds and rubbish whirh collect in the
grove should be collected and burned as soon as
the nuts are harvested. Harvest time at the Chest-
nut Grove Farm comes about the first week in
October, at which time the burs have turned a
golden brown, and they fall or are shaken from
the trees and the nuts are gathered. The chest-
nuts are harvested by men or boys who wear stout
buckskin gloves for protection in removing them
from the burs. The Paragon Chestnut differs from
all known chestnuts by retaining most of the nuts
in the bur when ripe. In my opinion this is one
of the good qualities of the Paragon Chestnut, for
the reason that by this retention the nuts are not
so likely to be lost among the leaves, brush, and
rocks. The chestnuts which have been defaced
by the working of bur worms are separated, and
the best of them will answer for planting. They
should not be mixed with nuts sold, as they are
more or less defective. The ordinary wild chest-
nut of commerce is a small and insignificant affair.
The Paragon averages much larger. A quart of
Paragon Chestnuts will usually average about forty-
eight nuts. Chestnuts of this variety as large as
a fifty cent piece are common, and some that will
cover a silver dollar can readily be secured.
My groves are fairly started, and the crop of
several hundred bushels per year is but an index
of what is to be expected when the yield shall be
measured by thousands of bushels. In the year
1907 I was fortunate to have a good crop, which
I sold at an average price of over six dollars per
bushel f.o.b. Paxinos, Pa. (the shipping-point
from my farm). The demand for my chestnuts
in 1907 was so great that I was obliged to refuse
orders for several car loads to Seattle, Wash.,
Chicago, and several other western and eastern
cities. From present indications I would estimate
that my crop this season will be fully three thous-
and bushels of chestnuts, and I could readily book
orders for three times this quantity if I could fur-
nish them.
There has been such a demand for young trees
that Glen Brothers, Nurserymen, of Rochester, N.
Y. , have become interested, and are now the ex-
clusive sales agents for these grafted Sober Para-
gon Chestnut trees.
I have thousands of young trees grafted. This
spring alone fully thirty thousand trees were
grafted ; I planted this year over one hundred
bushels of the choicest nuts in nursery rows, and
next year I will have over one hundred and fifty
(V
r
158
FOREST LEAVES.
thousand two-year-old seedling trees ready for
grafting. When seedlings are two years old they
are grafted with scions from my choicest trees and
are ready for market after one season's growth.
Prejudice and ignorance are among the factors
which keep many from attempting the cultivation
of the chestnut, but with the advent of such a valu-
able and meritorious variety as the Sober Paragon,
the American people will soon learn the value of
these nuts. Chestnut culture in the United States
is in its infancy, but the demand for the larger nuts
has stimulated their production, and we predict
that the Sober Paragon, the only sweet large chest-
nut, will become the most widely planted tree of
all and most prized for orchard planting, and for
profit its possibilities are unlimited. From the
Atlantic to the Pacific, from the North to the
South, its hardiness and adaptability to different
climates insures entire satisfaction.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, permit me to cor-
dially extend to all who are interested in chestnut
culture, an invitation to visit my groves in Irish
Valley. The place can be reached by either P.
& R. R. R. or P. R. R. system from Paxinos or
Shamokin stations. Coleman K. Sober.
Shrinkage of Wood when Dried.
TNTERESTING experiments on the shrinkage
J^ of wood due to the loss of moisture have re-
cently been completed by the Forest Service
at its timbei testing station at Yale University.
These experiments show that green wood does
not shrink at all in drying until the amount of
moisture in it has been reduced to about one-
third of the dry weight of the wood. From this
point on to the absolutely dry condition, the
shrinkage in the area of cross-section of the wood
is directly proportional to the amount of moisture
removed.
The shrinkage of wood in a direction parallel
to the grain is very small ; so small in comparison
with the shrinkage at right angles to the grain,
that in computing the total shrinkage in volume,
longitudinal shrinkage may be neglected entirely.
The volumetric shrinkage varies with different
woods, being about 26 per cent, of the dry
volume for the species of eucalyptus known as
blue gum, and only about 7 per cent, for red
cedar. For hickory, the shrinkage is about 20
per cent, of the dry volume, and for long leaf pine
about 15 per cent.
. In the usual air dry condition, from 12 to 15
per cent, of moisture still remains in the wood,
so that the shrinkage from the green condition to
the air dry condition is only a trifle over half of
that from the green to the absolutely dry state.
Forestry on the Girard Estate.
IN the Thirty -eighth Annual Report of the
Board of Directors of City Trusts of the
City of Philadelphia for the year 1907, ref-
erence is made to the forest plantations on the
Girard Estate.
Of the 1200 Norway spruce, white 'pine and
Scotch pine planted in 1906 for a wind-break to
protect the house at Reservoir No. 4 from the
winds and severe cold to which that locality is
exposed, 800 failed to grow because of the ex-
treme drouth of the early spring and summer of
that year. These were replanted in April, 1907.
The season of that year was more favorable, and
75 per cent, of the trees planted took root and
maintained themselves throughout the year.
Two hundred acres of young timber of two
years' growth on the Edward Lynch tract, outside
of the stone wall, were destroyed by fire along
with 3,850 acres of young timber on the Girard
Estate of one, two an.d three years' growth. These
fires were all started by sparks from locomotives.
Forestry work has been limited to the cutting out
and burning over of fire roads to prevent the ex-
tension of forest fires, and the maintenance on
Sundays and holidays of a Forest Patrol of 2, 3
and 4 men authorized to make arrests, whose duty
is to prevent the beginning of forest fires, to ex-
tinguish them when discovered, if able to do so,
and if not, to summon help for the purpose, to
protect the waters in the reservoirs, streams, and
on the watershed from pollution, the stone walls
inclosing the watershed from being thrown down,
and the lands from trespass. No forest trees
were planted except the few hundred evergreens
referred to above. The problem of preventing
the forest fires started by locomotives and by
irresponsible stragglers is of the first considera-
tion in forestry. With that eliminated, the cul-
tivation of a second growth of forest timber would
be accomplished without difificulty.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester.
WEST CHESTER, PA.
r
FOREST LEAVES.
159
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N, C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical schoor of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
The Pennsylvania State College
Terms upon Application.
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
YalB UniVBi'^itJ FoPe^t School
NEW HAVEN - - CONNECTICUT
A two years* graduate course
IS offered, leading to the de-
gree of Master of Forestry.
Graduates of collegiate institu-
tions of high standing are ad-
mitted upon presentation of
their college diplomas.
The Summer School ol
Forestry is conducted at Mil-
ford, Pike County, Penna.
For further information address
HENRY S. GRAVES, Director,
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
B0ARDIX6 SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon applieaticn,
JAMES L. PATTERSON.
Head Matter.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., Prendent.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
JACOB 8. DI8ST0N. FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES. RANDAL MORGAN.
FRANCIS I. OOWEN. H. GORDON MOCOUCH.
J. LEVERING JONES. JAM18 R. SHEFFIELD.
1
h
'^
160
FOREST LEAVES.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not — Why Not?
FALL PLANTING DAYS ARE HERE !
BETTER GET ACttTJAINTED ! !
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations, =Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES," 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
Each Per lo Per loo
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched ' $i oo $8 50 $60 00
' 7 to 8 ft. Low-branched i 25 10 00 70 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; ly^ to i^ in. cal i 50 ^3 5° 125 00
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i}( to 2 in. cal 2 00 17 5° ^35 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2]4. in. cal 2 50 22 50 150 00
10 to 12 ft. 2|^ to 3 in 3 50 30 00 275 00
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
Send for FALL PRICE LIST.
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
<
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Vol. XI.
Philadelphia, October, 1908.
No. II
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
xoxa Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
^ CONTENTS.
Editorial i6i
Autumn Arbor Day 163
The Farm Woodlot in Pennsylvania 163
Locust Planting by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 167
Laurel Oak, Shingle Oak. (Quercus imbricaria, Michx.) 168
Co-operative Forestry 169
A Paid State Fire Service 171
Woodlot Forestry 173
The Pocono Protective Fire Association 174
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
Th4 attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^ FoRBST Lkavbs as an advertising tnediunt. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in Junk, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual member ship fee ^ Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiriuz to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President^ John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis.
Richard Wood.
General Secretary ^ Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council- at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch. Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William 8. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp.
County Organization, Saimucl Marshall, Chairman; Eugene EUicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Opficb of thb Association, loxa Walnut St.. Philadblphia.
EDITORIALS.
V
OUR readers will be interested in the papers
appearing in this issue, which were read
at the Chambersburg Meeting of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and offer food
for thought on the part of the individual owner
of property. Fire is no respector of persons,
and the man with a small woodlot is as liable
to damage as the large owner, and the discussion
of A Paid State Fire Service," by Mr. Alfred
Gaskill, Forester and Secretary Forest Park Reser-
vation Commission of New Jersey, will be accepted
as timely.
The importance of the woodlot or of limited
forest areas owned by individuals, corporations,
or clubs is not as fully recognized as it deserves.
These small tracts amount in the aggregate to large
areas, and their protection is of great importance
to the State. We present three contributions,
one entitled ''Co-operative Forestry," by Prof.
W. J. Green, Chief Department of Forestry, Ohio
Agricultural Experiment Station, the second,
''Woodlot Forestry," by Prof. F. W. Besley,
State Forester of Maryland, and the third, ** The
Farm Woodlot in Pennsylvania," by Prof. Hugh
P. Baker, Department of Forestry, The Pennsyl-
vania State College.
^ * ♦ 9ic 4e
Fire is a terrible master, causing residents of
large cities to halt in their vocations — and note
the clang of the engine gong or shriek of its
whistle. Although these experiences may recur
daily, at short intervals of time, familiarity with
the fire-alarm does not seem to breed contempt.
The terrible holocaust of Chicago, the confla-
gration in Baltimore, the millions lost in Sar\
Francisco, Boston, and other cities, have been
repeated on a reduced scale, but with probably
greater proportionate loss and suffering in smaller
communities.
y
{"i
Ji
/"
162
FOREST LEAVES.
We have lately to add to the harrowing stories
of Peshtigo, Michigan, and Hinkley, Minnesota,
the wiping out by forest fires of Fernie and Coal
Creek, British Columbia, and Chisholm, Minne-
sota, prosperous towns peopled by progressive
pioneer inhabitants.
The public press chronicled destructive fires in
Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington, Quebec, and
British Columbia, expressing sympathy for those
whose property was destroyed and for the loss of
life. But when the wires conveyed information
that forest fires threatened the destruction of the
big trees of California there were widespread ex-
pressions of sorrow followed by joy when word was
i' flashed across the country that the big trees had
apparently been saved.
A spark, a smoldering ember, an unextinguished
match have each been the initial cause of de-
structive conflagrations in cities and towns and
also in forests. Those who live in communities
fail to recognize the small proportion of recorded
fires to the number of ** alarms," for as every one
feels it a duty to help put out a fire, many are
checked at the start, and the active element of
most settlements voluntarily organizes companies
to protect property, rendering efficient and ex-
hausting service as firemen in a neighborly spirit.
With the forest fire, conditions are different, for
too often it is no one's business to extinguish a
forest fire. From British Columbia comes word
that bush fires prevailed for days, but no con-
certed action was taken to extinguish them.
Some one's timber was being destroyed, young
tree growth was checked or killed as these days
went by, but the personal danger was not immi-
nent. Then came the strong wind, fanning the
flames until they increased in volume and intensity
too great to be combatted.
Flying embers were carried to settlements,
building after building ignited, and the homes,
the stores, the factories which represented years
of persistent effort on the part of the citizens
were transformed into heaps of ashes, and the
passing flame also left in its wake the charred
remnants of human beings. The conditions as
described existed elsewhere, and the story of the
ruin in British Columbia is repeated in Minnesota,
Wisconsin, California, Maine, and Pennsylvania.
As this is written, the sun shows blood- red
through a haze of smoke carried by winds for
hundreds of miles to tell us of great damage
from forest fires.
It is when one's own property is jeopardized or
his personal comfort interfered with that the loss
and damage due to forest fires receive appreciation.
A drought of unusual length, which still continues
as we write, with streams making new records
of minimum discharge interferes with industrial
development in Pennsylvania, and places at the
mercy of the flames the thoroughly dried leaves in
the forest. Under such conditions forest fires
once started become uncontrollable, and thous-
ands are fighting the advance of the flames, a labor
the severity of which is appreciated only by those
who have been engaged in it.
Word comes by telegraph that some of these
fires are of incendiary origin, and some offenders
have been arrested. The man or woman who
wilfully fires a neighbor's property is according to
our law, subject to severe punishment, and if the
courts interpret the act equally whether this is ap-
plied to houses, barns or woods, and inflict punish-
ment commensurable with the offense the number
of forest fires will undoubtedly decrease.
Next to the wilful incendiary in point of guilt,
are those who either through carelessness or ne-
glect, fail to provide means to prevent flames or
sparks starting forest fires.
Reports indicate that the State as a Common-
wealth is a sufferer because part of its forest re-
serves have been devastated by fire. We are sure,
however, that the organization, limited though it
be, which the State Forestry Reservation Com-
mission has perfected, has been able to reduce
the financial loss to a considerable amount.
Written or printed descriptions fail to picture
a conflagration either in a city or in the forest.
In the former the areas devasted are recorded in
lots, blocks, or in acres ; in the latter they are
measured in square miles. Who that has not
seen it can imagine a line of roaring flame 25
miles in length devastating a forest. In com-
munities the property destroyed may be replaced
within a year or two ; in the forests a life time
will not suffice to erase the fire scars.
The immediate financial damage in communi-
ties may be much greater for a fire covering a
relatively small area than for one which devastates
many miles of forests. But buildings may be re-
built, cities reconstructed, and financial losses in
time be made good. A forest fire such as we
have referred to may utterly destroy standing
timber and so much of the forest humus or floor
as to make reproduction difificult if not impossible.
The repetition of destructive forest fires can be
prevented only by systematic watchfulness and
prompt action before the conflagration stage is
reached, supported by efficient legislation vigor-
ously enforced.
Fire wardens on the watch for fires may check
many at the start ; neighborly help in emergency
may prevent the spread of a fire. But the fearless
and drastic enforcement of laws, which provide
FOREST LEAVES.
163
for the discovery and punishment of those re-
sponsible for forest fires will do much to reduce
their number and the losses from them.
Each of these destructive fires had a beginning
where it could have been checked by moderate
effort ; later each might have been controlled by
concerted action, but no one felt a personal re-
sponsibility to take the initiative. The result is
enormous, blackened waste areas, millions of
money lost, lives sacrificed, houses destroyed, and
business activities dwarfed, because some one was
careless of his duty to his neighbor. J. B.
Since writing the above, and as Forest Leaves
goes to press. Commissioner of Forestry Conklin
reports that most of the forest fires in Pennsylva-
nia are practically under control. He estimates
that probably 50,000 acres have been burned over,
one-fifth being State reserve lands- However, the
situation is still hazardous, for in many cases the
fire has extended well into the dry humus, and
punky material, which, although smouldering,
may be fanned into a blaze and glowing embers
carried by the wind. A drenching rain will only
absolutely quench the forest fires.
The contest with fire has been carried on under
the supervision of the Pennsylvania Forestry Res-
ervation Commission, and the knowledge and ex-
perience which rangers gained at the Forest
Academy has, in the present crisis, saved the State
of Pennsylvania more than the Academy has cost.
J. B.
* ♦ * ^ ^
The official publication of the American For-
estry Association is no longer known as Forestry
and Irrigation but as Conservation, the title be-
ing changed with the expectation of extending its
usefulness. The caption indicates that ** woods
and waters, soils and ores " will receive attention.
We are gratified to see that the September issue
gives, place to a sketch upon '*The Forest Policy
of Pennsylvania." It has been a matter of sur-
prise to us that the work in the interest of forestry
done by Pennsylvania has not attracted attention,
and has been recognized apparently only by pub-
lished notices in Forest Leaves. We know
that no other State has rendered as much practical
aid to forestry as Pennsylvania. Its accessions of
reserves, the establishment of the Forest Academy,
and nurseries, its work in reforestration, improve-
ment cuttings and fire protection have all been
carried forward without a flourish of trumpets.
The State Forestry Reservation Commission has
followed a common-sense business policy, making
no effort to win public acclaim, but the results
accomplished should be made known for the en-
couragement of other States. J. B.
Autumn Arbor Day,
THE conservation of our National resources
has become a problem of universal interest
to the American people. Our soil, our
forests, our mineral wealth and our water supply
can not be wasted without impairing the country's
future greatness and prosperity. The sources of
our wealth should be preserved and, as far as
possible, restored for the benefit of posterity.
Whatever is put into schools will reappear later
in the life of the Nation. Studies which tend
to improve our industrial conditions should be
fostered and encouraged. The planting of trees
for shade and for fruit, the process of budding
and grafting, the methods of destroying noxious
insects, and the prevention of forest fires should
be studied by the pupils in both public and private
schools. The dissemination of this kind of
knowledge has been greatly stimulated by the
observance of Arbor Day.
To perpetuate the laudable custom of celebrat-
ing Arbor Day when all the schools are in session,
Friday, October 23, 1908
is hereby designated as Autumn Arbor Day ; and
all connected with the schools are urged to observe
the day by the planting of trees and by other
suitable exercises.
Nathan C. Schaeffer,
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The Farm Woodlot in Pennsylvania.
(Presented by Prof. Hugh P. Baker, Department of Forestry, The
Pennsylvania State College, at the Chambersburg Meeting
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.)
7\ FTER a year's residence in the State, I am
J^\ greatly impressed with two facts regarding
Pennsylvania woodlots. First, there are
few farms anywhere in the State that do not have
one or more acres of woodland from which are
drawn all the fuel and other needed wood mate-
rial ; and, second, these woodlots, which are often
occupying land that might be put into other agri-
cultural crops, are not producing a fraction of a
per cent, of what might be produced from wood-
land properly protected and managed. While our
farmers are attempting to increase the returns from
live-stock and grain crops by the introduction of
new blood and by selection and proper cultivation,
yet in the face of tremendous increase in timber
values little or no attention is being paid to in- *
crease in returns from land occupied by trees.
We may safely say that our woodlots, at the pres-
ent time, are not giving large enough returns to
justify their existence.
y
^
164
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES. ^
J
165
7
Attitude of Wood lot Owners Towards Forestry
in the State, — The farm woodlot in Pennsylvania
is of such importance that this paper will be
limited to the discussion of our farm woodlands,
and will not consider any of the problems dealing
with the vast area of barren or sparsely wooded
lands which our Forestry Commission is so suc-
cessfully putting into the form of Reserves.
While the agitation of men interested in for-
estry in this State has brought about one of the
best systems of State forest laws in the country ;
has set aside nearly a million of acres of land as
reserves, and is doing a great work in training
men for proper control of these lands ; yet, fur-
ther than creating a general interest in forestry
among our farming population, the attention of
our small woodland owners and farmers has rather
been drawn away from the needs of their own
woodlands and focussed on the needs of the State
as a whole. That is, the present splendid devel-
opment of forestry in this State has been the result
of the insistent agitation of a few rather than the
demand of the many. That results have been
attained in this way does not lessen their great
value to the State, nor does it prove that the State
was not ready for the movement. On the con-
trary, it shows the statesman-like wisdom of an
enthusiastic few who looked into the future and
saw the greatest need of our State — forest preser-
vation and perpetuation to which the ordinary
citizen is now awakening sooner than was hoped
or expected.
A study of woodlot holdings seems to show
that, as a rule, our small woodlot owners do not
appreciate the importance of their woodland, and
further, they often feel helpless because of their
lack of knowledge of how to begin woodlot im-
provement and what to do after a beginning is
made. In other States, where there are no great
areas of non-agricultural land, the whole energy
of people interested in forestry has been toward
the proper development of the woodlot and the
increasing of forest area by planting. In any of
our middle western prairie States, such as the
Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, and
even Indiana and Ohio, this will be found to be
the case.
The Importance of Woodlots on Farms, — As a
knowledge of proper methods of farming increases,
and as land and lumber values rise, the woodlot
will of necessity play an increasingly important
pai't in the economy of the farm. Transportation
rates do not seem to increase greatly with the
years, and the large sources of supply of soft
wood timber, in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minne-
sota, and the northeast, have been largely ex-
hausted. Farmers have found that the price of
posts and lumber cut within their own States has
increased so rapidly that in many instances it is
cheaper to get fence-posts, lumber, shingles, etc.,
from the Pacific Coast or the South. There is no
promise that these last sources of supply will be
continuous, and to one who has investigated the
subject it seems as if the true solution of the prob-
lem of the timber supply of the farm lies with
the farmer himself.
In years to come it is probable that our State
Reserves will supply largely our local needs in
the way of all kinds of farm timber ; but, at the
best, it will be some years before this can be
accomplished, because of the present danger of
fire, because of inaccessibility, and because of
slowness of growth of trees now coming on as
seedlings in our reserves. Hence, the welfare
and proper development of our farming sections
demand that the woodlots of thi*5 State shall be
taken hold of at once, and so protected and man-
aged that they may become a profit to their
owners rather than a loss, and that they may be a
source of beauty and pleasure rather than an
evidence of thoughless neglect and mismanage-
ment.
What Woodlot Improvement Means. — The term
woodlot management or forest management to
many sounds complex and unknowable, and seems
to be far beyond the reach of the ordinary farmer.
This is not so, for if there can be simple but sys-
tematic practical demonstration throughout the
State, and if advice can be given freely where
demonstration is impossible, there is no farmer in
the State who will not be able to handle success-
fully his tract of woodland. However, before
success can be achieved, or before it will be either
practical or profitable to carry on woodlot im-
provement and management, certain existing con-
ditions must be changed radically or somewhat
modified. First, our method of taxing woodlands
is neither just nor equable as compared with taxa-
tion of other property. Under our present sys-
tem one cannot see how the owner of standing
timber can afford to maintain it, and we do not
blame him for cutting it, and cutting it clean.
We bewail the fact that our State is full of rapa-
cious lumbermen. Make the taxation of standing
timber equable and just, and enforce our fire laws
more rigidly, and the lumberman will be as anxious
as we are to let the timber grow to a point of
greatest profit. It seems as if a change can be
accomplished only as the result of an educational
campaign which will show our people that every
resident of the community or every farmer in the
country will profit by having our steep ridges and
hillsides covered with woodlots, even though these
are in private hands and are managed for the im-
mediate profit of the owner. How much it would
mean to this country if every owner of woodland
who has the unfortunate feeling that his woodland
is his own, and that it is nobody's business what
he does with it, would appreciate the value of
every bit of woodland in preventing floods, main-
taining and purifying our springs and rivers, and
in giving health to our hurrying, wornout people !
Second, not only should taxation be just, but for
a time some incentive should be off*ered for the
planting of trees or for the setting aside of wood-
lots which would be protected from fire and graz-
ing. With a little encouragement, many would
plant trees and maintain their woodland growth
to the advantage of the whole State. This has
been tried in several of the States with more or
less success, depending upon the saneness of the
law. In Iowa, where such a law was passed in
1906, there is a growing feeling that the idea is a
good one, and can be made extremely valuable in
bettering farm conditions throughout the State.
Again, it must be possible for our woodlot owners
to obtain knowledge necessary for the manage-
ment of their woodland. Whether this be given
as expert advice by a trained forester going from
point to point through the State, or whether the
knowledge can be given through printed material
or demonstration tracts, is a matter the discussion
of which is outside the object of this paper.
Suggestions for Woodlot Improvement. — In con-
sidering the improvement of any woodlot the first
thing that should interest the owner is its present
composition. Unfortunately, our woodlots have
reached about the lowest possible point both in
actual value of the timber and in the number of
valuable species making up the stand. Should we
go into a large woodlot in almost any county in
the State we will find a surprising proportion of
the growth made up of trees which are weeds
from every point of view, and have no value except
for a cheap grade of cordwood. These weeds
are such trees as the iron wood, bluebeech, dog-
wood, hawthorn, sumac, wild crabapple, alder,
the striped and mountain maple, and others. If
the woodlot is largely hardwoods, and has been
cut over recently, and the stumps have been
allowed to sprout, we find a great many groups of
young saplings of oak, chestnut, basswood, etc.,
among which these forest weeds obtain a hold.
They come in rapidly, because of their ability to
start and maintain themselves under the shade of
other trees.
- The reason for tlie present poor condition of
our woodlots is more than apparent when we con-
sider that for years the owners have made a prac-
tice of going in and cutting the best trees when
special pieces of timber were needed about the
farm, or the straightest and best sprouts wh^ii
posts or even cordwood were needed. The natu-
ral result has been the constant favoring of the
poorest species to the detriment of the best sorts.
Then, too, fires have been allowed to run through
the timber, destroying seedlings and injuring the
better trees, and so retarding their growth that
they soon are easy prey for insects and diseases.
The weeds maintain more or less of a ground
cover over the soil, and favor the incoming of
more weeds, because, as a rule, the seedlings of
the better sorts must have for proper developmeat
more sun than they can get under the cover of
weed trees. Many woodlot owners, if not most
of them, do not appreciate what the presence of
these weeds mean, and are surprised when you go
through and show them what a large proportion
of the trees are worthless, and how easy it would
be to correct the unprofitable worthless condition
by removing the weeds.
One of the most important steps in the proper
management of any woodlot is to so control the
composition that one may produce a fully-stocked
stand of trees that are best adapted to the soil
and situation occupied by the woodlot, and that
will bring greatest returns in the most accessible
market, whether that be the farm or surrounding
farms or the timber dealer.
Woodlots Must be Protected. — Any efforts to
induce people to improve their woodlots will be
fruitless, and the efforts of woodlot owners to
better the conditions of the woodland will be im-
practical, unless the woodlot can be protected
absolutely from fire, and, to a large extent, from
the grazing and trampling of stock. Fire has
been and is the greatest enemy of the forests of
this country ; and, until we can put into operation
efficient methods of protection, we will literally
throw our money into the fih^iTVe attempt to
carry on woodlot improvement and management
in the face of promised destruction. Europeans
learned this a long time ago, and in Germany to-
day there is probably less injury to the forest by
fire than there is through insects and fungi.
Second in importance to protection from fire is
protection from grazing and trampling of cattle. It
is going to be a difficult matter to convince our peo-
ple that it is detrimental to the trees on the wood-
lot to allow stock to range among them. It is a
well-known fact, that grass grown under the shade
of trees has but a small per cent, of the forage
value of grass grown in the open. How often we
see cattle after having filled themselves on grass
in an outside pasture go into a woodlot for shade,
and browse here and there, eating off the tops of
seedlings and doing more damage in a few days
than nature can overcome in as many years.
166
FOREST LEAVES.
There is no question but what stockmen should
have shade for cattle and horses during hot sum-
mer days, but how much more practical and profit-
able it would be to fence off an acre or two of the
woodlot, making it accessible to the pastures and
devoting it entirely to shade for stock. The re-
maining portion of the woodlot could then with
very little effort be made to produce much more
than the whole woodlot produced when it was
used in its entirety as a cattle range.
Not a great deal can be done in protecting
woodlots from the ravages of insects and fungi.
However, we do know that when trees are in a
healthy growing condition they are not nearly as
susceptible to injury by insects and fungi. There-
fore, anything that we can do to keep the rate of
growth up to the maximum will go far towards
preventing any serious injury by insects or diseases.
Let the trees of the woodlot be trampled about by
stock ; let a surface fire run through once in two
or three years, which, though it may not burn the
bark, will injure the delicate cambium and thus
greatly retard the growth of the trees, and we will
have such poor conditions of health in the wood-
lot that the trees will be susceptible to every tim-
ber destroying insect that flies, and the spore of
every wood fungus that is being blown here and
there through the air.
In protection from fire, preventive rather than
remedial measures should be used. If there is
any truth in the old saying, that an ounce of pre-
vention is worth a pound of cure, it is applicable
in the protection of our woodland from fire. This
can be done most easily by daily observation dur-
ing the fire-dangerous seasons if the tract is limited
in extent, sufficient patrol if too large for observa-
tion, and by the maintenance of open lanes, roads,
and trails which will be effective barriers to light
surface fires. The best way to protect woodland
from stock is to maintain a good, strong woven -
wire fence.
Improvement by Thinning and Planting. — After
a woodlot owner is satisfied that his tract can be
thoroughly protected he should begin what is
called an improvement thinning. This is a thin-
ning made to improve both the composition of the
woodlot and aid the proper development of the
valuable trees left on the land. The temptation
will come, after our people are satisfied that a
thinning should be made, to go in or put on men
and cut out all the forest weeds and dead and dy-
ing timber without a thought of what will occur
after these trees are removed. It is very much
better, both for the present welfare and the per-
petuation of the woodlot, to thin lightly and often
rather than to thin heavily at one time, which
allows the sun to reach the forest floor, forcing
nature to form a cover of grass and shrubs to pro-
tect the soil. In so far as possible thinnings
should be made preceding a good seed crop of the
species which we are anxious to have developed
on the land. If this can be done we may bring
about a natural seeding, which is very much
cheaper than to either plant seedlings as a forest
cover or to attempt the closing up of the
stand by underplanting. The inaccessibility of
many of our woodlots to markets in which their
product might be sold forces clean cutting, which
is very detrimental to the system of restocking
through the natural sowing of seed produced by
mother trees on the tract. Wherever it will be
possible to use a large proportion of the product
of a woodlot directly on the farm, it will be very
much easier to make improvement thinnings,
which must be gradual if one is to depend upon
natural seeding for keeping the woodlot fully
stocked.
The system of natural seeding is a slow method
of reproduction, and, as it means a great deal in
the production of a forest crop, if the rotation can
be shortened it will probably be practical in our
Pennsylvania woodlots, especially in the southern
part of the State where fairly close to towns and
cities, to make rather heavy and extensive im-
provement thinnings and then underplant with
good strong seedlings of desirable species. Ex-
perience in this county shows that where it is
desirable to use seedlings for underplanting it is
not safe to use conifers in the form of one or two
year untransplanted material. Much greater suc-
cess will be obtained if three- or four-year-old once
transplanted stock is used. While the use of such
material will increase the initial expense, in the
end the production of a good heavy stand, and '
that in a considerably shorter time, will mean much
greater profit than as if weak seedlings are used,
a large proportion of which die out. If one de-
cides that it is practical to use either hardwood or
coniferous seedlings in filling the open spaces in
the woodlot, it will pay to make quite a heavy
thinning, especially if therq is a permanent or port-
able saw-mill near at hand, and then underplant
so that large and small trees combined will stand
from 8x8toi6xi6 feet. Before the medium -
aged trees left on the tract become ready for the
axe, the young growth will have had time to get
up so that it may readily be seen and more easily
protected during the process of future harvesting.
It is extremely hard to get a practical lumberman
or day laborer to believe that trees can be re-
moved without slashing. Only constant insist-
ence and supervision will allow one to harvest
without greatly injuring the small trees which were
planted to close up the stand. Any efforts which
J-'
'1
FOREST LEAVES.
167
may be made, however, will be fully justified by
the rapidity with which the succeeding crop will
come on and make valuable timber.
Even a casual survey of our State makes one
enthusiastic over the possibilities for agricultural
development. Hand-in-hand with this develop-
ment will go the practical business-like manage-
ment of our farm woodlots. The improvement of
agriculture throughout the country is absolutely de-
pendent upon an easily accessible supply of timber
for the farm, and what can furnish this but the
farm woodlot.
Locust Planting by the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company.
IN view of the reckless statements which have
appeared in the newspapers and elsewhere
concerning the locust tree planting opera-
tions of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, it
is proper that the history of the work should be
given by someone who is familiar with it.
Before the late Mr. Cassatt came to the presi-
dency of the road, locust as a tie timber was con-
sidered favorably because of its enduring qualities.
It was finally rejected '* because of the difficulty
of drawing the spikes." This statement was
made to the writer by Mr. Cassatt, who, at the
same time, added, *'the difficulty has since been
overcome. We now wish to plant enough locust
trees to ensure a tie supply for the future. Can
it be done ? ' ' The question was not put, whether
or not locust was the best tree to plant. It is
quite possible that two or three other kinds of
wood might have been suggested.
Mr. Cassatt then requested the writer to inves-
tigate and to report upon locust. This led to a
very thorough investigation as to rate of growth,
choice of location, and danger from borers — a
danger which has been pretty well recognized for
at least forty years. The report stated that locust
production of ties in Pennsylvania was possible,
but that it would be safe to count on about one
out of three ties being injured by borers. This
was fully understood when the authorities ordered
the planting. Later observation does not seem
to have added materially to our knowledge of the
subject.
The locust tree is, in some respects, peculiar,
and notably so in its disposition to sprout from
the roots when the tree is cut down or the trunk
is severely pruned or cut back. Bearing this in
mind, the writer suggested that the young trees
be planted from eight to ten feet apart, believing
that one hundred square feet of soil would be
required to nourish properly a quick -growing
trunk ; and that very carefully regulated pruning
should be done in order to guard against root
sprouting, and to direct nourishment into the
main stem. It may be added that his suggestions
have received scant attention. It can be shown
that locust trees have, in this region, grown to a
good size when, on the average, not more than
four feet apart. This, however, is the exception
and not the rule'. It does, too, occasionally happen
.that even a locust thicket may become a locust
grove by suppression of the weaker stems, but it
would hardly be scientific forestry to count upon
this.
When one follows the main line of the Penn-
sylvania railroad from Frazer to Harrisburg, he
will see large numbers of locust trees, which, in
spite of borers, have already attained good size ;
and on which the thrifty farmers depend for their
fence posts. It may be safely affirmed that if not
a single tree attained a size sufficient for tie pur-
poses, that in twenty years the railroad company
could market their locust timber at a good profit,
the plantations being in charge of a competent
forester. So that it seems like a misuse of the
English language to speak of the planting as a
disastrous experiment. Would it not be wiser to
await results than to prejudge them ?
Furthermore, before the earliest plantation was
made, Mr. Joseph Beale and the writer made
careful examination of the locust timber growing
near Newton Hamilton and discovered that there
were thrifty trees, quite large enough for ties,
growing on the ground. With this fact before
us, the locust was selected and planted there, be-
cause locust was the timber desired by Mr. Cassatt.
At the same time it was well understood by
both Mr. Beale and myself (notwithstanding all
assertions to the contrary) that there were por-
tions of the Juniata Valley in which the locust
borers were very destructive.
It would be well for some of the faint-hearted
to drive from the Gap in Lancaster County to
Strasburg, taking the direct road east of the Penn-
sylvania Main Line Railroad, and observe the
thrifty locust trees now growing there, which are
already large enough for ties. If scientific forestry
cannot produce results equal to these, there must
be something wrong with the system. In Somerset
and Westmoreland Counties, locust trees capable
of making three or four ties are quite common,
and sound locust logs two feet through have re-
cently been observed there by the writer.
Besides the ravages of the borer, the locust tree
has for years past had its leaves injured by a small
insect which destroys the inner tissue. In fact,
it often appears as if the foliage were wholly
killed, yet the tree continues to live, and thus far
has shown but little permanent injury, because the
1
(.^
168
FOREST LEAVES.
wood of the season is usually made before the in-
sect begins operations.
I may add that most of the ground chosen for
locust planting was selected by the officials of the
railroad company, and that no one will be dis-
posed to dispute with them the credit they may
receive from their choice or their methods of
operation. J. T. Rothrock.
Laurel Oak, Shingle Oak. (Quercus
imbricaria, Michx.)
THIS species of oak seems to be exceedingly
rare in Pennsylvania east of the Allegheny
Mountains. The younger Michaux had
noted this, and my observations amply confirm
his statement. The tree is so striking in its pecu-
liarities that it cannot well be overlooked.
Ridgway writes that it has grown in the Wabash
Valley one hundred feet high, and with a diame-
ter of more than three and a half feet. I have
searched in vain in Pennsylvania for such a speci-
men, though I have no doubt they could be found
within the geographic limits in which the species
is more common and more at home. The younger
Michaux has stated the facts exactly, as far as I
have observed in this State. **In the western
parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia small lawns
(open places), covered only with tall grass, are
frequently seen in the forests, around which the
laurel oak forms entire groves ; insulated stocks
are also found in cool, humid situations."
. As seen by me, the tree, at a distance, resem-
bles the pin oak, because of the drooping tendency
of the lower limbs. The bark, however, on
nearer approach, appears rather to resemble that
of the black than of the pin oak.
A close examination of the middle specimen in
the trunk illustration will show a peculiarity which
is probably worth noting. The view is taken from
the northeast. The steeper, more marked edges
of the bark are at right angles to this, and face
northwest. The bark surfaces facing the southeast
are more gradual slopes. As our severest storms
come from the northwest, it is not unlikely that
this is due to their weathering influences. The
coincidence is somewhat remarkable that the
northwestern and southeastern faces of our Penn-
sylvania mountains have, in general, the same
relative slope.
The striking feature of the tree is its usually
entire, leathery, shining, adult leaves. In this
State we regard such an entire margined leaf as
out of the oak class, because most of our species
have either strongly toothed or deeply cleft leaves.
Those of the laurel oak compel admiration. They
are substantial, glistening, challenging inspection.
Sargent, Manual Trees of North America^ p.
251, describes the leaves so exactly that I simply
copy him : * * Leaves oblong-lanceolate to oblong-
obovate, apiculate and acute or rounded at the
apex, gradually narrowed and wedge-shaped, or
rounded at the base, entire, with slightly thick-
ened revolute, often undulate margins, or some-
times more or less 3-lobed, or on sterile branches
occasionally repand-lobulate, when they unfold
bright red, soon becoming yellow-green, covered
with a scurfy rusty pubescence on the upper surface
and hoary-tomentose on the lower; at maturity
thin, glabrous, dark green, and very lustrous
above, pale green, or light brown and pubescent
below, 4-6 inches long, ^ to 2 inches wide, with
stout yellow midribs, numerous slender yellow
veins arcuate and united at some distance from
the margins, and reticulate veinlets ; late in the
autumn, before falling, turning dark red on the
upper surface ; their petioles stout, pubescent,
rarely more than half an inch long. ' ' The leaves
readily suggest the popular name, laurel oak.
The male flowers appear in downy or hairy,
thread-like clusters (aments) 2 J^ to 3 inches long.
Acorn single or in pairs, but roundish, more or
less distinctly striped, about ^4 of an inch long,
cup somewhat top-shaped, or deep saucer-shaped,
usually on a short stout stalk.
This oak certainly would lend itself to the pur-
poses of the landscape gardener, and would be an
ornament to any lawn. I have never, however,
been able to get any one to say it was of much
practical use in the mechanical arts, or subserved
very well any other purpose than as a fuel. This
is the more unfortunate, because in rich bottom-
lands it sometimes attains a large size, and because,
also, of the strength of the wood.
In Pennsylvania the laurel oak has been found
near AUentown, Lehigh County. So far as I am
informed, it has not elsewhere, in this State, been
found east of the Alleghenies, except in Bedford
County, where its presence was noted by Michaux.
It is not uncommon in Somerset, Westmoreland,
Fayette, and Greene Counties, alone the streams.
In general, it is at its best in the warm, rich
lands of southern Indiana and Illinois. Its most
western range is Kansas. It extends south on the
mountains to Alabama and Georgia.
The physical properties are : Specific gravity,
0-7529; percentage of ash, 0.43; relative ap-
proximate fuel value, 0.7497 ; weight in pounds
of a cubic foot of dry wood, 46.92 ; relative
strength among our North American woods, 8.
J. T. Rothrock.
\
Forest Leaves, Vol. xi., No. ii.
C/3
Dd
I
o
cc
<
o <
CD
CO
CO I
D Hi
O °-
O
Ul
UJ
D CO
^ UJ
CO
LAUREL OAK. (QUERCUS IM BRICARI A, MICHX.)
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
36/
FOREST LEAVES.
169
Co-operative Forestry.
(Presented at the Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylyania Forestry
Association.)
THE forestry work at the Ohio Experiment
Station, so far as tree planting is con-
cerned, is mostly along co-operative lines.
An explanation of the plan is offered at this
time, not because it is thought to be the best that
can be devised, but simply to show that it is not
necessary to be tied down to traditional methods
in making a start in forestry, nor need we always
wait for desired conditions to arise before begin-
ning work.
The State of Ohio owns no forest reserves, nor
would it be an easy matter for her to acquire land
for the purpose at reasonable rates. Moreover,
public sentiment needs a vigorous shaking up be-
fore our legislators would provide means to carry out
a comprehensive scheme of forestry by the State.
Our forest lands are in small bodies owned by
farmers and coal companies. No matter what
the State may or might do towards reforestation
it ought to give special attention to the encourage-
ment of land owners who may desire to practice
forestry. This is the prevailing opinion in the
State.
There are, however, those who believe that the
State ought to own and control forest reserves,
but all agree that land owners should be encour-
aged to care for their woodlots and to plant
trees. We seem to be a long way from State
ownership of forest reserves ; hence, it is best to
make as much as we can of opportunities to en-
courage forestry in any form.
The Station was moved to begin co-operative
forestry because of the growing scarcity of post
material. Farmers began to ask questions re-
garding the kinds of trees to plant and how to
manage plantations of this kind. The literature
on the subject did not give very satisfactory
answers, and it became evident that the subject
must be studied from a practical standpoint.
A number of catalpa speciosa groves had been
established in the State for 20 to 30 years, also
some locust and mulberry plantations. A study
of these plantings showed that good profits had
been realized on the investments, even better in
most cases than if farm crops has been grown,
and yet it was evident that the best methods had
not been followed. With these examples before
them many farmers became anxious to plant a few
acres of trees, and because they wanted to know
a number of things which we could not positively
tell them, it was agreed to give them trees if
they would plant and care for them according to
directions and furnish facilities for a study of
the groves as they grew.
It is not necessary to state here what forestry
problems we are studying in this manner, but it is
sufficient to say that it was seen at once that the
work could not be limited to the growing of trees
for post production. Even if we had not seen
wider opportunities in forestry than appeared at
the outset, farmers would themselves have called
our attention to other problems.
It seems to be a fact, however, that most of
the thought which has been productive of results
along other lines in forestry, in our State, started
with those who began by planting a grove of
catalpa trees for posts. It is true that a few men
all along had broader ideas, but the majority have
believed that to grow timber with profit we must
find some kinds of trees of faster growth than our
native sorts. Because of some good examples of
catalpa groves and various things which have been
said and written many have been led to believe
that it is far superior to any tree which grows in
our forests. The Station has not tried to inspire
this belief, but at the same time it has done all
that it could to show the merits of the catalpa as
well as other trees. It is an easy tree to grow
and to transplant and makes a rapid growth ; its
timber is valuable for many purposes besides posts,,
especially for handles and wagon making.
We have seen evidence all along that interest
in the catalpa was leading to broader ideas in
forestry. We did not let the interest in the
catalpa lag, and we have tried at the same time
to show the value of other trees. We feel that
our efforts have been rewarded. People are be-
ginning to see that they have, or may have, some-
thing of value in their woodlots. More than 500
good farmers within the State, in every county
except two, are co-operating with the Station in
answering some simple questions in forestry.
Most of these men are interested in the work.
They are thinking and they are talking. Their
neighbors are becoming interested. They are
asking questions of all sorts about forest trees and
the care of them. They are making discoveries
in their woodlots, but they are also finding some
hard problems.
When they come to us with these problems and
we say that we do not know, they are quite will-
ing to co-operate with us in finding out. The
little matter of free trees does not seem to appeal
to them as much as the assistance which we can
give in the way of advice. The majority of
farmers know but little about handling and caring
for trees, and they appreciate the little help which
we can give them. They seem to feel as though
they are on safer ground when they are co-operat-
ing with the Station than when they take up the
work alone. In fact, many would not take up
ii
III
I )
%
^
(/
'i/
}CJ
170
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
171
the work at all under any other conditions. They
offer every facility for making observations, and
often take us miles to see something of interest
in forestry. They press us to stay longer and to
<:ome again ; they make reports and write about
matters of interest regarding trees, and we are
getting a fund of information much faster and at
less cost than we could if the Station owned all of
these separate woodlots and groves.
Many of our men are now thinking of forestry
in the broadest sense as applied to the farm. We
are called upon more and more for help in farm
woodlot problems. The bulk of our nursery trees
are now of our best native trees, with a few of
the good foreign ones, and we feel sure that all
will be wanted and many more besides by farmers
for woodlot improvement.
But few of our farmers have given any attention
to tree growing, and the simplest operations need
to be explained. This is the great reason for the
success of the co-operative movement.
We always make a preliminary visit to each
party who applies for trees and call again as often
as possible. These visits always yield results.
There is no fact in this work more apparent than
that farmers need help in starting the simplest
kind of forestry operations. They feel this them-
selves, and a little good advice often puts a man
on the road to success in forestry. The personal
contact which this method implies brings results
at once, and the good work keeps widening.
The good is derived not alone by the farmers,
but those who have the work in charge are helped
and inspired. In this manner they can learn
more quickly what the problems are, and how to
solve them, and they soon come to speak with
confidence and authoritatively. The method is
laborious, but the work counts.
If the good accomplished in a neighborhood
ended with the individual who does the work
there would be less reason for hope in the future.
It not infrequently happens that a farmer gets so
enthused with the forestry work that he becomes
something of an authority in forestry matters, and
is called upon to speak on the subject at institutes
or to write for the local paper. But even though
he succeeds simply in getting a plantation of trees
nicely started every one in the county knows of it.
No one is willing to make a failure of a new ven-
ture, and that is another reason why the co-opera-
tive plan of tree planting appeals to those who are
inexperienced in tree culture.
As to the magnitude of the operations which we
are carrying on, it must be admitted that, as com-
pared with those of some other States having large
forest reserves, they are small indeed. The work
-which we are doing would not, at the present rate.
reforest our State in a thousand years. Nor is it
probable that we could ever induce a sufficient
number of our farmers to embark in forestry to
cover a tenth part of the area which should be
covered. In short, we freely admit that we can
never by this plan accomplish more than a tithe
of what should be done. We know that larger,
broader, more comprehensive plans must be in-
auguarated.
We have within our State many beautiful groves
or wooded pastures. In fully 95 per cent, of these
woodlots there is no reproduction because the
animals have destroyed the young growth by
browsing. The large trees are mostly culls left
because they were unmarketable. Forest condi-
tions have been destroyed, and the remnants of
the forest must soon succumb and be laid low by
the axe or the elements.
Private efforts are inadequate to stop this de-
struction, and yet it is evident that the initiative
must come from the owners of the land. They
can never do all that needs be done, nor should
they, for every citizen, no matter whether he owns
land or not, is interested in the forests. All need
the forests, not only for their useful products, but
for the protection they afford against storms;
their influence upon streams ; their value as a
harbor for the birds, thus indirectly affecting all
forms of life. From the aesthetic standpoint all
citizens may claim an ownership in trees. These
and other reasons can be assigned why every one
should be taxed to keep up a reasonable forest
area.
Just at present the conditions in Ohio are such-
that the first appeal must be made to the land
owners, but ultimately all citizens must be awak-
ened to see their duty. It appears to us that this
awakening must come more by example than by
precept. That the way to get the people inter-
ested in forestry is to induce as many as possible
to work at it. They will thus get over the hardest
part, which is the beginning of it, before the time
comes when all of the people must take hold.
By the time when the land owners of the State
have done, or are ready to do, their share, the
necessity which will be felt for the conservation
and control of our streams for water power will
arise. Then the influence of these pioneers in
forestry will be felt.
It might never be possible, because of the high
price of the land, for our State to carry on for-
estry operations as a business venture, but if done
to safeguard our streams it is quite another matter,
and the co-operative work will pave the way to
operations of this kind.
It may be inferred from the above that the co-
operative plan is considered inadequate to do the
work required. This is true of any plan that could
be devised, if the work of restoring our forests to
the extent needed is to be done in a short time.
The co-operative plan will meet certain cases ad-
mirably, and can be greatly extended, but the in-
ference meant to be conveyed is that there is still
room and need for other methods of operations.
We feel sure, however, that we have found a good
way to make a start and to do pioneer work in
forestry. Under our conditions it is probable that
there is no better way to make a beginning. In
fact, our experience has shown that if we would
get the farmers to practice forestry we must go out
among them and work with them.
Four years work along this line have opened up
great opportunities. The Station has been offered,
free of rent, all the land it can use, and many
times more for forestry experimental work. If it
had the men and the means it could make forest
reserves of many thousands of acres of timber lands
owned by coal companies in quite large tracts.
We are also working in connection with some
of the public institutions in tree planting and care
of woodlands. We might find enough to do for
several years if our efforts were confined to this
class of work alone. A great deal of good could
be done in protecting the sources of water supply
of our cities. We are reforesting one farm be-
longing to a city and controlled by the waterworks
department. There are many city reservoirs and
streams which supply them that need forest pro-
tection.
A little effort would arouse some or most of
them to take these precautions against contamina-
tion and waste by evaporation, as well as irregu-
larity of supply. All such planting could be made
largely experimental, hence we would be justified
in taking up such work. In a broader field our
cities might be led to co-operate in establishing
forest parks.
Such parks could be made to serve useful pur-
poses along streams. They would pay in many
ways. They could be made object lessons in for-
estry, and thus help to mold public sentiment and
to show the city people that the obligation to care
for the forest rests as much upon them as upon the
land owners in the country. Such forest parks
■should not be copied after the costly city parks,
where every effort is made to finish and polish,
but rather they should be examples of what Nature,
with a help to start, will do if she is allowed to
•care for her own. We need to know more of
Nature, both city and country alike, and it is in-
cumbent upon us to make provision for future
generations. There is good reason to believe that
the co-operative plan would work out nicely in this
direction; in fact, there seems to be almost no
limit to its adaptation, as long at least as there
is need of experimentations and instructions in
forestry.
In short, it seems plausible to believe that wher-
ever it is desired to enlist private enterprise in
forestry work that the State can do no better than
to co-operate to a greater or less extent.
W. J. Green.
A Paid State Fire Service.
Alfred Gaskill, State Forester of New Jersey.
(Presented at the Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association.)
IF meetings like this of the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association are to be productive of re-
sults, they must be used as opportunities to
learn something of what is going on about us.
I have come here to learn as much as I may of
what Pennsylvania is doing with its forest reserves,
and what it is doing for the protection of private
property, yet I am none the less willing to tell
you what I can of what we are doing on the other
side of the Delaware.
Notwithstanding the many claims made that the
forest fire problem is thoroughly solved, I may
say that we still consider it the most vital problem
before us. It is doubtless true that people through-
out the country are realizing the extent of the
forest fire evil, yet I believe that we are far from
the point where we can say the question can be
laid aside. It is perfectly useless to attempt
forest management, forest improvement, or tree
planting, until there shall be assurance that the
woods so managed shall be reasonably immune
from injury by fire.
Our problem is somewhat different from yours,
as our conditions are different, yet in a broad way
the forest fire problem is the same the country
over. New Jersey has about one -sixth the area
of Pennsylvania and one -seventh as much forest,
yet it has nearly one-third as many people. In.
other words, the population of New Jersey is
nearly twice as dense as it is in Pennsylvania.
This condition creates an opportunity as well as
an obligation, for where there are many people
there is a demand for lumber and for the protec-
tion of the forest on every account. We there-
fore have a situation in which the control of fires
is of immense importance, because our climate
and soil conditions are so favorable that with the
exception of a negligible area the whole State
grows forests spontaneously.
With respect to the fire service, we tried first
the experiment of leaving it optional with the
townships to appoint fire marshals and appro-
41
i
\v
)
d
f
f
172
FOREST LEAVES.
priate money for fighting forest fires, the State
offering to pay an equal amount. After three or
four years it was found that only three or four
townships had taken advantage of this law. For
two years now we have had a corps of about 300
wardens appointed by the local government of
the forested townships, or other municipalities, by
direction of the State Forest Commission. These
officers have had no regular salary, but each was
commissioned by the State and furnished with a
badge. From the first the Forest Commission
has sought to make this organization a means of
preventing forest fires rather than simply a corps
to fight them. Each warden is instructed to be
on the lookout for every little fire, and is allowed
$2 whenever he is called out, or goes out, even
though the work done be insignificant. In the
same way every man who is called out by a warden
to fight fire is allowed $1 for any service up to 5
hours. This system encourages the citizens to go
after forest fires with the utmost speed, and to put
them out before they become dangerous. We
have had no evidence that this liberal compensa-
tion induces men to set fires for the sake of being
employed to put them out. Another feature of
the service is that every man who can be shown
to have caused a fire in violation of the law is
held to strict accountability. Last season we pros-
ecuted five offenders and won every case. This
season there has been but one prosecution, but
the Forest Commission has adopted the policy of
requiring each offender to pay the cost of extin-
guishing the fire. This relieves the community
of all expense in the case and serves quite as well
as a fine in inspiring respect for the law. Upwards
of twenty cases have been settled in this way.
We do not claim for a moment that this system
is perfect ; in fact, the wardens have shown signs
of dissatisfaction to such an extent that an amend-
ment to the law was secured at the last session of
the Legislature by which every township warden
will now get $20 a year and every district warden
$10 a year, in addition to such pay as he may
earn by actual fire fighting. The object of this
provision is simply to enlist men throughout the
State for the prevention of fires. You all know
that a fire once started is a difficult thing to ex-
tinguish. We are trying to control the situation
by checking the fires in their beginnings, and it
looks as though we should succeed. The idea, of
course, is not new. You do it here in Pennsyl-
vania in the Pocono country, where I understand
that it works most satisfactorily and at a cost that
is entirely reasonable. I lately learned that the
same plan has been adopted in the State of
Washington ; there the State government and the
lumbermen's associations are working together to
maintain a paid service throughout the dangerous
season.
Another feature of our law which is working
well is that requiring every one who wants to
burn brush in the neighborhood of a forest to get
a permit from the fire-warden. For the last two
years these permits were required only from
March 10 to May 31, but the season has now
been extended to the whole year, and we believe
that still better results will follow.
Last year we were particularly fortunate in
having comparatively few fires. This past season
has been unfavorable. Dry weather and high
winds have caused many fires in the pine section,
yet we have practically eliminated the fires caused
by burning brush. The railroads are now the
most serious source of fires, and we propose to try
for a law which shall require every railroad within
the State to construct wide fire lines along its
right-of-way. A bill providing for this was passed
by the State Senate last winter, but failed in the
House. We are satisfied that the measure is the
only practical means of lessening the damage
done by railroad locomotives.
You may care to know what this service costs.
The State spends about $4,000 a year. This in-
cludes the salary and expenses of a State Fire-
warden, the badges, shovels, and other equipment
furnished the local wardens, the necessary office -
work, and one-half the cost of fighting fires. The
other one-half paid by the local authorities amounts
to less than $1,000 more. I do not believe that
even with the salaries now to be paid that the
total expense is likely to be much more than
$5,000 a year to the State and its various munici-
palities, for as the system becomes more efficient
the expenses for fighting fires will be reduced.
There are now 98 township wardens and about
200 district wardens. The size of the districts
is somewhat irregular, yet the aim is to have
one man look after not more than 8,000 acres of
forest. In a good many cases he has less than
one-half that area.
Let me emphasize the two important features
of this service — those which we believe are abso-
lutely essential to the successful control of forest
fires: (i) An organization whose chief purpose
is X.O prevent fires, though fully equipped to fight
them when necessary; (2) Sure and sufficient
payment to every man in the service ; without
this no man can be heartily enlisted in such work.
Forest experiment stations are to be established
in a number of the National Forests, one having
been started in the Coconino Forest in Arizona.
An important feature of the stations will be the
maintenance of model forests typical of the region.
JC^
/
■» *•• r.* '
FOREST LEAVES.
173
Woodlot Forestry.
(Presented at the Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
PENNSYLVANIA has made admirable prog-
ress in the acquisition of large tracts of
forest lands in the mountains for State
forests. The importance of this work is of the
first magnitude, and it should be continued until
all her stream-heads are fully protected and all
potential forest land in the mountains that is not
likely to receive conservative management under
private ownership, is under State control. But
this is not the only forest problem of the State,
and in order to give forestry the Statewide in-
terest that it demands, it seems opportune to
present another phase of the question — woodlot
forestry. In the eastern United States most of
the woodland is in relatively small holdings, from
ten to one hundred acres, and in point of numbers
the farmers are decidedly in the majority as wood-
land owners. In order to give forestry the vital-
ity and force that will make it mean all that it
should to every land owner in the commonwealth
the woodlot owner must be enlisted. Where
improved forest management is put in practice
on any considerable number of woodlots distri-
buted over the State it will be "the leaven to
lighten the whole."
It is so much more convincing to teach forestry
by object lessons than by theoretical formula, that
in each county there should be one or more model
woodlots under competent supervision by the
State. In some cases the State would have to ac-
quire ownership or take a long time lease, but
generally it would be possible to co-operate with
land owners, who would furnish the land and
most of the labor, granting the State full control
of the management. These model woodlots
should be so distributed as to represent all of the
common forest types, and located with reference to
their accessibility as object lessons to show what
practical forestry means and what it will accom-
plish when a plan of management is consistently
carried out. Every woodlot of this character
would be, in a sense, an experiment plot from
which in time would be gathered data valuable to
the State and to woodland owners generally.
What is most needed is more exact information
about tree growth. We know that our woodlots
are in a poor condition. They have been cut
over injudiciously until the proportion of valuable
species has been reduced to an alarming extent,
and supremacy given largely to unmerchantable
species. Excessive cutting and fires have made
blank spaces in the forest, thereby greatly decreas-
ing production. The grazing of cattle and sheep
has still further extended the open places and
caused soil deterioration, until even under the
best of management it will require a long time to
restore normal conditions. Formerly such con-
ditions were regarded as inevitable, and little
done to prevent them. The best of the timber
was relatively of low value with no market at all
for inferior stuff— the so called "tree weeds."
But conditions have changed rapidly. The price
of stumpage has advanced as good timber became
scarce, and prices are certain to advance much
farther. Already the farmer who sold his good
timber a few years ago for almost a song is now
wishing he had a few of the trees left of which he
has now only stumps for a reminder.
Under a long period of occupation, practically
all land fit for the plow has been cleared and our
forest areas have been narrowed down to almost
the minimum, if we are to continue to supply the
timber we need. The woodland owners are be-
ginning to realize that their woodlands now have
a value for a second crop, and will continue to be
still more valuable for a third, and a fourth crop
— hence, the time has come for the adoption of
more definite policy for all of our forest lands,
not alone the State forests and the national forests,
but the thousands of woodlots that are going to
be a big factor in preserving our supply of timber.
It is not so much a question of why forestry
should be practiced, but how. And here is the
difficulty with the woodlot. We know so little
about the growth of our trees and their behavior
under given conditions. Our studies are com-
paratively new and our observations extend over a
relatively short time. American forestry is new
and must be developed. Its progress can be no
more rapid than the people are willing to be
educated in it. So when the forester advises the
farmer in the management of his woodlot he finds
it is a compromise between what is best for the
continued productiveness of the forest and the
extent to which the owner is willing to go in the
matter. It is worse than useless to advise a wood-
lot owner to do something he is unwilling to do,
for he at once thinks forestry is an impractical
thing and that the one offering advice is some-
thing of an imposter. The private owner is not
to be won over by radical methods, but must be
approached with moderation and tact. The
policy of the States and of the national govern-
ment in offering assistance to woodland owners,
in formulating plans of management for their
forest lands, and in preparing planting plans is an
estimable work. It cannot fail to accomplish
much good in promoting better forest manage-
ment, but all that can be accomplished by such
work is to induce woodland owners to modify
the destructive methods commonly practiced and
II
-)
tv
174
FOREST LEAVES.
adopt some methods leading towards conservative
forestry. It is a step in the right direction, and
if land owners generally accepted the offer of
advice there would be a decided advance in the
practice of forestry. That they are not doing so
is due mostly to the uncertainty of returns to be
derived from such change in methods. In other
words, a lack of confidence in the ability of
foresters to produce results. This again empha-
sizes the need of a careful local study of tree
growth, results of improvement cuttings and
thinnings, planting, etc., so that the returns from
a particular method under given conditions can
be convincingly set forth to the land owner.
The sooner the States take up this question in a
systematic way the better, and not until then will
it be able to point out the way by which the
private owner may practice forestry in this genera-
tion with a certainty of reward.
F. VV. Besley.
The Pocono Protective Fire Association.
i
r I iHE Pocono Protective Fire Association is
five years old. It has accomplished more
in that time in keeping down forest fires
in that locality than any other agency in the
last fifty years. Before its organization fires ran
over the mountains every spring and fall, de-
stroying thousands of dollars' worth of standing
timber and preventing the possibility of the
growth of young timber, besides destroying build-
ings, fences, crops, and other property. Berry-
pickers regularly burned the wild lands so as to
increase the berry crop, and land owners heed-
lessly burned their pasture fields, regardless of the
consequences to the surrounding property over
which the fires could run. Hunters and fishermen
were also offenders, building fires to cook their
meals, and going away leaving them with no fur-
ther thought, except to put on a fresh stick or two.
Neglected camp fires have been the cause of many
disastrous wood fires. The railroads also throw
sparks from their engines to fall in the grass and
leaves along their right of way and communicate
to anything that would burn. Such a state of
things was very costly to the community, not only
in the destruction of property, but in the time
required to fight fires, taking from their work
large numbers of men, who often had to put forth
every exertion, sometimes for two or three days,
to preserve their homes.
The Association, immediately after its organi-
zation, took advantage of the law permitting the
court, upon the application of twenty taxpayers,
to appoint deputy constables, who should also be
fire wardens, and secured the appointment of war-
dens in the townships of Coolbaugh, Tunkhan-
nock, Tobyhanna, Chestnu thill, Jackson, Barrett,
Paradise, and Pocono. They also had notices
printed on muslin tacked on trees along the roads
and in conspicuous places in the woods, warning
all persons against starting fires, and offering a re-
ward of $50 for information leading to the arrest
and conviction of persons guilty of doing so.
Wide publicity was given to this notice in the
newspapers, and the reward was afterwards in-
creased to $100. The Association also pledged
itself to pay as promptly as possible the men called
out by the wardens to assist in fighting fires, so
that there would not be the delay of waiting for
the county commissioners to pay them.
The expenditures of the Association for the past ,
five years have been a little over $300 per year,
amounting in all to $1,593.96. Of this amount,
$297. 70 was for legal expenses, the cost of organi-
zation, appointment of wardens, printing, post-
age, etc. ; $830.35 was for salaries of wardens
and men called out to fight fires ; $286.50 was for
portable fire extinguishers for use of wardens ;
and $179.44 was expended in the prosecution
above referred to. The revenues are raised by
assessments on an acreage basis, and have hereto-
fore been at the rate of six mills per acre. No
assessment was made for 1907, so that it is neces-
sary to make it one cent per acre for 1908. One
dollar per hundred acres is a small price to pay
for the protection afforded by an Association
composed of the most progressive people on the
mountain.
While much has been accomplished, it is neces-
sary that the work be vigorously pushed, that the
good results obtained by improved conditions in
the last few years may not be lost. One fire
would undo all the benefit of years of protection.
It would seem to be to the interest of every man
on the Pocono mountain to become a member of
this Association, whether he had a thousand
acres, or, what is of much more importance to
him, simply his home on a half-acre lot. Every
land owner is eligible for membership, and may
become a member by applying to I. D. Ivison,
Mt. Pocono, Pa.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
}(■?
FOREST LEAVES.
175
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
»•♦■
. Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
Yale Univef gitg FoPe^t School
NEW HAVEN - - CONNECTICUT
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry- — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One. of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
A two years* graduate course
is offered, leading to the de-
gree of Master of Forestry.
Graduates of collegiate institu-
tions of high standing are ad-
mitted upon presentation of
their college diplomas.
The Summer School ot
Forestry is conducted at Mil-
ford, Pike County, Penna.
For further information address
HENRY S. GRAVES, Director,
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Statioo.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon application^
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Maiter»
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
JACOB 8. DIS8T0N. FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
BDOAR DUDLEY PARIES. RANDAL MORGAN.
FRANCIS I. OOWBN. H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
J. LEVERING JONES. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
^
(f
i
176
FOREST LEAVES.
■ »• *.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not— Why Not?
FALL PLANTING DAYS ARE HERE !
BETTER GET ACaXTAINTED ! !
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find— they have the quality— roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations.= Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET" MORE SPECfALTIES." 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched jf^'l JT"" /;"'<»
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched *' "^ '° *'° °°
_ . I 25 10 00 70 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i^ to i^ in. cal ,50 ,3 50 ,„ ^
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to a in. cal j ' .. ,. ^
10 to la ft. Low-branched; a to 2>^ in. cal ' ' ' a no « f o „f "^
10 to la ft. a^ to 3 in. . ^ " '" ''o 00
Extra-heavy Specimens .•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.,3 5„-J„': 3° ~ «'5 00
Send for FALL PRICE LIST.
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
3jj^^r-^-
Philadelphia, December, igo8. No. 12.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
zoxa ^Valnut St,, Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post«Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorials 177
Maine Can Limit Cutting of Private Timber 178
The Maryland Bureau of Forestry 179
Inequitable Taxation of Standing Timber 181
Pine Trees Reclaim Abandoned Farms 182
What is Practical Forestry? 183
Minnesota Forestry 189
The Forests and the Constitution 190
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention of Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^ FoRBST Leavks as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membenship fee. Two dollars.
Life *nemhership. Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 10x2 Walnut Street, Phila.
President ^ John I^irkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary^ Dr. Joseph T. Rothroclc.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
(Sound I- at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
tinance. W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman : Mrs. George F Baer,
Kdwin Swift Balch. Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Latv, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman ; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman : F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, "blixs,. Brinton Coxe Chairman; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William S. Kirk. J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp.
County Organ izat ion, r^aiiMici Marshall, Chairman: Eugene tllicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Opfick of the Association, 1012 Walnut St.. Philadelphia.
EDITORIALS.
WHEN the last issue cf Forest Leaves
was sent to press we had r ison to be-
lieve that welcome rain »ad extin-
guished the forest fires which had ravaged so much
of the country. But in Pennsylvania and else-
where a continuation of drought conditions re-
sulted in other fires, the total monetary damage
of which it is difficult to estimate.
In a late visit to the Adirondacks, we passed
through a portion of the New York State forest
reserves, which a fire had devastated, leaving
a multitude of blackened tree trunks and charred
forest floor. We mentally compared the forest
policy of New York and Pennsylvania, for in
the latter State the embers resulting from forest
fires which had invaded the forest reserves had
hardly cooled before the Pennsylvania State For-
estry Reservation Commission were on hand plant-
ing trees to replace those destroyed, and perfecting
methods of obtaining whatever value remained in
the standing burned timber.
The illustrations in this issue are offered without
comment as indicative of the terrible conditions
during and after forest fires. At the Annual
Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion, to be held in Philadelphia on December
14th, Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Commissioner of
Forestry, has promised to address the Association
upon Forest Fire Damages, and we bespeak for
him an interested audience. J. B.
*****
Few men have given the close continuous study
to practical forestry that Mr. S. B. Elliott has de-
voted to this subject, and the able paper which we
print in this issue demonstrates that Pennsylvania
is fortunate in having as a member of the Forestry
Reservation Cotnmission one who is so well quali-
fied to discuss the forestry problem. J. B.
I
ii
>
1«>
^v
178
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
179
On November 26th, at the invitation of Dr.
C. A. Schenck, Forester, there was a meeting
at Biltmore, N. C, of gentlemen interested in
forestry, who gathered from different sections of
the United States, for a tour of instruction over
the estate of Mr. George W. Vanderbilt, containing
130,000 acres. On this and the two succeeding
days the visitors were shown the actual results
obtained in the Biltmore forests during the last
twenty years, being conveyed in carriages to vari-
ous points of interest. Practical object lessons
illustrated the successes as well as the fail-
ures, in nearly all lines of forestry. Plantings
on abandoned fields by way of reforestation on
cutover lands, by improvement cuttings, in the
primeval forests by systematic logging, etc., were
inspected.
A neat booklet entitled '* Biltmore Forest,"
prepared for the occasion, served as a guide,
giving the cost in dollars and cents of the plant-
ings and improvements at various places, the
visitors being able to see what had been ac-
complished in each instance, while additional in-
formation was given on the ground.
It was a most instructive and entertaining trip
for those who were fortunate enough to be present,
and incidentally marked the Tenth Anniversary of
the Biltmore Forest School.
Maine Can Limit Cutting of Private
Timber.
THE American Lumberman states that not long
ago a gentleman interested in a theoretical
way in forestry and the preservation of the
timber resources of the United States, after con-
sidering the fact that 70 to 75 per cent, of the
timber of the United States is in the hands of in-
dividuals and therefore under control, so far as
control is possible, of the States and not of the
national government ; after pondering the legal
questions involved, bearing in mind laxity of
State authority, the rivalry of States in the utiliza-
tion of their natural resources and the hostility of
individuals to legislation which will affect their
private interests, confessed to despair of anything
being accomplished in the way of forest preserva-
tion except the protection of what government
timber remains. Acquirement by the national
government of timber lands sufficient to produce
a supply of lumber for the future he acknowledged
to be beyond the ability of even so wealthy a
government as ours, and he did not believe the
States could be depended upon or expected to
adopt the necessary measures within their own
boundaries.
It has been questioned that the States have the
right, even in the exercise of their so-called police
power, to do more in regulation of timber cutting
than to demand that cutting shall be so done as
not to endanger adjoining property. Fire laws
are conceded to be within the province of the
State and in some have been adopted with success,
but actually to limit cutting by the individual, to
say to the timber owner he shall cut only such
and such trees or trees in such a class or shall not
cut at all, has commonly been thought to be be-
yond the power of the commonwealth. But
Maine does not think so, and a decision by the
Supreme Court of that State, lately handed down,
is enlightening. Six of the judges concurred in
the opinion, while only one dissented, and he not
on the merits of the question.
The Constitution of Maine requires the State
Supreme Court to pass in advance upon the con-
stitutionality of measures proposed to be adopted
by the legislature upon request of that body. The
questions proposed by the Maine senate during
the session of 1907 were in the following form,
which covered every phase of the proposed legis-
lation :
The justices of the supreme judicial court are
hereby requested to give to the senate, according
to the provision of the constitution in this behalf,
their opinion on the following questions, to wit :
In order to promote the common welfare of the
people of Maine by preventing or diminishing in-
jurious droughts and freshets, and by protecting,
preserving and maintaining the natural water
supply of the springs, streams, ponds and lakes
and of the lands, and by preventing or diminish-
ing injurious erosion of the land, and the filling
up of the rivers, ponds and lakes, and, as an
efficient means neces ary to this end, has the
legislature power under the constitution
1. By public general law to regulate or restrict
the cutting or destruction of small trees growing
on wild or uncultivated land by the owner thereof
without compensation therefor to such owner ;
2. To prohibit, restrict or regulate the wanton,
wasteful or unnecessary cutting or destruction of
small trees growing on any wild or uncultivated
land by the owner thereof, without compensation
therefor to such owner, in case such small trees
are of equal or greater actual value standing and
remaining for their future growth than for im-
mediate cutting, and such trees are not intended
or sought to be cut for the purpose of clearing and
improving such land for use or occupation in
agriculture, mining, quarrying, manufacturing or
business, or for pleasure purpose, or for a build-
ing site ; or
3. In such manner to regulate or restrict the
cutting or destruction of trees growing on wild or
uncultivated lands by the owners thereof as to
preserve or enhance the value of such lands and
trees thereon and protect and promote the in-
terests of such owners and the common welfare of
the people ?
4. Is such regulation of the control, manage-
ment or use of private property a taking thereof
for public uses for which compensation must be
made ?
The opinion on the above questions is exhaus-
tive, entering fully into matters of constitution-
ality and of the common law. It abounds in
citations of decisions by courts of Maine and other
States and of the Supreme Court of the United
States.
The decision begins as follows : *^ We find the'
legislature has by the constitution ' full power to
make and establish all reasonable laws and regu-
lations for the defense and benefit of this State,
not repugnant to this constitution nor that of the
United States.' "
Following, the court quotes a decision of the
United States Supreme Court which has to do
with the fourteenth amendment of the Constitu-
tion of the United States, as follows: ''But
neither the amendment, broad and comprehensive
as it is, nor any other amendment was designed
to interfere with the power of the State, some-
times termed its 'police power,' to prescribe
regulations to promote the health, peace, morals,
education and good order of its people, and to
legislate so as to increase the industries of the
State, develop its resources and add to its wealth
and prosperity."
The constitutional provision prohibiting the
taking of private property for public uses without
just compensation is decided by the Maine court
not to be violated in this case. The decision
closed as follows :
Regarding the question submitted in the light
of the doctrine above stated (being that of Maine
and Massachusetts at least), we do not think the
proposed legislation would operate to "take"
private property within the inhibition of the con-
stitution. While it might restrict the owner of
wild and uncultivated lands in his use of them,
might delay his taking some of the product, might
delay his anticipated profits and even thereby
might cause him some los«? of profit, it would
nevertheless leave him his lands, their product
and increase, untouched, and without diminution
of title, estate or quantity. He would still have
large measure of control and large opportunity to
realize values. He might suffer delay but not
deprivation. While the use might be restricted
it would not be appropriated or ** taken."
The foregoing considerations lead us to the
opinion at present that the proposed legislation
for the purposes and with the limitations named
in the senate order, would be within the legisla-
tive power and would not operate as a taking of
private property for which compensation must be
made.
It is evident that if this decision be good law
and as such be concurred in by the courts of
other States and the Supreme Court of the United
States, to which it must be referred, the States
have it in their power to preserve their forest re-
sources, even where held in private hands. They
can say to any timber owner, " you must cut your
timber so as not to destroy the forest but so as to
perpetuate it for the use of another generation.
You must handle your timber with reference not
only to your own needs and wishes but with ref-
erence to the future." To that end a minimum
limit of size can be fixed as to trees which may
be cut, and loggers can be required so to carry on
their business as not to injure small and growing
timber, and to clean up debris after their work is
done. The police power of the State, which is
intended to promote and protect the wellbeing of
the people of the State as a whole, is thus ex-
tended to cover a business which has usually been
felt to be thoroughly individual and subject to no
control whatsoever.
The Maryland Bureau of Forestry.
OUR sister State of Maryland has set about
the forestry problem in the proper way.
In 1906 a State Forester, Mr. F. W.
Besley, was appointed, and we give below his
statement of the aims of the Maryland Forestry
Bureau as abstracted from the Baltimore News :
In 1898 the United States Division of Forestry
offered to co-operate with private timber land
owners in introducing better forest management.
The records show that a number of Marvland
woodland owners participated in this co-operative
work and adopted plans of systematic forest man-
agement. This may be considered as the begin-
ning of a forestry movement in the State. In
1898 Dr. William B. Clark, who is at the head ot
the State Geological and Economic Survey, saw
the need of investigating forest conditions in con-
nection with other natural resources of the State.
This led to a plan of co-operative work with the
United States Division of Forestry. The plan
was to take up each county separately, reporting
upon its forest conditions and publishing a forest
map. Under this arrangement eight of the coun-
ties of the State have been studied and reports for
three of them published.
/
1^
V
180
FOREST LEAVES.
Mr. Robert Garrett, with his brother, John W.
Garrett, who owned a large tract of land in Gar-
rett county, became at this time interested in the
forestry work of the State. Having in mind the
needs of forestry legislation to protect the forest
interests, and at the same time considering the
advisability of creating State forest reserves, they
applied to the United States Forest Service to
make an examination of their lands in Garrett
county. The two objects for which the examina-
tion was made were : First, to determine the prac-
ticability of conservative forest management in
the mountain forests ; and, second, the suitability
of such lands for State forest reservations.
The Forest Service reported favorably on both
these propositions. The Messrs. Garrett then
decided to offer their land, amounting to 19 17
acres, as a gift to the State for forest reserve pur-
poses, provided the State should enact suitable
forest legislation which should be a guarantee of
its protection and proper administration.
The time was opportune for adopting a State
forest policy. The State Geological Survey, in
co-operation with the forestry branch of the Gov-
ernment, had demonstrated that the forest re-
source of the State was one of her most valuable
assets. It was apparent that special legislation was
necessary to protect these interests and to provide
for their conservation. Furthermore, by the en-
actment of proper forest laws the absolute gift of
two forest reserves was assured.
The State Board of Forestry has the power to
purchase land for forest culture and reserves at a
price not exceeding $5 an acre ; it also may ac-
cept gifts of land for State forest reserves and
make rules and regulations governing the same.
The State Forester, who entered upon his duties
on June 25, 1906, has organized the State work
along five lines, namely :
1. Ascertaining the forest resources and forest
needs of the State.
2. Forest educational work.
3. Co-operative work with woodland owners
and those desiring to plant forest trees.
4. Organizing the State forest reserves.
5. Inaugurating a forest warden system.
Although nearly half the land area of the State
is in brush and woodland, its productive capacity
has been so reduced by poor forest management,
or, as is generally the case, a lack of management,
that it is safe to say that the woodlands are not
producing one-fourth of what they could do under
proper management. The lumberman who pur-
chased a tract of timber was not to be blamed for
cutting it in such a way as to produce the greatest
immediate returns. His object was to convert the
timber into cash, and, having done so, move to
new fields, having no regard for the future of the
forest which he had left. As a consequence of
this system there are immense areas of badly de-
pleted forests on which to depend for the future
timber supply. The lumberman frequently left a
fair proportion of young growing stock with which
to renew the forest, but severe fires have followed
extensive lumbering operations, rendering the
already crippled forest totally unfit for further
production of value.
When it is considered that nearly half the land
area of the State is producing scarcely one-fourth
the product of w^hich it is capable under proper
management, this means an immense loss in reve-
nue. The depletion of the forests is imperiling the
prestige of some important industries. An ex»
* ample of this is the tannery business, which depends
upon the forest for a cheap supply of certain kinds
of bark, notably hemlock and chestnut oak. The
large quantity of these trees in the western part
of the State supplied the business with an abun-
dance of bark and built up the industry to one of
great importance. In recent years, however, with
the exhaustion of the large timber tracts in this
section, most of the large tanneries have found it
necessary to move to new fields. Those that still
exist in Maryland are running on an accumulated
supply of bark, which was secured a few years ago
when the supply was plentiful. According to the
census figures for 1900, 1158 cords of hemlock
bark was cut in Maryland that year. In 1905 the
cut had dwindled to 60 cords.
The value of the Maryland forest products, not
including firewood, amounts to over $5,000,000
annually. When to this is added the important
item of firewood, which probably one-half of the
people use for fuel, and timber used on the farms,
the forest products of the State will total in value
about $7,500,000 annually. The forest resources
are second only to those of agriculture, and in a
few counties of the State they are the greatest
source of revenue. With the rapid rise in the price
of timber and timber products (prices have nearly
doubled within the last five years), the importance
of the forests is becoming better appreciated.
People generally are inquiring about the present
timber supply, for these steady advances in price
of lumber cannot be satisfactorily answered by the
local lumber dealer ; it is more far-reaching than
merely local supply and demand.
Maryland has been settled so long that the re-
lation in area between the farm lands and forest
lands has become fairly stable. The land in forest
is usually the rocky and sterile soils, unsuited for
agriculture, and will likely always be in forest ;
hence, the period has been reached in develop-
ment when a failure to apply the principles of
J 7 J
FOREST LEAVES.
181
forest management means not only a large finan-
cial loss to the individual owner, but a loss to the
State in taxes. In Germany, where natural con-
ditions for growing timber are not so good as here,
the average growth of forests is about 55 cubic
feet per acre per year, while in this State it is likely
not over 15 cubic feet per annum on the average
acre of woodland. The difference is that the Ger-
man forests have been under management for cen-
turies, while we have scarcely begun to apply scien-
tific principles in woodland management with a
view to our future timber supply.
Under the State law the State Forester is re-
quired to give a share of his time in educational
work. Since a better understanding of the aims
of forestry is necessary to insure its general intro-
duction as an economic question in the welfare of
the State, the educational and propagandist feature
has been carried on energetically. A course of
lectures in practical forestry is being given to the
students at the State Agricultural College ; for-
estry is being presented at the State Farmers' In-
stitute meetings ; also illustrated lectures and ad-
dresses are given to farmers' clubs and granges in
different parts of the State.
Under the provision of the forestry act the State
Forester is making plans for forest management on
private tracts when requested to do so. Some 22
woodlots had been examined and advice given as
to their proper management.
It is the policy of the State to organize a forest
w^arden service in all of the wooded counties where
forest fires are frequent. Eleven of the 23 coun-
ties have been so organized, and under the first
year of the administration of the forest fire laws the
damage from fires has been reduced from an annual
loss of about $250,000 to a loss of about $50,000.
In order to ascertain more definitely what we
have in the way of forest resources and how to
make the best^ use of them, a forest survey of the
State by counties has begun and will be continued
until there is an accurate forest map of every
county, together with a full report upon the forest
conditions and best methods of management for
each. Field studies and forest maps have been
completed for three of the counties.
There has been recently added to our area of
State forests a small tract of 40 acres in the central
part of the State. This is about the size of the
woodlot on the larger farms of this section, and
will be so managed as to show the possibilities of
woodlot forestry for the central counties.
Maryland has made a beginning on a small for-
estry appropriation. As the work is developed, its
needs and advantages demonstrated, the State Board
of Forestry will be able to secure larger appropria-
tions and thereby greatly extend its usefulness.
Inequitable Taxation pf Standing Timber.
¥R. A. C. SHAW, Principal Examiner Law
Office,- U. S. Forest Service, Wash- .
ington, 13. C. , in an article states that
the efforts of the States to secure the reforestation
of the denuded watersheds of their navigable
streams and protect the farms along such streams
from periodical and destructive floods have de-
veloped inquiries as to why land valuable mainly
for timber growing is allowed to lie idle, and in-
stead of contributing its proportionate share of
wealth and its tribute of taxes has become a burden
to the people and the States.
Although the price of lumber has ad v? need
steadily for some years, the wealth produced by
timber cutting and selling is taken away from
localities where it was amassed and invested else-
where, and in no instance in reforesting denuded
timber lands.
The legislatures of all of the States where such
denuded areas exist are confronted with the cry,
** Unfair taxation of the timber crop and incon-
siderate and excessive over-valuation of timbered
lands." It takes a generation of time to grow a
timber crop. The grower must stand an unusual
risk from fire and depredation and must not ex-
pect any return from land or crop for many years.
The growers of ordinary crops reap their returns
in one year, and of fruit crops in three or four
years.
• In many States growing crops are expressly
exempted from taxation. In none is it practical
to tax ordinary growing crops, and yet timber
upon which the growers of other crops are de-
pendent, because of its conserving effect on the
streams and because of its domestic uses, is taxed
annually by valuation with the land and often
overtaxed, because the value of young growth is
not properly estimated by hasty assessments made
upon imperfect knowledge.
So-called equal and uniform tax laws and the
joint classification of land and timber seem to be
the causes of the injustice in taxing the timber
crop. Under the former, no consideration is
given to the risks which are incident to, or the
length of time which is necessary for, timber
growing.
Private capital must destroy its timber because
excessive tax laws make it impossible to consider
a second crop. In many States land which is
chiefly valuable for timber growing has been de-
nuded and become waste, and now encumbers
the delinquent tax lists or produces nothing and *
returns no tax. The joint classification of timber
and land does not tend to secure a fair considera-
tion of the timber, but does result in hasty and
I
,iP
-)
1
4
182
FOREST LEAVES.
Bi
inexpert valuations which are often most exces-
sive.
Many States are striving to enact laws to pro-
mote timber growing and reforestation of denuded
lands. Special laws have been made in many,
but few of them are practical. Some provide for
bounties ; others provide for exemption of land
and timber for a term of years ; and most of such
laws seem intended to secure a growth of timber
on lands which have never grown it or to intro-
duce trees which are not indigenous to the respec-
tive localities.
The Supreme Courts of some of the States have
declared that it is legal to depart from the com-
mon law classification of property and to declare
that, for the purpose of taxation, growing timber
shall be considered personal property and taxed
separately from the land on which it grows. This
action alone would tend to secure fair assessments
by arousing intelligent consideration of both
timber and land.
The constitutions of both Colorado and Ne-
tfraska expressly provide that the increased value
of private lands caused by the planting of trees
thereon shall not be reckoned in fixing the taxes
of such lands. California has a similar statute,
which, however, exempts only fruit trees and
grape vines grown for orchards and vineyards.
These constitutional provisions do not, however,
prevent denudation, since they refer only to
planted areas. It would not be fair to relieve
from all taxation land upon which timber grows,
and it would not be fair to exempt matured tim-
ber on land suitable for agriculture. Such actions
would increase unjustly the burdens of other land
owners and tehd to prevent the best use of some
of the land. No unfairness can, however, result
in exempting, for a term of years, growing and
immature timber upon land chiefly valuable for
timber growing. The following States permit
reasonable exemptions : Connecticut, Delaware,
Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi,
Missouri, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Other States, by their constitutions, permit classi-
fications and confine the requirements of equal
and uniform rate to the class in which property is
placed. Because of the constantly decreasing
timber supply and constantly increasing denuda-
tion of the watersheds with the resulting floods,
disastrous alike to navigation and agriculture,
there should be no delay in taking action to en-
courage timber growing whenever such action may
be taken without injury to other interests.
In some States no relief can be secured except
•through amendment of their constitutions. Those
States which by existing constitutions permit such
encouragement are fortunate, since if they act
promptly capital will be attracted to them, and
they will be the first to make what is now worth-
less, denuded land a source of revenue and a
means of livelihood to their citizens. A table
has been prepared showing the States which may
exempt, those which may classify and those which
must amend their constitutions to secure relief in
forest taxation.
Pine Trees Reclaim Abandoned Farms.
E' VERYWHERE in the Eastern and Southern
^ States the axe is transforming the magnifi-
cent forests of the past into culled and cut-
over land. The demand for lumber is so great
and operations are so extensive that in a compara-
tively few years those who wish to see timber in
its virgin luxuriance will have to visit distant and
isolated sections of the country.
Under the new conditions brought about by
the exploitation of the virgin forests, a type of
woodlands known as the old field pine has devel-
oped into commercial importance within recent
years as a result of clearing away the original
forests for agricultural purposes. This old field
type promises to increase in value more and more
with the corresponding increase in the price of
wood products. Old fields are common both in
the South and in the North, although they arise
from diff'erent causes and become reforested with
diff"erent species of trees.
In the South, before the Civil War, vast areas
of land were in cultivation which have since been
allowed to return to forest. Many thousands of
acres were often included within a single planta-
tion, mostly cleared, and growing splendid crops
of cotton, corn, tobacco, and many other valuable
farm products. It is common to-day to see in
certain sections of the South old plantations of
great extent that are now growing up with loblolly,
or, as it is generally^called, old field pine.
The war was responsible for this neglect of
cultivated land. With the freeing of the slaves
the immense plantations could no longer be
managed and the land was abandoned. In many
cases, however, the land was impoverished through
many years of cultivation, but with the use of
fertih'zers will be reclaimed in the future. Farmers
now point out splendid stands of pine already
large enough to be lumbered, on land that they
once plowed. Growth has been phenomenal,
the trees being often 12 to 14 inches in diameter
at an age of not more than twenty to twenty-five
years.
Loblolly pine bears seed prolifically nearly
every year, and being light these seeds are carried
long distances by the wind. The open fields offer
i
FOREST LEAVES.
183
IK
ideal places for the young trees to start. The
ground has been worked many years, and there is
no young oak brush to interfere with their growth,
as in the case of the stump or cut- over lands.
Longleaf pine, on the other hand, seeds much
less abundantly, and the seeds being heavier are
not carried by the wind far from the mother trees,
so that its reproduction is much less abundant.
The loblolly, however, *is most aggressive in taking
possession of abandoned lands and pre-eminently
deserves its popular name of **old field pine."
Through this natural reforestation nature has
freely furnished a source of income on land that
would otherwise have been unproductive all these
years. Yet it has not been until recently that
the old field pine was thought to have any value.
There were forests of longleaf pine everywhere
close at hand, and the wood was much superior
for every purpose. Fence rails made from long-
leaf pine last many years, but loblolly rails soon
decay and must be frequently replaced. Rail-
roads through the pine country would accept
nothing but longleaf pine for ties. So the old
fields were allowed to grow up and remain un-
touched, except that occasionally the owner
would cut down a few trees to prevent them from
encroaching into his very door yard.
Ideas are changing rapidly now as to the values
and uses of certain woods. The longleaf pine is
disappearing from the land, and there are few
young trees to take the place of the old. Neces-
sity for future wood material has resulted in many
investigations and experiments with inferior kinds
. of wood. Loblolly or old field pine has been
found to be exceedingly durable when impreg-
nated with creosote. This has given the old field
pine a new value, and to-day thousands of rail-
road ties are cut near the railroads and shipped
to treating plants to be creosoted. Small portable
mills are easily and cheaply located, and many of
these are now cutting the best trees in these old
field stands for lumber to be used locally among
the farmers. The future lumbering will be carried
on extensively in these second growth stands of
old field pine.
The situation in the North is very much the
same. White pine is here found occupying the
old fields much as loblolly pine does in the South.
The seeds are light and are carried considerable
distances to the open fields, where they find plenty
of light and suitable soil conditions to make ex-
cellent growth.
Fifty years ago or more there were many small
areas under cultivation which have since been
abandoned, and have now grown up to white pine.
Farming has always been on a small scale, but
with the development of great farming interests
in the West the farmer of the Northeast has been
handicapped in his competition for the markets.
Many of the younger generation have left the old
home farms and gone to the cities for more lucra-
tive employment. All this has resulted in aban-
donment of old farms and fields, and many of these
are growing up to pine. Ther^ is a tendency for
men who left the farms many years ago to return
and spend the summer months among their boy-
hood surroundings. They love the native forests,
and consequently encourage the growth of pine in
the fields once cultivated. So there is an aesthetic
as well as a commercial value attached to this
young growth.
The white pine of the Northeast does not com-
pare in rate of growth with the old field pine of
the South, but the wood is more valuable for lum-
ber, boxboards, shingles, and other purposes,
and the demand for second growth pine is very
great. It is estimated there are 800,000 acres
of abandoned land in southern New Hampshire,
and a large part of this is growing up to white
pine. Investigations show that it is most profit-
able to lumber these second growth stands of white
pine when they are fifty to sixty years old.
There is a large and increasing source of wealth
in our old field pine lands. It is never the object
of forestry to encourage tree growth on land that
is better suited for agriculture. At the same time
there are vast areas uncultivated that are produc-
ing no income to their owners. Such land, should
be permitted to grow trees and be protected from
fire and misuse until such time as they may be-
come more desirable for other purposes.
What is Practical Forestry?
(Presented at the Chambersburg Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association.)
IF asked to state the fundamental grounds upon
which Practical Forestry must be established
in this country, I would declare them, in
order of their importance, to be tree planting,
equitable taxation, and protection from fires —
making these a sort of *' shibboleth " which must
be intelligently proclaimed before any one could
be permitted to pass over an imaginary ** Jordan "
into the domain where a true conception of Prac-
tical Forestry prevails. I would not do unto those
who might fail to pronounce these words what the
Gileadites did to the Ephraimites — slay them
because they could not say *' shibboleth " — for I
wish them to be not only friends but recruits id
this belief, which they should surely become when-
ever they understand the real conditions which
prevail over substantially all those portions of our
country where our future forests must be grown ;
>4
7
1^
184
FOREST LEAVES.
M
and when they shall have come to a knowledge of
the methods practiced in those countries which
have, after long experience, adopted the most
profitable and satisfactory system of tree-growing
for economic purposes.
Tree planting is first named, for without trees
there would be no forests to relieve from burden-
some taxation or to protect from fires. Trees do
not live always ; they have their birth, growth,
and death, and to maintain a forest other trees
must be grown to replace them
I fully comprehend and appreciate the claim so
generally made that by cutting only mature trees
and those that are diseased or obstruct the growth
of more valuable ones, that bv nursing and caring
for those that had best grow to maturity, and by
permitting seed trees to remain, reforestation will
naturally take place, and to such an extent as to
provide all the forest products which this country
may require in the future. This would be true
had enough virgin forests been left, and it is
admitted that in some localities such treatment is
not only admissible but advisable. However, it
is not admitted, but, on the other hand, is denied
that such conditions prevail to an extent at all
commensurate with the needs of our country.
Thus, then, the issue is fairly joined between the
two systems of forest management, tree planting
on the one hand and natural reforestation on the
other ; and this bring us to a consideration of the
question — What is Practical Forestry?
To best determine what course to pursue in
growing and maintaining our forests — for it can-
not be denied that some course should be pur-
sued— it will be well to consider for what purposes
we require or demand forests — what services do
they perform and what benefits do they bring?
It frequently happens that the value of a thing is
not understood nor appreciated until we are de-
prived of it. Neither do we always comprehend,
even then, why we need it. This has been de-
plorably true in respect to our forests ; and while
their destruction has been steadily going on we
have not r*>cognized the tendency of that destruc-
tion until recently ; hence, the appreciation of
their loss has only just dawned upon us and we
stand dazed and bewildered, not knowing which
way to turn or what to do. Yet the tremendous
and all-important problem confronts us and must
be met.
Let us see, then, first, why and for what pur-
pose we desire forests, and after determining that i
it will be well to understand what the experience J
of older nations has been, what systems of produc-
tion and preservation have proved most efficacious, I
and which, if any, we should adopt. In consid-
ering the purposes for which we desire forests — in
fact, absolutely need them — no attempt will be
made to designate these in order of their import-
ance, but, rather, in the order in which our atten-
tion has been attracted through their loss, which
will leave the really most important feature for
the last.
No one can deny that forests beautify the land-
scape, for a treeless country fails to measure to any
acceptable standard of beauty, no matter how fer-
tile the soil may be nor how well cultivated ; and
an infertile region destitute of trees is a barren
waste, a dreary desert. It does not follow, how-
ever, that an infertile soil must always remain a
barren waste, for, if climatic conditions are favor-
able, a vigorous growth of trees may prevail where
the ordinary farm crops will not thrive.
Closely allied to the beauty of a wooded land-
scape are the aesthetic, sentimental, and religious
feelings which forests inspire. There is a certain,
yet indescribable, grandeur in a deep wood. It
is awe-inspiring. It is more ; it stimulates a rev-
erential and religious feeling, and this latter feature
has been felt by all people. From earliest history
man has experienced a devout and reverential
feeling when in the forests, and a consequent
deep regard for them, although he did not under-
stand why. The old Greeks peopled their woods
with sylvan deities, to whom they paid devotion,
and while modern nations have worshipped none
of these their people have felt the same inspiration
of devotion that their forbears did. The poet
Bryant felicitously tells us in his */ Hymn to the
Forest " :
** The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned
To hew the shaft and lay the architrave
And spread the roof above them — ere he framed
The lofty vault to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems — in the darkling wood,
Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks
And supplication."
Added to the beauty of the landscape and the
aesthetic, sentimental, and religious inspiration
aroused by the presence of the forests, they furnish
places for recreation, rest, and recovery of health ;
and along with these a close approach to animate
nature among the denizens of the woods. All
these things have been long appreciated.
With the disappearance of our forests we have
come to realize the protection from erosion which
they afford the soil. Not only have we learned
this, but we have come to a knowledge of the fact
that forests cause an equable flow of springs and
streams, that disastrous floods are far less frequent,
and that dried-up stream beds cannot be seen
where the water-sheds are covered with a suitable
forest growth. And more ; we have learned tha
I
;
♦r '-
M
a
>
s
^•»f,- f'lj^^ , « '^•^ ,1|R _^, yiK^i,
LU
CO
UJ
M
>
i
UJ
CO
UJ
UJ
«
^
^
Cd
^
UJ
CO
UJ
M
^
UJ
cc.
CO
UJ
UJ
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
yyy
FOREST LEAVES.
185
denuding the water-sheds of the streams has de-
prived us of the cheapest power for industrial
purposes, and practically ruined the navigation
of many of our rivers. We were slow to realize
all this, but when the annual loss to the country
mounted into hundreds of millions of dollars the
fact dawned upon us, and we now stand aghast
at what we must suffer until reforestation shall
restore a normal water flow. It is not claimed
that clothing our non-agricultural lands — for such
are the only ones that should be devoted to for-
estry— with forest growth would prevent all floods,
but it is claimed that disastrous floods would be
reduced to a minimum, and that dry stream-beds
and failure of springs would seldom occur.
But with all these benefits and advantages stand-
ing to the credit of the forests, there is still one
more to be considered, and one which transcends
all others in importance. A people might be de-
prived of all the good offices of the forests named,
and yet the life of that nation or State not be
irrevocably injured ; but were it to be long de-
prived of what are aptly termed forest products,
such as lumber, fuel, and the use of wood for the
manifold purposes to which it is put, then the
index hand on the dial of progress of that nation's
prosperity will go backward, never again to ad-
vance ; and it is to be deplored that such a con-
dition actually menaces this country. Nothing
short of promptly entering upon some system of
forest reproduction can save us, and a solution of
the important problem which this presents now
confronts us.
It is well, in this emergency, to learn from the
experience of others rather than to make experi-
ments of our own, and in the treatment of forests
we have before us the results of the work of other
countries, some ending in disaster and others in
success. A brief consideration of their expe-
riences will aid us in the endeavor to determine
what is best — to determine what is Practical
Forestry.
History relates that Western Asia — especially
Palestine — Northern Africa, and Southern Europe
were once populous countries, and possessed for-
ests which, for a time, supplied the needs of the
people. Now, much of these regions is little
better than barren waste and some of it a verit-
able desert, and the population in all but Southern
Europe reduced to a few nomadic and, practically,
barbarous tribes. In few or none of these coun-
tries was any effort made to preserve, maintain, or
perpetuate their forests. They were simply de-
stroyed, and there was an end of them. China
is likewise a noted illustration of what forest de-
struction brings about — a vast area once densely
covered with a forest growth but now practically
treeless, with its soil eroded and the land devas-
tated by frequent and disastrous floods. In all
these countries the people did just what we have
done and possibly may continue to do. Do we
desire the same end that has come to them ? I
trust not ; but that end will come unless we do
something to avert it.
In another portion of the world we have an ex-
ample of a different treatment of the forests. In
the United Kingdom of Great Britain there has
been a careful guarding of the forests for many
centuries. They have been kept partly for senti-
mental reasons, but largely for game preserves.
Practically, no vigorous trees are cut there for
commercial purposes. That country depends en-
tirely upon the rest of the world for its timber,
and when the supply from other climes shall fail
it must go without. Only a few months ago the
English Government sent an agent to this country
for white pine logs of large dimensions. He
came to my county of Jefferson and secured 80
car loads cut from virgin trees in that and adjoin-
ing counties, much of it 40 feet long and none
less than 2j^ feet in diameter. I saw 20 car
loads of it, and mourned that such despoiling of
our forests should occur. The inspection had been
very close, and no doubt many trees had been cut
that were not accepted. This, and that portion
of the trees that was too small, must have pro-
duced a large amount of lumber cut before we
needed it here at home. And thus we suffer from
England's neglect to grow her own timber.
It is readily conceded that England's system is
better than that of the countries first named. In
fact, that country secures all the advantages of
the presence of forests except the essential forest
products — lumber and other necessary forms of
wood. In the most important feature there is an
absolute failure, and were it not that other coun-
tries supply her she would be prostrate to-day, for
no country can do without these.
The forest system of England is, practically,
what those who cry out '* stop cutting the forests ' '
would bring about in this country were their
views to prevail. We should not, we cannot
cease cutting mature trees. To do that would
precipitate a timber famine at once in all its se-
verity, a famine which we are already beginning
to feel. Tree cutting must go on, but it should
be done judiciously, and, what is more, two or
more trees should be planted where one is cut
down. While England's course is better than
that of the other countries named, is it advisable
for us to follow it? Surely not. Yet we are
doing what is more censurable ; we do not keep,
we do not permit our forests to grow ; we destroy
them utterly.
II
V
» t 186
FOREST LEAVES.
I.
But there is still another example of forest treat-
ment before us. About two hundred years ago
some portions of central Europe saw what must
ensue if no efforts were made to maintain a forest
growth. The first move was to cut only mature
and diseased trees, caring for the immature ones
and leaving trees for seed, thus trying to keep up
a continuous forest growth, notwithstanding that
a continuous cropping was going on. This was far
in advance of what was done before, but it was
found, in time, that the yield was not sufficient nor
certain, as dependence on reproduction was en-
tirely confined to conditions which could not be
controlled. Regular production of seed, the
proper distribution of it, and it falling in places
where it would germinate and the young trees not
be suppressed by larger ones, were so uncertain
that dependence could not be placed on them.
Besides, and an important thing it was, too, there
could be no control of the species to be grown ;
and as some species of trees were far more valu-
able than others it was waste of time and effort to
grow any but the most serviceable ones. These
people saw, in time, that they must do what the
agriculturist does with his crops — select the best
species and plant the seed, or, better still, grow
trees in nurseries and transplant them into the
forests. They saw that by such a course there
could be not only better lumber produced but a
far greater yield obtained. So they turned from
natural reproduction to artificial propagation — to
tree planting — and by this method secured all the
benefits which forests can give to man. It is true
that in some cases natural reproduction is still de-
pended upon, but such instances are only where
the species are satisfactory or transplanting trees
is difficult. In Saxony, where are the best culti-
vated forests of the world, there is one acre of
nursery to every i,ooo acres of forest, and out
of 6,900 acres reforested in a recent year all but
800 were set out to trees. The territory not
planted was seeded by what is known as *' strip
cutting " — that is, cutting a strip from 150 to 200
feet wide alongside of a forest on a known seed
year, thus giving the winds a chance to sow the
seed on the vacant ground, should it blow in the
right direction — a very uncertain event. In either
case reforestation was aided by man.
In the whole German Empire, parts of France,
Austria, Switzerland and some other countries,
forestry is made a serious study and is carried on
in a business-like manner, and where that is done
it is a decided success, paying large profits.
We cannot truthfully say that we have nothing
to guide us, that there are no experiences to indi-
cate what we should do ? The roads others have
traveled are plain and unmistakable. We have
followed one of them thus far during our national
life, and it is the one that history shows leads to
the most disastrous results. We are now at the
** parting of the ways," and must determine which
one we shall take. Should there be any question ?
Have we not seen, can we not see in the experi-
ence of others what is practical forestry and what
is not ? Need I say that the road to tree planting
is the proper one? That would seem to be su-
perfluous, and yet a large portion of the advocates
of forestry in this country do not see it. I well
know, Mr. President, that I am preaching hereti-
cal forestry doctrines in my insistence that we must
resort to tree planting as a preventive of future ills
that will come upon us if we do not. I know full
well that the belief is widespread that we have
ample forests, if properly treated, to supply all
our wants, and that we can safely depend on natural
renewal under scientific treatment. I cheerfully
accord to all who hold to such belief the same sin-
cerity claimed for myself, but cannot admit the
correctness of that belief.
I know, too, that these sentiments are not in
accord with what is evidently the policy of our
National Government, nor with that of many for-
estry associations, but am willing to abide **the
logic of events " for the justification of my belief.
This may, and probably does, appear egotistical,
and be considered as a vain assumption for supe-
riority of judgment and knowledge. But I claim
the right to consider my opinion concerning what
is practical forestry of value because it is based on
a long life of observation, study, and experience.
If any one shall claim to have planted seeds from
which trees grew and were cut into lumber before
I did, he must have done that more than two thirds
of a century ago. I feel justified in the belief that
I am among the oldest, if not the very oldest, tree-
seed planter in our country. I was born among the
trees, have lived among them and studied every
phase of their life, and for more than half a cen-
tury of voting life have watched the process of
natural reforestation and seen how slow and uncer-
tain it is at the best. My ear has been laid close
to nature's beating heart, and I have learned that
she calls for aid in forestry as well as in agricul-
ture. Hence I may be pardoned for making urgent
claims for the correctness of my belief.
Can it, then, be shown that our present forests
cannot supply our wants for the future, that an
increase in area is absolutely necessary, and that
such increase, together with increase of produc-
tiveness of such forests as now exist, can come
only through tree planting? Let us see.
When the Declaration of Independence was
proclaimed a large portion of this country was
virgin forest and the population did not exceed
FOREST LEAVES.
187
4,000,000 souls. Now our timber- producing
forests are nearly all gone and we have a popula-
tion quite 82,000,000, with an annual increase
from abroad of nearly a million. New industries
and new purposes for wood products have sprung
up, and our annual per capita consumption is more
than four times what it was 130 years ago. Is it
reasonable to conclude that with a rapidly increas-
ing population and a rapidly increasing consump-
tion per capita, and, likewise, with a rapidly
lessening of forest area, the supply can continue
to equal the demand for the future ? Are we not
actually moving towards a total destruction of
our forests from opposite directions, one by the
increase of population and new uses of forest
products and the other by decrease of forest area ?
Had we begun, say 50 or 75 years ago, to con-
serve our forests, and reserved a large area to be
used for forest purposes only, such a method as is
now advocated — selective cutting and natural re-
forestation— would have been the correct one.
But the time for that has passed ; the forest area
is too small now, and reforestation by natural
process is known to be a slow one.
The Forest Service of the United States has
issued a bulletin in which it is stated that we are
consuming our forest products fully three times
faster than they grow. That is, we consume in
one year as much as can grow in three. Can we
not see where that will lead us? Let us put a
demonstration of its results as a financial proposi-
tion. Suppose a man has $20,000 to live on,
which, at 6 per cent., will yield $1,200 per annum.
If he shall use three times as much as his capital
can earn he will have used not only his $1,200 of
interest but have drawn $2,400 from his capital
the first year ; and so on, increasingly lessening
his capital. It certainly does not require much
of a mathematical calculation to see what the end
would be, and to claim that the man would not,
in time, become bankrupt is absurd. The only
way for him to escape that end would be to, in
some way, increase the earning power of his
capital or lessen his expenses, and the only way
for us to escape a similar result with our forests
will be to increase their power of production or
consume less forest products. Does any one claim
that to leave them to natural reproduction, while
exhausting them three times faster than they grow,
will increase that power? European countries
saw the fallacy of such a claim and they resorted
lo tree planting, whereby they increased the
amount annually grown on a given area more than
three -fold.
It may be claimed that I do not take into
consideration the vast area of cut-over land, which
does not now produce forest products but will
when the so-called second growth of timber shall
mature, which will add greatly to the supply and
make up for that which the present forests fail to
produce. I have not neglected a careful study of
that feature, and am forced to say that no greater
mistake can be made than to suppose that any
considerable increase of supply of acceptable
lumber can be expected from that source. It is
granted that in the earlier days of lumbering small
trees were left, and where fires were kept out they
now furnish lumber for market. But, in the main,
fires were not kept out, as every careful observer
knows. Besides, such regions as have not been
visited with fires are being cut-over, and, under
modern demands, practically everything is cleared
off — no seed trees being left. And this system
of harvesting prevails where virgin forests are be-
ing cut.
But the deplorable fact faces us that fully 80
per cent, of the cut-over lands of our country
have been devastated over and over again by fires
until no young trees of value remain, and on much
of the are^, once forest there can be found no tree
growth of any kind. Where there is any it con-
sists largely of worthless species — weed trees they
are very appropriately named. Will yellow birch,
soft maple, trembling aspen, bird cherry — some-
times called fire cherry — sumac, witch hazel, or
scrub oak, produce good lumber ? Surely not ;
yet if these once get a foothold no valuable species
can come in, even if seed trees exist, because
these worthless species are fast growers in early
life and suppress all others. At best, there are
few seed trees left and reproduction from these
will be a slow process, for valuable species of
timber trees, with but few exceptions, require
many years' growth before they will produce seed.
We do not know yet how many years old they
must be, for no record has been kept. It may be
safely said that none of the conifers will do it
under 35 years of age. White pine does not, to
any great extent, before that time, and under
present practices it is not allowed to stand much
longer than that.
Again, I am told to look at the great ranges of
mountains of our State and see how they are
covered with a growth of trees. I have done that
and am doing it continually and in sorrow, and if
any one will go with me and show much of value
I shall greatly rejoice ; but if only short-bodied,
fire-scarred, diseased and stunted growth shall be
shown — as most of it is — I shall continue to mourn
over their condition.
To form an accurate opinion we should know
what sort of timber trees we most need, what the
market demands, and what species furnish the
most desirable lumber. Fortunately this has been
II
I!
I' yb
i>
188
FOREST LEAVES.
I
ascertained. United States Forest Service Cir-
cular, No. 122, states that returns from 22,396
mills show a cut, in 1906, of 37,550,736,000
board feet. Of that vast sum 48 per cent, was of
the various species of pine — almost one-half.
When the hemlock, spruce, fir, redwood, cypress,
cedar and other coniferous woods are added to
the pines it shows 82 per cent. ; and when the
oaks are added it makes a sum total of 87 per
cent., leaving only 13 per cent, for all others,
among which will be found basswood, cucumber,
poplar, cherry, ash, beech, maple, hickory, wal-
nut, the gums and every other kind used. Now
if any one will carefully examine the young growth
coming on it will be seen that we have nothing
favorable to expect. Will anyone find any such
ratio of species as named? Do the valuable
species stand there in any acceptable proportion ?
They do not, and we must not flatter ourselves
that they do ; but accept the fact. Worthless
species mainly occupy the ground, and why expect
good timber from them ? The Saviour said to his
disciples : ** Of thorns men do not gather figs, nor
of a bramble bush gather they grapes," and that
is as true to-day as when uttered. If we destroy
all seed trees we must not expect a reproduction.
We cannot eat our cake and keep it too, and yet
that is what we are trying to do with our forests.
Old-time nations tried that and failed, but central
European countries learned the lesson in time.
I am told, however, that our conditions are un-
like those of European countries referred to. So
they are, at the present time, for we stand to-day
where those nations did 200 or more years ago,
and if we shall take a lesson from their experience
we can greatly shorten the time when we shall
reach their present state of tree culture. From
their experience we should learn what is practical
forestry.
While tree planting is the foundation of practi-
cal forestry it is not all. There is nothing dififi-
cult in planting trees, but unless the owner shall
be permitted to grow them without such a heavy
tax burden being laid upon that ownership as will
be prohibitory, then none will be planted. Time
was when all that was necessary for one to secure
an ample supply of forest products was to put his
hand out and seize upon a full grown forest that
cost its original owner but 262^ cents per acre,
with no risks of disease, fire, or wind ; nor did he
have to wait two generations for trees to grow.
But to-day everything is changed — all conditions
are reversed. He who endeavors to grow a forest
must go without the use of his money invested in
land and tree planting, run all risks of fire, wind,
and disease and get no returns until his trees are
mature, while we lay a heavy tax upon him for
his effort to benefit posterity. When our present
tax laws were framed, some 75 years ago, it was
thought desirable to get rid of the forests. Now
we seek to restore them, but leave it impossible
for private persons or corporations to do so be-
cause of excessive taxation. Our laws should be
so modified that only the least constitutional tax
can be laid upon lands upon which immature
timber is growing until such timber is suitable for
merchantable purposes. As your President has
carefully and accurately gone over that subject in
his admirable address, and given a statement of
the effort to amend our tax laws respecting
timber lands at the last session of the Legislature,
I will not further discuss it except to say that in
the bill referred to Mr. Conklin, Commissioner of
Forestry, placed a clause exempting the farmer's
wood lot from unjust taxation, and that was the
first feature attacked, and it was stricken out be-
fore it came up on final passage, where the bill
lacked but four votes of a constitutional majority.
As the present law stands it is calculated to de-
ceive the farmer who attempts to grow trees.
The assessor must add to the value of the farm
that which he deems the trees to represent, and so
makes it appear that no excessive or unequal taxa-
tion results, but the fact remains that the tax must
be paid on what -will yield no returns for a long
time. What would be thought if the assessor put
an extra value on land because the owner should
choose to grow wheat on it? Yet that is exactly
what must be done now in the case of land upon
which there may be found young, immature timber
trees growing.
Again, I am told that we must not expect the
individual to grow trees — that the State should do
this. Are we prepared to accept government
ownership of all the timber of the future ? I hope
not. Even in Imperial Germany the State and
Crown own but one-third of the forests, while
the State in France owns only 13 per cent., and
Austria owns but 7 per cent. There is, in Penn-
sylvania, quite 8,250,000 acres of non-agricultural
land. The State already owns about one-tenth of
that. Can it secure as much as one-fourth ? I
doubt it, for it is scattered all over the State, but
few farms being without more or less woodland
upon them. The State cannot afford to undertake
the care of small isolated areas, nor will the owners
sell. It is a grave question, too, whether it is ad-
visable for the State to own a very large amount
of timber, for such ownership would give an oppor-
tunity for peculation and political deviltry that
would be dangerous. Tree planting must be done
by individuals, associations, trustees, public insti-
tutions, corporations, and municipalities, or we
must do without an adequate supply of forest
}ti
1^-
FOREST LEAVES.
189
products. We must come to that in time, and
the sooner the better.
Of course, the State can and must do much,
and it has entered upon the work in good eainest.
To this end it is not only purchasing land for for-
est reservations and establishing nurseries for
young trees to set out on these reservations, but
is educating young men to care for them in a sci-
entific and practical manner. I consider the
Mont Alto Forestry Academy the most practical
forestry school in the world — that is, the one best
fitted to meet present conditions in this country.
Had we mature forests, as in Europe, we could add
to the curriculum of the school, but for the next
half of a century the main efforts in forestry, in
this couiitry, must be to grow trees. In the school
is taught that which constitutes practical forestry,
and I want to add here what I have frequently and
publicly said before, that the man who con-
ceived and elaborated the plan for that school de-
serves a monument — and that man is Dr. J. T.
Rothrock. It was my great pleasure to address
the students of the high school of his town re-
cently, and to tell them they should build that
monument in their hearts, and by their hearty re-
sponse I am sure they have done so.
But if we shall plant trees and their owner shall
not be burdened with unjust and unfair taxation,
we are still confronted with the disastrous fires
which are permitted to devastate our forests. This
annual destruction must be stopped. It can be,
for it is not tolerated in Europe. Through a
competent committee this Association formulated
a bill, presented to the last Legislature, holding
railroads responsible for damages done through
negligence and indifference. It was a good bill ;
and its framers had taken great care in its prepara-
tion, but like the tax bill it failed to pass. All
this shows that the people, and through them their
representatives, must be educated to a realization
of the absolute necessity of suppressing forest fires.
They must come to a knowledge of the fact that
property in forests should be held as sacred as in
houses, bonds, or mortgages.
I have endeavored to show that practical for-
estry in this State, at least, lies in planting trees,
giving relief from unjust taxation, and protection
from forest fires, and that the basis of all is tree
planting. We do much when we plant trees. It
goes beyond the sentimental and invades the
domain of practical life. To show that, I beg to
offer some verses by Henry Abbey, entitled,
*^ What do We Plant?"
** What do we plant when we plant the tree ?
We plant the ship which will sail the sea ;
We plant the mast to carry the sails;
We plant the planks to withstand the gales —
The keel, the keelson, and beam and knee ;
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.
"What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the houses for you and me.
We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors ;
We plant the studding, the lath, the doors,
The beams and siding, all parts that be ;
We plant the house when we plant the tree.
" What do we plant when we plant the tree?
A thousand things that we daily see.
We plant the spire that out-towers the crag ;
We plant the staff for our country's flag;
We plant the shade from the hoi sun free ;
We plant all these when we plant the tree.
S. B. Elliott.
I
Minnesota Forestry/
ry^HE thirteenth report of General C. C.
Andrews, the Forestry Commissioner of
Minnesota, for the year 1907, shows that,
according to the reports of local fire wardens, the
damage from forest fires in the past 13 years has
averted only $29,819 annually, being but $16, 145
in 1907. At the time of the great Hinckley forest
fire, 1894, in which 418 persons perished, there
was a law against starting forest fires, but there
was no one particularly required to have it en-
forced. ** If the present law had been in force,"
says the Commissioner, *'the Hinckley fire would
not have occurred. ' '
There are sketches of forests visited by the
Commissioner ; also returns of the output of the
Minnesota forests the past season. Though less
than usual, the output was about a billion feet.
There were 500 logging camps and 20,000 men
employed at $26 a month and board.
Forestry utilizes third- and fourth-rate — sandy,
hilly, and rocky — land that is unfit for agricul-
ture, and is an investment, not an expenditure.
As a plan of reforestation, the Commissioner
recommends a constitutional amendment provid-
ing an annual tax of three-tenths of a mill on
each dollar of taxable property in the State, the
proceeds to be used in the purchase of land for
the State adapted for forest, and for the produc-
tion and maintenance thereon of forest according
to forestry principles by the Forestry Board.
This tax would amount to only 30 cents on every
thousand dollars, but in a few years would yield
$300,000 annually. After experience, the State
could acquire and plant 37,500 acres annually;
and in 80 years, the time required for pine on
forestry land to reach its fiscal age, the State would
have 3,000,000 acres of forest, from which
675,000,000 feet of timber could be annually
cut perpetually. Letters from many prominent
I
7
%
^
190
FOREST LEAVES.
citizens of the State commending this plan are
printed.
The Commissioner would not oppose exempt-
ing 80 acres of forestry land for each owner from
tax to promote the production of timber thereon,
but, as it would have to be watched by the State,
he would not favor exempting more than 80 acres
for each owner.
The Commissioner is expressly required by law
to disseminate information on forestry, and the
report contains matter to that end, namely : sketch
of the progress of United States government for-
estry ; report by a committee of the National
Academy of Science on a plan of forest adminis-
tration ; act of Congress changing the boundary
and somewhat reducing the area of the Minnesota
National Forest, and Mr. Pinchot's letter approv-
ing the same ; opinion of the Supreme Court of
Maine that the State has power to regulate cutting
of trees on private land ; and sketches of forestry
in seventeen European States.
The Forests and the Constitution.
~—^^ ft
IT is the wise policy of this State to encourage
tree growing so far as its Constitution will
permit it. It has established State forest
reservations, which are excellent so far as they
go. There are many millions of acres of land
under private ownership which once were forested
and can still giow trees more profitably than any-
thing else, and these bare acres ought to be grow-
ing trees for the benefit of the streams of the
present generation and the lumber supply of the
next.
These' lands have so little money value that the
taxes upon them are nominal. Should the owners
start a good stand of pine or hardwood trees upon
them the sagacious assessor thinks the land is
made thereby more valuable, and he increases the
tax assessment accordingly. The trees will not
come into the market for merchantable timber
for at least thirty years, and the owner will not
consent to pay taxes for the sake of posterity to
that extent. So tree growing is discouraged and
idle lands are allowed to become covered with
worthless brush, subject to periodical visitation
by forest fires.
The State has tried to remedy this by providing
for a rebate in the taxes on land devoted to tree
growing of 80 i)er cent, per annum for thirty-five
years. As it takes fully that long to develop a
crop of trees, their apparent partial exemption
means that a tree crop shall be taxed at full value
only when mature. If the law required that taxes
be collected monthly instead of yearly, and the
tax collector should tax wheat and corn each
month on their full market value, there would be
little farming in the State. In the same way as
trees are taxed every year when it takes thirty
years to mature a crop, tree growing on a large
scale by private parties is made impossible in
Pennsylvania.
Our Constitution says: ''All taxes shall be uni-
form on the same class of subjects. ' ' This is an un-
wise provision, as it prevents exemption dictated
by public policy and obviously for the public in-
terest. This tree rebate tax is of this character.
The Superior Court declares it unconstitutional.
It says that to reduce the amount of taxes of land
on trees so used as to encourage the growth of
forest trees is an exemption law within^ the pro-
hibition of the Constitution. . ^ -^
We are not willing to concede that our Consti-
tution and our forests cannot live together. If
the tax on the trees and the tax on the land were
levied separately, just as the land and the coal
under it are taxed separately, the trees could be
taxed justly and with uniformity without the
obnoxious rebate or exemption. Horses in this
State are not taxed until they are four years old,
and no one says that it is unconstitutional to spare
the colts. On the same principle all trees can be
taxed, if they must be taxed at all, when thirty
years old, and no one should complain that the
saplings are spared. This would be uniformity
in taxation and make it possible, under the present
State Constitution, for private enterprise and
capital to aid the State in reforesting the denuded
hillsides of our once heavily wooded Common-
wealth.— Philadelphia Press,
^^
In several European countries a new way has
been found of turning sawdust to account. The
sawdust, chiefly pine and fir, is ground with mill-
stones.
The sawdust flour is sold to the dynamite fac-
tories to be mixed with nitroglycerin, and forms
the body or absorbent for that high explosive. It
is also in demand for the manufacture of cheap
blotting-papers.
It is shipped in bags, or in bales of about 40
cubic feet, made by means of high pressure.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
Jt?
FOREST LEAVES.
191
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
'/ '*
by Geo^Jc W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months. "^
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
biltmore, N. C.
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical fbrestr}' — ^preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
state college, pa.
Yale DniVEF^itpoiiB^t School
NEW HAVEN - - CONNECTICUT
A two years* graduate course
is offered, leading to the de-
gree of Master of Forestry.
Graduates of collegiate institu-
tions of high standing are ad-
mitted upon presentation of
their college diplomas.
The Summer School of
Forestry is conducted at Mil-
ford, Pike County, Penna.
For further information address
HENRY S. GRAVES, Director,
NEW HAVEN, CONN.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDINO SCHOOL FOB BOYS.
Tllustrated Catalogue upon applieaHon,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Matter.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
Georoe Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. beck.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
;AC0B 8. DISSTON. FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES. RANDAL MORGAN.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN. H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
J. LEVERING JONES. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
\»m*wmw ' ■i.iHii
ii
^
u)
A
•-♦
192
FOREST LEAVES.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not — Why Not?
FALL PLANTING DAYS ARE HERE ! BETTER GET ACaiTAINTED ! !
ONE ITEWI-OUR PIN OAKS. ,
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisTfjf.foon.
The reason is not hard to find— they have the quality— roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is jnequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations,= Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES:' 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
Each Per lo Per xoo
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $^ oo $» 50 $6o oo
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched ^ 25 10 00 70 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i^ to H^ in. cal 150 I3 5° 125 00
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal 2 00 17 50 i35 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 214 in. cal 2 50 22 50 150 00
10 to 12 ft. 2^ to 3 in 3 50 30 00 275 00
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
Send for FALL PRICE LIST.
<
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA. PA,
Title: Forest leaves, v. 1 2
Place of Publication: Philadelphia
Copyright Date: 1909
Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAg061 .3
r
^^./2
■ > J
I*
^
\
^^a^kr
Vol. XII. Philadelphia, February, 1909. No. i.
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
xoia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorial i
Governor Stuart and Forestry 2
Progress of Forestry in Pennsylvania and Forest Fire Ravages
in 1908 2
Narrative of the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association -
The Illustrations g
Address of Mr. John Birkinbine, President of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association 3
Report of the Council of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.... 9
Treasurer's Report u
Report of the General Secretary n
President Roosevelt and Forestry 12
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
Tk€ attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
•f Forest Lbavbs as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886, •
'"^S*^ »0-fe, Mrs Brinton Coxe. Chairman; Mrs. George T. Heston '
W.lham 8 Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S Schropp '
\^TP^ gr^^«/ifa//^«, Samuel Marshall, Chairman; Eugene fellicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
OFFICa OF THE ASSOCIATION, 10I2 WaLNUT St.. PHILADELPHIA.
EDITORIAL.
THE Twenty-Third Annual Meeting of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association was
replete with interest, and the attendance
demonstrated the hold that forestry has upon the
intelligent portion of the community. The reports
all showed that progress was being made, and the
financial statement (which we present in another
column) indicated the satisfactory condition of
the organization.
The keynote of the discussion was the import-
ance of individual effort in awakening public
opinion to the importance of enforcing the laws
affecting forest fires, and modifying those which
impose oppressive taxation upon wooded areas.
The personnel of the attendance was such as
any organization could well be proud ; men and
women who devote their talents to advancing the
well being of others were present, a majority
having won distinction or occupying positions ot
honor.
The leadership which Pennsylvania has attained
in forest reform was emphasized, and an earnest
desire to maintain this leadership was evident.
In our columns will be found the reports and
abstracts of the addresses which, being extempo-
raneous, were not stenographically recorded, but
our pages cannot chronicle the enthusiasm which
prevailed. j g
* * * * ** '
Senator Smoot, in an address before the Con-
servation Conference at Washington, D. C, said :
'* One of the urgent tasks before the States is the
immediate passage of tax laws which will enable
the private owner to protect and keep productive
under forest those lands suitable only for forest
cover. Taxes on forest land should be levied on
the crop when cut, not on the basis of a general
property tax— that unsound method of taxation
long abandoned by every other great nation."
I <<
1402 30
FOREST LEAVES.
Governor Stuart and Forestry.
TTON. EDWIN S. STUART, Governor of
X^ Pennsylvania, in his Biennial Message to
^ the Legislature, said :
**The material development of the State de-
pends largely upon the treatment and care of
natural resources. This subject is commended for
your careful consideration.
The preservation of the forests is indispensable
in maintaining and regulating the water supply.
The annual consumption of timber is now more
than three times its annual growth. At the pres-
ent rate of growth and consumption, the day is
not far distant when the scarcity of wood will be
felt in our homes as well as in our industries.
Equally serious is the waste of soil, due to the
destruction of forests. Forests regulate the dis-
tribution of rainfall and lessen the frequency and
destructive effects of flood and freshet. The great
drought of 1908 wrought irreparable damage, and
its results emphasize the necessity of acquiring,
maintaining, and preserving forests.
The annual floods, especially in the Pittsburgh
district, causing loss of life and enormous destruc-
tion of property, could be controlled in large
degree, and probably be prevented, by attention
to farm cultivation at the headwaters, by proper
forestation of the non-agricultural lands within
the various water-sheds, by reforestation of de-
nuded areas, and by attention to details of stream
control.
Pennsylvania early recognized the vital import-
ance of conserving the forests, and created a De-
partment of Forestry, conferring upon it broad
powers and granting it large appropriations. A
State Forestry Academv has been established, and
is being conducted with gratifying results. There-
in young men are taught the principles of scien-
tific and practical forestry. After graduating
they are employed as foresters on the Pennsyl-
. vania reservations. This Forestry Academy, I
am informed, is the only institution of its kind in
the western hemisphere.
The last Legislature appropriated, for the two
fiscal years beginning June i, 1907, $500,000 for
the purchase of forestry-lands, and $200,000 for
the purchase of seedling-trees, the payment of
forest rangers, and for other necessary expenses
incurred by the Department of P'orestry.
While Pennsylvania was one of the first States
to undertake the conservation and development of
her forests, and has made a commendable begin-
ning, now owning 837,500 acres, with 110,000
acres under contract, — it is to be hoped that the
State will ultimately be the owner of several mil-
lion acres of forest reservation, and that all owners
of non -agricultural land will, at an early date>
devote it to the growing of trees. I respectfully
recommend that the policy of the State in acquir-
ing forest reserves be continued.
There is scarcely a square mile of Pennsylvania
territory which is not intersected by a stream.
Many of these are mighty rivers of great volume
and length ; others are of very rapid flow, — con-
stituting immense sources of water supply. AU
spread fertility and prosperity along their borders,
and promise support to a teeming population, so
long as they are preserved in their original abund-
ance and purity The preservation of water in
its virgin purity, for domestic purposes, should be
held steadily in view. Pennsylvania's possession
of other valuable resources, such as coal, iron,
lumber, oil, and natural gas, has diverted the at-
tention of the people from the prime importance
of protecting her water-sheds. Hillsides are de-
nuded, and farms too often lie idle."
Progress of Forestry in Pennsylvania
and Forest Fire Ravages in 1908.
(Address by Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Commissioner of Forestry of
Pennsylvania, at the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association.)
IT is a pleasure to meet with you to-day and
present a few facts with regard to the work
of the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry
during the past year, and some figures relative to
the numerous and destructive forest fires which
recently occurred within our borders.
With an appropriation inadequate to the neces-
sities of a vigorous and progressive system of ^
improvement and reforestation of the area which /'
the Commonwealth now holds for forest reserves,^
much of our energy has been exerted in acquiring
lands.
During the past year 64,566 acres have been
added to the State's holdings, making to date
817,057 acres actually paid for. In addition, we
have about 125,000 acres under contract, to be
conveyed when the State's title examiner certifies
to a marketable title. I hope that by the end of
Governor Stuart's term of office the forest reserves
of the Commonwealth will aggregate 1,000,000
acres. The average cost of the lands to date is
$2.25 per acre.
Yet the purpose in mind will not be attained
until the Legislature makes liberal appropriation
for the care and improvement of these reserves.
We all realize that the lands purchased are, to a
large extent, closely cut over, and we must either
wait for a natural growth of trees to come or plant
young trees.
In many regions the planting of trees is abso-
FOREST LEAVES.
lutely necessary. For this purpose the Depart-
ment has established three large nurseries — one at
Mont Alto, Franklin County ; one at Asaph,
Tioga County ; and one at Greenwood Furnace,
Huntingdon County. In addition, smaller nurse-
ries are conducted by the foresters in charge of
reserves in other portions of the State.
It is estimated by those in charge of the three
principal nurseries that next spring there will
be available for planting on the reserves about
3,000,000 young trees, mostly white pine. Other
species include Scotch pine, European larch,
Norway spruce, white ash, oak, walnut, hickory,
and tulip poplar.
This, however, is a small percentage of what
should be planted yearly. The Legislature ought
to make it possible for the Department to have
available in its nurseries for planting each year,
for the next twenty years, 20,000,000 young
seedlings.
This would impress one, at first thought, as
being enormous, but that number of seedlings
would plant only about 7,400 acres. The annual
cost to raise and plant these trees would be about
575,000.
Upon thousands of acres of the lands held by
the Commonwealth there is now coming on sub-
stantial stands of young timber, but on many
others the coming growth, while it will act as
nurse trees for a growth of better trees, will never
make good lumber, and must be cleared out just
as soon as it has served its purpose. Quantities
of it also are too dense and requires thinning.
This also will cost money.
A system of roads, trails, and fire lanes is essen-
tial. Without these all other work is of little
value. The reserves must be made easily accessi-
ble through their entire area if substantial results
are desired. They also serve as bases from which
to combat fire and form permanent barriers against
the spread of a general forest conflagration.
At the State Forest Academy the Department
is educating young men to care for the State's
reserves. The graduates thus far have proved by
their work in the field that the State has made no
mistake in establishing the school.
During the spring fire season of this year con-
ditions were favorable because of the generally
abundant rains, and losses from forest fires were
not large. The fall season, however, was very
disastrous. The drought began with July and
continued until the middle of November, with
rainfall very much below normal. High winds
prevailed, producing great dryness in the woods.
When a fire was once started, it was very difficult
to suppress it. The fire-fighters, upon numerous
occasions, felt that they had entirely extinguished
a fire and left for their homes ; but had barely
reached the settlement when report of a fire in
the vicinity of the one just extinguished was
brought to them.
The cause for this was that the fire had burned
so deeply into the ground that it followed the roots
of trees and the leaves and humus lying between
the rocks for a considerable distance before it
would break out again on the surface. A fresh
fire practically was the result. It was fighting fire
under conditions that had not existed for many
years, and it is to be hoped may not occur again
for years to come.
The fires during the past season were caused
largely by railroads and incendiarism. Of course,
some were the result of carelessness by persons
burning over new land for clearing, and careless-
ness of hunters and of persons traveling through
the woods.
The acreage of forest fire losses for the current
year throughout the State will aggregate about
850,000 acres of burned area, and the cost to the
State and counties for extinguishing fires will
amount to $125,000. The area of land belonging
to the State burned over will not exceed 30,000
acres, or 3^ per cent, only of the entire State
holdings, or 3^ per cent, of the whole area
burned over.
From statistics compiled in the office of the
Department, it is shown that railroads are the
large offenders, producing at least 41 per cent, of
all known causes.
To reduce the number of fires set by locomo-
tives, we have requested the Railroad Commission
to direct that representatives of the different rail-
roads operating in this State appear before the
Commission and show what precautions they are
taking to prevent forest fires being set by their
engines, and what provisions they have made for
the extinguishment of the same ; whether or not
they have provided their engines with adequate
spark-arresters ; whether these are of a kind most
effective for the purpose ; and whether their
employees observe the rules with respect to their
usage. Also, that the railroads be required to
place before the Commission the devices they are
at present using to prevent sparks from escaping
from their engines.
It is submitted that the Railroad Commission,
with its large powers, is competent to deal with
this problem, and ought to do so. Many roads
take little or no precaution to prevent fires. With
the probability of a citation from the Commission
staring them in the face, it is hoped to procure
some relief from this seemingly increasing danger.
Recommendations have been made, from time
to time, to have legislation passed compelling
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
lumbermen to burn the slashings resulting from
their operations, in order to lessen danger of fire.
It should be borne in mind that there are two sides
to this question. The contracts under which lum-
bering operations are now being carried on were
made without contemplating any such additional
expense. The added expense would be a burden
which the timber man should not be asked to pay.
Should the law be so drawn that it would apply
only to contracts made after its passage, then sub-
stantial provision could be made against it, and
its application would not be a hardship. Until
the Legislature undertakes to regulate generally
the cutting of woods by corporations or indi-
viduals, which, it would seem, it has a right to do
under its general reserved police power, and which
idea is approved in the Maine decision, it is prob-
able the burning of slashings might be postponed
with fairness to all. If fire can be kept out of
the slashings, it is better that they remain and
decav upon the ground.
The fire warden act of 1907 is undoubtedly an
improvement upon the original act, but it still
retains features which will never be of effective
service to this State, one of which is making con-
stables ex-officio fire wardens. The association of
the ordinary constable with an effective fire warden
service is simply out of the question. We may
well imitate other States in this regard. Let the
Department appoint an efficient officer for this
purpose in every township ; let him be responsible
to the State only ; then let the State pay the entire
cost of extinguishing fires in the first instance,
afterward collecting from the counties, instead of
having the counties pay first. I believe much
better results will be obtained, and with less cost.
At present, forest land in Pennsylvania is taxed
just as all other property, and usually at a higher
rate. There is no present law which favors timber
culture. The abatement of tax idea is exploded
by the courts, and we believe rightly so. The
working of the abatement laws never was effective,
and the laws themselves are far too cumbersome.
We need an automatic, self-executing statute to
accomplish the needed relief for overburdened
forest land, and believe the auxiliary reserve bills
introduced into the last session, but which failed
of passage, will accomplish this result. They
will be re-introduced into the coming session,
and, in all fairness to every interest concerned,
should be passed.
The working of the general Department Act of
1901 is in the main satisfactory, but it could be
amended and strengthened in a number of par-
ticulars. This has been shown by actual practice
in the application of its provisions. The Depart-
ment ought to have greater control, or rather a
wider latitude of control, of its lands than is per-
mitted by the opinion of the Attorney-General
bearing on this statute. There are many ways in
which it is possible for the Department to make
revenue for the Commonwealth, but if it is bound
down to a rigid construction of the bare language
of the statute, it will be hampered where it other-
wise ought not to be. Later legislation has re-
placed some of the provisions of the act. That
portion of it relating to the building of roads has
become obsolete, and the portion prescribing
penalties to be applied for violation of the pro-
vision relating to setting fire or stealing timber
could be put into a much more useful shape. In
fact, it would be better to remove the penal
clauses altogether from the original act, and have
these included in a new general penal statute re-
lating to the protection of the reserves.
One feature of the work of the Department
which is prominently coming to the front, is the
conservation and use of the water supply and the
water-power found upon the reserves. Vast
quantities of water are constantly running away
without any real benefit being derived therefrom
by the people generally. It is possible so to
mould our legislation that the Department would
be allowed to utilize the water-power now unem-
ployed. In many instances the rate of descent in
our mountain streams is so great that it would be
possible to erect power plants throughout the
length of the stream at short distances. The
water having been used in producing power by
passing through one plant, would almost immedi-
ately enter another, and in this way we could pro-
duce power which would find ready sale in any
community and be the means of adding comfort
to the lives of many at little cost, and at the same
time would produce considerable revenue for the
Department.
It is the endeavor of the Forestry Commission
to protect with heavy timber planting the head-
waters of all our streams, and by these means
augment the flow of water. It is also the policy
of the Department to give every facility consistent
with good business management to communities
near the reserves, that they may be enabled to
procure a copious and pure supply of water for
municipal uses. This power has already been
conferred upon the Department by the Act ot
April 14, 1905. Thus far the borough of South
Renovo made use of the privilege, but the result
of this one experiment has been so highly gratify-
ing that the Department is quite willing to enter
into similar relations with other municipalities.
We believe that the act creating a fixed charge
upon reserve land, of two cents per acre for road
purposes and three cents per acre for school pur-
poses, after a trial of three years, might be changed
with the hope of attaining better results. The
experience has been that the two cents per acre
paid to the township road supervisors to make up
the loss in road taxes by withdrawing State lands
from taxation, which charge was primarily in-
tended to be used for the repair of roads in the
reserves, is almost wholly diverted from its origi-
nal purpose, and public highways in the reserves
are almost wholly neglected. Some of them have
become impassable, and the money that should be
used to put them in a passable condition is wil-
fully diverted to other purposes. While the
Department is regularly paying the amount fixed
by statute, it feels that the money thus expended
is being paid to little or no purpose. A criticism
to be made of the remaining provision of this act,
that requiring the payment of three cents per acre
for school purposes, while generally fair, ought to
be computed upon a different basis. W^e find
that the greater the number of acres acquired in
any township, the more likelihood there is of a
decrease in the number of school children. The
purchase by the State of small farms and clearings
from individual owners causes them to remove
from the township altogether or else to go to the
more settled portions of the townships. We be-
lieve that a fairer way of distributing this aid
would be to make it so much per capita per school
child. There would be absolute fairness in this
method, and the inequality now existing would be
eliminated. A township containing 20,000 acres
of State Forest Reserve would, under the present
law, be entitled to $600.00, whether its schools
contained 6 pupils or 600. It seems, therefore,
that a better method of distribution ought to be
devised.
The Department stands ready to make examina-
tions for individuals and other private owners who
desire advice with respect to their forest land
holdings, and who wish to have planting plans
made for the purpose of conducting private
forestry. A number of such examinations and
reports have been made in the last two years, and
the Department is in frequent receipt of such re-
quests. We are ready to do this without expense
to the owner, and believe that we may be of con-
siderable assistance in this direction to those
who are ready and willing to start the growing of
private forests. To encourage this idea, there-
fore, all the assistance that we can give is at the
command of the citizens of the Commonwealth.
We further believe that the Department will
soon be in a condition, by reason of large nurse-
ries now being established, to raise forest trees for
distribution to farmers and others who will be
willing to receive the trees, plant them, and care
for them in a manner so as to insure their future
growth and protection. This can and ought to be
done at very little expense ; certainly not more
then the actual cost of raising the trees. The
Legislature will be asked this winter to confer
such authority upon the Department, and while
we may not be able immediately to comply with
all requests, yet it is practically certain that with-
in a year we will be able to do so.
The endeavor of the Department also is to
bring the State Forest Academy, at Mont Alto,
up to the highest grade and degree of proficiency.
The students are carefully selected for physical
and mental ability ; their training is long and
severe ; the discipline maintained is such as will
imbue these young men with a sense of the
dignity and worth of their calling, and by these
means we will soon have in the employ of the
State as fine a body of young men, well -trained
for the purpose, as can be fcwnd anywhere in
America. All that we ask is that sufficient money
be provided by the Legislature to enable the De-
partment to carry out the plans it has formed for
the conduct of this Academy. With the money
provided, the Department certainly will very
gladly attend to every other detail which may
arise in the conduct of this school.
Narrative of the Annual Meeting of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
THE Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association was held at 10 12
Walnut Street, Philadelphia, on Monday,
December 14th, at 3 p.m., President Birkinbine
in the chair.
The minutes of the previous meeting were dis-
pensed with, and the Reports of the Council, the
Treasurer, the Addresses of the President and
General Secretary, also of Hon. Robert S. Conk-
lin, Commissioner of Forestry, were presented,
and will be found on other pages of this issue.
The following amendment of Article HI. of
the Constitution was presented and unanimously
adopted in order to provide for sustaining or per-
petual membership of organizations who desired
to become connected with the Association, and
also eliminate some obsolete features.
** There shall be four classes of members :
**dJ. Active members, who, upon election by
the Council, shall be assessed two dollars per
annum, said assessment being due on the first day
of January for the year following.
^^ b. Life members, who, upon election by the
Council, shall pay into the Treasury of the Asso-
ciation the sum of twenty-five dollars.
w
6
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
*' c. Sustaining or perpetual members. Organi-
zations which, upon election by the Council, shall
pay the sum of one hundred dollars.
''//. Honorary members, who, for distinguished
services in advancing forestry, shall be recom-
mended by the Council and approved by the
Association at an Annual Meeting. They shall
not be assessed for dues.
'' Sustaining members will be entitled to a rep-
resentative, who shall have all the privileges of
membership, and an alternate."
At the close of Mr. Conklin's address the meet-
ing was thrown open for an interesting discussion.
Mr. Wm. S. Harvey, President of the Philadel-
phia Commercial Museum, and the newly-elected
President of the American Forestry Association,
was called on, describing briefly the National
Forests and the revenue derived from them ; also
the need of the White Mountain and Southern
Appalachian forest reserves, which are again being
advocated at the present session of Congress. In
speaking, he credited the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association with being responsible for his interest
in forestry.
Dr. Henry S. Drinker, President of Lehigh
University, spoke of the necessity of co-operation
between the State and National organizations, and
had been struck by the names of persons men-
tioned by Mr. Harvey as interested in foresty,
through one of whom his institution had become
associated with the Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation. He expressed a willingness to do mis-
sionary work for the organization.
Mr. George H. Wirt, Director of the Forest
Academy at Mont Alto, called attention to the
disastrous forest fires which occurred last fall, and
reported that on the South Mountain Reserve of
45.000 acres there was but little damage. This
was attributed to the fact that the students at the
Academy were ready at all times to go out with
apparatus to fight the forest fires, and in no case
did a fire last more than two hours. The students
were trained, knowing just what to do, and with
thirty at command it was possible to accomplish
more in one hour to suppress a forest fire than a
deputy fire warden, with twice the force of ordi-
nary men, could do in two hours, for the students
always strike at the head of the fire, and not along
the side lines.
Prof. Hugh P. Baker, of the Forestry Depart-
ment of the Pennsylvania State College, said that
it had been stated that during what had been
called the past ** fiery" months with the unpre-
cedented droughts, $1,000,000 a day had been
lost through forest fires. The Forest Service, at
an expense of $35,000, had been able to put out
the fires on the National Forests, and if Pennsyl-
vania could have had the money represented by
the losses this fall through forest fires, it could
have increased its forest reserves to a million acres,
and be in position to stop forest conflagrations.
Dr. Wm. P. Wilson, Director of the Commercial
Museum, thought it was important to be able to
properly bring the necessity of forestry legislation
to the attention of members of the State Senate
and House of Representatives. New persons were
coming into the Pennsylvania Forestry Association
each year, and probably the organization could
outline some systematic manner in which the
Legislature could be quickly canvassed as to the
advisability of supporting good forestry measures.
He pledged himself personally to try to convince
members of the Legislature.
Prof. R. W. Hall, of Lehigh University, ex-
pressed the wish to aid the Association in any way
possible.
Mr. B. Witman Dambly, of Skippack, Pa.,
inclined to the opinion that needed public senti-
ment in favor of forestry could be obtained through
the newspapers, which would be glad to print
notices, and the local legislators could in this way
be influenced, and anything asked for by the Asso-
ciation granted.
Mr. Samuel S. Smedley, of Bala, Pa., invited
the Association to meet in the early summer in
the Pocono Mountains. They could there be
shown what had been accomplished in the way of
reforesting a tract which, fire swept when first
secured, had been protected, and now showed a
good growth of young trees.
Mr. T. L. Hodge, Secretary and Treasurer of
the Pocono Fire Protective Association, stated
that they had been able to obtain the co-operation
of the Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad in pre-
venting and subduing forest fires. Heretofore, it
had been necessary to have men stationed along
the railroad to put out the fires started by sparks
from the locomotives, which was the cause of the
greater proportion. This fact had been proved to
the officials of the railroad, who had given specific
instructions that the operating department should
co-operate in preventing forest fires, and also gave
money to the Association. The section men were
to aid the Association employees, and had been
equipped with fire extinguishers.
Dr. J. W. Harshberger, of the University of
Pennsylvania, was of the opinion that it would be
well to crystallize the sentiment in favor of forestry
in this State, so that when the time came for legis-
lation members would know what to do. I^st
year he had received letters from Washington to
write to local Congressmen and request co-opera-
tion in securing needed forestry laws, and a simi-
lar course might be followed by the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association. He also referred to the
increase in forest growth in the Pocono Mountains
since the formation of the Pocono Fire Protective
Association.
Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Commissioner of For-
estry, stated that it was a difficult thing to reach
the members of the Association in time to be of
• assistance in legislation, even by letter. Bills
were presented, had a first and possibly a second
reading immediately, and were then brought lip
promptly for third reading, so that in some cases
members might not be able to communicate with
legislators until after final action had been taken.
Mr. T. L. Hodge stated that the Pocono Fire
Protective Association at first offered $50, which
was subsequently increased to $100, for the arrest
and conviction of persons, starting forest fires.
Only six fires had been started by berry-pickers,
the most being caused by railroads.
Messrs. B. Witman Dambly and Samuel Mar-
shall were appointed as tellers of election, and,
on counting the ballots, declared the following
officers unanimously elected :
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice- Presidents y Wm. S. Harvey,
James C. Haydon,
Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pan coast.
Council.
At Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe,
Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Adams County, C. E. Stable.
Allegheny County, Wm. A. Baldwin,
H. M. Brackenridge,
Hon. Geo. W. Guthrie,
Thomas H. Johnson,
G. M. Laughlin,
George M. Lehman,
Wm. Wade.
Beaver County, Charles H. Stone.
Berks County, Mrs. George Brooke,
J. H. Stembergh.
Blair County, Jos. S. Silly man.
Bradford County, C. S. Maurice.
Burks County, Mrs. Geo. T. Heston,
Dr. Howard Pursell.
Cambria County, Hartley C. Wolle.
Cameron County, Charles F. Barclay.
Carbon County, M. S. Kemmerer.
Centre County, Prof. Hugh P. Baker.
Chester County, Henry T. Coates,
Alfred S. Haines,
Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall.
Clarion County, Jos. M. Fox.
Clearfield County, James P. O' Laughlin.
Clinton County, C. .S. McCormick.
Columbia County, John R. Townsend.
Crawford County, E. O. Emerson, Jr.
Cumberland County, Frank C. Bosler.
Dauphin County, Miss Mira L. Dock,
E. C. Felton.
Delaware County, W. W. Montgomery,
Charles Potts,
Dr. Samuel Trimble.
Chas. S. Welles.
Elk County, C. H. M'Cauley.
Erie County, Isaac B. Brown.
Fayette County, Hon. Nathaniel Ewing.
Forest County, T. D. Collins.
Franklin County, Geo. H. Wirt.
Greene County, A. H. Sayers.
Huntingdon County, Mrs. William Dorris.
Indiana County, M. C. Watson.
fefferson County, S. B. Elliott.
Lackaxvanna County, W. W. Scranton.
Hon. L. A. Watres.
Lancaster County, J. H. Baumgardner, .
Prof. E. O. Lyte.
Lawrence County, David Jamison.
Lebanon County, Mrs. Bertham Dawson Coleman.
Lehigh County, Dr. J. M. Backenstoe,
Luzerne County, Mrs. Eckley B. Coxe,
Sidney R. Miner,
Gen. Paul A. Oliver,
Gen. H. W. Palmer,
Col. R. Bruce Ricketts,
L A. Stearns.
Lycoming County, Hon. J. Henry Cochran,
Dr. B. H. Detwiler.
McKean County, F. H. Newell.
Mercer County, Jonas J. Pierce.
Mifflin County, Frank G. Kennedy, Jr.
Monroe County, Edwin R. Booth.
Montgomery County, Dr. J. M. Anders,
Dr. H. M. Fisher,
W. W. Frazier,
Dr. J. Newton Hunsbei^er,
Prof. J. Shelly Weinberger,
Dr. Samuel Wolfe.
Montour County, H. T. Hecht.
Northampton County, John Fritz,
Dr. J. S. Hunt,
Abraham S. Schropp.
Northumberland County, G. R. Van Alen.
Perry County, Mrs. John Wister.
Philadelphia County, Hon. W. N. Ashman,
Henry Budd,
Henry Howson,
1. Franklin Meehan,
J. Rodman Paul,
Albert B. Weiraer,
Dr. W. P. Wilson.
Pike County, Arthur M. Adams.
Potter County, Arthur B. Mann.
Schuylkill County, Wm. L. Sheafer,
Heber S. Thompson.
Somerset County, H. D. Moore, M.D.
Sullivan County, S. E. Dunn.
Susquehanna County, Edgar A. Turrell.
Tioga County, H. L Fick.
Union County, Andrew Albright Leiser.
Venango County, James Denton Hancock.
Warren County, Hon. H. H. Cumings.
Washington County, Wm. Parkison Warne.
Wayne County, Alonzo T. Searle.
Westmoreland County, Hon. Lucien W. Doty.
Wyoming County, James W. Piatt.
York County, Dr. L C. Gable.
On motion, the meeting adjourned, after a ses-
sion which was enjoyed by all who were present.
M
8
FOREST LEAVES.
The Illustrations.
OUR illustrations in this number of Forest
Leaves are given for the purpose of show-
ing the work of the Department of For-
estry of the State in the way of saving growing
and mature timber. The young hardwood grove
in Henry Valley, Perry County, on what is known
as the Pennyparker Reserve, shows a growth of
rock oak and white oak on ground which had
been lumbered over, probably thirty years ago.
This particularly valuable tract has already reached
an age at which it is practically safe from destruc-
tion from forest fires, unless they be of unusual
severity. It is safe to say that the State of Penn-
sylvania has now by good luck obtained possession
of a good many thousand acres of young timber
which is as promising as that shown by the illus-
trations. The debris left from previous lumbering
operations has practically entirely decayed ; it is
gone, and is therefore not a further menace in
the way of adding fuel to a forest flame. The
smooth bark and tall straight stems of this timber
show that it is of splendid quality. There are
several other regions of the State in which equally
good examples of hardwood growth on the State's
holdings could be shown. The Licking Creek
ground in Mifflin and Juniata Counties contains
several thousand acres, probably as good as that
shown in Henry Valley.
The other illustration represents a grove of ma-
ture hemlock in Snyder County, along Swift Run,
which was obtained through the influence of
Hon. A. C. Hopkins from the heirs of Ario Pardee,
Mr. Hopkins was at the time a most active and
useful member of the State Forestry Reservation
Commission, and it is proper to say that even since,
obliged by pressure of business to relinquish his
position on the Commission, his interest and use-
fulness still add greatly to the strength of the Com-
mission. This hemlock timber is one of the few
survivals of the original hemlock forest of the State,
and serves to show the enormous wealth of this
timber which the State once possessed.
It is interesting to trace the increasing value of
hemlock in Pennsylvania. Originally the State
received for this land, when covered with a dense
forest similar to that shown in the illustration, 26^
cents per acre. Some twenty years ago, a tract
of 14,000 acres of virgin hemlock sold (pr a few
dollars per acre. About six years ago this same
tract was sold for $67.50 per acre. It is proper
to ask what a source of wealth this would have
been to the State if it could have been retained
until the present time and placed on the market
at its actual value ?
It should be borne in mind, too, that a large
portion of the hemlock timber cut in earlier years
was taken solely for the bark, and the timber
which now commands such a price in the market
was allowed to remain on the ground ; and the
worst feature of all this is that most of the profit
realized from slaughtering these trees for the bark
now finds its final resting place in the city of Bos-
ton instead of the State of Pennsylvania.
Furthermore, ground from which this hemlock
has been removed is practically unfit for agricul-
ture, and for even those portions which could be
cultivated there exists no demand to-day for farm-
ing purposes. The ground is swept over by fire,
the humus burned, and the soil washed by the
summer torrents into the valley below, each year
becoming poorer and harder to restore to a pro-
ductive condition.
The question may be asked : why not cut this
mature hemlock ? For two reasons : First, there
exists a positive demand all over the State that
such areas of mature timber as we have succeeded
in obtaining be retained by the State as object
lessons for future generations. Second, These
trees serve as seed producers from which there
will be gradually spread, under proper protection,
a young hemlock growth in the adjacent areas.
J. T. ROTHROCK.
Address of Mr. John Birkinbine, Presi-
dent of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.
(Presented at the Annual Meeting, December 14, 1908.)
THE attention to conservation given by con-
ferences at Washington is an indication
of progress welcomed by members of our
organization which, for nearly a quarter-century,
has been insistent and persistent in advocating
care and protection for an important natural
resource. Awakening of interest and apparent
enthusiasm concerning conservation will do much
to advance the national welfare, if this enthusiasm
is directed along practical lines ; but if it is based
on theoretical deductions, academic conclusions,
or becomes a fad, the value of the present move-
ment will be lessened.
The possibility of the latter undesirable result
is suggested by the proceedings of the late con-
ference in Washington, which, as reported in the
daily press, lay greater stress on the past than on
the present status, and prophecies as to the number
of years in which our coal, ores, or forests will be
exhausted seem to attract more attention than the
record of progress which the use of these has
made possible. Few of these prophecies are based
upon sufficient data to make them reliable ; most
of them are speculative, while facts are obtainable
J
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. i
Forest Leaves, Vol. xil, No. i.
YOUNG HARDWOOD ON PENNYPACKER STATE FOREST RESERVATION
PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
MATURE HEMLOCK ON STATE FOREST RESERVATION.
SWIFT RUN, SNYDER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
FoRKST Leavks, Vol. xii., No. i
Forest Leaves, Vol. xil. No. i
I
YOUNG HARDWOOD ON PENNVPACKER STATE FOREST RESERVATION
PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
MATURE HEMLOCK ON STATE FOREST RESERVATION.
SWIFT RUN, SNYDER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
FOREST LEAVES.
which demonstrate the basis of national advance-
ment, and we may use this data to study possible
economies. The full text of the proceedings may
place different colorings upon the addresses, but
as reported they give prominence to calculations
as to when various resources will be exhausted,
rather than to emphasizing the advances made and
suggesting remedial measures.
It is well to take account of stock and to look
forward, but it is also well to glance backward,
judge of the results obtained, and see in what
measure conditions may be bettered.
As our natural resources are given us to use,
and by their use our country has achieved its
proud position among nations, true conservators
do not combat the use but oppose the abuse and
waste of resources.
Disclaiming intention to be critical or to reflect
upon the purpose or knowledge of those who
make prognostications, my feeling is that the
true friends of conservation are those who reduce
consumption or prevent waste. He who enlists
his genius to lessen the fuel consumption per unit
of power or of product, does more to conserve
our coal supply than he who labors to demonstrate
mathematically the reserves of coal or ore in
deposits whose extent and character are imper-
fectly known ; and he who applies to use an
otherwise waste product aids conservation by re-
ducing the drain upon a natural resource. He
who aids in checking a forest fire, plants or pro-
tects trees, or reduces waste in felling or fabricat-
ing lumber, does more to advance forestry than
he who, in a comfortable library, prepared labored
discussions on what will happen when forests are
exhausted. A study of present conditions lead
to the conclusion that, unless wisely directed, the
present interest in conservation may decline,
because its practical value is subordinated.
The name of our organization indicates the re-
source in which its members are specially in-
terested, but no more ardent supporters can be
found for conservation of other resources than in
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Its work
has been along practical lines, seeking in its early
history to enlist the co-operation of the lumber
interest, and some of the most active members are
engaged in lumbering or kindred industries.
The legislation which has placed Pennsylvania
at the fore in practical forestry was fathered by
this association, and we should continue to sup-
port all efforts to maintain the State in advance of
others. That it holds this position is evident
from the character of the forestry legislation of
Pennsylvania, which insures for the 817,000
acres of reserves such administration as makes
forests products of value to the State as they
mature. New York with greater area of reserves
has locked them up by constitutional amendment,
and can obtain no returns from them, except by
tedious proceedings involving a popular vote with
its uncertainties.
Pennsylvania's position is also emphasized by
its Forest Academy, where young men are trained
for practical work, by its Sanitaria, established
for the care of citizens suffering from tuberculosis,
by its efforts to conserve water supplies, and by
its tree nurseries and reforestration policy.
Our function is to sustain our Forestry Reserva-
tion Commission and our Health Commission, to
support legislation which provided for reforestra-
tion, or which secures greater protection from
forest fires by bringing punishment upon the
party originating such fires. We also should aid
in securing an adjustment of taxation which will
encourage the maintenance of forests by private
owners to supplement the State reserves.
We can advance the cause of forestry more by
such means, and by encouraging substitutions for
wood, or by utilizing what is now wasted, than in
bewailing conditions brought about by measures
which this organization has long advocated. Let
us frankly face the future, recognizing what has
been accomplished by securing national and State
reserves, by improved methods of use, by better
forest fire laws, by forestry education, by the
utilization of waste, by replanting and improve-
ment cutting, and encourage all means of im-
provement.
Report of the Council of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association.
THE Pennsylvania Forestry Association dur-
ing the past year has been recognized
more than has heretofore been the case.
Committees were present by invitation at the
meeting of the Allied Agricultural Organizations
at Harrisburg on January 20th ; also at the hear-
ing before the Agricultural Committee of the
House at Washington, D. C, when the desira-
bility of the proposed Southern Appalachian and
White Mountain forest reserves was discussed,
but which failed to become a law, for although
passed by the Senate, it did not receive the ap-
probation of the House; as well as at the meeting
of the Pennsylvania Arbitration and Peace Con-
ference in Philadelphia, May 16-19.
The Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce for-
warded resolutions in regard to the conservation
of our natural resources. These were acknowl-
edged, and the interest and co-operation of the
Association expre^ed, particularly in regard to
forestry.
»l!
10
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
11
On May 13, 14, and 15, there was held at
Washington, D. C, at the invitation of President
Roosevelt, a Conference of Governors of States,
representatives of national organizations and some
invited guests. During these three days the sub-
ject of our natural resources was thoroughly dis-
cussed by men of national reputation. Among
the matters under consideration was the conserva-
tion of our forests, the good seed there sown
being instanced by the fact that in several of the
States, where this subject had previously been
given little thought, the Chief Executives called
attention to the importance of looking after this
source of national wealth, inaugurating measures to
aid in securing maintenance of the timber supply.
The Forest Service has continued its good work
in administering the national forests, which now
cover an area of about 165,000,000 acres, in a con-
servative manner. Additional national forests of
201,480 acres in Florida and 14,080 acres in
North Dakota have been lately set aside by presi-
dential proclamation. The former is the first
accession to the national forests in the eastern sec-
tion of the country, where for five years there has
been constant agitation for the establishment of
national reserves in the Southern Appalachian and
White Mountains, but all bills with this object
in view failed to secure Congressional approval. |
From June 9 to 1 1 the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association held a meeting at Chambersburg, Pa., i
where a number of papers on various phases of
forestry were presented, most of which have been
published in Forest Leaves. At the invitation ,
of the Department of Forestry of Pennsylvania a j
visit was paid to the Mont Alto section of the i
South Mountain reserve, where, after being wel- |
comed by the Commissioner of Forestry, the
Forest Academy, with its partially completed new \
dormitory, the nursery with its 3,000,000 of seed-
lings, and the beautiful Mont Alto Park were in-
spected. The 30 young men who are students at
the Academy are given practical and theoretical
instruction in forestry, raising and planting of
seedling trees, thinning or improvement cutting,
fighting forest fires, etc., so that they will be in
position after graduation to properly adminster
the reserves to which they are assigned. While
at Mont Alto a visit was paid to the South Moun-
tain Camp Sanatorium, through the courtesy of
the Commissioner of Health, where the extensive
improvements were explained to the visitors.
This camp, which was originally inaugurated in a
small way several years ago by our Secretary, Dr.
J. T. Rothrock, will soon be in condition to ac-
commodate 400 patients, of whom, roughly speak-
ing, it is expected nearly two-thirds will be dis-
charged with the dreaded disease controlled.
On the following day trolleys were taken to
Caledonia Park, on the Caledonia section of the
South Mountain reserve, where another session
was held and a small nursery inspected.
This meeting afforded those who were present
an opportunity to see the good work the Forestry
Reservation Commission is doing on a portion of
its 817,000 acres of reserves. Here could be
seen the small seedlings in the nursery, others
which had been replanted several years ago in
some vacant fields, while near the Sanatorium are
some fine specimens of pine trees, about 30 years
old, growing in a field. Here were examples of
thinning and improvement cuttings, fire lanes,
roads, etc., the whole forming a splendid object
lesson.
Arbor Days, both those proclaimed in tne
spring by the Governor and that in the fall named
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, were
generally observed, especially by the schools
throughout the State.
I At the time of the last Annual meeting there
i were 1,551 names on the roll of the Association.
' Since that time there have been no new mem-
bers, while 22 have died, and 53 resigned or
dropped, making a present membership of 1,586,
a net gain of 35. ^1 r
During the year the question was brought up 01
so changing the Constitution and By-Laws as to
permit of a Sustaining Membership, at a fee of
$100. That is to enable an organization which
is practically perpetual to become a member of
the Association, and make full payment at the
time of joining.
We regret to chronicle the tremendous losses
incurred this fall by forest fires, about 850,000
acres of timber land being reported as burned
over in Pennsylvania, while in other States the
damage was even more appalling. While a part
of these fires is no doubt attributed to an un-
precedented drought, there should be some means
found of mitigating these annually recurring losses,
if they cannot be entirely prevented.
' With the opening of the new year the Legisla-
1 ture of Pennsylvania will convene in its biennial
i session, and if any change in the present fire laws
are needed they should receive careful considera-
tion.
The most important question of a reduction in
some just and equitable manner of taxation on
lands which are being reforested, or those already
timbered, must receive attention at this session.
The Law Committee is now taking this matter up
in connection with the State Forestry Reservation
Commission, and we trust our members will en-
list the interest of Senators and Representatives
in securing the passage of the legislation asked
for. If this is not soon secured the present
flourishing lumber industry will be greatly hamp-
ered, and the mills forced to move elsewhere, as
it will not pay for private interests to reforest cut-
over lands without some relief from taxation.
We desire to thank the press throughout the
State, the Women's Clubs, many municipal or-
ganizations, etc., who have all lent their aid to
the cause of forestry.
We wish our members would take more interest
in obtaining new members for the Association, as
if the number on our roll could be doubled, it
would give the organization more weight, and
put it in a position to issue Forest Leaves as a
monthly. F. L. Bitler,
Recording Secretary.
Treasurer's Report.
— .<•
THE fiscal year of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association ends December i, 1908, and
the statement of finances on that date was
as follows :
Treasurer' s Statement to December /, igoS.
Dr.
To balance on hand December 1 , 1907, . . % 956 li
Cash, annual dues to November 30, 1908, . 2169 00
Cash, donations and subscriptions, . . 159 00
Cash, sale of Forest Leaves and advertise-
ments, . . . . . . . 217 35
Cash, interest on Life Membership bonds and
deposits, 382 50
Cash, Life Membership fees, . . . 300 00
Cash, Sustaining Membership fee, . . 100 00
Cash, sale of badges, . . . . . '9 00
Total, .....
By cash, sundries, postage, oflfice rent, etc.,
Publication of Forest I.eaves, .
Assistant Secretary's salary,
Official Badges, ....
Meetings, ......
Life Membership fund,
Membership Committee, expenses of, .
Money invested, ....
Balance on hand December I, 1908, .
Total,
Invested,
Invested,
Invested,
Forest Leaves Fund.
• • • • •
Life Membership Fund.
. . . • •
General Fund.
292 96
Cr.
% 477 98
964 64
600 00
2 50
114 99
400 00
134 92
1225 16
4 00
368 77
292 96
$1963 42
$2435 00
%l^^2s 31
Charles E. Pancoast,
Audited and found correct.
Treasurer.
William S. Kirk.
Albert B. Weimer
Report of the General Secretary.
OUR Secretary of the Association has given
his statement of the work of the society.
And our Commissioner of Forestry has
made a report of the doings of the State Department
of Forestry. There remains but little of importance
for your General Secretary to speak of, especially
as our President gives us his usual clear statement
of the broader relations of Forestry in Pennsyl-
vania.
I will content myself with a few remarks upon
one or two topics which suggest themselves. For-
estry took a new departure, so far as State, or Na-
tional grounds, are concerned, when Pennsyl-
vania lent her forest preserves to the solution of
the tuberculosis problem. There was a marked
propriety in it, because there the afflicted ones
could be more readily removed from possibility
of conveying the disease to others, and because
also they were themselves placed under the atmos-
pheric conditions supposed to be most favorable to
their recovery. The idea was promptly taken hold
of, and money wisely and liberally appropriated
by the Legislature of this State for the work. The
wave of public approval still seems to be rising
higher. Further appropriations are hoped for by
the friends of the movement.
This is all well. The question, however, still
presents itself in another form. If it is good and
altogether a duty to deal thus with the sick, would
it not be a still wiser and more immediately useful
thing if steps were taken to prevent people from
becoming invalids ?
I see no reason why this most important step
should not be taken immediately by the Depart-
ment of Forestry, if a small appropriation were
granted by the State. National health is after all
the most important public asset to conserve.
I would suggest, that if, say fifteen thousand
dollars were appropriated, three suitable recrea-
tion camping grounds, might be opened on the
State Forest Reservations, where during the six
warmer months of the year those of our citizens
who are not on the sick list, but who require rest
and change to keep them from becoming sick, and
who are financially unable to go to costly summer
resorts, might take their tents and go into camp.
Such people, as a rule, derive infinite benefit at a
minimum of expense. This could be easily done.
To clear the ground, furnish flooring and provide
a medical attendant and drugs, would be all that
the State need do. The campers could do the rest.
This sum of $15,000 would be expected to last for
two years. That is, $7,500 a year, divided be-
tween three camps would allow each $2,500 a year.
I do not know of anything more needed, or more
12
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
13
promising, or which would be more of a money
saver to the State.
There is another use to which forests might be
put. I mean now not State, but private forests,
i.e., deer-farming. It is a fact, that every animal
we have now under domestication came to us from
a wild condition. There is but one reason why
deer should not be added to the list, except the
absurd legal restriction which denies to a man who
has raised deer in captivity, in a closed park on
his own ground, fed and protected them as ne-
cessary, just as his other cattle, the right to
kill and sell them just as he would sheep, pigs,
or turkeys.
If existing game laws conflict they should be
modified to bring them within the limits of com-
mon sense. At a time when the price of meat is
almost prohibitory to thousands of desirable citi-
zens, it is a crime to place obstacles in the way
of another source of food-supply to the nation.
It is quite within the limits of truth to say, that
thousands of deer could be raised and sold in this
State each year without injury to the hunting in-
terests ; and without injury to the growing timber.
The Federal government has this subject now
under consideration of the proper officers. There
is no reason why Pennsylvania, which has led in
so many other forestry reforms, should not move
in this matter at once. There is but one restric-
tion necessary in this problem : — that is, that the
deer so slaughtered and sold shall have been raised
and cared for in captivity and were actual bona fide
property of the seller.
We have not yet realized the full size of the forest
restoration problem. It is absolutely necessary for
the future of this State that forests be restored as
speedily as possible on a rocky and denuded hill-
side. This warning cannot be too often or too
loudly sounded. To plant one square mile with
seedling trees would require more than half a mil-
lion seedlings. More than ten million trees would
be required for twenty square miles ; I make this
estimate low (lower than I think it ought to be
made), in order to avoid anything which savors of
exaggeration !
Suppose we were to plant out twenty square
miles of our poor, unproductive hillsides each
year, the State would still be becoming impover-
ished because of the soil which was being washed
down the slopes toward the ocean level faster than
our trees produced it above. It is a serious
problem, but the longer we balk and hang back
the more serious it will become !
The newspapers of the day tell us that England
proposes the following (taken from Public Ledger):
''The Royal Commission appointed to consider
the question of afforestation as a palliative for un-
employment, has recommended a plan for the
planting of 9,000,000 acres in Great Britain and
Ireland over a period of 80 years, about 150,000
acres to be afforested annually, and the work to
employ 18,000 men in the winter months [equal
to 234 square miles].
''The report says the scheme should be financed
by a loan, the interest to be defrayed by taxation.
It is estimated the forests would be self-supporting
after 40 years, and that after 80 years their income
would reach $87,500,000. The commission in-
cludes H. Rider Haggard."
That some such plan will come to the front here,
eventually, is more than likely, for t\yo reasons :
ist, because it will appeal to the people ; and 2d,
because it will be necessary.
The prosperous perpetuity of this Sate demands
at least six thousand square miles of forest on the 7 g
highlands (more would be still better), and the f^
British plan appears to be the most effective ot
any so far evolved. J. T. Rothrock.
President Roosevelt and Forestry.
IN his last Annual Message to Congress, Presi-
dent Roosevelt again strongly recommended
caring for the forests of the Nation, and his
remarks on the subject are as follows :
"If there is any one duty which more than
another we owe it to our children and our chil-
dren's children to perform at once, it is to save
the forests of this country, for they constitute the
firsfand most important element in the conserva-
tion of the natural resources of the country.
There are, of course, two kinds of natural resources.
One is the kind which can only be used as part of
a process of exhaustion ; this is true of mines,
natural oil and gas wells, and the like. The o*^her,
and of course ultimately by far the most import-
ant, includes the resources which can be improved
in the process of wise use ; the soil, the rivers and
the forests come imder this head. Any really
civilized nation will so use all of these three g^-eat
national assets that the nation will have their
benefit in the future. Just as a farmer, after all
his life making his living from his farm, will, if
he is an expert farmer, leave it as an asset of in-
creased value to his son, so we should leave our
national domain to our children, in increased
value and not worn out. There are small sections
of our own country, in the East and in the West,
in the Adirondacks, the White Mountains and the
Appalachians, and in the Rocky Mountains, where
we can already see for ourselves the damage in the
shape of permanent injury to the soil and the river
systems which comes from reckless deforestation.
It matters not whether this deforestation is due to
the actual reckless cutting of timber, to the fires
that inevitably follow such reckless cutting of
timber, or to reckless and uncontrolled grazing,
especially by the great migratory bands of sheep,
the unchecked wandering of which over the country
means destruction to forests and disaster to the
small home makers, the settlers of limited
means.
Shortsighted persons or persons blinded to the
future by desire to make money in every way out
of the present, sometimes speak as if no great
damage would be done by the reckless destruction
of our forests. It is difficult to have patience with
the arguments of these persons. Thanks to our
own recklessness in the use of our splendid forests,
we have already crossed the verge of a timber
famine in this country, and no measures that we
now take can, at least for many' years, undo the
mischief that has alreadv been done. But we can
prevent further mischief being done ; and it would
be in the highest degree reprehensible to let any
consideration of temporary convenience or tem-
porary cost interfere with such action, especially
as regards the national forests which the nation
can now, at this very moment, control.
All serious students of the question are aware
of the great damage that has been done in the
Mediterranean countries of Europe, Asia, and
Africa by deforestation. The similar damage that
has been done in Eastern Asia is less well known.
A recent investigation into conditions in North
China by Mr. Frank N. Meyer, of the Bureau of
Plant Industry of the United States Department
of Agriculture, has incidentally furnished in very
striking fashion proof of the ruin that comes from
reckless deforestation of mountains, and of the
further fact that the damage once done may prove
practically irreparable. So important are these
investigations that I show in vivid fashion the
appalling desolation, taking the shape of barren
mountains and gravel and sand-covered plains,
which immediately follows and depends upon the
deforestation of the mountains. Not many cen-
turies ago the country of Northern China was one
of the most fertile and beautiful spots in the entire
world, and was heavily forested. We know this
not only from the old Chinese records, but from
the accounts given by the traveler, Marco Polo.
He, for instance, mentions that in visiting the
provinces of Shansi and Shensi he observed many
plantations of mulberry trees. Now there is hardly
a single mulberry tree in either of these provinces,
and the culture of the silkworm has moved farther
south, to regions of atmospheric moisture. As an
illustration of the complete change in the rivers,
we may take Polo's statement that a certain river,
the Hun Ho, was so large and deep that merchants
ascended it from the sea with heavily laden boats ;
to-day this river is simply a broad, sandy bed, with
shallow rapid currents wandering hither and thither
across it, absolutely unnavigable. But we do not
have to depend upon written records. The dry
wells and the wells with water far below the former
watermark bear testimony to the good days of the
past and the evil days of the present. Wherever
the native vegetation has been allowed to remain,
as, for instance, here and there around a sacred
temple or imperial burying-ground, there are still
huge trees and tangled jungle, fragments of the
glorious ancient forests. The thick, matted forest
growth formerly covered the mountains to their
summits. All natural factors favored this dense
forest growth, and as long as it was permitted to
exist the plains at the foot of the mountains were
among the most fertile on the globe, and the
whole country was a garden. Not the slightest
effort was made, however, to prevent the un-
checked cutting of the trees or to secure reforesta-
tion. Doubtless for many centuries the tree cut-
ting by the inhabitants of the mountains worked
but slowly in bringing about the changes that have
now come to pass ; doubtless for generations the
inroads were scarcely noticeable. But there came
a time when the forest had shrunk sufficiently to
make each year's cutting a serious matter, and
from that time on the destruction proceeded with
appalling rapidity, for, of course, each year of de-
struction rendered the forest less able to recuper-
ate, less able to resist next year's inroad. Mr.
Meyer describes the ceaseless progress of the de-
struction even now, when there is so little left to
destroy. Every morning men and boys go out
armed with mattox or axe, scale the steepest moun-
tain side, and cut down and grub out, root and
branch, the small trees and shrubs still to be found.
The big trees disappeared centuries ago, so that
now one of these is never seen save in the neigh-
borhood of temples, where they are artificially
protected ; and even here it takes all the watch
and care of the tree-loving priests to prevent their
destruction. Each family, each community, where
there is no common care exercised in the interest
of all of them to prevent deforestation, finds its
profit in the immediate use of the fuel which would
otherwise be used by some other family or some
other community. In the total absence of regu-
lation of the matter in the interest of the whole
people each small group is inevitably pushed into
a policy of destruction which cannot afford to take
thought for the morrow. This is just one of these
matters which is fatal to leave to unsupervised in-
dividual control. The forests can only be pro-
tected by the State, by the nation ; and the liberty
I
14
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
1&
»
of action of individuals must be conditioned upon
what the State or nation determines to be neces-
sary for the common safety.
The lesson of deforestation in China is a lesson
which mankind should have learned many times
already from what has occurred in other places.
Denudation leaves naked soil ; then gullying cuts
down to the bare rock, and meanwhile the rock
waste buries the bottomlands. When the soil is
gone men must go, and the process does not take
long.
This ruthless destruction of the forests in
northern China has brought about, or has aided
in bringing about, desolation, just as the destruc-
tion of the forests in central Asia aid in bringing
ruin to the once rich central Asian cities ; just as
the destruction of the forests in northern Africa
helped toward the ruin of a region that was a
fertile granary in Roman days. Shortsighted
man, whether barbaric, semi- civilized, or what he
mistakenly regards as fully civilized, when he has
destroyed the forests, has rendered certain the
ultimate destruction of the land itself. In
northern China the mountains are now absolutely
barren peaks.
Not only have the forests been destroyed, but be-
cause of their destruction the soil has been washed
off the naked rock. The terrible consequence is
that it is impossible now to undo the damage that
has been done. Many centuries would have to
pass before soil would again collect, or could
be made to collect, in sufficient quantity once
more to support the oldtime forest growth. In
consequence the Mongol Desert is practically
extending eastward over northern China. The
climate has changed and is still changing. It
has changed even within the last half century as
the work of tree destruction has been consum-
mated. The great masses of arboreal vegetation
on the mountains formerly absorbed the heat of
the sun and sent up currents of cool air which
brought the moisture-laden clouds lower and
forced them to precipitate in rain a part of their
burden of water. Now that there is no vegeta-
tion, the barren mountains, scorched by the sun,
send up currents of heated air which drive away
instead of attracting the rain clouds, and cause
their moisture to be disseminated. In conse-
quence, instead of the regular and plentiful rains
which existed in these regions of China when the
forests were still in evidence, the unfortunate in-
habitants of the deforested lands now see their
cro|>s wither for lack of rainfall. While the
• seasons grow more and more irregular, and as the
air becomes dryer certain crops refuse longer to
grow at all. That everything dries out faster
than formerly is shown by the fact that the level
of the wells all over the land has sunk perceptibly,
many of them having become totally dry. In
addition to the resulting agricultural distress, the
water-courses have changed. Formerly they were
narrow and deep, with an abundance of clear
water the year around, for the roots and humus of
the forests caught the rain water and let it escape
by slow, regular seepage. They have now be-
come broad, shallow stream beds, in which muddy
water trickles in slender currents during the dry
seasons, while when it rains there are freshets and
roaring, muddy torrents come tearing down, bring-
ing disaster and destruction everywhere. More-
over, these floods and freshets, which diversify
the general dryness, wash away from the moun-
tain sides and either wash away or cover in the
valleys the rich fertile soil which it took tens of
thousands of years for nature to form, and it is lost
forever, and until the forests grow again it cannot
be replaced. The sand and stones from the
mountain sides are washed loose and come rolling
down to cover the arable lands, and in conse-
quence, throughout this part of China, many for-
merly rich districts are now sandy wastes, useless
for human cultivation and even for pasture. The
cities have been, of course, seriously affected, for
the streams have gradually ceased to be navigable.
There is testimony that even within the meniory
of men now living there has been a serious dimi-
nution of the rainfall of northeastern China.
The level of the Sungari River, in northern Man-
: churia, has been sensibly lowered during the last
50 years, at least partly as the result of the indis-
criminate cutting of the forests forming its water-
shed. Almost all the rivers of northern China
have become uncontrollable and very dangerous
to the dwellers along their banks, as a direct re-
sult of the destruction of the forests. The journey
from Pekin to Jehol shows in melancholy fashion
how the soil has been washed away from whole
valleys, so that they have been converted into
deserts. In northern China this disastrous pro-
cess has gone on so long and has proceeded so far
that no complete remedy could be applied. . . .
What has thus happened in northern China,
what has happened in Central Asia, in Palestine,
in North Africa, in parts of the Mediterranean
countries of Europe, will surely happen in our
country if we do not exercise that wise fore-
thought which should be one of the chief marks
of any people calling itself civilized. Nothing
should be permitted to stand in the way of the
preservation of the forests, and it is criminal to
permit individuals to purchase a little gain for
themselves through the destruction of forests when
this destruction is fatal to the well-being of the
whole country in the future. ' '
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE. N. C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestr)' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest ' of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
J, T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application. ,
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
Tlluatrated Catalogue upon application,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice- President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
JACOB 8. DISSTON. FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES. RANDAL MORGAN.
FRANCIS I. QOWEN. H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
J. LEVERING JONES. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
li
16
\4
FOREST LEAVES.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not — Why Not?
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations, =Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES," 3d EDITION, DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECI
Each
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $i oo
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched i *5
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; ij4 to i|^ in. cal i 50
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal 2 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2)4 in. cal 2 50
10 to 12 ft. 2^ to 3 in 3 50
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
Send for PRICE L.IST.-^|
EN!
Per xo
$8 50
10 00
13 50
17 50
22 50
30 00
Per xoo
$60 00
70 00
125 00
135 00
150 00
275 00
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Vol. XII.
Philadelphia, April, 1909.
No. 2,
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
. ijji ""
> i»y- "^^^^ ^m 'Editorial 17
Editorial Correspondence — In tne Mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico 18
Spring Arbor Day Proclamation ^ ^9
Proposed Pennsylvania Forestry Legislation 19
Proposed Forest Taxation in Pennsylvania 21
Correspondence in Regard to Forest Fires 22
Virgin Hemlock on Pennypacker Reservation 24
Minnesota on the Taxation of Timber Lands 24
United States Timber Facts 25
Forestry in Maine 25
Hawaii's Forests 26
Why Pennsylvania Needs Forestry 28
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
7%/ atttntion oy Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^ FoRBST Lbavbs as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in Junb, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual member ship fee, Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President ^ John Birkinbine.
Vice- Presidents , Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary^ Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer ^ Charles E. Pancoast.
Council-at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazier, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman ; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William S. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp,
County C7r^ff/2a/i<7», Samuel Marshall, Chairman; Eugene iLllicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Opficb op thb Association, loia Walnitf St.. Philadblphia.
EDITORIAL.
THE Arbor Day proclamation of Governor
Stuart has the ring of true conservation,
for it includes with forest preservation and
protection, their intelligent use as creators of
shade, producers of forest and lumber, protectors
of soil and equalizers of stream flow. It recog--
nizes the educational influence upon the rising
generation resulting from days specifically desig-
nated and commends as wise legislation the pro-
vision for officially announcing Arbor Day.
While remarkably brief, the proclamation cov-
ers practically the forestry problems of propaga-
tion, preservation, protection, popularization and
utilization.
The topographical and climatic conditions
which prevail in Pennsylvania, with an area of
45,000 square miles from sea level to 2,800 feet
above that distance, make it advisable to designate
two dates separated by intervals of three weeks
(viz., April 2 and 23) giving to all citizens the
option of either upon which to plant trees or to
take other special action as fitting celebrations.
This course detracts from the general effect which
would follow an observance by the entire State of
one particular day, but for the reasons named the
designation of the dates is advisable.
The tone of Governor Stuart's proclamation
gives assurance to the friends of forestry through-
out the State that any of the legislation which is
now pending as mentioned in other columns of
this issue will receive from the Chief Executive
careful consideration. J. B.
n» 1» 'I* ^ 1^
The Pennsylvania State Forestry Academy is
mailing regularly to the press of this State clip-
pings in regard to forestry. This is an eff"ort we
commend, and regret the crowded condition of
our columns prevents our inserting some of them
in this issue.
18
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
Editorial Correspondence— In the Moun-
tains of Oaxaca, Mexico.
A LATE interview, published by the Mexi-
can Herald, claimed that Mexico need not
fear timber exhaustion, mainly because
of the inaccessibility of the supply ; but a fairly
intimate knowledge of our sister republic does not
corroborate this view, and the ready acquiescence
of President Diaz with President Roosevelt's de-
sire for international conservation indicates that
he, as chief magistrate, recognizes the necessity of
preserving and protecting the timber supply.
This is written in a locality where conditions
favor forest growth ; the elevation of the valley is
6,000 feet above sea-level, and about it lie moun-
tains from one to two thousand feet higher, mostly
covered with trees, while no railroad is within 75
miles and no continuous wagon road within 50
miles. The section is accessible only by trail,
the climate is favorable, and, although there is a
rainy and dry season, .the latter is broken by occa-
sional showers, so that it is not an arid region.
Although even in winter the days are warm, cool
nights and occasional frosts prevail. Geographi-
cally, the position is latitude 17° north of the
equator.
In following the trails over the steep mountains
and across the barrancas the absence of large trees
is noticeable, and those which are of considerable
size are gnarled and twisted. On the hills the
pine and oak, and along the streams cypress, pre-
vail, the latter often assuming large proportions,
but are usually merely a border adjacent to the
stream-bed. While the habitat or environment
have undoubtedly affected the tree growth, it is
probable that man has had much to do in creating
the conditions which exist.
The absence of sprouts or healthy undergrowth
which may in time replenish the forest is attribut-
able to large droves of sheep and goats which
leave in their wake little in the way of vegetable
growth.
Although this is a mountainous section, accessi-
ble only by difficult trails, it maintained a popula-
tion before William Penn became interested in
what is now Pennsylvania, as is proven by ruins
and other relics found in the vicinity. For cen-
turies the inhabitants have depended upon wood
for fuel. It constitutes their camp fires, and
charcoal furnishes heat for their hrassieros, on
which the food is cooked in the Mexican homes.
For smelting ores and for use in towns and
cities charcoal is employed, but the small size of
meilers and the waste in packing on the backs of
animals result in a small yield from a given
volume of wood carbonized.
19
The adobe houses are one, or at rriost two stories
in height, the roofs and, in the case of two-story
buildings, the second floor being supported on
heavy beams or vigas, sheathed with slabs to sus-
tain the tiling. Doors and windows and window
gratings are heavily made, because the Mexican
uses an axe or an adze and seldom a saw, but one
viga or one plank being obtained from a tree felled
for the purpose. The low buildings and the area
they cover, the method of hewing out all timber,
and the almost universal application *of wood,
even for many purposes where we are used to
metal, suggests that more timber is cut for a house
of Mexican construction than for one in the United
States which accommodates an equal number of
persons, even if built entirely of wood. It is sel-
dom that the chips or waste obtained in preparing
lumber are used, but are left to decay, the wood
or charcoal merchant preferring to cut other ma-
terial wherever most convenient.
It can hardly be expected that even in a section
so sparsely populated such procedure could be fol-
lowed for centuries without deteriorating the wood
supply, especially as the best trees are first sought
for, and if, as is probably true, a denser population
at one time occupied this portion of Oaxaca, the
demand upon the forests may have been greater
than now. To-day a land owner or municipality
permits the cutting of timber at 12 i^ centavos a
tree, the purchaser being privileged to select such
trees as he desires. This price is equivalent in
American money at the present time to 6 3^ cents.
In the lower country, or "• terra Calienta," the
tropical growth encourages mahogany and other
special woods to develop, but these being, as a
rule, nearer the seacoast, rapidly become features
of trade. In the mountain sections of northern
Mexico, where the climate approaches more to
that of the temperate zone, and where a sparser
population has utilized the forests, there are better
growths of oak and pine than in the section from
which this is written, but it is evident that a forest
protective policy is necessary for the Republic of
Mexico.
Although as this is written a forest fire in
Southern Oaxaca attracts attention, these are
not as common as in the United States, and a
feature of interest also is that forest fires sel-
dom ravage the country. This is remarkable
when the number of places along the trail, which
show that a pack train has halted and the niozos
cooked their scanty meal, are observed, but the
small fire employed and the care which these In-
dians take in extinguishing the fire after it has
served its purpose indicates that in this particular
they are in advance of the hunters and visitors in
the woods of the United States. J. B.
Spring Arbor Day Proclamation.
IN the name and by authority of the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania. Executive Depart-
ment. Proclamation. The annual observ-
ance of Arbor Day has fostered public sentiment
in favor of the preservation of the forests, their
protection from fire and other enemies, and their
intelligent use for commercial, industrial and
other purposes. It has emphasized in the public
mind the value of trees for shade, for fruit, for
timber, for holding the soil and conserving the
streams. It has made the rising generation
familiar with the best methods of planting trees
and for promoting their growth. It has led to
the beautifying of the public parks and the
grounds about homes and school houses.
The custom of observing Arbor Day, which is
now almost universal throughout the civilized
world, should be encouraged and perpetuated.
Wise legislative enactment has made it the duty
of the Chief Executive to name one or more days
as Arbor Days for the State of Pennsylvania.
Therefore, in furtherance of this laudable cus-
tom, and by authority of law, I, Edwin S. Stuart,
Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
do hereby issue this, my Proclamation, designat-
ing Friday, April second, and Friday, April
twenty-third,A. D., 1909, as Arbor Days through-
out the Commonwealth.
Two days have been designated so that every
section of the State may find a day for tree plant-
ing suited to its climatic conditions.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the
State at the City of Harrisburg, this seventeenth
day of March, in the year of our Lord, one
thousand nine hundred and nine, and of the
Commonwealth the one hundred and thirty-
third. Edwin S. Stuart.
By the Governor : Robert McAfee,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Proposed Pennsylvania Forestry
Legislation.
IN addition to the bills on taxation, which are
given in full in another column, the follow-
ing relating to forestry have been introduced
in the Legislature and are advocated by the Depart-
ment of Forestry : —
H. R.^ i^. Authorizes the Department of For-
estry to grow and distribute young forest trees to
those who will plant and care for them. The
seedlings are to be sold by the Department at a
reasonable charge, not in excess of the actual cost
of production, the purchaser bearing the transpor-
tation charges and agreeing to plant the seedlings
under the direction of the Department of Forestry,
care for and protect them.
H. R,, i^y. Is to create a system of fire wardens
to prevent and suppress forest fires on woodlots and
wild lands, the Commissioner of Forestry being the
Chief Fire Warden, with authority to appoint
suitable district fire wardens. These district fire
wardens are empowered to employ other persons to
assist in extinguishing forest fires, the wardens re-
ceiving 25 cents per hour and expenses and other
persons 15 cents per hour. In each township or
borough the district fire warden may appoint as-
sistant fire wardens with the same authority, who
shall be paid 20 cents per hour and expenses. A
proper record is kept of the expenses, and at the
end of each calendar year the Auditor General ap-
portions the amounts he has expended in this
manner among the different counties who are to
pay one-third of the expense incurred. During
the months of April and May and from September
15 to November 15, known as the fire seasons,
the fire wardens may, at the discretion of the
Commissioner of Forestry, be required to keep
daily patrol, receiving therefor a stated sum not
in excess of $25 per month. These fire wardens
also have the right to arrest persons violating the
laws. The sum of $300,000 is appropriated for
this purpose. This bill would seem to be a con-
siderable improvement over having constables act
as ex-officio firewardens, creating an independent
force without local prejudice, reporting to and
managed from a central office.
H,R,,i^g. Provides that all forest reserves
shall be subject to an annual charge of two cents
per acre for school purposes, provided no school
district shall receive in any one year more than
$500, and no school district shall be entitled to
receive any sum under this act unless a tax of not
less than four mills on the dollar of assessed valua-
tion be levied and collected. Warrants to be
drawn by the Auditor General after approval by
the Commissioner of Forestry. This bill is com-
mendable for the reason that it removes the
objection to the present law under which the
larger the area acquired by the State in a given
township the greater the payment, whereas any
increase in the quantity of land owned by the
State in any given township the less money is
needed for school purposes. The road appropria-
tion in the old act is removed from the bill for
the reason that the Legislature is asked to transfer '
the roads in the reservation to the Department to
keep in repair (see H. R., 286).
H. R. , 257. Provides for the protection of the
State forest reserves, specifying the penalties for
disobeying the rules and regulations of the De-
partment of Forestry, being a codification of the
20
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
21
present law. It aims to form a uniform system of
protection for State lands.
H. R., 244. Is a companion act to 257, being |
designed to protect woodlands not owned by the
State from being set on fire, having timber stolen
from or damaging the trees thereon.
H. R,^ 286. Transfers to the Department of
Forestry the control and management of all public
highways, not improved State highways, border-
ing on or lying within the State forest reserves.
It gives full authority to open, amend, grade, im-
prove and keep in repair all roads. The expense
to be provided for in the appropriation made for
the Department of Forestry. This takes the place
of the old act requiring the State to pay two cents
per acre of forest reserves as a road tax. Under
this present law but little of the money thus paid
out is expended on the roads bordering on or
within the reserves, and the new act is to remedy
this defect.
H. R. 46p. Is to amend sections i, 3, 7 and
8 of the Act establishing the Department of
Forestry. It gives to the Forestry Reservation
Commission increased privileges, in leasing rights
of way, land for water-power plants, to employ
forest rangers, etc. These amendments are com-
mendable, placing the Forestry Reservation Com-
mission in position to better administer the forest
reserves which are in their care, and secure
revenue to the State from them.
If. R. ^42. Is for appropriations for the ex-
penses of the various Departments of the State
Government. The portion referring to the De-
partment of Forestry amounts' to $564,500 for
two years. No deductions should be made from
this appropriation, which includes the amounts to
be paid to the Commissioner of Forestry, his
assistants, forester«j, forest rangers, for surveys,
labor, traveling expenses, etc.
JI. R. ^jj. Provides for an appropriation of
$16,000 for the salaries of instructors, stationery,
maintenance, etc., and $1,000 to equip the
laboratories. It would also seem commendable
if an appropriation of $19,000 additional were
made of which $16,000 could be wisely used in
completing the dormitory building, the balance
of $3,000 to be utilized in furnishing it. This
would put the Forestry Academy in position to
properly care for all its students.
If, R. S57' Sets aside $100,000 for the pur-
chase of lands for forest reserves, also $300,000
for a similar purpose for the fiscal year beginning
June I, 1909, and an equal amount for the fiscal
year following.
H. R,y 813, Is for an appropriation of $3,500
for the purchase of the herbarium of 20,000 speci-
mens and the scientific botanical library of 260
books and 280 pamphlets belonging to Dr. Joseph
T. Rothrock. The herbarium and library to be
placed in the State Library at Harrisburg, to be
known as the ** Rothrock Herbarium and Scienti-
fic Library." This is a valuable collection of
scientific material and literature which has been
gathered by Dr. Rothrock in a long series of
years, which it would be difficult, if not impossible,
to duplicate. We trust it will be purchased and
maintained as a fitting memorial of Dr. Rothrock,
who has done so much to forward the cause of
forestry in Pennsylvania.
H. R., 826. Is to establish recreation camps
within the forest reserves and making an appro-
priation of $15,000 therefor. It is proposed to
have the Commissioner of Forestry select thre^
** Recreation Camps," to be open to receive
campers in such numbers and at such times as he
may elect. Wooden camp floors are to be pro-
vided, also a suitable overseer for each camp. ^
This is in line with the general idea of having the
State forestry reserves serve as outing grounds for
the people.
Other bills which relate to forestry are : —
H. R., 775. Designed to protect trees growing
by the roadsides and within road limits, and pro-
viding for a penalty of $5.00 for each tree injured
or destroyed, and if not paid imprisonment for not
to exceed 30 days.
B. R., 226. Is to regulate the management of
timber lands in Pennsylvania for the purpose of
preventing floods and drought, conserving the
water supply and securing favorable conditions of
waterflows. It proposes to give the Department
of Forestry the power to make reasonable rules
and regulations and to issue permits for the cut-
ting of timber, etc., within the State. Any
violation to be punished by a fine not exceeding
$500 or imprisonment not exceeding 30 days.
H. R., 228. Provides for the purchase and dis-
tribution of tree seeds by the Commissioner of
Forestry, who also has the power to appoint two
persons to travel through the State and explain
the benefits of such planting. It appropriates
$3,200, which includes salaries of $800 per
annum for the two agents above mentioned. This
bill was defeated.
B. R,, 2SJ. Permits the acquisition of forest
or other suitable lands by municipalities for the
purpose of establishing municipal forests and
providing for the administration, maintenance,
protection and development of such forests. This
is to enable the municipalities to acquire by pur-
chase, gift or condemnation, tracts of land (subject
to the approval of the Commissioner of Forestry,
who is also empowered to make rules for govern-
ment and administration) for municipal forests,
which, in some instances, may conserve and pro-
tect the water supply. This is a new departure,
and follows the European idea of communal
forests.
Proposed Forest Taxation in
Pennsylvania.
THE two following acts have been introduced
in the Legislature by the Department of
Forestry to create a just method of taxing
private forest lands, and we trust our members will
use their influence with Legislators to secure their
enactment : —
If. R.y j8j. To define and establish auxiliary
forest reserves, and providing a penalty for the
violation thereof.
Section i. Be it enacted, etc.. That in order
to encourage the growing of such trees as will at
the proper age be suitable for merchantable tim-
ber and sawed lumber, whether such be of natural
reproduction or from seed sown or trees planted
out or all combined, all surface lands which may
be set apart according to the provisions of this act
and exclusively used for growing such trees are
hereby constituted a separate and distinct class of
lands to be known as auxiliary forest reserves. •
Sec. 2. When any owner of surface land upon
which trees are growing shall desire and elect to
have such land placed in the class established by
Section i of this act, such owner shall notify the
Commissioner of Forestry of his desire in manner
and form to be prescribed by said Commissioner.
Said notice shall contain a description of the land,
its location, boundary, and character, and state,
as far as practicable, the species, number and size
of trees per acre, and also their condition, and
whether they are of natural reproduction or are
from seed sown for the purpose, or have been set
out on said land, and such other information as
the Commissioner of Forestry may require. If,
upon receipt and consideration of this notice, the
Commissioner of Forestry may deem the condi-
tions such as to warrant action on his part to
determine whether such lands should rightfully be
placed in the class established by Section i of this
act, he shall cause the same to be examined by
some person learned in the principles and prac-
tices of forestry and a report made to him thereon,
and if, upon receipt and consideration of such
report, he shall conclude that such land should be
placed in the class established by Section i of
this act, he shall so declare and certify to the
Commissioncs of the county in which said land
is located.
Sec. 3. Upon receipt by the County Commis-
sioners of such certificate of the Commissioner of
Forestry it shall be their duty at once to place
said surface land in the class established by Sec-
tion I of this act, and keep the same therein for a
period of at least twenty years or thereafter until
the trees growing thereon shall, in the judgment
of the Commissioner of Forestry, become suffi-
ciently large and suitable for merchantable timber
and sawed lumber, or the land shall be devoted to
other purposes ; provided, however, that the cer-
tificate of the Commissioner of Forestry shall not
become operative to place said surface land in the
class established by Section i of this act until the
owner of said surface land shall have agreed in
writing with the Commissioner of Forestry to care
for and treat the trees growing thereon according
to the instructions and directions of the Commis-
sioner of Forestry, and until such trees shall
become suitable for merchantable timber and
sawed lumber, and if any such owner shall at any
time fail to care for and treat the trees growing
on said land as agreed with the Commissioner of
Forestry, and due proof thereof shall be made, the
Commissioner of Forestry shall remove said sur-
face land from the class established by Section i of
this act. The County Commissioners shall there-
upon proceed to recover from the said owner for the
use of the county and township by an appropriate
action at law the diff*erence in the amount of tax
which would have been paid by the said owner
under the prevailing rates which existed on similar
lands in said county and the rate provided for
auxiliary forest reserves, with costs of suit, and to
be recoverable from the time when such lands
were placed in the class of auxiliary forest re-
serves.
Sec. 4. Whenever the trees growing on said
surface land shall become suitable for merchant-
able timber and sawed lumber, and the owner
thereof shall desire to cut and market the same,
he shall give to the Commissioner of Forestry at
least three months' notice prior to the time when
it is his desire to begin such cutting and market-
ing. The Commissioner of Forestry shall then
make an examination of said lands and designate
for the owner the kind and number of trees most
suitable to be cut for the purpose for which the
owner desires to place the same upon the market,
if, in the judgment of the Commissioner of
Forestry, there be any such, and the cutting and
removal of said trees so designated shall be in
accordance with the instructions of the Commis-
sioner of Forestry.
Sec. 5. If the owner of said surface land shall
faithfully carry out the instructions of the Com-
missioner of Forestry with regard to the removal
and marketing of such mature or other trees as
may be designated in the instructions of the said
22
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
23
Commissioner, and shall immediately replant other
trees of valuable species for timber and sawed
lumber, or so protect the young growth and stool
shoots that the said land may immediately become
covered with young forest growth, and shall do so
in accordance with the instructions of the Com-
missioner of Forestry, then such surface land shall
remain in said class established by Section i of
this act, otherwise the Commissioner of Forestry
shall notify the County Commissioners that the
said lands are not being maintained in accordance
with the written agreement of the owner and the
instructions of the Commissioner of Forestry, in
which event the County Commissioners shan'im-
mediately remove said lands from the class estab-
lished by Section i of this act. All expenses
attendant upon the examination of the said surface
lands by the Commissioner of Forestry shall be
paid out of moneys appropriated for the mainte-
nance of the Department of Forestry in like manner
as other expenses for maintenance of said Depart-
ment are now paid.
Sec. 6. The owner of the said auxiliary forest
reserves shall at all times have the right to re-
move therefrom trees which may be killed by
fire, thrown or broken by the wind, or injured
by other natural causes, and shall, under the
direction of the Commissioner of Forestry, be
privileged to make necessary thinnings or re-
moval of undesirable species of trees in order
to improve the condition of the remaining trees,
and under the same direction may be privileged
to remove therefrom such timber from time to
time as may be necessary and essential for use
upon the cleared lands of the said owner for
general farm purposes.
Sec. 7. That all acts or parts of acts incon-
sistent herewith be and the same are hereby
repealed.
H. R., j86. To provide for the taxation of
auxiliary forest reserves : —
Section i. Be it enacted, etc. That all sur-
face lands which shall hereafter be classified and
set apart as auxiliary forest reserves shall be as-
sessed for the purpose of taxation in an amount
not in excess of $1 per acre, and shall continue
to be so assessed so long as the said lands shall
remain within the class designated as auxiliary
forest reserves; provided, however, that if said
surface lands be underlaid with coal, iron ore,
oil or other valuable minerals, said mineral or
minerals may be separately assessed.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the County
Commissioners to furnish each year to the sev-
eral assessors of the county a statement of the
names of the owners, and a sufficient description
of the tracts which have been classified as aux-
iliary forest reserves, and the several assessors
shall place no greater value per acre upon such
surface lands than is provided for in this act.
Sec. 3. Whenever timber on lands which
shall be included in the class of lands known
as auxiliary forest reserves shall be cut and
marketed, the owner of said lands shall pay to
the County Commissioners for the use of the
county an amount which shall be equal to sev-
enty-five cents per thousand feet stumpage for
such coniferous timber and fifty cents per thou-
sand feet stumpage for such broadleaf timber as
may be cut and marketed from said lands, and
said amount shall be ascertained by statement
under oath furnished to the said commissioners
by the owner of the lands setting forth the
number of feet of such coniferous and broadleaf
timber respectively. Should the County Com-
missioners be dissatisfied with any such return,
the Court of Common Pleas in any such county,
on petition of the commissioners, shall appoint
a board of three appraisers, who shall go upon
the land in question, estimate the quantity of
timber cut and marketed, and make a return
thereof to the court, which said return shall
then be made the basis of the estimate provided
for in this section. The said appraisers shall
be duly sworn or affirmed before entering upon
their work, and either party who shall be dis-
satisfied with the report of the appraisers shall
have right of appeal to the Court of Common
Pleas of the county. The said appraisers shall
be allowed their expenses and a compensation
to be fixed by the court, both to be paid by
the County Commissioners.
Sec. 4. This act shall take efi'ect onlv begin-
ning with assessments, which shall be made for
the purpose of levying taxes for the fiscal year
one thousand nine hundred and ten.
Correspondence in Regard to Forest
Fires.
•
kAST fall Pennsylvania was visited by many
destructive forest fires, the total area
burned over approximating 850,000 acres.
A number of letters were received from members
in regard to these fires, and we offer the follow-
ing excerpts of some, which will be of interest.
** I have some three thousand acres of beautiful
timber on part of which I have a summer home
being the foothills of Laurel Hill. I have been
burned over every year or two for the nine years
I have occupied the place. I have seen at a dis-
tance the fires being started, as the one of last
October. Early in the morning, at a distance of
about two miles, we could see a light smoke. I
first sent men to endeavor to put the fire out, and
went up in a tower to get a view of the fires.
Sitting there fires could be seen started about
every half mile, just about as fast as a man could
walk, this continued for a couple of miles south of
my place Now I am satisfied that the fires are
not started to burn me or anyone else out. There
is an Association adjoining of Pittsburghers, own-
ing twelve hundred acres above which the fire
started, but I feel rather certain that bad people
set fire to these mountains to see the excitement,
get the pay of 20 cents an hour, day and night,
which they have been doing, and also be hauled
out to the scene of the fires in wagons. Twenty
cents an hour is an outrage to pay people to set
fire to us. The State or County should not pay
more than 12^ cents per hour, and make it obli-
gatory on the County Commissioners to appoint
several deputies or fire wardens, who would com-
pel people to go to a fire. The Fire Commis-
sioner of our township lives four miles away on
the far side of the valley from where the woods
are, and it is a perfect farce. I have been burned
out now three or four times, and am going to cut
the timber off, let it go, and stop forestry. These
meetings and paper articles on how to do forestry
are of no use if we do not have some patrol for a
few weeks during the month of October to catch
these parties who set fire to us. They used to say
that it was the work of hunters building fires, but
I doubt this very much from my experience."
Our correspondent has good reason to feel ag-
grieved, but we trust that he will not resort to the
drastic method of denuding his property, and that
the story he tells may be an incentive to encour-
age rigid enforcement of our forest fire laws, and
such equitable method of taxation as will assist
owners of wooded areas to preserve them. We
however cannot agree to the strictures upon the
pay allowed by the State. If the employment
was not of a temporary character, or the work was
less severe, the pay would be excessive. But
when the law calls men from the pursuit of their
regular duties, and forces them to work amid heat
and smoke the compensation should be fairly
liberal, at least above the ordinary day wage rate.
The trouble referred to was rather with the warden
than with the men who obeyed his call to fight
fires. If such instances are reported promptly to
the Forestry Reservation Commission with proper
evidence we are sure that the matter would re-
ceive attention, and a few examples of dismissal
would work a reform.
Another member from Somerset County says :
**I beg to make a few suggestions in regard to
forest fires. Never before in the history of our
county has there been so many acres burned over
in one season as there were this fall. Of course
we never had such a long continuous drought. As
far as I can learn none of the fires originated from
residents burning brush. They were nearly all
started maliciously by parties unknown. I be-
lieve if the law was changed, so as to make it the
duty of the fire wardens to patrol the forests in
time of danger, there would be less fires, as the
law now stands the constables get no pay until a
fire is started. We had three fires in Middlecreek
township which burned over about 1,000 acres,
doing thousands of dollars damage, and we be-
lieve that if the constable had been in the w^oods
— with a Winchester rifle — none of the fires would
have been started. The first part of the editorial
in the August number of Forest Leaves is well
said. Surely our next legislature will be more
generous in an appropriation for preserving our
forests from fires ; $20,000 a year is an insignifi-
cant sum compared with the matter at stake. The
Legislature should make an appropriation for the
constable and his deputies to patrol the woods in
time of danger and watch for the miscreants who
apply the match. As far as I can learn there have
been only two persons arrested for setting fire to
the woods in this county, and these were two
foreigners who built a fire and were ignorant of
the damage it might do. Our county paid out
over $10,000 for fighting fires. This sum is in-
significant with the hundreds of thousands of
dollars damage to the young timber and the leaf
humus."
The suggestion of a forest patrol is worthy of
careful consideration, and we hope that this will
soon be a feature of forest legislation.
Still another member from Tioga County
writes: ** We notice two things wrong here.
First, the railroad companies should be responsible
for all forests destroyed by them with fire.
Second, the fire fighters are almost worthless
people who will set fire in order that they may
get a few days vacation in the woods. I had, a
little experience this last season. I helped build
a fire guard about three miles in length. The
work was well done and the fire safe. A few
days later a smoke was rising at the farther end of
the guard. On arriving there four men were
setting in the dry leaves. I was not a welcome
visitor, but in less than an hour had the fire under
control without their help. Now those four men
get just as much for their work as I did for mine,
but their object was to get one more day in the
woods. One of these men was a non-property
holder, and appointed by the constable as deputy
fire warden. The other three men were about of
the same stripe."
I
24
FOREST LEAVES.
We may expect that some who represent the
State are negligent, but as they are public ser-
vants each citizen should feel it his right and
his duty to report neglect on their part.
House Bill No. 147, now in the Legislature,
provides for all these complaints.
Virgin Hemlock on Pennypacker
Reservation.
THE illustrations of this issue simplyare a con-
tinuation of the same idea that was pre-
sented in our last issue — namely, to show
that amid all the desolated area which the State
has been obliged to purchase to preserve the very
soil itself from utter destruction, some well-
timbered and productive areas are found. It is
safe to say that some of the very best timbered
land in this Commonwealth now belongs to the
State. The only misfortune connected with the
work is that it was not commenced earlier enough
to secure more such timber. J. T. Rothrock.
Minnesota on the Taxation of Timber
Lands.
IN 1907 the Legislature of Minnesota appointed
a Tax Commission, whose duty it was to go
over the whole system of taxation carefully,
reporting on the same to the legislative body of
that State. This Commission has just submitted
its first biennial report ; included in this is an ex-
haustive chapter on the taxation of logs and
timber. Under the law at present the real prop-
erty of which the timber is a part is taxed, and
after the trees are logged they become personal
property, being listed in the town or district
where the business is being carried on, and where
transported out of the State, to be assessed and
taxed in the taxing district where found on May i.
The advantages and disadvantages of the system
are given at length.
The Commission states, after going thoroughly
into the subject, that *^all of the suggestions
made regarding the taxation of timber lands have
as their fundamental principle the separation of
the value of the land from the value of the timber.
While this has been the practice in Minnesota
in making an assessment the law has not per-
mitted the exemption of the timber from taxation.
The assessor in Minnesota separates the land and
the timber for convenience in making the valua-
tion. The argument advanced for exempting
timber lands from taxation (on the timber only)
is to encourage better forestry methods and to
check the rapid denuding of these valuable prop-
erties. It is a question how much encouragement
would be given by exempting timber from annual
taxes when interest charges are greater than the
amount of the tax, and in consequence the prin-
cipal deterrent to holding timber for long periods
of time."
'*It has been suggested that the land itself
should be taxed upon a nominal assessment, while
the timber on the land should remain exempt
from taxation until it is cut. When cut a tax of
so much per thousand feet should be levied
against it. Upon this point the Vermont Tax
Commission, in its report for 1908, say : * This
subject is a comparatively new one in this country,
and we have not, as on many others, the benefit
of the experience of other States. The evil effects,
however, of the present method of taxation as
applied to forests are so obvious and are working
such injury to these vital interests that we believe
the Legislature should take some action. The
merits of the proposed method appear to us to be
clear. A tax of 30 cents per thousand feet of
lumber and 30 cents per cord of wood cut for
manufacturing purposes would produce an annual
revenue of $150,000. When it is considered that
this tax is to be paid but once in the lifetime of a
tree, and that it would be paid out of unearned
increment, it cannot be regarded as burdensome,
A strict enforcement of existing law would almost
certainly result in wholesale deforestation of the
most speedy and destructive character. The
law contemplates and requires the appraisal of tim-
ber land as of all other property -at its * true value
in money,' Timber-bearing land is now generally
appraised at a fraction of its just value. To sud-
denly raise the appraisal to comply with the
statutory requirement, including the full value of
all standing timber, and to levy local rates of taxa-
tion on this appraisal year after year would impose
a burden which owners of this class of property
would not endure when it could be avoided by
immediate close cutting. It seems to us that some-
thing, even in the way of experiment, is better
than to allow the present conditions to con-
tinue.' "
While not adopting the views set forth by the .
Vermont Commission, the Minnesota Commission
believes the plan has merit worthy of serious con-
sideration. The State Forestry Commissioner,
General Andrews, accepts the principle of the plan
but is opposed to the extension of the exemption
area to more than 40 to 80 acres owned by one
individual. Such treatment would unquestionably
tend to hold back the sales of timber lands to the
lumber companies, but it would not be an incen- *
tive to the companies to check their cutting opera-
tions on lands already under their control. . . •
ml'.:?-
FoRKST Leavks, Vol. xii., Xo. 2.
ri,-?'
I
ii
'; -^'«-
- ..■ -r
tin/ '"
•. ¥* ^ r
*4 • '
'^':- • -T^-'
•-«fH
4,''*-.
5 '^■-
t - <•
i-
^ ig
•? • •*■
i?r:
• * '
,^ ^'f
-.•f^.^ / ' ^,/.'
**
^i?*^- :
'*<«-«,
3?
^.-
, ■ 1 ^
--•>>>**i*<^-
'i-<.^6if*. ■
• i'*'
t '
• •'-V*. --'.
■4 /■•••''
V 1 ^<»^ .
■"»■'.
--.>>'
' ^/w'-^?-
•^K^^r^'
'lifc-*- ;-' •
X
• ' '«k
* '-1^''*^ •
<*»~>*~ '
V
/4^
^S^,
-^f «
VIRGIN HEMLOCK FOREST.
PENNYPACKER RESERVATION. PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
VIRGIN HEMLOCK FOREST.
PENNYPACKER RESERVATION, PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
-.-^***
%
FOREST LEAVES.
25
''The problem of taxing timber and timber
lands is not met by merely changing the place of
taxation, but can be met only by a revision and a
restatement of the present law, in which is recog-
nized the difference between the land and the
timber, and that timber is a crop which is reaped
but once in many years, and therefore taxable but
once instead of annually as at present. ' '
United States Timber Facts.
THE United States, according to the report of
the Section of Forests of the Conservation
Conference, now has 550,000,000 acres of
forested lands, or about one -fourth of the total
land are.a of continental United States. The
original forests covered not less than 850,000,000
acres. Forest reserves cover about one-fourth of
the total, and contain one-fifth of the timber
standing ; privately owned forests cover the bal-
ance. Scientific forestry is now practiced on 70
per cent, of the publicly owned forests, and on
less than i per cent, of the private forests.
The total yearly growth of our forests is less
than 7,000,000,000 cubic feet. There is taken
from the forests each year, including waste in log-
ging and manufacture, 23,000,000,000 cubic feet.
There is used annually in the United States
100,000,000 cords of fire wood, 40,000,000,000
feet of lumber, more than 1,000,000,000 posts,
poles and fence rails, 118,000,000 staves, 133,-
000,000 sets of heading, 500,000,000 barrel hoops,
3,000,000 cords of native pulp wood, 165,000,000
cubic feet of round mine timbers and 1,250,000
cords of wood for distillation.
Not less than 50,000,000 acres of forest lands
are burned over annually, and since 1870 forest
fires have each year destroyed an average of 50
lives and $50,000,000 of timber.
One-fourth of the standing timber is left or
otherwise lost in logging ; the loss in the mill is
from one-third to two-thirds of the timber sawed,
and the loss in the mill product from seasoning
and fitting for use is from one-seventh to one-
quarter. The boxing of long leaf pine for tur-
pentine has destroyed one-fifth of the forests
worked. In other words, in the United States
only 320 feet of lumber is used for every 1,000
feet that stood in the forests.
The lumber cut has increased less than 15 per
cent, in the last ten years, but the average price at
the mill of all kinds of lumber has risen 49 per
cent.
We invite by overtaxation the misuse of the
forests, and destroy by fire in one year enough
timber to supply the whole nation for three
months.
We should plant, to protect farms fvoxn winds
and to make stripped and treeless lands produc-
tive, an area larger than the States of Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio and West Virginia combined ; so far
lands planted to trees make a total area less than
Rhode Island.
By reasonable thrift we can produce a constant
timber supply beyond our present needs, and with
it conserve the usefulness of streams for naviga-
tion, power, irrigation and water supply. The
private owners (3,000,000) must be educated,
forest fires stopped, reduce waste by careful log-
ging and other methods, and leave cut-over lands
productive ; by preservative treatment make the
timber logged go further ; also avoid needless
waste in the mill, factory and use. Taxes must be
adjusted and treeless lands planted.
Forestry in Maine.
THE friends of forestry in Maine are inter-
ested in a proposed act for the preservation,
'• perpetuation and increase of the forests in
the State of Maine. It proposes to create a State
Forest Commission, to consist of a Forester and
six Assistant Foresters. The Forester is to have
charge of all State forests, including the power
to reforest and regulate cutting, provide young
trees for planting by individuals at cost, and
regulate cutting in the auxiliary State forests,
also to fight forest fires throughout the State.
The State forests are to comprise all the areas
now owned, or which will be hereafter acquired
by the State, which are now covered by trees,
or which will hereafter be planted to trees by
the State. The Forester is also to recommend
to the Governor and Council such tracts of lands
as he deems most advantageous for preserving
existing forests and in reforesting barren areas,
especially on the principal watersheds. When
appropriations are made for such purchases as
are recommended by the Forester and approved
by the Governor and Council, the tracts shall
be taken in the name of the State and the owner
justly compensated therefor.
Auxiliary State forests are to include all areas
owned by private individuals and now covered
by trees, or which shall be planted to trees for
use as fuel or manufacture. When the owners
of these auxiliary forests desire to cut trees an
application is filed with the Forester stating the
amount of logs, etc., it is desired to cut, the
.«?tumpage price, or, if sold for a gross sum, this
is to be given, together with location of the trees.
A license 'is then issued by the Forester, which
can be revoked if the law in regard to cutting
Illj^
26
FOREST LEAVES.
li
FOREST LEAVES.
27
\l
such forests is not conformed to. Any person
failing to comply with this provision shall be
punished by a fine not to exceed ^i,ooo. This
license, however, is not required for clearing
land for agricultural purposes, buildings, etc.,
unless the wood so cut is sold for fuel or used
for manufacture.
No spruce or pine trees under lo inches in
diameter 4 feet from the ground shall be cut,
except where necessary for the clearing of roads,
or yards, except on written authority from the
Forester. All trees are to be sawed down, and
are not to be cut more than 12 inches above
the ground. All debris is to be burned at such
time as there is not less than 8 inches of snow
on the ground. At least three pine or spruce
seed-bearing trees are to be left standing on each
acre cut. There are special sections in regard
to marking logs, forestry plans, permits and
scalers.
As. to taxation, all growing trees on auxiliary
State forests within the State are exempt from
taxation. States assessors, etc., shall for the pur-
pose of taxation, appraise the soil only in the
auxiliary forests, independent of the value of the
growth thereon and independent of the area of
any great pond, and assess on the soil a tax in the
same manner and at the same rate that other prop-
erty is taxed. All persons or firms owning auxiliary
State forests, in cutting trees therefrom, shall pay
to the State Treasurer or to tax collectors in mu-
nicipalities where the soil is located an excise tax
of five per cent, upon the stumpage value of all
trees so cut during the year ending the first day of
May, the value of the stumpage to be determined
by the assessors who assess the soil on which the
trees were cut, who will be aided by copies of the
licenses and returns made to the Forester. The
State will credit each county assessing the soil with
an amount which shall bear the same ratio to the
amount of excise tax received on stumpage from
such tracts for the year prior to such credit as the
rate of the county tax bears to the rate of the State
tax.
Proper provision is also made for applications
for abatement of taxes, sworn returns of cut, etc.
One Forest Warden is also to be appointed by
the State Forester for every 200,000 acres of for-
est land, who shall receive a salary not to exceed
^1720 per year and necessary expenses. Local fire
wardens shall be appointed by the Forester, who
will receive when on duty $2.00 per day and ex-
penses, and serve at such times as may be directed.
All railroads are to keep their rights of way
through forests cleared of unnecessary inflammable
material, and none of this is to be burned when
the Forester notifies the railroad that the condi-
tions are such as to endanger adjoining forests.
The railroads are also, required to patrol their rights
of way through the forests when in the judgment
of the Forester such patrol is necessary for the
protection of these forests. No fires are allowed
to be built in State or auxiliary State forests unless
in enclosed stoves or in stoves and fireplaces in
permanent enclosed buildings.
$100,000 per annum is set aside for carrying out
the provisions of this act, and any unexpended
balance is to remain in the treasury' for use in ex-
traordinary expenditures such as may arise by
reason of fires in extremely dry seasons.
Hawaii's Forests.
MR. RALPH S. HOSMER, Superintendent
of the Division of Forestry of the Terri-
tory of Hawaii, has issued his report for
the year ending December 3 1, 1907; together with
A. Gartley, he also prepared for Territorial Con-
servation Commission, the report of the Committee
on Forests, which was presented on November 14,
1908, and as this gives a succient account of the
forest resources of Hawaii, the following data
taken from it will interest our readers : —
For a clear understanding of the forest situation
in Hawaii it is necessary that one be acquainted
with the conditions of topography and local
climate. Lying in the belt of the northeast trade
winds and being mountainous it follows that the
Hawaiian Islands have a climate characterized by
contrasts. On the windward slopes of the moun-
tains is an area of high precipitation ; in the lee-
ward districts scant rainfall, even approaching
aridity, is the rule. These facts, coupled with the
remarkable porosity of the soil, due to its volcanic
origin, have a very direct bearing on the forest
situation.
There are two main classes of forest in Hawaii.
Both are of economic value ; one because it helps
to conserve the water needed for irrigation, power
development and domestic supply ; the other be-
cause it produces wood and timber. The forests
of the former class are as a rule situated on the
moist, windward slopes of the higher mountains.
They are essentially '' protection forests " in that
their main value rests in the water that can be got
from them. Those of the latter class, the commer-
cial forests, are found in the districts where be-
cause of the absence of running streams watershed
protection does not figure. The forests of the first
class are by long odds the most important, for in
Hawaii the relation between sustained stream flow
and a watershed protected by a forest cover is
intimate and peculiarly direct.
The importance of the forest is generally recog-
nized in Hawaii and has led to a strong public
sentiment in favor of forestry. This finds expres-
sion in a Territorial Forest Service charged with
the creation and administration of forest reserves
and with the prosecution of other forest work.
During the past five years under a definite forest
policy systematically followed sixteen forest re-
serves have been set apart, with an aggregate total
area of 444,116 acres. Of this area 273,912
acres, or 61 percent., is land belonging to the
Territorial Government. The other 39 percent,
is in private ownership, but for the most part the
owners of the lands, fully aware of the benefits of
forest protection, co-operate actively with the
Territorial Government in the management of the
forest reserves.
There are three main types of forest in Hawaii,
the Koa and Ohia forest lying between the eleva-
tions of 2,000 and 6,000 feet ; the Mamani forest,
a pure stand of another native Hawaiian tree found
on the upper slopes of the higher mountains ; and
the introduced Algaroba forest, which occurs at
the lower levels on the leeward side of each of the
larger islands.
The typical Hawaiian forest is of the first type.
The forest consists of a dense jungle of trees, high
growing shrubs, tree-ferns and climbers, with
much undergrowth and a heavy ground cover of
ferns and bracken. Altogether it is a plant com-
munity admirably adapted for the conservation of
moisture, for preventing erosion and for serving
as a reservoir to feed the springs and streams that
rise within its bounds. The most important trees
are Ohia Lehua {Metrosideros polymorpha^ and
Koa (^Acacia Kod),
The forest in all the forest reserves is of this
type. A recent compilation of the forest areas of
the Territory shows that the Koa and Ohia forest
covers approximately 1,175,000 acres. Of this
area it is estimated that eventually about three-
quarters of a million acres will be included within
forest reserve boundaries, of which about 70 per
cent, will be Government land.
Above the level of the Koa and Ohia forest, on
the slope of Mauna Kea (elevation 13,825 feet),
on the island of Hawaii, is found a nearly pure
stand of another native Hawaiian tree, Mamani
{Sophora chrysophylla). This forest occurs in a
belt lying between the elevations of 6,000 and
8,500 feet. The area of the Mamani forest on
Mauna Kea is 63,500 acres. Mamani occurs else-
where in the Territory but does not at the present
time form what may be called forests. It is, how-
ever, spreading rapidly so that in future years it
will play a much larger part than it does now.
Mamani makes excellent fence posts, for which
purpose the trees in the upper forest belt are cut
for local use. No accurate figures as to the num-
ber cut are now available. Otherwise this type of
forest is unimportant commercially.
The Algaroba (^Frosopis juliflord) is the mes-
quite of the southwest. This tree was introduced
into the islands in 1837. It has now spread so as
to cover between 50,000 and 60,000 acres below
an elevation of 1,000 feet in the leeward districts
of the larger islands of the group. It is spreading
rapidly along the leeward coasts, and is also gradu-
ally climbing to a higher elevation.
The Algaroba forest is the largest single source
of fuel supply in the Territory. It is estimated
that over 3,000 cords are sold annually in Hono-
lulu. The price varies from $12 to $14 a cord,
delivered.
The Algaroba forests are further of value be-
cause the pods make good stock feed and also
because the tree is one of the important plants
locally for bee food. It is estimated that for the
calendar year 1907 the total amount invested in
apiaries and other equipment for the manufacture
of Algaroba honey was $125,000, and that the
gross receipts for Algaroba honey products for the
year were over J 2 5, 000,
The two Hawaiian woods of commercial im-
portance are Koa and Ohia Lehua. Both are
heavy, close-grained hardwoods. Koa is used for
interior finish, furniture, cabinet work and ven-
eering.
The fact that none of the native trees in
Hawaii furnish construction timber has led to
extensive tree planting, both by the Territorial
Government and by private interests. This work
has been going on for the last thirty years, and
is constantly increasing in extent and import-
ance. The trees printipally planted are several
kinds of Eucalyptus, the Australian Ironwood
and Silk Oak and the Japanese Cedar. Wood
and timber cut from the planted forests in
Hawaii is now being used for fence posts, railroad
ties, bridge timbers and wagon work. Practically
all the construction timber used in Hawaii is
imported from Puget Sound and Northern Cali-
fornia, mainly Redwood and (Douglas) Fir.
It may perhaps be pertinent in closing this
statement to note that a forest fire law similar
to that of California was enacted by the Terri-
torial Legislature at the Session of 1905.
Since its enactment there have been few fires
of consequence, due in part to a better public
sentiment created by the presence of the law on
the statute books and to the interest aroused in
the matter at the time of the enactment of the
law.
28
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
29
1
lift
>i
Why Pennsylvania Needs Forestry.
(By Hugh P. Baker, United States Forest Service, in Charge Depart-
ment of Forestry, The Pennsylvania State College.)
YZ) ECAUSE the present forestry movement is of
I J recent origin in this country does not argue
that it is a new practice or profession.
Japan has practiced forestry for the past twelve
hundred years, and Germany and other countries
of Europe have had well-developed systems of for-
estry for one hundred years or more. Even in
this country during our Colonial period those who
made our laws and considered the future of our
country kept the protection of our forests con-
stantly in mind, and many regulations were passed
in behalf of the forests. Exeter, which is now the
State of New Hampshire, as early as 1640 made
regulations as to the protection of forests and the
planting of oak. William Penn in 1682 ordained
that '' the grantee must keep one-sixth part of his
land in forest." As early as 1780 all of the thir-
teen colonies had forest fire laws. Before 1820
our government had appropriated considerable
sums for the purchase of forest lands to provide
for future supplies of ship-building timbers, and
even went so far as to begin the planting of live
oak forests. It is somewhat surprising, in view of
the early efforts of our thirteen colonies and later
of the United States, that our Congress during the
past year could find no precedent for the purchase
of lands in the Appalachian and White Mountains
to be reserved for the protection of the head-
waters of navigable streams. But all the early laws
regarding the protection and perpetuation of for-
ests soon became obsolete, because of the vastness
of the forests and the tremendous struggle through
which our forefathers went in subduing the forests
for agricultural purposes. The forests harbored the
marauding Indian, and as the early settlers pushed
west they cleared the forest not only for the de-
velopment of agriculture, but to protect their
homes against wild animals and wilder Indians.
In one sense the forest was an enemy to be over-
come, and the past two or three generations have
actually thought in terms of forest destruction,
with no idea as to forest conservation.
IV/iaf Forestry Means. — By forestry we mean
the businesslike management of forests. This
meaning varies somewhat according to the section
in which it is considered. Throughout the prairie
region people understand forestry as tree planting ;
in other sections it is understood to be the protec-
tion of forests from fire ; and in still others we
are glad to say that it is getting to be considered
as the careful lumbering of our forests with the
idea of insuring future forests. During the early
days of our interest in forestry it was looked at
largely from a sentimental standpoint, which
might be illustrated by the first line of the poem,
* ' Woodsman, spare that tree. ' ' In some instances
the sentiment was carried a little too far, and there
are States which have laws preventing the cutting
of timber on State lands. We are now, while not
doing away with the sentiment, learning that if
forestry cannot be considered as a business propo-
sition it has no place in this country, and the
forester of to-day may be described as a man with
an axe on his shoulder who knows how and when
to use it.
Why Forestry is Needed in This Country, —
There is no one who has thought of our needs in
forestry but has asked himself as to the reasons
for this need. If we could all see the millions of
acres of bare hillsides and ridges in this State and
other States of the east and west which were for-
merly covered with splendid forests we would
need few arguments to convince us of the wisdom
of practical forestry. The fact that we are tremen-
dous consumers of all kinds of forest products
should make us consider the future supply of these
products, and what future generations are to do
when the virgin supply is gone. We use annually
in this country 500 board feet of timber for every
man, woman and child ; in Europe less than 60
board feet is used. One or two examples of the
consumption of timber may be of interest in em-
phasizing our need for forestry. In something
over 300,000 miles of railroad in this country
there are about 2,800 ties to the mile. This means
that 800,000,000 ties are constantly in use to be
replaced every five to ten years. The amount of
wood used in ties each year is equivalent to 600,-
000 acres of forest, which would be about one-
fortieth of Pennsylvania, and we would be a rich
State if one fortieth of Pennsylvania was forested
heavy enough to produce all of the ties used in
this country, even for a period of five years.
Another example which may be of interest is the
way in which we are using fence posts in Pennsyl-
vania. According to the last census Pennsylvania
has 8,204,000 acres actually in agricultural crops,
but there are about 18,000,000 acres out of the total
area of the State, which is 28,790,400 acres, given
as improved or unimproved land within farms.
The 18,000,000 acres in farms is equal to 28,125
square miles. Assuming that it requires 2,000
posts to fence a square mile, it requires 56,250,000
posts to fence our farms. At 10 cents each, which
is a very low price, it costs this State $5,625,000
every eight to twelve years for fence posts alone.
An average acre of timber of size suitable for posts
will produce about 3,500 — three to five inch
round posts. It would thus take 16,071 acres
every eight to twelve years to produce the posts
which we use in this State alone. The last census
estimates that 1,000,000,000 fence posts are set in
this country each year. If these posts were set 16
feet apart they would make a fence 121 times about
the greatest circumference of the earth. Such
statistics could be given almost without end, show-
ing that we are exceedingly prodigal in the use of
our forests.
The tremendous consumption of forest products
has been necessary, perhaps, to make possible our
wonderful development. The trouble is that we
are using up our timber resources three times as
fast as they are being produced. After careful
investigation, the U. S. Forest Service states that
we are on the verge of ^ timber famine, and that
within forty to fifty years we will have used up all
of our virgin forests. Is it not time that our gov-
ernors get together and people talk forestry?
Surely our government and our industrial life will
be tested as never before when we reach the end
of our great natural resources.
Disappearance of Forests Due Largely to Waste.
— The chief regret and shame to us as a nation
and as a State will be that we brought this timber
famine upon us, not so much by what we actually
used, but by what we have wasted during the pro-
cess of utilization, and have allowed to waste by
forest fires. In 1907 the largest cut of any one
species was the yellow pine of the south. Mr.
Long, of the Long-Bell Lumber Co., estimated
that in that year over 20 per cent, of the yellow
pine trees were left in the woods at the time of
^^^'g^'^%' The amount so left is equal annually to
a good stand of timber on over 300,000 acres.
As the logs come from the forest there is waste at
the mill, in the planing mill, and finally too much
waste in the use of the lumber for construction
and other purposes. Such waste is the rule rather
than the exception, and similar figures could be
given for species other than the yellow pine.
Fire the Greatest Enemy of the Forests. — The
most shameful thing is that the greatest waste
which has been going on in our forests has been
the result of ever-occuring fires, and our people
have been so busy taking care of their own little
selves that they have been and are standing help-
lessly by and letting these fires continue. It was
estimated that during the past fall months when
fires were burning throughout the country that
standing timber to the value of ;(; 1,000, 000 was
destroyed each day. During these **firey"
months just past there was fortunately compara-
tively little loss of human life or destruction of
personal property, but every now and then in this
country we have such terrible fires as that which
occurred at Hinkley, Minnesota, in the early 90's,
when 500 lives were destroyed and over $25, 000,-
000 worth of property went up in smoke. Not a
fire occurred last fall which, with reasonable ex-
penditure of funds, could not have been prevented.
In Germany and other European countries to-day
fire is one of the least of the enemies of the forest.
There preventive measures have been made so
effective that fire is actually not a serious problem.
The U. S. Forest Service estimates that $3,000,-
000 to $4,000,000 properly expended in the
forest regions of this country annually would
make it impossible to have any serious fires, and
yet last fall $1,000,000 a day was being destroyed,
and the probable total destruction for the fall
months would be between $80,000,000 to $100,-
000,000. Last year, on the national forests,
which aggregate 168,000,000 acres in extent, the
Forest Service, at an expenditure of $30,000 to
$40,000, kept all fires from 99 per cent, of the
total area, showing what we can do easily in any
forest region of this country at a comparatively
small expense. The value of timber lost by fire
in Pennsylvania last fall alone is such that if the
State could have in money what was burned up it
is safe to say that all the forest lands of the State
could be protected from fire for a period of ten
years, and the present area of the State reserves
increased to 1,500,000 acres. The State Forestry
Reservation Commission of Pennsylvania is doing
a splendid work in establishing reserves and pro-
tecting them from fire, but they need more funds,
and they should receive the help of every citizen
of the State in getting these funds.
The destruction of the standing timber by fire
is not the only loss to the forest. The forester
calls his seedlings and young trees in the forest
his growing stock, and the value of this growing
stock for the production of future forests is often
nearly as great as the value of the merchantable
timber in the forest. If a commercial nurseryman
has the young trees in his nursery destroyed by
fire resulting from the carelessness of some indi-
vidual or corporation, there would be no trouble
in his getting full damages in any court in the
land, yet any man who seeks to get damages for
the destruction of the growing stock in his forest*
is laughed at to day. The time is, however,
rapidly coming when the value of this growing
stock will be fully appreciated, and there will be
no trouble in getting damages for the destruction
of such property. Another loss from fire which
is not ordinarily considered is the loss to the
forest from the destruction of the humus which
covers the forest floor. This humus, which is
formed by the decay of leaves and debris, has a
very large water capacity, and acts like a sponge
in holding rain and snow water and giving it off
gradually to springs and streams. When the
30
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
31
Ijii
ill
i
humus is destroyed by fire the water rushes rapidly
from our hillsides, and we have freshets and floods
and drying of springs, such as occurred last fall
throughout this State. The humus has also a very
great manurial value, and as the fertility of our
. agricultural soils is exhausted we will turn, as the
Europeans have, to the humus of the forest as a
fertilizer, and where not removed too extensively
from the forest it may become an important source
of organic material for the enrichment of agricul-
tural land without very serious injury to the forest.
Finally, not only is the humus destroyed by fire,
but over large sections the soil itself is so burned
that it will be years before sufficient soil can again
accumulate to support forest growth. In the
absence of the humus, melting snow and rain-
water washes the soil from hillsides in vast quan-
tities, covering and destroying farm lands and
filling our navigable streams and harbors. We
believe in the improvement of our water-ways, and
yet if some of the vast amounts which have been
expended in this country for water-way improve-
ment could be spent at the head-waters of the
streams in protecting and maintaining the forest,
very much less would have to be spent in dredg-
ing and deepening channels.
Future of Petmsylvaiiia Forests,— ^om^ may
be asking, after what has been said, if anything
is left in Pennsylvania with which to practice
forestry. There is by all means, but the present
condition of the mountains and hillsides of the
State has been and is a standing shame before our
people. Thousands and thousands of acres have
been made barren wastes that a little money may
be accumulated, and it is going to take more
money than was received from the sale of the for-
ests to so re- forest these wastes that we may prevent
floods, make our navigable streams really navigable
and bring these waste lands back to a condition of
profit with returns coming annually to the State.
Much timber is still standing in the State, largely
in the form of woodlots and isolated tracts, and it
is probable that portable sawmills will operate for
many years to come. Our climatic conditions
are very favorable for excellent forest growth, and
with proper support our State Forestry Reserva-
tion Commission should be able, as years go by,
to so re-forest the barren and non-agricultural
lands that they will not only pay for their protec-
tion and care, but become a source of great
revenue to the State.
In view of the statements made, which all know
to be more than theories, there are people who
still say that substitutes will be found for our
timber, and that all of this talk about forest pro-
tection and re-forestation is foolishness. We
know that the use of steel and cement and other
materials has grown tremendously in this country
and will continue to increase, yet the mere fact
that the use of these materials is increasing
argues a great increase in the use of timber. With
all the trials that have been made of substitutes it
is not clearly proven that cement or any metal will
ever replace timber for railroad ties, pavements,
fence posts, etc. In fact, a number of our rail-
roads have made careful tests of cement and steel
ties, and after these tests are erecting treating
plants with the idea of using ties from rapid grow-
ing soft woods properly treated with creosote, even
though they require a tie-plate and screw spike.
Furthermore, there is a constantly increasing use
of wooden pavements in European countries, and
many cities in this country are laying more wooden
pavements than any other kind.
Our lumbermen have been charged unjustly
with .destroying the forests. If our system of tax-
ing the forest as a crop was as equitable as our
system of taxing agricultural crops our lumbermen
would be as anxious to conserve the timber as
anyone. As our forests are now taxed, lumber-
men are simply forced to cut the forests or have
them taxed out of existence. When the time
comes that forests are taxed as other agricultural
crops, that is, when the crop is harvested, then
our lumbermen and large corporations generally
will turn to forestry, as they are already convinced
that it is a good business proposition.
The Forest a Renewable Resource. — Pennsyl-
vania can and will m^eits 8,000,000 to 10,000,-
000 acres of agricultural lands a very important
factor in the progress of the State, and the value
of these agricultural lands will increase more
rapidly after our supplies of coal and metal are
gone. The encouraging thing about forestry is
that, even though we have very largely exhausted
our vast timber resources, a forest is a renewable
resource, and can be made a constant source of
income for all time to come. We must not forget
that there are 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 acres in
Pennsylvania better suited to forest trees than any
other crop. These lands can be made to produce
not only a large part of our needs in timber and
conserve our waters, but as the virgin supply of
timber in other parts of the country disappears,
our forests can be made so profitable that' they
will go far towards relieving the people of our
Commonwealth from taxation.
Reforestation and proper forest management
will come slowly, and the help of every one is
needed. Each can help in preserving our forests
by giving cordial support to our efficient State
Forestry Reservation Commission, to the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association which first empha-
sized our need for forestry and which has been and
continues largely instrumental in furthering present
forestry activities through the State, the forest
schools of the State and the United States Forest
Service. Not only feel that the movement should
be supported, but act, and keep everlasting at it.
Let those who represent you in the Legislature
and Congress know that we are in earnest, and be-
lieve in the necessity of these things, and the
forests of our State will be protected and perpetu-
ated and be made a source of pride and of profit to
our people.
J. T. ROTHROCK, ;
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.'
Biltmore Forest School
BILTMORE, N. C
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
The Pennsylvania State College CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
' STATE COLLEGE, PA.
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon application,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., Fre^ident.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. beck.
WALTON CLARK. DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
JACOB 8. DISSTON. FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
EDGAR DUDLEY FARIE8. RANDAL MORGAN.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN. H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
J. LEVERING JONES. JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
i
32
FOREST LEAVES.
[I ^
11
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not
Why Not?
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find— they have the quality— roots and vitality
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
t
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations.= Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES r 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched . „??„ *«" '" /."'*
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched ..'.'.'.'.'.'. , ° Jo oo o ""
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i>i to i^ in. cal. . .' .' .' .' .' .' ; , 5' '° °° ^° °°
9 to lo ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal. .... ^ ^ „ „ '
10 to la ft. Low-branched; a to 21^ in. cal. , ,„ '^' °°
10 to la ft. 2|^ to 3 in. . . . ' 'V "5° '5° 00
Extra-heavy Specimens . .■.■.■.■..■.■.■.■.■.-.•. $3 50 to to o^ '" " ''' °°
■ySend for SPRING PRICE LIST. "8^
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
i
hff^^a^y-.
Vol. XII.
Philadelphia, June, 1909.
No. 3.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Pojt-Ofl5ce as second class matter.
CONTENTS
M "^^^k.aam Editorials 33
Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association 34
Pennsylvania's New Forestry I egislation 34
Forestry by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 36
The Trees in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa 37
Correspondence in Regard to Taxation and Forest Fires 37
Woodlot Advice 39
The Illustrations 40
Trees on the Farm 40
Chestnut Growth on South Mountain 41
Work of the U. S. Forest Service in 1908 41
Forest Fires in Massachusetts 42
Practical Forest Conservation 43
Amendments to the Forest Laws of New York 43
An Act for the Protection of Woodlands in New Jersey 44
Maryland's Forest Reserves 4«;
The Calaveras Big Tree National Forest Bill 46
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attentton 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the adz'antages
0/ FoRHST Lbavbs as an advertising medium. Rates ivill be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in Junb, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual member ship fee. Two dollars.
Life membership. Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazier, Charles E, Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman : Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucicn W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock. W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman ; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S, Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William S. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp.
County Organization, "Si^vMx^X Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Offiok of thb Association, 1012 Walnut St.. Philadelphia.
EDITORIALS.
MEMBERS of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association have received circular no-
tices of the summer meeting of the or-
ganization on July 7, 8 and 9, and this circular
has been reprinted in this issue so that our read-
ers may be advised of the pleasant time in store
for such as can attend.
The custom of the Association has been to hold
an assembly each year in some portion of the State
where there are features interesting to those en-
rolled as friends of forestry, to permit of confer-
ences which aid in a better understanding of
forest problems, and inspections of some features
of forest development.
At the Chambersburg meeting of 1908 the Mont
Alto and Caledonia reserves and the Forest Acad-
emy demonstrated the value of the work of the
Pennsylvania State Forestry Reservation Commis-
sion, and the meeting at Mount Pocono next
month will show to those who attend, by excellent
forest growth, the influence which private owner-
ship exerts and, as at other meetings, instructive
papers and discussions are provided. It is hoped
a large attendance will demonstrate the continued
interest of the members of the Association in the
work undertaken, and we are confident all who
can be present will be profited thereby.
Pennsylvania has much mountain scenery of
which to be proud, and the number of resorts in
the mountains is rapidly increasing as testimony
to the healthful influences which they exert, but
without forests there would be no inducement for
the location of hotels or cottages, and there can
be no better place for a meeting of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association than among the woods.
J. B. .
^ if^ % ^ i(i
We give considerable space in this issue to the
laws concerning forestry which were added by the
34
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
35
f
I I
«ii
last Legislature and the Governor of the State,
and, in addition, have called attention to some of
the proposed legislation which failed.
These new laws and the influences they exert
will be the subject of public discussion at the
Mount Pocono meeting, July 7-9, and we trust
that such a discussion will not only demonstrate
what can be accomplished by these laws, but also
awaken interest which will result in their being
carried out witlh energy and decision. J. B.
Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association.
THE Summer meeting will be held at the
Pocono Manor, near Mt. Pocono, Monroe
County, Pa., July yth-gth, 1909.
On the evening of July 7th, and on the two
days following, there will be meetings for the
presentation of papers, discussions, etc. Dr. J. T.
Rothrock opening the meeting with an illustrated
lecture on ** Desolate Pennsylvania." On July
8th (or should the weather be unpropitious on
the day following) a visit will be made to the
Pocono Lake Preserve to inspect the property,
partake of luncheon and enjoy a launch ride on
the Lake at tfie invitation of the management. •
The terms at the Pocono Manor for members
of the Association are $3.00 per day (American
plan) or $4.00 with bath.
Those expecting to attend the meeting will
communicate with Mr. F. L. Bitler, Recording
Secretary, 10 12 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.,
and a more detailed program will be forwarded
later.
Mt. Pocono is on the Delaware, Lackawanna
& Western Railroad, and the abbreviated train
schedule given below, shows the time of leaving
Philadelphia and Scranton and arrival at Mt.
Pocono.
Leave
Philadelphia
(P. R. R.)
7.02 a.m.
8.43 a.m.*
1.03 p.m.*
3-33 p.m.*
Leave Scranton
(D. L. & W. R. R.)
7.55 a.m.*
10.20 a.m.
12.40 p.m.
3.40 p.m.*
Arrive
Mt. Pocono
11.58 a.m.
1. 18 p.m.
5.13 p.m.
8.00 p.m.
Arrive
Mt, Pocono
8.55 a.m.
II. 31 a.m.
1.39 p.m.
4. 14 p m.
Arrive Scranton
(D. L. ,V£ W. R. R.)
1. 00 p.m.
1.55 p.m.
6. 14 p.m."
9.00 p.m.
Arrive
Philadelphia
12.55 p.m.
3.53 p.m.
6.00 p.m.
9.00 p.m.
* Have Pullman car.
France spends annually upon her State forests
95 cents per acre; Switzerland, $1.32 ; Prussia,
$1.58, and Saxony, $2.32.— U. S. Secretary of
Agriculture. Pennsylvania spends 1 1 }4 cents.
Pennsylvania's New Forestry
Legislation.
IN the April issue of Forest Leaves mention
was made of forestry legislation pending.
Unfortunately, two important acts providing
for a reduction of taxes on forest lands, or those
in process of reforestation, were defeated in the
House. A resume of the action taken on the
different proposed laws shows the following :
H. R. , I J. Authorizes the Department of For-
estry to grow and distribute young forest trees to
those who will plant and care for them. The
seedlings are to be sold by the Department at a
reasonable charge, not in excess of the actual cost
of production, the purchaser bearing the transpor-
tation charges and agreeing to plant the seedlings
under the direction of the Department of For-
estry, care for and protect them.
Passed by the Legislature, approved by the Gov-
ernor, and will be known as Act 69.
H. i?., 7^7. Is to create a system of fire warden*;
to prevent and suppress forest fires on woodlots and
wild lands, the Commissioner of Forestry being the
Chief Fire Warden, with authority to appoint
suitable district fire wardens. These district fire
)vardens are empowered to employ other persons to
assist in extinguishing forest fires, the wardens re-
ceiving 25 cents per hour and expenses, and other
persons 15 cents per hour. In each township or
borough the district fire warden may appoint as-
sistant fire wardens with the same authority, who
shall be paid 20 cents per hour and expenses. A
proper record is kept of the expenses, and at the
end of each calendar year the Auditor General ap-
portions the amounts he has expended in this
manner among the different counties who are to
pay one-third of the expense incurred. During
the months of April and May and from September
15 to November 15, known as the fire seasons,
the fire wardens may, at the discretion of the
Commissioner of Forestry, be required to keep
daily patrol, receiving therefor a stated sum not
in excess of $25 per month. These fire wardens
also have the right to arrest persons violating the
laws. The sum of $300,000 is appropriated for
this purpose.
Passed by the Legislature and approved by the
Governor, who, however, reduced the appropria-
tion to $50,000.
H. R., i^g. Provides that all forest reserves
shall be subject to an annual charge of two cents
per acre for school purposes, provided no school
district shall receive in any one year more than
$500, and no school district shall be entitled to
receive any sum under this act unless a tax of not
less than four mills on the dollar of assessed valua-
tion be levied and collected. Warrants to be
drawn by the Auditor General after approval by
the Commissioner of Forestry. This bill is com-
mendable for the reason that it removes the
objection to the present law under which the
larger the area acquired by the State in a given
township the greater the payment, whereas any
increase in the quantity of land owned by the
State in any given township the less money is
needed for school purposes. The road appropria-
tion in the old act is removed from the bill for
the reason that the Legislature is asked to transfer
the roads in the reservation to the Department to
keep in repair (see H, R,, 286).
Passed by the Legislature and approved by the
Governor, but the $500 limit was stricken out.
//. R.y 775. Designed to protect trees growing
by the roadsides and within road limits, and pro-
viding for a penalty of $5.00 and costs for each
tree injured or destroyed, and if no* paid impris-
onment for not to exceed 30 days.
Passed by the General Assembly, approved by
the Governor, and known as Act 58.
J/. R., Jjj, Permits the acquisition of forest
or other suitable lands by municipalities for the
purpose of establishing municipal forests and
which, in some instances, may conserve and pro-
tect the water supply.
Passed by the General Assembly, approved by
the Governor, and will be known as Act 79.
H, R.y ^42. Is for appropriations for the ex-
penses of the various Departments of the Stare
Government. The portion referring to the De-
partment of Forestry amounts to $564,500 for
two years. This appropriation included the
amounts to be paid to the Commissioner of For-
estry, his assistants, foresters, forest rangers, for
surveys, labor, traveling expenses, etc.
Passed by the Legislature with an appropriation
o( $429,500, which was approved by the Gov-
ernor for $374,500.
^' ^••> 553' Provides for an appropriation of
$20,000 for the salaries of instructors, stationery,
maintenance, etc., and $1,000 to equip the labor-
atories. As recommended by the Association, an
appropriation of $19,000 additional was made, of
which $16,000 is to complete the dormitory build-
ing, the balance of $3,000 to be utilized in fur-
nishing it.
Passed by the Legislature and approved by the
Governor.
^' ^"> 557' Sets aside $100,000 for the pur-
chase of lands for forest reserves, also $300,000
for a similar purpose for the fiscal year beginning
June I, 1909, and an equal amount for the fiscal
year following. This was approved for $100,000.
The following bills were defeated : —
! H, R , 226. To regulate the management of
timber lands in Pennsylvania for the purpose of
I preventing floods and drought, conserving the
water supply and securing favorable conditions of
waterflows. It proposed to give the Department
of Forestry the power to make reasonable rules
and regulations and to issue permits for the cut-
ting of timber, etc., within the State. Any vio-
lation to be punished by a fine not exceeding $500
or imprisonment not exceeding 30 days.
H. R., 228. Provides for the purchase and dis-
tribution of tree seeds by the Commissioner of
Forestry, who also has the power to appoint two
persons to travel through the State and explain
the benefits of such planting. It appropriates
$3,200, which includes salaries of $800 per
annum for the two agents above mentioned.
H. R,, 244. Is a companion act to 257, being
designed to protect woodlands not owned by the
State from being set on fire, having timber stolen
from or damaging the trees thereon.
^' J^", 2S7' Providing for the protection of
the State forest reserves, specifying the penalties
for disobeying the rules and regulations of the
Department of Forestry, being a codification of
the present law. It aims to form a uniform sys-
tem of protection for State lands.
This bill was passed by the Legislature, but
disapproved by the Governor for the reason, that
the bill makes no discrimination between mali-
cious and accidental fire, and he further criticised
the provision which allows no appeal where a fine
of $10.00 or less is imposed. He also objects to
the provision allowing suit to be brought either
before a magistrate or begin immediately in the
Quarter Sessions Court.
The provision of the law relating to fines of
$10.00 and under, appears to follow similar legis-
lation which has been in force in the State for
years, and while the provision for the beginning
of suits would probably change the course of
criminal proceedure at present, may not prove a
hardship.
H. R. , 286. Transferred to the Department of
Forestry the control and management of all public
highways, not improved State highways, border-
ing on or lying within the State forest reserves.
It gives full authority to open, amend, grade, im-
prove and keep in repair all roads. The expense
to be provided for in the appropriation made for
the Department of Forestry. This was to take
the place of the old act requiring the State to pay
two cents per acre of forest reserves as a road tax.
Under this present law but little of the money
thus paid out is expended on the roads bordering
on or within the reserves, and the new act was to
remedy this defect.
36
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
37
ii
I
.;(
11
Hi
!
i
//. R., j8j. To define and establish auxiliary
forest reserves, and providing a penalty for the
violation thereof.
H. R,, j86. To provide for the^ taxation of
auxiliary forest reserves: — That all surface lands
which shall be classified and set apart as auxiliary
forest reserves shall be assessed for the purpose of
taxation in an amount not in excess of ^i per acre.
When the timber was cut 75 cents per 1,000
feet board measure was to be paid for coniferous
timber and 50 cents for broad leaf timber taken
from such auxiliary forest reserves.
Both 383 and 386 which are companion bills
were defeated. Most of the timbered land in
this State is in the hands of private owners and it
is unfortunate that legislation cannot be secured
to encourage these owners to preserve the timber,
and reforest cut over land, with attendant benefi-
cent results to the commonwealth at large.
Existing laws practically force cutting of wooded
areas owing to a constantly augmenting rate of
taxation and prevent reforestration. Several cases
have been brought to our attention where this has
proved true.
H. R.y 46^. To amend sections i, 3, 7 and
8 of the Act establishing the Department of
Forestry. It gives to the Forestry Reservation
Commission increased privileges, in leasing rights
of way, land for water power plants, to employ
forest rangers, etc. These amendments were in-
tended to place the Forestry Reservation Com-
mission in position to better administer the forest
reserves svhich are in their care, and secure
revenue to the State from them.
//. A\, 8 1 J. For an appropriation of $3,500
for the jnirchase of the herbarium of 20,000 speci-
mens and the scientific botanical library of 260
books and 280 pamphlets belonging to Dr. Joseph
. T. Rothrock. The herbarium and library to be
placed in the State Library at Harrisburg.
H. R., 826. To establish recreation camps
within the forest reserves and making an appro-
priation of $15,000 therefor. It was proposed to
have the Commissioner of Forestry select three
** Recreation Camps," to be opened to receive
campers in such numbers and at such times as he
may elect.
In 1908 the students of the Pennsylvania State
Forest Academy planted 147,000 white i)ine,
3,300 Norway spruce, 6,000 ash, 1,000 walnut,
2,200 catalpa. These seedlings were two years
old when planted. They have all showed very
good growth, and comparatively few died. The
seedlings were all raised in the nursery connected
with the Academy.
Forestry by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company.
THE Pennsylvania Railroad planned to set
out this spring more than 1,000,000 trees.
'• This will make a total of 3,430,000 trees
which have been planted in the last three years to
provide for some of the Company's future require-
ments in timber and cross ties.
Heretofore the Company's forestry operations
have been confined to ^ limited area between
Philadelphia and Altoona. This year, however,
65,000 trees are being set out on tracts of land
near Metuchen and New Brunswick, N. J. In
addition, there are to be planted 207,000 trees
near Conewago, Pa.; 186,000 in the vicinity of
Van Dyke; 334,000 at Lewistown Junction; 7,000
at Pomeroy, and 205,000 at Denholm.
The bare places in the locust tree plantations,
which were started some years ago, are being
filled in with new seedlings, in order that these
may follow as a second growth after the older
trees have been removed for fence posts and other
purposes. Of the trees that were set out this
spring, 893,000 are red oak ; 40,000 Scotch pine ;
29,000 locust ; 14,000 hardy catalpa ; 14,000 pin
oak ; 5,000 European larch ; 3,000 chestnut ;
3,000 yellow poplar; 2,000 black walnut, and
1,000 white pine.
The policy of encouraging reforestation on the
part of the public has been actively pursued this
spring. Some 151,000 trees have been furnished
practically at cost, to private corporations and in-
dividuals. In addition, 8,000 privet hedge plants
have been sup])lied to private individuals. Privet
hedge plants to the number of 7,000 are to be set
out to ornament boundary lines along the Com-
pany's right of way.
A special effort has been directed this season
to growing ornamental shrubbery for use in park-
ing the lawns around stations and unoccupied
spaces along the roadwav- '\o save the time re-
quired to grow these from seed, 6,000 plants have
been imported from France. They will be
placed in beds, at the Company's nursery at
Morrisville, N. J. Part of them will be ready
for transplanting next year, and the remainder in
1911.
Indicative of the scope of the forestry plan of
the Company this year is the fact that at the
Morrisville nursery alone, approximately 1,250,-
000 trees have been dug, bundled, and shipped to
places along the railroad. The area occupied by
these trees has been plowed, fertilized and is to
be re-planted with about 200 bushels of acorns.
Half a million coniferous seedlings, which were
grown last year, are being set in transplant beds
to remain for a year before being set out perma-
nently. In addition to the above, there was
planted this spring about 100 lbs. of pine and
spruce tree seed, which should produce. about a
million plants. These in time will be trans-
planted in permanent locations.
The Trees in Fairmount Park,
Philadelphia, Pa.
A strong plea for protecting the trees in Fair-
mount Park, Philadelphia, is made by the
landscape gardener, Mr. Oglesby Paul,
who urges sufficient appropriation to permit of
successfully combatting the destruction which
threatens them. He says a tree growing within
the limits of a great city, particularly if it be a
manufacturing center, has many adverse forces to
contend with, and its life at best is a constant
struggle against such odds as escaping gases, which
poison the roots, clouds of soot and dust, which
clog the stomata or pores of the leaves, and killing
drought from the waterproof-coated streets. In
the woodlands of a park a further evil arises from
trampling by the public, which kneads the ground
to the consistency of brick clay, destroys the pro-
tecting undergrowth, bruises exposed roots, and
on hilly land starts washing of the surface in a way
which often threatens the very existence of the
wood itself.
Those in charge of large parks, boulevards, and
suburban estates are now a unit in declaring that
the trees under their care need constant and intel-
ligent attention, and that the old policy of trust-
ing to nature to provide for them when estab-
lished is a treacherous one and almost certain to
end in disaster. That the noble specimens in our
own park should be exposed to injurious influences
without the necessary remedies is little short of a
calamity ; many of these old monarchs, represent-
ing as they do the growth of generations, could
not be replaced, and should therefore be main-
tained in a way that would be ? credit to the city
and a source of pleasure to all for many years to
come.
The Commissioner for Manhattan has asked for
an appropriation of $50,000 for the care of trees
and shrubs in Central Park, New York, whose area
is about one-fourth that of Fairmount Park, while
the latter last year had but $3,500, or $1.15 per
acre, allotted for this purpose.
Mr. Paul describing the damage done by smoke,
gases, insect pests, and other causes, suggests means
of controlling them, and demonstrates the asset
which the city of Philadelphia has in ornamental
trees by tabulations showing for different sections
of the park the number, size, and varieties of trees.
The lists do not include the Wissahickon Creek,
but as indicative of the large trees for which the
plea is made, they show that at breast- height there
are 14 chestnuts, 2 tulips, and one black oak 4^
feet in diameter, 43 chestnuts, 6 tulips, 2 black
walnuts, I beech, 3 white oaks, and i black oak,
trees which are four feet in diameter, breast high.
The tabulations give the number of trees of va-
rious diameters, but we merely refer to there being
over 2,200 trees 2 feet or more in diameter, the
principal varieties being in the order named, chest-
nut, white oak, tulip, black oak, red oak, and
beech. Surely such an array of what may be con-
sidered monarchs of the forest is worthy of suffi-
cient protection to preserve them.
Correspondence in Regard to Taxation
and Forest Fires.
IN the last issue of Forest Leaves some letters
from members were published giving in-
teresting data as to forest fires. Below will
be found some abstracts from correspondence re-
ceived by the Department of Forestry, which will
be of interest : —
A gentleman residing in Jefferson County, Pa.,
says : *' For a number of years I have been guard-
ing fire and in every other way trying to protect
the raising of young timber on a piece of land in
Knox Township, Jefferson County, Pa., on which
the assessor has raised the valuation over 500 per
cent, from what it was eight or ten years ago.
Our county commissioners inform me that the
Act allowing 80 per cent, rebate on taxes of that
kind has been repealed, and no allowance of any
kind can be made ; as a last resort I write you
regarding this matter for any information you
may be able to give, and if no allowance can in
any way be made in regard to it I will be com-
pelled to realize out of it what I can at once,
as the taxes as assessed without any rebate at
all which either assessors or commissioners will
allow would, in a few years, eat up the entire
valuation. ' '
The following are two communications from
Wytjming :
*' Up to 1905 when extensive lumbering opera-
tion ceased on the Dutch Mountain and adjacent
hills, forest fires did not burn over extensive areas
as it was to the interest of the lumbermen to pro-
tect their operations. Large fires did occur from
carelessness, but they did not rage for weeks.
*^ But, even at that time, I had a suspicion that
I
38
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
39
Mil
some of the fires were wantonly started to make
some money through fire fighting. Not by the
natives, but the loafers of the villages, Americans
and foreigners.
''Since the late forest fires, I -have received
several communications from Bella Sylva inhabit-
ants voicing this suspicion. One gentleman also
stated his experience with some men who ' back-
fired,' and thereby caused greater destruction,
because it was not done in an intelligent manner.
Hence, my deductions are: '' i. Forest fire
fighters should be directed by men who are trained
in this work, and employed and paid by township,
county or State.
*'2. These rangers to train the farmers and
woodsmen in intelligent forest fire fighting, just
as men of volunteer and paid fire departments of
cities and towns are trained.
*' 3. Don't pay every ' Tom, Dick and Harry '
for fighting forest fires, and if there must be pay
on the program, make the pay to count only for
rapidity with which a forest fire is completely ex-
tinguished. The smaller the fire loss, the larger
the wages.
** 4. Incendiarism to be drastic in punishment ;
conviction to be on direct evidence of malicious
intent."
**The fire of last year ought to prove a valu-
able object-lesson of inadequate forest fire laws as at
present existing. These laws do not protect at all.
/'All minerals removed cannot be reproduced,
but forests can be and should be, as they are of
the utmost value to every inhabitant and the eco-
nomic conditions of a State.
" If you will take down Rand's map of Penn-
sylvania, and the U. S. Geological Survey map,
Harvey Lake section, you will find our Bella
Sylva (and they were beautiful woods years ago
before lumbermen and fires cleared the Dutch
Mountain). The mountain is a watershed for the
north and west branches of the Susquehanna
River. Taking the former postmaster's farm-
house as the central point we have Forkston
(township-seat), ten miles to the east ; Lopez,
eight miles to the west ; Colley, nine miles to
the north ; and Ricketts, eight or nine miles to
the south by west. Between our summer homes
around the Ficht Pond and the Bowman's Creek
branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad there is not
a single habitation. Following the road from
Bella Sylva into the Mehoopany Creek Valley to
Kasson Brook are four (4) occupied farms in the
six miles. Again, taking the road from Bella
Sylva to Lopez are six (6) occupied farms within !
the eight miles. A few more are on the road to !
Colley and Dushore. I
( (
Except in a few instances, I find the soil on
the Dutch Mountain unfit for profitable agricul-
ture on account of its altitude and the ' hard-pan '
which, on many levels, comes within a half-dozen
inches of the top soil ; hence, the whole area is
only fit for forests, health, and recreation. A
number of open ponds and marshes are on the
mountain.
" I have seen asthmatics and consumptives
greatly benefited by short vacations on the moun-
tain and others quickly regain normal health.
Malaria and tuberculosis are unknown diseases
with the natives, and I know of only two typhoids
among them in seventeen years.
" On the Otten tract is an unusually fine grove
of white pine ; this grove was saved during the late
fire. The well-kept woods around the Ficht
Pond, and belonging to Rev. Schmilthenner,
was practically wiped out. On the tract belong-
ing to my wife several fine stands of sugar maples
were, destroyed ; in fact, the tract was swept clean.
Four miles to the westward, at Shady Nook, our
friend Mr. Huch, of Philadelphia, has done good
work in reforestation (he is practically our pio-
neer in this work), and I presume his fire loss is
a large one, as the fire crossed his tract to reach
up our way.
'* From this brief description of the conditions,
as found on the Dutch Mountain, you will per-
ceive the difficulties which are in store for us
whenever a forest fire breaks out at either com-
pass-point and is permitted to gain headway.
Quick, energetic, and intelligent measures adopted
by township or county officials could stifle any
forest fire in its incipiency."
Pennsylvania takes the lead in having the larg-
est forest nurseries of any State in the Union, and
the purpose of the Forestry Department is to have
20,000,000 seedlings ready for planting each year
for the next twenty five years.
* * H. * *
The idea of preserving forests and replanting
our denuded hills with young trees is a compara-
tively new one, and our State tax laws have not
been brought into accord with it. It is an over-
sight rather than a deliberate intention that grow-
ing trees are taxed all they will bear every year of
their lives. Tree growing should be encouraged,
and there is no more rational way of doing this
than by wise tax legislation that makes it possible
for land-owners to let their land grow trees for
successive years without it costing them more than
the value of the trees in taxes. — Philadelphia
Press,
Woodlot Advice.
•
THERE is a right way to do everything, and
the care of the woodlot is not an exception
to the rule. The right way, moreover, is
often quite simple, the good results which follow
being out of all proportion to the time or labor ex-
pended. Too many woodlots are simply neglected,
and by far the greater number of them are mis-
used for want of foresight or a true appreciation
of their value.
The first principles of right woodlot forestry
may be summarized in a brief list of Don'ts, by
which every woodlot owner may profit with very
little trouble.
Don't dispose of your woodlot. You need it
for your own use. It can be made to give you
fuel, posts, poles,, fence rails, even such timber,
boards, and shingles as will keep the farmstead
and barns in repair. With a little encouragement,
its value for home supply will increase year by
year. While you use it, it will renew itself, and
the price of its products are not decreasing.
Don't turn your woodlot into a pasture. Tree
seedlings are quickly bruised and crushed by the
trampling of live stock. Hungry cattle browse
upon them. The soil becomes packed hard and
unable to retain moisture so much needed for the
encouragement of young growth.
Don't thin your woodlot too heavily. If you
do, large openings are made through which the
sunlight streams in, drying the soil and encourag-
ing the growth of grass, which should never be
suffered to replace the spongy humus that forms
the natural top layer of soil in a healthy forest. A
crown canopy, formed by the leaves and branches,
should always shade the forest floor.
Don't burn over the woodlot. It has been
pointed out that the woodlot is not fit for pasture
purposes, but even if it were, the burning over of
the soil would still do irreparable damage to young
growth, consume the litter which ought to rot into
humus, and destroy the very conditions which
nature seeks to establish and preserve.
Don't select only the best trees in a woodlot
which needs weeding. Nearly every woodlot is
composed of a mixed stand in which dead and
unsound trees, weed trees, and sound, useful trees
are intermingled. If you select and remove only
the choicest living trees, the stand will grow
poorer instead of better, and in time will become
almost worthless. An improvement cutting which,
even at a little cost, removes the weed trees and
those which are dead, crooked, or otherwise of
little worth, will give the remaining stand a clear
start. The woodlot quickly responds to such
treatment, improving vigorously under the new
conditions. The larger yield of better quality in
due time more than repays the labor.
Don't forget reproduction. In thinning your
woodlot have an eye to the young growth.
Spare it as much as you can in felling and haul-
ing the logs. Give the seedlings the chance, and
they will seize it and grow into saplings and poles.
Saplings and poles are already valuable, and a
little later still are themselves grown trees.
Don't do all your cutting in one spot, just be-
cause it is a trifle more convenient to do so. By
taking a tree here and there, where it can best be
spared or is actually better down, you will secure
just as much wood, and at the same time draw as
lightly as possible on your future supply. Where
the stand is composed only of old trees you n>ay,
of course, often make clear cutting to advantage,
especially where neighboring seed trees will re-
seed the opening to a new crop.
Don't let the carelessness of other persons do
the damage to your woodlot by fire which you re-
frain from doing yourself. A fire in a neighbor-
ing field may creep into your woodlot and burn
over it, scorching the trunks of the trees or even
setting the crowns ablaze. It is worth while, in
the dangerous season, to see that the borders of
the woodlot are clear of inflammable material.
Especially clear away the leaves so as to form a
miniature fire lane about the forest. Forbid the
careless use of matches and the building of camp
fires, and see that your directions are obeyed.
Don't be in too great a hurry to realize on
your woodlot investment. Be satisfied with a
permanent revenue, w^hich is the interest on your
forest capital. You may materially increase this
interest by managing the woodlot itself so that the
thinnings always bear a wise proportion to the
yield. Meantime, the steady rise in the value of
all forest products will add little by little to the
market value of your timber. Years hence, when
you need it, the woodlot which has supplied you
all along will in all probability bring you far more
than at present. Or you may leave it to your
children, who in turn will find it a most accept-
able bank account.
France spends annually upon State forests,
whose area is less than 1-50 that of our own, over
$2,500,000 ; Prussia, upon 7,000,000 acres, over
$11,000,000 ; Saxony, upon only 400,000 acres,
over $900,000. Yet in all these countries the
forests have had great sums spent upon them in
the past for permanent improvements. A forest
can no more be made to yield a constant return
in valuable products without the investment of
capital in improving the property than can a
farm. — U. S. Secretary of Agriculture.
40
FOREST LEAVES.
I=!
The Illustrations.
THE first view shows a peculiar use of a tree
for the storage of fodder in the mountains
of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.
After the ears of corn are taken from the stalks
the remaining corn fodder or ^'zacate" is stored I
on convenient trees by being stacked either on
the branches in the center of the tree, or on limbs,
supported by props, as shown in the illustration,
at such elevation that the animals cannot reach it,
where it remains until needed for fodder.
The second illustration is of two weeping wil-
lows, near Gettysburg, Pa., furnished through the
courtesy of C. E. Stable, Esq. These trees are
reported to be more than loo years old, are about
60 feet in height, and the larger one measures 15
feet in circumference, 3 feet above the ground,
while the other one is 13 feet. They are now
showing signs of decay, and a number of limbs
have fallen.
The weeping willow {Salix Babylonica,L.) is a
large tree, sometimes attaining a height of 70 feet
and a trunk diameter of 6 feet. The twigs are
slender, green, elongated and drooping, giving
rise to the common name of *^ weeping " willow.
The leaves are 4 to 7 inches long, narrow, gradu-
ally tapering to the apex, the edges being serrated.
It is said to have come originally from eastern
Asia, and has been extensively planted for orna-
ment.
The State Forester of Connecticut in a recent
report has given figures on growth and use for
New Haven county, which give many more valua-
ble details than are generally to be obtained, and
well illustrate how the forest is being reduced by
over-cutting. For the year 1907 the timber used
was 120,000 cords, in the form of cordwood, lum-
ber, ties, poles and piles. The annual growth on
all types of forest land, including trees standing
on abandoned fields, for the year, reached a total
of 70,000 cords. Thus the amount cut yearly ex-
ceeds the growth by 50,000 cords.
The amount of standing timber considered as
merchantable and available for cutting within the
next few years was found to be 1,200,000 cords.
If the cut and the growth remain at the present
figures the supply of merchantable timber will be
exhausted in about twenty years. At the end of
that time there will be a large amount of forest
standing in the county, but it will be in tracts
under forty years of age, containing wood below
the most profitable size for cutting. Cordwood
could still be cut, but supplies of the most profit-
able products, like ties and lumber, would be prac-
tically exhausted.
Trees on the Farm.
•
MANY poor soils, now waste spots on the
farm, would become profitable if planted
^ with the right kind of forest trees, and
cared for in the right way. Trees will often grow
where grain and grass will not. Swamps, stony
ridges, exhausted fields and washed hillsides need
riot be abandoned. There is money in most of
them if they are set to work producing woodlots
and forests. But knowledge and judgment are
necessary, and a bad guess may be costly.
Many trees do well in those soils — cone-bearing
trees in particular. The farmer is fortunate whose
land has no poor spots. Few land-owners are so
well off. Fertile acres are usually fairly profitable,
but the gravel bars, rocky knolls, marshy swales
and exhausted and eroded slopes are not. Scarcely
one of them need remain unproductive. They
will grow timber — pine, locust, poplar, osage
orange, oak, chestnut or some other kind. But
the soil must be studied, and the species selected
to suit it. Failure might follow the planting of
walnut on soil suited to white pine or vice versa.
The farm's waste and neglected corners may be
turned into woodlots where the farmer may grow
his own posts, poles, fences and sawlogs.
It is decidedly worth while to keep all the farm
at work. The owner pays taxes on all his land,
and is out of pocket for whatever is not earning
him something. Further, by growing a tree crop
on land which is too poor to plow, the quality of
the land itself is improved. Forests add humus
to the soil, bettering its character ; and it has
lately been discovered that the decaying leaf litter
has also the power of gathering from the air a
certain amount of nitrogen. In this respect the
forest does for the soil what leguminous crops,
like clover and alfalfa, do. Wood growing on
worn-out land thus becomes doubly profitable.
The land is made useful and improved at the same
time. — Country Gentleman.
Usually when streets and sidewalks are laid out,
but little attention is paid to the trees which,
when they interfere in any way, are cut down.
In pleasing contrast Mr. J. j. Albertson, Town-
ship Engineer, in drawing up the specifications
for the concrete sidewalks in Magnolia and Mt.
Ephriam, New Jersey, made the following provi-
sion : '' When the roots of trees interfere with the
grading of the sidewalk for its full width the com-
mittee or its engineer may order a mound left
around said roots, but the remaining earth i« to
be removed to the grade." The specifications
also say "• The walk will be deflected and elevated
to save large trees on Evesham avenue. ' '
•si
m
I
r
r —
ro
X
^
td
^
IJJ
HI
UJ
CO
UJ
I
i
^
I
I
f*>
1
o
CD
CO
UJ
UJ
CO
o
UJ
UJ
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
V**""
.%^'
FOREST LEAVES.
41
_ ♦
Chestnut Growth on South Mountain.
THE notes collected during the last summer
by the class of 1909 of the State Forest
Academy at Mont Alto, Pa., have recently
been made public, and afford some significant
facts on the growth of sprout chestnut in Pennsyl-
vania. The class camped near an area of over one
thousand acres covered with sprout chestnut and
rock oak, with some maple and other species occa-
sionally present. The area was carefully explored,
a typical sample plot chosen, and this area was cut
clear of everything but the rock oak. Every
chestnut tree was sawed into two- foot sections, and
a stem analysis made of each section. The rock
oak volume was computed by the sample tree
method. The stock was thirty-one years old, and
the number of trees per acre was a little over 200,
considerably less than would be the case in forest
under normal conditions of scientific manage-
ment. The soil was thin, sandy, with a fair layer
of humus, and the moisture conditions were ex-
cellent.
The volume of trees on the above area was com-
puted, including everything down to four inches
in diameter. The total volume by computation
was 2 1 16. 16 cubic feet of wood and bark per acre.
The chestnut alone yielded 1465.5 cubic feet of
wood and bark, and when piled into cordwood
with maple and small stuff ranked twenty-one
cords per acre.' A close analysis shows an annual
wood production of 58.5 cubic feet per acre.
Some of the trees ran as high as eight and ten
inches in diameter, and at least ten twenty-five-
foot telephone poles could have been cut per acre.
Very complete volume tables with height and
diameter curves were made, which, averaged with
others obtained by the class from other areas ex-
amined, give very accurate data on chestnut on
the Mont Alto Reserve.
It is interesting to note that, if the same rate of
growth be assumed for nineteen more years, the
land will, at that time, yield the State a net profit
of $5.44 per acre above the title to the land.
This result is obtained calculating with minimum
prices prevalent in the section and maximum ex-
penses for protection, taxes, administration, etc.,
all calculated at 3 per cent, compound interest.
T~7~^
Any of the readers of this paper desiring in-
formation in regard to the enemies and diseases of
fruit trees, or other plants of the garden and farm,
should write at once to Prof. H. A. Surface, State
Zoologist, Harrisburg, Pa., who takes pleasure in
answering questions on such matters.
\Vork of the O. S. Forest Service in 1908.
/^IFFORD PINCHOT, forester, has just
V^X niade a retrospect of the work of the
United States FoFefi1i,Seyvke for the fiscal
year 1908.
For the administration and protection of the
182 national forests in seventeen States and Terri-
tories and Alaska, the government spent $2,526,-
098.02, or about one and one-half cents an acre.
Permanent improvements, including the construc-
tion of 3,400 miles of trails, 100 miles of wagon
roads, 3,200 miles of telephone lines, 550 cabins
and barns, 600 miles of pasture and drift fences,
250 bridges, and 40 miles of fire lines cost $592,-
169. 19. Telephone wire to build approximately
400 miles of additional lines was shipped to the
forester.
Although many needed improvements could not
be undertaken, the benefits of what has been ac-
complished are seen in the more convenient and
economical manner in which the forest officers are
enabled to carry on their work and in the opening
up to forest users of territory hitherto inaccessible.
The remaining $297,840.40 of the total of $3,-
416,107.61, disbursed on account of work of the
Forest Service was used in forest investigations
costing $235,855. 14, and in diff*usion of forest
information and federal co-operation.
Last year the receipts from sales of timber,
grazing fees, and permits for special uses of forest
resources amounted to $1,842,281.87, an increase
of $271,222.43 over the 1907 figures. The per
acre receipts from the national forests were a little
more than one per cent., less than five mills under
the per acre cost of administration and protection
of the forests.
The amount paid the States and Territories, to
be expended for roads and public schools from the
year's receipts, amounted to $447,063.79. Chiefly
because of increasing the revenue to the States
from 10 per cent, in 1907 to 25 per cent, last
year, there was a total increase of $294,031.62 in
the amounts payable to the States.
There were 30,714 permits granted for the free
use of timber by settlers, schools and churches
during the year, against 17,399 ^^ ^Q^T- The
number of board feet used in this way by the pub-
lic amounted to 131,582,000, valued at $168,-
720.00, compared to 63,000,000 feet, valued at
$75,000 in 1907.
The aggregate of free use of the forests for
grazing can not be exactly known, since no per-
mit is required to be taken out, and there is there-
fore no record preserved. It added perhaps 10
per cent, to the amount of stock carried by the
forests. Settlers living on or adjacent to the for-
v^\':/^ VI !^ \
42
K .'
FOREST LEAVES.
-rv
-Lj-
I I t
r-f-T
ests, and prospectors, camp^fs and travelers in
them are allowed to graze free up to lo head of
milch covvij; work animals, Or horses in use, and
purchasers of vtimbdr a?id s^ckmen on the forests
are given the sarii^'fjdV^ftege for the horses needed
in their work. In Arizona and New Mexico milk
goats to the number of 30 may be grazed free in
place of milch cows.
Of free special-use permits there were issued
during the year 1,768, as against a total of 1,471
previously granted. Of the latter 963 were in
force during the year.
The grazing receipts for 1908 were $962,829.40,
and were paid to graze 14382,22 1 cattle, horses
and hogs, and 7,087,111 sheep and goats ; $849,-
027.24 were paid for 392,792,000 board feet of
timber. The receipts from special uses amounted
to $30,425.23.
The year's receipts represent profitable use of
the forests by some 30^00 individuals or con-
cerns, in addition to more than 30,000 getting
free use of timber and other resources. About
one-fourth of all the timber cut from the national
forests were under free-use permits. The timber
given to individuals is given for the development
of the country through settlement.
The total receipts from timber sales each year
since the national forests have been under the ad-
ministration of the Forest Service have been as
follows: 1905, $60,136.62 ; 1906, $245,013.49 ;
1907, $668,813.12 ; 1908, $849,027.24.
At the end of the last fiscal year, when business
was heavier than at any other time during the year,
the 182 national forests were cared for by an ex-
ecutive and protective force of 29 inspectors, 98
forest supervisors, 61 deputy supervisors, 33 for-
est assistants, 8 planting assistants, 941 rangers,
521 forest guards and 88 clerks.
The average area to each officer theoretically
available for patrol duty was 116,665 acres. But
more than three-fourths of the time of these forest
officers is now required by the fast -growing vol-
ume of national forest business, so that in point of
fact the force on duty at the close of the year pro-
vided about one patrol officer to each 500,000
acres of forest. This is considered inadequate for
protection of the forests.
Experimental broadcast sowings were made dur-
ing the year in 27 forests in the States of Idaho,
Montana, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Colo-
rado, Utah and New Mexico. The total area sown
was 131 acres, of which 47 were in the Black Hills
national forest.
About 700,000 trees were planted last year on
forests in the States of Nebraska, Kansas, Colo-
rado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and
California. There are now growing at the plant-
ing stations over 2,200,000 trees which will be
ready for planting in 1909. Sufficient seed was
sown in the spring of 1908 to produce 4,600,000
seedlings.
Besides administering the national forests, the
Forest Service renders, on request, expert advice
and assistance to other parts of the executive gov-
ernment regarding the practice of forestry. Work
of this kind was carried on in several military and
Indian reservations in various parts of the country.
Co-operative State forest studies were carried on
with Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire and
Illinois.
The Poorest Service conducts investigations of
forest products along the two lines of wood pre-
servation and wood utilization.
Forest Fires in Massachusetts.
MR. F. W. RANE, State Forester of Massa-
chusetts, has just issued a pamphlet en-
titled, **We Must Stop Forest Fires in
Massachusetts," in which he gives some pertinent
statistics.
Mr. Rane states that the season of 1908 was
one of extraordinary drought, there being a de-
ficiency of 17 per cent, in the annual rainfall, a
condition favorable to the spread of forest fires,
which at times was intensified by high winds.
In 1908 the number of acres of woodland
burned over was 40,327. Estimating the forest
area of the State at 2,500,000 acres, which will
include all the scrub growth and thinly-stocked
pasture, it is found that i acre in 62 has been
burned. Taking the entire land area of the State
it is I acre in 123. On the United States
national forests it is i acre in 10,000, and in
Germany i acre in 15,000, which are annually
burned over. The total estimated damage was
$300,000, and this is considered as underrated.
Railroads were the largest producers of forest
fires, with nearly 40 per cent, of the total ; un-
known, 25 per cent. ; smokers, 8 per cent. ;
burning brush, 7 per cent. ; incendiaries, 7 per
cent. ; and boys setting fire maliciously 4 per
cent. Out of 1299 fires 5 or 0.4 per cent, which
were caused by lightning were the only ones not
absolutely preventable.
Information collected by the State Forester
showed that in 1905, $30,000 were spent for
fighting forest fires. The forested area of the
State can be roughly valued at $50,000,000,
which makes the expenditure on forest fires 60
cents per $1,000 of valuation. With proper care
and safeguards a condition could be attained such
as that in Prussia, where in 25 years only 1,400
FOREST LEAVES.
43
acres were burned over on the average each year
or 0.02 of I percent., while in Bavaria in 5 years
it only averaged 0.007 of i per cent, of the total
forest area as compared with i per cent, or more
in Massachusetts.
Mr. Rane also gives some suggestions on forest
fire protection, together with reports of the
Forest Wardens.
Practical Forest Conservation.
THERE is a lumber operation in Pennsylvania
which manufactures only about 17,000,00c
feet of timber a year, which vastly increases
its product per acre by utiliijing the material which
twenty years ago was absolutely valueless, and
which only ten years ago was only occasionally
used. It manufactures pine and hemlock lumber,
but it is getting about 25 per cent, more out of
the hemlock logs than was possible ten years ago.
It is putting pine into bill stuff and boards that
would not have been salable at one time, and the
same is true of hardwoods It is getting this sawed
lumber product out of logs that in 1897 or 1899
would have produced less than 14,000,000 feet.
The extra 3,000,000 feet or more that it is get-
ting now would, under the old conditions, have
been burned in the slab pit. Some of it would
have been left in the woods in the defective stand-
ing trees, or on the ground in logs or limbs, which
it would not pay to take out.
This is simply the lumber part of it ; but this
concern is selling hardwood logs to woodworking
establishments which have been established within
the last few years. It has a sale for all of its slabs
and edgings. The best of all, however, is that it
sells an enormous amount of pulpwood. Practi-
cally everything from its lands that will not make
a marketable grade of lumber goes to the pulp
mill. This is a new industry so far as the woods
of Pennsylvania are concerned. The idea of
hemlock and hardwood being pulp materials
would have been ridiculed ten or fifteen years
ago. Now, not only is this material saved, but
the woods are cleaned up ; the risk of fire is less-
ened, and thus there is a double benefit.
As to the lumberman who produces these ma-
terials, he is doubtful as to whether he is profited
or not ; but he is interested in the work, he does
not like to see anything go to waste, and therefore
every bit of material that will pay the cost of
handling is put to use. Labor gets the benefit. —
American Lumberman.
Amendments to the Forest Law of
New York.
M
ON. JAMES S. WHIPPLE, Forest, Fish
\^\_ and Game Commissioner of New York,
^ made the following statement regarding
the bill amending the forest, fish and game law,
which has just been signed by the Governor :
It provides for five additional game protectors,
all of whom are under competitive civil service ex-
amination. Examinations are confined to the
county from which the protector is chosen.
The Forest Preserve will be divided into four
districts — three in the Adirondacks and one in the
Catskills. Each district will be under the super-
vision of a fire superintendent. Every town
supervisor will be a member of the fire patrol by
virtue of his office, and is expected to co-operate
at all times and to assist in carrying out directions
and regulations of the Commission in fighting for-
est fires. Several observation stations will be es-
tablished on the mountain tops. These stations
will be provided with telephone communication,
telescopes, range finders, maps, etc. Each dis-
trict will be subdivided and placed under the
supervision of a patrolman, who will act accord-
ing to the instructions of the fire superintendent.
This occupation is only temporary. Patrolmen
will be supplied with tents, fire fighting imple-
ments and cooking. utensils to care for the men in
the field. Any male person of the age of 18
years may be called upon to assist in stopping and
putting out fires, and those summoned, if physi-
cally able, shall be liable to a penalty of twenty
dollars for refusing to act. The superintendents
of fires and fire patrolmen are vested with all the
powers of game protectors. Reports must be
made to the superintendents of every fire occurring
in the respective fire districts controlled by each
patrolman.
Fire patrolmen receive seventy-five dollars per
month and expenses while actually employed.
Laborers who are brought into the service by re-
quest of patrolmen or fire superintendents receive
a compensation of fifteen cents for each hour em-
ployed. An accurate account of the expenditures
involved in this connection will be kept by the
patrolmen. One-half of the expenses thereof will
be a charge upon and paid by the State, and one-
half by the town in which the men are so em-
ployed and actually engaged in fighting fires.
Any person who sets fire to waste or forest lands
in the forest preserve, except as provided by law,
or who negligently suffers a fire to extend from his
own lands, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punish-
able by- imprisonment of not more than one year
or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars,
44
POREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
45
W
or both, for each offense. Such person is also
responsible to individuals, corporations and mu-
nicipalities for damages at the rate of one dollar
for each tree killed.
When public necessity requires the Governor
can suspend the hunting and fishing season, and
can forbid any persons from entering the forests
of the State for such purposes, as well as forbid-
ding those already upon the lands from fishing or
hunting. Persons violating the provisions of
such proclamation shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor, and upon conviction subjected to a fine
of one hundred dollars or imprisonment of not
more than thirty days, or both. This is in addi-
tion to the penalties provided by law for taking
game in the close season.
r-^^
An Act for the Protection of Woodlands
in New Jersey.
¥R. ALFRED GASKILL, Forester, has
kindly furnished the text of a new law
to protect woodlands in New Jersey,
which was approved on April 12th, 1909 : —
Be it enacted, etc.
1. Wherever in this State woodland, meaning
thereby land or swamp upon which there is a
growth of wood or brush, adjoins the right of
way, or is less than one hundred and ten feet from
the roadbed of a railroad upon which are operated
locomotives, using coal or wood for fuel, there
shall be constructed a fire line in the followino-
manner :
2. At a distance of not less than one hundred
feet nor more than two hundred feet from the
outer rail on each side of the track or tracks upon
which trains pass, and extending practically par-
allel with it, a strip of land not less than ten feet
wide shall be entirely cleared of trees, brush,
grass, turf and other combustible matter, and the
bare earth shall be exposed. Where the land is
swampy a ditch not less than three feet wide, dug
to the level of permanent water, may replace the
bared strip. Between such bared strip or ditch,
and the roadbed, all logs, fallen branches of trees,
brush, grass and other combustible material shall
be cut and removed or burned on the ground at
some convenient time between the first day of
November in each year and the first day of March
next following; provided, however, that standing
trees above three inches in diameter at the stump
and not less than six feet apart need not be felled
but must be pruned of branches to not less than
six feet above the ground. Where the standing
trees are close together enough must be removed
to make those remaining not less than six feet
apart ; and provided further, that the Forest Park
Reservation Commission, on application of the
railroad company, may authorize the omission of
a fire line, or of a reburning or reclearing of the
same in such sections as in its judgment the mak-
ing, reburning, or reclearing shall be unnecessary.
3. The Forest Park Reservation Commission
shall each year determine the length and location
of such fire lines as shall be constructed under the
provisions of this act. It shall be the duty of the
assessor of each and every township or other
municipality in which such fire lines will lie, to
furnish to the Forest Park Reservation Commis-
'sion, within ten days of receipt of request for the
same, the names and post office addresses of the
owners of woodland on which such fire lines will
lie, so far as they appear upon the tax-books of
said township or other municipality. The Forest
Park Reservation Commission shall thereupon
mail to each person whose name and address shall
appear on said list, notice of its intention to order
the construction of a fire line, and shall also give
notice of its intention by advertisement inserted
once in two papers of general circulation in the
section in which said lands are situated.
4. If the owner of any woodland shall object to
the construction of the proposed fire line upon his
property, he shall file within fifteen days of the
date of said notice, or of said advertisement, with
the Forest Park Reservation Commission, an ob-
jection thereto, which objection shall contain
such description of the property as shall be neces-
sary to establish its location. The owner of any
woodlands who shall not file, for any reason, an
objection to the construction of the said fire line
within the time specified, shall be deemed to have
given his consent thereto. If the owner of any
woodland file as above specified his objection to
the proposed construction, the Forest Park Reser-
vation Commission, if it deem the construction of
the fire line through said property to be a public
necessity, shall notify him by registered mail to
show cause before the Commission at such time as
it may appoint (which time shall be not less than
ten days from the date of said notice) why the
fire line should not be constructed as proposed.
After said hearing, the Forest Park Reservation
Commission may sustain the objection, or may
order the fire line cut as proposed, and its decision
shall be final.
5. Each railroad company affected hereby shall
construct each year until all has been completed,
such lengths of fire line as may be ordered by the
Forest Park Reservation Commission after notice
and hearings given as above specified ; provided^
ho7uever, the total length of fire line shall not ex-
ceed in one year one-fifth of the total frontage of
woodland along both sides of its main stem and
branches extending therefrom, and shall maintain
by the necessary clearing or returning each year
all that has been previously constructed. Before
the first of October in each year the Forest Park
Reservation Commission shall specify to the gen-
eral manager or local superintendent of each rail-
road the location of that part of the said fire line
to be constructed by the railroad under his charge
during the following season ; provided, hoivever,
that nothing in this act shall apply to any tract of
woodland which is entirely isolated from any larger
body of woodland by public roads or waterways
at least twenty feet wide or by open fields, and
which has an area less than five times the area of
a fire line of the minimum width — namely, one
hundred and ten feet — required to be constructed
by section two of this act ; and such tracts shall
not be included in estimating the total frontage of
woodland along any railroad line. After the issu-
ance of said order said railroad company may enter
upon said lands for such purpose, and no action of
trespass shall lie in consequence thereof unless the
employes of the railroad company in the construc-
tion of said fire lines shall do other damage to the
property than that necessarily incident to the con-
struction of the said fire lines as required by this
act.
6. All marketable wood which shall be cut upon
land not belonging to the railroad company in
constructing the said fire line, in accordance with
the provisions of this act, shall be piled at some
point beyond the fire line, subject to removal by
the owner.
7. Nothing in this act shall operate as a bar to
any action against any railroad company for dam-
ages to woodland through fire started by locomo-
tives or employes.
8. Any railroad company which shall have been
notified to construct fire lines in accordance with
section five hereof, and which shall fail to do so,
shall incur a penalty of two hundred dollars per
mile or fraction thereof of fire line not constructed
as required by this act, to be recovered in an
action of debt at the suit of the Forest Park Re-
servation Commission, and all moneys so received
by the said fire warden shall be paid into the
treasury of the State of New Jersey.
9. This act shall take effect immediately.
Announcement has been made of an offer of
$100,000 by Mrs. Morris K. Jessup to Yale Uni-
A^rsity to establish the Morris K. Jessup professor-
ship of silviculture in the Yale Forestry School as
a memorial to her husband, who was deeply .inter-
ested in forestry.
Maryland's Forest Reserves.
PROF. F. W. BESLEY, State Forester of
Maryland, has just issued Forestry Leaflet
No. 2, being a preliminary report of the
forest conditions in that State.
Up to the present time ten counties have been
examined in details and forest maps prepared, the
remaining counties have been investigated in a
general way, and a table prepared showing that at
the close of the year 1908 Maryland had 2,199,-
256 acres of wooded area, or 35 per cent, of the
total for the State, containing 2,136,873,000 feet
B.M. of hardwood and 738,550,000 feet B.M. of
coniferous wood, valued at $8,168,002. Of the
hardwood stand, the oaks constitute the larger per
cent., followed by chestnuts, gums, poplars and
hickory. The coniferous timber is principally
long leaf pine, scrub pine, pitch pine, white pine
and hemlock.
The cut of timber in Maryland in 1907 was as
follows : —
Value,
Lumber, 213,786,000 ft. B.M ^3,429,669
Lath, 16,043,000 pieces * 5i»956
Shingles, 5,467,000 pieces 22,087
Tanbark, 14,109 cords 128,479
Veneer, 7,470,000 ft. log measure 126,945
Total ^3»759,i36
•
Data as to the production of wood pulp, cord-
wood, railroad ties, mine props, poles, etc., are
not available, but it is believed that with these
added the total valuation at the mill for the wood
1 product of 1907 would be over $5,000,000.
' The average yearly growth on the woodland of
; the State is probably not over 75 board feet per
i acre, giving an annual growth of 164,944,200
board feet on the 2,199,256 acres of woodland.
The cut of 1907 took 30 per cent, more than the
growth for that year. When to these other de-
mands upon the forest already enumerated, is
! added the destruction by fire, the forests are being
used up three times as fast as they grow.
Studies of forest growth in the State indicate
that an average growth increment of 250 board
feet per acre per annum is easily obtainable under
rational methods of forest management and effi-
cient forest protection. Not only can the quan-
tity be greatly increased, but the quality can be
correspondingly improved, yielding a forest reve-
nue four or five times as great as that possible
under present conditions where careful manage-
ment is riot practiced.
?
46
FOREST LEAVES.
The Calaveras Big Tree National
Forest Bill.
B
Y signing the bill for the creation of the
Calaveras National Forest, California,
• President Roosevelt completed the legis-
lative act which saves for all time the most famous
grove of trees in the world. Everyone interested
in the great natural wonders rejoices that as a
means of saving the big trees, the way has been
paved for a practical exchange of the timber in
the groves for stumpage on other forest land owned
by the government. The first Calaveras bill was
introduced in the Senate four years ago by Sena-
tor Perkins, of California. Bills for the same pur-
pose were passed in the upi)er house of Congress
a number of times, but always failed of favorable
consideration in the House until Senate bill 1574,
also introduced by Senator Perkins, was called up
by Congressman S. C. Smith, of California, at the
last session.
Robert B. Whiteside, a lumberman, is the
owner of the Calaveras big trees. After his agree-
ment to the proposals which are simply a practical
exchange of timber for timber, the entire California
delegation gave its solid and enthusiastic support
to the bill. No appropriation is needed to carry
out the provisions of the act.
The land to be acquired under the bill includes
about 900 acres in what is known as the North
Calaveras grove in Calaveras county, and 3,040
acres in the south grove in Tuolumne county.
The north grove contains 93 big trees and in
the south grove there are 1,380 of these giant
sequoias. Any tree under eighteen feet in circum-
ference, or six feet through, is not considered in
the count of large trees. Besides the giant sequoias
there are hundreds of sugar pines and yellow pines
of laFge proportions, ranging to the height of 275
feet and often attaining a diameter of eight to
ten feet. There are also many white firs and in-
cense cedars in the two tracts.
The north grove contains ten trees each having
a diameter of twenty-five feet or over, and more
than seventy having a diameter of fifteen to twen-
ty-five feet. Mo>t of the trees have been named,
some for famous generals of the United States and
others for statesmen and various States of the
Union. *' The Father of the Forests," now down,
is estimated by Hittel, in his '' Resources of Cali-
fornia," to have had a height of 450 feet and a
diameter at the ground of more than forty feet
when it was standing. " Massachusetts " contains
1 18,000 board feet of lumber ; '' Governor Stone -
man" contains 108,000 board feet, and the
''Mother of the Forest," burned in the terrible
forest fire which licked its way into a part of the
j giove last summer, contains 105,000 board feet.
I Each of these trees named contain as much lum-
ber as is grown ordinarily on fifteen or twenty
acres of timberland. The bark runs from six
inches to two feet in thickness.
On the Matthews farm, south of Wolcott, N. Y.,
the largest elm in that part of the State was re-
cently cut. The trunk measured 50 feet to the ,
first limbs, and wa^ perfectly sound. The stump
was nearly 15 feet in circumference, and the rings
indicated that it was fully 300 years old. It was
estimated the body would make 2,500 feet of
lumber and the top 25 cords of wood. The Mat-
thews farm has descended from father to son since
British land-owners deeded it to Jesse Matthewj>
about 1809. One would think the present owner
would value the old veteran more for its age and
associations than for the timber it contained. —
Country Gentleman.
Attention has been called in Forest Leaves to
the severe forest fires in 1908 in Pennsylvania and
other States. It is pleasing in this connection to
call attention to the comparatively small loss on
the Girard estate, as an evidence of continued
efforts in practical forestry.
According to the Thirty-ninth Annual Report
of the Directors of the City Trusts there were but
two small fires on April 14th and 23d, which
burned over 40 acres of the Girard Water Com-
pany's 4596 acres, both started by sparks from
locomotives of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
The fire roads, cut at intervals within the water-
shed of Lost Creek, on which 252,050 trees have
been planted, inclosed by the 6Vs miles of stone
wall to prevent the extension of forest fires, were
cut and burnt over. A patrol was maintained on
Sundays and holidays to prevent trespass on the
lands and to detect and extinguish forest fires.
The total amount of forest land belonging to
the Girard estate burned over in three fires in
1908, including the 40 acres of the Ciirard Water
Company, was but 100 acres. This small loss is
ascribed to the opening of the fire lanes and the
watchfulness of emplovees.
Preston c'v: Rounds Co., of Providence, R. I.,,
has issued a '' Key to New England Trees," wild
and commonly cultivated, based primarilv upon
leaf characters, compiled by J. Franklin Collins
and Howard W. Preston, which is sold for 40
cents. This handy booklet of 42 pages, 16 mo.,*
is intended as a guide in determining the names
of the different trees, avoiding technical terms^
those used being defined.
FOREST LEAVES.
47
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
. A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestr}' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
«
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
niuMtrated Catalftyue itpon opplicattdtn*
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Matter.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB 8. DISSTON.
EDGAR DUDLEY FARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCLS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
48
FOREST LEAVES.
w
Know Andorra's Trees?
to
If Not— Why Not?
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality.
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
* -
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations. ^=Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES." 3d EDITION, DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
Each Per lo Per ic»
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $i oo $8 50 $60 00
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched i 25 10 00 70 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; xj^ to i^ in. cal i 50 13 50 125 00
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal 2 00 17 50 135 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2>^ in. cal 2 50 22 50 150 00
10 to 12 ft. 23^: to 3 in 3 50 30 00 275 00
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
tt^^-Seiid for SPKIXC; PKICE LlST.-^a
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Vol. XII.
Philadelphia, August, igog.
No. 4.
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorial 49
Narrative of the Mt. Pocono Meeting
50
Forestry Conditions at Pocono Manor 54
The Local Sawmill 5^
The Present Status of the Forestry Problem 58
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
0/ FoRHST Leaves as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
•methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membership fee. Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
-Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council- at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazier, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
La7v, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication. John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William 8. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp.
County Organization, iisimuci Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
^ames C Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Office of the Association, loia Walnut St.. Philadelphia.
EDITORIAL.
Lessons of the Mt. Pocono Meeting.
^^T'ROM the commodious porches of the Pocono
p* Manor Inn one enjoys vistas of succeeding
~ ranges of hill-country, backed by the cleft
in the Kittatinny Mountains (the Gap^, through
which the Delaware River has carved its channel.
These ranges appear fresh and green, except where
late cultivation is evidenced, as moth holes in a
billiard-cloth, but the amount of good timber
standing is small. The tanneries cleared away a
fine stand of oak and hemlock, the sawmills fol-
lowed, and repeated fires have left only occa-
sional relics of past glory in scattered trees of
sizes fit for use. The dense undergrowth of
chestnut sprouts, laurel, rhododendrons, huckle-
berries, ferns, etc., give the verdant color to the
picture, but the commercial value of the timber
is negligible when the area covered is considered.
However, unless all signs fail, in a decade there
will be changed conditions, due to the efforts of
individuals, associations, and corporations. The
altitude of the Pocono Mountain district offers
attractions to the comfort-seeker during hot
weather ; its clear cold streams, tumbling rapidly
towards sea-level, invite the fisherman, and the
necessity of maintaining wooded areas is recog-
nized as essential for the maintenance of vacation
attractions. To secure these, the existing growth
is protected, and numerous trees have been set
out by associations and corporations which have
secured areas of mountain land. Each of such
estates encourages the owner of adjacent land to
appreciate the value of good forest cover ; and
while many pay little attention to this feature,
others, more progressive, recognize the increased
value to their holdings, due to protected forests.
The necessity of protecting from destruction
the large investment in hotels, cottages, and
bungalows, has developed the Pocono Protective
50
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
51
I
Fire Association, whose function is to prevent and
combat forest fires.
The paper by Mr. Hodge, **The New Law
Regarding the Appointment of Wardens and
Fighting Forest Fires in Pennsylvania," gave
interesting data concerning this organization ;
and that of Mr. Smedley, *' Forestry Conditions
on Pocono Manor," presents facts concerning the
efforts of this particular association to improve
local conditions.
Each section of territory controlled by organi-
zations such as Pocono Manor, Pocono Pines As-
sembly, Pocono Lake Preserve, which extended
courtesies to the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion at its late meeting ; Buckhill Falls Association
which entertained the Association seven years
ago, and others, in protecting the growing wood-
land and setting an example to its neighbors
which is expected to change the Pocono Mountain
region from one which nearly each year was burned
over to one where forest methods will prevail.
The late meeting seriously discussed a problem
upon which our Legislature must soon act, viz.,
advanced laws which will encourage the mainte-
nance of forests by individuals and associations
through an equitable system of taxation. The
papers contributed by Messrs. Elliott, Ferguson,
and Ruddle deal with this problem.
The meeting also offered a practical illustration
of the advantage of a well-constructed road built
at joint expense of State, county and township in
furnishing desirable means of communication be-
tween points, and in establishing barriers to aid
in checking forest fires. The improvement of
the highways of the State is a feature which will
do much to advance the Commonwealth in many
ways. #
These outings, where members of the Associa-
tion meet to form new friendships or renew ac-
quaintance, present opportunities to view the
practical aspect of forestry ; and an important
feature is the quiet conferences out of the formal
meetings.
None of the visitors to Pocono Manor will
forget the magnificent display of rhododendrons
which were in full bloom, nor the generous
courtesies extended by fellow-members which
received recognition through resolutions which
appear in this issue, but we cannot let the
opportunity pass to add to these an expression of
appreciation of the pleasure and profit in which
all shared who attended the Pocono meeting.
^^ J. B.
We regret that want of space in this issue pre-
vents publishing all of the papers presented at the
Mt. Pocono meeting.
Narrative of the Mt. Pocono Meetings
THE summer meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association was held July 7, 8,
and 9 at Pocono Manor, near Mt. Po-
cono, Pa.
First Session,
Mr. Joshua L. Baily called the meeting to order
in the assembly room at 8 p.m. on July 7, and after
welcoming the visitors, described the Pocono
Manor, located at an elevation of 1,700 feet, with
its dry atmosphere and good water. He said that
the organization had come for a benevolent pur-
pose, and as the forest supply would not last more
than 30 to 40 years, reforestation was a necessity.
No living thing is as ancient as trees whose age is
measured by centuries and some by millenniums,
hence the forests should be preserved, utilized, and,
when necessary, trees planted. The Pocono
Manor Association was only about 7 years old,
and when formed the forest growth there was only
about 6 feet high ; the hemlock trees had been
cut for the bark, the trunks being left in the
woods, the other timber removed, while later the
ground was repeatedly burned over. Since that
time the fire had been kept out, and the beneficent
results could be seen. He mentioned the Indiana
Manual Labor School, which was founded on a
legacy of $50,000. A tract of 600 acres of forest
land was purchased, and most of the money spent
in burning the trees to clear the land. As these
were nearly all black walnut, if they had been left
standing they would now be worth three times the
amount of the bequest. He spoke of a gentleman
who did not know the difference between a tulip
poplar and a oak, and, when this was pointed out,
made an examination, being surprised to learn of
the various species. He then introduced Mr.
John Birkinbine, President of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association, who took the chair.
Mr. Birkinbine expressed thanks for the kindly
welcome and stated that the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association was 23 years old, each year being
one of persistent effort, and gave credit to the
ladies for inaugurating the movement in Pennsyl-
vania. The Association is not a political or par-
tisan organization, and no political aid had ever
been asked.
Dr. Henry S. Drinker, President of Lehigh
! University, and Mr. Joseph Elkinton extended an
invitation to the Association to visit the Pocono
Lake Preserve, the party leaving on the follow-
ing day.
Dr. J. T. Rothrock, General Secretary of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and Secretary
of the State Reservation Commission, was then
introduced, and delivered an illustrated lecture
on ^ * Desolate Pennsylvania ' ' (a synopsis of which
will appear later), after which the meeting ad-
journed.
Pocono Lake Preserve,
On the morning of July 8, automobiles were
taken for the Pocono Lake Preserve, about 8
miles to the west, the route being over the fine
State road. On reaching Pocono Lake, a beauti-
ful sheet of water, launches were taken to the
lower end of the lake, where a short walk revealed
some of the natural .beauties of the place. At
the luncheon, Dr. Drinker and Mr. Elkinton de-
scribed the formation and aims of the Pocono
Lake Preserve, while Mr. Wm. S. Harvey, Vice-
President of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion, made an address, and read a letter from Mr.
Gifford Pinchot, U. S. Forester, recommending a
tariff on lumber as tending to conserve the forests
of the United States. The President then for-
mally thanked the Pocono Lake Preserve Associ-
tion for the courtesies received.
The Pocono Lake Preserve is an association of
nature-loving men and women, who have acquired
a tract of some 3,300 acres (including Pocono
Lake, a sheet of water said to be one of the largest
lakes in Pennsylvania, more than 4 miles in
length, with a shore-line of about 10 miles),
located in Tobyhanna Township, Monroe County,
Pennsylvania, at an elevation of 1,800 feet above
sea-level. The Preserve is conveniently accessi-
. ble by the railroad, and yet far enough in the
wilds to be a place where those may go who love
the woods and forest waters, and long for the
simple life, untrammeled by the conventionalities
of modern society.
The lake shores are in places well wooded, and
there is a considerable timber growth on a large
portion of the property. The natural beauties of
the whole place are great, and the walks in the
ravine of the Tobyhanna Creek below the lake
through the rhododendron thickets beautiful.
A share in the association gives a plot of
. woodland in what is considered a children's para-
dise. The Preserve is being peopled mainly by
persons of moderate means — largely drawn from
college and educational circles^ Some prefer tent
life. Others have built shacks and bungalows,
and a dining camp has been established for the
accommodation of members and their guests.
The organization is under the Limited Liability
Laws of Pennsylvania, the Board of Directors
exercising oversight over the hygienic care of the
estate in the matter of the proper disposal of
refuse and the care of the purity of the drinking-
water. Proper supervision is given in the matter
of fishing and hunting, so as to preserve these
features for the sportsmen among the members.
The members of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association who spent an enjoyable day on the
lake and about the Preserve, appreciated the great
influence that such an enterprise should have in
the matter of tree preservation and care in the
surrounding region — for this Preserve is devoted
to carrying on in its domain, under intelligent
supervision, just the objects and lessons that the
Forestry Association exists to further.
After luncheon opportunity was offered for a
walk along Tobyhanna Creek, and the party then
started on the return trip.
A stop was made at Pocono Pines Assembly, a
tract of 300 acres, where the visitors were escorted
by Dr. Miller through the Inn, Auditorium, Tent
Field, the Clymer library, and to Naomi Lake,
a sheet of water about three miles long. On a
part of this land some old pine trees, unusual in
this fire-swept region, were added attractions.
The Pocono Pines Assembly maintains an educa-
tional course during the summer.
Second Session.
In the evening another session was held in the
assembly room. After introductory remarks from
the chairman concerning the necessity of proper
laws for the taxation of forested lands and those
in process of reforestation, Mr. T. L. Hodge,
Secretary of the Pocono Protective Fire Associa-
tion, was introduced, and read a paper on **The
New Law Regardingthe Appointment of Wardens
and Fighting Forest Fires in Pennsylvania,"
which will be printed in Forest Leaves, prefacing
it by a short description of the Pocono Protective
Fire Association, which is now 6 years old, hav-
ing been started in November, 1902. The large
property-owners, in self-protection, were forced
to adopt some method of combating forest fires,
and formed the Association in which 70,000 acres
were represented. All landownefs, large and
small, were welcomed as members, paying annually
one cent per acre of holdings. It had been able
to stop to a large extent the burning of the woods
by incendiary huckleberry pickers, from waste left
in lumber operations, etc. Warning signs are
widely distributed, and a moral sentiment created
against starting forest fires. Under the old law
the county constables were ex-officio fire wardens,
the Commissioner of Forestry having nothing to
do with them, but by the new act the latter has
control of regularly appointed forest fire wardens,
and a much better system has been inaugurated.
Mr. S. B. Elliott, in the absence of the Hon.
Robert S. Conklin, gave a resume of the present
status of forestry legislation in Pennsylvania, de-
52
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
53
I
tails of which were given in the April and June
issues of Forest Leaves.
A paper on ''Taxing Land Held for Reforest-
ation," by Mr. John Ruddle, C. E., was pre-
sented.
The President called on Dr. Henry Sturgis
Drinker, President of Lehigh University, for a
statement of what the University is doing in the
direction of the forwarding of the interests of
forestry, stating that he knew that the work of the
University in this direction would be of interest
to the Association.
Dr. Drinker said : —
*' Lehigh University is a member, in its cor-
porate capacity, of both the National and the
Pennsylvania Forestry Associations. A careful
survey of the general situation^ recently, had satis-
fied the authorities of the University that another
school of forestry was not at present needed ; that
the existing institutions were fiHing the demand
for professional foresters, but that our educational
institutions could do great good in forwarding the
forestry movement by becoming centers in their
respective localities for the dissemination of a
knowledge of the general subject, and in the crea-
tion of an atmosphere and feeling in the public of
interest in the forestry movement. To this end
Lehigh University has been greatly aided by the
recent donation by the heirs of the late Robert
H. Sayre (for many years a trustee of the Uni-
versity) of the sum of $100,000 for the improve-
ment of the L^niversity's large domain (Sayre
Park) on South Mountain, in which the Univer-
sity's buildings are located. An arboretum has
been started in the park under the care of Dr.
Robert W. Hall, Professor of Biology and Lec-
turer on Forestry ; it is expected that this arbore-
tum will soon show a collection of our native trees
that will be an excellent object lesson to the public.
*' This arboretimi was established through the
liberality and aid of an earnest friend of the for-
estry movement, who furnished the funds required
for the laying out of the arboretum and for the
establishment of a course of lectures on forestry at
the University, which are to be given to the pub-
lic of the vicinity as well as to the students of the
LTniversity ; also for the promotion generally of
the effort to make the University a center, in its
locality, for the diffusion of knowledge relative to
forestry, and for the promotion of a public senti-
ment intelligently favorable to forest preservation,
and to the proper care of our forest resources.
** In this work Lehigh University is heartily
enlisted, and the President of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association has accepted the University's
invitation to open the next year's course of lec-
tures on forestry by one on ' The Relation of
Forest Preservation to the Engineering Profes-
> } 1
sions
Dr. R. W. Hall, of Lehigh University, by
request described in some detail the plan for the
arboretum which contained a number of species of
trees, and ultimately it was hoped of every Ameri-
can native tree which would grow in that region,
and seed beds had been started.
Mr. George H. Wirt, Director of the State
Forest Academy, Mont Alto, Pa. , was called upon
and gave a resume of the work done there. As the
State was acquiring large forest reserves, it was
early found that there was a dearth of men who
could be placed in charge, and to supply this
need the Academy was started in March, 1903.
The course at first was two years, but was changed
to three years. The South Mountain reserve
where the Academy is located was being con-
served, wood was sold from improvement cuttings,
a sawmill had been installed, etc. In connection
with the Academy a large nursery was maintained
containing 2,000,000 seedlings. In the spring
there would be 800,000 young trees ready to use
on the reserve or distribute at cost to the public
in accord with the new law. There are now at
the Academy 28 young men, the limit being 30
(divided into classes of to). It was expected
that there would be 13 graduations in the present
class, which would leave 15 vacancies to be filled
from over 50 applicants. On graduation the young
foresters are appointed on the reserves, receiving
$60 per month the first year, $70 per month the
second year, and $100 per month the third year.
There were now 17 graduates on the reserves.
Mr. Samuel L. Smedley presented a paper on
^^ Forestry Conditions at Pocono Manor," which
will be found in another column.
Third Session,
On July 9 there was a third session in the
assembly room, when the following letter from
Governor Stuart was read : —
EXECUTIVE CHAMHER.
H.VRRisurRci, June 30, 1909.
Mr. John Birkinrine, President, Pennsylvania
Forestry Association, Odd Fellows' Temple,
Philadelphia, Pa.
My Dear Sir : I regret very much that previous
important engagements for the week commencing
July 4, which cannot be postponed, will prevent
me from attending the meeting of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association. The purpose and
object of your Association — the protection and
preservation of our forests — should be encouraged
and supported. The Pennsylvania Department
of Forestry has been assisted materially by your
Association in the work that the State has under-
taken toward the conservation and restoration of
our timberlands.
In wishing for your Association all success,
may I request that you kindly convey to the offi-
cers and members of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association my appreciation of their invitation,
and my regret at my inability to attend the meet-
ing. Yours sincerely,
Edwin S. Stuart.
Prof. J. A. Ferguson, of the Pennsylvania
State College, presented a paper entitled *'Some I
Financial Drawbacks to the Practice of Private |
Forestry," and was followed by Mr. S. B. Elliott, I
of the State Forestry Reservation Commission, :
who made an address on '' the Present Status of \
the Forestry Problem." Both of these papers I
will appear in Forest Leaves.
In the discussion which followed, Mr. C. C.
Binney spoke of the early history of forestry asso-
ciations in the United States. The pioneers were
Mr. Franklin B. Hough, of Ohio, who gathered
about him a number of men interested in the sub-
ject, and a similar organization which was formed
in the south, but both were shortlived. In
Cincinnati, in 1882, the American Forestry
Congress was formed, but it was weak, and in
1889 was changed to the American Forestry Asso-
ciation. The Pennsylvania Forestry Association
was the first distinctly State organization, was
much the largest and strongest, and held up the
hands of the American Forestry Congress.
Doubts had been expressed as to the constitu-
tionality of the proposed Appalachian and White
Mountain Reservations. Whether the power of
the United States extended to the purchase of land
from private owners for such purpose. At the
time of the foundation of the National Park at
Gettysburg, Pa., to preserve the site of the battle-
field, similar objection was raised. This was
duly argued, but the site was purchased, and now
no one says the establishment of the park was
illegal. The Appalachian and White Mountain
Reservations concerns the navigability of the im-
portant rivers whose sources were here found, and
the I^w Committee of Congress reported that a
measure to secure and preserve forests for the pres-
ervation of navigable streams was constitutional.
Mr. Elliott stated that the original act for the
Appalachian and White Mountain Reserves had
been declared unconstitutional, and it was only
then that a new tack was tried as narrated above.
Mr. Binney stated that it was understood by those
interested in preserving the navigability of streams
that there could be no proper protection without
forest conservation and reforestation, which must
necessarily follow.
Mr. Joseph Johnson said that the various States
had by legislative action set aside the tracts which
the United States desired to obtain.
Mr. Alfred S. Haines read a paper on '* The
Local Sawmill," which is also presented in Forest
Leaves.
Mr. Elliott stated that the woodlot question
was an important one. In some States, such as
Ohio and Iowa, which only contain agricultural
lands, only the farmers could take care of the trees
in their woodlots. The State might as well tax
the farmer's wheat as his timber, causing him to
cut it, and thus compel him to go to the Pacific for
his lumber. The lack of intelligence of the
farmer leads to deplorable results ; when he has
good trees in his woodlot, he uses these, leaving
stand the less desirable timber, which should first
be removed.
Mr. Birkinbine directed attention to a specimen
chestnut tree on the porch, which had been cut to
show the effect of the chestnut blight, a fungus
growth which aff'ects the bark of the tree, com-
pletely girdling and killing it, and has caused
great devastation.
Mr. Binney asked for enlightenment as to the
proper attitude to be taken by the residents of
large cities in the eastern United States as to
Christmas trees. Whether such a use of young
evergreen trees is legitimate or foolishly destruc-
tive. But if the latter, whether we should not
deny ourselves as was the case witji tea in Boston.
Mr. Oliver C. Hillard spoke of the newspaper
reports of the destruction of Christmas trees by
fire in the cities to keep up the prices.
Mr. Smedley instanced a party who started this
industry at Mt. Pocono, and then went to Maine
to continue it.
Mr. Johnson thought the destruction of young
trees for such a purpose was not justifiable.
Mr. Baily stated he was troubled in mind about
the matter until he learned that in Maine Christ-
1 mas trees were obtained by thinning out, and in
I New England nurseries engaged in raising trees
for this purpose.
Before adjourning the meeting the chairman
called attention to the gratifying success which
had attended the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion for the twenty-three years of its existence,
emphasizing the fact that the. organization had
shown activity in promoting forestry, had main-
tained its original form of organization, had issued
its publication, Forest Leaves, during the entire
time of its existence, and that in actual practical
results secured it claimed to stand pre-eminent
among similar organizations in this country. He
54
FOREST LEAVES.
further congratulated the members on the satis-
factory standing of the Association in having in-
vested funds in excess of the life membership sub-
scription, and upon the ability during its entire
life to meet all its obligations.
Mr. Binney then offered the following resolu-
tion, which was unanimously adopted : —
** Resolved, That we, the members of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association, who have attended
the summer meeting at Pocono Manor, hereby
express our hearty thanks to the local committee,
the officers and members of the Pocono Manor
Association, and of the Pocono Lake Preserve
Association, and all others who have interested
themselves in this meeting, for the courtesy and
hospitality with which we have been received
and entertained, and also our deep gratification at
the strong and practical interest in the cause of
forest preservation manifested l)y the people of
this beautiful region."
Immediately after adjournment the member^^
assembled on the lawn of the Pocono Manor and
planted three hemlock trees for Mrs. Brinton
Coxe, Mr. John Birkinbine, and Mr. S. B.
Elliott, with appropriate ceremonies.
A visit was then made to the ''Hemlocks"
cottage of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Smedley,
where refreshments were served.
In the afternoon, by the courtesy of Mr. Joshua
L. Baily, carriages conveyed the party to his prop-
erty on Svviftvvater Creek, where the beautiful falls
were admired by all, as well as the shaded walk
beside the trout stream.
On the return trip. Rhododendron Park was
visited, and the gorgeous masses of bloom nearing
their prime delighted all.
This completed the Mt. Pocono Meeting, mem-
orable for the many courtesies extended, the
papers and discussions thereon, and the friendly
intercourse which it gave occasion.
Y , L. BlTLER.
The preference for various woods as cross-ties
is indicated by the prices now offered in south-
eastern Pennsylvania per accejjted tie delivered
alongside the railroad track. These ties are all
8 feet 6 inches long, 7 inches wide, while Class i
are 7 inches and Class 2 are 6 inches wide : —
No. I. No. 2.
J;;f/^."s*' 76 cents. 56 cents.
White oak, rock oak, black walnut,
and wild cherr>', 71 cents. 51 cents.
Mixed oak 48 cents. 28 cents.
Chestnut, 40 cents. 20 cents.
Forestry Conditions at Pocono Manor.
(Read at the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
SINCE the middle of the eighteenth century
to the present time the Pocono Mountain
section of Pennsylvania has posed as the
frontier in many particulars. Early settlers were
menaced by the Indians, who committed many
atrocious crimes, and the refugees from the mas-
sacre in the Wyoming Valley traversed this sec-
tion, enduring great suffering.
We have to-day an enemy calling for almost as
much alertness as did savages two centuries ago,
and during each spring and fall an almost constant
watch is kept from the water tower by scanning
the horizon to see if the enemy, the forest fire,
is stealing down Indian Run or Swiftwater A'al-
leys.
In the spring of 1900 all the higher ground,
including the* site upon which this building
(Pocono Manor Inn) stands, was swept by fire,
which cleared nearly everything, except a few
scattered pines or oaks, which seemed to have
grown accustomed to the frequent fires.
The Pocono Manor Association purchased this
tract of 750 acres early in 1902, and on the fif-
teenth day of the following August the Inn was
opened for guests. Since that time, with but one
exception, we have been able to keep the enemy
off the property.
In May, 1905, about 1,000 acres was burnt
over to our southern line on Bear Mountain, but
the fire was checked near midnight by a force of
about 75 men. Early the next morning the con-
ditions were examined, and to all appearances the
trouble was over, but about ten o'clock, when the
dew dried off, the wind fanned the embers, and
down the mountain-side came the fire. By back-
firing from an old trail, which runs up through the
valley, it was finally surrounded, after burning
over about 50 acres of the Manor property.
Shortly after the Manor was started we applied
to the Forestry Department of the National Gov-
ernment at Washington for instructions as to the
best way to care for the young growth that was
springing up. The department sent a representa-
tive, who made a careful survey of the property,
from which a plan was furnished us ; also much
valuable advice, the substance of which was that,
owing to the splendid stand of young saplings,
mostly hard woods, the principal thing to do was
to keep out the fires, that the few vacant places
should be planted with coniferous trees, which
would grow into value, and at the same time be
an ornamental feature, which is desirable in an
enterprise like this.
FOREST LEAVES.
55
In the spring of 1904 we imported 10,000
coniferous trees and started a nursery, but owing
to delays in handling only about 80 per cent,
grew. For the past three years we have been
planting from this stock, with most satisfactory
results.
From what information we can gather the origi-
nal timber of this section was pine on the higher
lands, while hemlock prevailed in the valleys ;
but about 1850 the tanning industry was exten-
sively carried on in the Poconos, a large business
being established at Tannersville. Presumably,
it was for this that the exceptional -fine stand of
hemlock in our Swiftwater Valley was cut for the
bark, the logs being left to decay ; and in a few
years the fires came, hundreds of thousands of feet
of valuable timber being destroyed.
Since that time, at intervals of from four to
five years, fire swept this section of the Poconos ;
in many places even the soil has been burnt off,
but, fortunately for us, in most places the soil is
sufficient to support a good stand of timber, and
we would call your attention to the fine results on
the north slope of the Swiftwater Valley from !
simply keeping the fires out.
We have been doing some thinning out, which
has to be done with great care, as to thin out too
much will allow the sun to dry the ground and so
check the growth. The better plan seems to be
to thin out every four or five years, according to \
the growth, and cut the undergrowth with the j
scythe each year. We regret that the chestnut |
blight has made its appearance on the Manor, and
we would gladly receive suggestions as to any
practical way to check it. 1
Our position, geographically, is peculiar : to
the west are two lines of railroads, with an almost
uninhabited country for several miles ; to the east
are the hotel, cottages and farm interests. The
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad is
awakening to the responsibility of the loss they
are causing each year from the fires started from
their engines. The Wilkes-Barre & Eastern Rail-
road officials and employees pay little or no atten-
tion to any fire that starts along the line. The
indifference displayed by the latter company's
men and some of the former are appalling. Fires
will be started at the noon-hour, or to burn old
ties at the most unpropitious time, and left to
burn out without any thought as to the conse-
quences.
Many of the fires in the past were due to the
huckleberry pickers, but, from statistics gathered
from the local fire wardens, about 90 per cent, of
the fires are started by the railroads. In protect-
ing ourselves we naturally protect the large inter-
ests to the east of us.
Our superintendent has proven to his satisfac-
tion that fire extinguishers are the most efficient
way of combating the fires under the conditions
that exist— of course, much depends on how near
it is possible to drive to the scene of action. Ad-
ditional roads are being opened up each year, and
it will not be long before we will be in shape to
feel moderately sure of being able to successfully
cope with any normal conditions.
I would call attention to the Swiftwater stream
and the water supply for the Manor, as we are
largely indebted to the forestry conditions,
meagre as they are, for our exceptional fine
water-supply. The Swiftwater stream rises about
two miles west of the Inn, and, during the exten-
sive drought of last year, the diminution of flow
was scarcely noticeable. The water is exception-
ally pure, and during the heaviest rains I have
never seen it muddy, indicating that there is prac-
tically no broken ground on the watershed. The
surface water is largely filtered through leaf mold
and a subsoil of red shale or Pocono sandstone,,
which accounts for its quality.
Just beyond the Swiftwater, and at the foot of
what we know as Bear Mountain, the Manor
springs discharge several barrels a minute at a
temperature to-day of 47°, and analysis proves it
worthy to be classed among the purest waters
found. The Swiftwater stream is harnessed with
I a turbine-wheel, and this water is forced to the
I exchange at the Inn at a temperature of 52°.
An artificial lake of about three and one-half
acres has been constructed a few hundred yards
below the power-house, with attractive surround-
, ings, its exceptional cleanliness, refreshing cool-
ness, and beautiful outline adding much to the
landscape. The water increases in temperature 6°
while retained therein, being 54° on entering and
60° on leaving.
While we have little of what can be called
heavy timber, about 50 acres at the extreme east-
ern end of the Manor contains some moderately
' good-sized trees, with a scattering of chestnut,
; maple, and hemlock up along the stream. Fortun-
ately the adjoining tract to the west belongs to
our 'mutual friend and member, Joshua L. Baily,
who has been a staunch defender of the forest for
many years. There are no extensive acres of
heavy woodland, but there are along the Swift-
water stream some fine specimens of spruce and
! hemlock, and a few pines— I doubt if the latter
are surpassed in size anywhere in Eastern Penn-
sylvania.
On the lowlands of the Swiftwater valley are to
be found the rhododendron— the beautiful bloom
and rich foliage of which at this time offer prob-
ablv the grandest floral display to be found in the
56
FOREST LEAVES.
I
•ii
eastern States, with possibly one exception — the
mountain laurel, which about ten days ago be-
decked these mountainsides in a way that would
defy a skilled landscape gardener.
Samuel L. S.aiedley.
The Local Sawmill.
(Read at the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
I CALL your attention to the humble subject of
the small sawmill because I believe that a
proper understanding of its economic im-
portance will help to solve the problem of the
small woodlot ; and the problem of the farm
woodlot, ladies and gentlemen, is no negligible
part of that great object of this Association — the
conservation of the State's resources in forest and
stream. I cannot give you the exact figures rep-
resenting the millions of acres of unimproved farm-
land in this State, nor would they mean anything
to you if I could. More convincing than statis-
tics will be an intelligent observation of the con-
ditions existing here and there as one travels over
the State. As you realize the vastness of this waste
farmland area, you begin to appreciate what it
would mean if it were all growing timber. Nor
would our statistics show another side of the
story — how many board feet, think you, of lumber
are hauled by the farmer from his lot to the mill
and thence back to the farm for building and fenc-
ing ? The census reporter gets no record of this,
but if a like amount were taken out each year from
the stores of market lumber, then the figures would
show, and the prices would respond. It is to the
manufacturing side of this great home-industry
that I call your attention. I
The study will be neither systematic nor com-
prehensive. It is based mainly on observations of I
less than two decades, and confined to the territo-
rial limits of one county.
As a boy I watched the great creaking timber
wheels, ox-drawn, lay down log after log in my
grandfather's mill-yard. Slowly these logs went
through the old vertical saw, the slabs were split
apart at the unsawn end, then piled on wagons,
and drawn back by the same '' Buck and Berry."
This was typical of a score of mills I knew, and
have since seen lose entirely this trade, if not even
their very existence as mills. The method was i
crude, slow, and wasteful, so the business was '
easily taken by the portable steam sawmill. This
outfit was swift in its work, but even more waste-
ful, because of the necessity felt to cut everything
on a given area in order to get every cent possible
out of the job. By the old method the farmer
and his men cut out, during winter, a few ripe
trees or trimmed up a few the storms had thrown
down — ^just enough for the home supply of lumber ;
the ' ' portable ' ' miller bought the tract for a lump
sum, promising to leave only the land, or he was
hired to do the cutting at so much per thousand
feet. In either case the result on the woodlot was
the same.
This is not the place to enlarge upon my belief
that the ** clean cutting" practiced as a result of
the above-mentioned conditions has been a great
disadvantage to the woodlot. It will be clear to
you that the effect has been very marked.
During the period of my observations it has
been persistently drilled into people by the oper-
ators of these small steam outfits that they could
not afford to haul logs from their own woods to
the mill ; that it would be cheaper for them to go
buy lumber at the yard and sell their own crop to
the same operator. One illustration (of many that
have come to my knowledge) will make clear what
a strong financial motive there was behind this
argument : John Doe owned 14 acres of timber ;
he had a water- power mill, and a home demand
for 15,000 feet of rough lumber and fencing per
year. James Roe owned a steam-mill, and wanted
to cut the timber on that tract. Roe was an inti-
mate friend of Doe's, and made him a very good
offer — $150 per acre for the lot as the trees stood.
But it happened that Doe, unlike 98 per cent, of
the woodlot owners, knew something about the
amount of sawed lumber that an acre of trees
would furnish, and he felt that Roe's offer was
insufificient. So he hired the said Roe to put his
mill on the tract and work it up at so much per
thousand feet. Doe undertaking the sale of the
product. As a result, the operation showed the
owner a net profit of 1^299 per acre against the
$150 offered.
This opportunity for great profits has pushed
the steam sawmill business to its limit, the old
water-power mills have nearly all gone, and the
tracts, large enough to tempt the portable mill,
have all been cut. Meanwhile', the price of sawed
lumber has risen steadily and not slowly. For
many improvements that might be made the cost
of material is prohibitive. But trees grow as long
as the sun shines and rain falls. There are single
trees and small groves that are ready for the mill.
To-day, this need of a nearby mill is felt ; to-
morrow, it will be more keenly felt.
Let me make this situation still clearer by an-
other illustration: The same John Doe, above
referred to, as I said, had a water-power and con-
siderable timber, but only one of those old
saw-her-through-while-you-eat-your-dinner sort of
saws. The task of getting out poorly-sawed
»f ■
^1
«!
CO
LU
o
o
111
UJ
LU
UJ
t/:
U
CO
UJ
UJ
UJ
UJ
CO
CO
UJ
t*
FOREST LEAVES.
57
ill
t
I
lumber was sufficiently great to compel him to
let his own timber waste, while he paid out
freight and double profits on what he needed to
buy. He was persuaded against his will to put
in a modern circular saw, and now has on hand
constantly a supply of seasoned lumber from his
own trees. Besides this, the neighbors from sev-
eral miles around keep the log-yard full, and
would bring still more if the sawyer would make
use of his table saws to utilize more closely the
whole log. Five years since I saw that old mill
work a 4-foot pin oak into ^-inch fence pickets
with a saw that cut a ^-inch kerf both ways, and
four heavy slabs went into the miller's wood-
pile. To-day the slab-pile grows very slowly,
and the saw cuts only about half as much sawdust.
A farmer who pays ^27.50 for splintery hemlock
hardly worth hauling home is not especially
pleased to see 75 per cent, of his prime oak or
chestnut go into the miller's furnace or his neigh-
bor's ice-house. Consequently, he hunts the mill
that will return him the largest percentage of his
log as lumber at a fair charge for the work.
At farm sales recently I have heard that a good
woodlot is considered an essential part of a good
property. Repairs are inevitable ; repairs require
lumber ; the cost of these will add rapidly to the
purchase price of the place. If properly man-
aged, the labor of getting out the logs can be
credited to the labor already employed, the $5 or
$6 per thousand feet for sawing being the only
cash outlay, the rest being credited to the woodlot.
These conditions point to the rapid unlearning
of the mischievous lesson taught by the steam- saw
miller. He has chopped and haggled many a
steep hillside in our county that ought never to
have been bared. He will yet find work here and
there cutting up bunches of logs some one has
drawn to the site of a building, but the possibili-
ties of 150 per cent, profits are in the past. The
fuller appreciation of the value of the growing or
the ripe tree, the value of the woodlot as a farm
resource, must inevitably accentuate the demand
for the restoration of the local sawmill. Not the
mill of old times, but the small water (or steam)
power mill with up-to-date machinery adapted to
the available power, and operated by a man who
can get the most out of the log. There will have
to be, too, a learning over again of old tricks. A
large majority of farmers and farm laborers don't
know how to cut a tree nor how to load the log
when cut, and many don't know even how to trim
a log fit for the mill. I could show you a 5-foot
chestnut log that three men and four horses spent
three hours loading — it is still by the side of its
stump, rotting.
The connection of all this with the Forestry
Association may not be clear. Our work is largely
educational. The bulk of these small woodlots
is held by farmers, and farmers are, for various
reasons, not represented in our Association. I
believe that these little bits of the history of a
neighborhood industry point a lesson of very gen-
eral application. All over our country are small
water-powers, many unused, and, because of dis-
use, decaying. The utilizing of these for the
business indicated and for other purposes would
not only prove a good investment of capital, but
each such plant, rehabilitated, would influence the
whole district in which it is located. Let a com-
plete little wood-working mill be put on the site
of one of these deserted sawmills, and its economic
influence will begin immediately and grow rapidly.
The farmers will find out that a large percentage
of the lumber they buy for improvements can be
cut in their own woods ; they will learn how to
cut, so as to utilize the increment, the increase of
their woodland, instead of allowing it to waste ;
they will naturally learn the folly of the conven-
tional excuse that trees here and there can't be
removed without impairing the whole stand ; they
will learn how to cut and handle logs ; and,
perhaps, slowest and most important of all, they
will learn to value and preserve the source of the
power on which all this depends. Many of these
little streams drain fertile valleys that are properly
cultivated, but many more have watersheds, now
barren and unproductive, that should be tree-
covered. Proper attention to this matter would
not stop, but check, the filling up of the dams.
The farmer of Pennsylvania is not unlike other
business men (though many do not recognize
farming as a business) ; he is most influenced by
an appeal to his pocketbook. Unless I am mis-
taken, the change that I have tried to suggest to
you is inevitable. This Association can and
should hasten it by taking the lead. The farmer
(I mean those men who put energy and brain into
the business, and only those will survive) is alive
to the forestry interest ; he wants help, and he
wants to help. The more farmers there are in
this State who are practicing correct woodlot
forestry in their business, the more vital will be
the force of the agricultural interests back of the
State Reservation policy. These interests have
sustained this movement. Now they expect results.
I heartily agree with Mr. Elliott that we do not
need more reserves so much as we need to care for
what we have. This increase of care means the
expenditure of money. We must spend in order
to undo the mistakes of the past.
The State. Reservation Commission must have
the intelligent help of the so-called agricultural
vote. A. S. Haines.
58
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
59
i
The Present Status of the Forestry
Problem.
(Read at the I\It. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
WHEN the white man came to this country
he found an almost unbroken forest
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Missis-
sippi River. Beyond that there was a vast region
practically devoid of trees until the Pacific slope
was reached, where another domain of the largest
and most wonderful trees that ever grew was found.
To-day nearly all those vast forests are gone, and
at the present rate of destruction will be entirely
so within the next quarter of a century, unless
cared for in a different manner than heretofore.
The preservation of such as remain, and the
restoration of a necessary amount of those that
have been destroyed, compose the forest ^problem
that is before us for solution ; and the present
status of that problem is surely a subject worthy of
careful consideration. For an intelligent under-
standing of existing conditions, it will be well to
see what has been done in the past, what is being
done now, and along what lines the work is car-
ried on.
Among the first movements, if not the very first,
which history records was when the King of Eng-
land, about the time of the settlement of Ply-
mouth, issued a mandate that certain oaks should
not be cut by the settlers, but must be left for use
in constructing his majesty's ships, and that cer-
tain pines must be j)reserved for the masts thereof.
Not long thereafter the Dutch authorities inter-
dicted the cutting of certain sized oaks for similar
reasons. Later on William Penn stipulated in his
land grants that a certain percentage of forests
should be left for future use.
However, all this occurred before it was known
how vast an area existed in this country covered
with magnificent trees; and when that fact was
ascertained a belief quite naturally filled the minds
of both the authorities and the people that the
forests were inexhaustible, and, hence, there was
no need to obey these mandates, and consequently
they were wholly disregarded. In these fruitless
movements we have about all the known official
recognition of the possibility of an exhaustion of
forest supply, or any necessity for caring for it,
for a period of nearly two hundred and fifty years,
except legislation in some of the States relative to
forest fires. During all this time the only thing
done with the forests was to destroy them, first for
agricultural purposes and later for timber.
It should not be assumed that such destruction
was altogether vandalism, or that it was unneces-
sary. Civilized people could not live in the wil-
derness ; only Indians could do that, and lumber
was necessary to construct the white man's house.
It was the proper thing to do, and the only just
criticism that should be offered is, that provisions
were not made for the perpetuation of a sufficient
area of forest to maintain the needed supply for
the peopte who were to come after them. There
is nothing wrong in cutting down a tree for a use-
ful purpose, providing that by so doing one shall
not wrong others who are as much entitled to it
and its protection as the one who cuts it, and if
suitable provisions shall be made to grow another
by the time it may be required. Therefore, the
wrong that has been committed consists in not
making provisions for the continuance of such
forests as might be needed for coming generations,
and we are perpetuating that wrong.
But the destruction went on with accelerated
speed, and no thought was given to the future,
except now and then by some one who was deemed
a visionary and a prophet of impossible disaster
and who would insist that, with an increasing
population and an augmented demand for forest
products, coupled with a rapidly increasing de-
struction of the forests, their end must come in no
great length of time ; but even those who foresaw
that end did not suppose they would live to
behold it.
As time passed on evidence of the rapid ap-
proach of the final disaster so multiplied that a
lofty and patriotic sentiment was aroused that took
cognizance of the condition of things, and many
saw that some action should be taken, but just
how or in what way anything could be done was
by no means clear in the mind of any one. Thus
far there was held to be no occasion on the part
of the general public to consider seriously the sub-
ject which we now term forestry. Then, too,
what little thought was given it was from different
standpoints ; some from economic or utilitarian
grounds and others from aesthetic or sentimental
ones. The latter were far more numerous than
the others, but each of them could truthfully ex-
claim :
*' I love my country's pine-clad hills,
Her thousand bright and gushing rills,"
yet all saw the pines disappearing and the rills
roaring torrents or dry stream beds, and they
could not be comforted. The utilitarian, or, if
you please so to call him, the economist, saw the
great damage by floods, the serious disturbance of
the equable flow of springs and streams, and the
constantly increasing distance between the centers
of population and the increasing cost of lumber to
the consumer. He, too, saw that something should
be done, but he was no better prepared to propose a
remedy than were the lovers of the pine-clad hills
and gushing rills ; and the result was that a vague
and indefinite conception of the nature of the
problem, and the best method of solving it, filled
the minds of all who gave it any thought what-
ever. They knew that some action should be
taken, but just what or how they could not see
clearly ; and there was no wonder, for it is a prob-
lem which we of this day, with the experience of
other countries before us, and all the thought we
have given it, are unable to agree on what is best.
Finally, their bewildered thoughts gravitated
into a two- fold conclusion, one part of which was
that there were forests enough then standing to
provide for all future needs, if conservatively
managed — that is, if mature trees only were to be
removed and the younger growth allqwed to come
on and useless waste prevented — and had not con-
ditions materially changed, as time rolled on, this
portion of their conclusion was well founded. The
other feature was that it was the paramount duty
of the government to carry out the scheme. The
idea that individuals, corporations, societies, or
municipalities should engage in conserving or
growing forests did not seem to have many, if any,
advocates ; nor are there many at the present
time, notwithstanding the fact that more than
thi:ee-fourths of the successfully conducted forests
of Europe are owned, managed, and maintained
by others than the government.
These conclusions crystalized some score or
more years ago, and the result was that forestry
associations were organized to advocate their
adoption by the government, and to foster the re-
newal of our destroyed forests and their mainte-
nance in their primitive beauty. As I understand
it, the effective pioneer in this was the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association, now twenty -three
years old, and the American Forestry Association
followed soon after. No legislation was had look-
ing to the conservation or restoration of the for-
ests, save that pertaining to forest fires, by either
State or National governments, for some time after
the organization of our Association, but when it
was enacted in our State it was formulated along
the lines suggested by this pioneer in the good
work, and at its persistent demands. This is said
in no spirit of boasting on my part, for I was not
then a member, but as an historical fact which
should be known.
Not only was the forest policy of this State
built upon the foundation first laid down by this
pioneer in forest conservation, but other States
have practically adopted the same basis, and
even the United States Government is working
along the same lines ; and it may as well be
stated here as later on that the two dominating
features named — that is, sufficiency of present
forests, if properly managed, and the practically
exclusive duty of the government to direct and
control their management — are embodied in about
all laws that have been passed, and are held by
a large majority of the people, although our own
Association has moved forward with the changed
and modified conditions which time and experi-
ence have wrought. At the present time it holds
to the view that the forests are not now sufficient
— for reasons that must be manifest to every
student of the forest problem — and that while the
government should do much for the restoration,
perpetuation, and maintenance of the forests, yet
that government should not, and, what is more,
cannot^ do all that is necessary in that line. No
authority has been given me to say this, but I
earnestly hope I am not in error in this belief.
The thought that the forests were sufficient was
justified at the time it was first entertained, but
conditions have greatly changed. Since the or-
ganization of this Association the population of
our country has greatly increased. From a little
over 50,000,000 in 1880 it has risen to over
80,000,000, probably 85,000,000, an increase of
' 70 per cent., while the per capita demand for
I forest products has been greatly enlarged. Be-
I sides this, the expanded and rapid development
j of many industries using wood, such as mining
I and railroad extension, and also the many new
! uses wood is put to, as for paper pulp, telephone,
i trolley, and electric light poles, and the like,
have conspired to raise the consumption per
capita greater than ever before, and greater than
I that of any other people in the world. Besides
this, the area of productive forests is greatly
' lessened by lumbering and fires, so that to-day
there exists a much smaller virgin stand than we
were favored with a score of years ago, and what
there is remaining is so far away from the densely
; populated States of the north and east that these
sections are already suffering for want of an ample
supply — they are in the first stages of a timber
famine, a famine that will increase in severity for
a long time to come no matter what may be done.
I Now, while students of the forest problem have
observed and accepted this change the general
public has not, and to-day we stand confronted
with the prevailing belief in the minds of the
people that natural reproduction, through con-
servative methods of forest management, is all
that is needed; while the fact is that we are con-
suming forest products more than three times
; faster than they are growing, and at least twice as
fast as the very best management of existing
I forests can be made to produce ; and not until
60
FOREST LEAVES.
that erroneous belief can be removed and the
correct one accepted — namely, that new forests
must be planted — will the road to successful re-
sults be chosen.
Sentimental views may be held and advocated,
generalities may be indulged in, and all will do
more or less good, but we must get down to
cold economic facts before we can master the
situation. No country has ever successfully made
commercial use of its forests and maintained
them in productiveness without planting trees,
and our American civilization makes greater de-
mands upon the forests than has ever occurred
elsewhere, and therefore the supply per capita
must be greater.
Unfortunately, this erroneous belief that the
forests of our country are ample, if properly
managed, is ' fostered and encouraged through
the name applied to tracts of land set aside by
National and State governments to be maintained
as forests. These tracts are called reservations,
and when the term is applied to tracts of real
forests it is correctly used. The meaning of the
word, in a broad sense — and that is what the
people accept — is a something reserved, held
back, or kept, which of course contemplates a
something in existence ; but this general meaning
does not apply to tracts of land devoid of forests
but, rather, to existing forests which have been set
aside for forestry purposes. It is unfortunate that
there is no word in our language applicable to
the case where there is no forest growth. The
framers of the Pennsylvania forestry laws were
forced, by this poverty of our language, to use the
word to designate barren land — which the State
could purchase at $5 per acre — that the United
States Government did for real forests which it
owned. This deplorable fact, the lack of a suit-
able word, has brought about a new, but legal,
definition of the word ^' reservation," and so far
as our State lands are concerned the words ** Forest
Reservation " covers land either with or without
a forest growth upon it. It really means that the
land is reserved and not, necessarily, that a forest
is. It may or it may not be a forest ; but the
general meaning of the word is as indicated, and
it is almost universally held to cover a reservation
of deforest instead of a reservation of land, and the
general belief is that our Forest Reservations are
such in reality, which is far from the fact. This
unfitness goes still farther. We have a Forest
Reservation Commission in this State which has
in its charge more land practically destitute of
valuable forest growth than it has with an accept-
able amount of such growth upon it, but I greatly
fear that that fact is not widely understood. Ac-
cording to the actual condition of these lands the
name applied to the Commission is a misnomer ;
it should be ^' Forest Restoration Commission."
Our legislatures and the general public have
evidently believed, and apparently still believe,
that the cut-over lands of the State are covered
with a growth, more or less mature, of such spe-
cies of trees as will, in the not far distant future,
make merchantable lumber, and that all that is
necessary to bring that about is to keep out fires,
make necessary improvement cuttings to permit
the full development of natural planting, and pre-
vent theft. This belief concerning the forests of
the country is not confined to Pennsylvania, but
is generally held throughout the entire National
domain, and, what is more, the United States
Forest Service is largely conducted along that
line. True, the United States Government is
planting tre^s, but it is doing so largely for the
purpose of protecting the watersheds of rivers to
be used for irrigation. Now the principal reason
advanced for securing the Appalachian and White
Mountain Reservations is that of keeping them in
perpetuity ; and the claim is made that if the gov-
ernment shall own and control them they will be
so kept through natural reforestation. Not one
word is heard of the need of planting them where
now denuded of trees or where future cuttings
shall occur, something which will inevitably come
if they are to be exploited. I do not propose to be
misunderstood in this case. I favor the Appala-
chian and White Mountain purchase by the
United States Government, although I have
doubts of its constitutionality, and would like to
see an amendment to the Constitution covering
that and other needed forestry powers by Con-
gress, but I do not wish to see it done under a
misapprehension, and it will be if purchased with
the expectation that they can be made to yield a
reasonable return without largely planting trees.
Whenever I have conversed with those advocating
their purchase, and who know as well as I do that
artificial reforestation would have to be at once
begun and be constantly continued for the project
to be successful, either for controlling floods or
producing a supply of timber at all commensurate
with the cost or the needs of the people, I am told
that it will not do to tell Congress or the people
that fact, for they would drop the matter at once
were it done. It is true that it would be discour-
aging, but it would be the truth, and must sooner
or later be known ; and why not let it be known
in the beginning? Why not let the people know
the exact condition of our forests and what must
be done to preserve them ? They are looking to
those who have made this important question a
careful study for information and advice, and if it
shall not be given fully and freely, and at the
FOREST LEAVES.
61
proper time, there will be, when the truth is ap- j
parent, such righteous and just indignation shown
as will make those failing in an honest duty see
their mistake. And right here I will venture the
prediction that when the people come to under^
stand that the so-called Forest Reservations of our
Commonwealth can yield but little revenue for
half a century to come, the Reservation Commis-
sion of which I am a member, will be severely
criticized for not beginning the work of restora-
tion of the forests by planting trees sooner than it
did, the people entirely forgetting or ignoring the
fact that while funds were given with which to
purchase denuded lands— for the law would not
allow more than $5 per acre, and only denuded
lands could be secured— a totally inadequate sum
was provided for reforestation and management.
Think you that I am mistaken as to the opinions ,
of the members of the legislature ? If so please }
explain why they of the last one failed to appro-
priate the amount they were told was needed to ;
carry on the work of reforestation and manage- ^
ment of the already vast area of cut-over and ,
burned-over State lands. They either did not
know that these lands must be reforested by plant-
ing, or they did not have a just appreciation of ,
the' duty this generation owes to the next, or did
not care for the welfare of our good old Common- ^
wealth. The charitable conclusion is that, although 1
told the facts, they did not comprehend the real
conditions which prevail, and that is my belief.
It is not reasonable to suppose that they would
have appropriated money to enlarge the State
Capitol Park, whereby the occupants of the grand
building on '' the hill " could enjoy the beautiful
vista which would be spread before their enrap-
tured vision through giving an extended view of
the Pennsylvania Railroad freight yards. ^ Nor
would they have granted money for a Grand
Boulevard from one end of the State to the other,
on which neither man nor beast would have ven-
tured to travel unless i)Ossessed with an over-
powering desire to be run over by that modern
Tuggernaut ycleped the automobile. Neither
Would they have granted to the well-paid judges
of the State an increase of salary, when those very
same judges would move, not *' heaven and earth,"
but another region, to retain their seats at their
present salary. Ignorance of forest needs must
certainly have prevailed or such schemes would
not have been given preference.
From what has been thus far said concerning
natural reforestation it must not be inferred that
tree planting alone should be depended upon, nor
that it is not advisable to practice conservative
cutting or cherish natural regeneration. By no
means should these be neglected, for both are es-
sential and at times advisable. The point sought
to be established is : That under present condi-
tions our forests will be wholly inadequate to fur-
nish a proper supply of forest products by that
system of treatment alone. Our consumption of
wood is at the annual rate of 40 cubic feet per
acre of mature forests, while the annual accretion
is only 12 cubic feet, and unless trees shall be
planted the end is not far distant. The all-
important fact is, that there are not forests enough
to serve us.
Now, the other feature of the forest problem
floating in the minds of the people, and from there
I flowing into the halls of legislation, is that it is
' the paramount duty and business of the govern-
ment to care for the forests, and it should be ad-
mitted that it has some features in it that are
acceptable, yet there are some that are impracti-
cable and vicious. However, a belief in the
whole scheme is as widespread as that our forests
are ample if satisfactorily treated. Now, let it be
understood at once that it is not denied or even
disputed that the government should take a hand,
and an important one, too, in the restoration and
care of the forests of the country ; but that it
should do all, or can do so, should it be under-
taken, is as emphatically denied as that it should
do its share is affirmed.
If the conditions were alike there is no more
reason why the government should grow, care for,
and administer our forests, and sell and dispose of
all forest products, than there is that it should do
the same thing with wheat or any other important
agricultural product. But the conditions are not
alike. The element of time so enters into the
forest problem that it widely diff'ers from that of
growing other crops from the soil ; but this diff^er-
ence does not relieve the landowner, large or small,
from aiding in the restoration of the forests and
caring for the timber supply of the future, for it is
not only his patriotic duty, but it is for his finan-
cial interests. It is not the province of forestry to
take to itself any considerable area of land suited
for ordinary agriculture, or what may be termed
arable land. There are several good reasons for
this. One is, that all the arable land is or will be
needed to grow food for mankind, and that all
such land is likely to be required for that purpose
in this country before a crop of timber would be
large enough to be harvested ; and another is, that
i non-agricultural lands are well enough suited to
grow trees, for they have done it once and can do
it again, and that it is not wise to let any land go
unused or go without a forest cover and be de-
stroyed by inevitable erosion, as has been a large
part of Asia, Southern Europe, and Northern
Africa.
62
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
63
Furthermore; there is hardly a farm of average
size in all this broad land but has some area un-
suited for cultivation — much of it wholly unfitted
and its use for that impossible — which can and
should be made to grow trees, and the govern-
ment cannot secure this against the wishes of the
owner without exercising the right of eminent
domain — a function that smacks somewhat of
tyranny— even if it should desire to, which it
certainly would not if there were only a few acres
in such a tract. Such land is a source of con-
tinual loss to its owner, for he loses both the in-
terest on the money invested in it and the taxes
he pays upon it, to say nothing of the care of it.
Therefore, the small as well as the large land-
owner will be benefitted by growing trees on his
non-agricultural domain, aside from his duty to
the Commonwealth and posterity. But it should
be understood, yet it is not— and therein lies, at
present, an insurmountable obstacle to general
reforestation— that no individual, corporation, i
organization, or municipality, other than the
State, can afford to enter upon growing trees in '
forests in this State until the tax laws are changed ;
and this is the case in nearly every State in the
\l^^^; "^^ ^^^^ tree-growing is beset with enough
difficulties to deter most people from engaging in
It. The one who ^/oes run risks from fire, disease
insects, and winds. These he may fancy he will
escape, but he knows that the assessor and col-
lector are as sure as fate, and that they will in-
crease the burden all too freciuently.
We should remember that when the tax laws
were passed it was desirable to get rid of the
forests, and heavy taxation would lead that way
as It has in later times, to the point of practical
confiscation. Now it is no longer our desire or
interest to get rid of the forests but, rather, to
preserve them. Conditions are reversed and the
laws should be changed to suit. Land upon
which immature trees of such species as will make
merchantable lumber should be taxed as naked
land only, without any regard whatever to any
growth upon it, until the trees should become of
such size as to make merchantable lumber, and
when cut taxed according to the value of the
umber in the market. Tax the land as land and
the product as product, but the latter only when
mature. We do not tax young cattle and colts
until they are four years old, until they are deemed
mature and marketable, and by what system of
ogic or reasoning should we tax trees, or increase
the tax on the land, which is the same thini?, until
they are mature, and then put the tax on annually
at that ? One might just as well levy a tax upon
a growing crop of wheat or corn as on an imma-
ture crop of trees. Neither may mature and the
owner lose both crop and tax. It is illogical un-
reasonable, and unjust, and until it is abandoned
there will be little reforestation in any State of
the Union except what the State or National
government may do, for it cannot be done with-
out loss.
This, then, is the present status of the forestry
problem : As a nation we are depending upon
natural reproduction to supply a demand which is
more than three times greater than the forests can
produce, and are neglecting the only remedy
within our reach, which is planting trees. We
are depending upon the government to care for
and look after the forest products of the future
through owning and caring for the forests— a thing
which It cannot nor should not do— and practi-
cally denying to private parties, coroorations, and
municipalities, through unjust, illogical, and bur-
densome tax laws, the opportunity to do for the
country in creating forests what the government
cannot do. These are naked facts, and it must be
acknowledged that the outlook is not promisinL^
A\ e may berate the legislature to our heart's con-
tent, but that body will not act until the people
compel it to. Hereafter, as ever, the forestry
movement must be one of education.
There are few who comprehend the magnitude
of the work we have before us in Pennsylvania.
1 here are, approximately, 8,000,000 acres of non-
agricultural lands within her borders, land that
must grow trees or nothing. While no exact
statement can be made of the amount of area re-
quired to supply the needed forest products for
our people, it is certainly safe to say that it will
closely approach 6,000,000 acres, quite likely
more Do our people stop to contemplate what
It will cost to make such a vast area— nearly one-
fourth of the State— a productive forest, or the
number of men recpiired to bring it about? I
tear that they do not, because they have an
erroneous idea of what reforestation of cut-over
and burned- over lands means. It is safe to say
hat not one half of the non-agricultural lands of
the State can ever produce a crop of merchant-
able timber worthy of the name without planting
rees upon it ; and does any one realize that bu" '
ittle revenue can come from it for more than a
hird of a century ? And then, too, just think of
the number of men it will require to do the work
of planting and caring for the forests for so many
years, and politicians all the while seeking -soft
snaps for favorites. If Pennsylvania to-day
owned only one million acres of forest filled with
good timber trees like those she once possessed,
that forest would be attacked by a frantic horde
of present grafters, and it is no great stretch of
the imagination to fancy how some of bygone
days might rise and cast off the mouldy cerements
of the grave to ^' shake the trees." An honest
governor and forestry commission would be no
more able to defend the Commonwealth from the
grafters than is the imaginary cat in Hades with-
out claws able to fight with the imps that would
attack it ; and as for a legislature protecting the
interests of the State it is so improbable as to be
non-thinkable. Has the experience of our own
State, or that of the United States, been such as
to justify a repetition of disposing of timber lands ?
Let us banish the idea that the State should
own any large amount of timber lands, and so
adjust our laws that municipalities, corporations,
societies and individuals may engage in growing
forests and then educate the people for that work.
When that shall be done the status of the forestry
problem will be vastly different from what it is
now, and the prosperity of the State and Nation
be assured. S. B. Elliott.
J. T. RbTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C. '
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
The Pennsylvania State College I CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forest r>'— preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. ,
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
riluMtrated Catalogue upon application.
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
■ Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-Fresident.
George Woodward, SecrHary and Tieamrer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB S. DISSTCN.
EDGAR DUDLEY FARIES.
FRANCIS I. OOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R.SHEFFIELD.
•64
FOREST LEAVES.
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not— Why Not?
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have' given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find— they have the quality— roots and vitality.
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations.= Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES:' 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN!
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched jf "'' Jf" " ^" "»
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched .... *' ~ *' 'o $6o oo
o . t. , , . . ■ ^5 lO oo 70 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i -,' to i^/ in. cal ,50 '
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; 13^ to 2 in. cal. ... a 00
10 to la ft. Low-branched ; 2 to 2;, in. cal ] ] , „ '! ^° '^' "^
10 to la ft. 2|^ to 3 in. . . ......... a 50 aa 50 .50 00
Extra-heavy Specimens.. ".■.■.•..■.•.-.•. •.•.•.$3 .,„ -to xoo': '" ~ ""^
e^°-Senc! for FALL PRICE LIST.-^^
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
-s^f^'^'^^C^hr.
Vol. XII. Philadelphia, October, 1909.
No. 5.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
xoia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
,.-..^ CONTENTS.
^ ••» ^ =K».L „ Editorial ^5
^ 66
Autumn Arbor Day •*
Arbor Day Planting •
^ ^ . , 68
State Forest Academy
New Law Regarding the Appointment of Wardens and Fighting
Forest Fires in Pennsylvania ^
Desolated Pennsylvania 7*
Taxing Land Held for Reforestation 73
Financial Drawbacks to the Practice of Private Forestry 75
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^FoRBST Leaves as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual member ship fee. Two dollars.
Life membership. Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
/>r^j/^«/, John Birkinbine. ., „ j aiu » t „,:-
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood. , ^ „ ^. ,
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast. d u * c r- \.\x^
Council-at-Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley. ^ __ . _ _,. , ,,, ,,,
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer Chairman : Mrs. George F.Baer,
Edwin Swift ¥alch. Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W Doty Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. b. P.
Urt^^on. W.N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
^Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler. S. B. Elliott,
Alfred S. Haines, Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Vork. Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; M«- G«°J«t: J* ""'°"'
William S Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp
County Organization, Samuel Marshall. Chairman ; .Eugcn^EUicott,
James C Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger. and Richard Wood.
OrFICB OF THE ASSOCIATION, IOI2 WaLNUT St.. PHILADELPHIA.
EDITORIAL.
FOREST LEAVES has on several occasions
called attention to the danger attendant
upon the popularization of forest protec-
tion and the acquisition of large areas of reserves
which demand the care of numerous wardens or
rangers. During its twenty-three years of exist-
ence it has done all possible to keep the forestry
movement free from political or factional affilia-
tions, and while cheerfully recognizing the efforts
of individuals its influence has been confined to
advancing the movement, keeping personal men-
tion subservient.
One feature of the danger due to the popularity
of the forestry movement is the apparent anxiety
of some late champions to see their names in print
on every possible occasion. One who reads for-
estry literature finds these names to the fore, as if
these men accomplished much of the present ad-
vance, while those who championed the reform,
when to do so resulted in being classed among
cranks, but whose work is shown in the advances
made, are seldom if ever mentioned.
We welcome the newer converts and appreciate
the voice-raised and work done in behalf of our
forests, but if the man is to overshadow the move-
ment, the latter will be damaged in the estimation
of the people.
It is with sincere regret that we notice what
seems to be an unnecessary quarrel between high
officials which may affect the adoption and admin-
istration of a sound, practical, conservative, na-
tional forest policy, but it is not our purpose to
array our readers or to champion either contestant.
In behalf of a cause which has been consistently
and conscientiously promoted for many years
solely from patriotic motives, we condemn all
unseemly squabbles for personal recognition as
dragging into disfavor an effort which has appealed
to a great -majority of the people of our country.
66
FOREST LEAVES.
There is no room for combatants, no necessity
for party or factional affiliation, no medium for
advertisement in true forestry reform. The forests
are to be preserved, propagated, and protected
for all the people ; and personal strife, political
aspirations, factional animosities, or individual
glorification have no business to be injected into
a cause worthy of such support as forestry has
received. J- B-
Autumn Arbor Day.
Hail to the Trees !
** Patient and generous, mothers of mankind ;
Arching the hilU, the minstrels of the wind,
Spring's glorious flowers, and summer's balmy tents,
A sharer in man's free and happier sense
The trees bless all, and then, brown mantled, stand
The sturdy prophets of a golden land."
During May of last year meetings were held at
the White House in Washington for the purpose
of promoting the conservation of our natural
resources. These meetings were attended by
many of our leading statesmen, scientists, and
captains of industry. In the opening address
the President said : —
** We began with an unapproached heritage of
forests ; more than half the timber is gone. We
began with coal-fields more extensive than those
of any other nation, and with iron-ores regarded
as inexhaustible, and many experts now declare
that the end of both coal and iron is in sight."
The ultimate failure of the supplies of iron and
coal is not more of a menace to the future of our
nation than the gradual destruction of the soil by
floods and freshets and its exhaustion by improper
methods of farming. We derive most of our
food from the fields and the streams, from the
garden, the orchard, and the forest. The want
of fuel may be supplied by the use of water-power
to generate electricity that can be changed into
light, heat, and motive-power. On the other
hand, it takes decades of growth to reproduce an
orchard, or a forest, and ten thousand years to
form soil a foot in depth.
It is claimed that forests help to condense the
vapors of the sky into clouds and rainfall. They
surely aid in regulating the flow of the water in
our streams and rivers, and in lessening the size
and frequency of the floods and freshets which
carry off silt and soil and thereby diminish the
fertility of the land. • *
The value of trees for shade, for beauty, for
fuel, for timber, and for other economic purposes
should be emphasized by every teacher. The
planting and care of trees, their protection from
fires, insects, and other enemies, the wonderful
processes of iDudding and grafting should be taught
in every school. Thie sin of robbing or marring
a tree, a shrub, or a flower, unless it has something
to give which one needs, should be pointed out
again and again. Verily, there is abundant reason
for observing Arbor Day in the fall, as well as in
the spring of the year.
To perpetuate the custom of observing Arbor
Day at that season of the year when all the
schools are in session,
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 2, I909,
is hereby designated as Autumn Arbor Day ; and
all who are connected with the schools are urged
to observe the day by the planting of trees and
by other suitable exercises.
Nathan C. Schaefper,
State Supt. of Public Instruction.
FOREST LEAVES.
67
Arbor Day Planting.
AS Arbor Day will soon be with us, and
many will plant trees who have done
little or nothing in that line, some few
essentials for success should be made known which
experience has demonstrated necessary. It would
make this article too long to fully discuss the spe-
cies of trees to plant along streets or on lawns and
parks. Such choice should be made after care-
fully observing what species flourish in similar
situations. For instance, it is well known that
none of the conifers — those generally called ever-
greens— will flourish in a dusty and smoky atmos-
phere. The little breathing pores in the leaves
become clogged and the tree is choked and starved
to death. Some broadleaf trees can endure more
smoke and dust than the conifers, because they
have more breathing-holes in their leaves. Among
the best to endure such conditions are two for-
eigners, the Oriental plane tree — a compact vigor-
ous sycamore — and the Norway maple. After
these come our sugar maple, pin oak, white elm,
basswood, red gum, and other well-known shade
trees. All of them will flourish best away from
dust and smoke.
In a growing tree there is naturally an equilib-
rium between the root and leaf system. Each
performs its allotted part in supporting life and
adding to growth. The roots secure mineral food
and moisture from the ground and the leaves obtain
carbon from the atmosphere ; and, in addition,
digest and make fit the combined elements for the
support of tree life. As the leaves must be sup-
plied with moisture and mineral food by the roots —
for if not the tree will die — the important fact
1
iil
Should be recognized that, in removing a tree from
one location to another, we greatly disturb the
natural equilibrium between roots and leaves
because of the unavoidable destruction of much
of that most important part of the root system —
the small fibrous ones — those that gather the
moisture and mineral food. Therefore, it must
be evident to all that one of the most important
things to be observed in tree planting is the pres-
ervation of the small fibrous roots, for it is these
that mainly secure the needed food and moisture.
These extend far out from the body of the tree,
and are more numerous at the extremities than
close to the tree, and the only way to secure them
is to obtain as broad an expanse of the root sys-
tem as possible.
No part of tree planting is more essential than
this. If the largest roots are mutilated, as manv
necessarily are, the ends should be cut ofl" smooth
so as to readily heal over, but no further mutilation
by the knife should be indulged in. **Root
pruning" a tree on removal is on a par with
bleeding a man, when he is already greatly ex-
hausted from loss of blood, in an attempt to save
his life.
As soon as the tree is removed from the ground
the roots should be covered and kept moist, for
the little mouths on the fibrous ones are very deli-
cate and if dried will not perform their functions.
Wet moss, burlaps, or mats should be spread over
and kept on them until the tree is placed in the
ground where it is to grow, which latter work
should be accomplished as soon as possible. Too
much emphasis cannot be placed upon this point.
Neglect in protecting the roots from drying is the
source of most failures, and is almost surely fatal
to all the evergreens. If the tree cannot be set
out at once after removal from the ground where
it stood, its roots may be covered with earth, a
process called ** heeling in." To accomplish
this properly, fine earth should be closely mingled
with the roots to exclude the air.
Now, as we have necessarily disturbed the
natural equilibrium by destroying a large portion
of the tree's roots, we should endeavor to restore
it as far as possible. This may and should be
done with all broadleaf trees, and some conifers,
by removing all superfluous limbs and cutting
back others into a shapely and symmetrical crown,
and thus lessen the foliage which demands food
and moisture of the roots. But this cutting
should not be indulged in to the extent of remov-
ing all limbs and leaving only a pole or stub.
This is going to the other extreme. It destroys
the equilibrium in the other direction. It may be
better than leaving the limbs on, but the inevitable
result is a diseased stem where the cut is made.
All this being properly carried out, attention
must be given to placing the tree in the ground
where it is to grow, and right here is another im-
portant thing to be considered. Do not avoid a
little labor by digging a small hole. Make it an
ample one. Give such roots as may have been
preserved all the room they naturally possessed
before. Loosen the ground thoroughly under-
neath where the roots will rest, for a foot or more
in depth. It will pay, for the loose ground will
retain moisture and such treatment may save the
tree's life. If the soil is not fertile and friable
remove some of it and put fertile soil in its place.
Thoroughly rotted manure may be mingled with
this new soil or with that which has been loosened,
but in no case put in any not so decayed. The
tree can now be placed in the excavation and the
roots given their natural positions, and about two
inches deeper in the ground than before, because
the loose earth will settle a little. Then carefully
fill in fine soil around the roots, and do this work
j with the fingers. Don't throw in the dirt with a
j shovel or hoe and leave it in that way. The
j earth should come in actual contact with the roots
j so that their little mouths can draw in the mois-
i ture and food; and unless such contact exists
j they cannot do it.
I In addition to filling in all the spaces around
! the roots the ground should be packed by stamp-
ing on it or pounding, so as to bring it in actual
contact as required. This may seem improper to
those without experience, but all who have had
much to do with planting trees have learned that
it is advisable. If the ground is dry it may be
well to pour in a bucket of water and then pack
the ground, but if this shall be done a covering
of earth not wet should be placed on top for a
depth of at least two inches. This will prevent
cracking of the soil over the roots when the wet
earth dries out. After the tree is carefully set out
as here advised, a mulch of coarse manure, straw,
leaves or even stone or pieces of boards should be
placed over the roots and extending out beyond
them, to prevent evaporation and cracking of the
soil over and around the roots. This may not
look tidy, but it will appear better than a dead
tree.
A few but important suggestions : Never set
out a forked tree. If no other can be obtained
cut off one of the branches. If both grow a split
from winds is almost inevitable in time. Never
go into dense woods to get trees. Secure those
growing in the open or along the borders of the
dense stand. The tree receives a severe shock at
best, but don't add to what cannot be helped that
which a change of surroundings must bring about.
Get a healthy, vigorous tree. Small trees are
68
FOREST LEAVES.
more certain to grow and will soon' overtake the
others and in the end produce much more satis-
factory trees. Don't set out tall trees for the
w^ind will sway them and disturb the roots enough
to prevent vigorous growth, even if they survive.
Do not set trees too close ; this is a frequent mis-
take. If the soil where the trees are set is wet,
clayey, or impervious to water, drain it in some
way. If no better drain for each tree. Species
suitable for shade trees cannot endure wet feet, as
they must if the holes dug for them hold water.
Keep the trees in good shape as they grow by
early pruning, and not wait until limbs are formed
and then disfigure and injure them. Small
wounds will readily heal, while large ones will
almost invariably jjring decay. If large limbs
must be cut off, cover the wound with paint or
shellac. If the bark gets broken off treat the
injury in the same manner. This will tend to
keep out the fungus that causes decay.
S. B. Elliott.
State Forest Academy.
PRINCIPALLY through the efforts of Dr.
J. T. Rothrock, who was supported by
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
and by other organizations, as well as by the
** press," the State of Pennsylvania, after a
number of years of hard work and constant agi-
tation, finally determined to take up the work of I
forestry. In 1893 a Commission was appointed to
examine into the condition of the forest and of the
watersheds of the State and to report upon certain
matters relating thereto. In 1895 a Division of
Forestry was established in connection with the i
Department of Agriculture. The work grew rap-
idly, especially after the passage of the various |
laws providing for the purchase of land for reser-
vation purposes, and in 1901 the legislature and
governor saw fit to establish a Department of For-
estry as a separate and independent branch of the
State Government. i
During all this development of the work Dr.
Rothrock foresaw the coming need of men to care
for the land which the State was rapidly acquir-
ing. He recognized the fact that men trained in
forestry work were few and would retnain scarce
for a number of years. After repeated efforts to
have a course in forestry established in existing
educational institutions of the State, he conceived
the idea of establishing a School of Forestry under
State control, something after the plan of the mili-
tary schools of the Federal Government. Inci-
dentallv, his solution of the needs of the State
coincided with the method taken by certain Euro-
pean States, with the exception of the details.
The students were to give bond to the amount
which would be expended upon them as a surety
of their faithful work and good behavior while at
school. They should work upon the reserves of
the State after the completion of their course, and
for such labor should receive remuneration. If
possible, the school was to be established upon
one of the reserves to be acquired, with the idea
that instead of the student learning only the theory
of forestry and the auxiliary sciences accompany-
ing it, he might learn the practical work at first
hand, for it is only the combination of theory and
practice which produces the best artisan. Indeed,
he believed, and rightly, that the need of the
present and immediate future was not the scientist,
but the empiricist, the man blessed with common
sense and business ability, the man who knew
nature from cont^act with her rather than from
books.
(A general description of Dr. Rothrock's ideas
may be found in Forest Leaves for October,
1901.)
In 1903 the legislature provided for the purchase
of a building at Mont Alto, adjoining the State
reserve, to establish and carry on instruction in
forestry, and also appropriated $10,000 for main-
tenance for the following two years. Previous to
this time the State forester had been located at
Mont Alto, and had with him two young men who
were working with him in nursery and forest and
at the same time doing some studying under his
direction. After the passage of the Act of Assem-
bly of 1903, ten young men were appointed and
reported to the forester on September i, 1903,
when the school may be said to have begun work.
The purpose of the Academy is, then, to edu-
cate young men, theoretically and practically, in
such manner as will fit them to take charge of and
manage the forest reserves of the State. Only
citizens of Pennsylvania are admitted. The pros-
pective student must not be less than 18 nor more
than 25 years old when entering.
The method of procedure previous to entrance
is as follows : The prospective student will first
indicate to the Commissioner of Forestry at Har-
risburg that he desires to become a student at the
Academy. His preliminary application is filed,
and sometime afterward formal application blanks
will be sent to the applicant. These contain
questions concerning education, past experience,
etc. ; also a medical blank to be filled by the
home physician. The formal application is re-
turned to Harrisburg, and when the date of
entrance examination is set, which is usually in
July of each year, all applicants are notified, and
are then expected to appear in Harrisburg on the
date specified and be prepared to undergo the
FOREST LEAVES.
69
(Tv.
examinations. All applicants are first examined
physically, and if able to pass are allowed to enter
the mental examination. This covers the subjects
of reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, United
States history, grammar, geography (both politi-
cal and physical), physiology, algebra, civil gov-
ernment, and plane geometry. No diplomas or
certificates of any kind are accepted in lieu of the
entrance examinations.
The grades obtained in these examinations are
given to the Commissioner of Forestry by the ex-
amining board, and the man with the highest
grade is the first appointee, and so on until the re-
quired number of appointments is made.
After an appointment is made the next step for
the prospective student to take is to sign a con-
tract for the proper fulfillment of his duties, and to
furnish a $500 bond extending over three years of
study and three years of service to the State after
graduation. When this has been done the young
man reports for duty at Mont Alto on the first day
of the following September.
Tuition, board, room and room outfit, bed-
clothes, towels, books and stationery are furnished
by the State free of charge. Horses are purchased
in the second year by the student, and then the
State supplies their feed. The only expense to
which the student is put is for his clothes and
what incidentals he may care to have.
During the course it is the aim of the instructors
to illustrate as much of the theory as possible by
actual study or work in the field, and the student
is under obligation to work on the reserve at least
half of the time. For this reason a young man
who does not like to work should never come to
the Forest Academy, for he has to work when he
reaches there. If the cpurse is completed the
graduate is at once placed upon a portion of the
State reserve (somewhere in the State), and is
then expected to put into practice the ideas of
forestry which he has learned at the Academy.
During the first year on a reserve the forester is
paid $60 per month ; during the second, $75 ;
and during the third, $100.
The State needs many trained men, and is offer-
ing a splendid opportunity to young men who care
to take up forestry work, and there are quite
a number of applicants for appointments at the
Academy, so there is no reason why the State
should not expect to get a splendid corps of forest-
ers. A shiftless young man has nonbusiness in the
forestry service.
This year (1909) sixty-four young men took
the entrance examination at Harrisburg, and from
that number only eleven appointments were to be
made.
George H. Wirt.
New Law Regarding the Appointment
of ^Va^dens and Fighting Forest
Fires in Pennsylvania.
(Read at the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
THE Pocono Protective Fire Association was
formed in 1902 by landowners in the
Pocono Mountains for the purpose of
making a united effort to control and prevent
fires in their neighborhood. Before that time
fires continually ranged over the mountain, de-
stroying property of much value in the way of
timber, buildings, fences, crops, besides causing
great loss of time in fighting them. They were
started by berrypickers, who burned the barrens
to encourage the growth of young bushes ; by
others to clear off their pasture lands ; and by
hunters and fishermen, who left their camp-fires
blazing. Such fires, left to themselves, would
spread as far as there was material to burn.
Our Association took advantage of the law
authorizing the court, on the petition of twenty
taxpayers, to appoint deputy constables, who had
the power of fire wardens, the regular township
constables being ex officio fire wardens. The law
making township constables has recently been
repealed.
We had wardens appointed in the townships of
Pocono, Coolbaugh, Paradise, Jackson, Toby-
hanna, Barrett, Tunkhannock, and Chestnut Hill.
These men were paid %\o per month during April,
May, and October.
One feature of our work which appealed to the
men who were called out by our wardens was the
prompt payment by the Association, as there has
always been delay in remittances by the County
Commissioners to the men called out by the town-
ship constables.
We also had notices printed on heavy muslin
and tacked on trees along the roads, and in con-
spicuous places in the woods, offering a reward of
$50 for information leading to the arrest and con-
viction of any persons starting fires in the woods.
This was increased to $100, and wide publicity
given to it by the newspapers.
The result of our work has been the practical
prevention of all incendiary and negligent fires,
and a great reduction in the number of those along
the railroads. Many of the latter are cared for
by the railroad men themselves. There has also
been the creation of a healthy public sentiment
against the reckless burning of the wild lands,
and a desire for the prevention of the disfigure-
ment of the mountains. In this work we have
also secured the co operation of the railroads
crossing the mountain. This* is most important.
70
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
71
I
as they are the chief offenders, the heavy grade^
and long trains causing their powerful engines to
send out great showers of sparks which leave trails
of fire in their wake.
When the new law was passed the following
letter and summary of the new forest fire law were
sent to all the forest wardens connected with the
Association : —
To Wardens : With this please find copy of
summary of the new law relating to the appoint-
ment of fire wardens and extinguishing of forest
fires, in regard to which you will please observe
the following for your guidance as wardens of this-
Association : —
You have, doubtless, by this time received from
the Commissioner of Forestry your appointment
as district fire warden or assistant fire warden.
Instead of having one or more wardens in the
same township, as under the old law, there is to be
but one district fire warden, who will be responsible
to the Commissioner for all matters relating to fires
within his district ; consequently, any additional
wardens will have to be designated as assistants.
Please notice carefully the provision requiring
accurate reports in the case of each fire, in which
you will give the date, the number of men em-
ployed, time each one works, your own actual
expenses, and the total expense. This report
should be made in duplicate, and sent to the treasu-
rer of the Association as soon as is possible after
each fire, so that he can promptly remit the money
to pay the men. He in turn will forward the orig-
inal to the Commissioner of Forestry, and, if the
claim is satisfactory to the Department, the Asso-
ciation will be reimbursed.
In this connection you will notice that you are
also required to make a careful investigation to
ascertain the cause of each fire. Please make the
reports giving the result of your investigation, in
duplicate, to the treasurer of the Association, who
will forward the original to the Commissioner.
In regard to the appointment of assistants, please
bear in mind that all recommendations of this
character should be made through the officials of
the Association, as the Commissioner of Forestry
is co-operating with the Association, in view of
the practical work being done by it.
While the Commissioner is willing to confer with
the Association as to the appointment of fire
wardens, and to the prompt payment by us of the
men called out, as well as to reimbursement after
the accounts have gone through the State offices,
it should be clearly understood that each individual
warden and assistant warden is, under this act, a
State official, and, as such, directly responsible to
the Commissioner for the performance of his
duties, even though his reports are transmitted
through the officials of the Association.
The Association will pay to the wardens any
difference between the amount they may receive
from the State in payment of services in fighting
fires and the $30 a year previously paid by the
Association, so that the working of the new law
will not in any way diminish the compensation
wardens have received for their services.
In regard to the provision of the law providing
for the patrolling of dangerous points, this matter
will be taken up later in the year and the parties
interested advised.
Your careful attention to these matters will
greatly facilitate the operation of the new law,
and the work of our Association.
Thomas L. Hodge,
Secretary and T^'easurer,
Summary of Neiv Laiv Relating to Appointment
of Fire Wardens and the Extinguishing
of Fires,
The law making constables fire wardens, under
which we have been working, having been re-
pealed and a new law enacted, putting fire ward-
ens under the Commissioner of Forestry, it is
necessary to explain the new law.
The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner
of Forestry are respectively Chief and Deputy
Chief Fire Wardens, and are in direct charge of
the system.
The Commissioner appoints district wardens in
such townships and boroughs as he thinks best.
These men are to provide themselves, at their own
expense, with badges of a form to be approved by
the Commissioner.
The Commissioner may appoint assistant ward-
ens, and the district wardens may, with the con-
sent of the Commissioner, appoint assistants, who
shall have all the power and authority of wardens.
On the approach of fires the wardens are to take
measures to extinguish them, calling for such as-
sistance as they may require. When absent the
warden, with the consent of the Commissioner,
may appoint a substitute, who shall have like
authority.
The jurisdiction of wardens is not confined to
the district for which they are appointed, but they
may go into adjacent or other districts to fight
fires, calling for the necessary assistance, but the
district warden when present shall have the direc-
tion of all persons fighting fires in his district.
The district wardens shall be paid 25 cents per
hour and actual expenses in fighting fires ; assist-
ant wardens shall be paid 20 cents per hour, and
other persons employed by wardens 15 cents per
hour.
1^
In case of persons fighting fires in the absence
of the warden, they shall be entitled to compensa-
tion, if, after examination under oath, to be ad-
ministered by the warden, he finds them entitled
to it.
It is the duty of wardens to make detailed re-
ports to the Commissioner of all fires in his dis-
trict, with dates, number of men employed, hours
worked, total cost, together with actual expense.
They are also to investigate the cause of all fires,
the area burned and damage done, rep€«-ting the
same to the Commissioner on blanks to be pro-
vided by him for that purpose.
Where assistant wardens fight fires they are to
make similar reports to the district fire wardens,
who will investigate and, if satisfied with the re-
port, forward it to the Commissioner.
The Commissioner will examine claims for com-
pensation and, if they are correct, he will forward
them to the Auditor General, who will audit them
and, if found correct, he will draw warrant for the
same, which he will send to the Commissioner for
transmission to the wardens, who shall promptly
pay his men.
During the months of April and May, and from
September 15 to November 15, commonly called
the fire season, the Commissioner may designate
wardens who shall daily patrol dangerous places,
and shall be paid additional compensation, not to
exceed $25 per month.
Where fires run over more than one county, the
reports are to show the proportion of the cost to
each.
Wardens and their assistants shall have author-
ity to compel assistance unless the persons called
on shall give a legal excuse, which shall be satis-
factory to the warden. Persons refusing to aid,
without an adequate excuse, on conviction to be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a
fine of not to exceed $50, and imprisonment of not
over one month, or both.
Persons claiming compensation who shall be
found to have started fires shall be proceeded
against by the Commissioner if, in his judgment,
the evidence will warrant prosecution.
The wardens are not to be personally liable for
their actions in calling out men or in the amounts
paid them. Any one who is aggrieved may appeal
to the Commissioner, whose decision in the matter
is final.
Wardens shall have the right to arrest on view
without warrant persons detected committing, or
when they shall have reasonable suspicion that
they are about to commit, a violation of the laws
respecting woodlots, etc., and hand them over to
a justice of the peace.
Wardens who shall be negligent, or refuse to
perform their duty, who shall make false returns,
or fail promptly to pay the men employed by them
after receiving funds for that purpose, shall, upon
conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be
subject to a fine not to exceed $100, or an im-
prisonment not to exceed three months, or both.
Owners and lessees of lands are not to be re-
lieved of the duty of protecting them from fire,
and neither they nor their employees are to be
paid by the wardens for fighting fires on their own
lands.
The county is to pay one-fifth of the cost of
extinguishing fire within its lines.
Desolated Pennsylvania.
(Presented at the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
THE illustrated lecture by Dr. J. T. Rothrock
was well attended and well received by the
audience. Hitherto he had spoken upon
'' Beautiful Pennsylvania." On this occasion he
reversed the picture and showed '* Desolated Penn-
sylvania. ' ' Surely a region which was capable of
supporting six hundred and forty families under
proper care, but which now supported but about
a half a dozen families, and which was becoming
each year more impoverished, merited the epithet
of '' Desolated." It was, however, but the type
of larger areas within the State. Views were given
of a town containing two thousand inhabitants,
which had schools, hotels, churches, large saw-
mills and stave works, electric lights, public w^ater
works, and abundant prosperity. Yet in a year or
two more the town would be practically aban-
doned because the timber upon which all this busi-
ness activity depended had been cut and removed.
The soil was too poor and the hills too rough and
steep for farming, and there were no other re-
sources in sight.
It is time, the lecturer said, to correct the idea
that because a certain area is given up to forestry
that its population is to be reduced. The most
lucrative form of forestry will be when as many
men are employed to raise, guard, and market the
timber as are now required for agriculture on a
similar acreage. As in Germany, the time would
come when hamlets would spring up within the
forests and the population would live there and
derive a comfortable living tfrom the labor re-
quired.
Illustrations were given of areas in China, on
which, within three hundred years, dense forests
stood, furnishing revenue to the government and
a living to a large industrious population. These
forests have been cut. The mountain slopes are
now barren, washed into deep ravines, and what
il
72
FOREST LEAVES.
« • •
remains of the population, reduced to the verge of
starvation by the frequent and overwhelming
floods, producing famine, to be followed by deci-
mating epidemics. To-day those people are driven
to the extremity of terracing the hillsides to raise
a handful of food, and even to scattering seeds
between the stones washed down from the hillsides,
in the hope that they will produce something be-
fore the next flood washes them out of the coun-
try, or the drought burns the life out of them. It
is useless to say that such conditions can never
occur here. Natural laws are inexorable, and vio-
lation of them brings an inevitable punishment.
The same cause will lead to the same result. It
needed but a glance at the illustrations taken in
the desolated hillsides of this State to show that
the process of soil destruction has not only com-
menced, but is well advanced here, and that we
are in the preliminary stages of the Chinese con-
dition !
How have we profited by the lessons which the
destructive forest fires of the last year brought ?
Practically those lessons are unheeded. And the
State is as poorly prepared to grapple with this
burning problem as it was then. Let it be driven
into the mind of every one that it costs no more
to prevent forest fires than it does to suppress
them, and that you save the timber besides by pre-
vention. There is no problem in political life
more pressing to-day than to protect the soil, for
out of it our daily bread comes ; and to guard the
forests, because they nourish our industries. If
only our lawmakers could be made to realize this
they would provide abundant funds for work which
is so fundamental, even if they were obliged to
reduce appropriations for art and ornament.
Let us first of all solidify the foundation of the
Commonwealth. Then we may have and forever
enjoy those elements of culture which add so
much to the contentment of our citizens. It is
just as foolish for a State to take money for non-
essentials and to neglect the essentials as it is for
the farmer to spend his means for ornament, and
to neglect to maintain the fertility of his farm.
The cases are absolutely parallel, with this excep-
tion, that the citizen is using his own money,
whereas the official is using money which he simply
holds in trust.
The existing fire laws of the State are ample to
protect it, if they ^^^ere enforced. But every offi-
cial who has to do with this problem knows the
unreasonable difficulties which are thrown in liis
way and which he must encounter. There will
come a time when, from dire necessity, this will
be changed. Such things right themselves in the
long run ; but to what extent must the State be
injured before the relief comes? The time for
parleying has passed. The era of doing great
constructive work is upon us. The longer we fail
to recognize this fact the worse it will be for us
and for our children.
Yet dark as this picture is, we are better off*
than most of the other States, for but few^ of them
have moved in the matter at all.
The lumberman has become the friend of the
forestry movement. We count upon his sturdy
help. He now recognizes that the whole mission
of the Forestry Association is to perpetuate his
industry. He also sees that his view of the com-
mercial necessity of removing our forests at the
rate once done was a mistake, and that he could
have realized larger profits by a smaller cut, which
would not have glutted the market, and that he
could still have had abundant timber on our hill-
sides for his industry.
The importance of the forestry problem is
realized by all thoughtful people. It is the one
advanced element in the great conservation move-
ment. But the magnitude of the work ahead of
us has been recognized by but few. The plain,
blunt truth is, that to start the work of tree plant-
ing and protection on the scale required by urgent
needs of the State will require hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars. The longer we delay it the
more it will cost. It is folly to say that if forest
fires are kept off", the timber will be restored spon-
taneously. It is true that a growth of some kind
will come quickly and vigorously ; it is also true
that much of this growth will be worthless as
lumber, and the yield will not half equal what
might be produced by scientific forestry. The
State forestry reserves contain nearly one million
of acres. That is fifteen hundred and sixty-two
and a half square miles. Reduce this to a square
and it would be a tract something less than forty
miles long and forty miles wide, which is about one-
twenty-ninth the area of the State. To restore
this to a forest condition at the present rate of
progress will require not less than thirty years.
In other words, it is safe to say that we are far
from improving fast enough to compensate for the
yearly loss to the surface of the State. William
Penn, when all the timber wealth of the State
was before him, insisted that for every five acres
cut over one should be allowed to remain in trees.
He was wiser than the men of our own generation
upon this most important question.
** The future requires planting in the uplands, at
the sources of all our streams that should never be
denuded, to make the hills store water against the
time of drought, and to modify the flooding of
the lowlands." — Secretary of Agriculture Wilson.
I
i
S^
*-«— r '' 1'^-^ *-"
' •"" ■" '• '- ^ '
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 5.
HILLS NORTH OF CROSS FORK,
POTTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
r*^
**^'*'^4lii.,.
■-^iif^
•;•*■«■
NEAR CROSS FORK JUNCTION,
POTTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 5.
'W
HILLS NORTH OF CROSS FORK,
POTTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
' -m:
V^-^'li' *
1.^^?^^
'.■"i>l
ON KETTLE CREEK,
POTTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
1
FOREST LEAVES.
73
it •'
r ^'-y
Taxing Land Held for Reforestation.
(Read at the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
WHILE the State of Pennsylvania has
passed some very good laws to en-
courage reforestation and conserve
existing forests and stream-flow, they have signally
failed to secure the desired end on any large scale,
because it has never been made to the immediate
pecuniary advantage of the large land owners,
either to reforest barren land or to conserve ex-
isting forests.
On the contrary, the laws relating to taxation
conflict directly with those passed to encourage
reforestation, and put a premium on denudation.*
Denudation reduces the value of the land for tax-
ing purposes, and this in turn reduces the taxes
and, consequently, the annual charge for carrying
the land. This reduction is seen all over the
State. Townships where during the lumbering
off of the original forests there was plenty of
money raised for the support of schools and roads,
with the cessation of lumbering ^operations, can
scarcely raise money enough to entitle them to
their share of the State School Fund. I have in
mind one township in Carbon County where a few
years ago no taxes were collected, as the man
elected as tax collector refused to qualify because
the returns on the possible collections would not
compensate him for the labor involved. The ex-
tremely low estimation at which the denuded land
is held is shown by the prices it brings at the
periodic tax sales of unseated lands.
The tax laws, as I understand them, exempt
from taxation woodland to the extent of fifty acres
in one holding if held for reforestation ; all addi-
tional land in the same holding is taxable. It is
absurd to think that the exemption of fifty acres
of land in one holding will ever result in reforest-
ing any adequate acreage to cover the hillsides
and mountains with a new forest growth and equal-
ize the stream -flow of the State. The very essence
of success in reforestation is that it must be done
on a large scale, cover thousands of acres, and be
carried on for an extended period of years. It is
only under such conditions that any real progress
can be made toward restoring the forests and con.
* Since writinjj this my attention has been called to the
decisions as to the unconstitutionality of the Act of April
8th, 1905. This act referred to refunding 80 per cent, of the
taxes on land held for reforestation, and is not the act re-
ferred to in the text. The Act of 1905 provided for refund-
ing the tax, the refund to be borne by the township, while
the proposed act provides practically for a bounty paid out
of the State Treasury to encourage reforestation. This would
be proper, as the State at large is benefited.
serving and regulating the stream-flow. Not in
fifty acres nor one hundred acres must the area
be reckoned, but by the thousand acres. It must
be protected from fire, patrolled and, usually,
planted, and in direct proportion to such protec-
tion, patrolling and planting, the value of the
land, in the estimation of' the local assessor, in-
creases and up go the taxes — and at present only
fifty acres can be claimed exempt.
Thus the land owner is penalized for caring for
his land in such a manner as to directly benefit a
large portion of the State ; not only must he lose
interest on the original investment, meet the ex-
pense of caring for the land, but he must pay an
increase of taxes for the privilege. Perhaps be-
cause he is the owner of so many acres he may be
regarded as ** rich," and his assessed valuation per
acre will be made greater than that of the ^* poor "
man owning his hundred acres. This will certainly
be the case should the large owner happen to be a
corporation. Thus is the large owner penalized,
not only because he cares for the land, but also
because he owns enough acreage to really benefit
a large section of the State by caring for it — could
any situation be more absurd.
Take also the case of the owner of large tracts
of standing timber, marketable timber (and this
may mean any size from three or four inches in
diameter up), such <-racts already act, as they have
done for generations, to conserve stream-flow — he
is no better off. As the market price of lumber
increases the assessed valuation of the standing
timber is increased and up go the taxes. The
consequence is there is a premium placed on de-
nudation, as the quicker the timber is removed
and marketed the greater the saving in taxes. Is
it any wonder that hill and mountain are denuded
of everything that can be turned into cash, and
the bare land left to be washed away by the rains ;
its growing sprouts — nature's eff'ort to restore the
damage — left to be destroyed by recurrent fires,
dignified by the name of ** forest fires *' when the
forest is gone.
It is possible to remedy this unfortunate condi-
tion, and the entire influence of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association could not be better used than
to secure the necessary legislation by amendment
to the present laws governing taxation.
It would probably not be either desirable or
advisable to disturb the existing laws so far as they
relate to the method of ass<*ssing values and levy-.
ing taxes, except that lands held for reforestation
should be exempt from all taxes except those levied
to support the schools and roads.
A new law should be enacted under which any
owner of a compact body of land, not less than
five hundred acres, might appear before a Court
74
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
75
m
of Record, in the county in which the land is
situated, and make declaration that the land is to
be held for reforestation, and no portion of it is to
be cultivated or grazed; that it is his intention to
keep fire lines open where necessary, to provide a
sufficient patrol to control and extinguish fires,
plant trees, care for spontaneous growth, and in
general care for the land according to the accepted
methods of forest conservation. A sufficient de-
scription of the land should be furnished, possibly
a map also ; a record shall be made of lands so de-
clared, and certified copies be sent to the Depart-
ment of Forestry at Harrisburg, the lands so de-
clared to be known as **tax refund lands."
The owner will pay the taxes levied in the same
manner as is now done, taking a receipt from the
tax collector. He shall then have the right to go
to the County Treasurer, present his receipted tax
bill and demand that the taxes be refunded. The
County Treasurer will satisfy himself from the
record that the refund claimed is correct and pay
the claim, taking a receipt which shall cite the
record upon which the refund is paid. The County
Treasurer shall then certify to the State Treasurer
that he has made the refund, forwarding his re-
ceipt as evidence, and the State Treasurer, being
satisfied that the refund has been made according
to law, shall reimburse the County Treasurer.
After each triennial assessment has been made
the owner of *' tax refund land" must appear
before the Court of Record, as before, and exhibit
evidence in the form of vouchers for expense of
work done and testimony to show that for the pre-
vious period he has carried out his original declara-
tion in good faith. If the Court is satisfied that
the original declaration has been so carried out,
the land shall be entitled to tax refund for the
next three years. Failure to make the application
within a specified time, or to satisfy the Court that
the original declaration has been carried out in
good faith, shall forfeit the right to tax refund.
There should be no appeal from the decision of
the Court, but it might be advisable to provide
for viewers in case the decision should be against
the owner, the cost of the view to be borne equally
between the county and the owner, and their
report after actually inspecting the land should be
final. Officers of the township in which the land
is situated, or other persons, should be heard for
or against renewing the tax refund should they so
desire.
The State Department of Forestry should be
given wide latitude in the details of carrying out
the provisions of such a law. It should appoint
inspectors who should examine all ''tax exempt
land " and report on its condition and the method
of caring for it. They should make suggestions to
the owner and give advice, and, in certain con-
tingencies, under rules made by the Commissioner
of Forestry, give orders which must be carried out
under penalty of forfeiture of the tax refund right
at any time on presentation of the facts to the
above Court. The inspectors should also review
the assessed valuations of the land so as to prevent
local assessors increasing the land values in order
to get the benefit of the increased taxes, and in this
way mulcting the State Treasury.
It is not desirable to flatly exempt lands held
for reforestation from all local taxation, because
such exemption would immediately cut off from
many townships all sources of income from which
to support schools and maintain roads. Moreover,
such exemption would compel the townships to
bear all the expense, whereas, as a rule, they would
get practically no benefit. Whole counties and
tiers of counties derive benefit from reforestation
on the headwaters of streams, while the townships
on such headwaters cannot receive any benefit
except that derived from lumbering operations
after the forest has grown. Therefore, the State
and not the township should bear the expense of
refunding the taxes.
After all it is the owner of the land who is
benefitting the State, not the State benefitting the
owner. The taxes are a very small portion of the
total expense of reforesting land, and the owner
must face long years of waiting and loss of interest
before he can hope for any return. This is dis-
piriting at best, without adding to it the risk of
constantly increasing taxes, as is now the case. It
is probable, however, that could the risk of such
tax increase be removed much land now neglected
would be quickly placed on the ''tax refund"
list.
The legislation outlined above is intended to
apply only to the land. Improvements, such as
buildings, etc., should not be exempt, nor should
any cultivated land.
The minimum of 500 acres for tax refund may
seem rather large. It is suggested so as to avoid
having pleasure parks or summer residence prop-
erties being placed in the tax refund list. Desir-
able as such places may be in order to assist in fire
protection they are not in any sense reforestation
and should not be so considered. Moreover, to
permit such properties to go on the tax refund list
would immediately arouse opposition from the
farmer and small land owner to the entire law,
because he, too, would probably want to be on the
list, and would clearly not be entitled to it.
The maximum acreage should not be limited,
as the larger the holding the more sustained will
probably be the effort to reforest, and the greater
the ultimate return to the owner and the State.
The plan outlined above is the result of much !
thought, based on long experience of the writer in ;
caring for large tracts of land not far from the
meeting place of the Association this year. He has
had his difficulties with the assessors, the County I
Commissioners and the tax collectors on the one
hand, and with the owners of the property, squirm- |
ing under increasing taxes and no returns, on the i
other hand, and he realizes the difficulties of both.
Particularly does he realize that in passing any new
legislation great care must be exercised to avoid
arousing the antagonism of the small land owner
and the reduction of income of the townships.
The public schools must not be hampered, but
perhaps the State Highway Department might
be induced to take car6 of the roads.
John Ruddle.
Financial Drawbacks to the Practice of
Private Forestry.
(Read at the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association.)
THE advancement already made in forestry in
this country may be summed up briefly
under the headings government. State, and
private forestry.
Since granting to the Forest Service in 1897
the administration of the National Forests, this
branch of the government has demonstrated its
ability to care for and protect the government
timber from fire and theft and to manage the for-
ests on an economic basis. P>om **a temporary
fad of a few sentimentalists," as the movement for
the ownership and management by the govern-
ment of the public timber was at first called, gov-
ernment forestry has become a public necessity.
The advancement made in any State in forestry
will depend largely on the policy which has been
adopted by that State, whether that policy be
broad or narrow. But in general it may be said
that the people of the different States have come
to believe that it is a function of the State gov-
ernment to provide for the future supply of /ari;^e
saw timber, which, because of the peculiar nature
of the investment, private capital cannot afford to
raise.
They have come to believe that there are certain
kinds of land which the State government alone
can afford to own and manage.
In nearly every State there are large areas, not
only too poor for the growing of agricultural crops,
but also land on which the growth of timber is so
slow that it will not yield an adequate return on
the investment necessary. There are also areas
which, naturally adapted to tree growth, have
been brought into such barren condition from over
cutting, followed by fire and a subsequent growth
of weed trees, that ihe investment necessary to re-
forest them with timber trees and to bring them
into productive condition is beyond private means.
Knowing as they do that the State does not
have to make money on an enterprise which is for
the general welfare, and believing that the refor-
estation of denuded and barren lands is in the in-
terest of the general public, the people have sanc-
tioned the investment of thousands of dollars in
the purchase and reforestation of such lands, and
the steps they have taken will never be retraced.
Private forestry, on the other hand, by which is
meant the investment of capital in the growing of
timber for commercial purposes, can scarcely be
said to have made a beginning. Of the 75 per
cent, of the forest area of the country which is
held by private interests, much less than i per
cent, is under any kind of forest management.
In spite of the agitation for the practice of for-
estry during the past fifteen or twenty years, and
in spite of the fact that we are approaching a
scarcity of saw timber which will tend to raise the
price of stumpage to nearly its real value based on
the cost of production, the planting of forest trees
for commercial purposes has not appealed to the
people as a profitable investment.
Is this because we have failed to acquaint them
with the nature of such an investment and the
results which are reasonably to be expected from
a plantation of trees ? Is it because, as some have
said, in order to establish on a firm footing govern-
ment and State forestry, we have focussed the
minds of the people too strongly on the proposi-
tion that the Federal and State governments should
provide for the future supply of timber? Or are
there financial reasons which will account for the
reluctance of private capital to engage in such an
enterprise ?
Many people hold the idea that the Federal and
State forestry departments were organized prima-
rily to provide for the future supply of timber.
In spite of the enormous holdings of the national
government in national forests and the millions of
acres held by States in State forests, over three-
fourths of the forested areas of the country are in
private hands. The practice of forestry on the
one- fourth which is managed by the government
and by the States would by no means assure a
future supply of timber, and it has been rightly
said that the future timber supply of this country
will depend not so much on the efforts by the State
and national governments, as on the results ob-
tained by the investment of private capital.
In fact, it is not the intention of a State to enter
into competition with private interests in the
growing of timber. It is the function of a State
76
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
77
' I
M
It
*
to grow timber where it would not be profitable
for a private concern to do so, and to grow the
large timber needed in the future which, on ac-
count of the long rotation required and the com-
pound interest involved, cannot be undertaken
profitably by private capital. To this end States
purchase only the poorer class of true forest land —
barren, mountainous, and denuded areas — leaving
to private management the better class of forests —
forests in which the annual growth will bring a
fair return for the investment made.
There is no doubt that most of the agitation in
regard to forestry during the past few years has
been centered around the government and State
forestry departments. This has been because of
the necessity of educating the people to the right
conception of the forest policy which has been
adopted. Yet at the same time the Federal and
State forestry departments have been calling the
attention of the people through bulletins, circu-
lars, and magazine articles to the benefits to be
derived from the practice of private forestry, and
have been liberal with information in regard to
the planting of trees and the results which may be
expected ; and in order further to interest indi-
vidual owners in the growing of trees they have
undertaken co-operative work with them, at no
cost beyond the actual expense of the men in the
field, and have distributed seedlings at cost to
those desiring to make forest plantations. !
That private capital has not been invested in
such enterprises in spite of the efforts of the gov-
ernment and the State forestry departments, and
the assurance of foresters as to the results to be
expected, brings out the fact that there must be
certain factors which prevent financiers from
investing their money in the growing of trees for
commercial purposes. i
The considerations that determine whether a
man shall place his money in a financial scheme
or not, are his ability to figure accurately and with \
no uncertainty the profits on that investment and
the safety of the venture.
Private capital will not be attracted to the grow-
ing of trees for commercial purposes until we can
figure accurately a profit based on the future re-
turns, and can in a measure guarantee the safe
harvesting of the forest crop. |
That a stand of trees can be brought safely
through to the end of a rotation in good condition
and yield a satisfactory profit, is proven by the
results which have been obtained in Germany and
France, and in our own country, where timber is \
handled on short rotation to supply a ready
market. With the demand which is sure to come \
in the near future for saw timber and the conse-
quent rise in the price of stumpage, there is no ^
question but that the growing of timber for future
sale will be a profitable venture.
: Although it is possible even at the present time
with the low price of timber and with the present
rate of taxes and other expenses to figure a profit
! on an investment in forestry, there are factors of
uncertainty connected with the growing of trees
in this country which deter private capital from
risking its money in this way.
I Until we remove these factors and place private
' forestry on the same firm basis that other long
time investments enjoy, we cannot hope for much
activity in this direction.
These factors of uncertainty, these drawbacks to
the practice of private forestry, are the accurate
determination of the profits based on the future
yield, the future costs of the investments, and the
risk of loss of the crop by fire.
The future yield of a plantation of trees in this
country, where we have no artificial stands of
! mature timber to serve as a basis, is determined
by measurements of growth in diameter and height
of individual trees. The results of the measure-
ments of many trees are gathered together in
tabular form, and as yield tables serve as a basis
for figuring the profits on an investment in for-
estry.
Since the growth of trees varies with the soil
and the situation, yield tables made for a certain
species growing under a certain set of conditions
will not apply to the same species growing under
a different set of conditions. So that even for
the same species a large number of yield tables will
be required to fit the different conditions under
which that species grows. Otherwise we shall not
be able to predict with any degree of certainty the
future yield of a stand of trees, or determine with
that degree of accuracy which is demanded by
financiers the profits to be derived from an invest-
ment in forestry.
But few such yield tables have as yet been pre-
pared in this country. The U. S. Forest Service
devoted considerable time to the preparation of
such tables a few years ago, but since the field of
its active operations has been transferred from the
east to the west scarcely any work has been done
along this line.
It would then seem to be the duty of every
eastern forester to gather wherever possible meas-
urements of growth of such trees as are to be used
in the future management of forest lands, in order
that yield tables may be made and this uncertainty
in regard to the future profits in an investment in
forestry be removed.
Men will not invest in any business in which
they will not receive a fair share of the profits
earned ; and they are unwilling to risk their money
in an enterprise in which they cannot figure ac-
curately and definitely the future costs to be in-
curred.
There is only one element of the future costs in
growing timber that seriously affects the invest-
ment of money in forestry, and that is the ques-
tion of taxation. According to the present system,
a stand of timber pays taxes each year during its
life based on the assessed valuation of the property,
the land and the timber being considered to-
gether as real estate.
Since a stand of timber is in the nature of a
crop and yields no returns until the crop is har-
vested, the payment of an annual tax on the tim-
ber through the life of a stand is an expense which
must run at compound interest to the end of the
rotation, and be deducted from the proceeds from
the sale of the timber.
This results in the payment to the government
of a disproportionate amount of the proceeds from
the investment, an amount far out of proportion to
the benefits received, and so reduces the profits
that the growing of timber for commercial pur-
poses does not appeal to private capital.
Vet, however unjust and burdensome this sys-
tem of taxation may seem, it would not, in itself,
perhaps prevent the investment of money in the
growing of crops of trees, for it is possible even
with the present rate of taxation to figure some
profit on an investment in forestry.
The factor in taxation which is a serious draw-
back to the practice of forestry is the uncertainty
as to what that tax will be in the future.
The present method of assessing forest property
is an arbitrary one, the assessment being based on
the judgment of the assessor. The law states that
property shall be assessed for purposes of taxation
at its full market value. The fact that at the
present time it is customary to tax property at one-
half or one-third its full market valuation, or even
less, is no proof that this will be the basis of
assessment of forest property in the future.
It is this uncertainty in regard to what the
future tax will be, this possibility that a stand of
timber may in the future, according to law, be
arbitrarily assessed at its full valuation, that pre-
vents in a large measure the investment of money
in the growing of trees. This system of arbitrary
assessment of property has been abandoned by
nearly every country except our own. Many of
our States, especially the State of Pennsylvania,
are working over this question as applied to forest
property, and there are strong hopes that it will
be settled satisfactorily in the near future.
The system generally proposed contemplates
the separation of the land and timber for the pur-
pose of assessment, the land to be taxed each year
on a basis of its productive capacity, and the tim-
ber to be taxed w^hen cut. This would remove
the uncertainty in regard to future taxes and free
timber from the burden of taxation, which in the
past has been the cause of the denudation of so
much of our forested land, and which at the
present time prevents the investment of money in
private forestry.
The solution of this problem is of vital impor-
tance to the forest interests of the country, be-
cause on it depends in a large measure our future
supply of lumber.
Probably the factor which most strongly influ-
ences the investment of money in any enterprise
is the safety of that enterprise. On short time in-
vestments men are willing to take some risk in re-
turn for the greater interest and profit earned.
But in long time investments they demand that
the first consideration shall be that of safety, and
it is only in return for this that they are willing
their money shall earn a lower rate of interest.
Forestry is a long time investment, and conse-
quently will pay but a low rate of interest, and
private capital will be attracted to it only in so far
as there is an assurance of the safe harvesting of
the forest crop.
The greatest danger to a stand of growing tim-
ber is from fire. In many parts of our country
forest fires are so prevalent as to be considered
almost inevitable. That the loss from fire can
never be entirely removed is shown by the elabo-
rate means taken to prevent and control the
spread of fires in the forests of Germany, where
forestry has been practiced for centuries. The
results, however, obtained by the government and
State forestry departments in our own country
during the past year in the suppression and pre-
vention of fires, give the assurance that this draw-
back to the practice of private forestry can to a
large extent be effectively removed.
Yet the fact that a stand of growing timber is
in danger of total or partial destruction will ever
be a constant menace, and unless means be found
to guarantee private capital against such a loss the
growing of trees for future sale will not be looked
upon as a safe venture.
The usual method of guaranteeing the safety of
an investment in property against loss by fire is
by insurance.
This principle has been applied to a limited ex-
tent to the timber in the northwestern portion of
our country. But owing to the nature of the risk
and the high rate charged, the insuring of timber
against loss by fire is not likely to become general.
The only other means of recompensing a loss
to forest property by fire is through the collection
of damages.
78
FOREST LEAVES.
The principle of the allotment of damages from
fire to a growing forest should be the same as that
applied to any other growing crop, as, for ex-
ample, to a young orchard. In itself a young
orchard has no value except as the wood may be
utilized as cordwood ; but it has a prospective
value due to the expectation of the owner of har-
vesting future crops. It would be unjust in case
of destruction of a young orchard to apply the
general principle of the allotment of damages,
which bases the loss on the present market value
of the property.
In the same way it would seem to be unjust to
base the damages from fire to a young stand of
timber on the market value of that timber at the
time the loss was sustained. Yet this has been
the usual method in this country up to this time.
A young stand of timber may have no great
value based on its immediate sale, but if we con-
sider the intentions of the owner and his expecta-
tion of harvesting a crop in the future such a
stand will have considerable value.
This principle of the expectation value as ap-
])lied to a stand of timber has rarely been rec-
ognized in this country, though it is the usual
basis for the collection of damages abroad.
A suit for damages to a forest crop from fire
has recently been tried in Columbia County,
Pennsylvania, and will serve to illustrate the point
in question. The intention of the owner of the
tract was to manage his crop on a short rotation of
eighteen or twenty years to supply mine proj^s
and lagging to the coal mines in the vicinity.
His system of management was what might be
termed a sprout-selection system. His intention
was to remove from the tract at the end of the
rotation the sprouts which were large enough to
make mine props or lagging, leaving the smaller
sprouts for a second crop, and to rely on the new
sprouts and seedlings obtained to form the basis
of future stands. A fire running through this
tract, which was about ten or twelve years old,
killed the young sprouts and seedlings and caused
so serious a damage to the present stand that the
material could not be used in the mines and was
of value only in so far as it could be utilized as
cordwood.
Although the owner had little knowledge of
forestry, yet from practical experience gained in
the handling of similar tracts which had been
burned, he knew it would be many years before
that tract would produce another crop of timber.
He believed that he had not only sustained a loss
on the present stand, but that he had been dam-
aged because of the destruction of the young
sprouts and seedlings on which the future of his
forest depended. i
He based the damages to the present crop, not
on the value of the material if cut and sold on the
market at the time of the fire, but on what he
might have realized from that stand had it run to
the end of the rotation. This amount, less the
expense of carrying the investment from the time
of the fire to the end of the rotation, discounted
back to the time of the fire, would have given
him what is known as the ** expectation value"
of his timber at the time of the fire, and would
have been the proper basis for the adjustment of
his loss to the present stand. Similar damages
would apply to a second crop. He also claimed
damages to future crops of trees, because the
sprouts and seedlings which were to produce these
crops had been entirely destroyed on account of
the severity of the fire. The law of damages
states that the injured party shall be placed in the
same condition he was in before the injury was
done. If this principle was to be applied in this
case it would necessitate clearing the tract of dead
material and planting with seedlings in order ta
assure future crops. Whether or not the cost
of such an operation would be considered exces-
sive by the courts has never been determined in
this country. In the case in question the amount
demanded for this injury was fixed at a certain
per cent, of the amount demanded for damages
to the present crop.
TWs case is of interest because it involves
principles for which we must contend in the
future. It should be the duty of every one having
an interest in the future of private forestry to give
as much publicity as possible to such cases, in
order that the people may be educated as to the
nature of a crop of forest trees, and the time
hastened when an owner of forest property can
collect as damages an amount commensurate with
the loss sustained. Until these principles of the
allotment of damages are recognized, private capi-
tal will not consider an investment in private
forestry as a safe venture.
The drawbacks then which must be removed
before private capital will be attracted to an in-
vestment in growing timber for future sale, are
our inability to figure accurately and definitely
the future profits on an investment in forestry, the
uncertainty as to the future costs on such an in-
vestment, and the danger of the loss of the forest
crop by fire, with no certainty of obtaining dam-
ages proportional to the loss sustained.
All these problems are in the process of solu-
tion, and we have reason to believe that it will
not be many years before private capital will look
on the growing of timber for commercial purposes
as a safe and profitable investment.
J. A. Ferguson.
t
FOREST LEAVES.
79
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestr}' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
Biltmore Forest SchooL
BILTMORE, N. C.
0 0 0 0
The Biltmore Forest School is the
only technical school of forestry in this
country. It illustrates its teachings on
a large scale, on a tract of land owned
by George W. Vanderbilt, comprising
130,000 acres of forest.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR B07S.
niiistrated Catalogue upon application^
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi \V. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secietary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. beck.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB 8. DISSTON.
EDGAR DUDLEY FARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
80
FOREST LEAVES.
^ii^:f^^:^^h^
i ■
i!
I'
I
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not— Why Not?
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality.
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
I The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations. Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES." 3d EDITION, DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECI
Each
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $i oo
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched i 25
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; 1^ to i|^ in. cal i 5©
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal 2 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2j^ in. cal 2 50
10 to 12 ft. 7.% to 3 in 3 50
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
e^-Seud for FALL PRICE LtST.^^a
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
EN!
1
Per 10
Per 100
$8 50
$60 00
10 00
70 00
13 50
125 00
17 50
135 00
22 50
150 00
30 00
275 00
1
Philadelphia, December, 1909.
No. 6.
\ Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
X0Z3 Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorials 8i
Alfred S. Haines— A Forester in Practice.. 82
Italy Planting Forests .*.', 83
The Christmas Tree '. 83
Notes on Annual Tree Rings 84
Length of Time Required to Grow Trees 85
Government Forests of Prussia 87
A Large Grapevine 87
The Illustrations 87
Forestry and Engineering 88
New Publications ^
Subscription, $z.oo per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
e/" Forest Lbavbs as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in Junk, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membership fee ^ Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membershio
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President^ John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council- at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin
Samuel L. Smedley. '
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman : Mrs. George F. Baer
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr J
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S p'
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman ; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, Tohn Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston
William 8. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp. '
County Organization, Saimut:l Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Office of the Association. loia WALmrr St.. Philadelphia.
EDITORIALS.
A NOVELTY in committee reports was that
of the Committee on Forestry and Horti-
culture, made at the Annual Meeting of
the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women at
Harrisburg, November 9-1 3th. Instead of a writ-
ten report, this committee prepared an instructive
display embodying a complete exhibit of forest
work, which included a large relief map of the
State, showing location of forest reserves. • Display
of tree seeds, and of forestry instruments. Section
of scrub oak from burned land. Fire killed and live
chestnut. Sections burned soil, also unburned soil
and humus. Nursery exhibit. Seed beds. Drill
and broad cast sowing. Section of one-year-old
seeding, showing shades, also of protected beds,
with winter cover. White pines, two years old,
broadcast. Sugar maple, Norway spruce, Euro-
pean larch, bald cypress. Pines from first State
plantation, nine years old, ten feet high, and other
material furnished by direction of the Commis-
sioner of Forestry. An orchard exhibit of spray-
ing outfit, properly pruned and sprayed trees,
insect friends and pests, and other related material
installed under the direction of the Department
of Agriculture. A Farmers' week and garden
exhibit under the direction of members of the
faculty of State College. A pictorial exhibit
comprising photographs of many historic trees
and sites.
A report which can be seen rather than heard is
a departure towards practical education, and the
co-operation of State departments was judiciously
invoked by women of the committee. J. B.
* * ♦ * *
We are gratified at the numerous instances of
interest in the tree culture which are evidenced
in parks, cemeteries, and some private estates by
indicating the species, genus, and class of trees
and shrubbery.
82
FOREST LEAVES.
I'i,
i
I <
m
Mr. Baily in an address at the Mt. Pocono
meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association
made reference to an intelligent and otherwise
well-informed gentleman of mature age, whose
interest in trees had been awakened by having
the difference indicated between two individual
growths, a feature that he had never noticed be-
fore. It is probable that many such experiences
could be noted, and each effort to awaken in-
terest in the variety of tree growth by indicating
their names and families serves its purpose in edu-
cating the people.
The more we study trees the greater will our
interest be in them, and such study is an aid to
the forestry movement.
The system of identifying trees varies ; in some
instances the popular name (sometimes accom-
panied by the botanical name) appears on wood
or metallic shields at the foot of or on the trunk
of a few or of all trees of each particular kind.
Where such markings are supplemented with an
accessible key, giving brief memoranda concerning
peculiarities of bark, leaves, blossoms or fruit,
the educational feature is much advanced. J. B.
^1^ ^1^ ?|S 5K *^
The Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association will be held at 1012 Walnut
Street, Philadelphia, on Monday, December 13,
1909, at 3.30 p.m. Reports for the past year will
be submitted, officers elected to serve for the
coming year, and any business brought to the
meeting by Council transacted. We trust that
many members will endeavor to be present.
Alfred S. Haines — A Forester in Practice.
FOREST LEAVES has repeatedly referred to
the aid received by the cause of forestry
from men and women who, without osten-
tation but with ardent enthusiasm, have been its
persistent advocates, and in chronicling the death
of Mr. Alfred S. Haines we mourn the loss of one !
of the truest friends of forestry. For years as a
member of Council his interest in the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association was demonstra4:ed, and
his appreciation of the work before it made him a
valuable officer.
As a member of the faculty of the Westtown
School and an educator his ability was recognized
by his efforts to instill in the minds of his students
the true practical value of the forests. He was
known to few who have won prominence in for-
estry, but the aid he gave to the cause has been
excelled by few, and the results of his work will
be evident in the interest shown by those who as
students received inspiration from his enthusiasm.
! The following excerpt from the Westonian illus-
trates what one earnest man accomplished, and we
trust that others may follow where Alfred S.
Haines led : —
In 1900 a large wood was cut, a prudent har-
vesting of a ripened crop which called forth a
strong protest, and the pertinent question was
asked, *' Cannot our forests be advantageously
managed without such wholesale destruction?"
Out of this interest in practical forestry came the
desire to have the rudiments of the subject taught
! at Westtown, and Alfred S. Haines seemed to be
the man to do it. The subject w^as introduced
into the school curriculum, and has held its place
ever since. The new class worked largely in the
field, and the proper care of the 100 acres of
woodland on the farm came under the considera-
tion of pupils and teacher. In 1903 he formed a
scheme for planting with white pines a five-acre
patch. This was so successfully accomplished that
another and more extensive planting was made the
next year, which was further repeated till a con-
siderable part of the open pasture land beside and
above the Old Dam has a promising growth of
white pine, spruce, and larch, as well as of our
native hardwoods. The large standing timber
which was left on the farm, the young growth
coming in on the clearings, and the extensive
planting just mentioned, all called for careful and
intelligent oversight; so, in 1904, Alfred S.
Haines was appointed School Forester, with gen-
eral charge of all the wooded tracts on the farm.
The standing timber at once claimed his attention.
After some hesitation, permission was given him
-to make an '* improvement cutting " on five acres
of the thirty-year-old trees. The undergrowth
and the imperfect and superfluous trees were re-
moved, so as to leave the woods in better shape
for future growth. The timber that was cut down
was put into marketable shape and sold, and a
profit of over five dollars per acre was realized on
the whole transaction. This established the policy
of * 'improvement cuttings " which have been ex-
tended over all the partly-grown woods. The
next year he superintended the Arboretum plant-
ing, and then took that enterprise under his care.
Believing that a greater home use should be
made of the ripened timber, and finding the old
saw-mill poorly equipped for its proper work, he
raised some money and installed a modern circu-
lar saw, which has done very efficient service ever
since.
He was a constant exponent of the belief that
a man with the right training and reasonable capi-
tal could make as good a living in the country as
he could in the city, and yet have ample leisure
and strength for literary pleasures.
Vi
I
FOREST LEAVES.
83
Italy Planting Forests.
ITALY, which has suffered extremely in the
past from the ruin which follows the removal
of protective forests, is now among the lead-
ing nations working for the conservation of forest
resources. Extensive operations in reafforesta-
tion have been going on for forty years, and the
Italian Secretary of Agriculture has just published
his report on the progress made in that time.
This report indicates that the Italian govern-
ment is keenly aware of the value of forests to the
country, and that it is determined to bring its de-
forested lands into a forested state again as soon
as possible. To attain this end, planting opera-
tions have been conducted on government land
to such an extent that during the last thirty years
122,000 acres have been 'planted in twenty-five
of the provinces of Italy. Of this area, 69,000
acres, or approximately 108 square miles, were
planted in the year 1907 alone, causing an out-
lay of nearly $2,000,000, and giving employ-
ment to a large number of men.
Reafforestation has been carried on so vigor-
ously that there now remains only about 36,000
acres of government land in need of planting.
In addition to conducting planting operations on
a large scale, the Italian government has during
the last forty years distributed over 130,000,000
young trees and 237,600 pounds of seed, an
amount sufficient to restock approximately 100,-
000 acres of land, to the people in an effort to
encourage planting and sowing by private persons.
As the forest area of Italy amounts to only slightly
more than 10,000,000 acres, this planting by
the government and private persons amounts
to approximately one-fortieth of the total forest
area of Italy. Further steps must be taken
by the government, however, before its forest
policy will prove the success of its European
neighbors.
Forest fires still continue to be the cause of
heavy damage. During the year 1907, 1,294
fires were reported with an estimated loss of $194,-
400. While this amount is insignificant when
compared with the yearly loss from fires in the
' United States, it is large relatively speaking and
would be viewed almost as a calamity in the
better managed German forests. Of these fires,
94 were due to criminal design, 267 to culpable
negligence, 132 to accident, and the rest to un-
known causes.
Fire, however, is not the only enemy of the
Italian woods. The small landowner often fells
recklessly, and sometimes with good excuse, be-
cause of the heavy taxation of timberlands. Large
tracts which used to be covered by a thick growth
of chestnut have, even during recent years, been
stripped of every tree.
Like all other countries where forestry is success-
fully practiced, Italy must not only resort to
planting the cut-over areas, but must also perfect
a system of fire protection and enact laws to re-
lieve timberlands of excessive taxation.
The Christmas Tree.
THE country's forests will again be called
upon to supply about 4,000,000 Christ-
mas trees, and again many persons have
asked themselves : ' * Is the custom a menace to
the movement for forest preservation ? ' '
In the millions of happy homes over the coun-
try, where the younger generation has made the
Christmas tree the centre of play, there are many
mothers and fathers who have given the question
more or less thought. From Sunday-schools and
other organizations also, which hold an annual
celebration around a gaily-trimmed evergreen for
the benefit of the little ones, has come the ques-
tion whether it is consistent to urge conservation
of forest resources and then to cut millions of
young trees every year to afford a little joy in the
passing holiday season.
** Yes, it is consistent and proper that the cus-
tom should be maintained," has been the answer
of United States Forester Gifford Pinchot in
every case. ** Trees are for use, and there is no
other use to which they could be put which would
contribute so much to the joy of man as their use
by the children on this great holiday of the year.
''The number of trees cut for this use each
year is utterly insignificant when compared to the
consumption for other purposes for which timber
is demanded. Not more than 4,000,000 Christ-
mas trees are used each year, one in every fourth
family. If planted 4 feet apart they could be
grown on less than 1,500 acres. This clearing of
an area equal to a good-sized farm each Christmas
should not be a subject of much worry, when it
is remembered that for lumber alone it is neces-
sary to take timber from an area of more than
100,000 acres every day of the year.
*' It is true that there has been serious damage
to forest growth in the cutting of Christmas trees .
in various sections of the country, particularly in
the Adirondacks and parts of New England, but
in these very sections the damage through the
cutting of young evergreens for use at Christmas
is infinitesimal when compared with the loss of
forest resources through fires and careless methods
of lumbering. The proper remedy is not to stop
using trees but to adopt wiser methods of use.
84
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
85
:i i
^^ It is generally realized that a certain propor-
tion of land must always be used for forest growth,
just as for other crops. Christmas trees are one
form of this crop. There is no more reason for
an outcry against using land to grow Christmas
trees than to grow flowers."
The Forest Service upholds the Christmas tree
custom, but recognizes at the same time that the
indiscriminate cutting of evergreens to supply the
holiday trade has produced a bad effect upon
many stands of merchantable kinds of trees in dif-
ferent sections of the country. Waste and de-
struction usually result when woodlands are not
under a proper system of forest management.
Foresters say that it is not by denying ourselves
the wholesome pleasure of having a bit of nature
in the home at Christmas that the problem of
conserving the forests will be solved, but by learn-
ing how to use the forests wisely and properly.
The ravages through forest fires must be checked,
the many avenues of waste of timber in its travel
from the woods to the mill and thence to the
market must be closed, and almost numberless
important problems demand attention before the
Christmas tree.
Germany is conceded to have the highest de-
veloped system of forest management of any coun-
try, yet its per capita use of Christmas trees is
greatest. The cutting of small trees for Christ-
mas is not there considered in the least as a
menace to the forest, but, on the contrary, as a
means of improving the forest by thinning and as
a source of revenue. It is therefore constantly
encouraged. < '
There is little doubt but that the time will come
when the Christmas tree business will become a
recognized industry in this country, and that as
much attention will be given to it as will be given
to the growing of crops of timber for other uses.
This time may not be far off, for it is already un-
derstood that only through the practice of forestry,
which means both the conservation of the timber
which remains and carefully planned systems of
reforestation, will it be possible to supply the
country with its forty billion feet of lumber needed
each year, as well as the few million little trees
used at Christmas time.
■gzy
Next to our need of food and water comes our
need of timber. Our industries which subsist
wholly or mainly upon wood pay the wages of
more than 1,500,000 men and women. Forests
not only grow timber, but they hold the soil, and
they conserve the streams. They abate the wind
and give protection from excessive heat and cold.
Woodlands make for the fibre, health, and hap-
piness of the citizen and nation.
Notes on Annual Tree Rings.
UNDER specifications, the city of Philadel-
phia has been furnished with blocks of
southern long- leaf pine (^Pinus palustris^
to repave Market Street. It was specified that
these blocks, which are 7^ inches long, 3^
inches wide, and 4 inches deep (24 cm. by 9 cm.
by 10 cm.), be made from the mature trees and
cut from the heart wood, besides being treated
with creosote for their preservation. A count of
the annual rings from the central ring out to the
edge of one of the blocks showed 48 rings of
growth. In other words, each block of wood
used in paving Market Street took at least 48
years to grow — 48 years of plant activity to yield
an insignificant block for paving a much-fre-
quented highway.
The rapid growth of such trees as the Carolina
poplar {Populus monilifera) has been mentioned
frequently, but without positive data as to the
relative rate of growth or increment. Last year
a large Carolina poplar tree was cut down in the
Botanic Garden of the University of Pennsylvania,
because its roots habitually choked the terra-cotta
drainage pipes from the green-houses. The
diameter of the tree two feet above the ground,
taken in an east-west direction, was 23 inches;
in a north-south direction, 23^^ inches. The
corresponding width of the heartwood in the
above directions was 14 inches and 17 inches
respectively. Twenty- one annual rings were
No. of Annual Ring.
North-South.
Millimeters.
East-West
Millimeters
I
II
5
2
'1
5
3
ID
4
14
8
5
23
20
6
26
21
7
aa
20
8
21
20
9
30
18
10
20
21
II
16
28
12
17
• • •
13
6
• • •
14
7
• • a
>5
10
• • •
16
5
• • •
17
6
• • •
18
. 6
• • •
19
7
• • •
20
7
• • •
21
6
• • •
counted in this tree, so that it was just 21 years
old. The annual increments in millimeters*
along the north-south line and the east-west
diameter were as shown in the table on page 84.
The figures above indicate that the growth was
unequal on the different sides of the tree. For
example, the 9th ring from the centre in the
north-south direction measured 30 mm., and in
the east-west direction 18 mm., while the nth
ring in the east-west direction measured 28 mm.,
and in the north-south direction 16 mm.
John W. Harshberger.
Note. — As t. e east and west measurem'»nts from the 12th
to 2 1 St ring were nearly the same as the north and south
ones, they were not taken.
Length of Time Required to Grow Trees.
JOHN B. ATKINSON, of Earlington, Ky.,
one of the leading timber and coal-mine
owners of Kentucky, and a member of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association, made an ad-
dress on *' Forestry" before the Girls' High
School Alumnae Society. His address contained
statements of fact and of the results of experi-
'ments as to the life of trees that are interesting.
He spoke in part as follows : —
In the early days of our country the citizen who
destroyed the forest and put the land under cul-
tivation was a benefactor. Today the child who
plants a tree on Arbor Day is the benefactor, and
the citizen or corporation that returns to forest
conditions the land so long reclaimed deserves the
commendation of the republic.
Two of the greatest problems in self-preserva-
tion confront the people of x\merica and of the
world to-day, viz. : —
The conservation of the forests.
The utilization of our coal-fields to the greatest
advantage.
The forests are as necessary in the production
of coal as is labor ; all coal-mines use timber. In
some coal-fields the mining of one ton of coal
consumes three feet board measure of timber ;
hence the material interest of mining men demands
the preservation of the forest and active aid in its
renewal.
Kentucky still has oaks, hickories, tulip, gums,
chestnuts, maples, beeches, sycamores, ash, elms,
cypress, walnuts, locusts, etc., but the axe and
the mill are rapidly consuming this great heritage,
and so far no great organized effort has been
made to regulate and conserve this wealth. We
can grow trees, but we cannot replace the coal we
take out of the mine.
The great question asked by the intended forest
builder is, '* What trees shall I plant to give the
best results ? ' '
When my company began twenty years ago to
grow forest trees we were not familiar with the
ages of the many varieties at maturity. We began
with the planting of the black walnut, as we knew
the walnut to be a most valuable tree for all pur-
poses, and that the soil and climate of Kentucky
suit it. But we then began to take notice of tree
growth and to learn the ages of the forest trees in
Hopkins County. Twenty years ago we did not
think a tree of great value and were guilty of cut-
ting the trees on the property I was managing,
instead of buying our neighbors' trees and cutting
them. Personally, I became devoted to stumps
and spent much time then and since in determin-
ing how long it takes the destroyed tree to grow.
I was surprised and interested, and found it took
Years of
., , , Growth.
Hackberry, 115
White elm, 120
Black oak, jj^g
Black willow, tq
.Sassafras, 112
Sugar maple, jrc
Swamp maple, 134
Blue ash, 21 \
Yellow chestnut oak, 186
Post oak, iqo
White oak, 261
Scrub oak, ir©
Red oak, i^y
Sycamore, 260
Tulip tree, 225
lilack locust, • .... 45
Heech, 165
Hop hornbeam, ^c
Sweet gum, 184
Sour gum, 14,
Black walnut, 189
Wild cherry, 46
Shellbark hickory, 120
King nut hickory, 163
Pignut hickory, Hicotia glabra^ . . .110
Kentucky cofU'ee, . 25
Spanish oak, 220
Texas red oak, 215
White oak, 173
White oak, 312
White oak, 290
White oak, • . . . 275
White oak, 297
White oak, 310
White oak, 325
Inches in
Diameter.
25
27
28
18
19
38
28
36
21
20
48
'5
27
57
57
12
36
13
34
25
29
16
12
'9
13
5
38
43
33
36
35
35
31
36
41
A millimeter equals .03937 inch, nearly 1/25 inch.
This list includes thirty varieties of our most
prominent forest trees. During these twenty years
especial attention had been given to discover the
growth of the white oak. Forty-five white oaks
of Hopkins County, grown on the hills, in the
valleys and on the slopes between, were examined
as to the ages when the trees reached 1 2 inches in
diameter. The average age was found to be 10 1
years. The average age when cut was 231 years,
with an average diameter of 31 inches.
86
FOREST LEAVES,
FOREST LEAVES.
87
t;
1
ii
:i
I have made a table of the time it takes certain
trees, in Kentucky, to grow to a diameter at the
stump of 12 inches. This is not an infallible
table, but is based on actual tree growth as ob-
served in the forests, and has no reference to iso-
lated growth or unusual conditions.
Pin oak will grow to 12 -inch diameter in 40
years.
The black locust will grow to 12 -inch diameter
in 45 years.
Tulip will grow to 12 -inch diameter in 50
years.
Black oak will grow to 12 -inch diameter in 50
years.
Black walnut will grow to 12-inch diameter in
56 years.
Texas red oak will grow to 12 -inch diameter in
58 years.
Sweet gum will grow to 12-inch diameter in
62 years.
Ash will grow to 12-inch diameter in 72 years.
Hickories will grow to 12 inch diameter in
90 years.
White oaks will grow to 12 -inch diameter in
100 years.
In the days gone by, and to-day, to some ex-
tent, the farmer in many counties cleared his land
by girdling the trees, then grew tobacco for some
years, and corn, and more corn, and still corn
until the soil grew tired and sick of such constant
burdens, and refused to grow either tobacco or
corn longer.
My company became the owners of many acres
of this so-called worn-out land — much was brought
back into cultivation, and yields large crops of hay
and corn. On the better land was planted walnut
and catalpa speciosa. The locust robinia is planted
on the '* worn-out" and '* turned out" farm
lands. Belonging to the Pulse family, with the
clovers and peas, like them, it improves the soils.
For mining timbers and fence posts it is a most
valuable tree. When once planted it makes a
permanent forest, the stump, when cut, growing
new shoots rapidly. Since January i, 1905, we
have planted not less than 110,000 on 162 acres
of land.
The seedlings are planted 8 by 8 feet apart, or
about 680 to the acre. Some of these trees, four
years from seed, now measure 8 and 10 inches
in circumference at the stump.
What promises to be a most valuable tree for
rebuilding the forests is the catalpa speciosa. It
is a rapid grower on good land, but will grow on
almost any soil. The largest trees, four years
from seed, in our forests now measure 8 to 9^
inches in circumference and 12 to 18 feet in
height. At this rate of growth a tree 12 inches in
diameter would be produced in sixteen to twenty
years. I do not include this catalpa in my table
of years of tree growth to make 1 2 inches diameter.
This tree sometimes grows to a height of 120
feet, with a diameter of 3 to 4 feet. Since Janu-
ary I, 1905, we have planted out 120,000 of ca-
talpa speciosa, on 176 acres of land, the trees
planted 8 by 8 feet, about 680 to the acre. In
time these trees will be thinned out as conditions
demand. The forest will be perpetual, like that
of the locust, a stump throwing up new shoots.
Since 1888 we have planted over one million
of walnuts. Not quite half of these were planted
on 170 acres of farm land, the balance in vacant
places in the forest. The nuts are planted 4 by 4
feet, or 2,722 to the acre. The first planting
twenty years ago has been thinned out until the
stand is less than 1,000 to the acre. Twenty-nine
trees, 25 to 35 feet high, occupying 1,100 square
feet, have an average circumference of 1 7 J^ inches,
equal to 5^^ inches in diameter. The largest tree
measured 9.3 inches in diameter, the smallest 3.4
inches in diameter.
The tulip tree (Jiriodendron^ is one of the most
valuable and beautiful. A royal tree of the forest,
as is the royal palm of the tropics.
A few acres were planted in 1900, with trees
taken from the forest three to five years old. An-
other forest was planted last spring, about 25 acres,
now in tulip trees. These trees are planted every
10 by 10 feet, or 430 to the acre. The first plant-
ing has produced trees with circumferences of 14
inches to 19^^ inches. Five trees in one row in
a space of 30 feet give circumferences of 15, 13,
i6j/^, 16^ and 141^ inches, the trees being 25
feet high.
From the autumn of 1888 to the spring of 1909,
inclusive, the following number of trees have been
planted: 430,000 black walnut on 162 acres;
160,000 catalpa speciosa on 230 acres ; 200,000
black locust on 280 acres ; 10,000 tulips (yellow
poplar) on 20 acres ; 850,000 black walnut in
vacant places in the forest land, largely on bot-
tom land.
We prepare the ground for the young forest the
same as for corn. Plant the walnut with the hull
in the autumn as soon as the nuts are mature. We
get the catalpa and locust seedlings in the autumn
and heel them in, and then plant them out when
good weather comes in the early spring.
The young trees are cultivated as is corn for
three or four years. Bluegrass is sown amongst
the walnuts and locusts when the ground is last
cultivated. All the young forests are fenced in
from cattle and hogs and sheep.
My argument to the Kentucky farmer outside
the bluegrass country is that a permanent blue-
grass pasture can be secured by planting walnuts
and sowing bluegrass. In ten or twelve years the
trees will be large enough to permit grazing.
The expense of planting ten acres in walnuts is
small, and the value of a bluegrass pasture is great.
If the present forests of Kentucky were inclosed
by fences against cattle and all other stock, the
seed trees still existing would rapidly produce
young growth, and much would be accomplished
in reforesting our State.
Government Forests of Prussia.
PRUSSIA has National Forests, covering
nearly 7,000,000 acres, which are made
up much as if the pineries of the Southern
States of this country and the forests of some of
the Middle Atlantic and Central States were com-
bined. When forestry was begun by Prussia, a
great part of the timberlatid had been injured by
mismanagement, much as American forests have
been, and the Prussian foresters had to solve the
problem of improving the run-down forests out of
the returns from those which were still in good
condition. Immense improvement has already
taken place and is steadily going on.
The method of management adopted calls for
a sustained yield ; that is, no more wood is cut
than the forest produces. Under this management
the growth of the forest, and consequently the
amount cut, has risen sharply. In 1830 the yield
was 20 cubic feet per acre; in 1865, 24 cubic
feet; in 1890, 52 cubic feet; and 1904, 65 cubic
feet. In other words, Prussian forest manage-
ment has multiplied the rate of production three-
fold in seventy-five years. And the quality of
the product has improved with the quantity.
Between 1830 and 1904 the percentage of saw
timber rose from 19 per cent, to 54 per cent.
It is a striking fact in this connection that in
the United States at the present time the people
use about three times as much timber as the for-
ests grow. If we were everywhere practicing
forestry with a resulting improvement equal to
that made in Prussia, the forests of this country
would be growing as much as we use.
The financial returns in Prussia make an even
better showing. Net returns per acre in 1850
were 28 cents; in 1865 they were 72 cents; in
1900, $1.58; and in 1904, $2.50. They are
now nearly ten times what they were sixty years
ago, and they are increasing more rapidlv than
ever.
These results have been obtained in Prussia
along with almost ideal technical success. When
what is wanted is a sustained yield from the forest
year by year in the long run, it is clearly neces-
sary to have always a certain number of trees
ready to be cut ; there must be a proper propor-
tion of trees of all ages. This percentage has
been secured and maintained with almost mathe-
matical accuracy.
A Large Grapevine.
THROUGH the courtesy of Mr. J. G. Dil-
lin, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association
was presented with a section of a large
grapevine.
This piece of the vine measures fifteen inches in
diameter, and is hollow. It came from the farm
of Messrs. Peter and Jeremiah Lawless, near
Brownsburg, Pa., and was cut down about two
years ago. It grew round the butt of a large
beech tree fully six feet in diameter. Both died
about the same time and fell together, the tree
being completely covered by the vine. This vine
was only a few feet from where General George
Washington and his band of patriots loaded their
batteries on the boats on December 25th, 1776,
preparatory to crossing the Delaware River on
their expedition to Trenton ; and there is but
little doubt that this celebrated general saw it,
as it was living then, and too close to the road to
be unnoticed. Twelve years ago old Samuel
Knowles was living, and stated that his father
stood at this place and saw the Continental army
marching past, halting right there by an old log
house to prepare supper, and recalled seeing the
blood-stains on the snow from their cut feet.
This was the upper contingent of the army coming
from Coryell's Ferry (now New Hope), making a
junction with the lower army at or near Taylors-
ville, where they crossed. Mr. J. Lawless re-
members the vine for over fifty -five years, and
stated that it looked to be just the same size then
as now. The grape was probably a wild chicken
The Illustrations.
THE full page photograph presents an inter-
esting and unique illustration of the latent
« force in a growing tree.
Apparently the seedling sprouted within the
square central opening of the old rejected mill-
stone, and after the growth of the trunk had filled
the hole, the stone was lifted from the ground,
and is now about two feet above the surface.
The curious rustic seat thus formed would be
prized on many lawns or in parks, but serves no
such purpose in the location bordering a stream
in a sparsely-settled district of New York.
88
FOREST LEAVES.
I'i
li . t
n
• 1
The metal bars in evidence are discarded
hinges, which to personal knowledge have been
lying on the stone for the past year. The change
of the cross-section of the trunk to the rectangular
outline of the millstone's opening is apparent in
the photograph. Eventually the stone will be
fractured, but this has not yet occurred.
The tree with its stone burden stands on the
bank of Ten Mile River, at South Dover, Dutch-
ess County, New York.
One of the extensive forest reserves owned by
the State of Pennsylvania is in the hilly wooded
country of Pike County, where are attractive lakes
and water courses, many of the latter having pic-
turesque water-falls and cascades. The Forestry
Reservation Commission is endeavoring to add to
the value of this reserve by improvement cuttings,
as indicated in the upper view. This illustration
represents a forest in Porter Township, Pike
County, Pa., from which the undesirable and
weaker growth is removed to encourage the more
promising and thrifty trees to develop to advan-
tage.
An idea of the scenic features of the Pike
County reservation is presented in the lower illus-
tration, taken from Hunting Tower, six miles
from Dingman's Ferry and the Delaware River.
•
Forestry and Engineering.*
By John Birkinbine, President Pennsylvania
Forestry Association.
THE compliment of being invited to open a
lecture course in which the practical side
of forestry, will be presented is appreciated,
as the establishment of such a course is an evi- ,
dence of the hold forest protection has upon our
people. There are no more appropriate places
than educational institutions, largely devoted to
technology, in which to discuss the value of forests
to the country for the present and also for the
future. Hence, it is evidently proper that a Uni- j
versity so well known and esteemed as Lehigh
should set an example by exhibiting interest in I
forestry and all conservation problems.
It is remarkable that the ablest authorities to-
day agree with William Penn, who in 1681 an-
nounced that the proportion of forests to agricul- '
tural lands of one to four would encourage in this
State the best results. But Penn's recommenda-
* The Lehigh University inaugurated a course of lectures
on forestry, which was opened by the President of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association on October 22, 1909, and by
arrangement with the Presidentof Lehigh University the lec-
tures will appear in the Forest Leaves. In thi?^ issue we
present the first lecture of the course.
*
I tion was not heeded, and the wooded lands were
denuded — first by burning for clearing, then ta
supply the tanneries and to sustain the lumber in-
dustry, and by most disastrously devastating fires.
The original waste in clearing was excusable, use
for tanneries and saw-mills was explainable, but in
later years forest fires, for which no apology can be
offered, have caused enormous loss and destroyed
great wooded areas.
Realizing conditions, the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association was formed in 1886, being, with the
possible exception of that of Colorado, the first
State organization. It started a vigorous cam-
paign of education in July, 1886, and its official
organ, Forest Leaves, has regularly appeared
since that date, having been for years the only for-
estry publication in the country issued at stated
intervals.
For twenty-four years the Association has con-
tinued the policy originally adopted, and its suc-
cess may be judged by a membership of i ,600, and
by such results as the appointment in 1893 of a
commission to investigate the forested lands of the
State, and present a report giving detailed descrip-
tions, location, character of trees, etc., to form a
basis for a systematic and comprehensive forestry
policy for the State. This paved the way, for a
Forestry Bureau created in the Department of
Agriculture in 1895, which was made the Depart-
ment of Forestry in 1901.
Since 1899 the State has accumulated nearly
1,000,000 acres of forest reserves by purchase, an
area slightly larger than that of Rhode Island, and
the value of the lands secured is already estimated
at more than double their cost, including all expen-
ditures of whatsoever character for their adminis-
tration and care.
Pennsylvania has purchased outright as much
woodland as New York, nearly one-half of the re-
serves of the Empire State having been secured at
tax sales. None of the large National forests have
been purchased.
The administration of the reserves is carried out
on a business basis, the State Forestry Reservation
Commission having authority to utilize them in any
way which will best serve the interests of forestry
in contradistinction to legislation in some other
States which practically prohibits all utilization.
Nurseries have been established and are main-
tained so that suitable seedlings for reforestation
will be available at a minimum cost.
F(jrest fire laws have been improved, and under
the present progressive administration, which has
also demonstrated practical methods of extinguish-
ment, the losses in the State have been greatly
reduced.
A Forest Academy is maintained by the State,
i
■ c.-"--
.>-
V'. <
'■■*■ •
•"4,
J
■
!i;
'1'
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 6.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xil, No. 6.
... rP
><■..' ;-^i -
■^'■^■.
^■.^,^;'■-■^:
.i*,.'^!.^I|r/^^.||?;t*:x-Nv
A Ijf
:».-J* .1.
..-C^r^*>'' ,
A TREE IN A MILLSTONE.
IMPROVEMENT-CUTTING, PIKE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
"'"■-'*■-«
•$ ■ 'V
81 ^^v.
-m V
FOREST VIEW, PIKE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 6.
A TREE IN A MILLSTONE,
I
Forest Leaves, Vol. xil, No. 6.
T.
IMPROVEMENT-CUTTING, PIKE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
FOREST VIEW, PIKE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
1
i
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
FOREST LEAVES.
89
the State College has established a Forestry Depart-
ment, and the Summer Forest School of Yale Uni-
versity is located at Milford, while some of our high
schools give instruction in forestry.
A feature of which we may be proud is the estab-
lishment of State sanatoria within our forest re-
serves to care for sufferers from tuberculosis, for
the maintenance of which generous appropriations
are made by the legislature.
Notwithstanding the improvement in legislation
affecting forests, and the position of leadership
which Pennsylvania has maintained, we must view
the situation with anxiety, because of the meager
remnant of available timber on our mountains, the
apparent indifference exhibited in many portions of
the Commonwealth, the continued sacrifice of valu-
able property by fire, the waste in lumbering and
in the use of lumber, the taxation which encourages
timber cutting, and the possible danger of future
forest administration becoming a factor in politics.
The ravages of fire, the enormous cut of lumber,
the inroads made by tanneries, have left of Penn's
woods far from sufficient to supply the State's re-
quirements. A fire in a dwelling, a barn, or an
industrial establishment calls upon the entire neigh-
borhood for volunteer help, which is given with
commendable enthusiasm. But the quenching of
forest fires is often considered the business of no
one, although the monetary loss may greatly exceed
that due to the destruction of buildings, and to
secure the necessary help the State provides com-
pensation for those who fight forest fires under
authorized direction. However, in some portions
of the State it is still difficult to secure the convic-
tion of those who wilfully set fire to woodlands,
even when the evidence is of a convincing char-
acter, and by increasing assessments upon wood-
lands individual owners are discouraged from
maintaining forests, thus robbing the State of valu-
able auxiliaries to its forest reserves.
To properly care for 1,000,000 or more acres of
forests many wardens or rangers are necessary, and
the object of those who advocate forest protection
is to have these men selected for their competency,
and not because of political or factional affiliations.
Although many reforms have been introduced,
the waste in felling trees and lumbering, which can
be corrected, offers a field for intelligent investiga-
tion, and while Pennsylvania has achieved more
than most other States, the work is far from com-
plete, and claims the earnest co-operation of all
good citizens.
The results to which we refer are in part due to
an appreciation of the value of forests by succes-
sive governors, by legislatures which have sup-
ported executive recommendations, and by a
'* press " which has in the main shown a friendly.
and in some instances enthusiastic, interest in
forest protection. It was at Bethlehem that Gov-
ernor Stuart voiced his faith by expressing the
hope that Pennsylvania would ultimately have
6,000,000 acres of forest reserves.
Forestry is considered as caring for existing
forests — by improvement cutting to clear away
■ weaklings or undesirables, and give neighboring
trees room to develop, by preventing and extin-
guishing forest fires, and in protecting in all pos-
sible ways the growing timber. It also covers
propagation of trees in large quantities, the setting
out of seedlings or sprouts, to reforest denuded
areas, and the care of new growth. It considers
the harvesting of the forest crop when mature, the
prevention of unnecessary waste, aims to obtain
satisfactory financial returns, and seeks the best
utilization of forest products. The substitution of
other materials for wood is also a forestry problem.
I appreciate the courtesy of my friend of many
years. President Drinker, in inviting me to initiate
a series of lectures. I also realize the responsi-
bility of properly presenting the subject of *' The
Relations of the Engineer to Forestry, ' ' for the
term ** engineer ' ' as generally used covers a broad
field. Members of this profession are expected to
locate mineral properties, provide means for de-
veloping and exploiting these, and for preparing
or beneficiating the product. It includes the study
of streams, their water-sheds, volumes, velocities,
and profiles, with a view to their control and
utilization as media of transportation, as means
for developing power, as sources of water-supply,
or for irrigating arid lands.
The engineer lays out and designs roads or rail-
ways, with the bridges, tunnels, etc., and provides
machinery for operating these avenues of traffic.
He is called to collect electricity from the earth's
envelope of air, and transform the energy into
light or mechanical power, or into heat for elec-
tro-chemical processes. Upon him also devolves
the duty of caring for refuse and sewage of cities.
He designs vessels with their equipment of ma-
chinery, their protection and armament, and
steam-engines or turbines, pumps, water-wheels,
and various mechanical appliances must be familiar
to him. In fact, the engineer occupies a prominent
place in all phases of industrial development and
civic advancement.
Seventy-five years ago this country relied upon
wood as a source of fuel and as a material for con-
struction. The logs in fire-places, or billets in
stoves, warmed homes or cooked meals, and
for many years wood was the fuel employed in
steam-boilers, in locomotives, and in industries.
Bridges or buildings, mills, water-wheels, tanks,
boats, ships, etc., were constructed of wood, and
90
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
91
charcoal made from cord-wood was the fuel fed to
blast-furnaces from which the supply of pig-iron
was obtained, and the same fuel maintained the
forge fires. The earlier railway cars moved on
wooden rails, and the plank road was the best
highway.
Comparing these conditions with those prevail-
ing we may form an appreciation of the advances
which have been made. Mineral fuel heats our
homes, and it or gas, of which coal is the base,
cooks our meals. With the exception of gas-
engines, water-wheels, and windmills, few prime
movers receive their power from any source save
the combustion of coal. But even now we consume
yearly about 75,000,000 cords of fire-wood.
Bridges are of masonry or of metal, important
buildings are skeletons of metal encased in
masonry, and ships have but little wood in their
construction.
A greatly augmented pig-iron product results
from utilizing coke and coal as a fuel (although
52,000,000 bushels of charcoal are still burned
annually), and in converting, rolling, and fabri-
cating the steel : coal, or gas from coal, natural
gas or mineral oil furnish heat and power.
It stretches one's imagination to reconcile the
facts that the practical use of anthracite coal dates
back less than a century, and that the production
in 1908 exceeded 83,000,000 net tons, or that in
that year the country produced a total of nearly
416,000,000 net tons of bituminous and anthracite
coal, a quantity of such magnitude as to demon-
strate beyond question that had the forests been
capable of supplying sufficient wood, it could not
be cut, transported, and assembled in amounts
which would have produced results attributed to
the employment of the coal output mentioned.
Another instance of rapid progress is in the
utilization of electricity, for when one notices the
millions of candle power now used nightly, or
realizes the practically continuous procession of
trolley-cars, or the electrification of standard rail-
roads, or the innumerable applications of power,
and the intensity of the electric arc as used in
electro-metallurgy, it is difficult to appreciate that
all this development has resulted in a generation —
for at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 the single
electric light on exhibition was not always illu-
minating.
Interest in the conservation of our natural re-
sources has encouraged the publication of numer-
ous papers and discussions, and among those who
have contributed to the literature of the subject
are many engineers, for the training given an engi-
neer makes him a conservator. His function is to
economize by reducing or utilizing what is waste,
to obtain a desired result with the least expenditure
of power, or of the fuel by which power is
developed, to so utilize thermic or dynamic forces
or physical energy as to produce the best return.
As a student he -acquaints himself with these
resources which nature has supplied, and investi-
gates possible uses for them, and as a practitioner
he applies the knowledge gained in such a manner
as to develop their utilization to the highest prac-
tical economy.
Nature study broadens and enlightens the mind,
and he who goes through life ignorant of the
composition and structure of the earth's crust, of
the atmosphere which envelops the earth, and its
meteorological conditions of rainfall and water-
supply, of plant or animal life, their development
or characteristics, or who fails to appreciate the
marvelous system which pervades all nature, loses
much of the joy of living.
The problems are too varied and complex for
one individual to grasp details, and as a result
specialists master these, but the study of one
subject awakens interest in others, and while we
may not become thorough scientists or even spe-
cialize, we may grasp nature's secrets in part and
are the better for such study.
The engineer as a true conservator is attracted
to each of the natural resources, and seeks to see
them utilized, not locked up for an uncertain
posterity ; for recognizing the omnipotence and
omniscience of the Creator, we may properly
assume that when He peopled the earth He sup-
plied ample natural resources for the use of the
inhabitants. It is our duty to utilize but not to
waste these, and the knowledge that some of
these resources are reproductive, others renewed,
and others outside of either class, teaches us how
conservation should be applied to each.
While natural resources may be considered as
existing since the creation of the world, and exert-
ing influences upon its physical features, the in-
crease in population, the changes in location
sought by the people, the altered conditions which
are met, the advance in knowledge both practical
and technical, have in time developed new uses
and applications. The progress of the present
time is so pronounced that we are liable to look
upon the past with pity if not with scorn, and
wonder how our ancestors lived in the absence of
what we recognize as essentials for existence or
comfort, forgetting that to these ancestors we
are indebted for the initiative which makes our
present development possible. And when con-
sidering conservation we are prone to credit with
willful waste those who imperfectly utilized or
apparently recklessly destroyed what is now of
value.
Our boasted advancement may be equally open
J
to criticism from those who are to follow us, unless
we study carefully economic problems, and apply
in the most advantageous manner the resources at
our command. In fact, with the knowledge and
opportunities existing we will be the more blam-
able if we fail to be true conservators.
In discussing conservation the natural resources
have generally been segregated into four general
classes : soils, minerals, water, and forests, each
of which demands the best and most persistent
effort to produce their fullest utilization.
Soils are neither reproductive nor are they re-
placed, except insofar as erosion wears away hills
and fills up low land, but they may be enriched
and the fertility renewed after exhaustion ; hence,
judicious methods of agriculture aid in conserving
the soils, while the character of vegetable cover
has great influence in retarding or accelerating the
erosion which carries the soil from one locality to
another. Such erosion robs the soil of much of
value for agriculture, by washing away the fertile
portion, and gashing fields with ragged waterways,
or conveying barren material to cover good soil
or to obstruct the beds of streams. Much engi-
neering ability is constantly employed in efforts
to reduce the damage thus produced, and great
skill and enormous money expenditures being re-
quired to maintain channels, remove bars, etc.,
from water courses, or to divert streams for irri-
gating arid lands, or for power development.
While soils are not reproductive they are the
basis of all that is reproductive, for they support,
with the assistance of water, vegetation which is
constantly growing or propagating its kind, and
vegetation supports all animal life. The relations
existing between the animal and vegetable king-
dom may be illustrated by a late plea for protect-
ing birds, to the effect that without birds in-
sect life would predominate and vegetation be
destroyed, animal life following. But without
water neither vegetable or animal life can exist.
We gather crops from our soils, either renewing
their fertility artificially, or allowing a rest to re-
store this, but the forests maintain by their leaf
floor the fertility of the soil upon which the trees
grow, and protect it from erosion.
Minerals are not renewed, although some are in
process of formation, and whatever is taken from
mines, quarries, or banks is a step towards final
exhaustion. I do not join in the expectation of
the world suff*ering for want of fuel, or of the
time when iron will rank as a precious metal, for
our ancestors existed without coal, or employed
copper where we use iron, and we need hark back
but a generation to the time when electricity, now
so universally used, was developed as laboratory
experiments, or since brick or stone laid in
mortar, or when wet in cement, were the only
acceptable methods of masonry construction.
While steel bridge and roof construction dates
farther back, the era of the use of metal in build-
ings will not much exceed a third of a century.
We may therefore expect coming generations to
be at least equal to ourselves in advancement and
in finding new sources of supply, or applications
of what may now be considered waste.
While not willing to join the stampede occa-
sioned by the fear of exhausting our resources, I
do not wish to be understood as condoning any
waste, or unnecessary use of our natural resources,
for our creed should be that proper utilization
is true conservation.
The field for the engineer is broad in mining
the minerals, in converting them into useful forms,
and in applying these in various ways. Mining,
metallurgical, mechanical, electrical, civil, struc-
tural, chemical engineering — are all dependent
upon the mineral resources, and those who follow
the specialties named are striving to secure the
highest efficiency from these.
Water, which is considered unstable, is practi-
cally the most stable of our natural resources, for
sun-pumping is constantly exerting forces measur-
able only in hundreds of millions of horse-power,
evaporating water from the oceans and lakes to
form the envelope of vapor which makes the
earth inhabitable, and the clouds which are
carried by the winds to deposit rain on remote
areas. Water is constantly in motion, and it,
more than any other cause, has affected the topog-
naphy of the earth ; it falls on diff'erent districts
in different amounts and at diverse intervals, but
it will not be exhausted as the minerals.
In our country the average annual amount of
rain falling is indicated by the record of Southern
Arizona, less than 3 inches, to from 70 to 135
inches in the Puget Sound country, while in
Pennsylvania the range is from 37 inches at Pitts-
burg to 55 inches in the anthracite coal regions.
Although the heaviest average annual rainfall is
credited to the anthracite region, this section has
been so denuded of timber as to encourage freshet
conditions of marked severity. We are therefore
encouraged to preserve our forests, because they
supply a material for construction which, notwith-
standing the advances made, is required in great
quantities ; because they offer the best means of
modifying the runoff of streams, and because they
add to the health and well-being of communities.
We in the humid region fail to appreciate the
fact that fully three-fourths of the area of the coun-
try has less rain than we ; for the average annual
rainfall over Continental United States is 29.4
inches.
92
FOREST LEAVES.
Records covering sufficient number of years to
make them reliable and serviceable for Bethlehem,
T.
FOREST LEAVES.
93
are : —
Yearly Average.
Philadelphia, 40.6 inches.
Quakertown, 45.2 inches.
50.5 inches.
Mauch Chunk.
The forests are an important resource which
demands and must receive intelligent considera-
tion, and you may criticise the scant reference to
the subject-matter of this address as indicated by
the title, but I have considered it advisable to
cover the general problem of conservation, know-
ing that those who follow in this course will present
various special features of forestry in a more
thorough manner, and treat of their protection,
their propagation, and their utilization, for these
three are to be considered together as representing
progressive forestry.
To inclose a given wooded area and depend
upon the trees to reproduce or supply new growth
is not forestry — for when trees reach maturity they
should be removed and converted to some useful
purpose ; thinning out is also essential to aid in
the survival of the fittest, and fires must be kept
from checking the growth of large trees, killing
the young, or destroying the forest floor which is
of so much service in conserving water. Natural
reproduction cannot always be depended upon,
for replanting is usually necessary to perpetuate
forest growth, and its maintenance is only possible
by constant attention and use.
It is the duty of the owner or tenant of land to
so utilize it as to obtain the greatest value from it,
and if an area is better adapted to forest growth
than to agricultural development, it should be
made to produce trees, but the arboreal growth
must be cared for. Where cereals or vegetables
are grown the fertility of the ground cultivated
requires periodic enrichment, but the fertility of
the soil occupied by forests is maintained by the
mat of fallen leaves and other debris which form
the humus or forest floor— a spongy mass which
also acts as a filter and reservoir for much of the
water falling upon the forests.
If the maintenance of the fqrest floor was the
only benefit resulting from forest protection, it
would be sufficient to encourage our efforts, for
the regularity and purity of our water-supply is
a most important problem, while increase in the
number and size of cities and towns or augmented
industries, all require conservation of water, and
the forest floor is an adjunct whose importance
cannot be overestimated.
But the forests also give welcome shade, reduce
evaporation, hold in check melting snows, ofl"er
aid to those suffering from tuberculosis, and fur-
nish timber and lumber for many uses, a few of
which, of special interest to engineers, are indi-
cated.
No small part of the inventive genius, the
constructive ability, the mechanical skill, and the
designing capacity of engineers has been devoted
to substituting metal or stone for wood, in using
coal, coke, oil, or gas for wood or charcoal, and
in handling the quantities of material, or creating
the units of power which the nation demands.
But at the present time the forests are called on
for very liberal quantities of wood in numerous
industries, notwithstanding the enormous substi-
tution of metal referred to.
The stulls, caps, sills and lagging required for
underground mining, the skip-ways, guides, head-
frames, trestles, and railway ties are largely sup-
plied from the forests, and most mines which have
been wrought on a liberal scale for a number of
years are forced to carry timber considerable dis-
tances because of the denudation of nearby terri-^
tory.
To reduce the cost of timbering, mining meth-
ods demanding smaller drafts on the forests have
been devised, and masonry shafts and pillars or
metal stulls have been employed. Steel head-
frames and girders are in favor as off'ering perma-
nence and protection from destruction by fire, but
it is evident that economical underground explora-
tion must depend largely upon a supply of timber
(approximately 165,000,000 cubic feet beings
annually used;, and without forests that is unat-
tainable.
Numerous designs of metal or of concrete and
metal railroad ties have been experimented upon,
and a number of these are now in use. It is be-
lieved that ultimately satisfactory forms will be
developed, but it is doubtful if these can be sup-
plied at costs approximating that of even the ad-
vanced price of wooden ties, a conclusion indorsed
by the liberal planting of trees by railroad com-
panies to furnish a future supply of these necessary^
features of construction, and also by the invest-
ments being made in plants for treating wooden
ties to increase their life.
The demand which railroad cross-ties make
upon the forests is indicated by the extent of
steam railroads, which Poor's latest Manua/ g\\t%
as a total of main track, second track, and sidings,
of 334,000 miles. This does not include electric
trolley-lines, both urban and interurban.
This great mileage, which has developed within
eighty years, has probably rails in place averaging
120 long tons per mile of track, which carry 265
locomotives and 966 cars per 1,000 miles, and
over which are transferred 215,600 million ton
miles of freight, equal to 600,000,000 ton milfs
per day, earning about three-fourth cent per ton
mile, and 29,000 million passenger miles, whose
average fare is two cents. This enormous traffic
is supported on ties which the forest must furnish,
and the annual requirements of the railroads in
the United States exceed 70,000,000 ties. Includ-
ing bridge and switch-ties, this is equivalent to
2,750 million feet, board measure.
The Forest Service reports that the steam and
electric railway companies of the United States
purchased 153,000,000 cross-ties in 1907, more
than three -fourths of which were hewn, the oaks,
chiefly white oak, supplying more than 45 per
cent, of the hewed ties.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, with a trackage
of 3,300 miles, demands the use of 8,000,000
ties, representing a total of 342,000,000 feet b.m.
The requirements of this company are 800,000
ties per year.
The growing use of conduits for telephone and
telegraph wires in congested districts, the use of
metal, and in some instances concrete poles for
such wires, but especially for overhead electric
traction installations, the application of metal
towers for electric transmission lines, reduce the
draft for long timber on the forests. But the
immense number of wooden poles employed in
telephone, telegraph, electric power and light
transmission is evident to any observer, and may
be appreciated by the knowledge that this country
has in use 15,000,000 miles of telephone and
telegraph wire, a quantity sufficient to girdle the
earth at the equator six hundred times, and the
annual demand now exceeds 3,500,000 poles,
twenty feet or more in length.
Metal piles which find bearing with point or
screw end, or by a current of water forced through
them, metal caissons, sheet pilings, dams, break-
water, bulk-heads or docks constructed of concrete
in blocks or in mass, metal booms, braces, and
derricks, all reduce the demand for timber for
river and harbor improvements. But the require-
ment of such structures still necessitates the de-
nudation of great areas of forest lands, and the
lengths and sizes of timber as in poles, piles, and,
booms necessitates the selection of large, tall,
and generally straight trees.
The newspapers and many of the books which
we read depend upon wood pulp for much of
the paper used, the annual consumption being
3,000,000 cords of domestic wood, and as illus-
trating minor uses, the machmery employed in
producing shoe-pegs and shanks, spools, clothes-
pins, bobbins, shuttles, toys, etc., amounts annu-
ally to over 100,000 cords of selected wood,
mainly birch ; of this, spools demand 43,000
cords, and 3,000 cords are converted into tooth-
picks to aid the dental fraternity.
Notwithstanding the liberal application of
metal patterns for foundry use, we consume large
quantities of superior lumber, and the crating or
boxing of machinery keep numerous saw-mills in
operation.
Many buildings and the furniture within are also
to be supplied from the forests, and i,ooo million
posts and fence rails are used annually, although
wire fencing is popular.
The enormous present consumption of forest
products, notwithstanding the substitution of other
materials in various industries, cannot be com-
prehended by the mere statement that it repre-
sents a volume of 20 billion cubic feet, or even
that if this were closely and solidly piled as finished
material it would cover seventy square miles to a
height of ten feet.
Without going into the detail of various prod-
ucts, the distribution of this material for diff'er-
ent uses is illustrated by the following annual re-
quirements : Commercial lumber production,
40,256,154,000 feet B. M. ; shingles, 11,824,-
475,000; lath, 3,663 million. Tanneries de-
manded 1,200,000 cords oak and hemlock bark,
and 400,000 barrels tanning extract from domes-
tic wood ; 36,000,000 gallons of turpentine ;
and 4,000,000 barrels of rosin were produced.
There were used in wood distillation, 1,280,000
cords. These with maple sugar and exported
logs are valued at $10,000,000.
The total drain on domestic forests is esti-
mated as 20,000,000,000 cubic feet, plus damage
by fires, insects, and storms, the total value being
$1,280,000,000.
It is officially stated that we are cutting seven
times as much timber per capita as Germany, and
ten times as much as France, but that Germany
obtains four cubic feet annually to each cubic foot
secured from the wooded areas of the United
States, indicating that we should not only con-
tinue to apply every economy in the use of wood,
and substitute wherever possible other material
therefor, but that it is the duty of every good
citizen to encourage protection and care of exist-
ing forests, also to be interested in every effort
for reforestation.
An attempt has been made to indicate the re-
lations of forestry to engineering, to emphasize
the necessity of economical utilization of forest
products, to indicate some of the substitutions
for wood made necessary by depleted forested
areas and advanced practice, to suggest the enor-
mous present demands for wood in many forms,
although numerous improvements aid in decreas-
ing the consumption for special purposes, and to
94
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
9^
invite co-operation of all in advancing the in-
terest in forest care and preservation. Few may
expect to plant young trees and see them mature
or used, but provision for those who follow us and
who are to maintain our nation is a patriotic duty
which all may accept with pride.
The population of our country, yes, of the
world, is divided into two classes : leaders and
followers, the helpers and the helped ; and each
must have a place in one or the other class. The
course of education in the Lehigh University
is intended as preparatory for leadership, and as
fitting men to help others who have not enjoyed
equal advantages.
Each of the student body is expected to be a
user of natural resources, some probably employ-
ing great quantities, others possibly small amounts,
but you are to leave the Alma Mater a true con-
servator, who will study the best utilization of
whatever of the resources he employs.
As our population increases in numbers and in
density, as industrial development expands and
manufactories are augmented, the requirements
for judicious utilization will be more urgent, the
necessity for reducing waste or of obtaining value
from it more imperative.
The opportunities for usefulness are many, and
if I correctly understand the purpose of the faculty,
the establishing of this course is to fit the student
to intelligently grasp these opportunities and
make the most of them.
Few men have been honored by the engineer-
ing profession as has your patron. Uncle John
Fritz, and he deserves it, because his life has been
devoted to conservation, not only of natural re-
sources but of human energy. His studies and
inventions have reduced waste, economized
power, and lessened the physical labor demanded
in steel manufacture. If he accomplished these
results with a meager school education, we may
wonder what greater fields he would have con-
quered had he the advantage of such a curriculum
as Lehigh University offers.
The magnificent industry which has made
Bethlehem steel famous is not an accident, but a
development demanding careful thought, pains-
taking experiment, and expert knowledge, and
its future greatness will depend upon employing
natural resources in the most economical manner,
of limiting waste of material and energy.
Perhaps of the students I now address there
will be some who will merit and receive honor,
such as has come to your neighbor, and some may
be spared to see as many years as Uncle John
Fritz. But whether or not honor or long years is
your lot, each has, by associating as a member of
the student body, assumed a responsibility to
uphold the good name of Lehigh University^
by maintaining a high professional standard in
business.
If in prosecuting your life work you can econo-
mize in the use of materials, increase the work
done by a pound of fuel or a cubic foot of water,
reduce the physical labor to accomplish a desired
end, you will be entitled to honor, advance the
engineering profession, and demonstrate that the
instruction received has made you a conservator,
a thoughtful utilizer of our natural resources.
:<:ri
New Publications.
Annual Report of the Forestry Commissioner of
Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minn. Paper. i8o
pages. Svo.
The report of General C. C. Andrews, Forestry
Commissioner, for the year 1908, reviews the
forest fires of that year, including that which de-
stroyed Chisholm, contains the forestry laws
enacted by the last Minnesota legislature, a va-
riety of other forestry information, and many in-
teresting illustrations.
The new forest fire law of Minnesota adds town
clerks to the list of local wardens, requires slash-
ings— tops and refuse left in logging — to be piled
and burned ; that brush or other combustible ma-
terial be piled before burning ; forbids setting fire
to any such material in a dry season ; requires
railroad companies to employ patrols in a dry
season ; and raises the minimum fine for any vio-
lation of the law to $50. It authorizes employ-
ment of rangers in a dry season to quickly go over
their districts to inspect, assist, or compel the
activity of local wardens. Wardens are required
to take ** energetic precautions to prevent " fires.
The Commissioner requested an appropriation
of $28,000 annually as an emergency fund for
dangerous seasons, but only half that amount was
appropriated.
The Forestry Commissioner asked the legisla-
ture to submit a constitutional amendment for an
annual tax of three-tenths of a mill on each dollar
of taxable property for the purchase and reforest-
ation of forestry land, which would have raised
about $300,000 annually. The legislature, how-
ever, submitted an amendment for a tax of only
one-fifteenth of a mill on each dollar, which, if
adopted, will raise annually $72,000. This will
be voted on in November, 19 10. An argument is
made urging that leaders of thought awaken and
educate public opinion so that the amendment
may be adopted. It contains a paper on Forestry
for Minnesota, by Mr. A. Knechtel, Superin-
tendent of Forest Reserves in Canada, accompa-
nied by illustrations of German tree nurseries.
POSITION WANTED.
Forester, seven years' experienc'e in forestry.
Can give reference and certificate if required.
German, 24 years old.
KARL MAYERHOFER,
Beethoven Hall, San Antonio, Texas.
J, T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
FOREST LEi^VE^.
oo
THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
OF THE
Pennsylvania
The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.
RATES.
>
I inch, . .
/< page, . .
((
c<
insertion.
$1.00
4.00
7.00
12.00
insertions.
$4.00
17.00
30.00
50.00
19
insertions.
$8.00
34-00
60.00
100.00
Biltmore Forest School.
BILTMORE, N. C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry and lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon application,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Matter.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB S. DIS8T0N.
EDQAR DUDLEY PARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY*
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH,
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
I''
!
tmm^Sfimm
96
FOREST LEAVES.
4?^-r-:fe
Know Andorra^s Trees?
If Not— Why Not?
ONE ITEM-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find — they have the quality — roots and vitality.
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkHng red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations, ==Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES." 3d EDITION, DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECI
Each
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $i oo
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched i 25
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i '/, to i}( in. cal i 50
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal 2 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2 >/^ in. cal 2 50
10 to 12 ft. 2^ to 3 in q 50
Extra-heavy Specimens $3 50 to 10 00
8^°'Sencl for FALL. PRICE LIST.°^a
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
EN!
Per 10
Per 100
$8 50
$60 00
10 00
70 00
13 50
125 00
17 50
135 00
22 50 '
150 00
30 00
275 00
Vol. XII. Philadelphia, February, igio.
No. 7.
Published Bi-Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
xoxa Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter.
.^ CONTENTS.
Editorials 97
President Taft's Conservation Message 98
The Narrative of the Annual Meeting 99
Report of the General Secretary xoo
Treasurer's Report 103
Report of the Council of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.. 103
White Cedar. Arbor vitae (Thuya occidentalis, L.) 105
Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea. Mill.) 105
Forest, Orchard and Garden Exhibit 106
Through What Agencies Can the Restoration and Conservation
of Our Forests be Secured? 107
New Publications no
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
e/^ Forest Leaves as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
"Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual member ship fee. Two dollars.
Life membership. Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis.
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council-at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L, Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch. Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston,
William S. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp.
County Or^/»wV/»^;/w. Samuel Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
James C. V — wton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
•
Office of the Association. 1012 Walnut St.. Philadelphia.
EDITORIALS.
FOREST LEAVES regrets that dissensions
among those in authority at Washington,
of which comment has been made in a
previous issue, has resulted in a change in the
head of the U. S. Forest Service. We have
been and are too earnestly interested in forest
protection not to feel disappointed that dif-
ferences in opinion, apparently irreconcilable,
should arise among the officials upon whom rests
the responsibility of encouraging the development
and utilization of our natural resources. We rec-
ognize that in any movement of wide importance
champions may approach possibilities or results
from antagonistic view-points without lessening
their loyalty to the cause, and our hope is that
the unpleasant status now existing may, upon in-
vestigation, prove to have been the patriotic ex-
ploitation of different programmes which had the
same ultimate objective.
The assertions that improper methods were ap-
plied are in course of investigation, which we
trust may be thorough and free from political or
factional taint, for forestry should not be a factor
in politics. It is a problem of the nation, not a
party fetish.
Recognizing the devotion to the cause of for-
estry which Mr. Gilford Pinchot has shown for
many years, we regret his enforced retirement as
National Forester, and feel confident that he will
not suffer his life interest in the cause to decline.
We also congratulate his successor. Prof. Henry
S. Graves, upon being appointed to a position of
such honor, with many opportunities for advanc-
ing the material welfare of the country, bespeaking
for him the same cordial support which the friends
of forestry in Pennsylvania have always given to
the head of the National bureau.
Government forestry is now on a grand scale,
with aggregate reserves measured in hundreds of
98
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
99
millions acres, each reserve to be administered
judiciously, and minor deficiencies must not be
permitted to interfere with calm judgment upon
problems of great magnitude. While forestry is
a feature of to-day, its fruitage is in the future,
its function is planning for the welfare of a nation,
in which none now in official position will partici-
pate and present differences between individuals
may not be worthy a notice in history.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association is en-
gaged in an effort in which men are subordinate
to principle, and it gladly gives its support to all
who have or who do render service in advancing
true conservation. J- B.
:{: " * * ^ *
It would be difficult to indicate a more apt il-
lustration of the appreciation of forestry, as inter-
preted in Pennsylvania, than that supplied by the
cordial invitation extended to the President of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association to attend the
Annual Meeting of State Lumberman's Retail
Dealers' Association, and address its members upon
the forestry problem. The acceptance of this in-
vitation recognized that the practical business
methods followed in the Keystone State are ac-
cepted by the people as progressive, and that the
co-operation of those whose livelihood is based
upon tree cutting, and those who aim to protect
and propagate forests, is essential to secure the
permanence of an important industry. It is such
co-operation which promises to ultimately secure
for the nation conservation of its natural resources.
The presence of a representative of the National
Forest Service and his participation was also evi-
dence that the lumber interest appreciates its de-
pendence on forestry. J. B.
Commenting on the relation of forests and fresh-
ets, the Philadelphia North American says edi-
torially : **We need not look to the dead im-
perial cities of what once was the Garden of Eden,
now buried by the sands of ages. We need not
study the history of famine, drought, flood, and
pestilence of treeless China. We need not look to
the desert of North Africa. -K ^jc hj We need
look — for onr pockets' sake as well as the sake of
our civic and economic conscience — no further
than our own naked watersheds, letting the waters
sweep the richest farmlands in the world into river
mud and closing our channels and harbors at the
cost of other millions for dredging and removal,
with the very crestm of the soil. We need look no
further than stricken France to-day.'*
President Taft's Conservation Message..
ON January 14th, President Taft submitted
to Congress a special message upon con-
servation of our natural resources, the
keynote of which is as follows : ** The problem is
how to save, and how to utilize, how to conserve
and still develop, for no sane person can contend
that it is for the common good that Nature's bless-
ings are only for unborn generations. ' ' This is a
practical rebuke to the doctrinaires whose concep-
tion of conservation, as emphasized by speeches
and writings, is saving by non use, for the true
conservator recognizes that it is abuse and not use
which is to be condemned.
Forest Leaves has been consistent in advocat-
ing the preservation of the forests as a source of
supply of indispensable material for national prog-
ress. It has been outspoken in condemning waste
or misapplication of forest products, and has been
urgent in advocating propagation of new forests
as well as protection for existing forests, and it
believes that the broad-minded definition in the
President's message will be of material help in
advancing conservation.
The message treats of land grants and their
abuses, recommends segregating mineral from other
lands, approves of completing reclamation projects,
which local influence provided in excess of appro-
priations, and indorses liberality in improving
inland waterways. The message demonstrates the
magnitude of the conservation problem, and
should command careful consideration from Con-
gress and from the people.
Concerning forestry, President Taft says: —
** The forest reserves of the United States, some
190,000,000 acres in extent, are under the control
of the Department of Agriculture, with authority
adequate to preserve them and to extend their
growth so far as that might be practicable. The
importance of the maintenance of our forests can-
not be exaggerated. The possibility of a scientific
treatment of forests, so that they shall be made
to yield a large return in timber without really
reducing the supply, has been demonstrated in
other countries, and we should work toward the
standard set by them as far as their methods are
applicable to our conditions.
* ' Upwards of 400,000,000 acres of forest land in
this country are in private ownership, but only 3
per cent, of it is being treated scientifically and
with a view to the maintenance of the forests. The
part played by the forests in the equilization of the
supply of w^ater on watersheds is a matter of dis-
cussion and dispute, but the general benefit to be
derived by the public from the extension of forest
lands on watersheds and the pronation of the
growth of trees in places that are now denuded and
that once had great flourishing forests goes with-
out saying. The control to be exercised over
private owners in their treatment of the forests
which they own is a matter for State and not na-
tional regulation, because there is nothing in the
Constitution that authorizes the Federal govern-
ment to exercise any control over forests within a
State, unless the forests are owned in a proprietary
way by the Federal government.
'' It has been proposed, and a bill for the pur-
pose passed the lower House in the last Congress,
that the National government appropriate a cer-
tain amount each year out of the receipts from the
forestry business of the government to institute re-
forestation at the sources of certain navigable
streams to be selected by the Geological Survey,
with a view to determining the practicability of
thus improving and protecting the streams for
Federal purposes. I think a moderate expenditure
for each year for this purpose for a period of five
or ten years would be of the utmost benefit in the
development of our forestry system."
We interpret the above remarks relating to
private forest lands as indicating approval of State
organizations to aid the legislature in formulating
healthy laws which encourage the maintenance and
care of such forests, and believe that the history
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association demon-
strates the assistance which such organizations can
give. We endorse the suggestion to utilize some
of the revenue obtained from the forest for reforest-
ation, as mere protection will not assure a growth
for the future. The magnificent area of forest re-
serve, now held by the government, will prove a
good investment in proportion to the amount of
reforestation which supplements forest protection
and forest care. j. b.
The Narrative of the Annual Meeting.
THE annual meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association was held at 1012
Walnut St., Philadelphia, on Monday,
December 13, 1909, at 3.30 p.m., President
Birkinbine in the chair. Considering the in-
clement weather the attendance was remarkable,
the room being comfortably filled, some having
come from considerable distances.
The reading of the minutes of the last annual
meeting was dispensed with, having been printed
in Forest Leaves, and was approved as published.
The President, Mr. Birkinbine, congratulated
the Association upon the satisfactory financial
statement, and emphasized the fact that the
attendance on a stormy day evidenced the in-
terest in which forestry was held. He stated
that while the propaganda of education had re-
sulted in securing large areas of forest reserves
managed in a business way, there was much yet
to be accomplished, for the people of the State
were to be impressed with the importance of re-
newing the forests by propagation and educated
to realize that some of the best of the timber is
yearly sacrificed by the taxation placed upon it as
it app^;oaches maturity. He also said that there
are avenues of usefulness which are limited for the
want of funds to properly exploit them, and
while money to carry forward the propaganda
could undoubtedly be obtained from the friends
of forestry, he was sure more good would result if
the additional income was obtained from increased
membership, for this would array permanently on
the side of forestry many who, although favoring
the movement, have given no expression to their
sentiment.
The Reports of the Council, the Treasurer, and
the General Secretary were read and will be found
on other pages of this issue.
In introducing Miss M. L. Dock, whose remarks
on a Forest Exhibit will be found in another
column, the President referred to the complimen-
tary way in which the governor of the State had
mentioned her and her work in the cause of con-
servation.
Mr. Herbert Welsh suggested that it would be
a good thing for the Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation to lead in such a pictorial exhibit, and if
Miss Dock would write out her remarks, placing
them in Forest Leaves, the money could readily
be raised.
Miss Dock said she did not wish the Society to
commit itself, but wanted to present the matter
to them.
Dr. Rothrock moved that Miss Dock prepare a
description for Forest Leaves, and the subject of
an exhibit be referred to Council.
Mr. Welsh called attention to the advantage of
placing in schools and elsewhere photographs
which by comparison would show the influence of
forests and the efl'ect of deforestation.
Dr. Henry S. Drinker and Herbert Welsh were
appointed Tellers of the Election, and having col-
lected the ballots, announced the following officers
elected to serve during the coming year : —
Presidenty John Birkinbine.
Vice- Presidents y Wm. S. Harvey,
James C. Haydon,
Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles ?:. Pancoast.
100
FOREST LEAVES.
I
Council.
A^ Large^ Mrs. Brinton Coxe,
Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Adams County, C. E. Stable.
Allegheny County, Wm. A. Baldwin,
H. M. Brackenridge,
Hon. Geo. W. Guthrie,
Thomas H. Johnson,
George M. Lehman,
Wm. Wade.
Beaver County, Charles H. Stone.
Berks County, Mrs. George Brooke,
J. H. Sternbergh.
Blair County, Jos. S. Silly man.
Bradford County, C. S. Maurice.
Bucks County, T. Ogborn Atkinson,
Henry T. Moon.
Cambria County, Hartley C. Wolle.
Cameron County, Charles F. Barclay.
Carbon County, M. S. Kemmerer.
Centre County, Prof. Hugh P. Baker.
Chester County, Henry T. Coates,
Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall,
William M. Potts.
Clarion County, Jos. M. Fox.
CUarfield County, James P. O'Laughlin.
Clinton County, Sidney D. Furst.
Columbia County, S. C. Creasy.
Crawford County, E. O. Emerson, Jr.
Cumberland County, Frank C. Bosler.
Dauphin County, Miss Mira L. Dock,
E. C. Felton.
Delaivare County, Joseph Elkinton.
Charles Potts,
Dr. Samuel Trimble,
Chas. S. Welles.
Elk County, C. H. M'Cauley.
Erie County, Herman J. Curtze.
Fayette County, Hon. Nathaniel Ewing.
Forest County, T. D. CoUins.
Franklin County, Geo. H. Wirt.
Greene County, A. H. Sayers.
Huntingdon County, Mrs. William Dorris.
Indiana County, S. J. Sides.
Jefferson County, S. B. Elliott.
Juniata County, S. E. Pannebaker.
Lackawanna County, W. W\ Scranton.
Hon. E. A. Watres.
Lancaster County, J. H. Baumgardner,
Prof. E. O. Lyte.
La7vrence County, David Jamison.
Lebanon County, Mrs. Bertham Dawson Coleman.
Lehigh County, Dr. J. M. Backenstoe,
Luzerne County, Mrs. Eckley B. Coxe,
vSidney K. Miner,
Cien. Paul A. Oliver,
(Jen. H. W. Palmer,
Col. K. Bruce Ricketts,
LA. Stearns.
Lycoming County, Hon. J. Henry Cochran,
C. La Rue Munson.
McKean County, F. H. Newell.
Mercer County, Jonas J. Pierce.
Mifflin County, Frank Ci. Kennedy, Jr.
Monroe County, Chas. F. Berkey.
Montgofnery County, Dr. J. M. Anders,
Isaac H. Clothier,
Dr. H. M. Fisher,
W. W. Frazier,
Monlcomery County, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger,
Dr. Samuel Wolfe.
Montour County, H. T. Hecht.
Northampton County, John Fritz,
Dr. J. S. Hunt,
Abraham S. Schropp.
Northumberland County, G. R. Van Alen.
Perry County, Mrs. John Wister.
Philadelphia County, Hon. W. N. Ashman,
Henry Budd,
Henry Howson,
J. Franklin Meehan,
J. Rodman Paul,
Albert B. Weimer,
Dr. W. P. Wilson.
Pike County, Arthur M. Adams.
Potter County, Arthur B. Mann.
Schuylkill County, Wm. L. Sheafer,
Heber S. Thompson.
Somerset County, H. D. Moore, M.D.
Susquehanna County, Edgar A. Turrell.
Tioga County, H. L Fick;
Union County, Andrew Albright Leiser.
Venango County, James; Denton Hancock.
Warren County Hon. H. H. Cumings.
Wayne County, Alonzo T. Searle.
Westmoreland County, Hon. Lucien W. Doty.
Wyoming County, James W. Piatt. /
York County, Dr. L C. Gable.
Mr. Welsh reported that a letter received
from Mr. Philip VV. Ayers called attention to the
proposed Appalachian bill, and requested mem-
bers to use their influence with Pennsylvania Con-
gressmen to secure its passage, as it benefited the
whole eastern section of the country.
Dr. Rothrock replied the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association had always been favorable to the
movement, and had sent representatives to Wash-
ington in the hope of getting a hearing.
On motion adjourned.
Report of General Secretary.
THE statement has frequently been made, of
late, that the progress of forestry in Penn-
sylvania has been slow. This is true in
the sense that all important public reforms move
slowly. But when we consider the advances made
by forestry in the last quarter of a century, in this
State, the statement is not true, and can only be
made by those who are ignorant of the work act-
ually done, doing, and in contemplation ; or by
those who have motives of their own for conceal-
ing these achievements. No fair-minded person,
who is familiar with the facts, will fail to recog-
nize that our State leads all the others in forestry
sentiment, work, and legislation.
Having said this much, it now becomes me to
say how much remains to be done.
Two things present themselves at once as im-
peratively necessary: (i) The State should re-
double its very best efforts in planting all suitable
ground in its possession with forest seedlings, and
protect absolutely against forest fires all forest land
on which there is a growth of young timber ; (2)
the State should reduce the burden of taxation on
forest land so long as the timber remains uncut,
and collect an income tax from the owner when he
cuts the timber. This is the whole sum and
substance, in this Stale, of forest protection and
restoration, so far as securing the co-operation of
the individual timber owner is concerned.
We will briefly consider the condition of Penn-
sylvania forestry under these two heads : ( i ) The
State should redouble its very best efforts in
planting all suitable ground in its forest reserves
with forest seedlings, and protect against forest
fires absolutely all its forest land on which there
is a growth of young timber.
The question of planting refers mainly to old
fields, abandoned farms, and the like, because the
growing seedlings can be there better protected
against fire than when placed among the litter of
an established forest, and because, also, it will
require years of active planting before all the open
grounds on the State reserves are fully planted.
The large areas of burned-over lands that will
require replanting as early as possible after an
effective protection against forest fires, gives a
reasonable guarantee that they will not be de-
stroyed by fire. It will, however, be a waste of
time, trees, and money to replant these areas until
such protection is possible and probable.
As to the rate of planting, it must be said that
we have not done enough of it, though we have
done all that our fimds allowed. Whatever fault
there may be in this direction does not lie with
the F'orestry Department. We repeatedly hear that
if the fires are kept out nature will do the rest,
and that we shall again have the same splendid
forests that once covered our hills. The statement
is not true. As a rule, neither white pine, nor
hemlock tend to reproduce themselves on the
ground from which they have been cut, though they
grow readily enough when planted and protected
there. When they have reappeared spontaneously
it has been usually in small areas and on ground
from which wood of some other kind has been re-
moved. The various species of pine seem also, in
this State, to come spontaneously on abandoned
fields, provided there is a seed tree near enough
to furnish the seed. The forests which would
come spontaneously on other soil if the fires
were kept off would contain many of the less
valuable timbers, for example, the bird cherry,
soft maple, gum. The chestnut would sprout
again from the old stumps, and so, too, would the
oak, and to a certain extent also the hickories. To
secure the most prompt return in the way of a
desirable forest restoration we must plant where
we can. It is well here to emphasize the fact that
haste has become an important element of the
problem. Long before the new crop is produced
we will feel the pinch of the timber famine. I
cannot too strongly urge upon you the necessity
of this organization using all of its influence to
have sufficient appropriations placed at the dis-
posal of the forestry department to raise and plant
at least twenty 'million forest seedlings annually.
The magnitude of this problem is appalling. We
or our children must face it. There is no evading
the issue.
As to the question of forest fires, it is time for
us to cease speaking of them as an unavoidable
evil. If those who are charged with the execution
of the law will simply obey the oaths of office,
which they have taken, forest fires will in a great
degree cease. Furthermore, it is time for us to
accept the fact, which is well known to every
progressive lumberman, that it is cheaper to pre-
vent forest fires by a competent patrol than it is
to suppress them when started. The Commissioner
of Forestry should have ample authority to employ
reliable men, in sufficient numbers, to guard our
forest lands during the period of destructive fires,
and to enable him to dispense with the motley
crowd which congregates to ** fight fires." It is
stating the fact very mildly to say that, in most
instances, the zeal and efficiency of such help is
open to suspicion. It would be wise if railroads
were to ditch the outside limit of their '* rights
of way," and keep the ditches open.
Maine has learned to rely upon her lookout
stations placed on high ground, from which a fire
may be detected and located as soon as started.
These stations are connected by telephone with
points to which the alarm may be sent and help
promptly summoned. It is said that five hundred
dollars is a sufficient sum to furnish the entire
equipment for such a station.
Forest fires will cease to recur as an annual
plague when public sentiment has matured suffici;
ently to compel a literal enforcement of existing
law upon the subject. Only those who have been
in this forestry work for the last twenty years
know how much less severe and frequent destructive
forest fires are now than they were a quarter of a
century ago. The improvement thus noted is, on
last analysis, simply the result of pressure upon the
public conscience, and may be taken as an evidence
of what is possible from more strenuous effort.
We may now allude briefly to the question of
taxation of land with standing timber upon it.
This is one of the planks in the platform of the
National Conservation Association, of which Dr.
102
FOREST LEAVES.
I
FOREST LEAVES.
103
Charles W. Eliot is president. It is thus stated :
'' The separation, for purposes of taxation, of the
timber from the land on which it grows, so that the
forest crop shall be taxed only when it is hari^ested,
while the land shall be taxed every year. ' '
Perhaps, as a matter of strict equity, it would
be most just to tax, each year, the annual increment
in the timber, and to collect an income tax on the
whole crop when cut, but that seems impracticable,
and therefore I am in sympathy jvith the proposi-
tion above quoted. Looking at this question of
taxing the land every year and the timber only
when it is cut, I am in favor of it for the following
reasons :
1. Every tree, as a rule, earns the right to
stand by the public service which it renders.
2. The man who destroys the tree deprives the
community of the good which the tree might
continue to do. In other words the existing heavy
taxation of growing timber encourages or compels
him to deprive the community of a public servant
in order to protect, or to enrich himself. The
tax levied leads to impoverishment rather than to
enrichment of the community. Remove the tax
from this standing timber and you remove the
strongest inducement to cut the timber, and when
the owner does remove it he is punished for doing
it by having to pay an income tax out of the
monev received from the trees of whose services
he has deprived the public. This seems to me to
be the most cogent reason, if it is not the most
correct, from an abstract point of view. It is fair
to say that the principle of taxing timber, only
when cut, will sooner or later be recognized as the
correct one, and be placed upon our statute
books. It has been a grievous wrong that it has
not been approved by our legislators before this.
Allow me to urge once more upon this Associa-
tion the extreme importance of using all its influ-
ence to secure the passage of a law which will
authorize setting apart of fixed portions of the
forest reserves as outing grounds for the citizens
of the State. There are thousands of our fellow -
•citizens passing from impaired health into actual
disease which destroys their usefulness and often
terminates in making them charges upon the
bounty of the Commonwealth. We are spending
annually millions of dollars upon asylums and
sanitariiuns for the cure of disease, and ignoring
the fact that it is not only more humane, but
/ infinitely cheaper to prevent disease than to cure
it. Nothing that I know of would be more pro-
ductive of longevity and of health than to encour-
age the outing spirit in those of our citizens who
are financially unable to seek rest and restoration
in distant, costly summer resorts. We cannot too
soon, or too urgently, take up this question, for
no nation is stronger than the aggregate of its
people. It would be a proper use of the State
forest land, because it would awaken a popular
interest in the forest work, and because it would
be giving to the people the use of ground which
belongs to them by right of purchase.
The present condition of the country emphasizes
the need of increased areas of forest growth over
the entire State. Last year was one of exceptional
drought. The normal condition of the soil had
not been fully restored by rainfall before the pres-
ent season began. This year has also been one of •
prolonged drought. Our entire State is suffering
from scarcity of water. Streams are lower than
they have been within the memdry of men now
living. The evaporating areas are diminished,
and there may be, when the spring opens, an
atmospheric condition which will retard the
growth of our crops. Springs which have never
before become dry have now ceased to flow. And
in many of our cities and larger towns the question
of water supply has become an alarming one.
Even if rain, or snow, were now to fall, much of
it would simply be carried off of the cleared sur-
face and out of the country if the ground were
frozen, as it most likely will be. In the forested
portions the thick bed of leaves will serve to en-
tangle and delay the water, thus preventing its
escape, and the ground so protected by the leaves
and kept in an unfrozen condition will absorb the
water and retain it for future use. It is evident
that extensive forests in the central portions of the
State will not wholly relieve the suffering in the
eastern and western parts. Hence it would seem
as if each county requires, for its own protection,
extensive forested areas. The agricultural parts
of Lancaster County need forests quite as much as
those of Clinton County.
Respectfully submitted,
J. T. Roth ROCK,
General Secretary.
One of the causes which lessens the available
water supply is deforestation, and the results of
the work of this Commission show that stream
flow is more irregular than formerly, and the value
of the streams to the Commonwealth greatly de-
creased for this reason. The investigations of the
Commission on this subject demonstrate that, in
order to preserve the pre«=ent value of our streams,
active steps must be continued to protect and pre-
serve the existing forest lands of the State, as well
as to reforest those districts which have been de-
nuded of the timber land. — Water Supply Com-
mission of Pennsylvania.
Treasurer's Report.
THE fiscal year of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association ends December i, 1909, and
the statement of finances on that date was
as follows :
Treasurer* s Statement to December /, igog.
Dr.
To balance on hand December I, 1908, . . % 368 77
Cash, annual dues to November 30, 1909, . 2183 15
Cash, donations and subscriptions, . . 158 00
Cash, sale of Forest Leaves and advertise-
ments, . . . . . . 129 54
Cash, interest on Life Membership bonds and
deposits, . . . . . . 370 62
Cash, Life Membership fees, . . , 175 00
Cash, Chester County Branch, dues, . . 10 00
Cash, sale of badges, ..... 3 00
Total, .....
By cash, sundries, postage, office rent, etc.,
Publication of Forest Leaves,
Assistant Secretary's salary,
Official Badges,
Meetings, ....
Life Membership fund,
Membership Committee, expenses of,
Lecture on Desolate Pennsylvania,
1 axes, .....
Balance on hand December I, 1909,
Total,
Invested,
In Bank,
Forest Leaves Fund.
^339«
08
Cr.
% 486
21
994
90
6oo
00
mm
1
50
139 45
175
00
12
67
IS
00
8
00
959
35
53398
08
51963
42
52
00
$2015 42
Life Membership Fund.
Invested, . . ..... $3435 00
In Bank, 175 00
Invested,
$3610 00
General Fund.
53013 31
Charles E. Pancoast,
Treasurer.
Audited and found correct.
William S. Kirk.
Albert B. Weimer
The almost world-wide movement to protect
and establish forests has reached China. The//'j/
Chinese school of forestry will soon be opened at
Mukden. The floods which are periodically poured
down from the denuded mountains are destructive
beyond comparison with any other country, and
the want of forests is the chief cause. Wood is
scarcer in China than in almost any other region
in the world, although the country is well adapted
to the growing of trees. — Philadelphia Public
Ledger.
Report of the Council of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association^
PURING the past year there has been con-
tinued activity in forestry, and at the last
session of the legislature many bills having
in view changes or amendments to the existing
laws were presented, all of which have been men-
tioned in Forest Leaves. The chief step forward
was the creation of a paid system of district fire
wardens, appointed by the Commissioner of For-
estry, who is the Chief Fire W^arden, and to whom
all reports are made. These wardens receive 25
cents per hour and expenses while engaged in
suppressing forest fires, and can employ other per-
sons for such purpose at 1 5 cents per hour. In
each township or borough the district fire warden
may appoint assistant fire wardens, who are paid
20 cents' per hour and expenses. In addition,
during the danger seasons, viz., the months of
April and May, and from September 15 to Novem-
ber 15, the fire wardens may, at the discretion of
the Commissioner of Forestry, be required to keep
daily patrol, receiving a stated sum not in excess
of $25 per month. The legislature appropriated
$300,000 for the carrying out of this law, but it
was reduced by the governor to jt5o,ooo. While
it is regrettable that a larger sum could not have
been made available, the act is a considerable im-
provement over the old one, where the constables
served ^ ex-officio fire wardens, as it makes an
independent force, free of local prejudices, and
accountable to a central authority. If the new
law is found to fulfill the intentions of its
framers, and reduce the great and useless waste
from forest fires, 850,000 acres being burned in
1908, there is no doubt that an increased appro-
priation can be obtained from the next legislature,
if the present one is found insufficient. Liberal
appropriations were made for the Department of
Forestry and for the Forest Academy, but the
amount set aside for the purchase of forest reserves
was reduced to 1 100,000. This, however, may
not be an unmitigated evil, as the department will
be able to devote more attention to the improve-
ment of the reserves already secured.
A number of commendable bills to unify the
system of protection for State lands, for recreation
camps, etc., were defeated, the one most regretted
being that for the creation of auxiliary forest re-
serves, which were to be under the direction of
the Department of Forestry, and the land assessed
for taxation purposes at not to exceed $1.00 per
acre. Then when the owner cuts the timber an
additional tax of 75 cents per 1,000 feet b.m. of
coniferous timber and 50 cents for broad leaf tim-
ber was to be paid. It is freely admitted that the
ft
|-»i|fcBj*»l^ii'
104
FOREST LEAVES.
)
I }
if I
I
I
1|
forests of this country are being cut more rapidly
than they are being reproduced, and we in Penn-
sylvania have seen the decadence of the lumber
industry, as the supplies of the more important
species were depleted. While in this State the
government owns a considerable area of forest
reserves, amounting to nearly 1,000,000 acres,
and having next to New York the largest State re-
serves, it is small when compared with private
holdings. The non-agricultural lands of Penn-
sylvania have been estimated at about 45 per
cent, of its area, or, say, 20,000 square miles ; sub-
tracting from this the amount of State reserves,
1,500 miles, will leave 18,500 square miles, and
allowing for water surface, cities, towns, and
boroughs, over three-fourths of that available for
forest growth is held by private companies or in-
dividuals. Most of this iscut-over lands, and that
portion which has been fireswept repeatedly is
covered with brush, and will need to be replanted
to ^ive good results, while others may be reforested
by reproduction, but in order to have the lands
yield even a moderate rate of interest during this
reproductive period, it will be necessary to enact
some legislation affording relief from a constantly
increasing taxation of land which is yielding no
revenue. A member of this Association in Lu-
zerne County, who had retained a tract of large
timber, stated that owing to the continually
augmented tax he would be forced to cut his
timber, as he could no longer stand tke drain.
This is not a solitary example, as others could be
given.
While the State forest reserves have been in-
creased in area, the need of their improvement
has been kept in mind. The State Forest Acad-
emy is now supplying thoroughly equipped men
each year, who will be put in charge of the
various reserves. Three nurseries have been
established at Mont Alto, Franklin County ;
Asaph, Tioga County ; and Greenwood Furnace,
Huntingdon County, where there are now nearly
six million seedlings for planting on denuded
areas in the forest reserves. These State re-
serves, while containing a small amount of virgin
timber, are mostly cut-over lands, and although
natural reproduction assisted by improvement
cuttings and thinnings can be depended on in some
sections, in others planting will be essential, and
this will be a slow and costly operation.
In the United States National Forests there are
now 190,000,000 acres, most of which is in the
western section of the country, and many of the
employees of the Forest Service have been trans-
ferred to different points in the far west, con-
venient to the reserves, only the administrative
office being retained in Washington.
Some States, enthused by the popular demand
for conservation, are paying more attention to
forestry, both in the matter of proper laws and in
some instances the commencement of forest re-
serves, also to the need of preventing useless
waste by forest fires, etc.
The campaign of education has been kept up,,
aided by the press throughout the country,
numerous State forestry associations, women's-
clubs. Boards of Trade of various cities, etc.
Courses of study or lectures in the colleges and
universities aid in an intelligent presentation
of the need of forestry, which is also advocated
by organizations whose aim is to secure the utili-
zation of our magnificent system pf water courses,
navigation in which is being affected by the cut-
ting off of the forests. Pennsylvania stands to the
fore in all of these efforts ; besides the State Forest
Academy already mentioned, the Yale Forest
School has its practical lessons at Milford, Pike
County ; the Pennsylvania State College has a
Forestry Department, whose roll registers over
150 students ; Lehigh University has a course of
lectures on forestry, and has established an arbo-
retum, while talks on this subject have been and
are being given at other colleges and high schools.
In the lower schools celebration of Arbor Day
serves to keep the coming generation advised of
the necessity of conserving the remaining timber-
lands, as well as the reforesting of denuded areas.
On July 7-9 a well- attended meeting was held
at Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, where members
had an opportunity of seeing the care taken of
cut-over lands by the Pocono Manor Association,
the Pocono Lake Preserve, and others in the
Pocono Mountains, and hearing the interesting
and instructive addresses on forestry, as well as
enjoying congenial personal intercourse. The
papers presented at this meeting, together with
the discussions, appeared in Forest Leaves.
We regret to chronicle the loss during the
year through death of 34 members, one of them
a member of Council, which, with resignations
and those dropped, makes the present member-
ship 1541.
There is as much necessity as ever for a forestry
association in Pennsylvania. It has been shown
above that over three-quarters of the non-agricul-
tural lands are in the hands of private companies
and individuals ; and, if these are to be cared for
and made valuable to the State at large, proper
legislation, particularly in regard to taxation, must
be secured ; and the Department of Forestry-
should be upheld when occasion arises. Other
important objects for the Association to foster
and disseminate knowledge in regard to it are :
the useless waste from forest fires ; the necessity
vfn
I
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 7.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 7.
"mht
.*^-*
WHITE CEDAR.
THUYA OCCIDENTALIS, L.
#vX
BALSAM FIR.
ABIES BALSAMEA. MILL.
h
TRUNK OF WHITE CEDAR.
THUYA OCCIDENTALIS, L.
%.
TRUNK OF BALSAM FIR,
ABIES BALSAMEA, MILL.
iis^m-:
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 7.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xil, No. 7.
^•^ ^^t^
^^:%^
-^V--^
1^'
..:^\
^:.''>
V »,>?*■♦
f^, -m
WHITE CEDAR.
THUYA OCCIDENTALIS, L.
1«
T .."^"t ,.,^-^.H*4'^^':^4N.
>'te^':C:«^% ;
••^:^'* ■'•'-" 3^'
''♦W*S«v
:^^
' U
.'^*,/'
.' •"»/
'> jkj-
#<^:c
■mp*'.mim<--ii#
,*^ ■"
r^''
♦*— . '
7 "^si
^$J^
L^-X
s
, 1
r*
J*
i
W
M
||
/ .-i -''^'
TRUNK OF WHITE CEDAR.
THUYA OCCIDENTALIS, L.
BALSAM FIR.
ABIES BALSAMEA, MILL.
I
TRUNK OF BALSAM FIR
ABIES BALSAMEA, MILL.
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
FOREST LEAVES.
105
of the forests for proper regulation of our water
courses, thus maintaining the deep waterways es-
sential for river transportation, and for the pro-
tection of the watersheds from which municipal
water supplies are obtained ; the value of forests
for sanatoria, as outing places for the people, for
the preservation of valuable game and birds, etc.
F. L. BiTLER,
Recording Secretary.
^Vhite Cedar. Arbor vitae (Thuya
occidentalis, L.).
THIS is essentially a tree of the north or of
the colder parts of our southern Alleghen-
ies. It is rare in Pennsylvania, so rare,
indeed, that the late Professor Porter was doubtful
whether it could actually be considered a native.
Of this, however, I am convinced. It has been
found in places where its introduction was at least
improbable. The illustrations I have used were
taken in the State of Maine, because more truly
characteristic specimens could be found there, and
because the environment was also more character-
istic.
The white cedar thrives well in cultivation, and
produces a fairly good ornamental hedge. It is
sometimes allowed to attain tree size on our lawns,
but would hardly attract one by any beauty inher-
ent in it, though it serves often admirably to di-
versify the landscape. The chief uses of the wood
are as telegraph poles, fence posts, and railroad
ties ; though one wonders how long a wood which
is so light can sustain the crushing weight of heavy
railroad trains. It is very durable in contact with
the soil. In a small way the deliciously scented,,
freshly split wood serves a useful purpose as a
kindling in making fires. The moose and deer
during the severe winters of northern Maine
'* yard up " in the cedar swamps and subsist on
the branchlets of the arbor vitae until the disap-
pearing snow enables them to leave the ♦* yard "
and extend their wanderings over wider fields in
quest of food.
This tree attains a height of from fifty to sixty
feet, and occasionally has a diameter of three feet.
It forms almost impenetrable thickets in Maine,
thence toward the north and northwestward. It
is found also in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota ;
southward along the mountains it reaches Virginia
and Tennessee.
The trunk is covered with a gray, or brown,
light fibrous bark, and the scaly foliage varies in
color from pale green in the young state to a dark
bronze as it grows older. The foliage is credited
with possessing remedial value.
The physical properties of the wood are stated
by Sargent to be 0.3164 ; weight in pounds of a
cubic foot of dry wood, 1 9. 7 2 ; in order of strength*
it stands 275 out of 310 species of American treesv
J. T. ROTHROCK.
Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea, Mill.).
T IKE the white cedar, this is a northern tree.
I \ Strangely enough, however, though it is
much more common in the northern woods
of Pennsylvania than the white cedar, it is much
less hardy here and seldom attains any great size be-
fore it shows signs of approaching death. In this
State it is most frequently associated with the red
spruce, and, where it appears, it is usually now as
I a second growth after the removal of the white
pine. '^^TT^^vV
I The Bush is gray in color, smooth in the young
' or middle-aged tree, except where raised in the
form of blisters, which are about half an inch
I across, and which when picked exude a beauti-
fully transparent, fragrant, liquid gum. This gum
; is used as a medium for mounting microscopic
I objects.
I At its best, in this State, the tree seldom
attains a height greater than sixty feet. Its value
I is not now, nor does it ever promise to be, great
i commercially in Pennsylvania Though while
' young and thrifty, it is fairly attractive on a lawn,.
where the wind has a chance to reveal the contrast
I between the beautiful, dark green upper and the
silvery lower surfaces of the leaves.
I The balsam spray bed and the balsam pillow are
fragrant with sylvan associations to those who
have camped much in the northern woods. The
: dark purple, cylindrical cones are likely to be re-
membered by those who have clearly observed
them.
The wood is light, weak, and perishable.
J. T. ROTHROCK.
Prevention is far cheaper than cure. Afforesta-
tion should be undertaken upon a reasonable scale,^
especially upon woodlands and longer-settled sec-
tions. Where the plan would not interfere with
agricultural operations, every farmer should plant
a tree for every one that he cuts from his woodlot.
The drainage upon the forest for firewood would
thereby be checked. — Manufacturer' s Record,
106
FOREST LEAVES.
Forest, Orchard and Garden Exhibit.
BEADERS of Forest Leaves for December,
1909, may recall a complimentary editor-
* ial regarding an exhibit under the above
title given in Harrisburg, Nov. 9th to 13th,
through the co-operation of several State depart-
ments, and also State College, with the State
Federation of Pennsylvania Women during their
Fourteenth Annual Meeting.
The exhibit has received so much commenda-
tion for its practical character, and the simple but
effective manner in which it was arranged, with
everything clearly labeled in non- technical lan-
guage, that inquiries as to possibilities of its repe-
tition elsewhere have been received and are being
considered.
Origin of Exhibit. — The idea originated with
the Committee of Forestrv and Horticulture of the
State Federation, as an answer on a large scale to
the constantly increasing letters of inquiry from
persons who are genuinely interested in forestry,
in the care of street trees and orchards, the pres-
ervation of beautiful places, the improvement of
home grounds, and the establishment of school-
gardens and garden schools. Each State depart-
ment bore the expense of installing and removing
its own collections ; the Federation paid for hall
rental and catalogue printing, while other various
charges incidental to such work were defrayed by
persons interested in the different groups.
Purpose of Exhibit. — The specific purpose of
the exhibit as a whole was to convey an idea of
the large extent and great variety of information
and education, both by personal or printed instruc-
tion, and especially by concrete illustration, which
the Commonwealth now offers freely to individuals
or communities who desire such information or
education, yet who very frecjuently are absolutely
unaware that the State is carrying on a great edu-
cational work for the people at large. Owing to
lack of space and time, many valuable and beauti-
ful additions were declined.
Another special purpose was to call attention to
the necessity of planting forests and the methods
of raising forest trees for such planting, and the
help which the Department of Forestry can and
does give to all who desire help in this most im-
portant but neglected duty. Until individuals and
communities avail themselves of the privileges our
laws now give as regards the establishment of
private and municipal forests, we shall never have
freedom from fire. There must be something at
stake to develop more real interest in the preven-
tion of fire, and the writer believes only by gen-
eral planting can a general spirit of protection be
developed.
In the exhibit of the Department of Forestry it
was possible for people visiting to see the effect of
fires on soil, and also to see the resulting worth-
less growth, then to compare, by means of large
photographs of wasted and burned lands in Penn-
sylvania, topography almost similar to that shown
in the splendid set of Black Forest drawings loaned
by Scribners, in which those formerly wasted and
denuded mountains are now covered by valuable
and beautiful forests, all of it due to protection
from fire, and much of it planted forest.
Best of all, one could follow the actual con-
structive work in our own State step by step, from
seed lying in drills in a regulation size nursery bed,
on up through seedlings of various ages to beauti-
ful white pines from the first State plantation, trees
only nine years old, but ten feet high. ■
People, as a rule, think of tree planting in con-
nection with individual trees, the largest they can
afford planted with more or less care. Instead of
single trees eight to sixteen feet high, they will
have to learn to think of trees by thousands and
in inches planted as rapidly as possible over as
nmch area as can be afforded ; the cost of
trees in quantity, the difficulty in planting, and
the length of time required for growth are often
greatly exaggerated.
Another purpose was to call attention to the effi-
cient orchard work now being carried on through-
out the State by Dr. Surface, of the Agricultural
Department, with such marked success, and to the
splendid horticultural work at State College. All
of the department exhibits contained collections
of the tools required in general forest, orchard, or
garden work, of which people are strangely igno-
rant. One exhibit which drew attention was from
the Free Traveling Library Commission, with a
fine collection of nature and outdoor books and
a large map of Pennsylvania full of pins indi-
cating the present location of the hundreds of
traveling libraries sent out each fall to schools and
study clubs, for the expense of only one dollar
toward traveling charges.
Another feature of value and interest was pro-
vided by officials and private individuals abroad,
who responded not only generously, but in some
instances munificently, to requests for literature
and photographs illustrating historic gardens, hor-
ticultural education and other interesting related
subjects in several countries of Europe.
The exhibits, which numbered hundreds, were
grouped under the following heads : —
Pennsylvania Department of Forestry.
Division of Economic Zoology, Department of
Agriculture.
School of Agriculture of the Pennsylvania State
College.
FOREST LEAVES.
107
, Fruit Exhibit, Perry County Horticultural As-
sociation.
Pennsylvania Free Library Commission.
Garden Schools for Women in Europe.
Horticultural Training in Europe.
Gardening in America.
Historic Trees and Sites.
Black Forest Scenes.
Preservation of Beautiful Places.
Commercial Nursery Exhibits.
Results. — First, there was the actual education
by seeing. Then there was the fixed fact that the
exhibit was not a new thing, but was a simple
bringing together of many factors actively at work
in different parts of the State, but all for the benefit
of the State. The whole atmosphere was helpful
and progressive. It was an exhibit to make any
Pennsylvanian both glad and proud, especially in
noting the interest and enthusiasm of those men
and won^en in the State service who, though often
overworked and never overpaid, keep right on
doing the best they know how to serve the State.
One of the most marked features among visitors
was the intelligent interest and great enthusiasm
shown by the school children, who not only came
once, but some of them several times, and owing
to the interest of some of these children the public
spirited mother of one personally arranged for an
extension of time when the closing hour drew
near. Boys were intensely interested in Dr. Sur-
face's collection of injurious and helpful insects.
The head master of a large boys' school, after in-
specting the forest exhibit, arranged for the For-
ester in charge to address the school the following
dav. The beautiful fruit of the orchard exhibit
was a source of surprise to many visitors, who had
not realized the great development of orchardry in
Pennsylvania.
It was altogether a happy co-operation of women
who for years had labored on behalf of practical
education, forest protection, and many other
measures in which for several years the Federa-
tion was the only State organization that not only
advocated all these measures, but also put some of
them into practice, and the State departments
which are now doing such effective work for the
betterment of conditions in Pennsylvania.
MiRA L. Dock.
France has given to the world many valuable
lessons in forestry, especially in the reclamation of
sand dunes and marshes by the department of the
southwest; 2,500,000 acres of what were barren
sand dunes prior to 1803 have been reclaimejd by
forest planting until it has become one of the most
productive and healthful regions of France. —
Harper' s Weekly.
Through What Agencies Can the Res-
toration and Conservation of Our
Forests be Secured?*^
F'' VERY student of the history of nations is
^ aware that the destruction of the forests
over any great expanse of a populated
country has led to soil conditions there which now
show little better than absolute barrenness ; and he
is also well aware that the intellectual condition of
the inhabitants of such regions verges on barbar-
ism. He is likewise cognizant of the converse
fact that the countries which have conserved their
forests in usefulness have also maintained the fer-
tility of the soil, are enjoying abundant prosperity,
and stand high in intellectual, moral, and social
well-being.
It certainly is not necessary to show at length
that this assertion is true, for even the casual ob-
server must see that it is ; and whoever seriously
doubts it needs only to glance at the conditions
of several of the Old World countries to be con-
vinced of its accuracy. Assuming it to be an
established fact that the destruction of the forests
of a country results in barrenness of soil and a
low state of civilization, and that the useful con-
servation of the forests promotes prosperity and
high intellectuality, it would be illogical and un-
reasonable to conclude that an intelligent people,
with history before them, will permit such destruc-
tion and thereby suffer the inevitable results that
it entails. And, further than this, it is safe to
conclude that such people will put forth every
effort to restore their forests where destroyed and
to conserve and maintain them in perpetual useful-
ness after restoration, for any other course is in-
conceivable. Accepting this as a settled endeavor
of the people of this country, it is left for our
consideration, on this occasion, to determine
through what agencies the restoration and con-
servation of our forests can be secured, and by
whom and through what instrumentalities, both
near and remote, such desirable ends can be
brought about.
Not until recent times has the general public
given any thought to our forest resources. It has
been believed that they were ample to supply all
our needs, and that we had only to exploit them,
and could do so to any extent, but the irresistible
'Mogic of events," manifesting itself through the
growing scarcity of the best grades of lumber, and
the rapidly increasing price of all kinds, has forced
a consideration of what must be done to avert a
timber famine in the near future — a famine which
it is but truth to say will surely be felt for a long
• Second address of the Lecture Course on Foresty, at the I^high
University.
108
FOREST LEAVES.
time, and its severity will be measured by such
action as shall be taken to alleviate it.
Realizing that something must be done, it was
but natural that the agencies through which it
could be brought about should be considered, and
the trend of thought, or, to use a somewhat hack-
neyed phrase, the ** consensus of opinion," has
designated the National and State governments as
the proper parties to begin and carry on the work.
Now, while the question of ownership and exploi-
tation of our natural resources is involved in the
restoration and conservation of our forests by gov-
ernment, that debatable. subject must be ignored
here for the reason that conditions and not theory
will determine in the matter of the forests. But
this much can and should be said : If conditions
were alike there is no more reason why either
National or State governments should grow, main-
tain, and dispose of forests and forest products |
than there is that they should grow, harvest, and
sell wheat or other products of the soil known as
farm crops, a work not recognized as a govern-
mental function. But conditions are unlike ; the
element of time of maturity enters largely into
the case. Farm crops, in the main, mature in one
year, while it takes well on towards a century for
forests to grow fit to harvest. In one case the
time is well within the limits of the average indi-
vidual's lifetime ; yet that feature does not prevail
when he grows trees, but it does when the govern-
ment engages in it. We do not contemplate the
government's death ; we assume that it will live
for all time, and that it is as much its duty to
provide for the future as for the present. For
that reason growing and disposing of the forests
of the country should not be classed with the con-
trol of other natural resources. Nor is this the
only difference. It is no wild shriek when we
declare that the forest is the only one of our natural
resources that can be perpetuated. It is a living,
burning fact, the existence of which all must
admit ; and it carries with it the obviously greater
need to put forth efforts to maintain in perpetuity
the only one possible, for in our frantic efforts to
exploit our natural resources we are hastening the
period of their exhaustion, and when that time is
reached development and destruction will have
become practically synonymous terms.
In a recent speech at Spokane, President Taft
stated that: **The United States government
timber land is only about one-fourth the timber
land owned by private individuals.** He referred
to the productive forests and did not include cut-
over lands, of which the United States government
owns but little. This gives us a basis upon which
to approximately determine what our National gov-
ernment can now do towards furnishing a supply of
forest products. If the forests of the country are
ample in extent and productiveness then the gov-
ernment's supply of one-fifth will sufifice ; if not
ample, then that supply may fall far short of the
needed amount, a supply which will continue to
grow less through exhaustion until new forests
can be grown. The question then arises, are they
ample ? Recent statistics show that we are con-
suming our forest products more than three times
faster than they grow. If this be so, and it
undoubtedly is, the forests owned by the United
States government will utterly fail in supplying
the demands of the country, and that, too, without
considering any increase of population or new
uses for wood, both of which will inevitably
occur ; and, furthermore, it must be remembered
that some of the timber lands now belonging to
the government must be given up for settlement,
for forestry must not claim land suitable for agri-
culture. Thus the restoration and conservation of
our productive forests by the United States gov-
ernment will be greatly restricted unless it shal
plant additional ones or purchase them, as advo
cated in the case of the Southern Appalachian
and the White Mountain Reservations — a propo-
sition which the Judiciary Committee of the
House of Representatives in Congress has decided
would be unconstitutional, unless for the sole and
declared purpose of providing for the protection
and preservation of the navigable rivers receiving
their waters from such areas ; and this would
probably give no power to harvest the timber ;
and without that power such areas would be of
little value in supplying forest products. It will
appear from this that a constitutional amendment
will be necessary to enable the government to
increase its timber-producing forests, unless by
planting. That such power should be given there
is no question ; but whether it will be is a matter
of uncertainty.
Whether the United States is administering its
forests in the best manner possible to produce the
fullest yield is not a point that need now be con-
sidered. If it is not, that certainly can be reme-
died ; but those who anticipate large returns from
government lands must bear in mind that most of
the timber lands owned by it are in mountainous
regions where intensive forestry will be found ex-
tremely difficult, if not impossible, and that much
of the present stand must be maintained intact in
order to preserve the water- sheds of the rivers that
are to be used for irrigation. Of course, the gov-
ernment may possibly increase its forest area by
planting trees where none now are, and it is grati-
fying to know that vigorous efforts aie being made
in that direction. But it must be understood that
the forest trees of the Great West aie not suited
FOREST LEAVES.
109
for all locations. In fact, the most important ones
have been found to flourish only in their natural
habitat.
Notwithstanding that government ownership of
our timber lands seems inconsiderable, it may ap-
pear in a different light when we compare it with
that of European nations, where the crown and
state of the German Empire own but 33 per cent,
of the productive forests within her borders, the
government of France 13, and the crown and state
of x^ustria 7 ; and that, too, where forestry has
been systematically carried on for more than 150
years. But for all this it must not be inferred that
any thought is entertained that the United States
government should not do all reasonable things
within its power to maintain our forests in per-
petual usefulness, for it certainly should ; but that
is not the question under consideration. We are
discussing only its ability to do.
When we consider the part that our State gov-
ernments can and should take in caring for the
forests we find a somewhat different condition.
Few States now hold land by sovereign right, as
does the United States government. Nearly all
the older States disposed of their original posses-
sions long ago. If there exist within any State
forests which do not belong to it and it shall seek
to possess them, the State must purchase them of
the owners by agreement, or exercise its rights of
eminent domain and pay such sums therefor as
may be adjudged under legal process. In either
case the cost would, no doubt, be prohibitive.
There may be those who would favor such pro-
ceedings at any cost, but they should remember
that no matter who owns them such forests must
be harvested in the near future to supply the
demand for forest products, nor should the power
of eminent domain be tyrannically invoked.
So it will be seen that there is little probability
that many States will secure productive forests to
any appreciable extent. However, the State of
New York has purchased quite a large area of such
forests, but not one tree therein can be cut until
the State's constitution shall be amended, while
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Minnesota, and
possibly one or two other St^es, have secured
«ome lands upon which there is a young growth
coming on and from which a small amount of tim-
ber can soon be harvested ; but, in the main, we
must wait until forests grow. A change of owner-
ship will help little ; the need of the hour is more
forests. Therefore, about all that can consistently
and profitably be done by the States in their gov-
ernmental capacity is to purchase land now prac-
tically devoid of forests and grow new ones thereon,
and when grown to so conserve them that they
will yield a continuous supply ; and this also
brings up the question of ownership and exploi-
tation of natural resources by State governments,
quite the same as in the case of forests owned by
the National government. That the States should
own and manage forests to a limited extent will,
doubtless, be conceded by most economists, and
possibly some would set no limit ; but that question
need not here be discussed any more than before,
for conditions govern here as well, and put a limit
beyond which it appears impracticable if not im-
possible to go ; and we must accept such' condi-
tions and do the best we can. There are some
States in which there is comparatively little land,
except the farmer's woodlot, which should be
given to forestry, because quite all of it is well
calculated for agriculture and should be devoted
to that purpose. Then there are some States
whose financial resources are so limited that no
considerable planting of forests and maintaining
them until maturity need be expected of them.
It is unnecessary to name these, but such is the
fact, and the truth is patent that no great amount
of forest restoration and ownership by the State
governments can be depended upon. It is true
that there are some States in which this can be profi t -
ably undertaken, but there is a limit even there.
Take, for instance, our own State of Pennsyl-
vania, which is among those best conditioned — if
not the very best — for the restoration of her forests
and conserving them in useful perpetuity when
restored. Her virgin forests are nearly all gone,
and will be practically so within the next decade ;
but were there a million acres she could not pur-
chase even one, for the law limits the price to be
paid by the State to $5.00 per acre, and the value
of such forests is now not less than $50.00 and
much of it above $100.00. Whatever is done
must be done along the line of restoration on cut-
over and burnt-over lands. There are about
8,500,000 acres — practically 30 per cent, of the
total area — of non-agricultural land within her
borders, and, mark you, it is not proposed to
devote land to forestry that is suitable for agricul-
ture. While much of this is in large bodies, and
some owners have large holdings, still a great
proportion of it is in possession of small land-
owners. There is scarcely a farm that does not
contain some of it, and but few of such small
tracts can be secured by the State, except by the
exercise of its right of eminent domain, even were
they desirable, and they certainly would not be if
in small and detached pieces. The State already
owns almost 1,000,000 acres of cut-over and
much of it burnt-over land, and it is constantly
purchasing more. But there is a limit to what it
can as well as what it should do, for fully three-
fourths of what it now owns, or will be likely to
110
FOREST LEAVES.
own, must be reforested by planting trees, as has
been found necessary in European experience, in
order to restore and maintain forests in perpetuity.
It is possible that the State can secure, say,
2,000,000 acres, perhaps more, but she should
possess not less than 6,000,000 to meet the demands
of her own citizens, and it is not probable that so
much can be obtained ; and that would be only
about 21 per cent, of her total area, while Ger-
many's forests cover 26 per cent, of the Empire's
domain, and she imports one-third of the forest
products consumed by her people, and her forests
are far more productive than ours.
Thus it will be seen that the power of the State
governments to restore and conserve the forests
within their domain is, as in the case of the gen-
eral government, quite limited ; but were they
not limited by prevailing conditions which cannot
be overcome, would it be best for a State to own
all or any great portion of the forests within her
borders ? If our government were of a form in
which there would be little or no change of policy
consequent upon the triumph of one or the other
of the political parties, it would present a different
case than now confronts us, when a change of
party control may come every four years. As long
as politics can be kept out of forestry manage-
ment all things may go along well ; but who can
depend upon or guess what may happen in the
realm of politics when the forests become valuable ?
To imagine they would not then become the prey
of the grafter and political schemer would be no
less absurd and improbable than to believe the
millennium would then come. That the State as
well as the National government should own and
control enough forests to at least prevent a mo-
nopoly through a combination of private owners
must not be denied ; but that either or both should
do all this is impossible, and would be imprac-
ticable were it possible, yet the claim advanced
by some that private interests should alone develop
natural resources is as objectionable as that the
State should do all. Private ownership of a public
necessity should be placed under such govern-
mental control as to protect public interests, and
it may be best, ere long, for the States to exert
their inherent police power to control, to a limited
extent, the forests belonging to corporations, muni-
cipalities, and private individuals. This has been
found necessary in Europe in order to prevent
damage to public interests. The State of Maine
has already adopted measures looking to such con-
trol, and others will be likely to follow. At first
glance this seems a serious encroachment upon pri-
vate rights, but, as in all like cases, the rights of
the public are paramount. S. B. Elliott.
( To be continued. )
New Publications.
A List of the Trees of the State of Florida,
8 vo. 24 pages. By John Gifford, Cocoanut
Grove, Fla.
This brochure was prepared by Dr. Gifford for
the Forestry Department of the Florida Federa-
tion of Women's Clubs, and gives both the botani-
cal and common names of the trees found in
Florida, with short notes in regard to each ; 281
different species are mentioned, and if several
kinds of Citrus, Eucalyptus, Annona, etc., had
been included the number of native and intro-
duced trees easily exceeds 300.
Report of the State Forester of Wisconsin for
igoy and igo8. Madison, Wis. 8vo., 135
pages, illustrated. "^ .
Mr. E. M. Griffith, State Forester, gives inter-
esting information as to the State forestry policy
in Wisconsin. According to the act of the Legis-
lature of 1905, forest reserve lands which are
scattering or agricultural can be sold, and the
proceeds used for purchasing other lands to be
added to the permanent forest reserves. Under
this act all of the forest reserve lands in four
counties, and most of those in a fifth, were adver-
tised for sale, the proceeds of those sold being
reinvested. The total acreage of the reserves on
October 16, 1908, had risen from 234,065 acres in
1906 to 253,573 acres. The land purchased cost
from $2.48 to $3.91 per acre, mostly cut-over
land with a satisfactory young growth upon it,
but some sections which have been severely burned
will not restock naturally. The subjects of re-
forestration and natural reproduction are consid-
ered, while the important subject of the farmer's
woodlot is also taken up, as well as the waste in
lumbering, and piling and burning of slash. Fig-
ures for the latter show that it can be done for
from 12 cents to 14 cents per 1,000 feet B.M.,
and on the average should not exceed 25 cents.
The year 1908 was one of severe fires all over
the country, Wisconsin being no exception, and
the State forester estimates that $2,996,975 of
merchantable timl^er and property was destroyed,
while millions of acres of small but thrifty growth
of pine and hardwoods, the future forests, were
swept by the flames, being valued at $6,047,060,
making a total loss to the State of approximately
$9,000,000; 1,435 individual fires were reported
and 1,209,432 acres burned over. It is estimated
that 499,495,791 feet of merchantable timber was
burned. Of these fires, 60 per cent, were started
by farmers burning brush or clearing pasture lands,
15 per cent, due to sparks from locomotives, and
the remaining 25 per cent, to various causes.
FOREST LEAVES.
Ill
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
FORESTERS
CONSULTING AND OPERATING
The beauty and value of forest growth depends
materially on the proper care and training of the
trees. Nature is in many things a rough mother.
Her method of pruning leads to decay ; she over-
burdens the trees with superabundant growth ; the
feeding matter is washed off the hillsides and in
exposed situations the dropping leaves, the main
source of food supply, are blown away.
Proper and scientific pruning will prevent decay
and relieve the tree of superfluous growth, while
well advised planting will conserve the food
supply.
With our professional foresters and trained corps
of scientific pruners we 'are prepared to give the
best possible attention to forestry problems and to
properly treat ornamental trees and shrubs of all
kinds.
Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc.
LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND ENGINEERS
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa.
Biltmore Forest School.
BILTMORE, N. C
0000 ^ ' '
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry and lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, FHILA.
90 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon applieation^
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Kaster.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
8AMUEL F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. beck.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB 8. DIS8T0N.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MOCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMBS R. SHEFFIELD.
r..4»^.
112
FOREST LEAVES.
3^^-a:^4f^ ^
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not — Why Not?
ONE ITEWl-OUR PIN OAKS.
AhookkVs pin O.KS have given all purchasers absolute sa.isfe«lon.
. ^ c A ^Ua.^T V.QVP the Quality — roots and vitality.
Thp reason is not hard to find— they have me qudnt^
T pro K presents points which readily distinguish ,. fron, a 1 others
^1 it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all praccal purposes. The
dens 6nely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow m the Fa^ The
P,H 0« is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled. , ,
The Pi" Oalthr|v^jLfl-^^^^^^^^^^
and situations. ■ ■ '
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPEC^mrj±SO,m^MSOmSJ^^
_. eifCDY TREE A SPECIMEN!
REMEMBER! EVERY TRtfc m ^^ ^ ^ ^^^^^
$1 oo $8 50
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched : i 25 10 00 $7° ^
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched / * 1 i 5° ^3 5© "5 00
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i^ to i^ m. cal ^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^35 00
9 to 10 ft. Low-branched; i^ to 2 in. cal ^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ,^5 00
10 to 12 ft. Low-branched ; 2 to 2>^ in. cal '...... 3 50 30 00 275 00
10 to 12 ft. 2^ to -3 in • • • • ^ • • * * 00 • '
Exti;a-heavy Specimens, ^yi to ^^ m. cal 5J>7 5o
<>.^i^rfc P-OU PRICE LitST.
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
Rnv F CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. BOX F, bntJ> I HU 1 mui..
Vol. XII. Philadelphia, April, 1910.
No. 8.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second- ;lass matter.
_ CONTENTS.
^*^i^ I— Editorials 113
Spring Arbor Day Proclamation 114
The Foresters' Convention 114
A Declaration of Principles 115
Common Insects Destructive to Forest Trees in Pennsylvania 116
Address of Governor Edwin S. Stuart at the Opening of the Penn-
sylvania State Foresters' Convention, March i, 1910 119
First Locust Tree in Europe •.... 120
Forest Taxation ,20
Through What Agencies Can the Restoration and Conservation
of Our Forests be Secured? 121
State vs. Private Ownership » 124
New Publications 126
Subscription, $i.oo per Year.
Tne attentim 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
■9/ FoRBST Leaves as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.
J3
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membership fee. Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President , John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis,
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer , Charles E. Pancoast.
Council-at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin
Samuel L. Smedley. *
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr j'
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Mrs. George T. Heston
William S. Kirk, J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp. '
County Organization, '^2im\ic\ Marshall, Chairman; Eugene EUicott,
J imes C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Office of the Association. 1012 Walnut St.. Philadblphia.
EDITORIALS.
Y proclamation, which is given in full in an-
other column, Governor Edwin S. Stuart has
designated April 8 and 22 as Arbor Days
for Pennsylvania, a circumstance which demon-
strates that in this State forestry is not overlooked.
Arbor days are useful as a means for suggesting
tree planting at a definite time, and thus awaken-
ing interest in arboriculture, but as it may not be
possible to plant trees in every locality, the rec-
ognition of Arbor Days is advantageous in reviv-
ing interest in our forests, and appropriate exer-
cises in schools may direct attention to forestry
and be most beneficial.
Tree planting which is not supplemented by
care and attention to the growing plant means
little, for a tree worthy of transplanting is entitled
to care and attention at least sufficient to protect
it from damage. In fact, fio one feature of for-
estry is more important than the care of trees,
whether as individuals or as groups.
We firmly believe in Arbor Days and in tree
planting, but a proper recognition of their pur-
pose includes the placing and the protection of the
trees planted. When no planting is possible, talks
upon trees, their characteristics, habitat, enemies,
uses, are proper celebrations of Arbor days. J. B.
*****
We invite our readers to peruse the record of
the Foresters' Convention, and such of the papers
read thereat as we could use in this issue. We
expect to print others of these papers — to demon-
strate that in Pennsylvania forestry is appreciated
as asefious business and not a fad, to show that
the education supplied at the State Forest Acad-
emy is practical, and that the graduates from this
school enter upon their life work with enthusiasm
and well equipped. The Governor of the State
and the Forest Reserve Commission may well
be proud of the results accomplished. J. B.
'"— I
114
FOREST LEAVES.
1^
lit
Spring Arbor Day Proclamation.
IN the name and by authority of the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania. Executive Depart-
ment. Proclamation. The conservation
of our natural resources has become a ques-
tion of national importance. Among these re- ^
sources trees and forests hold a conspicuous place.
It is the common belief that forests regulate the
flow of water in our streams. The destruction of I
our forests has intensified the floods and freshets
which rob the soil of its fertility, clog the streams ,
with silt and sand, and fill up navigable rivers 1
and harbors. On the other hand, he who plants i
a tree or protects it from fire and other enemies, !
helps to make his State a better dwelling-place,
and makes a substantial gift to future generations.
Wise legislative enactment has made it the duty
of the Commonwealth's Chief Executive to name
in each year one or more days for the planting of
trees and the dissemination of useful information
in regard to their growth and economic value.
Therefore, I, Edwin S. Stuart, Governor of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, do hereby issue
this my proclamation, designating Friday, April
eighth, and Friday, April twenty-second, 1 910,
as Arbor Days throughout the Commonwealth to
be observed by the planting of trees and by other
exercises that may be helpful in directing the at-
tention of the people to the importance ot con-
serving and restoring the forests upon the water-
sheds, and of planting trees around their homes,
upon the hillsides, and in the public parks.
Two dates have been designated so that every
section of the State may find a day for tree plant-
ing suited to its climatic conditions.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the
State, at the City of Harrisburg, this seventeenth
day of March, in the year of our Lord, one
thousand nine hundred and ten, and ot tne
Commonwealth the one hundred and thirty -
fourth. Edwin S. Stuart.
By the Governor : Robert McAfee,
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The Chinese government has begun to make
forest plantations, especially in the neighborhood
of Mukden, where a forest school was started two
years ago. Some 600 acres were planted with
acacias, and trials of other species made. * About
25,000 acres have been purchased for reforesting.
Private owners are becoming active, and the Shan-
tung Railroad is planting along its right of way.
The Germans in their sphere of influence in
Tsingtan have been quite successful with their
acacia plantations, also larch, walnut, oak, ash,
and fir. — Silva.
The Foresters* Convention.
IT is doubtful if anywhere in the United States
an occasion could be mentioned which off*ered
greater encouragement to the friends of for-
estry than the Pennsylvania Foresters' Convention,
held in Harrisburg, March i, 2, and 3. It was
our privilege to attend a session of the convention
and we gained inspiration from it.
The commodious Senate caucus room was well
filled with an attentive and appreciative audience,
and the walls displayed maps and charts illustrat-
ing forest conditions in Pennsylvania.
The delegates included the five Forest Reserve
Commissioners, thirty-three foresters on reserves,
mainly graduates of the Mont Alto Forest Acad-
emy, th: senior class from the Academy, and
specially invited guests. ' - .
Commissioner Conklin presided, and at the six
sessions 38 papers were read, most of which were
freely discussed— an important feature, for often
discussion expands a topic, brings forward com-
parisons, or emphasizes salient points.
Governor Stuart addressed the convention, ex-
pressing his continued interest in forestry with so
much enthusiasm as to evoke hearty cheers.
1 The assembly so impressed the Governor that he
' equested a photograph of the delegates, and we
i are gratified to present a reproduction of this 10
the readers of Forest Leaves that they may see
; who are administering and caring for the forests
of Pennsylvania.
I Governor Stuart was justified in feeling proud
of the delegation and its work, and all friends of
forestry may congratulate him and the commission-
ers upon the advanced position which Pennsylvania
maintains.
I We found in the intervals between sessions
and late at night, the Forest Reserve Commission
offices open for conferences between the commis-
sioners and their employees, to familiarize the
superintendents with the office detail, or permit
them to use the library.
We gladly give much of our space to a record
of the proceedings of the convention, regretting
that we cannot submit to our readers the full text
of interesting papers and discussions.
All of the following 'papers were presented by
foresters in charge of State reserves, all of whom,
with but one exception, are graduates of the For-
est Academy at Mont Alto : —
What Has Forestry Accomplished ? By R. Lynn
Emerick. ^ j a
Is Education in Forestry, as at Present Conducted
in our Forestry Schools, Adequate for Ameri-
can Needs ? By George A. Retan.
FOREST LEAVES.
115
%
\
<
Should the Department of Forestry Conduct a
Bureau of Publicity ? By Robert G. Conk-
lin.
Shall we Require Berry-Pickers to Procure Per-
mits? By Harry J. Mueller.
State vs. Private Ownership. By John E. Avery.
Municipal Ownership of Forests. By Forrest H.
Dutlinger.
What Should be the Attitude of the Forester
Toward the Community in which he Lives ?
By William L. Byers.
Forest Conditions on the Big Flat. By W. Elmer
Houpt.
The Improvement of Woodlots. By H. E. Bryner.
Forest Taxation. By James E. McNeal.
Should the State Operate its Own Mills in Connec-
tion with its Work in Forestry? By Lewis
E. Staley.
What Shall be Done With Scattered Large Trees
Upon Areas Where a Good Even Growth is
Coming? By John A. Bastian.
Influence of Forests Upon the Climate of the Sur-
rounding Country. By Carl L. Kirk.
The Importance of Geologic and Soil Study on
the Reserve Previous to Preparation of a
Forest Working-Plan. By John L. Witherow.
The Instruction of Rangers and Their Relation to
the Forester. By H. C. Evans.
The Efficiency of a Reserve Labor Force. By
Alfred E. Rupp.
Specialization in the State Poorest Service. By
John R. Williams.
How Can We Best Solve the Grazing Evil? By
Harry A. Thomson.
Should a System of State Forest Inspection be
Established ? By A. C. Silvius.
Common Insects Destructive to Forests in Penn-
sylvania. By W. Gardiner Conklin.
The Relation of Animal Life to Forestry. By T.
Roy Morton.
Shall Improvement Cuttings be Made by Con-
tract ? By John W. Seltzer.
Should Precedent be Followed in Pennsylvania
Forestry Practice, and to What Extent ? By
John L. Strobeck.
The Important Timber Trees of Pennsylvania, and
Where They Should be Planted. By Paul H.
Mulford.
Condition of Tree Planting in Northern Pennsyl-
vania. By Harry E. Elliott.
Should Lumbering be Encouraged Before Efficient
Fire Protection is Established ? By Homer
E. Metzger.
The Reforesting of Our Denuded White Pine and
Hemlock Lands. By William F. Dague.
A System of Forestry Nursery Records. By Ralph
E. Brock. ^
The Forest Nursery. By William H. Kraft.
An Improved Form of Nursery Screen. By Tom.
O. Bietsch.
Other papers presented were: —
A Compilation of Facts Relating to Tannin as a
Product of Commercial Importance. By Dr.
J. T. Rothrock.
Some Observations Relating to Forests and Water
Supply. By Dr. J. T. Rothrock.
The Evolution of New Sources of Construction
Materials to Compensate for the Decadence
of Our Forest Supplies. By Mr. John Fulton.
Present Day Forestry Education. By John A.
Ferguson, Professor of Forestry, State Col-
lege.
An Improvement Cutting in Pennsylvania. By
William Springer, Jr., Forest Assistant, Penn-
sylvania R. R. Co.
Preservative Treatment of Railroad Ties. By
C. W. Tiffany, Assistant in Wood Preserva-
tion of the same railway.
The Collection of Growth and Yield Data as a
Working Base for Plans of Management and
the Value of Permanent Sample Plots. By
Prof. E. A. Ziegler, Instructor State Forest
Academy.
Original Land and Timber Surveys of Pennsyl-
vania, and Their Relation to a Present Forest
Survey. By Mr. S. T. Moore, C. E.
In addition, addresses were made by the Com-
missioner of Forestry, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Mr. S. B. Elliott, his associate, and Mr. John
Birkinbine, President of the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association.
A Declaration of Principles.
THE Pennsylvania Foresters' Convention en-
dorsed a declaration of principles which
we gladly reproduce as follows : —
The Pennsylvania Department of Forestry in
every part of its organization being mindful of the
interest of the farmer, the lumberman, the manu-
facturer, the dwellers in cities, the continued
health and prosperity of a long-lived Common-
wealth, has since its organization followed and
will continue to follow the policy herein outlined
as the one best fitted to produce desired results,
and invites the co-operation of all the interests
affected as a prerequisite for a successful system of
forest conservation.
I. That since private wood-lot owners hold
more forest land than the State, they should be
aided in its care and development by the distribu-
tion of seedling forest trees at cost, by personal
116
FOREST LEAVES.
ft
assistance where desired, and by information re-
lating to the best and most economical methods of
forest preservation and restoration.
2. That complete publicity concerning the
work of the Department is desirable in the inter-
est of both the State and its citizens, and forest
officials should utilize every opportunity to reach
the public through the press, through public meet-
ings, or other suitable means.
3. That since the present system of taxation
drives the timber owner to cut his forest that he
may avoid what amounts to confiscation by exces-
sive taxation, the only wise system of forest taxa-
tion in this State is to tax the land annually and
the timber land only when the latter is cut for the
market.
4. That at least twenty millions of young forest
trees should be planted annually on State lands
alone, and that private wood -lot owners should be
encouraged and aided in planting as many more
as possible.
5. That no forester should be expected to de-
velop and care for more than 10,000 acres and
do it well.
6. That foresters should be so located on re-
serves as to bring several into the same neighbor-
hood, that their isolation may be broken, their
safety assured, their families educated, and that
better protection may be afforded the forest be-
cause of their mutual assistance.
7 That a system of telephone communication,
especially for use in pressing emergencies, should
exist between important forestry points ; that a
system of good roads be established and maintained
on the reserves to connect w^ith other important
public roads, and to reduce to a minimum the ex-
pense of removing and marketing the product.
8. That a system of look-out stations, as rec-
ommended and discussed in the report of the De-
partment of Forestry for the years 1903-4, con-
nected by telephone or equipped with complete
signal, map, and range-finding outfits, should be
erected at commanding points to detect and locate
fires ; that during fire seasons a sufficient force of
laborers should be employed, immediately avail-
able for the prevention and suppression of fires,
and when not so engaged, in doing other necessary
and valuable work, on the theory that it is cheaper
to prevent than to suppress a fire and that in addi-
tion the timber is saved.
9. That because of its location on one of the
most important reserves where students learn for-
estry practice by actual labor, and the principles
of forest science by class-room instruction, the
State Forest Academy at Mont Alto should be
continually developed as a school of forestry and
brought to the highest possible point of efficiency.
10. That since American forestry is in its in-
fancy, extensive experimental work by plots for
seeding and planting, by pure and mixed forests
for rate of growth and result of different methods
of management of natural stands of timber, should
be carried on within each reserve, and accurate
data collected and preserved for future use ; that
since the public is the owner of these lands they
should be encouraged to enjoy them to the fullest
extent that may be done without interfering with
the purpose for which they were purchased.
11. That these policies, some of which now are
and others of which ought immediately to be car-
ried into practical operation, would mean a pro-
duction of timber for the farmer's fences, fuel for
his fire, and lumber for his buildings; for the
lumberman perpetuation of his industry ; for the
manufacturer a steady supply of raw material for
his plant ; for the dwellers in cities outing-grounds
and a permanent supply of pure water ; for the
tired, underpaid citizen, who needs simply rest
and recreation to prevent his becoming an actual
invalid, a place where he may find health and
renewal of life ; and for the Commonwealth and
• for all her citizens the restoration of an industry
which once was worth thirty millions of dollars
annually as the lumber fell from the saw, and for
which there can be no substitute ; and also to curb
the rapidly advancing prices of the necessary prod-
ucts of the forest.
To accomplish these results, desirable, legiti-
mate, and born of economic necessity, it is in-
cumbent upon the legislature to provide the means.
FOREST LEAVES.
117
Common Insects Destructive to Forest
Trees in Pennsylvania.
(Read at the Foresters* Convention at Harrisburg.)
THE subject of forest entomology or forest
insects is almost a distinct branch of
economic entomology, and comparatively
little attention has been given to it as yet in this
country, although there has been considerable
advance in the last few years.
The preservation of our forests is certainly a
subject of very great importance. Next to the
destruction of forests by fires, the attacks of in-
jurious insects are most widespread and far-reach-
ing. Our forests are yearly becoming more
valuable, and at the same time the ravages by in-*
sects are becoming more extensive and noticeable.
In France and Germany private persons have
published valuable works on forest insects, but we
have many more species of trees of importance in
this country, and in our own State ; and the study
of forest entomology assumes much more import-
ance and takes in a much broader field. Therefore,
it seems to be the duty of the State and National
governments to provide for a systematic study of
insects injurious to forest trees. It is true that
our State has a division of zoology, which has
published valuable material on a few insects,
principally the scales, but this division deals more
with the farmer than with the forester.
There might be a Division of Forest Entomol-
ogy of the Department of Forestry. This divi-
sion could devote its entire time to the study of
forest insects, and in time we would have material
on forest insects which would be of great value.
Perhaps this subject does not appear important
enough at present, as the damage done up to this
time in Pennsylvania has not been great. It is a
fact, however, that the dangerous insects are in-
creasing in numbers, in this State as well as else-
where. Hence the damage done must be on the
increase. The best plan would be to study them
now, systematically and carefully, and be pre-
pared to fight them if the time ever comes when
it will be necessary. There has been much
material published on how to destroy noxious in-
sects on shade trees, but it must be remembered
that fighting insects in the forest is an entirely
different proposition and must be done in an en-
tirely different way. It would be almost impos-
sible to go through a forest and spray the trees
two or three times a year, and about the only
other way to get rid of the pests is by burning the
trees themselves. The time is sure to come when
the protection of forests from insects will be of
much more importance than it is now. We
ought to be better prepared for that than we are
at present, and it seems to me that the best plan
is to make a Division of Poorest Entomology in
connection with the Department of Forestry.
As previously stated, the damage done to Penn-
sylvania forests has not, as yet, been of great ex-
tent. However, it is greater than we sometimes
think. The area of timber is so large that there
is much chance for considerable damage to be
done before notice is taken of it, and many times
it may be entirely unnoticed.
It is impossible here to give even a short de-
scription of all or nearly all of the insects which
are destructive to the forest trees in this State.
Therefore, I have selected a few that are con-
sidered to be among those most destructive to our
trees, and hence more to be feared. One of
great importance to us is the white pine weevil,
as it frequently attacks young plantations.
T/te White Pine Weevil (^Pissodes strobi
{Peck)). — This beetle does most of its damage
by the deformities it causes in the tree. The
weevil is oblong oval, about one-quarter inch
long, reddish-brown to a very dark brown, and
with ^ somewhat peculiar whitish spot near the
posterior third of each wing cover. The beetle
is also somewhat mottled with white^on the sides
and legs. The snout is rather long and stout and
the legs somewhat so.
The creamy white pupa is about the same
length as the beetle, and in recently transformed
individuals is nearly uniform in color, except for
the dark brown eyes and the brownish tips of the
mandibles. As the pupa ages the coloration be-
gins to appear, and in rather old pupae the snout
may be reddish-brown and the legs show traces
of color. The tip of the last abdominal segment
is ornamented with a pair of rather slender curved
spines.
The grub is a white, footless creature, varying
in size according to the stage of development.
The bark of the infested twig may have all of the
inner bark and a portion of the sapwood reduced
to a decaying mass of borings.
The life history of this insect can be sum-
marized as follows : The beetles occur most
abundantly in early spring, and it is probable
that most of the eggs are deposited in the lead-
ing shoots at this time. Dr. Fitch states that the
female places her eggs in the bark of the topmost
shoots of the tree, dropping one in a place at
irregular intervals throughout its length, and that
the worm or grub after hatching eats its way in-
ward and obliquely downward till it reaches the
pith in which it burrows for a short distance, the
whole length of its track being about one- half
inch long.
It frequently happens that there are so many
eggs placed in a shoot as to limit very closely the
portion occupied by each grub, and therefore
some of them are compelled to burrow in the
wood outside of the pith. The attacked shoot
continues its growth during the early part of the
season, but soon the grubs cause so much injury
that it begins to wilt and wither about the middle
of July, and the tender parts above dry and perish.
Examination of the affected shoot reveals small
oval cells, about one-third inch long, placed
lengthwise in the center of the stem. They are
so very close in some cases that their ends are
nearly in contact, and in others they are more or
less widely separated by masses of borings, and
not infrequently small cells may be found in the
sapwood just beneath the bark. Each of these
contain a plump white larva or grub, which later
changes to a pupa, and the adult insects appear
abroad the next spring. Pupal cells of this
weevil may also be found under the bark of pine ,
logs and stumps.
The attack frequently begins just below the ter-
118
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
119
minal whorl, and is evidenced by the small irregu-
lar masses of pitch and the lighter color of the
foliage above the point of injury. The larva or
grub makes a longitudinal burrow in the inner
bark, which is closely followed by a drying and
shrinking of the tissues immediately above and
adjacent to the wound, forming a darker, sunken
area on the shoot. The work is extended down-
ward under the bark to the next whorl and possi-
bly below. The infested bark soon becomes a
mass of burrows and decaying matter, eventually
peeling off and revealing oval pupal cells in the
wood. This weevil is well known as a serious
enemy to most of our native pines.
Ba^ or Basket Worm {Thyridopteryn ephe-
vierceformis {Haiu.) ).— This insect is of con-
siderable economic miportance to us, as it mani-
fests a great liking for certain evergreens as well
as most of the broad-leaved species. As the ever-
greens are usually killed with one defoliation, there
is need of watching them very closely. A stud>f
of the insect shows it to be one of the most inter-
esting of our native fauna. The larva case or bag
of this insect is usually the first to attract notice.
It is a fusiform structure from one and a half to
two and a half inches long, and in fall and winter
it is firmly attached to a twig by a broad band of
silk. The form of the bag is quite characteristic, |
but as this shelter is covered with particles of bark,
pieces of leaves, leaf stems, etc., from the tree on
which the larva feeds, its appearance may vary
considerably. This case is spun by the worm, and
serves not only as a protection to it, but also to the
eggs. Upon cutting open the larger of these bags
in winter they will be found to contain the shell
of a chrysalis or pupa, which is filled with numer-
ous small yellow eggs. In this condition the eggs
remain from fall throughout the winter and early
spring.
About the middle of May the eggs hatch into
small but active larvai, which at once commence
to construct a portable case or bag in which to live.
The way in which this bag is prepared is curious.
The young larva crawls on a leaf, and gnawing
little bits from the surface, fastens these together
with fine silk spun from its mouth. Continually
adding to the mass, the larva finally produces a
narrow, elongated band, which is then fastened at
both ends to the surface of the leaf by silky threads.
It now straddles this band, and bending its head
downward makes a dive under it, turns a complete
somersault, and lies on its back, held down by the
band. By a quick turning movement the larva
regains its feet, the band now extending across its
^ neck. It then adds to the band at each end until
the two ends meet, and they are then fastened to-
gether so as to form a kind of narrow collar which
encircles the neck of the worm. It now adds row
after row to the anterior or lower end of the collar,
which thus rapidly grows in girth and is pushed
further and further over the maker. The inside of
the bag is now lined with silk and the larva
marches off, carrying the bag in an upright posi-
tion. When in motion or when feeding, the head
and thoracic segments protrude from the lower
end of the bag. As the worms grow they continue
to increase the bags from the lower end, and they
gradually begin to use larger pieces of leaves or
bits of twigs or any other small object for orna-
menting the outside.
The worms undergo four molts, and at each of
these periods they close up the mouth of their bags
to remain within until they have cast their skin
and recovered from this effort. The larvae are
poor travelers during growth, and though, when in
great numbers, they must often wander from one
branch to another, they rarely leave the tree upon
which they were born, unless the tree is defoliated.
When full grown, however, they develop great
activity, and letting themselves down by a fine
silken thread travel from one tree to another.
When ready to transform, the larva firmly
secures the anterior end of the bag to a twig or
branch. The inside of the bag is then strength-
ened with an additional lining of silk, and the
change to the chrysalis is made with their heads
always downward. The chrysalis is of a dark-
brown color., that of the male being only half the
size of that of the female.
In the case of the male, the skin of the
chrysalis bursts and its imago appears as a winged
moth with a black hairy body and glassy wings.
It is swift of flight and its life is very short. The
female imago is naked, save a ring of pubescence
near the end of the body of yellowish-white color,
and is entirely destitute of legs and wings. After
fertilization, the female works her way back with-
in the chrysalis skin and fills it with eggs. She
then withdraws and soon perishes.
Th£ bag-worm is known to feed on a large
number of trees, one of the most important to us
being the oak.
Owing to its protective coverings, insectiverous
birds avoid it ; but it is attacked and kept down
by at least six true parasites.
Another insect which is by no means of minor
importance is
The Oak Carpenter Worm {Frionoxystus
robinice {Peck) ).— This insect is the most
directly injurious of all the insects preying on
this noble tree, since it sinks its tunnels deep in
towards the heart of the tree through the living
wood and is a difficult insect to discover until
after the injury is done. It may be found in the
autumn and winter months, of different sizes,
showing that at least there is an interval of one
year between the smaller and larger sizes, and
that consequently the moth is two, and probably
three, years in attaining maturity.
Its perforation is a hole the size of a half- inch
auger, requiring three or four years for the bark
to close over it. This gives plenty of chance for
fungus to attack the tree through the injury.
This insect is a most prolific breeder. The
abdomen of the female is so filled and distended
with eggs that it becomes unwieldy and inert,
falling from side to side as its position is shifted.
Dr. Fitch obtained one which deposited 300 eggs
an hour after capturing ; and in analogous Euro-
pean species more than a thousand eggs have
been found on dissection. It, therefore, appears
that a single one of these insects is capable of
destroying many acres of oak trees. This calam-
ity is prevented, however, probably by most of
the eggs being destroyed either by birds or by
other insects.
The moth comes abroad in June and the early
part of July. It flies only in the night, remain-
ing at rest during the day. Clinging to the
trunks of trees, its gray color being so similar to
that of the bark, it usually escapes notice. In
repose its wings are held together in the shape of
a roof, covering the hind part of the body. The
female probably does not insert her eggs into the
bark, but merely drops them into cracks and
crevices upon its outer surface. The life history
and a good description of the insect in its different
stages can be obtained from the Fifth Report of
the U. S. Entomological Commission, page 54.
Its principal food-plants are the black oak and
black locust, as well as ash, maple, willow,
poplars, and chestnut.
Leptua Zebra. — An insect of which little is
known, but of economic importance if it became
numerous, is the Leptua zebra. It is a beautiful
black golden-marked beetle about five-sevenths of
an inch long, and occurs on various trees in June.
A single specimen of this handsome insect was
cut from living chestnut bark just above where a
chip had been taken.
This species presents brilliant contrasts of
golden yellow and black on the thorax and wing
covers. Underneath, the insect is clothed with
a yellowish pubescence, thickest on the posterior
margins of the abdominal segments. The mouth
parts and legs are yellowish-red. This insect has
been recorded on chestnut, oak, and beech ; also
on pine. Little is known about its life history,
but it is an insect which, if it became numerous,
would cause great damage.
W. Gardiner Conklin.
Address of Governor Edwin S. Stuart at
the Opening of the Pennsylvania State
Foresters* Convention, March i, 1910.
i
do not come here with a set speech, but am
here as Governor of Penn^lvania, wishing
to present my approbation of the forestry
work in this State.
** We know that nearly everyone in this country
is interested in the question of tree-preservation and
conservation, and that Pennsylvania was among
the first to start this great work, and great credit
for this is due to a gentleman sitting on this plat-
form. Doctor Rothrock. Of course, no one man
can accomplish everything, for however successful
he may be he attains success with assistance ;
and I believe the Pennsylvania Forestry Commis-
sion has been of great help in this most important
work. Few of the State Commissions have a
woman among its members, and I am constrained
to reiterate my remarks on the occasion of a meet-
ing in Harrisburg last November, when I spoke of
the great good that has resulted through the efforts
and attention of Miss Mira L. Dock, a member of
the Commission, who has done her full share.
**To illustrate the extent to which planting in
this State is being carried on by one corporation,
the Pennsylvania Railroad has within the last eight
years planted 3,500,000 trees, in order that it may
be supplied with railroad ties in the future. When
one corporation in Pennsylvania can do this there
must be great need for such work.
'* Forestry, like any other business, must be
practical to be successful, and no man starting a
business can succeed unless he carry it on in a
practical and s'ystematic way, but the results which
count for most are those obtained in adhering to
a practical and systematic program.
'' Each of the departments of the State govern-
ment thinks that it is the only department entitled
to special preferences in the matter of appropria-
tions, but each department is given as much of an
appropriation as the State can afford, and the For-
estry Department was allowed all that could be
allotted at the time, owing to lack of available
funds.
'*The question of planting trees is a very im-
portant subject, for the State of Pennsylvania has
more than 918,000 acres of land in forest reserves,
and all this area must be taken care of. She hopes
in the near future to have more than 1,000,000
acres, purchased with the people's money, and must
be cared for for the people by the servants of the
people of Pennsylvania and working for their in-
terest.
*' This is a great work now being done by the
State of Pennsylvania. You are educated by the
s
111
120
FOREST LEAVES.
State, and in return you agree to give to the State
three years' service at a small salary. The State
has given you a profession, and now employment
in that profession. In order to show a proper
appreciation for what the State, through its De-
partment of Forestry, has done for you, you must
work and must work hard. You must be indus-
trious and you must be energetic.
** Young men, the things that other people are
thinking about doing count for little ; it is what
you do and not what you think about that produce
results. The work that you have done has more
than compensated the State for its expenditure in
giving you your training , and if you persist in
carrying on your duties, work with the industry
and energy with which you seem to have devoted
to them, there is no doubt that in the future you
will accomplish great results."
First Locust Tree in Europe.
IN 1890 Garden and Forest published an article
by Prof. Sargent on the celebrated locust
tree living in the Botanical Gardens, Paris.
In this article it was stated that it was the *' first
of its race to grow in the soil of Europe ; it has
survived for more than two centuries and a half
the wars of the elements and the social cyclones
which have swept over it."
Prof. Sargent's article was illustrated by a view
of the tree in its winter appearance, which con-
veyed no idea of the beautiful verdurous effect of
the younger branches, which are themselves the
size of a good-sized tree.
The American locust (^Rohinia pseiidacacia^ was
first introduced into Europe in 1601 by Jean
Robin, after whom Linnceus named this American
species.
This tree was planted by Vespasian Robin (son
of Jean Robin) in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris,
in 1636, and has survived many injuries.
I visited the tree in October, 1899, and, after
many unsuccessful attempts to procure a good pho-
tograph, Messrs. Vilmorin, Andrieux et Cie had
two views taken in June, 1909, when in bloom.
One of these is shown in the illustration.
The original main trunk- was of very great size.
The tree is shut off from the touch of the public
by a circular fence.
MiRA L. Dock.
Attention is directed to pages 1 21-124, the
conclusion of the lecture of Mr. S. B. Elliott,
Forest Reserve Commissioner, the first install-
ment of which appeared in our February issue.
Forest Taxation.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg.)
IN order to encourage reforestation of denuded
watersheds of navigable and other valuable
streams, and protect the land along such
streams from periodical and destructive floods, and
to supply the demand for timber, it has become
imperative that such legislation be enacted as will
induce the owners of forest land to practice for-
estry.
Four-fifths of the forest land of the country is
in the hands of private individuals, and the State
can never hope to control more than a small por-
tion of this amount. The growing demand for
timber, especially that used on the farms and by
railroads and mines, must be met by the yield
from this class of land.
Under our present system of taxation there is
not only no inducement offered to the private
owner to conserve and wisely manage his stand,
but there is a premium put on deforestation. In
the past many owners of timber tracts have been
forced to cut their product and place it on an
already overstocked market in order to escape
what amounts to confiscation. It has become
necessary that *' unfair taxation of the timber crop
and inconsiderate and excessive over-valuation
be eliminated, and a premium be put on the plant-
ing of trees instead of on the denudation of forest
land. Such inducement must be offered private
owners as will lead them both to conserve what
they have and to reforest where they have cut the
stand.
How, then, can we meet this condition? We
have been offered several remedies, but none has
answered the purpose. Under our present system
of taxation a stand of timber is compelled to pay
taxes each year, based on the assessed valuation of
the property, the land and growing stock together
being regarded as real estate. Since a stand of
timber does not yield an annual revenue as agri-
cultural crops do, and the owner is compelled to
wait until it matures before he can realize the
highest returns, the payment of an annual tax is
an expense which must run at compound interest
to the end of the technical rotation, and then be
deducted from the proceeds of the sale of timber.
It is clear that such a system is unjust, because
of the fact that the owner must carry all insurance
risks, and because the application of an annual tax
to the growing stock causes a financial maturity to
be reached before the timber itself is mature ; thus
compelling the owner to cut in order to avoid
financial loss.
In some States growing crops are exempt from
taxation. None of the States taxes ordinary crops ;
1
» '
i
\
00
o
>
>
<
C/5
O
<
^1^
'
O)
"^
•■
CO
I
L^..
?;1
I
pPr" 1
o
^ 1
QC .
k^
< 5
f-f!
2 o .
^0= z
rl
JS?
->j J
^O 3
','1 '^
O CE li.
^"' '''ffl
QC U. .
1
D QC
\
CQ Z ^
=i»^':
CO -
jS '^
*"^ WK
QC z H
-'
oc o H
."■•
< ,-7 o
1 ■■ '
X CO —
■*- CO -1
t.
— _i
\ ■
«r 2 uj
O 2 .
1^'
1- O QC
■'?.-■■
10 2
r J
O 5 i^
' . ^
o o
'* M
ij; H- o
w
I < QC
• '"P
i- > I
. ^ »-
H u O
< CO QC
UJ
z cc .
E>-
H i
^. »- ^"^
UJ CO 5
> UJ g
Z QC §
o o °
O i^ CO
r«^-
CO L. 5
s ^ i
QC Q X
o " z
4
' i^ CO O
^ cc o
< UJ
Z 00 of
< 2 2
> ^
-J s
>
CO
z
!^
z
jf .
.*i
UJ
«
0.
UJ
I
1-
't .
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 8.
>^f£/*
■ ^^1:- -*rx
/#=^
^^^^
x.>
.:^S^'-;.
•■'^e->
*.^
J**;' .'S
■^'Nfei.
f
^>-t L
* ^%
*<• •
* 'tof .
r^<,-V
,•<>•> ^.
■ vNt
LOCUST TREE PLANTED IN THE JARDIN DES PLANTES, PARIS, FRANCE,
' IN 1636. PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1909.
y
FOREST LEAVES.
121
yet timber, upon which the growers of agricultural
and other crops depend on account of its conserv-
ing effects upon streams, is taxed annually with
the land, and is often over- taxed because the value
'' of the young growth is not properly estimated and
assessments are made hastily by men who have*
little or no idea of the value of timber.
The State of Pennsylvania cannot exempt tim-
ber land from taxation according to Act IX, Sec-
tion I, of the State Constitution, and rebates have
been declared unconstitutional according to the
decision of Judge David Cameron in the case of
Tubbs vs. Tioga Township, August 7, 1906.
Here is a workable basis upon which a reason-
able system might be devised. Divide the total
value into two components, land and growing
stock. The first mentioned should be regardless of
the value of the timber. This value should remain
constant because of the fact that many rural dis-
tricts are dependent largely upon the tax revenue
for school and road purposes. Given this perma-
nent valuation, the owner can at any time calcu-
late past and future expenses and determine the
time at which the crop is to be harvested.
As conditions in our country are far from being
normal, it is necessary that the timber be taxed on
a basis of the yield. This can be done on both
intermediate and final yields, on a basis of stump-
age value, or in the case of pulp wood or other
products, of the gross money yield. By these
means the forest will pay to the community in
which it is located a moderate permanent tax in-
stead of an excessive temporary revenue, and then
cease to pay at all ; and at the same time the owner
will be afforded a safe investment which will be
both valuable and attractive. James E. McNeal.
Through What Agencies Can the Res-
toration and Conservation of Our
Forests be Secured ? *
(Concluded.)
As has already been stated, public opinion has
heretofore been almost entirely in favor of gov-
ernmental action alone, and other agencies have
been given little consideration ; but if what has
been thus far insisted upon are the actual condi-
tions prevailing, then others, though at present
thought of little moment, are the important ones ;
for if the government cannot do the work other
agencies must or it will not be done. Who, then,
must conserve the forests on four-fifths of the tim-
berland of the United States which the President
tells us is in the hands of private individuals?
and who must plant and restore the forests on the
* Second address of the Lecture Course on Forestry, at the Lehigh
University.
cut-over and burnt-over lands unfitted for agri-
culture? It would seem that the answer is not
hard to find, and yet few have given it serious
thought.
As has been indicated, the duration of the life
of the party undertaking the restoration and
conservation of our forests plays an'^ important
part in the probability of their accomplishment.
Those having a legal existence — created by law
and '* take no note of time ' ' — do not labor under
the disadvantages incidental to human life. Such
are known as corporations whose lives are seldom
limited by the power which creates thenj. Among
those whose interests would be greatly enhanced
by the restoration and conservation of our forests
are the railroads, who need timber for ties and
many other purposes ; the mining corporations,
who must have timber for props and a multitude
of other uses ; the paper manufacturers and lum-
bermen, whose very existence depends upon a
supply of wood ; and others, like the tanneries,
which largely depend upon forest products to carry
on their work. Not only is there an economic
reason why all these should engage in the work of
restoration and conservation, but there is another
feature that is important and must not be forgotten.
All these are consuming the forests for what may
be termed self-aggrandizement or gain, and the
public at large receives only the benefit of being
served at a price, and a good round one at that.
All such bodies should recognize the duty they
owe to the public to restore and keep good the
forests which they are exploiting for themselves
only, and if they will not recognize that duty,
and act upon it, they should be compelled by law
to do so. In some European countries no one is
permitted to remove trees from his own land
without planting an equal or greater number, so
that destruction of the forests will not ensue. If
the corporations do not possess forests of their
own — but many of them do — laws should be
enacted whereby those who cut down forests for
them shall restore them by planting. Doubtless
this scheme to compel the replacing of what is
cut off will be looked upon as revolutionary and
subversive of natural rights, and we may not be
prepared for it just now, but be that as it may, it
will come to that in due time, or the index hand
on the dial of progress of this nation- will go
backwards, never to again advance until that or
something akin to it shall prevail.
But there is another class of corporations which
stand in a different attitude towards the public.
In such the public at large is interested in every-
thing connected with them, and is in full control
of them — in fact, they belong to the public.
These are the municipal corporations — the town-
122
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
123
I :.
ships, boroughs, cities, and counties. That they
can and should grow and maintain forests is no
new thing in forestry in Europe. It has long
been carried on there by cities and communal
organizations, and to their financial profit, too,
and I beg indulgence to give a few statistics which
have been furnished me by a friend who secured
them recently from original sources in Germany: —
** The Grand Duchy of Baden contains, 3,726,-
732 acres of forest, of which 577,465 — about 16
per cent. — belong to communities and corpora-
tions. These are allowed to cut annually 261,-
724,000 board feet, with a value of about $3,600,-
000, free from the expense of cutting. This
shows a yield of 700 board feet per acre ; our
forests do not exceed 125 feet.
**The city of Baden owns 10,576 acres, which
yield a net annual income of $6.25 per acre.
**The city of Frieberg has 8,085 acres and
receives $5.79 net per acre annually.
'' The city of Heidelberg possesses 6,860 acres
and it brings in annually $1.91 per acre. This
city is acquiring forest land and is in the period
of expense ; besides, the city looks more to aesthet-
ics than for income from forests.
*' The city of Villingen has 8,822 acres and
receives annually a net return of $4-84 P^^* acre.
**The village of Braunlingen has 1,600 inhabi-
tants and owns 4,507 acres. The yearly annual
allowance is 2,500,000 board feet — 700 feet per
acre — of which an equivalent of 3,500 board feet
is given each citizen,* and ioc,ooo board feet is
given to schools, churches, town hall, etc. The
timber sold brings in an annual income of $21,-
600, so that the community is not only free
from all communal taxes, but is able to establish
modern works, as electric plants, water-works,
school houses, churches, etc.
*' The village of Wolterdingen has 784 inhabi-
tants and owns 1,124 acres. The annual allow-
ance is 675,000 board feet — 600 feet per acre —
and the village realizes more than enough to be
free from all communal taxes and to be able to
keep the v illage on a good financial footing.
** The village of Aufen has 220 inhabitants and
163 acres of forest. It gives each citizen 8 cubic
meters of wood (value, $12.00) and sells $1,440
worth annually. The sanctioned annual yield of
this forest is 137,500 board feet — about 800 feet
per acre."
We may not yet have .reached the point when
townships and counties must undertake restoration
and care of forests, but the period is fast approach-
ing when some of the counties in this State, whose
♦ ** Citizen'* should be understood as the bead of a
family, and tbe amount given is for a ** household.*'
areas are composed largely of cut-over and burned-
over forest lands, will be compelled to take such
lands for unpaid taxes, and will then receive no
income from them whatever, and unless relief
shall come *in some way not now seen they will,
ere long, face bankruptcy and possible extinction
as county organizations. But we have some
boroughs and cities which may now profitably
engage in it in an official capacity — in part as a
business transaction, but more for securing and
controlling an ample and uncontaminated water
supply. This has been made possible in our
State by an act passed at the last session of the
legislature, largely through the instrumentality of
the American Civic Association. By its provi-
sions municipalities can engage in forestry ; but
for some unaccountable reason the act mentioned
was robbed of an important feature — the right of
eminent domain. However, that^an be restored
and undoubtedly will be by a more enlightened
legislature.
To illustrate this view of the possibilities of
municipal undertaking in forestry, permit me to
cite the case of the great city of Philadelphia.
Suppose it had purchased a few years ago from
100,000 to 200,000 acres of land in the counties
of Monroe and Pike, in this State, which could
have been secured at an expense of not exceeding
$2.50 per acre, and probably less. Upon most
of this there was a growth of young timber which,
by proper treatment, and adding thereto by plant-
ing, could have been made productive enough to"
soon aid in defraying expenses for care, and by
the lapse of forty years, or thereabouts, come into
full production and be as remunerative as the
German forest noted. By doing this it would
have come into possession of a large number of
lakes with which that elevated region abounds.
These could have been converted into storage
reservoirs for the numerous clear pure streams that
flow into them, by constructing dams at their
outlets. Then, if at the time of purchase, it had
conducted that pure water supply by gravity to
the distributing system in its borders — the eleva-
tion is ample — it would to-day be far better off
financially and thousands of lives would have been
saved. The city's dependence now is upon a
filtering system both costly in maintenance and
uncertain in results and, withal, insufficient. The
returns from the forests would more than defray
the expense of maintenance to the city limits.
Such an undertaking would have been no more
gigantic and expensive for Philadelphia than is
the one New York city is now carrying out to
secure a new source of water supply from the Cats-
kill Mountains, where no revenue can come to the
city from the forests, nor as much so as that of Los
Angeles, where water is being obtained in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, 200 miles away. Be-
sides, Philadelphia could have furnished water to
towns and cities along the route. When our people
come to understand and appreciate how importatit
forests are in maintaining an equable flow of
springs and streams they will see that munici-
palities, by an investment in forests on the water-
sheds of streams which supply them, can secure
a pure and continuous supply, and beyond that
reap a financial profit from the sale of forest pro-
ducts.
Dismissing National and State governmental
action, and that of all kinds of corporations, we
come, at last, to the land owner, who must do what
the others will not, and who must do it in his indi-
vidual capacity ; and here is a problem so compli-
cated and so large that it can be discussed only in a
general way at this time. Conditions here are
wholly unlike those in most countries. With us
large land holdings by individuals are frowned
upon as inimical to public interests, and entail is
not tolerated. Our land owners comprise a vast
multitude. They hold in fee, and their domains
are mainly small, and nearly all of them should,
for their own protection, engage in restoration and
conservation of the forests of the country. This
is especially true of farmers who must, of necessity,
possess what are known as woodlots, where 'can
be grown their fuel and such other timber as may
be required about the farm. In a short time such
work will become imperative, and the farmer
should no longer delay entering upon it. Two-
thirds of the people in the United States use wood
for fuel, and more will do so as soon as natural gas
and coal become less plentiful. Unfortunately, the
great importance of this feature is not yet realized,
and every eff"ort should be made to awaken the
farmer to a conception of it. There is no more
reason why the farmer should purchase his fuel
than that he should buy his food. He must become
an important factor in restoration.
Besides the farmer there are others who may
own large areas, and these can in no other way
leave a more beneficent legacy to their children
than in a well-forested domain. It will be better
than life insurance, and individuals whose large
wealth gives them an opportunity to bestow benefits
upon posterity can do so in no better form, nor
one which will so benefit mankind at large and
bless those whose rightful inheritance we are rap-
idly destroying. From whatever stand-point we
may look at it we will see that individual action
must largely control, and that it will not prevail
until the people are educated to an appreciation
of its importance.
But after all this insistence that corporations.
municipalities, and individuals shall engage in the
good work, I am forced to, and sorrowfully do
admit and declare that, under the present tax
laws of our own and most other States, neither
corporations, municipalities, nor individuals can
now aff'ord to engage in reforestatioli, for if they
do their trees will be practically confiscated by
tax levies. The assessor is bound by law to add
the value of the trees to that of the land on which
they stand, and that value is, in the main, a pros-
pective and uncertain one. It may never mate-
rialize. Disease, winds, fire, or insects may de-
stroy the trees, and at best there can"' be no return
for a long time, while the taxes are continually
increasing. Our tax laws were framed when we
had a plethora of forests ; now we have the reverse,
and our laws should be made to conform to present
and prospective conditions. The land upon which
young trees of valuable species are growing should
be taxed as naked land only, and when the crop
matures and is harvested that should be taxed, but
not before. Tax the land and product separately.
Here is a point for serious consideration, and our
lawmakers should take a broad, statesmanlike view
of it and remove the incubus that now rests upon
the restoration of our forests, for unless it shall be
removed no improvement of our forest conditions
can be expected, except what National and State
governments can bring about. President Taft
stated in the speech to which I have referred that
but 3 per cent, of private timber lands of the
United States were administered according to for-
estry methods. My belief is that not i per cent,
is, certainly not in Pennsylvania. But that is as
much as we should expect under our present system
of taxation. Such changes should be made in our
tax laws as will encourage all landowners to plant
and grow forest trees. We now not only discourage
but practically prohibit them. No half-way work
will answer. Hamlet's advice to the players to
*' reform it altogether" will apply here.
It is confessed that the foregoing exhibit of our
condition is neither assuring nor cheerful ; but,
on the other hand, it is somewhat discouraging.
But it must not be forgotten that the whole subject
is a new one to our people. Believing our forests
inexhaustible, we have not only been diligent in
exploiting them but actually wasteful ; and all
this must and will cease. It has been this almost
universal belief in a permanent supply that has
brought about our deplorable condition. But there
is good ground for hope. The same conditions
prevailed in Germany, France, and Switzerland
200 years ago, and they have succeeded in estab-
lishing remunerative forests, and to deny or assume
that our people are unable to cope with our present
conditions is to challenge their spirit and intelli-
124
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
125
gence. We can retrieve our misfortune if we but
first comprehend the situation.
But how is this to be accomplished ? Briefly
stated, it must come through the education of the
people ; and before closing it will be well to see,
for a moment, what instrumentalities are or can be
made most potent in that work. Foremost among
them all is the public press, next the schools, and
after these come the efforts of associations, socie-
ties, and individuals. Too much cannot be said
in praise of the willingness and desire of the press
to do in the matter of forestry. Rarely dpes one
see anything against the forestry movement in
the editorial columns of any influential newspa-
per of the day. It is only when a partisan spirit
is manifested over some proposed legislation,
which some one deems should be opposed because
the opposite party favors it, is anything hostile to
be seen. The public press may be safely set down
as friendly to reforestation and conservation.
Editors seldom fail to publish any well-written
communication favoring such measures. It is
through the press that the great mass of the peo-
ple can be reached, and newspapers should be
encouraged in their eff'orts.
Next to the public press, but not so quick to
meet conditions and bring about results, are the
schools of the land, especially those of the higher
grades. Out from their doors go teachers, men
who, in a broad sense, are public educators and
of wide influence, and they mingle with the youth
of the land who must, ere long, take up the work
now in its infancy. No more useful effort can be
put forth than you are displaying here in Lehigh
University. Your efforts are not confined to the
classroom, from which they may be a long time
in reaching the public, but they are manifest to
all, and you may well rejoice in the beneficence
and spirit which give you an opportunity to make
your Institution one of the agencies through which
shall come the restoration and conservation of our
forests.
The work that associations and societies may
perform is such as the other instrumentalities
named are not especially seeking to accomplish,
for that of the former is mainly along aesthetic
lines. The efforts of associations and societies
lead to an appreciation of the beauty of the wooded
landscape, the opportunity the forests offer for
nature study, and their enjoyment as places of
amusement, recreation, and health resorts. Though
not what commercial forestry mainly seeks, their
work is of great importance. Yet some of these,
like that of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion, have taken up the practical as well as the
sentimental features of forestry and have accom-
plished much good.
Lastly is the individual. Here, as well as else-
where in all societies, communities, and nations,
the height which each attains and keeps is prac-
tically that of the average individual composing
them. Our forestry advance will be just what
the average individual endeavors to make it, and
you and I must take upon ourselves the work that
is to be done as though the burden were ours
alone, to the end that this nation's prosperity
shall be continued and maintained and new for-
ests grown for those who are to come after us.
S. B. Elliott.
State vs. Private Ownership.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg.)
THE forests of this country have been and are
being squandered by man with disregard
of the future, and the destruction will con-
tinue until absolute necessity forces a more careful
utilization. The unrestricted private owner usually
has only one interest — namely, to obtain from
these resources the greatest personal gain that can
be had with the least possible amount of money
expended and without a thought of the destruction
to the country that will follow, or the needs of the
following generation.
George P. Marsh in his classical work states :
*' Man is constantly modifying the earth and mak-
ing it more and more uninhabitable ; he goes over
its rich portions and leaves behind a desert."
Nothing could better describe a slashing than
the above. With the removal of the marketable
timber, the interest of the individual is usually
gone, the forest is neglected, and fire follows which
destroys the accumulated debris left in the woods.
It not only kills the worthless trees and weeds left
standing, but the young growth as well. It also
destroys the soil, an accumulation of decayed
leaves and litter of many years, leaving only black-
ened stumps and rocks.
Thus the country is left a wasted desert, and re-
forestation is almost impossible. We need not go
to China or France to see consequences of such
destruction ; the change of climatic conditions
and uneven water flow, for here in the United
States we are fast realizing that our floods and
droughts and the climatic changes of our southern
States are being caused by the rapid destruction
of our forests. These floods which carry into the
rivers and oceans the best of our farming land, in-
flicting damage on communities far removed from
the cause and unable to protect themselves, and
causing vast sums of money to be expended by
the government for dredging, can be traced back
to the individual and corporation who are rapidly
destroying that great heritage, our forests, which
God meant us to protect and to use in an economi-
cal manner for the good of our country and pos-
terity.
To the individual it is usually only the timber^
that has accumulated and grown for centuries,
which is of interest, and which he cuts for the
purpose of making a profit on his labor, without a
thought of the future and without a thought of
cither the direct or indirect influences that are de-
rived from the forests which he is so rapidly de-
stroying.
The excellent and valuable white pine timber
that once forested the State of Pennsylvania is
rapidly becoming extinct. The virgin pine, called
*^ pumpkin ' ' pine by lumbermen, has been entirely
removed. As late as thirty-five or forty years ago
some of the counties of this State were richly cov-
ered with stands of white pine ; but through the
eagerness of the individual to convert this growth
into money it has been cut in a wasteful manner,
and at the present time about the only thing that
can be seen of the white pine forests are the black-
ened stumps.
The individual can hardly be expected to take
into consideration all of the results derived from
his forest ; therefore, the State should take a hand
in the management of it.
President Taft, in his message to Congress on
Conservation, states: **The control to be exer-
cised over private owners in their treatment of
the forests which they own is a matter for the
State and not for National regulation. Therefore,
what policy the State should take in regard to the
forest resources owned by the individual is a ques-
tion to be solved by the government of the State.
On the other hand, the State is driving the indi-
vidual to cut and waste his forest and convert it
into money at a rapid rate through the means of
taxation."
Our forests are taxed under the general property
tax. This mode of taxation has been successfully
abandoned by other great nations. Statistics show
that we are the only great and advanced nation
with the crop of standing timber on the tax roll.
Under the present manner of taxation the hold-
ing of a young forest until mature causes an annual
financial loss to the owner and thus hastens the
harvesting of the crop.
At the present time it is being advocated by the
National Conservation Association that the timber
should be taxed separately from the land, and,
like other crops, taxed when harvested, the land
being taxed annually. A law of this kind would
be fair and well adapted to the conditions of for-
estry investments in this State. If the taxes from
the standing timber were removed many an indi-
vidual would delay the cutting of his forest until it
fully matured, and when cut would willingly pay
the income tax from the money received for the
timber.
Since the community as a whole is seriously and
grievously affected by the removal and waste of
the individual's forests, it is the duty of the State
to make laws that will be of interest and benefit to
the present as well as the future generations. When
it was realized that the iish and game were rapidly
being destroyed by excessive hunting and fishing,
the State made laws for their protection, limiting
the size of the fish to be caught and the time for
the hunting of game on private property. Like-
wise, the State could make laws to protect her
forest resources, which are far more important than
fish and game, by limiting the size of the tree to be
cut, regulate the cutting of timber, and encourage
owners to replant the land from which timber has
been taken.
When the government of the State exercises its
authority over the forest, and the individual real-
izes the right of State government to regulate the
cutting of timber, the forestry problem of our State
will be solved and the :emaining portion of our
timber standing to-day will be saved from waste
and destruction. For while the supervision of
private property by the State might be found ex-
pensive and in a manner unsatisfactory, it would
be at least effective in securing conservative man-
agement.
Forestry, to be carried on successfully, requires
the bringing of large areas under one manage-
ment ; it requires a large amount of capital per-
manently invested, and it cannot be carried on as
a speculative business ; hence, it is necessary for
the State to practice forestry to counteract the de-
structive tendencies of the individual and the
speculator and provide for the future. The State
is permaner>t, and we believe that the practice of
forestry will also be permanent, for it is the duty
of a State to provide for the future as well as for
the present ; therefore, the State cannot let the
future look out for itself as does the individual.
The practice of forestry on State lands should
serve as a model for the individual to follow.
Everything must have a beginning, and the
public must be educated to the fact that forestry
is not regarded as a sentiment but as a business ;
hence, the State is better able to place this
problem before the public by making experi-
ments, and establishing experiment stations and
nurseries, than the individual. After the individ-
ual once sees that forestry as practiced by the
State is a profitable business, he will gradually
work his own forests on a forestal and scientific
basis.
IP
126
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
127
.'
In State ownership and forestry practiced by
the State, there are still some very important
problems to be solved, especially for the reserves
that are almost isolated from a market and where
the country is not thickly settled, problems which
are well represented on the Pike county reserve —
namely, a system of good roads, manner of utiliz-
ing dead and down timber, the product from im-
provement cuttings, and means of transportation
to market.
In the problem of fire protection, it is true that
the State has made laws for the quenching of
fires, and under the recent law the Commissioner
of Forestry has the authority to appoint fire
wardens in each township ; but the men appointed
must work for their living, and, as a rule, when a
fire breaks out they are several miles from home.
Before they discover the fire and get to it with a
gang of men it has made such headway that it is
almost impossible to put it out. The above
system of fire suppression may be satisfactory at
the present time for the individual who does not
care whether his land burns over or not, but for
State ownership and forestry it is hardly sufficient.
If there were lookout stations established on various
high points and a code of signals decided upon,
or, better still, a telephone system over the re-
serve and a gang of men employed and kept on
the ground, then when a fire is sighted from the
lookout station the alarm could be given and the
men taken to the fire in a short time. At the
present time it takes about half a day on some
parts of the reserve in the above-mentioned
county to collect a gang of eight or nine men to
go to a fire.
The State is in possession of comparatively
large tracts of land with no way at hand, on the
isolated reserves, of utilizing profitably the dead
and down timber and the product from improve-
ment cutting, a predicament largely shared by the
small owner in the same locality. If excelsior or
acid factories were to be established, and these
materials that are now not only going to waste but
also serving as fire-traps during dry weather could
be converted into valuable products of such bulk
that could be more easily and cheaply transported,
it would without doubt not only be a benefit to
State land but also induce the small owner to
combine and operate in like manner, thus aiding
the individual in a better and more useful man-
agement of his own land.
In conclusion : —
I. Because of the time element involved, the
risks that have to be taken from fire, the danger
of financial loss, and because of the possession of
large areas, the State is in a better position to
practice forestry than the individual.
2. The average individual will not make in-
vestments unless he sees an immediate return.
3. The State will work on a conservative basis^
and the individual will not until he is educated
to the fact that conservative forestry pays.
4. The attention of the public is centered on
the State ; therefore, the State is able to place
the forestry problem before the public.
John E. Avery.
New Publications.
Fourth Annual Report of the Forest Park Reser-
vation Commission of New Jersey for the Year
Ending December 31, 1908, Trenton, N. J. 8 vo.
147 pages. Illustrated.
This interesting publication contains the ad-
ministrative report of Dr. Henry B. Kummel,
that of the Forester, Mr. Alfred^ Gaskill, and of
the State Fire Warden, Mr. Theophilus P. Price ;
also articles by Mr. Alfred Gaskill on '*The
Planting and Care of Shade Trees ; " by John B.
Smith, on ** Insects Injurious to Shade Trees ; '*
and ** Fungi of Native and Shade Trees," by
Byron D. Halstead, closing with the forestry laws
of the State.
There are approximately 2,000,000 acres of
w oodland in New Jersey, of which 9,899 are in
State reserves. Of these reserves, 373 acres are in
Atlantic County, known as the ** May's Landing
reserve ; ' ' the ' * Bass River reserve * ' in Burling-
ton County contains 1,633 acres; the ** Lebanon
reserve" of 2,439 acres is in the same county;
the Edward C. Stokes reserve of 5,432 acres in
Sussex County, and the Mount Laurel reserve of
20 acres near Moorestown.
During the year 533 forest fires occurred, 52,978
acres being burned over, doing damage estimated
at {64,536, and costing $7,530 to extinguish.
The largest number, 149, attributed to a known
cause, was from locomotives, and possibly some of
the ** unknown" may also be attributed to this
source.
The special articles on planting and care of
shade trees, insects injurious to shade trees, and
fungi of native and shade trees are all interesting,
containing much valuable data and suggestions,
the illustrations aiding in the presentation of the
subjects treated.
J. T. ROTHROCK, *
CoNSUi/riNG Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
J
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestr>' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
CONSULTING AND OPERATING
The beauty and value of forest growth depends
materially on the proper care and training of the
trees. Nature is in many things a rough mother.
Her method of pruning leads to decay ; she over-
burdens the trees with superabundant growth ; the
feeding matter is washed off the hillsides and in
exposed situations the dropping leaves, the main
source of food supply, are blown away.
Proper and scientific pruning will prevent decay
and relieve the tree of superfluous growth, while
well advised planting will conserve the food
supply.
With our professional foresters and trained corps
of scientific pruners we are prepared to give the
best possible attention to forestry problems and to
properly treat ornamental trees and shrubs of all
kinds.
Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc.
LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND ENGINEERS
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa.
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE. N. C.
0000
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry and lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
niuatrated Catalogue upon applicatian,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rkv. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice- President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB 8. DIS8T0N.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS. D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
OIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
n
128
FOREST LEAVES.
\
Know Andorra's Trees?
If Not— Why Not?
ONE ITENI-OUR PIN OAKS.
Andorra's Pin Oaks have given all purchasers absolute satisfaction.
The reason is not hard to find— they have the quality— roots and vitality.
The Pin Oak presents points which readily distinguish it from all others,'
and it is undoubtedly the most valuable for all practical purposes. The
dense finely divided foliage is a beautiful shining green through the
Summer months, and colors to sparkling red and yellow in the Fall. The
Pin Oak is easily transplanted, and is the quickest growing of all the Oaks.
As an avenue or lawn tree it is unequalled.
The Pin Oak thrives in all sections, in all soils
and situations,= Try Andorra's stock.
EVERY TREE A SPECIMEN.
OUR BOOKLET "MORE SPECIALTIES:' 3d EDITION. DESCRIBES THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
SPECIAL OFFER.
REMEMBER! EVERY TREE A SPECI
Each
6 to 7 ft. Low-branched $i oo
7 to 8 ft. Low-branched ^ *5
8 to 9 ft. Low-branched; i»4 to i^ in. cal i 50
9 to lo ft. Low-branched; i^^f to 2 in. cal a OO
lo to 12 ft. Low-branched; 2 to 2)4 in. cal 250
10 to 12 ft. 2^ to 3 in 3 50
Extra-heavy Specimens, 3>^ to ^}4 in. cal $7 50 to 15 00
B^° SKND FOR PRICE T^IST. -^ft
EN!
Per 10
$8 50
10 00
13 50
17 50
22 50
30 00
Per 100
$70 00
125 00
135 00
175 00
275 00
ANDORRA NURSERIES,
WM. WARNER HARPER, Prop. Box F, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA, PA,
I
vou XII. Philadelphia, June, igio.
No. 9.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa. \
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter.
CONTENTS.
Forests and Water Flow.
Editorial Correspondence 129
130
The Relatioi of Animal Life to Forestry 131
The Improvement of Farm Wood-Lots 133
A Forest Road
13s
Municipal Ownership of Forests 137
Forestry in a New Nation 138
New Publications
142
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
«/"FoRBST Lkavks as an advertising medium. Rates will be ft
nished on application.
ur-
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
FOUNDBD IN JUNB, 1886,
^^^A 'o.d;««°»inate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
Sluonal *"^°''"'"^"* °^ P'"<>P*^»- fore" protective laws, both State and
Annual member ship fee. Two dollars
U/e membership. Twenty-five dollars.
r« kfr Vj "'e'nbership nor the work of this Association is intended
r^.lK"""^'* '?i^*^ ^?\^ °^ Pennsylvania. Persons desiring ?o Income
?omm1trV.^°"'^ t^"? "^^""^ "*"»*^ *° **»« Chairman of the llemb^rsh^p
Committee, loia Walnut Street, Phila '^mucrsmp
President, John Birkinbine.
RiS'a'r/wot?.'"'' '^"- ^^ '^^'''^' J^"^» ^^ "^y^^^' ^'^ert Uwis.
General Secretary, Dr Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, ¥. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast
SamuTu wff;; ""• """"•" ^^o"' «°"- ^"'^^ S- Coaklin.
Finance W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher W W
Frazler Charles E. Pancoast. and J. Rodman Paul. ' ' *
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman ; Mrs. George F Baer
dwm Swift Balch. Robert S. ConkUn Hnn T .,^{-« w fil ' t^**^^'
i?j • c- .\. c --.^>... .^. .T^^iiiici, v^uMiriiiHu ; inrs. v^eoree f Ha
T P^fk-^ V A.r «; o o. v^uiiKiin, non. i^ucien w. Uoty, Di
Wolverton • Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S
A.^Mr^°"' ^' ^' ^'*''"*°' Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
Alfr^'pjfe/^J'^H^iV''''"^^ • ^' L- «>'»«^ S. B. Eliiott,
ur ^^^*^"*"» *"d Harrison Souder. *
MrrfVnr^rV^o"*°" ^'i^^ Chairman; Miss Mary Blakiston,
Mrs. Oeorge T Heston, Miss Florence Keen, William 8 Kirk
J. Franklin Meehan, and Abrahams. Schropp. "'
r^m/l"/*^ g'T««««//>«, Samuel Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott
James C. Haydon. Dr. j. Newton Hunsbflrger, and Richard Wood. '
Office of the Association. loia Walnut St.. Philadklphia.
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
WHEN newspapers reach one from five
days to a week after their dates of
issue, it is difficult to keep posted as
to home affairs ; but, on the other hand, distance
may permit of arriving at conchisions uninfluenced
by local considerations. In an attempt to follow
at long range the investigation in progress at
Washington, in which the forestry policy of the
government is a prominent factor, the impression
is made that a laudable purpose and a desirable
effort has been and is hampered by bureaucratic
jealousies and personal animosities.
In a former issue we expressed our purpose to
await the result of the investigation without preju-
dice, and such is our desire, but we feel that with-
out taking sides in the main issue Forest Leaves
would be false to its duty, if it failed to protest
against forestry suffering in order that personal or
departmental ambitions should be gratified. The
country is far more interested in the practical con-
servation of resources than in the men to whom
are delegated certain duties in connection there-
with, and whose acceptance of their respective
offices and the compensation allowed, should mean
patriotic devotion to the duties thereof
It has been our pleasure and it will be our duty
to support all efforts looking toward practical con-
servation of our resources, especially as affecting
our forests, and we consider the exhibition of
bureaucratic friction or individual aspersions as
jeopardizing the forestry interests of the nation.
The investigation may prove serviceable in secur-
ing a better and more thorough system of care and
protection for our natural resources. But we re-
peat our regret that differences between those in
high governmental positions should jeopardize the
progress of forestry in a direction which means
material advancement for the country.
The intelligent people who advocate conserva-
130
FOREST LEAVES.
tion, and their number is legion, do so from pa-
triotic motives, and those in official position
should unite in conscientious efforts equally
patriotic to secure the best use and protection
for our natural resources. J. B.
B
Forests and Water Flow.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
EARING directly upon the forestry side of
the conservation problem, two statements
^ have recently been made by the Chief of
the Weather Bureau in Washington. The first,
that forests have no influence on increase of rain-
fall, is not likely to be disputed by any intelligent
man. The second statement, alleged to have been
made, that forests do not prevent the rapid ' * run
off " of rain, or melted snow, from the surface is
likely to lead to serious discussion, and some facts
noticed lead me to doubt the latter assertion.
In Chester County, Pa. (my home), there was
on Christmas day of 1909 a snow fall which con-
tinued until noon of the following day, there
being 16 to 18 inches of snow, on the level, laying
on the ground, and serious drifts blocked the rail-
roads for thirty-six hours later.
Notwithstanding a rainfall during December
13th of 2. 78 inches and some snow before Christ-
mas, the ground was in a thirsty condition because
of the long-continued drought of the previous
summer and autumn, wells and springs drying up
all over the region, and in many instances water
was hauled long distances for domestic purposes.
So it is fair to assume that the soil was in a recep-
tive condition for any water which could pene-
trate it.
Examination, however, revealed the fact that the
general surface of the open country was frozen
solidly, though not deeply ; but that in the woods,
under cover of the fallen leaves, the soil was not
frozen. In the open, whether the surface was cov-
ered with snow, or whether it had been laid bare
by the wind drifting the snow away, it was quite
impossible to thrust an iron-shod, strong, hickory
cane into the ground. In the woods on the same
slope and adjacent to the same open ground I could
easily push the cane through the leaves and mould
from I foot to 1 8 inches, unless stopped by a stone
or a root. There was no frozen surface, and one
might say, practically, no sign of ** frost in the
ground."
On December 28th the mean temperature was
21° F., December 30th it was 10°, December 31st
it was 17°. The freezing was continuing and the
country was covered with snow.
The New Year, 1910, was ushered in by a rise
in temperature. The mean for the first day was
27° F., and on January 2d it was 43°. The thaw
was upon us, we could see the snow going. On
January 3d the mean temperature was 35°. It
seemed as if another day would practically remove
all of the snow.
The following day, January 4th, the tempera-
ture fell and the mean was 10°. On the road from
West Chester to Philadelphia pools of water lay
in the depressions of the open fields, where the
water was unable either to escape by gravity, or to
enter the frozen ground. Where the slope allowed
the escape of the water it had run off during the
thaw, for the pools showed that it could not pene-
trate the frozen surface. On the other hand, I
could find no such pools in the woods ; there was
no water visible in the small forest depressions,
and there was no other escape for it than into the
ground.
The only legitimate Conclusion an observer could
reach was that the water from the frozen fields had
gone out of the country, and that, whether or not,
a freshet followed would depend simply upon the
volume of the snow or rainfall flowing away. On
the other hand, it seemed equally certain that the
water received by the woods had entered the soil
where it was safe from either evaporation or from
immediate ** run off," and that it would probably
find its way to the level of our deeper-seated
springs and reappear months hence, when needed.
On January 20th, while passing down the Cum-
berland Valley by train, I noted constantly large
accumulations of water in depressions in the
fields, and frozen streams from these which were
congealed as the overflow passed away.
At the State Forest Academy at Mont Alto, in
Franklin County, Pa. , I went to the forest seed-
ling nursery where the surface was frozen. If any
water entered the ground it must have been small
in quantity. But, as soon as I entered the woods
and came to a leaf- covered spot the ground was
again unfrozen and the surface was in a condition
for the reception of moisture.
January 21st there was registered at West
Chester a rainfall of 0.72 of an inch, and the
mean temperature of the day was 45° F. I had
no means of making exact observations for the
day, but am safe in saying that there was at least
as much rainfall at Mont Alto and that the tem-
perature was well above the freezing-point. From
the low, open grounds the snow rapidly melted.
The streams rose rapidly, and at some points cov-
ered the tracks of the Cumberland Valley Rail-
road.
On the open mountain top, 1,650 feet above
tide, where there was an extensive clearing, the
water was flowing off so rapidly that at one point
it covered the road and the culverts were unable
FOREST LEAVES.
131
^
«^
I
-hf^
to carry it away. During six years of observation
I had never known this condition of affairs at that
point before. This flow, it is to be observed, came
from the open ground for the most part, because
the only wooded part of the region, above the
road, drained into another stream almost entirely ;
but it was observed, that this stream which re-
ceived the drainage from the steep, wooded hill-
sides, covering from 2,000 to 3,000 acres, and
from the sunny slopes of which the snow was rap-
idly melting, responded very slowly, and when it
did show an increase of flow it was inconsiderable
as compared with any increase of water in the
open ground below.
There seemed to be but one conclusion possi-
ble— namely, that the water in the woods was
going into the ground, and that from the cleared
lands was in great part flowing away over the sur-
face. It is probable that some of the water, how-
ever, did enter the ground, though it was a
small part of the whole flow.
Another factor enters largely into the problem
of water flow from forested lands.
It is an exception, rather than the rule, when
there are not extensive forest fires in the spring
and the fall. These conflagrations remove the
leaves, and often the humus, from the forest floor
and leave it in such an exposed condition that the
surface there is as likely to freeze and shed the
water as it is in the cleared land. This, however,
is not a natural condition, and can hardly be con-
sidered as an essential part of the problem ; for
it is hoped that, under the increasing attention
given to forest land, such ravages will become less
frequent, less severe, and ultimately, to a great
extent, cease.
J. T. ROTHROCK.
The Relation of Animal Life to Forestry.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
IN Studying the relation of animal life to fores-
try, the subject may be divided into three
groups : mammals, birds, and insects ; each
of these is again capable of further subdivision.
The division mammals may be further sub-
divided into domestic animals, such as sheep,
swine, cattle, animals of the chase, and rodents.
The domestic animals are the grazers, and the
amount of injury done to a forest by this class of
animals depends largely upon the age and character
of the woods. A young forest is more exposed to
injury than an old one. Broad-leaf trees are
more likely to be browsed off", resulting in a
scanty growth, than coniferous, while the latter
are more likely to suff*er from trampling. In both
cases no pasturing should be allowed, at least
until the trees are large enough to be out of dan-
ger. Even then forestry and pasture cannot be
very well combined. Where the range is large
enough and not over-stocked, the injury is much
less than where the range is crowded.
On steep slopes, where the soil is loose, the
sharp hoofs of these animals cut and powder the
soil, and in many places destroy the forest floor.
This interferes greatly with the character of the
runoff.
Hogs are less harmful to forestry than either
cattle or sheep, as they eat mostly seeds and nuts.
On the other hand, they may be beneficial when
turned into a place in which natural regeneration
from seed is desired. They root up the ground
and prepare it to receive the seed during a seed
year.
The second division of mammals comprises
animals of the chase. Here we find deer, hares,
and rabbits.
On account of the comparatively small number
of deer in this State they do but slight injury.
Hares and rabbits are very injurious to forests,
especially to young plantations and seedlings.
They cut off the ends of branches and twigs with-
in reach, and eat the bark. They destroy both
evergreen and deciduous trees by cutting in later-
ally and tearing away a strip of bark. This is
repeated until the tree is entirely girdled. They
are most likely to do this when the ground is
covered with snow.
The third subdivision of mammals, or rodents,
includes squirrels, mice, and moles. The work
of mice is much like that of rabbits, only not so
extensive, and is usually at or below the ground.
It is true the mole destroys some seed, but it is
equally beneficial by holding in check injurious
insects in the form of grubs. They destroy whole
colonies of grubs as they go from place to place
beneath the ground in the heavy mulch and under
rotten logs. This is true of nearly all kinds of
animals, no matter how much damage they are
doing. In most cases they do some good, and be-
fore any steps are taken to clear the forest of
them, the relation to the forest should be more
carefully studied. It is a well-known fact that
when this State was covered with a virgin growth
of trees game of all kinds was plentiful.
Now, taking up the second great division of
animal life, the birds, we may say that most of
the birds are beneficial. It is true that some are
injurious, eating buds and seeds that we wish to
gather, or scratching up and destroying newly-
sown seed. Sapsuckers injure trees by making
holes in the bark for the purpose of securing in-
sects and eating the sweet cambium layer.
132
FOREST LEAVES.
7
We may class the birds as being beneficial in
two ways : distributing seeds and destroying in-
jurious insects, and adding to the beauty of the
woods and fields and to recreation and pleasure.
It has been said that '* if all the birds were de-
stroyed, insects, unchecked, would in ten years
eat every green thing off the earth." Birds are
decreasing in number, and anything which will
tend to increase their number will prove of great
and immediate economic value. The destruction
of the forest due to the change in animal life may
be summarized as a destruction or a reduction in
the number of forms useful to man and a conse-
quent increase in the number of forms injurious
to man.
The birds living largely on insects and worms
are the wren, swallow, martin, woodpecker,
cuckoo, swifts, and fly-catchers. Within certain
limits birds feed upon insect enemies of the forest.
These are wood-boring beetles, both adult and
larvae, and ants that live in decaying timber.
These insects are not accessible to other birds, and
could pursue their career of destruction unmolested
were it not for the woodpeckers, whose beaks and
tongues are specially fitted for digging them out
and devouring them. To them more than to any
other agent we owe the preservation of our timber
from destructive insects, and for this reason, if
for no other, they should be protected in every
possible way.
The third division of animal life, insects, may
be subdivided into two classes : those beneficial
to forests and those injurious. Taking up those
that are beneficial, probably the lady-bird beetle
and the ichneumon fly are the most valuable of
insects to foresters, and should be protected
wherever found. The lady-bird beetles feed on
plant lice, scales, and the legs and larvae of other
insects.
Ichneumon flies are beneficial in holding in
check the wood-boring insects. Borers and lice
cause serious injuries to trees, and the only prac-
tical way to combat them successfully is by means
of their natural enemies ; for the rise and fall in
the number of insects depend largely on the num-
ber and variety of natural enemies. So to para-
sitic insects, as those mentioned before, we owe,
to some extent, the preservation of our forests.
But, on the other hand, we may state that more
injury is done to trees by injurious insects than
by any other agency except fire. Injury by in-
sects is done in carrying out two objects which
they have in their attack : searching for food, and
preparing a place for the development of their
brood. Injurious insects may be classed under
six groups — namely, wood-boring or timber-de-
stroying, leaf-destroying, root-destroying, bud-
destroying, seed-destroying, and producers o^
deformities by puncturing the plant and sucking
the juice.
Probably the white pine weevil is one of the
most injurious insects in the pine forests, and espe-
cially in pure pine plantations. The damage done
by this weevil not only results in the death of the
shoots but in the abnormal development of the
trees so injured. The dying of the leading shoot
which has been injured throws the next year's
growth into the lead. This results in a forked
and many-branched top in the place of the normal
straight trunk and symmetrical crown necessary
to a tree of commercial value.
The economic importance of the widely-known
locust borer as destructive to the growth of the
black locust is realized by almost every one.
Natural growth and whole plantations are de-
stroyed. So extensive is the damage to planta-
tions that it is regarded as unprofitable to grow
the tree for timber. The injury to the tree con-
sists of punctures in the sapwood. If repeated
these result in a stunted growth or the death of
the tree, as well as rendering the timber almost
worthless on account of the numerous worm
holes.
Hickory trees are attacked by an insect which
is fast destroying this kind of timber. The twigs
and terminal shoots are girdled, causing a crooked
stem. Young growth suffers more from the attack
than old trees. Before hickory can be success-
fully grown, much must be done to eliminate this
class of insects.
Cicadas, or seventeen-year locusts, do consider-
able damage to young trees in two ways : first, by
the larvae feeding on the juice of roots ; and,
second, by the adult puncturing the limbs to lay
their eggs. Little damage is done to old trees in
this way, but young trees and saplings are badly
injured. Their shape is completely spoiled, and
the main branches may be weakened in such away
as to render them unable to form the proper top.
Perfectly healthy wood is not attacked to so
great an extent by injurious insects as healthy
leaves. Caterpillars and leaf-eating beetles prey
upon healthy leaves, almost defoliating some trees.
On account of leaves being the most important
factor in the formation of new wood, the growth
for that season is necessarily checked. Oaks,
maples, and elms are the species mostly attacked
by leaf-eating insects.
The seed of the hickory, chestnut, oak, and
walnut are destroyed by the larval form of the nut
weevil. The weevils eat the embryo, destroying
the power of germination. This injury is causing
a rapid decrease in the nut crop and in the natural
reproduction of these species. To a certain de-
FOREST LEAVES.
133
r
n
gree this determines the future state of our hard-
wood forests.
The exact relation then of animal life to 'for-
estry, as shown in the few examples just given,
may be summarized as those beneficial to forestry
and those injurious to forestry. Therefore, it is
necessary for the forester to know what are bene-
ficial and what injurious.
T. Roy Morton.
The Improvement of Farm Wood-Lots.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
ON many farms in the State there are wood-
lots, varying in size from several acres to
a hundred or more, from which the
farmer gets his own supply of fencing, fuel, and
construction material. Often he has additional
land from which he cuts material for market.
If he expects to cut successive crops of trees
from this land, he should make every acre of it
produce as much wood as possible. The modern
farmer has learned that concentration of effort,
better culture, and modern rotations are what
make farming profitable. This plan of manage-
ment can be applied equally well to the wood-lot,
and with less trouble than to an equal area of cul-
tivated land.
The question of caring for these timberlands so
as to yield a yearly and better crop is not only
becoming important but serious, because the
supply is rapidly decreasing and the price of
timber is steadily rising. In order to bring about
an improvement of this condition it is necessary
for the farmer to acquaint himself with the princi-
ples of practical forestry, which for him means
the study, nurture, and care of such trees remain-
ing on his land which will net him the largest in-
come when ready for cutting and the replacing of
the trees cut, or the planting of new stands for
his own future benefit, or for the benefit of those
who follow him in generations to coriie.
The custom has usually been either to cut the
woods clear, or, in case of small wood-lots, to
cut trees for special uses from time to time with-
out regard to the effect on those remaining, leav-
ing in most cases inferior trees in possession of
the ground. Such cutting has a tendency to re-
duce the number of valuable species, and permits
seeds and undesirable trees of little value to crowd
in in the place of more valuable trees, such as
white oak and hickory.
In some places the poor condition of the woods
is not due so much to injudicious cutting and
neglect as to damage from fire. Fire destroys
the young growth which would perhaps form the
basis of a succeeding crop, and encourages the
growth of weeds, shrubs, and grass, all of which
retard the development of young trees. This
poor condition also exists to some extent where
I grazing is permitted, as the animals browse upon
the young hardwoods and prevent them from de-
veloping and filling the gaps made by cutting or
other causes.
Owing to the usual management which wood-
lots receive they are not producing so much each
year, nor of so good quality, as they might under
proper treatment. Their productiveness is im-
paired every time they are cut, and their value
will continue to decline until given the care re-
quired for every growing crop.
If the farmer desires to improve the condition
of his wood-lot so as to produce larger and better
crops he should try to secure the following con-
ditions which constitute a good wood-lot : —
1. The wood-lot should be well stocked with
trees, so that every foot of ground is not only
productive but also protected.
2. The trees should be of good quality and of
such kinds as will be most useful. Only the
healthy, vigorous ones of the valuable kinds, such
as oaks, chestnuts, hickories, ash, and yellow
poplar, should be provided for.
3. There should be an undergrowth of trees to
take the place of those that fail or are removed,
in order to renew the forest. The larger trees
I should be distributed over the area so as to shade
I the ground and at the same time have sufficient
: room in which to develop.
4. The trees along the exposed borders of the
j wood-lot should be covered with branches to the
; ground, so as to form a dense border to safeguard
j against damage by storm.
5. The soil should be porous, rich in vegetable
mold, and covered with leaves and litter to the
exclusion of grass and light-demanding weeds.
When fires and cattle are kept out of the wood-
lot, the above condition of the soil is a natural
consequence.
6. The forest should be kept clear of dead
trees and those having little value, usually called
weed trees.
Although such conditions are seldom if ever
realized, the farmer should constantly have such a
standard before him in order to put the wood-lot
into the best condition.
In discussing methods of management for the
improvement of woodlots, no rules can be laid
down that will fit every wood-lot, as no two
wood-lots are exactly alike. Certain methods of
management are here given which if modified to
suit local conditions will cover nearly all cases.
T/ie Selection Method. — In the selection method
134
FOREST LEAVES.
the owner selects and cuts trees here and there
which may suit his purpose. After the trees are
removed, seed from neighboring trees and sprouts
from the stumps are depended upon to fill the
openings.
In using this method, the farmer, when select-
ing trees for cutting, must consider the effect which
their removal will have upon the forest. If the
forest is thinned too severely the openings which
are made will be exposed too much to the sun
and wind, which will dry out the soil and possibly
kill the young growth. Grass and weeds might
start and prevent seeds that fall in the openings
from germinating. If the stand is dense there is
also danger of wind-falls.
It is also important that the trees left to seed
the open areas are the kind that are wanted to re-
produce the forest. This often causes the selec-
tion method to be unsuccessful where only the
better class of timber is marketable. The best
trees of the valuable species are selected for cut-
ting, and the inferior species remain to reproduce
the forest. Consequently, the wood-lot runs
down into undesirable species and poor individ-
uals. The selection method of cutting is recom-
mended for home wood lots, where the inferior
wood can be utilized for fuel and the better trees
either used or sold for special purposes. In
making the cuttings, however, great care must
always be taken not to injure young growth in
felling and removing the trees, and to select the
inferior species and poor individuals first. It
will also be necessary to do a certain amount of
clearing ancj cutting to improve the stand and
control the mixture of species
The Successive Thinning Method. — This is a
good method for wood-land owners who do not
wish to cut their wood clear at one time, but pre-
fer gradually to transform it into a new and thrifty
crop of desirable trees.
By this method, while harvesting the crop, the
main idea is to provide for the reproduction of a
merchantable stand by a series of rather heavy
thinnings. There is a complete cycle of changes
that will follow from the time one crop of mature
trees is cut until another is ready for the axe. This
period is called the rotation.
Beginning at the time the crop is ready to har-
vest, our first thought must be how to secure a new
crop of trees when the present crop is cut. It can
be done by cutting out enough of the large trees
to open the crown cover so that light mav get in
and seed be permitted to germinate. The extent
to which the canopy should be opened will depend
upon the kind of trees with which one is dealing,
and the condition of the soil. Light-seeded spe-
cies of trees and rich soil will permit of a more
open cutting. When the trees bear heavy seed,
like oak or hickory, and there is danger of weeds
preventing germination, or of the soil drying out,
a close cutting should be made. The first thinning
or cutting is made for the purpose of seeding the
ground by seed from the standing trees and is
called a reproduction cutting. In a mixed forest
it is important in reproduction cutting to remove
as far as possible trees of such species which the
owner does not want to reproduce. The cutting
should be made prior to the seed year.
Secondary cuttings : x\fter the seeding is com-
pleted and the young growth is well established, a
second thinning is necessary to give the young
growth more light and growing space. It may be
from three to ten years after the reproduction cut-
ting before the second cutting or thinning is re-
quired. There will usually be some spaces which
have not been seeded, and in this cutting seed
trees should be left in the blank spaces. If the
first cutting was of an open character and the
entire area well seeded, it may be possible to
make the second cutting the final cutting.
Final cuttings : After the young growth is well
advanced and requires more light and growing
space the final cutting is made. All of the old
trees are then removed. In the removal of these
trees some of the young growth will be broken
down, but with care the damage will be very light.
Thinnings : By the time the final cutting is
done, or possibly before it, the young trees begin
crowding each other in order to get their crowns
to the sunlight. The lower branches die for want
of light, and are later broken off by the wind or
forced off by the growth of wood. Consequently,
long slim stems are formed. When straight trunks
of sufficient height have been obtained, a thinning
should be made so as to give room for increased
root and crown development, which will be fol-
lowed by increased wood production.
In thinning a stand, the trees which will be
most valuable for final crops should be left, and
those removed which have the smallest crowns,
show signs of deterioration, or are of less valuable
species. Frequent light thinnings will give the
best results. Each tree left standing should have
a small clear space between its crown and those of
its nearest neighbors, but openings should never
be so large that grass will cover the soil before
they close.
Clear Cutting Method. — This method consists
in cutting periodically portions of the wood-lpt
clear and allowing it to reproduce by sprouts from
the stumps or seed from the sides. The wood lot
is usually managed for the purpose of producing
a continual supply of fuel and lumber, so that the
clear cutting method, except only for portions of
FOREST LEAVES.
135
^r
^A-^
t*
it, is not practicable. There are, however, some
cases where the method may be used to advantage..
There are two conditions that favor clear cut-
ting : One is where hardwood lands are too thin
and rocky to produce large material, and when
there is a good market for small material ; the
other is pine land which can be cleared in strips
to secure seeding from the side. In either case
only a portion of the land is cut over at one time
so as to secure frequent returns. For instance, if
the wood-lot contains thirty acres of hardwood
and an acre be cut each year, at the end of thirty
years, when the last acre is cut, the first will be
ready for another setting. When the forest is re-
produced by sprouts from the stumps the cutting
should be done carefully so as not to injure the
bark on the stumps. The stumps should also be
cut low and smooth. In this way sprouts may be
reproduced for a number of cuttings, but the
sprouting power is impaired every time they are
cut. Young seed trees should be encouraged,
while some trees might be left over to the next
rotation in order to seed the ground.
Pines do not sprout from the stump, therefore
the only way to reproduce them is by seeding or
planting. Pine seed is very light and easily carried
by the wind ; hence, if it is desired to cut a stand
of pine and have another crop follow, it can be
done by cutting strips about as wide as the trees
are tall. Strips should be cut so that the seed will
blow over them from adjoining trees. After the
strip is well seeded another strip can be cleared
and the whole area gone over in this way.
When fail places occur in hardwood lands and
there is no young growth starting to fill them,
they can be planted with nuts or acorns gathered
in the fall and planted from one and one-half to
three inches deeo.
Protection of the Wood-lot. — Fire : Constant
care should be taken to keep fire out of the wood-
lot. Sometimes it is burned over to improve the
grazing. This destroys the leaf litter and humus,
impoverishes the soil, and retards tree growth ;
and the young sprouts and seedlings upon which
the future of the wood-lot depends are often either
destroyed or badly stunted. If the ground is
burned over frequently the larger trees become
scarred and afford openings for insects and rot-
producing fungi, which not only destroy the tree
attacked but often infect others. If the wood-lot
is small and surrounded by cleared land, or is near
houses, it is easily protected ; for if fire starts it is
soon seen and extinguished. When the wood-lot
is large and distant from any house it should be
protected by means of fire lines. In the majority
of wood-lots sufficient fire lines can be made by
keeping the regular roads and wood roads free
from inflammable material. If a railroad passes
through the forest or near it, the right of way
should be burned over occasionally and kept free
from inflammable material.
Grazing : Another source of danger is grazing.
Animals browse on the young seedlings and
sprouts, break off shoots and buds, and trample
and break down the young growth. Hogs also eat
the seeds and expose and injure the roots. Young
trees suffer most, and reproduction will not be
satisfactory where grazing is permitted.
H. E. Bryner.
A Forest Road.
FOR almost one hundred years, what is now
the Mont Alto Division of the South Moun-
tain Reserve was managed as a charcoal-
supply forest. The locations of the old coal
hearths may 'still be seen, and they are by no
means infrequent over the entire area. To each
of these hearths there were sled- trails over which
the wood was transported to them, and from each
one was a wagon road over which the charcoal was
hauled. Except in steep and rocky places, little
or no attention was paid to making or keeping up
the trails and the short roads connecting with the
main roads. Even where some labor was exerted,
no more was done than was demanded at the time
of use, as there would be no cutting again for
about thirty years.
Connecting the outlets from each series of
hearths, there was a main road along the ridge or
the valley, as the case might be, which was usually
kept in fair condition all the time. Such roads
were permanent and were much used. Except in
the cases of roads traversed in hauling the coal
great distances across ridges to the furnace, appar-
ently no attention was paid to grade. Sometimes
where there was an uphill haul for the coal the
grades were not very great, but even in such cases
straight courses between hearths seemed to be
more important than anything else. Horseflesh
must have been cheap and time plentiful.
Steep grades and lack of care in choosing proper
locations resulted in much washing, and not in-
frequently the stream-bed and road-bed coincided.
In other places gullies were made, and rough
stones and boulders were exposed. After a decade
of no care, and in many cases a much longer
period of non-use, many of the roads had grown
shut. Such was the condition of the roads when
the Mont Alto property came into the possession
of the State.
One of the first things necessary in the manage-
ment of a reserve is the matter of protection, and
roads figure largely in this respect. There were
\\\
136
FOREST LEAVES.
m
plenty of roads, but they had to be made reason-
ably passable. During the first three or four years
most of the main roads were opened by removing
the trees and brush, and since then at times the
sprouts have been again cut and removed, and at
the same time some repairs have been made in the
way of removing stones, opening water courses,
etc. This work has made it possible to get back
and forth on foot or on horseback with a fair de-
gree of ease and rapidity, and at the same time has
furnished open lanes from which to attack fires,
and in many cases compelled the fires to terminate
by reason of a lack of fuel, the road being clean
and the fire not being blown across to fresh timber.
It is thirteen miles from headquarters to the
most distant part of the reserve, and it is three to
seven miles that must most usually be covered in
order to throw our force against fires when they
occur. The beginning of a fire is the important
time for attack, and every minute then counts for
much. The roads as they are now located are not
satisfactory from the standpoint of perpetual forest
management, and consequently it is unwise to
spend much upon their repair, and in their present
condition it is frequently unsafe both to horse and
rider to travel at a rapid gait over them, especially
so at night. Consequently, from the standpoint
of protection from fire, clean, smooth and even
graded courses of communication with distant parts
of the reserve are an absolute necessity. For this
purpose two- or three- foot trails would be sufficient,
but other considerations enter into the proposition.
As soon as silvicultural work in the way of im-
provement cuttings were begun, roads became
necessities as highways of transportation. For
some time the work was not far from the main
public road and little road repairs were necessary,
but the public road itself was a disgrace to a civil-
ized community, and finally it was rebuilt with
the aid of the township Board of Supervisors, but
under the direction of officers of the reserve.
Last year (1909), however, circumstances de-
manded the building of the first good road through
the reserve for purely forestry work. There had
been a number of fires in the neighborhood of the
'' Old Forge," and beyond ; there was planting
to be done in that region and work of other kinds ;
fire-killed timber should be removed from Sandy
Ridge ; a possible outlet had to be wade for the
products of improvement cuttings on both sides of
the ridge ; everything, in fact, called for a new
road, and one was begun in May.
At first the forester of the reserve tried to locate
the road by use of the topographic map of the
Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. It was
found that the map was not accurate enough ex-
cept to give extreme elevations, and from that
could be calculated the approximate length of the
road at any specific grade. The contour map,
being made by successive classes of the Forest
Academy, did not cover the entire area traversed
by the road. An attempt was then made to follow
the old roads in part with the idea of reducing the
cost, but after considerable reconnoitering it was
finally decided that an entirely new route should
be staked out at a 3 degree or 5 per cent, grade.
Some of the reconnoitering and a great deal of the
preliminary surveying was done by the students of
the Forest Academy. They used a transit part of
the time, but most of the work was done with the
aid of an Abney's level.
The Academy graduate who has charge of im-
provement work on the reserve then took charge
of the road building. He had a large gang of men
and a smaller gang working under the direction of
a forest ranger. In this way work was being car-
ried on at each end of the road and considerable
progress was made.
After the grade of the road had been staked out,
the width, fifteen feet, was indicated, and choppers
began opening the right of way. This wood was
chopped into cordwood and piled at the edge of
the way, to be removed later. Where poles, rails,
or logs could be cut they were prepared at once
and rolled aside. The brush was all piled in the
middle of the opening and burned while green.
Many of the leaves on the ground were burned at
the same time. All of the forest floor which re-
mained was removed from the surface and thrown
beyond the limits of the road.
Where there were fills to make, as far as possi-
ble stones were used, and where cuts were neces-
sary they were made so as to give as much of a solid
bed as possible and yet not necessitate extra cart-
ing. In many places stones were laid up dry so as
to form retaining walls. One large gully had to
be filled ; two stone arch culverts and one log
bridge was built ; 3.47 miles have been completed
at a cost of J 1, 5 70 per mile.
This road will in time become one of the most
used roads on the reserve, and will no doubt have
to be widened and macadamized. Aside from its
great utility value, it is a beautiful avenue through
the forest, and will bring many people into the
woods, where they may appreciate nature and
revive their strength. George H. Wirt.
By excluding oxygen under a pressure of two
atmospheres and a temperature of 800 to 900 de-
grees wood can be melted, making a compact
amorphous mass which can be cast into forms. By
adding preservatives it can be made indestructible.
— Bulletin de la Societc Centrale Forestiere,
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 9.
:"%
4br-
1*5>
>\^^«^
^v<
^^
t-vr?..>
I
-^'
'^^%-i%
PUBLIC ROAD ON SOUTH MOUNTAIN RESERVE.
136
FOREST LEAVES.
plenty of roads, but they had to be made reason-
ably passable. During the first three or four years
most of the main roads were opened by removing
the trees and brush, and since then at times the
sprouts have been again cut and removed, and at
the same time some repairs have been made in the
way of removing stones, opening water courses,
etc. This work has made it possible to get back
and forth on foot or on horseback with a fair de-
gree of ease and rapidity, and at the same time has
furnished open lanes from which to attack fires,
and in many cases compelled the fires to terminate
by reason of a lack of fuel, the road being clean
and the fire not being blown across to fresh timber.
It is thirteen miles from headquarters to the
most distant part of the reserve, and it is three to
seven miles that must most usually be covered in
order to throw our force against fires when they
occur. The beginning of a fire is the important
time for attack, and every minute then counts for
much. The roads as they are now located are not
satisfactory from the standpoint of perpetual forest
management, and consequently it is unwise to
spend much upon their repair, and in their present
condition it is frequently unsafe both to horse and
rider to travel at a rapid gait over them, especially
so at night. Consequently, from the standpoint
of protection from fire, clean, smooth and even
graded courses of communication with distant parts
of the reserve are an absolute necessity. For this
purpose two- or three- foot trails would be sufficient,
but other considerations enter into the proposition.
As soon as silvicultural work in the way of im-
provement cuttings were begun, roads became
necessities as highways of transportation. For
some time the work was not far from the main
public road and little road repairs were necessary,
but the public road itself was a disgrace to a civil-
ized community, and finally it was rebuilt with
the aid of the township Board of Supervisors, but
under the direction of officers of the reserve.
Last year (1909), however, circumstances de-
manded the building of the first good road through
the reserve for purely forestry work. There had
been a number of fires in the neighborhood of the
** Old Forge," and beyond ; there was planting
to be done in that region and work of other kinds ;
fire-killed timber should be removed from Sandy
Ridge ; a possible outlet had to be made for the
products of improvement cuttings on both sides of
the ridge ; everything, in fact, called for a new
road, and one was begun in May.
At first the forester of the reserve tried to locate
the road by use of the topographic map of the
Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. It was
found that the map was not accurate enough ex-
cept to give extreme elevations, and from that
could be calculated the approximate length of the
road at any specific grade. The contour map,
being made by successive classes of the Forest
Academy, did not cover the entire area traversed
by the road. An attempt was then made to follow
the old roads in part with the idea of reducing the
cost, but after considerable reconnoitering it was
finally decided that an entirely new route should
be staked out at a 3 degree or 5 per cent, grade.
Some of the reconnoitering and a great deal of the
preliminary surveying was done by the students of
the Forest Academy. They used a transit part of
the time, but most of the work was done with the
aid of an Abney's level.
The Academy graduate who has charge of im-
provement work on the reserve then took charge
of the road building. He had a large gang of men
and a smaller gang working under the direction of
a forest ranger. In this way work was being car-
ried on at each end of the road and considerable
progress was made.
After the grade of the road had been staked out,
the width, fifteen feet, was indicated, and choppers
began opening the right of way. This wood was
chopped into cordwood and piled at the edge of
the way, to be removed later. Where poles, rails,
or logs could be cut they were prepared at once
and rolled aside. The brush was all piled in the
middle of the opening and burned while green.
Many of the leaves on the ground were burned at
the same time. All of the forest floor which re-
mained was removed from the surface and thrown
beyond the limits of the road.
Where there were fills to make, as far as possi-
ble stones were used, and where cuts were neces-
sary they were made so as to give as much of a solid
bed as possible and yet not necessitate extra cart-
ing. In many places stones were laid up dry so as
to form retaining walls. One large gully had to
be filled ; two stone arch culverts and one log
bridge was built ; 3.47 miles have been completed
at a cost of $1,570 per mile.
This road will in time become one of the most
used roads on the reserve, and will no doubt have
to be widened and macadamized. Aside from its
great utility value, it is a beautiful avenue through
the forest, and will bring many people into the
woods, where they may appreciate nature and
revive their strength. George H. Wirt.
-^OC:::*
By excluding oxygen under a pressure of two
atmospheres and a temperature of 800 to 900 de-
grees wood can be melted, making a compact
amorphous mass which can be cast into forms. By
adding preservatives it can be made indestructible.
— Bulletin lie la Societe Cefitrale Fores Here.
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
^
k
Forest Leaves, Vol. xil, No. 9.
*.-t*^ \
jf .«?■
J. ^.
*■-
. ->-*
'•^■i:
\mf-
N -
•- ^
^y^^
j?^>
' ■,-■.. ..,;
PUBLIC ROAD ON SOUTH MOUNTAIN RESERVE,
1^
Forest Leaves, vol. xii., No. 9.
•;>
PUBLIC ROAD IN GAP ABOVE MONT ALTO PARK BEFORE IMPROVEMENT.
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii.. No. 9.
'II
t
twc-^--
I
» NEW FORESTRY ROAD-SHOWING GRADE, BUT NOT ROUNDED UP OR
SMOOTHED. MONT ALTO, 1910.
FOREST LEAVES.
137
Municipal Ownership of Forests.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
7\ MONG the various acts passed during the
jOpL. last session of the Legislature (1909), was
one permitting municipalities to acquire
forest or other suitable lands for the purpose of
establishing municipal forests and providing for
the administration, maintenance, protection, and
development of such forests.
It has been demonstrated by time and experi-
ence in the countries of continental Europe that
properly -managed municipal forests have proved
to be important sources of municipal revenue, in
connection with the general plan of forest preser-
vation, thereby benefitting the Commonwealth
as a whole ; and with these objects in view the
bill was drawn up by the Department.
At this time, when so little is known of fores-
try, and especially of its financial possibilities
among the majority of the people, little can be
expected from municipalities relative to the pur-
chase of forest lands or other suitable lands for
the financial returns alone. The principal factor
entering into the acquisition of forest lands by
municipalities is that of procuring and protecting
an adequate supply of water for the municipality.
Due to their location, it would not be expedient
for all municipalities to attempt the purchase of
forest lands ; but a large number of boroughs and
cities throughout the State are so located that it
would be both commendable and financially prac-
ticable for them to possess municipal forests.
Municipalities situated in the more mountainous
localities are best adapted for the possession of
municipal forests, due to the low cost of the land
and the desired supply of water. It can be easily
seen that it would not be financially or practically
advisable for a borough or city in the more i
thickly.populated parts of the State to purchase I
forest lands with the idea of obtaining a suitable
water supply, as the distance the water would
have to be brought would not warrant the same.
The proposition was at one time suggested to the
city of Philadelphia of piping its water supply
from the various chains of lakes in Pike county,
but no action was taken upon it. It is a question
at this time whether the cost of the present supply
and that of the one suggested above would have
varied very greatly.
As before stated, the water supply question is
one of the factors that enters largely into the ac-
quisition of municipal forests ; but there are
numerous other important factors resulting from
the protection and development of such forests.
Section i of the act recently passed by the
Legislature states that all forest land held by the
municipality must be administered under the
direction of the Department of Forestry in accord-
ance with the principles and practices of scientific
forestry for the benefit and advantage of the muni-
cipality. This will not only mean a benefit to
the municipality alone, but to the Commonwealth
as a whole. With proper administration and
protection, municipal forests can be made in the
course of time to yield an annual revenue from
the sale of forest products that will tend greatly
to reduce the burden of municipal taxation.
Since Germany has attracted the greatest atten-
tion in all matters pertaining to forestry, as the
science is there most thoroughly developed, it
niight be well to quote some statistics of its muni-
cipalities showing the practicability of municipal
ownership of forests. Of the thirty-five million
acres of forest land in Germany, five million acres,
or 15.2 per cent., is communal forest. The city
of Zurich gives the following returns for the year
1890: The city owns 2,760 acres of municipal
forests, with a total expenditure of $14,000 for
the year. The gross revenue from the forest was
$26,000, or a net revenue of $12,000, or $4.40
per acre. It is a well-known fact that these re-
sults have been accomplished only after a century
or more of continued practical forestry methods,
and they cannot be hoped for in this country for
years to come. We have something to work for.
Of Italy's forested area, the State owns only 1.6
per cent. , while the remainder is owned by munici-
palities and corporations.
France has over 27 per cent, of her forests
owned by city or village corporations, while
Prussia has 12.5 percent, under municipal owner-
ship.
The control of the municipal forests of the con-
tinental countries of Europe is practically the same
as is given in the above-mentioned act of Legis-
lature— namely, that of State management in ac-
cordance with the principle of continued supply.
The municipality can employ its own forester, but
all plans of management and operation must be
submitted to State officials and approved before
any work can be accomplished. •
One of the best examples of municipal owner-
ship of forests obtainable in this State is that of
the city of Lock Haven. The movement in this
instance was started for the betterment of its water
supply, and ended with the city purchasing 3,000
acres of forest land outright and about 6,000 acres
in conjunction with the State, the latter area to be
under the absolute ownership and control of the
State. As a result, the city of Lock Haven has as
fine a water supply as any city in the State, with
the vvatershed of the stream providing this supply
138
FOREST LEAVES.
almost entirely protected by State and municipal
forest lands.
Another factor which brings Lock Haven to the
front as a good example of municipal forest owner-
ship, is due to the large annual revenue derived
from the municipal ownership of the water-works.
The expense of the installation of the water supply
was very large, caused by the seven miles of pipe
laid to convey it into the city. Notwithstanding
the annual payment of the interest on this bonded
indebtedness and the cost of maintenance of the
water-works, the revenue for the present year will
amount to $23,000, which will go far towards re-
ducing municipal taxation or pay for municipal
improvements.
A strong argument against municipal ownership
of water-works, and indirectly municipal forests,
is that corporate w^ater companies can furnish water
cheaper to the municipality than the city can do
it. This is easily met in this case by a compari-
son of the rates of other cities with those of Lock
Haven, and, furthermore, with the rates of cor-
porate water companies furnishing water to one
portion of the city of Lock Haven and to the
surrounding boroughs. Compared with the case
of the surrounding boroughs. Lock Haven's water
is cheaper, while the rates of the corporate water
company are the same as those of the municipality.
Another example of municipal ownership of
forests is that of Lewistown, owning 800 acres of
forest land, purchased in view of future trouble
with the local corporate water company.
One of the most important factors influencing
the installation of a municipal water supply, and
which has induced very often the purchase of forest
lands along the source of the supply, is that of
increased water rates. In this case it is the duty
of the municipality to condemn the corporate
water company and install a municipal water
supply, thereby giving the citizens the water at a
cheaper rate than that furnished by the corporate
company.
All of us being students of forest finance and
knowing the financial returns possible from forest
planting, with the European countries as an ex-
ample, would it ifot be possible for a municipality
to undertake an operation of this nature, say on the
mountain sides of some of our denuded watersheds ?
For example, take Pittsburg and other munici-
palities in the western part of the State, that are
subject to enormous losses yearly due to irregular
stream-flow. Would it not be both proper and
expedient to do this, with perhaps the help of the
State, as is done in the continental countries of
Europe ?
It has been the policy of the Department to
refrain from purchasing lands encumbered with
underground rights- or subject to surface rights for
any length of time, and it is the former encum-
brance that has deterred the Department from
purchasing lands for forestry purposes in the west-
ern part of the State.
It will be only a matter of time, however, until
something must be done to relieve the condition
existing west of us, and might not the municipal
ownership of forest lands be one way of solving
the problem before us ? At this time, when the
aesthetic value of forests is being appreciated by a
large number of people, both for its power of
promoting the healthfulness of the community
and as recreation grounds, it might be well to add
this factor as one figuring largely in the advantage
to be derived from municipal ownership of forests.
The increasing interest of all classes in every
community accentuates the movement toward
better and healthier conditions in the territory
contiguous to the centers of population.
The creation, care, and maintenance of parks
and recreation grounds have become one of the
most important of municipal functions, and what
will cover all these points more satisfactorily than
a municipal forest ?
Forrest H. Dutlinger.
Forestry in a New Nation.*
WHY are we all interested in forestry at
the present time? One scarcely picks
up a popular periodical to- day without
seeing an article upon some phase of forestry
therein. This attitude on behalf of the American
people has suddenly developed, and it may be of
interest to consider the reason.
When our forefathers came to these shores what
did they find ? A vast wilderness, primeval forests
in all their grandeur, east of the Mississippi River.
For the most part the whole country represented
as it were a vast field of grain waving before the
wind. It was necessary for the early colonists of
this nation and pioneers of every state to clean
and clear lands in order to gain a livelihood —
what kind of a livelihood ? agriculture ; and what is
agriculture? the basal industry of any nation.
Trees and forests so common on every hand in
the early days were considered a hindrance to
civilization and progress. How to overcome and
destroy the forests in order to utilize the soil and
perfect agriculture has been the work of the nation
up until recent days. The practice of cutting
and piling logs in great heaps and burning them,
the girdling of standing trees, called ''hackings'*
♦ Lecture course on Forestry at Lehigh University, by
F. W. Rane, State Forester of Massachusetts, May 20, 1910.
FOREST LEAVES.
139
in some sections, so as to destroy the foliage and
thus let in the light that grass and crops could be
grown, together with other apparently wasteful
and destructive methods as viewed from the pres-
ent standpoint, were necessary in those days.
One would think that ''Conservation of our
Natural Resources," a term so commonly used in
these days, is an idea never heard of heretofore,
and we are now imbued with altogether a different
conception of National and State development.
The idea is not new, nor is it of more importance
at the present time than it has been right along.
We as a people have been too busy up to the
present generation in this new country, which has
abounded in natural resources so lavishly, that we
have not had time to think of conservation. How
to simply harvest the crop and convert the raw
material into bank accounts has been the great
problem. Why are there so many wealthy fami-
lies in America to-day ? The very fact of possess-
ing a nation whose natural resources on every
hand were free to the people offered the very op-
portunity of accumulating wealth. It was only a
few years ago that even in the middle northwest
all that was necessary to accumulate forest lands
was to send out prospectors or cruisers, locate the
desirable tracts and pay the government from
fifty cents to five dollars an acre to secure a good
title. From these tracts millions of dollars have
been the returns to those who invested in them.
When I was a student in college one of my
classmates lamented the fact that his father went
south before the war of the Rebellion and took up
large tracts of forest lands in the Carolinas and
Tennessee. These lands at the time, 1891, were
considered a burden to the family. It was neces-
sary for him and his brother to go south each sum-
mer vacation and spend the time in protecting
themselves from poachers, who during their ab-
sence persisted in establishing tar pitch and turpen-
tine camps upon their holdings. The discourag-
ing part was the inability to get the proper legal
papers served upon these trespassers before they
had secured what they wanted and were ready to
move off of their own accord. I mention this
simply to say that if these young men have held
their properties to the present time, they are ex-
tremely wealthy.
I first went into college work at the West
Virginia University. In the year of '93, I
cruised some large tracts of the territory then in
primeval condition in the central portions of the
State. Here I found stately magnificent forests
as yet untouched save for now and then some
cherry and black walnut had been taken out.
The species of tree that impressed one most in
those days was the white wood or yellow poplar
lumber. At that time the hope of the lumber-
man was to induce the trade to use this lumber as
a substitute for white pine and thus develop a
market. One was impressed with the great
amount of standing timber in this State alone at
that time, enough timber apparently to supply the
whole country for years to come. Plenty of these
beautiful stately tulip trees that would measure
four feet or more in diameter, and with boles that
were clear of limbs for a distance of four log cuts,
dotted the whole mountainous country. Two
years ago, I was engaged by a large coal com-
pany to examine a sixteen thousand acre tract in
the same section, and to my utter amazement
found that during my absence, a period of only
fourteen years, the lumbermen had been so busy
that it really was not an easy matter to find
typical specimens of the once popular tulip tree
throughout the whole tract. What in the world
was done with so much lumber? In those days
white wood was not good enough for finishing
purposes in our homes, for we thought we must
have walnut, cherry, or even mahogany, but to-
day many of us feel fortunate if we can afford
white wood. When I first came to New England
I was just as enthusiastic over forestry as I am to-
day, but even in the years of 1895 to 1900, a
person was dubbed a " forestry crank" were he
to show any perceptible enthusiasm over the sub-
ject. During the time I was in college work and
in our new building operations, we were able to
secure Georgia pine, that was shipped to the
north by water transportation, for $15 to $17
a thousand, fine, clean, clear, matched stock.
Lumbermen would point to this product and say
what is the use of worrying about depletion of
forest products when one can secure such material
at these prices. This argument was effective, and
there was little use of trying to convince lumber-
men to the contrary as long as the supply was
equal to the demand. They not only felt that
there was an inexhaustible supply in the South,
but some thought it inadvisable to attempt to
compete with this southern trade by even cutting
the northern product. They also felt that the
forests of Canada and even those of Maine and
other New England States contained much more
than people realized. In ten years, however,
things began to change, and forest products of
all kinds began to increase in value, and to-day
the lumbermen are just as wise as to the inevit-
able depletion of our forest supplies, if we do not
practice economy, and carry on modern forestry
management, as any class.
When in college work I always endeavored to
give the senior students a comprehensive concep-
tion of natural resources and their uses, and a book
140
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
141
written by one of our noted embassadors, entitled
The World as Modified by Human Action^ served
very nicely among others to emphasize these points.
This treatise was written by Mr. Marsh some thirty
odd X ears ago, and is as suggestive to-day as ever.
The main object of the book was to point out to
country-loving citizens the importance of conserv-
ing our natural resources. He goes on to show
how in a few years we have changed the conditions
in America and demonstrated that as a nation we
are thoughtlessly wasting our birthright. He points
out the fact that man is a destructive being, and
gives many illustrations to show the same. The
name of the book itself is suggestive, and I recom-
mend it to any one.
Demand for forest products has been increasing
in greater and greater proportion as we have been
developing the State and nation, while the prod-
ucts themselves have likewise been approaching
exhaustion. Our people have looked upon the
, forest products as inexhaustible, thinking, natur-
ally, that though Massachusetts or Pennsylvania
should be depleted, there are plenty of other States
at our very doors with indefinite supplies. Many
country- loving and far-sighted citizens have time
and time again in the past predicted the present
calamity, but the commercial era has absorbed us,
and the successful business man of America has
been the admired of admirers. ^:sthetics in a
new country are as nothing compared with com-
nriercial activities, when the bases of the commodi-
ties dealt in are free gifts and cost only for the
marketing. The balance finally comes with the
nation's development.
From the substantial old-time sawmill — formerly
so common upon the streams, now only relics of
by-gone days— the evolution has developed to the
portable mill. Instead of taking the logs to the
mill, we now take the mill to the logs. While it is
easy to comprehend this change of milling opera-
tions and the economy therein, the effect upon for-
estry itself and the country community has changed
most remarkably. When logs were taken to the
mills, most farmers employed their teams and labor
during the winter months in getting out lumber
for home consumption, but sold enough to make
the effort and time profitable. The old-fashioned
method, too, of not cutting clean but taking only
the larger and mature trees did not destroy the
forest, for replacement followed rapidly. ' The
present method is to sell the stumpage ; and, as
the purchaser finds he is able to market every
vestige of the product, the forest area is stripped
of vegetation. In earlier days this extreme of
clearing was done only when the land was to be
used for agricultural purposes. Where the larger
growth only was taken out in the past, in twenty
years or so the same land could be cut over again:
at a profit ; under the present practice it will re-
quire a period of nearly or quite twice as long for
similar results. Again, even the cutting clear
practice was not so productive of ill-results until
it came into such common use. When only here
and there a tract was cut, the surrounding growth
reseeded it ; to-day the reseeding factor, also, is
cut, leaving great areas where nature is unable ta
assist as formerly. The white pine, for example,
will re-establish itself whenever the conditions are
favorable. When, as in earlier times, the ill-
shaped and limbed specimens contained no com-
mercial value, they were allowed to remain stand-
ing. These trees make the best seed trees, hence
were responsible for reforesting the land with this
species. To-day even these seed trees have value.
No matter how pronged or crooked, they will make
box-boards, pails, tubs, matches, etc., and bring
prices of from %\/^ to $i6 a thousand, when de-
livered. The results of this practice are altogether
too common. Portable mills are operating at the
present on woodlots that in earlier times could not
be used commercially. Where the diameters of
trees were thought of in terms of feet, we have
simply changed the feet to inches for present
practical usage. The commercial pine tree of
to-day hardly reaches the seed producing age
before it is harvested. What is true of white pine
is equally true of many other of our forest trees.
The pulp companies chew up practically every-
thing of the spruce and even balsam fir, which a
few years ago was considered practically worthless,
at present is of equal value to spruce in limited j
amounts. Hemlock was little thought of for joists ' *7
and general framing material in building not long j ".
since, but the carpenters now are not so particular. |
The American larch, commonly called tamarack
or hackmatack, found growing in low, moist situa-
tions, was valueless until railroad ties and telegraph
poles grew scarce ; and then they found immediate
value, now having largely disappeared. Hickory,
commonly called walnut in New England, was the
only wood thought suitable for tools, axe-handles,
whifile-trees, etc. ; but go to the market and see
what are being substituted in its place. Of course,
the tools do not last as long as formerly. Were
there time, it could be shown that each and every
kind of wood has special qualities that adapt it for
specific usefulness. The more we advance in com-
merce, industries, and manufactures, we continue
to discover new economic uses for all of the raw
materials and products. There is not a species of
wood grown at present but has a recognized
standard of value. The time has come when sim-
ply the growing of cordwood in most sections of
Massachusetts is profitable. Particularly is this
true where the burning of brick is an important
industry.
We as a nation are at an extremely interesting
stage at the present time as regards the forestry
problem. It is not only true of Massachusetts bat
of Pennsylvania, and, for that matter, the whole
country, to a greater or less extent.
As long as the prices of forest products remained
low, we laughed at the idea of forest depletion.
Experience is a wise teacher, and although the
histories of older countries point out very clearly
the mistakes made, the errors are seldom heeded
in a new country until many of the same experi-
•ences have resulted.
When our forefathers came here, Pennsylvania
was a vast wilderness, a primeval forest. We are
told of the magnificent forests, and how individual
trees reached great proportions throughout this
whole section. Even the decaying stumps still
extant remind us that but yesterday, in point of
time, these monarchs of the forest, which had
been growing for centuries, were with us. To-
morrow a forest tree producing over a thousand
feet board measure will be a veritable curiosity.
We country-loving and public-spirited people are
extremely anxious that the nation reserve certain
portions of the White Mountains and the southern
Appalachian range, that coming generations may
enjoy, take pride in, and benefit therefrom. A
birthright for them as small as this is a pittance
compared with the vast and almost endless expanse
of virgin forest areas that was ours.
Viewing the subject as a whole, therefore, we
must recognize that the time is ripe for action and
public concern. To accomplish results, much
thoughtful study and definite systematic planning
must be done, in order that there will be no ob-
structions in the way. Education and example
are the tools to work with.
'* Forestry is the science of art of forming and
cultivating forests ; the management of growing
timber.** Forestry, therefore, as the title of my
address indicates, is concerned with the economic
production of merchantable wood and timber.
Forestry should rightfully be thought of as a com-
mercial industry. The forest products of a coun-
try should be one of her greatest assets, just as
much as that of any other crop, agriculturally
speaking, and even more to be relied upon than
our income from mining ; for, with proper man-
agement, the investment will be permanent, inex-
haustible, and hence fundamental to the nation's
life and prosperity.
Lumbering is as important to successful for-
estry as is the digging of potatoes or the harvest-
ing of any crop when it is ripe. The same
essentials of culture, also, must be understood in
getting maximum returns in the one case as in the
other.
Forestry and commercial forestry are synony-
mous terms. Forestry in its true sense, when
managed properly, will utilize the millions of
acres of land— at present seen scattered in every
section, known as waste land, abandoned pastures,
sprout lands, barrens, plains, etc. — returning them
to forest culture. The same culture that will return
saw logs to the mills, make work for the country
folk in winter, replenish the town treasuries, re-
paint the old red school house, pay the sexton to
again ring the church bell, make better roads, and,
in short, return the former substantial livelihood
of country life, will also conserve moisture, protect
and enrich the soil, give an equable climate, and
return to my State and yours the natural beauty
we all would love so much to see.
If commercial forestry will do this, the aesthetic
man, who now and then sets out a shade tree and
spends more time criticizing the practical lumber-
man, can employ his time to better advantage.
Our portable mill operators, who are found in
nearly every town, are, generally speaking, the
best and most public-spirited citizens and, as a
matter of fact, the leaders of the communities.
These men also are the most approachable men in
the world, and willing to foster and further every
reasonable and commendable project. I am con-
fident these will be the men of the future, to be
relied upon to do things in forestry. The fact
that forest products are valuable and likely to in-
crease rather than diminish — it being an easy
matter to demonstrate, even at present prices, that
reforestation and better forestry management will
pay— gives life and interest to the undertaking.
Go into any rural section, or city, for that
matter, and discuss modern forestry intelligently,
beginning with the collecting of the seed, time of
year to gather them, when to plant, how to care
for the seedlings, distance apart to set for results,
when to thin and whether to prune, number of
years to maturity, the kind of soils for different
species, probable returns upon the investment,
etc., and there is little trouble in interesting the
people.
In Massachusetts we have been interested in
studying out the practicability of carrying on for-
estry as a definite commercial propo«jition, and if
you are interested in knowing what the white pine,
for example, is capable of yielding as a long-time
investment, I will take pleasure in sending some
very interesting literature on the subject. The
great obstacle to overcome in getting Americans
to invest money in forestry, particularly refores-
tation, is the feeling that it takes too long a time
to get results. As a matter of fact, this feeling is
142
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
14S
gradually changing, and, ultimately, I am con-
vinced, the people will realize that this kind of an
investment will be one of the surer and more
stable. It can be shown that even at present
prices good interest upon the investment can be
expected, and surely forest products are more
likely to advance than decline in the future. As a
long-time investment, the returns must be con-
sidered as offering exceptional opportunities.
No matter how attractive it is made, the fact
still remains that few people are willing to make
long-time investments and wait for their fruition.
The time is coming, however, when far- sighted
business men will recognize this source of invest-
ment as a safe and profitable one. Each State, it
is believed, can well afford to make a beginning
in this direction by purchasing at low cost much
of the cheap lands and re-stocking them as forest
reserves. Not only can they be made a valuable
asset in the future to the respective Common-
wealths, but to serve as examples of forestry
methods.
Purest fires are a great menace to practicing
modern forestry, and are undoubtedly one of the
greatest drawbacks to forestry undertakings. The
present laws regulating this problem are not
effective enough.
The laws relative to the taxation of forest lands
are in no way systematized or deduced to securing
the best results. It is to be hoped that some
simple, practical, and expedient forest taxation
laws may be formulated at an early date.
The greatest of all needs, however — and we
must come back to it as the foundation upon which
our whole forestry structure must stand for success
— is a well-defined educational system, by which
the people may be taught not only to recognize
the importance of forestry, but how to get the best
results from a practical knowledge of the theory
and practice combined.
In conclusion, I would say, let us be wise and
far-sighted. The Massachusetts and Pennsylvania
of the future will be what you and I make it.
History repeats itself. In the Old World the rise
and fall of the Roman Empire had its associations
with commercial forestry. Spain — once the coun-
try of equable climatic conditions and beautiful
meadows, the native country of the merino sheep
and a progressive and prosperous agriculture — has
cut down its forests, denuded its mountains ; and
what is its present condition ? We are told that
in Biblical times certain valleys in Palestine were
so fertile that they sustained and nourished great
flocks and herds. Figuratively speaking, these
valleys flowed with milk and honey. In those days
the cedar of Lebanon and other forest trees were
found in all their glory. What sort of a country
is Palestine to day? Travelers tell us it is dan-
gerous to travel without a guide ; the country is
parched, dry, and desolate.
What do we propose for the future of this
nation? If we are public-spirited, as I believe
we are, and have a love for our country and Com-
monwealths, we will awake to the responsibility
ere it is too late.
Instead of following the example of countries
like those mentioned, let us emulate the example
of Germany, where modern forestry is practiced
successfully. Then, and only then, can we feel
proud in believing we have done our full duty
towards the forest interests of our native land.
New Publications.
The State Forester of Massachusetts. Sixth
Annual Report, 1909. By Frank W. Rane. Svo.,.
no pages. Boston, Mass.
During the past year the Governor of Massa-
chusetts placed under the State Forester the work
of suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths,
which necessitated a reorganization of the work.
The principal parts of the new State legislation
were acts making a railroad corporation liable for
the lawful expense incurred in extinguishing forest
or grass fires which are caused by the railroad or
its agents ; placing the work of suppressing the
gypsy and brown-tail moths under the State For-
ester ; and, in order to encourage the growth of
white pine timber, land stocked with thrifty white
pine seedlings of a height of not less than 15
inches, shall, upon satisfactory proof of its con-
dition by the owner to the assessors, be exempt
from taxation for ten years.
During 1909 examinations were made of 15,862
acres of land for persons requiring such assistance.
In the same period 927 acres of land were planted
with white pine trees at a cost of $5 to $10 per
acre, and 28 plantations were thus set out, vary-
ing in area from 5 to 107 acres; and the nursery
has been enlarged, and is now estimated to con-
tain 3,339,000 seedlings and 81,300 transplants ;
1,513 forest fires were reported in 1909, of
which the largest number, 497, or about one-third,
were caused by locomotive sparks; 42,808 acres
were burned over, the damage being placed at
$220,930.
This interesting report closed with a state-
ment in regard to the gypsy and brown-tail moth
suppression, and the area infested in Massachusetts,
which is 3,950 square miles. About $750,000
was expended by the State, cities, towns, and
private individuals in the year 1909 in fighting
these pests, the above amount not including any
sums expended by the federal government.
FOREST LEil VE^.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA,
o<:]t>^
THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
Terms upon Application.
OF THE
L-Ein^IS* TREE CHT^RTS,
Part I.— THE OAKS. Forty-two species.
No. 1. Biennial Fruited Oaks. Black Oak and Allies.
No. 2. Annual Fruited Oaks. White Oak and Allies.
No. 3. Southern, Pacific, Hardy, Foreign, and examples qf
Extinct Oaks.
Part II.— THE NUT BEARERS. Numerous species.
No. 4. TTie Chestnuts and Beeches. American, Japanese and
European Chestnuts.
No. 5. The Walnuts. American, Japanese and European
species and varieties.
No. 6. The Hickories. American species and varieties.
Part III.—
No. 7. The Willows and Poplars. Numerous species.
No. 8. TTie Birches, Elms and allies.
No. 9. The Lindens, and allied families of numerous species.
Part IV.—
♦No. 10. The Magnolia and related trees.
•No. 11. The Horse Chestnuts and allies.
No. 12. The Maples. (Printed in advance.)
(Those with an * as yet unprinted.)
Price for the ten Charts published, |4.00.
For further information address the author, publisher and
proprietor,
GRACEANNA LEWIS,
Media, - - - . Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
Forestry
Association.
^s^^P^
The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street^
Philadelphia, Pa.
RATES
>
%
I
insertion. i
6
nsertions.
insertions..
I inch, . .
$1.00
•
$4.00
$8.00
y^ page, • •
4.00
17.00
34-00
7* • •
7.00
30.00
60.00
12.00
50.00
100.00
■Jk'^'. '
144
FOREST LEAVES.
The Pennsylvania State College Biltmore Forest School.
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestr>' — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the.
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
CONSULTING AND OPERATING
The beauty and value of forest growth depends
materially on the proper care and training of the
trees. Nature is in many things a rough mother.
Her method of pruning leads to decay ; she over-
burdens the trees with superabundant growth ; the
feeding matter is washed off the hillsides and in
exposed situations the dropping leaves, the main
source of food supply, are blown away.
Proper and scientific pruning will prevent decay
and relieve the tree of superfluous growth, while
well advised planting will conserve the food
supply.
With our professional foresters and trained corps
of scientific pruners we are prepared to give the
best possible attention to forestry problems and to
properl}^ treat ornamental trees and shrubs of all
kinds.
Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc.
LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND ENGINEERS
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa.
BILTMORE, N. C.
0 0 0 0
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry and lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Statioo.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR B07S.
Illustrated Catalogue upon application,
0
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rey. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Theamrer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB 8. DISSTON.
EDGAR DUDLEY FARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
U
|E>
nJ>
Philadelphia, August, 1910.
No. 10.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa. "^
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorial 145
Forest Fires in 190; in the National Forests 146
The Importance of a Geological and Soil Study of a Reserve Pre-
vious to the Preparation of a Forest Working Plan 146
The Chestnut Blight 148
The Collection of Growth- and \ ield-Data as a Working- Base for
Plans of Management and the Value of Permanent Sample
Plots 150
Our Illustrations jca
Practical Forestry j-a
The Forests of A'aska 153
Some Notes on Wood Preservation 154
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
7'He attenitjn 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^Forest Lbavss as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur.
nished on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membership fee. Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membershio
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbinc.
^yi^*-PX"i^i^ts, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis.
Richard Wood. *
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Ctiarles E. Pancoast.
Councilat- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin.
Samuel L. Smedley.
J'inance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman : Mrs. George F. Baer
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr j'
T Rothrock, W.W. Scrancon, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S p'
Wolverton.
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner, "^
A ^^^^^^^i<>^^ Jol^n Birkinbinc, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
'*'«'»'*, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman; Miss Mary Blakiston
Mrs. George T. Heston, Miss Florence Keen, William 8. Kirk'
J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp. '
G7i««/^ (7r^a«/>a//V;«, Samuel Marshall, Chairman; Eugene EUicott
J imes C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Office of the Association. loia Walnut St.. Philadblphia.
EDITORIAL.
FOREST LEAVES has always chronicled
with gratification the acquisition of forest
reserves by the nation, the state, corpora-
tions or individuals, and it will continue to encour-
age the increase of forested areas, maintained for
future utilization. But the number of square acres
or square miles which are covered by forest re-
serves is not the only measure of progress — in fact,
unless cared for, some so-called reserves may be a
menace to other property.
In Pennsylvania the state reserves have grown
rapidly, and while the Forestry Reservation Com-
mission is alert to take advantage of areas procur-
able at moderate cost, its policy is as far as possible
to limit the extensions to its ability to care for
them. A forest reserve to be of service to
posterity needs care— fires must be kept from it,
improvement cuttings should be made, new
growths encouraged, and reforestation should as
far as is practicable be of species and genera suit-
able to the soil and promising the best returns in
the future. Hence, it may under specific condi-
tions be better policy to limit areas reserved
than to increase these beyond the protective abili-
ties at command.
The general public has approved of liberal re-
servations made by the national and state govern-
ments and will undoubtedly accept additions to
these as valuable; but to maintain forestry in
favor, the reserves must receive care and over-
sight. Any action which, while insuring the pro-
tection of the forests, obtains value from their
products will go far towards encouraging favorable
appreciation of the value of forest reserves.
Circumstances may make it advisable for the
general government to withdraw from entry
areas which may be held for future forest reserves,
or encourage states to secure lands at times when
they are procurable, proceedings which certainly
\\
146
FOREST LEAVES.
are approved. But the public must learn that the
possession of forest reserves carries a responsibility
for their care, and recognize the wisdom of hav-
ing appropriated sufficient funds for their protec-
tion and preservation.
That such appropriations will ultimately prove
good investments is demonstrated by the results
in other countries, and even in this nation, where
forest reserves are practically a novelty, most satis-
factory financial results have ensued.
^^ J. B.
Forest Fires in 1909 in the National
Forests.
FIRE played less havoc in the woodlands of
the National Forests last year than it did
in 1908, although the number of fires was
410 greater. The Department of Agriculture has
just completed the statistics. The protective value
of the work of the department is shown in that :
( I ) almost eighty per cent, of the fires were ex-
tinguished before as much as five acres had been
damaged; (2) less than one and one- half acres to
the square mile of National Forest land was burned
over; (3) and the amount of damage done to the
burned-over area averaged but $1.26 per acre.
For the year 1909, there were 3,138 fires on
the forests, 1,186 caused by locomotives, 431 by
campers, 294 by lightning, 181 by brush burn-
ing, 97 by incendiaries, 38 by sawmills and
donkey engines, 153 by miscellaneous and 758 by
unknown agencies. The area burned over was,
in round figures, 360,000 acres, of which about
62,000 were private lands in National Forests, as
against some 400,000 acres in 1908. About
170,000,000 board feet of timber was consumed,
of which 33,000,000 feet was privately owned, as
against 230,000,000 in the previous year. The
loss in value of timber destroyed was less than
$300,000, of which close to $50,000 was privately
owned. The loss of the year before was about
$450,000. Damage done to reproduction and
forage shows a remarkable decrease, less than
$160,000 being the record for 1909 and over
$700,000 that for 1908.
The largest number of fires occurred in Idaho,
991; but the great increase over 1908 in that
State — namely, 573 — is entirely attributable to
fires in the Coeur d'Alene, which were extin-
guished without material damage. Locomotive
sparks were accountable for 611 of the blazes in
this forest last year. The explanation of the in-
crease in the total for all forests is to be found in
this Coeur d'Alene increase.
The report of the Forester for 1909 said of the
fire record of 1908 : *' That year was one of pro-
longed drought during the summer and fall, and
of disastrous forest fires throughout the country.
The National Forests suffered relatively little.
.... About 232,191,000 board feet of timber,
or 0.06 per cent, of the stand, was destroyed.
.... A total of 2,728 fires »vas reported, of
which 2,089 were small fires confined as a rule to
an area of five acres or less. The cost of fire
fighting, exclusive of the salaries of forest officers,
was $73,283.33. This sum, added to the propor-
tion of the total salaries of rangers and guards
properly chargeable to patrol and fire fighting,
was less than one-twentieth of one per cent, of
the value of the timber protected, estimated at an
average stumpage value of $2 per thousand."
The Importance of a Geological and Soil
Study of a Reserve Previous to
the Preparation of a Forest
Working Plan.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
THAT a geological study or survey of any
reserve is necessary in order to be well
acquainted with the region with which
one is dealing, and to be able to apply properly,
under different situations, knowledge of the fifteen
ecological factors which influence and make pos-
sible all plant growth, cannot be disputed ; but
the manner in which such studies can best be
taken up is most perplexing.
A geological survey of any region, to be of
greatest value, must include a large number of
subjects, namely, geological formations, topogra-
phic features, minerals, soils, and stream flow.
Separate studies of any of these will be of little
value, nor can any one be complete in itself; but
when all are taken together they constitute a more
complete story of the relation and influence of
the factors of tree growth to each other and to
that growth.
All such studies are apt to be delayed in fores-
try work for sometime owing to the fact, that
geological data concerning most of the reserves is
not available and not likely to be for sometime.
Facilities for Study, — For any such reliable in-
formation we must look to the few available re-
ports of the First and Second Geological Surveys
of Pennsylvania, and to the publications of the
United States Geological Survey for Pennsylvania,
all of which are useful on account of the large
amount of data therein collected.
The results of the work of these surveys are
published in three forms, folios, bulletins, and
monographs. The folios are especially desirable
FOREST LEAVES.
147
from the fact that they contain topographic and
geologic maps, together with a text which de-
scribes in detail all matters pertaining to the geo-
logical characteristics of the region covered.
Bulletins are more general and deal with stream
flow, drainage-basins, peculiarities of formations,
and soils.
When completed all folios will constitute a Geo-
logic Atlas of Pennsylvania of great and lasting
value in the forestry work, and which will serve
as an index or foundation from which future
studies can be carried on. Such studies as these
must vary widely with the reserves and call for
much original work. They should take up first a
consideration of the one or more formations
existing on a reserve, as to extent and character,
and include the underground structure as well,
knowledge of which is necessary in order to
understand thoroughly the movement of under-
ground waters, drainage, and stream flow.
A study of the topography of the region will
determine the possibilities of a proposed road
system and supply knowledge as to the eff'ect of
winds.
Soil studies no doubt would be the most com-
plex of all but in return they should also prove
most beneficial. These apparently will be neces-
sary to determine the relation of the growth on
any soil to that soil and whether or not such
growth is best adapted to it. All such studies
will cover a broad field of work and find applica-
tion in many operations in the forest, but they
• seem essential for the preparation of the Working
Plan and for the solution of the silvical problems
presented.
For the convenience of this paper all the above
mentioned are placed under two broad headings.
1. Geological Study.
2. Soil Study.
I. Geological Study.
For expediency in dealing with geologic study
it is divided into the following, though all may
be regarded closely related or dependent upon
each other :
1. Study of geological formations of a reserve.
2. Study of topography and altitude.
3. Study of stream flow and drainage.
I . Geological Formations. — In dealing with any
given formation on a reserve it is important to
know of its thickness, extent, and boundaries of
the distinct types of rock present as well as the
character and location of soils which have resulted
from the weathering of such rocks, and of the
underground structure as to the stratification of
rock.
The disintegration of various rocks produces
soils differing in structure and chemical constitu-
ents, as for example, siliceous or sandy soils poor
in lime in the humid regions, from the weather-
ing of quartzose rocks, or deep fertile limestone
soil from weathering of limestone rocks. These
two soils usually vary most widely of all, and
between them are distinguished many soils difl*er-
ing in structure and quality, most of which will
have to be dealt with in forestry work in this
State.
In all there are about fifteen formations recog-
nized in Pennsylvania, most of which belong to
the great palaeozoic series, but it is doubtful if all
these appear on the reserves, as they are not
widely scattered, but found rather in the central
portion on the Appalachian mountains, which, in
Pennsylvania, are made up largely of shales,
slates, sandstones and limestone.
According to Schenck, the most important rock
formations for forest growth are granite, gneiss,
limestone, sandstone, slate and trap. It may be
expected that most of these appear in Pennsylva-
nia reserves.
As to the boundary of formations, where they
end on a reserve, or are capped at certain points
by another, it can be well supposed that their
irregularity increases with the roughness of topo-
graphy, but in certain cases it may be wise to
make such points the boundary of forest divisions,
considering that a different management for each
is necessary.
As for the underground structure, it may be
said that it governs both the rate and direction of
the movement of the underground waters chiefly
by the amount of water absorbed by the rock and
by the inclination of the strata. Under certain
conditions sandstones may contain as much as
thirty-eight per cent, of their volume of water.
Vertical stratification of rocks causes decomposi-
tion to go on more rapidly.
2. Topography and Altitude. — The topographi-
cal features of a reserve should receive careful
study, for it may be considered that they have
much to do with distribution of growth, depth of
soils, direction of winds, temperature, erosion, and
the possibility of early spring fires. Topographic
maps which show the elevation of all points, the
direction and gradient of slopes, are necessary in
order to become familiar with a region.
With respect to the influence of topography or
altitude upon the distribution of tree growth, such
a study must determine if the range of elevation
on a reserve is sufficient to produce distinct forest
belts, or if certain species on high elevations are
simply affected to a small extent by the unfavor-
able conditions created by altitude.
3. Stream Flow and Drainage. — From such a
148
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
149
I
Study will come knowledge of the movement of
underground waters, of the water-table, and of the
rate of stream flow. Rate of stream flow and run-
off" are controlled by forest cover, rainfall, topog-
raphy, and the geological character of the country.
Little is yet known of the capacity of forest soils
for water, therefore that will be one of the objects
of such study. Valuable papers by F. H. King
and C. S. Slichter on this subject are contained
in Part II. of the 19th Annual Report of the
U. S. Geological Survey.
II. Soil Study.
All soil studies will have in view a knowledge
of the origin, structure, chemical constituents,
and distribution of the existing soils on a given
area, for the purpose of determining to what ex-
tent each aff'ects the quality and rate of plant
growth.
In such studies it is important to note in the
origin of a soil whether the underlying geological
formation has been the source, or if it has come
from higher elevations through the action of wind
or water. The depth of a soil depends mostly
upon rainfall, climate, slope of the locality, and
the hardness of the rocks from which it was
formed. '•
For a knowledge of the distribution of soils
over a reserve, geologic or soil maps are necessary.
The chemical elements contained in a soil vary
widely with the species of soil, and according to
Liebig's law, the rate of growth actually taking
place is governed almost entirelv by the number
and abundance of the necessary elements.
The following are a few of the operations in
the forest for which a thorough knowledge of
soils is desirable.
. I. The making of plantations.
2. Road building.
3. Improvement work, as thinnings, etc.
1. Plantations. — Considering that soil is one
of the most important factors of the locality, it is
necessary to have complete knowledge of it for
the preparation of the planting plan, for the out-
come of a plantation placed on a site unsuited to
the species planted is well known. By silvicul-
ture one has pointed out the soils best adapted to
the diff'erent species, but to place the proper
species on such soils is not always possible unless
the tree planter is familiar with the characteristics
of each soil or has at hand accurate soil maps.
2. Road Builtiinx. — Road building on any re-
serve must depend much upon the soils over
which the roads pass, as to a certain extent the
cost and kind of roads necessary can be judged
from these. On either swampy or sandy soils a
large amount of the entire cost may be sf-ent for
drainage, while on others an equal amount would
have to be spent for clearing away rocks or
grading.
3. Improvement Work, — In making '* improve-
ment cuttings or thinnings " it would be unwise
to remove species which are adapted to the soil
and let others remain on the ground which are
not, even if such work is generally done more for
the improvement of the condition of the stand,
rather than to have it composed of certain species.
j In this work it is well to remember that in many
I districts the original character of the forest may
have been changed by fire, grazing, or lumbering,
in which case species occupying the ground may
not be best suited to the locality. The choice of
species where such conditions exist must be diffi-
cult in comparison to the same work where no
such changes have occurred, or where a small area
of virgin forest remains in the locality as a guide.
To judge the quality of such localities a complete
knowledge of the soil is necessary.
All such studies as have been mentioned are
important from the fact that they deal with factors
which may exert a favorable or unfavorable in-
fluence upon the growth of a region. They
should be taken up previous to the preparation of
a Forest Working Plan for otherwise all calcula-
tions obtained in such a plan may be upset and
useless. John L. Witherow.
The Chestnut Blight.
AT the Mt. Pocono Meeting of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association, in July,
1909, the attention of those present
was called to a specimen of a fine young chestnut
tree (^Castanea dentata^ which had been killed
by an attack of the chestnut blight, a fungus
known as Diaporthe parasitica. This disease
attacks the bark of the tree, going completely
round the tree, killing the bark, and therefore the
tree by girdling. It, however, does not damage
the heartwood. In the case to which reference
was made, the tree, which was quite vigorous,
was attacked by the blight the previous year, the
upper portion being gradually killed. The tree in
its eff*ort for life had thrown out the next year
some small shoots below the part aff'ected, and
near to the ground, but the blight had appeared
below these shoots, and if the tree had not been
cut would soon have obliterated this last attempt
for life.
This fungus was first reported in 1904 by Mr.
H. W. Markel of the New York Zoological Park,
and by some is stated to have come from Long
Island, N. Y., from some imported stock. Much
/
labor and money have been expended in the en-
deavor to find some way of exterminating or
mitigating this disease, which threatens to destroy
one of our most valuable forest trees, but thus far
without success, and the chestnut trees over jcon-
siderable areas adjacent to New York City have
been exterminated, and it is particularly malig-
nant in that section. Dr. Mickleborough states
that in the winter of 1908 over 100 chestnut trees
were felled in Prospect Park, Brooklyn ; many of
these were dead, and the others so infected that
removal was thought to be the best course.
Forest Park in the same city contains 536 acres,
of which about 350 acres are woodland, contain-
ing 15,000 or more chestnut trees, and the dis-
ease is so prevalent that it is proposed to cut every
chestnut tree in the Park. The disease is spread-
ing to adjacent States, and has appeared through-
out the southeastern portion of Pennsylvania,
being now as far west as Huntingdon. Dr.
Mickleborough, who made a report on **The
Chestnut Tree Blight" for the Department of
Forestry, inspected the eastern section of this
State early in 1909, and stated he had not found
the chestnut tree blight to the north and west
of South Mountain. Trips from Lancaster to
Ephrata, Quarryville, and Gap all showed the
blight, and it was found at Martic Forge and
Marietta, Haverford, Milford, Matamoros, Em-
breeville, and Morrisville. The disease is said to
have spread as far south as Bedford County, Va.,
and north to Massachusetts. Whenever it is seen
prompt measures should be taken to at once burn
all the aff'ected portion of trees, care being taken
that the spores are not knocked off, as these
would float through the air and thus aid in
spreading the disease.
Dr. Herman von Schrenk, in Diseases of Decid-
uous Trees., describes the appearance and action of
the chestnut blight as follows : ** It causes patches
of the bark to die by attacking the cambium and
other soft tissues of the bark, and extends in all
directions until the branch or trunk is girdled.
This leads to the death of the parts above the
girdling, and in this way, if the main trunk is at-
tacked, the entire tree may be killed. The dis-
ease attacks the bark on the twigs, branches, and
trunk without respect to thickness. How the
fungus obtains entrance is uncertain, but inocula-
tion experiments seem to show that it is able to
enter only through injuries to the bark. The
aff'ected bark has a blackened appearance, is some-
what shrunken, and after a time is apt to be
thickly covered with projecting brown or orange
or greenish -yellow covered bodies, which are
about one-sixteenth inch in diameter at the base,
often long and twisted or curled, and taper to a
slender tip. These are the fruiting bodies of the
fungus, and are very characteristic of this disease
when the weather is moist enough for their forma-
tion. ' '
No adequate preventive measures are known
by the United States Bureau of Plant Industry,
although they report that the Japanese chestnut
is in general resistant to the disease, although
single trees have taken the blight.
The Bureau of Plant Industry also states that a
similar disease has been noted upon the Spanish
oak in the Appalachians, especially in Virginia
and western North Carolina. This disease is
manifested by the drooping of the leaves and
their ultimate drying up, caused by a stoppage of
the water supply in branches by an apparently
undescribed species of Cenangium. Mr. J.
Franklin Meehan is inclined to think that the
black oak is attacked by the same fungus, as he
has found many of these trees dying under pre-
cisely the same conditions where they were closely
associated with the chestnut tree.
The chestnut blight is the most serious enemy
that has come to the forest trees of Pennsylvania,
and as yet no remedy has been found ; it is there-
fore well to advise our readers of the danger which
not only threatens but is destroying this valuable
tree, cautioning them to burn all those found
aff'ected, and guard against the bringing in of in-
fected material. This disease is not known to
attack other trees than the chestnut, with the
single exception of somewhat similar diseases of
the Spanish and black oak, mentioned above.
Prof. H. A. Surface, Economic Zoologist of Penn-
sylvania, in writing of the chestnut blight, says :
** I cannot possibly see where encouragement can
at present be given for checking or controlling this
disease, and it would appear that warning is of but
little use where there is no avenue of escape."
Mr. J. Franklin Meehan, president of Thomas
Meehan & Sons, Inc., states that they have been
fighting this disease for the last two or three years,
having spent over $10,000. When first the dis-
ease was discovered investigations and experi-
ments began. On the roots of the chestnut trees
were found what appeared to be the same fungus as
found on the trees. When this fungus ripened the
spores were disseminated by winds, birds, and
other causes, and appreciating the fact that these
could be killed by spraying, and thus prevent the
spread of the fungus near the trees, this was done.
At the same time the roots were treated, and after
two seasons' treatment it was felt sure that the
spread of the disease might not only be checked,,
but infected trees saved if treatment is accorded
before the vitality is much weakened. He men-
tioned the following experiments : On a certain
160
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
151
I!
property there was a number of fine chestnut trees
as well as large forests of this species. Owing to
the great expense which would be incurred in
treating the forests, his client suggested that the
individual trees be treated, and the forests left
alone for the time. The specimen trees were at
once and continually treated with Bordeaux mix-
ture for two years, and while hundreds of trees
died in the forests, not one of these specimen trees
have been lost, although close to the forest lines.
About six months later the forests were treated,
but at that time the disease had taken such a strong
hold that very many trees were lost and others in-
fested. Notwithstanding this loss, he feels sure
that many of the other trees were saved. If the
spores are killed this must in a great measure pre-
vent the spread of the fungus.
Mr. Meehan stated that his investigations of
many trees this year leads him to believe that the
disease is weakening.
Dr. Mickleborough advises removing and burn-
ing the branches and loose bark of large trees which
are attacked, and the burning of all small trees. If
only a limited area is attacked the dead portion
may be cut out for about an inch beyond the sec-
tion infected and any limbs infected removed, the
wounds being covered with tar. He also says that
trees have been treated by using raw cotton saturated
with Bordeaux mixture, but to be effective it is
necessary to treat every fork of the limbs and
twigs in this manner, also abraded bark on any
part of the tree.
Dr. Mickleborough estimates the damage already
done by the chestnut blight in the States of New
York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey as not less
than $12,000,000. ' ' F. L. B.
The Collection of Growth- and Yield-Data
as a Working-Base for Plans of Man-
agement and the Value of Per-
manent Sample Plots.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
FORESTRY is a business that in general will
be judged a success or failure on the basis
of financial results While here and there
indirect benefits, such as watershed protection and
recreation purposes, may justify government for-
estry, yet even here the principal justification is
the need of forest products and the forester's abil-
ity to make the forest earn a net income in filling ;
this need. The private forest owner must be '
guided by the income idea entirely.
To try to run any business without hwiving the
relation het7aeen expenditure and return is to imnte
speedy failure. This requires the foreknowledge
that certain measures will produce certain results,
and is obtained only by experiments and the keep-
ing of accurate record-^ of them. The most suc-
cessful farmer is the one who knows what increase
in crop value i ton of manure will bring ; how
I ton of chemical fertilizer compares in cost and
results obtained ; he must know for the greatest
success whether it pays best to raise wheat or
potatoes, and if wheat, then what variety yields
best on his land. To secure this data the farmer
(or some agricultural experiment station for him)
must lay off sample areas, plant them in different
crops, give them different treatment, and record
the results. In farming, however, the profitable-
ness of a certain crop or a certain method of treat-
ment is quickly determined, and the farmer can
and must often do his own experimenting, though
the Agricultural Experiment Stations usually lead
! in the work.
In forestry, however, the period is too long for
the average private owner to be expected to carry
on comparative tests of the yield of different spe-
cies, and the effect of different methods of treat-
ment, and the State owes it to its forest owners to
provide this experimental data in forestry even
more than the agricultural data for the farmer. To
get the private forest owner to invest money in im-
proving his forest he must be able to sell, when
necessary, even if the forest is immature, for ap-
proximately its true potential value. This he can
never do until its protection is reasonably certain
and accurate yield data are at hand to show just
what that forest will yield at a given time, and
hence what its present worth is by discounting the
interval. No business can thrive when it is based
on pure guess-work. Nor will it do to quote Ger-
man yield-tables as a guide to investors here.
They have value as a comparison, but that is all
that should be expected of them.
This State now owns a large enough forest area
and possesses a large enough body of trained for-
esters (not forest rangers) to initiate a compre-
hensive system for securing accurate data on the
comparative yield of different species now in her
forests as well as the effect of different methods of
forest treatment. She needs this data herself, but
the private owners of eight times as large a forest
area need it still more.
Why So Little Has Been Done Thus Far. —
The greater part of the study of the growth of our
forest trees has been done in connection with the
so-called working- plans made for private forest
owners. These were mainly plans for conservative
lumbering in more or less mature forests. The
problem in them was not what will one acre of
proper y stocked forest yield, for the owners did
not expect to go to any particular expense to
secure proper stocking. The problem was rather
if 6 inch, 7 inch, or 8 inch trees are left uncut
now, when will they be large enough for a second
cut? To ascertain this the diameter and height
growth of individual trees was studied without
reference to the number per acre if properly
stocked. As a result, the measurement file's of
the Forest Service contain thousands of rates of
growth for individual trees (many mature and
grown under shade or unfavorable conditions),
but very few sample plots to show what may be
expected of the normal acre under favorable con-
ditions. For this reason the writer, in laying
before a Congressional Committee on paper pulp
data on the growth of red spruce, had to state that
many of the trees measured were mature trees
which had probably grown under the shade of a
previous generation of trees and were, therefore,
not strictly applicable to present closely-cut for-
ests restocking in pure second growth. No data
were available to show what could be expected of
I acre of a young pure spruce stand growing under
the proper light and soil conditions.
Thus even if the rate of diameter and height
growth of single trees were representative of sec-
ond growth forests, the fact that the normal num-
ber of trees to the acre at different ages had to be
estimated would still make a calculation of acre
yield largely a guess and its value dependent on
the skill of the guesser. As an example, in mak-
ing a planting plan for a private owner in Arkan-
sas, a forester recommended cottonwood for pulp
purposes. The growth of single trees in that local-
ity showed a diameter of 18 inches at an age of
25 years, but no sample plots had been measured.
The forester, therefore, assumed 300 of these 18-
inch trees per acre and predicted a yield of 160
cords per acre in 25 years, or 6 cords per acre per
year. As a matter of fact, 300 18 -inch trees per
acre is a silvicultural impossibility even in the most
tolerant conifers (300 18 in. trees = B. A. of over
500 s(|. ft., when beech in normal forest shows
only 160-190 sq. ft. at 80-120 years). Thus it
is evident that satisfactory yield-data cannot be
gotten from single tree measurements without re-
gard to the acre stands, condition of the forest, etc.
The Forest Service has tardily recognized this,
and has begun the establishment of permanent
sample plots. Unfortu lately, these first plots in the
east had to be located on private forest land, and
their permanence was not sufficiently insured, so
that already a considerable portion has been lost
by fire and axe. A few yield tables have been
prepared by a single series of measurements on
sample plots of different ages. They pretend only
to give yields of dense untended forests and still
do not sati«5fy the demand.
The Value of Permanent Sample Plots. — The
idea of permanent sample plots is not a new or
untried experiment either in forestry or agriculture,
and hardly needs a description in addressing a
body of foresters. Essentially it consists of ac-
curately laying off a plot of forest, usually of nor-
mal stocking, with an area of an acre or more —
best in the form of a square — the corners and
boundaries being permanently marked. The plot
is then measured accurately and the data recorded,
number of trees, diameter of each and height of a
part, and the total volume calculated. The meas-
urement is repeated, say, each 5 years, and the
resulting yields calculated ; also the effect noted
of any particular treatment applied. If a sufficient
number of plots of various ages are obtainable, a
temporary yield-table may be constructed from the
first series of measurements. This must be revised
from time to time as the new data may require.
If the results of certain methods of treatment are
desired a second plot must be laid off under the
same conditions, and treated as a control. Ac-
curate account must be kept of thinnings.
The data derived from the plots in the form of
yield- tables would show : —
(^) Future returns, and would be a guide in
calculating what expense could be borne safely in
establishing the forest.
(/^) A comparison between different species.
This is especially necessary before extensive plant-
ing or seedling distribution is attempted.
(r) The actual money loss in case of destruction
by fire, and would facilitate recovery of potential
value rather than present market value in damage
suits.
(r/) The gain caused by thinning or other
treatment, and would be a guide to the expendi-
ture allowable in the operation.
(^) The proper valuation in buying and selling
immature forests, without which private capital
cannot be expected to undertake forestry. Guess-
work must be eliminated.
A Proposal for Sam'yle Plots in Pennsylvania. —
Pennsylvania has about 30 specially-trained for-
esters on the State forests at present, which will
rise to over 50 in the next three ye^irs. Now, if
each forester should lay out, on the average, 10
permanent plots in 5 years (2 each year), there
would shortly be in operation 500 sample plots,
which would furnish data of incalculable value not
only to the State Department, but to the Pennsyl-
vania forest owners in general.
The detailed plan showing what species, what
mixtures, and what methods of treatment should
be covered, must be left to the forester charged
with the supervision of the work. The success of
the work would depend largely on this man,
and his knowledge of State conditions and his
'ft
152
FOREST LEAVES.
ability to keep the work uniform and related
throughout.
The first great chapter in the progress of forestry
in this State has been written by the members of
the Commission, backed by the enthusiastic sup-
port of citizens and organizations, in securing ap-
propriations for and the purchase of the first
million acres of land and organizing the work.
The next great chapter must be written largely by
you foresters in the field in putting the develop-
ment of this forest area on a firm basis. One of
the first steps in this, after adequate forest protec-
tion, is the securing of reliable yield-data so as to
make this development most effective and intelli-
gent. E. A. ZlEGLER.
Our Illustrations.
O much has been said of Mexico as a treeless
country that a view taken in the pine
woods in the Sierra Madre Mountains in
Chihuahua, Mexico, may prove of interest.
The railroad trunk lines of Mexico, over which
most foreigners travel, are mainly on the desert
plateau or through sections which have long been
closely inhabited. Depending upon wood as fuel
until within two decades when the coal-fields in
northern Mexico were exploited, the denudation
of available forests are severe, especially when
these have been within convenient reach of com-
mercial centres. But in the more remote mountains
there is considerable timber of desirable quality
and quantity, while in the ** terra caliente " the
supply of ornamental hardwood is fairly abundant.
As railroads penetrate the mountain fastnesses, the
wooded areas will be attacked, and the illustration
we give is on the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient
Railroad, now being constructed, the prospectus
of which sets forth the lumber possibilities as fea-
tures of advantage to the road. The pine woods
shown are in the State of Chihuahua, 200 miles
southwest of the city of Chihuahua,' and 30 miles
east of the continental divide, which in this
vicinity makes a decided double bend. The ele-
vation of the timbered area is 5,000 to 6,000 feet
above sea-level.
The Mexican government is taking an interest
in forest preservation, and is having, the problem
of reforestation studied ; this will be necessary as
most of the available timber is an object for railroad
extension. As the Republic covers 18 degrees of
latitude, and as much of the topography is elevated
5,000 to 10,000 feet and more above sea-level,
the climatic conditions are excellent for propagat-
ing timber, if this is selected with discretion and
if the species grown are adapted to the soil con-
ditions, the prevalence of wet and dry seasons,
and the marketable character of the product.
Another Mexican view shows a radically differ-
ent growth, the candelabra cactus, whose habitat
is the desert portions of southern Mexico. The
trees shown are not of phenomenal proportions,
many others of equal size being seen in the section
covering southern Puebla and northern Oaxaca.
As will be seen, its prickly stems grow sufficiently
close to form a welcome shade from the tropical
sun ; the trunk is soft and pulpy. This same
apparently useless growth is also indigenous in
other portions of Mexico.
As an illustration of the effort to preserve a
tree, the view taken in the business section of Ha-
vana, Cuba, is of interest. The wall which had
surrounded a considerable area was removed,
until the portion in which the tree had become
intertwined was reached, and with the object of
saving the tree, this section of the wall was pre-
served.
Practical Forestry.
ft
MUCH has been said and more has been
written relative to practical forestry.
By lumbermen, and others who are
familiar with the question, it has been stated that
practical forestry is neither practicable or possible
without an entire change of conditions under
which operations are now carried on. This state-
ment, is subject to exceptions, one of the most
notable of which is the work now being carried
on by the West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company
on its Cheat mountain timber lands, near Cass,
W. Va. The company owns practically the en-
tire Cheat mountain valley, the holdings starting
at the sources of the river and continuing down
the main stream a distance of probably thirty-five
miles, an aggregate of about 100,000 acres of
virgin spruce forest. The spruce of that section
is of exceptionally fine quality and the stand is
very heavy.
This tract was examined by experts of the
government several years ago and a plan was sug-
gested for replanting with small trees to be
shipped in from a distance. Instead of following
this plan, those in charge of the work devised one
of their own. In certain valleys conditions are
ideal for the propagation of an overabundant
growth. The surplus i)lants are taken out of the
ground in the afternoon and are replanted the
next morning. The company set out 25,000
spruce trees during 1909, of which 80 percent,
are said to be thriving, and this year the company
has planted 90,000 trees and expects to put in
f ' i
Forest Leaves, Vol. xn., No. lo.
o
X
X
>
<
oi
C
.1f»:.Wif- i^^
»««MWnfci^'V—
•^^1*;%^
*«/■' ., '. ' ■*:,''
iiL>..':»
■^^»**f^^^-^^-f^^^^ H,;is^;^,
^^^'-^^.^im
• 4 .■•■■■„ w- .^^ »;Vm- - '■ ■»; «M * . i ■^' '•'-siil,
*,••-> f
.••>Vt|||^
*'«.^lf»»'«i-
:fr-'v."v.'
'-■ :»r.:"^r«'
:*r- •*. • ••* r».
r'^- 4kX
'• . -^ftj
-^.^v.H-
^
-TVSvn " •>■
^4-~-il
, ^.V
t!«k«
-•■ •».
Jv^ ^
-r^:'..- — -,- -•«
«u.:iL
--^aHWf
«4)v
--. . ^,i^.« ^-
■^».> ....^ *,
■V-— Tfc^'tfc-
i^Jr« '■_^fc
^f^'^^'
- r-!«
.N.«. ■••*^'
o
o
X
UJ
I
<
I
o
Li.
o
UJ
<
I-
LU
I
H
I-
co
UJ
cc
O
u.
UJ
VS-.
♦ . •*
,.^v
--»^i^* - -ji
CANDELABRA CACTUS, STATE OF PUEBLA, MEXICO.
A PRESERVED TREE IN HAVANA, CUBA.
FOREST LEAVES.
153
about 60,000 additional, and hereafter at the rate
of about 100,000 trees a year.
Another practical feature of the operation at
that point is the precaution taken to prevent the
inception and spread of fire. A space of 50 to
100 feet is cleared along every logging road and
spur. During the dry seasons every locomotive
is followed by a ranger, who stamps out the small
leaf fires which originate in its wake. During
the ten years in which this company has operated
only a little more than 1,000 acres have been
burned over and this was cutover land. The
officers of the company deem it just as important
to keep the fire out of cutover land as out of
timber, and are guarding the preserves in such a
manner as to insure practically a continuous
supply of saw logs and pulp wood.
That the work is successful is shown by the
thriving condition of the young trees. Above all
else, the results secured emphasize the necessity
of keeping out fire, which is the gravest and
greatest enemy of the forest. — American Lumber-
man.
The Forests of Alaska.
WE have before us Bulletin No. 81 of the
U. S. Forest Service, *^ The Forests of
Alaska," by R. S. Kellogg, Asst. For-
ester, pp. 24, with map and eight full-page half-
tone illustrations.
This document is already so well condensed
that it is hard to make a satisfactory review of it.
However, one may say, in the start, that it is an
authoritative, timely and illuminating paper.
^* Alaska was purchased in 1867 for $7,200,000.
The value of all its products since that date has
been nearly $350,000,000."
We may therefore consider it a valuable acces-
sion and one well worth properly caring for.
* * It is ten times as large as the State of Illinois. ' *
In 1908 the output of gold was more than
$19,000,000. In the same year the value of the
salmon packed was in excess of $10,000,000.
** Alaska does not have even a territorial form
of government."
As low as 80° F. below zero has been registered
in winter, and as high as 93° in the summer.
** The summers are short and comparatively hot,
the winters long and intensely cold."
The woodland and forest area of Alaska is esti-
mated at 100,000,000 acres, which is '^ about 27
per cent, of the land surface of the territory. Of
these about 20 million acres may possibly bear
timber of sufficient size and density to be consid-
ered forest in the sense that much of it can be used
for saw timber, while the balance, or 80 million
acres, is woodland which bears some saw timber,
but in which the forest is of a smaller and more
scattered character and valuable chiefly for fuel."
Even on the southern coast portion of Alaska
the timber line does not extend to an altitude
greater than 1500 feet above tide. Sitka spruce
occasionally attains a diameter of six feet and a
height of one hundred and fifty, though sometimes
its growth is extremely slow. A forty inch stump
showed 230 rings; another log, fifty-four inches
in diameter, had 600 annual rings.
*' The annual lumber cut in the coast forests of
Alaska is about 27,000,000 board feet."
One of our largest Pennsylvania mills could cut
this in less than four months.
^* Most of the Alaska lumber product goes into
manufacture of salmon cases. It requires five or six
board feet to make a case, which, at the sawmills,
usually sells for ten cents. Alaska forests should
supply the home demand for a considerable period,
though the timber for heavy frames, and the like,
must come from elsewhere. Pulp industry should
be encouraged in Alaska.
** The interior forests are practically all included
within the drainage basins of the Yukon and Kus-
kokwin rivers."
The white spruce furnishes the only saw timber.
^^The interior of Alaska depends entirely upon
wood for heat, light and power."
** Agriculture in the interior of Alaska should
eventually be sufficient to supply at least the local
needs for vegetables and for horse and cattle feed.
** Alaskan forests are overmature. Carefully-
planned cutting should take place as soon as
possible."
It is quite impossible to do justice to this admi-
rable paper in any brief notice. All who wish to
form an intelligent opinion as to the value of
Alaska and of the conditions there, should obtain
and read it. J. T. Rothrock.
The President has signed a proclamation elimi-
nating 16,012 acres from the Deerlodge National
Forest, Montana, and transferring approximately
33,358 acres from the Deerlodge to the Beaver-
head. The eliminations are the result of a careful
examination, which showed that the lands are
primarily grazing or agricultural in character.
Another proclamation eliminates 383,809 acres
from the Coronado National Forest in Arizona,
and adding 15,120 acres.
The additions to the Coronado consist of small
tracts along the western edge of the Santa Catalina
Division, and the southern part of the Santa Rita
Division. The forest cover is composed of pinon,
juniper, and oak, which cut five cords to the acre.
154
FOREST LEAVES.
Some Notes on Wood Preservation.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
L/OR a number of years the problem of con-
jp* serving our forests has attracted much at-
tention. The knowledge that with our
present consumption and the present system of
forest management, the lumber supply will be
exhausted in a comparatively short time, has again
and again been forced upon the attention of the
great wood consumers of this country. Attempts,
by both the Government and private corporations,
have been and are being made to prevent waste
from improper management of forest land ; but,
^o far, much less emphasis has been placed on the
equally important question of reducing the con-
sumption of forest products. It is very well to
make any area produce two sticks of timber where
before there was but one ; still, it is just as good
lumber economy to double the life of the first
stick, and there is the added advantage of an im-
mense saving to the consumer.
Although, generally speaking, the subject of
wood preservation has only recently attracted at-
tention, yet, that it was possible to treat wood so
that its life would be greatly increased, has been
understood for a long time. The Greeks, though
believing that their famous statue of Diana at
Ephesus was a divine gift, did not trust the gods
to preserve it for them. This statue and the plat-
form on which stood the statue of Zeus, by Phi-
dias, were smeared over with pitch to preserve
them from the action of the elements. In Eng-
land experimental work in timber preservation I
commenced over one hundred years' ago. Prior !
to 1875 one hundred and seventy different pro- j
cesses were tried. These covered a wide range !
of preservative materials, many of which were I
either useless or too expensive for commercial
purposes. Gradually, by a system of ''the
survival of the fittest," we have come to be-
lieve only a few methods worthy of considera-
tion.
The rising prominence of this subject is largely
due to the development of the great railway sys-
tems, with their enormous demands for timber as
crossties and the evident economy in giving these
a preservative treatment. In 1900 there were
but 14 timber-treating plants in this country ; now
there are over 70. During the year 1907, 14
plants were finished or in the course of construc-
tion. Several were built during the year of the
panic, or last year, and not less than 10 plants
are now either in process of erection or plans and
-contracts are being made for their construction.
If the plants in this country worked with ties only,
they could treat nearly 40,000,000, or one third
of the annual demand.
In a discussion on this subject it becomes neces-
sary to cover only certain lines of the work ; so I
will confine myself to preservative treatment with
creosote, speaking of the production and character
of the oil, methods of treatment, and the results
that will follow.
Creosote Oil. — The heavy or dead oil of tar,
known commercially as creosote, is used much
more extensively and with better results than any
other preservative. This material is a byproduct
of the manufacture of either coal gas or coke. A
creosote is also distilled from wood ; but, though
a vigorous antiseptic, as a preservative, wood
creosote is not to be compared with coal-tar oil.
This heavy oil of tar has no chemical symbol,
being made up of many compounds, including a
large number of hydrocarbons, phenols, naphtha-
lene, anthracene, etc. The thick, sticky, black
substance called tar, which is a necessary product
in the manufacture of coal gas, or which may be
a by-product of the coke oven, is separated by
distillation into three parts: (i) light oils ; (2)
heavy oils; (3) residue, or pitch. The second
part, distilled between the temperatures of 480°
and 760° F., is our commercial creosote. It has
an odor resembling that of smoked fish or meat,
which, in fact, owe their odor to the wood creo-
sote of the smoke with which they are permeated.
Naturally, there is considerable variation in the
composition of a material obtained under the
radically different conditions which we find in the
production of this oil.
Many criticisms of wood preserved with creo-
sote have been made unjustly, since the cause of
fault or failure was due to the quality of the
oil used; consequently, no little attention has
been given to the grading of creosote, with
the result that its quality has been greatly im-
proved.
Some large consumers of creosote have held
that a large percentage of naphthalene was essen-
tial, claiming that it acts both as an antiseptic and
a seal ; but it has also been shown by the analysis
of the oil in wood preserved for a considerable
length of time that all, or nearly all, the naph-
thalene disappears in a comparatively short time.
A general conclusion has been reached that the
bulk of any satisfactory creosote will consist of
the fractions which distill over at high tempera-
tures. Not over 5 per cent, should come up to 2 10
degrees C; up to 235 degrees C., not over 25 per
cent., all told. These low fractions contain most
of the acids and naphthalene. The higher frac-
tions are the non-soluble and non-volatile constitu-
ents. The residue above the highest possible
FOREST LEAVES.
155
distillation temperature should not exceed 5 per
cent. This standard was adopted in 1909 by the
American Railway Engineering and Maintenance
of Way Association, and is meeting with such
general favor among the users of creosote that
already American manufacturers have materially
improved the character of their product, until
now American oil can be procured which will
compare not unfavorably with much of the im-
ported product. Commercial creosote in general
may be said to have a flashing-point of 250 degrees
F. and a burning-point of 300 degrees F. The
specific gravity of this oil is from 1.03 to 1.09 at
60 degrees F. It costs about eight cents per
gallon in this country. In preserving wood,
creosote acts in two ways, and for this reason
stands alone as a preservative. It is an antiseptic ;
thus it destroys the food of the wood-destroying
fungi. Some parts of it are very viscid at ordinary
temperatures ; these, after being injected into the
wood in sufficient quantities, fill and solidify
within the cell structure, destroying the porosity
of the wood and keeping the wood fibre dry,
thereby preventing fungi from getting the mois-
ture necessary to their growth.
There is probably no difference of opinion with
regard to the value of creosote as a preservative,
the difference in practice being due wholly to the
cost of treatment. In Europe, creosote is cheap ;
consequently, it is used almost exclusively. In
America, as yet, the supply does not meet the
demand, and much must be imported ; hence,
other materials of less preservative value, but also
of less cost, are used.
Methods. — The methods used in applying pre-
servatives may be divided into two classes : Those
not using pressure and those using pressure.
There are two ]:)rocesses of treatment without
pressure : The dipping or brush treatment, and the
so-called open-tank process.
A number of woods, for some purposes, may
have a considerably increased length of usefulness
when simply dipped into, or coated with, a pre-
servative. Timber for this treatment must first
be well-seasoned, then given several applications
of hot oil. Telephone and telegraph poles will
have their average life increased one-half by this
very simple process. Shingles and other exposed
woods subject to little or no mechanical wear may
be profitably treated in this way. The field for
this process is necessarily limited, and judgment
as well as experience will tell where it can be
employed advantageously.
^ The open-tank process, as its name indicates,
was originally used with an open tank, but is now
more generally used with a cylinder similar to,
though lighter and shorter than, the one to be
described under the pressure process. The closed
tank or cylinder is used to prevent waste by
evaporation, and also because the application is
thereby made easier. In this process, the timbers
to receive treatment are submerged in oil heated
to about 200 degrees F. and held in this from two
to four hours. During this part of the treatment,
some oil will penetrate the outside layers of wood
fibre, and the air within the cells will be greatly
expanded and considerable driven off. At the
end of the time given to this part of the operation,
this hot oil is replaced by oil at about 135 degrees
F. The air within the wood structure, on cooling,
condenses, causing a vacuum, to fill which the oil
from the outside is drawn in. This step requires
much less time than the first. Though the pene-
tration is very light at the end of the first step,
after the second a considerable penetration is
obtained. In the third part of the operation, hot
oil replaces the cold, and the oil already in the
wood, acting as a conductor, will cause the timber
to be heated throughout. The air again expands
and is driven off, as before. After the wood has
been sufficiently heated the oil is withdrawn,
leaving the timbers to cool to the atmospheric
temperature. Again the vacuum caused by the
air contraction draws the oil from the outside into
the inner cells. Loblolly and short-leaf pines can
be given a very complete penetration by this
method, while red oak and many other hardwoods
can also be treated successfully.
This method of creosoting may be used with
tanks of such simple construction that it is avail-
able for any user of wood material. At the Penn-
sylvania Railroad forest nursery, near Morrisville,
Pa., posts, stakes, shade frames, etc., are treated
in this manner. The whole equipment consists of
two upright cylindrical tanks, each of about 100
gallons capacity, set upon rocks so that fires can
be built under them. One tank is for hot oil and
the other for cold. At the end of a step in the
treatment, the material is simply transferred from
one tank to the other. In a neighborhood where
several men wish to treat wood material, it will
be found economical to use a partnership plant,
and elaborate on this very simple construction by
adding equipment for aiding in the transfer of
material, providing to catch the drip, regulating
temperatures, etc. For telephone poles, an open
horizontal tank in which the butts can be sub-
merged will be seen to be economical ; but for
other timbers, a closed tank is undoubtedly pre-
ferable. This process is to be recommended
where a cheap treatment is required and such a
limited amount of timber is to be treated that an
expensive plant would necessitate too great an
outlay of money for economy.
y
156
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
157
\\'ith all methods of pressure treatment, the
advisability of giving a preliminary treatment
with live steam is a pertinent question. Some
men, with a wide experience in this work, advo-
cate the use of steam in all cases, holding that the
steam and accompanying heat will act on the
juices and gums in the wood, so that when a
vacuum is afterward applied these will be readily
drawn from the wood cells. It is also claimed
that the heat applied will coagulate the albumen
of the wood, endering this decay-proof. Again
the steam is expected to expand the cells and
soften the wood fibre, thus giving an easier and
deeper penetration. On the other hand, in ap-
plying steam under pressure sufficient to insure
these results, there is danger of doing serious
injury to the wood fibre, weakening or making
brittle Its structure. Recent experiments made
by Dr. VV. K. Hatt prove that timber is weakened
by being subjected to steam under pressure. The
loss in strength varies with the pressure and the
duration of such treatment. The following table
gives the results obtained with loblolly pine •
«
Strength of unsteamed wood,
" wood steamed 4 hours at 10 lbs.
*' '' '' 4 " *' 20 "
((
((
((
(t
it
it
4
4
4
4
4
if
<(
30
40 <*
** 100 ♦*
100
89
84
75
76
68
41
These figures have been corrected so that the
tests represent the strength of wood at the same
degree of moisture. Even when steam is applied
for a number of hours, an examination will show
that at the center of a tie the wood will not be
heated sufficiently to accomplish the desired ob-
ject, for wood is a very poor conductor of heat
Even though coagulated, the albumen is not pro-
tected from decay, as is shown in the instance of
a hard-boiled egg when exposed. The juices of
the timber can be satisfactorily eliminated by
tnorough air seasoning. This alone will add con-
siderably to the life of the wood, besides giving
It greatly increased strength ; the increase in life
being more than sufficient to pay the cost in-
volved in storage. In the treatment of unseasoned
wood, a preliminary steaming is undoubtedly
essential ; but better results can be obtained with
the use of wood thoroughly air-seasoned.
The subject of seasoning is entirely too broad
to be dealt with here, but in passing I will make
a tew observations on this matter, so vitally con-
nected with preservative treatment.
Ties should be piled at the treating plant in
such a manner as to expose the greatest surface to
the free circulation of the air. Ties piled in
open cribs season much more rapidly than when
piled close. The 7 x i system of piling will give
the best results, though 7 x 7 will be quite satis-
factory. Woods vary considerably in their sea-
soning properties. The coniferous woods check
and split slightly as compared to most of the
broadleaf woods. Such woods as beech, ash, elm,
etc., have a tendency to check in rapid seasoning'
but this tendency can be prevented by the use of
''S" irons. To insure the most satisfactory ab-
sorption of creosote and to get the best results;
from treatment, ties and other timbers should be
allowed to season at least ten months, or prefer-
ably a year.
Wood-preserving plants equipped for a pressure
process have cylinders of sheet steel from f^ to
I inch thick, usually about 6 feet in diameter
(sometimes larger), and from 60 to 150 feet long,
fitted with heavy, air-tight doors, every part
capable of withstanding a pressure of 200 or
more pounds per inch. In connection with
these, there are heating coils, pumps, storage and
working tanks. When a large quantity of timber
is to be treated^ it is also neces'^ary to have a
large storage yard where the wood can season.
The timber to be treated is loaded on tram cars
built to fit the cylinder; these tram cars are col-
lected until enough are ready for a charge ; the
train is then run into the cylinder, the door
closed, and the treatment applied.
Either following the preliminary steam treat-
ment, or as the first step, a vacuum of about 25
inches is drawn for from i to 2 hours. Creosote
oil is then admitted until the impregnation cylin-
der is full. As quickly as possible thereafter, a
pressure of from 90 to 180 pounds is obtained
and held until the desired absorption has taken
place. The length of time depends upon the
character and species of the wood being treated.
Eight to twelve pounds of oil to the cubic foot is
generally considered sufficient for ties, while tim-
ber for piling requires upwards of twelve pounds.
At the end of the pressure the oil is pumped or
blown back into the working tanks, which com-
pletes this process. There are many variations
from, and additions to, this general description.
With some woods a greater penetration is ob-
tained by changes in the temperature of the 01}
while under pressure, thus using the same princi-
ples which operate in the open-tank process. In
some cases a final air-pressure is applied to over-
come the tendency of the oil to lodge near the
surface of the wood. This pressure drives the oil
in from the surface and deposits it more evenly
throughout the mass. Sometimes a greater
amount of oil than is required is driven into the
wood, and a final vacuum withdraws a small part
of this until only the desired amount of oil re-
mains in the timber. All of these variations have
the single purpose of getting the maximum pene-
tration with a minimum amount of oil, work-
ing on the well-established principle that if the
cell walls are thoroughly covered with creosote,
there is merely a waste of oil in filling the cell
cavity. The treatment will cost approximately
thirty-five cents per tie. Timber thus treated will
be proof against decay for from fifteen to twenty
years, sometimes more, and can be used under all
conditions.
Results, — The economic results of giving a pre-
servative treatment to wood may be noted in two
ways : That arising from the use of a much larger
number of species, and that of still greater economy
to the consumer, from a longer usefulness of the
species used. In noting these results, I will speak
principally of ties, since, in railroad work, ties
form the bulk of the material treated, and, conse-
quently, figures on these are more easily procured.
However, it must be remembered that what is true
of ties is also true of other kinds of wood material.
Formerly, eastern railroads used white oaks
almost exclusively for ties. The consequent drain
upon this supply has resulted in its comparative
exhaustion, so that the less valuable red oaks have
been replacing this very high grade of wood.
Already, however, it can be seen that the supply
of even these latter species is limited, and another
substitution must be made. While for some pur-
poses it may be difficult to use anything in place
of oak lumber, yet in foreign countries it has been
found that for ties many of the other hardwoods,
when given a good preservative treatment, will
give a more economic service than even the best
white oak. This brings into use such woods as
beech, birch and maple, which have hitherto been
comparatively valueless. It also makes it profit-
able to use for tie timber the enormous supplies of
southern pine and gum. I can illustrate this from
the species used on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In July, 1909, we began the operation of our
treating plant at Mt. Union, Pa. Foreseeing the
possibilities in treating inferior woods, specifica-
tions and prices were sent out covering beech,
maple, birch and gum. During the few months
of 1909 in which these specifications were in force,
the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased 54,298 cross-
ties and nearly three-quarters of a million board
feet of switch ties of these species, or a consider-
able proportion of its local deliveries. During
the present year, as it becomes more generally
known that there is a market for these woods, a
very much greater supply will become available
for the railroad's use. This substitution is tiot
limited to ties alone, but it may extend into
almost every detail of construction where wood
is used ; and in the interest of forest economy
the substitution of these inferior woods for the
I higher grade species has almost limitless possi-
1 bilities.
In answering the question, ** How long will a
I treated tie last ? ' ' there are many factors which
must be taken into consideration, such as the kina
of wood treated, the process used, the condition
of the road-bed where it is placed,^ the locality
where used, the amount of traffic which the track
must bear, etc. To estimate the economy in
preservative treatment, we must know how long
an untreated tie will last under similar conditions
and draw our conclusions from comparative re-
sults. In foreign countries, where creosoting
has been practiced for many y :ars, it is not at all
unusual to find ties which have been in service for
20 years, and occasionally some for thirty years.
In this country, no railroad has a record of
creosoted ties which will determine absolutely
what length of life can be given by a creosote
treatment, but an average of 15 years is a reason-
able expectation.
If we are to expect the full value of our pre-
servative treatment, we must protect the ties in
track from mechanical wear. There is no economy
in preventing decay for 15 years and then allow-
ing a tie to be rail-cut or spike-split until useless
in five or six ; consequently, larger tie-plates and
screw spikes are the inevitable demand where
treated ties are used.
In the following tables are shown, first, the
cost of untreated and treated ties in track ; second,
the length of service of each, and the annual
charge which must beset aside in order to main-
tain each, interest compounded at 5 per cent :
Cost of Untreated Ties in Track.
1
1
bo
M
B
Species.
lial Cos
rdinary
ie- Plate
of Putt
Track
•
'c
Cr-
0
1
'J
White oak, ....
% .70
% .50
^ -35
51.55
Mixed oak, ....
.55
.50
.35
1.40
Misc. hardwoods, . .
."^o
•50
.35
1-35
Lol)lolly pine, . . .
.60
.50
35
1-45
Cost of Treated Ties in Track,
Species.
Mixed Ovik, . . .
Misc. hardwoods, .
Loblolly pine, . .
o
'J
is
'c
e
I/)
o
•55
.50
.60
35
35
35
0)
Zm C S
a u^n:
*** w^ ^^
o u
O
H
60 _
.60 !
.60
.50 $2.00
.^o 1.95
.50 j 2.05
158
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
159-
■
Annual Saving on Treated Ties.
UNTREATED.
Species.
Life.
Cost in
Track.
Annual
Charge.
White oak,
Mixed oak,
Mi.scellaneous hardwoods, .
Loblolly pine,
Years.
7
4
4
4
^1.55
1.40
1.35
1.45
% .267
.395
.389
.409
TREATED.
Species.
•
Yrs.
14
12
12
Cost in
Track.
Annual
Charge.
Annual
Saving.
Annual
Saving Over
Untreated
While Oak.
White oak, ....
Mixed oak, ....
Misc. hardwoods, .
Loblolly pine, . . .
Does
;j52.oo
1.95
2.05
not
$ .202
.218
.229
1
pay to
$ .193
.162
.18
treat.
$ .065
.049
.038
Even if it were possible to obtain unlimited
supplies of white oak at present prices, it would
be profitable to use the creosoted inferior woods
in railroad construction and maintenance. In
addition to the economy in cost, the lengthened
life of ties gives permanency, smoothness and
safety to the road-bed. Even at the same cost, a
single tie is preferable to two ties whose combined
life is but equal to this single tie.
In the estimated economy in using treated
crossties, one factor has not been mentioned,
namely, the almost constant increase in their
initial cost. This, in the 10 years previous to
1908, was about 3 cents per tie annually. . If this
inevitable increase were figured against the annual
charge to maintain the ties in track, the annual
saving in favor of the treated ties would be very
much greater than that shown in the tables.
It may occur to some to inquire concerning the
strength of wood after treatment. Extensive tests
made by the Forest Service show that air-seasoned
wood when creosoted without the use of the steam
bath, is slightly stronger than untreated wood.
This result is doubtless due to the absence of
moisture in the wood, the presence of the creosote
having no weakening effect.
Since the Pennsylvania Railroad has been the
first of the eastern railroads to begin extensive
work in the preservation of its ties and other
wood material, I may be permitted, in closing, to
summarize the work which this road is doing in
this line.
Our first plant was located at Mt. Union, Pa.,
a situation in about the centre of the road's local
supply of hardwoods. This plant was put into
operation in July, 1909, and has run continuously
since that time. It has one impregnation cylin-
der, 142 feet long, and equipment such that
treatment can be made by any established method.
During the time the plant was running in 1909,
we treated 185,790 crossties and 264,000 board
feet of other wood material. The total output in
board feet was 7,918,200.
A non-pressure plant was located at Greenwich.
Point, Philadelphia, with an impregnation cylin-
der 39 feet long. This plant was also put into-
operation in July, 1909, and in the operations of
that year treated 432,000 board feet, about 70
per cent, of which were ties.
At present the Pennsylvania Railroad is erect-
ing another pressure plant at Greenwich Point.*
This site was chosen because at this point lumber
schooners discharge large quantities of oak, pine
and gum which they have brought from the south.
With these three plants in full operation, the
Pennsylvania Railroad will be abld^ tx) creosote
annually one and one-half million ties, or an
equivalent of 70 million board feet.
The fact that our railroads and other large wood
consumers have become convinced that there is
great economy in giving a preservative treatment
to the wood which they use, should call the atten-
tion of all interested in either the growth or manu-
facture of lumber to the possibilities in this field.
In the interest of forest conservation, there is no-
factor productive of greater or more practical
results than the preservative treatment of wood
products. C. W. Tiffany.
The Biltmore Forest School has just issued a
neat booklet of its school year for 1910-1911,
giving a list of its lectures, suggestions for pros-
pective students, etc.
During the winter the school will have its
headquarters at Darmstadt, Germany, where the
Rhine forests, the German lumber market, and
the import and export of lumber into Europe will
be studied. Returning to the United States in
the spring, four weeks will be spent in the Adi-
rondacks, where the system of State forestry, and
logging operations in the vicinity will be in-
spected. During the late spring and summer the
school will be encamped in the Southern Appa-
lachian Region, near Biltmore, N. C., where the
varied forest problems will be solved. The fall
months will be spent in the Lake States, where
there are excellent opportunities for the investiga-
tion of logging and milling operations on a large
scale.
* Now completed and in operation.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
FOREST LEAVER.
o<|>o
THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
OF THE
L.S3ACIS* TREE CHKRTS.
Part I.— THE OAKS. Forty-two species.
No. 1. Biennial Fruited Oaks. Black Oak and Allies.
No. 2. Annual Fruited Oaks. White Oak and Allies.
No. 3. Southern, Pacific, Hardy, Foreign, and examples qf
Extinct Oaks.
Part II.— THE NUT BEARERS. Numerous species.
No. 4. The Chestnuts and Beeches. American, Japanese and
European Chestnuts.
No. 5. The Walnuts. American, Japanese and European
species and varieties.
No. 6. The Hickories. American species and varieties.
Part III.—
No. 7. The Willows and Poplars. Numerous species.
No. 8. The Birches, Elms and allies.
No. 9. 77ie Lindens, and allied families of numerous species.
Part IV.—
♦No. 10. The Magnolia and related trees.
♦No. 11. The Horse Chestnuts and allies.
No. 12. Tfie Maples, (Printed in advance.)
(Those with an * as yet unprinted.)
Price for the ten Charts published, |4.00.
For further information address the author, publisher and
proprietor,
GRACEANNA LEWIS,
Media, .... Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
Forestry
Association^
^2^^P^
The attention of the advertising public:
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,.
Philadelphia, Pa.
*5^^^
RATES
■
•
1
insertion. i
•
nsertions.
ta
insertions..
I inch, . .
$1.00
$4.00
$8.oa
'A page, . .
4.00
17.00
34.0O"
73 • •
7.00
30.00
60.00-
a • •
12.00
50.00
loo.oa
aal— a^
I I IIPIJI I ' ■!
"I"'-^"- ■ "■ ■
160
FOREST LEAVES.
Qi^S^*^^^,
The Pennsylvania State College
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
CONSULTING AND OPERATING
Tlie beauty and value of forest growth depends
materially on the proper care and training of the
trees. Nature is in many things a rough mother.
Her method of pruning leads to decay ; she over-
burdens the trees with superabundant growth ; the
feeding matter is washed off the hillsides and in
exposed situations the dropping leaves, the main
source of food supply, are blown away.
Proper and scientific pruning will prevent decay
and relieve the tree of superfluous growth, while
well advised planting will conserve the food
supply.
"With our professional foresters and trained corps
of scientific {iruners we are prepared to give the
best possible attention to forestry problems and to
properly treat ornamental trees and shrubs of all
kinds.
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C.
0 0 0 0
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry and lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc.
LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND ENGINEERS
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, FHILA.
go minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDINO SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
niustrated Catalogue upon application*
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
GEORGE Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK,
WALTON CLARK.
J.VCOB 8. DI3ST0N.
EDOAR DUDLEY PARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R.SHEFFIELD.
Vol. XII. Philadelphia, October, igio.
No. II.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia Walnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Po,t-(Jffice as secon* -,iass matter.
CONTENTS.
Editorial i6i
Autumn Arbor Day 162
Treating liarked Maple Trees 162
Seed for Restocking National Forests 163
Influence of Forests Upon the Climate of the Surrounding Coun-
try.
164
Reforesting Our Denuded White Pine and Hemlock Lands 166
Prostrate Juniper i63
The Forest Nursery 168
Special Instruction in Saving Timbers, etc 169
The Important Timber Trees of Pennsylvania, and Where They
Should be Planted 170
New Publications 174
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention of Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^Forest Leaves as an advertising ntediunt. Rates will be fur
nished on amplication.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual membership fee ^ Two dollars.
Life membership, Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President, John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis.
Richard Wood.
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Councilat- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazier, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman : Mrs. George F. Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon, Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wol verton .
Law, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, Tohn Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred Paschalf, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Chairman ; Miss Mary Blakiston,
Mrs. George T. Heston, Miss Florence Keen, William 8. Kirk,
J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp,
County Organization ^zmvL^X Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
James C. Haydon, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, and Richard Wood.
Officb of thb Association, loia Walnut St.. Philadblphia.
EDITORIAL.
THE late Conservation Congress attracted
wide attention because of the distinguished
" and able men who participated, and also be-
cause of the efforts to control the organization and
dictate its action. It is far from satisfactory to
those who have, year after year, used their best
efforts to awaken the public interest in features of
conservation to find the good cause endangered
by discord amone those who speak its praises and
assert their interest. Forest Leaves has con-
stantly affirmed its belief that forestry was the
cause of the whole people, and has consistently
kept aloof from any political affiliations, claiming
that conservation should not be allowed to become
a partisan cry or a factional shibboleth.
Trees may be expected to grow equally well
whether a democrat or a republican serves as the
head of the nation ; neither populist or socialist
can restrain the flow of water, and crops will grow
for insurgents or regulars. The conservator is he
who accomplishes most to advance the cause, and
not he who shouts its praises loudest.
The injection of methods of the politician to
control the organization and Committees of the
late Convention was as a discordant note in a tune-
ful melody — out of place, out of time, out of har-
mony.
We recognize the importance of discussing the
best ways and means to advance conservation,
the proper method of control for our resources,
the surest course to follow to obtain present and
prospective value from them, independent of the
individuals who exploit various ideas.
The man must be subservient to the cause and
the policy of the individual must be indorsed only
as the prosperity of the nation is advanced thereby.
Whether the nation or the States control the
natural resources is of moment only so far as either
can show the best results, and comparison must be
i •
162
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
168
Hi
II
made in equity and not according to the views of
bureaucratic enthusiasts. The question is an im-
portant one, to be decided after mature delibera-
tion when conditions, facts, and results are fairly
presented without bias ; strong forcible arguments
have been made and others will be advanced on
both sides of what is being made a controversy,
and our readers need not hasten to champion either
side, for after the hysteria of opposition has sub-
sided calm judgment will determine the best
course for the country.
The nation and the States have been refniss in
the past, but in late years the general and some
State governments have attempted remedial meas-
ures ; some of these were successful and some are
far from accomplishing what was attempted.
While we have no desire at the present time to
discuss the merits of National or State control of
natural resources, we challenge comparison with
results accomplished in Pennsylvania, believing
that neither National nor State governments can
show more advantageous use of money expended,
especially if our State is credited with the direct
purchase of forest reserves as against those with-
drawn from entry by the National Government or
donated or granted to States.
A story told by the late Ian Maclaren seems to
illustrate the present controversial tendency among
those who claim enthusiasm Yor conservation.
Approaching a small village in Scotland, the
dominie expressed surprise that it could support
two imposing churches, and remarked that **the
people must be very religious;" to which his
guide replied, ''It is not so much religion as bad
temper. ' '
The country is large, conservation is a big ques-
tion, but we must not permit our favor for National
or State control, our belief in individuals, to build
up two or more factions claiming loyalty to the
samq creed
Pennsylvania was represented by sixteen dele-
gates at the Convention, among whpm were Vice-
President W. S. Harvey, Miss Myra L. Dock,
and A. B. Farquhar, of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association ; and we understand that this delega-
tion was influential in keeping the Convention
from becoming a political echo.
In making a report for Pennsylvania, Mr. W. S.
Harvey emphasized the work of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association, and told what the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Reservation Commission, by eco-
nomical business administration, was accomplish-
ing in the way of practical forestry. J. B.
Autumn Arbor Day.
'* He who plants a tree,
He plants love ;
Tents of coolness spreading out above
Wayfarers he may not live to see.
Gifts that grow^ are best ;
Hands that bless are blest.
Plant-Life does the rest !
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree,
And his work his own reward shall be."
Lucy Larcc)M.
THE observance of Arbor Day has created a
patriotic interest in the planting and pres-
ervation of trees. It has convinced the
public of the importance of preventing and stop-
ping forest fires, of the need of reforesting the
vast mountain areas from which the timber has
been cut, and of the necessity of conserving the
forests at the sources of our streams, thereby to
regulate the flosv of water and to lessen the floods
and freshets which rob the land of its soil and
fertility.
Moreover, it is now generally admitted that
Arbor Day should be observed when all the coun-
try schools are in session. For this purpose
Friday, October 28, 19 10,
is designated as Autumn Arbor Day, and all the
schools, both public and private, are hereby
urged to observe the day by suitable exercises,
especially by the planting of trees. Let us all
plant trees and ask others to plant trees. Let us
plant trees for fruit, for shade, for beauty and for
the sake of the many industries in w^hich wood is
used. Let us plant trees for the sake of ourselves
and our posterity, for the sake of the nation and
of humanity everywhere. Let us put our prayers
for future blessings into visible shape by starting
trees that will answer our prayers by making pos-
sible the conservation of our national resources
and the perpetuation of our national greatness.
Nathan C. Schaeffer,
State Supt. of Public Instruction,
Prof. Farrier of McGill University, Montreal,
Canada, stated that one ton of sawdust will pro-
duce 20 gallons of wood alcohol.
Treating Barked Maple Trees.
7\ BUSINESS man of Mauch Chunk, Pa,,.
/^ whose maple shade trees were badly
'^ barked to the sapwood, sent a letter to
Prof. H. A. Surface, State Zoologist, for informa-
tion as to what to do to help the trees outgrow
their injury, to whom the Professor wrote :
** Replying to your letter asking what to do to
help your maple shade trees, which have been
skinned to the sapwood, I beg to say that I can
recommend nothing better than to treat imme-
, diately any tree that has been skinned by painting.
it with warm or melted grafting wax, and then cov-
ering it with a thick plaster made of equal parts
of fresh cow manure and clay, bound in place with
cloths such as old gunny sacks. Part of the virtue
of treatment, for a skinned or peeled tree, consists
in giving an immediate application to keep it from
becoming dry. If I had no other way to do tliis
at once, I should simply apply a coating of mud,
and when I could get the grafting wax readily I
should wash off the mud, and then give the graft-
ing-wax application, because this would be more
permanent than anything else.
'* It would also be well to cut back the tops of
the trees to some extent, because the area through
which sap has been flowing has now been reduced,
and it will give a reduction in the vitality of the
tree if not cut back some.
** Where the tree has decayed spots, such as you
describe, it is advisable to cut out the decayed
wood and fill the cavity with cement made by
mixing sand and Portland cement together — three
parts of sand to one of cement. If borers are
present, you can destroy them by injecting carbon
bisulfide into their holes. Do this by using the
liquid in a spring bottom oil can, and then close
the holes with clay."
Seed for Restocking National Forests.
THE U. S. Forest Service is using this year
on the National Forests over 10 tons of
tree seed.
It takes a great many tree seeds to make 10
tons. Jack pine, the most important tree for
planting in the Nebraska sand hills by the Forest
Service, will average something like 125,000 to
the pound. Of Western yellow pine, the tree
most extensively planted throughout the National
Forests as a whole, 10,000 seed will make a pound.
Altogether the 10 tons of seed to be used this year
represent perhaps 300,000,000 single seeds.
If every seed could be depended on to produce
a young tree suitable for planting, the result would
be a supply of nursery stock sufficient to plant
300,000 acres of land, but no such result can be
looked for because many seeds do not germinate.
Most of the seed was sown, either broadcast or in
seed spots, or planted with a corn-planter, directly
in the place where the trees are to stand.
Even when nursery stock is raised a liberal allow-
ance must be made for loss. In the first place, a
considerable percentage of the s^eds will be found
to be infertile. Of those which germinate, many
will die before they leave the nursery beds, and
many more will be lost in transplanting. If from
a pound of Western yellow pine seed that contains
10,000 '■ individual seeds, 4,000 three-year-old
transplants are available for field planting, the
Department of Agriculture has obtained satisfac-
tory results.
There are now 24 National Forest nurseries with
an annual productive capacity of over 8,000,000
seedlings. But there are many millions of old
burns on the National Forests which are waiting
to be restocked, and some quicker and cheaper
method than the actual planting of nursery-grown
trees is urgently needed. Therefore the foresters
are making experiments on a large scale with dif-
ferent methods of direct sowing and planting, and
most of the seed gathered last year was obtained
for this use. ^
Broadcasting has already been found to give
good results in some regions. It was first tried in
the Black Hills of South Dakota, with an encourag-
ing outcome. To broadcast an acre of land with
yellow pine seed, about 8 pounds of seed is used.
One of the most formidable drawbacks to this
method is the extent to which the seed may be
consumed by birds and rodents. If the season
happens to be one in which food for these animals
is scarce, the loss is verv heavy. The problem of
control of animal pests, such as field mice, ground
squirrels, and gophers, which eat the tree seeds,
and also the further problem of preventing the
depredations of rabbits, which are altogether too
fond of the little trees themselves, whether nur-
sery transplants or field grown seedlings, is receiv-
ing the attention of the Biological Survey experts
o( the Department of Agriculture.
In some localities the Department has had to
purchase seed, but most of that uhed is gathered
by Forest Service men themselves. The cost of
gathering has varied for the different regions from
35 cents to $1 a pound. As a rule, the seed is
collected in the fall months, when most conifers
ripen their seed. Parties of three or four men
ordinarily work together. Where lumbering is
in progress the collectors follow the sawyers and
take the cones directly from the felled trees. In
standing timber, the task is much rfiore arduous.
The men must often climb tall pines and pull the
cones from the branches as best they can. Where
these are on the extremities and beyond the reach
of the hand, pruning shears are used. The cones
are dropped to the ground and then gathered into
buckets and transferred to sacks, in which they are
carried to a central point for further treatment.
The extraction of the seeds is tedious rather
than difficult. In some cases the cones are spread
out upon sheets in the sun, when, after a time, they
open and the seed drop out ; in other cases it is
necessary to resort to artificial heat. This is ap-
plied by placing the cones upon trays with screen
Iti4
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
165
1
I I
bottoms and raising the temperature of the room
to the proper degree. The cones open, the winged
seeds fall out, and the seed is separated finally from
Wings and dirt by a fanning mill. A good many
seeds have been removed from the cone by hand,
but this is a sore trial to the fingers of the pickers
and an exceedingly slow process.
Influence of Forests Upon the Climate of
the Surrounding Country.
^ (Read at the Foresters' Convention, Harrisburg, Pa.)
THE covering of the earth's surface at any
point exerts a certain influence on the local
climate. A large forest acts as much more
than simply a wind break, because in passing over
areas of woodland, low winds are retarded, and
their power to take up moisture from agricultural
land which may be to the leeward, is lessened.
The force of the wind is lessened on the wind-
ward side also, but over a much smaller area.
There has been much discussion as to just how
far this windbreak effect may be noticeable. For
a forest many square miles in extent, the exact
distance can hardly be calculated. However, the
ordinary windbreak, as a fence or a single ro\V of
trees, is expected to create at least a partial calm
over a distance of from ten to fifteen times as wide
as the windbreak is high.
The air in this area has but little motion, and
under the direct rays of the sun, the temperature
is somewhat higher than where the winds blow
without any obstruction whatever. Because of
this lack of motion, the evaporation of the mois-
ture from the surface of the soil is not so great,
and the danger from storms accompanied by high
winds, especially those originating in the imme-
diate neighborhood, is to a certain extent removed.
Instances have been noted where the large build-
ings of towns or cities reduced greatly the
velocity of winds passing over them.
The temperature of the soil in the forest as com-
pared to that in the field is the method usually
employed in European countries for determining
the effects of the forest on temperature. This
appears to be the correct method since the air
does not receive the greater part of its heat from
the rays of the sun directly, but receives it second
hand, after it has first been absorbed by the soil
and by the objects which are scattered about on
the forest floor. The soil is of greater density
than the air and is, therefore, harder to heat ; but,
after it has once become heated, the energy which
it has stored up is given off" slowly to the air im-
mediately above it, so that rapid changes of tem-
perature which might aff'ect the air through the
dust particles contained in it, will have little or no
marked effect on the temperature of the forest
soil. It is for this reason that the soil has been
selected to show the larger changes of tempera-
ture, and from which the effects are far reaching.
From observations made in central Europe by
experiment stations and extending over long
periods of time, we find the temperature of the
forest soil is from two to three degrees cooler than
that of the open country. This cooling effect is
caused in part by the leaves absorbing or reflect-
ing the sun's rays, while some is lost in evaporat-
ing moisture present on the foliage or on the
trunks and limbs of the trees.
Although the canopy of the forest greatly re-
duces the amount of heat which reaches the soil,
it also acts as a covering to retain the heat, so
that the cooling effect which the forest has been
found to exert on the soil, is the difference
between its action to keep out heat and its heat
retaining power, which amounts to a few degrees
in almost every case.
The leaves and limbs of the trees have as a
helper in keeping the soil cool, any cover of dead
leaves, moss, or forest litter which may be present.
Any circulation of the air which may take place
in the forest, does not have the same drying effect
which it would have in the open, because of this
second covering of the soil. The water which is
thus retained, assists in the cooling process. Heat
which reaches the soil is largely taken up in the
evaporation of water, so that its heating action is
lessened.
This coolness of the forest soil, caused by its
covers of green foliage and the dead material
forming the forest floor, is slowly communicated
to the strata of air lying immediately above it.
As the air clQse to the ground becomes cooler it
also acquires greater weight. It then spreads
slowly and begins to flow out of the forest on all
sides, so that people living near a large forest may
oftentimes receive some benefit from this effect of
the woodland, though not actually living within
the boundaries of the woods. Warm air from the
open field flows in above the tree tops to take its
place, and thus a slow form of circulation is set
up, similar to that which exists over ponds and
lakes. This happens during the warm summer
months. On cold nights, the air in the forest
may be warmer than that of the surrounding coun-
try, which would cause it to rise above the trees
and the cooler air to flow in below, causing a circu-
lation in the opposite direction.
The question as to whether the forest or the
lack of it had any .marked climatic effect was first
raised in France. At the time of the French
Revolution in 1789, most of the laws governing
1^
forests belonging to private owners were abro-
gated. There was no longer a law defining a cer-
tain diameter limit to which the owners might
cut, nor were they compelled to lumber conserva-
tively ; so that dangerous slashings were left which
nearly always burned over, injuring soil which
should be left in good condition for the production
of whatever forest crop is to follow.
In three or four years, this wholesale destruction
of woods was thought by many persons to have
a detrimental effect on the climate of France.
Many arguments were urged on both sides, but it
was realized that the question could be settled
satisfactorily only by a long series of observa-
tions taken carefully at stated times. The obser-
vations were taken by experiment stations, and a
system of double stations made. One station was
i)laced within the forest to record the chan^jes of
temperature there, and a similar station outside
the forest in the open country, so that definite
conclusions might be arrived at from comparing
the temperature within the forest with the tem-
f erature outside. The double system of experi-
ment stations has been set up both in France and
in Germany, so we may expect to have the ques-
tion settled as to just how much the presence or
absence of a covering of forest trees adds to or
detracts from the pleasures and profits afforded us
by an even climate.
Certainly the extremes of heat and cold are
moderated -by a good covering of timber.
A growing tree absorbs a certain amount of
heat from the air. For instance, the carbon
faken from the air helps to make up the com posi-
tion of the wood. Heat was required to break
this carbon loose from the bulk of the atmosphere
and to store it up as part of the makeup of oak,
maple or beechwood. When wood is burned this
heat is released so that the tree during its growing
life has absorbed as much heat from its surround-
ings as is given off when the -wood is burned.
Mr, Pinchot found, from observations in Bava-
ria, that the lowest temperature for each day of a
certain year was, in the open, an average of 1 1^
to 2 degrees lower than in the forest, and the
highest temperature was 3^^ to 4 degrees higher
than that in the forest. Prussian observations
and experiments made in Germany show that for
ten years the greatest heat of the day in July and
August was from 6 to 71^ degrees lower in the
forest, and the greatest cold of the night in Janu-
ary nearly 3 degrees less than outside.
These differences of temperature within and
without the forest hold true only for central
Europe. It is believed that the difference is
greater in our own country, because of the differ-
ence in climate. Our extremes of heat and cold
, and danger of sudden storms and cold waves are
: greater. We have longer dry spells and larger
areas devoid of any kind of forest cover. Many
j writers think that the double stations of France
; and Germany were too near each other to give
best results, the station in the open country usu-
ally being hardly a mile from the forest and liable
to be affected by the coolness of the forest air.
A new system of stations is being employed in
j Austria. It is made up of a number of stations,
I the first one in the center of a large forest, and
; the others placed at intervals, so that the last one
is free from all possible influence from the circu-
lation of air set up by the forest.
As is well known, especially under the action
of strong winds, snow will often eva|X)rate and
pass off into the air without melting. Thus, a
large amount of water which has actually fallen
from the clouds is taken away from us without
doing the dry soil any good, and the evaporation
proceeds usually four or five times as fast as from
water under the same conditions. This great and
rapid loss of water is largely prevented by a good
growth of trees. Snow usually lies a couple of
weeks longer in the woods than in the open.
It has long been known that the actual tem-
perature of the atmosphere depends not so much
upon the direct rays of the sun as upon radiation
from the heated surface of the earth. The differ-
ence in the character of that surface helps to pro-
duce great effects in modifying climate. A large
desert, a great stretch of land covered with a thick
growth of trees, or a big sheet of water absorb
and radiate heat at very different rates. A field
which has been newly plowed absorbs and radi-
ates heat much more rapidly than a field covered
with grass. A barren desert heats the atmosphere
above it more than either a lake or a forest ; but,
on the other hand, the desert cools sooner by ra-
diation, while the heat absorbed by the woodland
is diffused through a larger mass and is given off
more slowly, tending to stop sudden changes of
temperature so dangerous to fruit growing and
agricultural crops.
Small forests cannot affect the general storm.s
which sweep over our country in the direction of
the prevailing winds, as do the ocean currents
and the mountain ranges, but the forests affect the
rainfall in two ways. The first of these is the cold,
moist air which is to be found over the forest,
and which tends to cause showers, especially in
the summer time, and the second is the resist-
ance which they offer to the motion of the air
currents. There have been many efforts mad*^
to discover just how much a forest may affect the
amount of rainfall, but the results do not always
agree. The reason for this is that accurate obser-
in I 'wpwy/i I
166
FOREST LEAVES.
vations are difficult to secure, because rain gauges
are not very reliable, and because the height at
which they are placed is an important item. A
variation of a few feet in height changes greatly
the amount of rain caught. Prussian observations
show an increase of rainfall over the forest, but
the Bavarian observations show no increase what-
ever.
There is no record of a decrease of rainfall in
the United States because of the removing of the
timber, but it is argued that most of the land has
grown up again, so that a large portion of the land
lumbered or burned over supports a certain amount
of vegetation. Experiments made in India show
an increase in the rainfall over the forests. It is
no doubt true that more rain, especially in the
form of summer showers, falls over the forest
than over open country under like conditions, but
just how much more has not been fully worked out.
Carl L. Kirk.
Reforesting Our Denuded White Pine
and Hemlock Lands.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
THE white pine and hemlock forests that
originally covered these lands were proba-
bly more beautiful, greater in extent, more*
easily lumbered and accessible, and more regular
in the high quality of timber than any other forest
in the State. The process of deforestation sup-
ported thousands of people, enriched many, built
many of the towns and cities of the central part
of the State, and brought about many changes in
the landscape and the surrounding country.
Where once stood magnificent white pines and
hemlocks 2 to 4 feet in diameter, having a clear
bole of from 80 to 120 feet, and so dense that
noon-day sun could hardly penetrate their foliage,
now is found as the only remains of these mag-
nificent forests the ugly black stumps and stubs,
burned and decayed, and numerous logs left by
the lumbermen, lying so thickly at places that one
can travel all over the tracts by stepping from log
to log. Where once the soil was covered with a
thick blanket of moss and other loose litter, fires
have consumed the humus and leaf mold, leaving
the rocks bare and the roots of the stumps ex-
posed. At one time the snows melted gradually
during the spring months and kept the springs and
streams constant ; now the snows disappear rapidly
and there are usually freshets. Springs and streams
become strong in the early part of the year, but as
summer advances many springs dry up and the
streams become stagnant pools.
The numerous ruins of railways, tramways, skid-
ways, corduroy roads, splash dams, and saw mills
indicate the immensity of the operations that once
took place here. The people who were engaged
in these operations have gone elsewhere to invest
their labor and capital, usually in like operations,
. leaving here and there a settler who, because of the
free and easy life, preferred to remain upon a small
plot of land and live upon what the surrounding
country afforded. The once busy towns have un-
dergone a business stagnation, being in many cases
almost deserted and in ruins.
The lumberman began by removing the choicest
white pine from the most accessible places, and
gradually moved back into the interior. He re-
lumbered the remaining merchantable white pine,
then the hemlock, and finally all the remaining
merchantable material, including dead and down
timber left in previous operations. This continu-
ous lumbering exposed the land to constant fires.
The young growth which followed the removal of
the white pine and hemlock was killed, leaving
nothing of 'value. Immediately after the fires,
bracken and briers sprang up, and in some places,
in addition to these, sumac, bird cherry, and here
and there a maple, oak, chestnut, or cucumber
tree, or a clump of them.
The deforesting of these lands required time,
but a longer period and more labor will be required
to reforest and transform them into a country like
the original. These lands can never be reforested
by natural regeneration. It must be done arti-
ficially, by sowing or by planting ; but before
any reforesting can be done, it will be necessary
to remove some of the material left upon the
soil.
The reforesting of denuded lands covered with
logs, blackberry briers, sumac, and bird cherry is
a different matter from what is experienced by
many States in reforesting abandoned farms or
other bare lands. Here no plantation should be
begun until the lands to be planted can be pro-
tected. Many times the mere burning of the
green material (the bracken, briers, and sumac)
by a surface fire, puts the soil in excellent shape
for planting ; but unless the stubs upon, and in
the vicinity of, the plantation be cut down and a
strip of land around it be cleared of combustible
material and so maintained, money spent upon a
plantation would be thrown away, for it could
not be protected from fire.
Planting once begun should be conducted on a
large scale. From 500 to 1,000 acres should be
planted at one time. With a large area the cost
per acre for preparing the soil, planting, and pro-
tection will be a good deal less than with a small
area. The first thing to be done is to clear a strip
FOREST LEAVES.
167
around the tract to be planted. Then it can be
burned over. This strip must always be kept
clear of all combustible material. In many
places it should be plowed each year, and where
too rocky for plowing, the grass and briers
should be mown and burned. In some instances,
as on rocky soil, this might be sufficient prepara-
tion for planting without utilizing any of the ma-
terial on the ground, the cost of preparation
would be increased with but slight decrease in the
cost of planting and protecting. By utilizing all
good material the removal and disposal of logs
can be accomplished with little or no extra cost,
as there is much that could be used for lumber,
shingles, lath, mine caps, props, extract wood,"
box boards, loose cooperage and charcoal. As
similar material on smaller tracts has been profit-
ably utilized by individuals paying a stumpage
price and bound by contract as to time and man-
ner of operation, the State with all its advantages
should surely be able to do as well. The State
could use its mills continuously and move from
one reserve to another along the line of planting
operations. It could also hold its sawed materials
for higher prices, good roads, or snow, while the
private operator usually must sell at once on ac-
count of lack of capital. The matter of roads,
which are often a big expense to the lumberman,
to the State would be merely a matter of perma-
nent improvement and a reserve necessity. The
burning of all other refuse material while lumber-
ing the good material, though at .a slight addi-
tional cost, would be an advantage in lumbering the
material to be utilized. In every respect the State
would possess many advantages over individuals
who utilize like products.
After these old white pine and hemlock lands
have been burned over and cleared of their refuse
material, the soil will need no further preparation
for the planting. The soil usually becomes loose
after a fire, and planting upon the greater part of
these lands will be a simple matter. The refor-
esting of the smaller and rocky portions w^ll be
more difficult and costly. It may be necessary to
resort both to planting and sowing.
The species that should be planted here is white
pine, using 3- or 4-year old transplants. The soil
and climate are very favorable for its growth.
An increase in diameter of an inch in a single
year is known to have been attained in the
past.
The cost of the plantation per acre will largely
depend upon its size and the manner of disposing
of refuse material. With, a small plantation, say
of about 25 acres, it would be impossible to utilize
the logs, and to clear the land of this material
would cost from $S to J12 per acre. If the tract
were not cleared it would be necessary to make
and maintain a fire line around it of about eight-
tenths of a mile in length. This would be about
eight times the length per acre required for a plan-
tation of 640 acres. The entire cost of forming
a plantation of from 500 to 1,000 acres would be
from $10 to $14 per acre, counting cost of the
land at $2, preparation for planting ^i to J3,
planting $3 to $4, and white pine transplants at
$4 per thousand.
Better results may be expected from planted
than from natural forests. If the yield table of
natural growth of white pine, prepared under the
direction of F. W. Rane, State Forester of Mas-
sachusetts, and constructed after examining and
measuring 177 plats in Massachusetts of various
ages, be applicable to these lands, after deducting
taxes and cost of production, with interest at 4
per cent, accrued to the end of the rotation
period, we may expect at the end of fifty years
the following results : From a plantation costing
$11 per acre a net profit per acre of J393.65 for
first quality soil and $307.15 for second quality
soil ; from a plantation costing $14 per acre a net
profit of $372.36 for first quality soil and $285.84
for second quality soil. Besides adding wealth
to the State directly, it will be benefited indirectly
by an increase of wealth in the region where re-
forestation has taken place.
No better proof can be given than that by Sir
John Lubbock in speaking of a region of France.
He says, '* The region of the Landes, which fifty
years ago was one of the poorest and most misera-
ble in France, has now been made one of the most
prosperous, owing to the planting of pines. The
increased value is estimated at no less than
1,000,000,000 francs. Where there were fifty
years ago only a few thousand poor and unhealthy
shepherds whose flocks pastured on the scanty her-
bage, there are now saw mills, charcoal kilns, and
turpentine works, interspersed with thriving vil-
lages and fertile agricultural lands."
How like at times have these two regions been,
anr* now how unlike, the region of the Landes and
our white pine and hemlock region. The region
of the Landes, the poorest and most miserable in
France fifty years ago, was like our denuded white
pine and hemlock region is now. Now this
region, the richest and healthiest in France,
is like our white pine and hemlock region was fifty
years ago. Reforestation brought to the one
wealth, deforestation to the other poverty. When
the lands are clothed again with dark pines, then
will they bring forth their quota of the world's
comforts and pleasures. Great industries will
spring up and be maintained. They will again
become fit habitations for birds and beasts ; rest-
168
FOREST LEAVES.
ing and restoring places for the tired and the sick ;
natural reservoirs for holding water ; their beauty
and utility will again be restored, and they will
be as they once were and as nature intended they
should remain. Wm. F. Dague.
Prostrate Juniper.
1
r I ^HE Prostrate Juniper, Jimiperus Alpina of
Linnaeus, or Juniperus Nana of Willde-
now, differs from the common Juniper by
the prostrate manner of its growth and short and
less tapering, and mostly ascending or incurved
leaves.
The first plate represents a specimen on land of
Christian M. Shenk, seven miles north of Eliza-
bethtown. Pa., in Conewago Township, Dauphin
County, on the west slope of what is known as
' Hhe sand hills. ' ' The tree is about 40 feet in diam -
eter ; the shape is not round, but nearly square,
covering 1,600 square feet of space; 24 inches
high, spreading over the ground like a green car-
pet, except about 5 feet in diameter in the centre of
tree, as seen in the second plate, which shows the
interwoven branches as they spread out from the
root or main stem in different directions over the
ground to the extreme edge in same interwoven
manner, but lying loose on the surface, the limbs
not rooting as you would suppose by looking at
the illustration.
The present Mr. Shenk tells me his father knew
the tree 60 years ago when it was only as large as
a buggy wheel. Judging by its size then, it
would in all probai3ility make the tree about 80
years old now. The owner, being a lover of na-
ture, had it enclosed 20 years ago with a post and
rail fence to protect and preserve it. One thing
peculiar is the extreme southern location, it
being in about 40 degrees north latitude, and 500
feet above sea-level. I have only heard of one
other specimen, and that is near Rock House,
Hocking County, Ohio, in the same latitude.
The latter tree is smaller, although there may be
others unknown to the writer. Botanists say it
Is found sparingly on the shores of the great
lakes, Maine, and farther north.
A. C. Treichler.
The Forest Nursery.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa,)
THE time has come when it would seem evi-
dent to all interested in the conservation
of the forests, that the future timber sup-
ply in many localities is dependent on reforesta-
tion. But natural reforestation falls short of the
maximum in quantity and quality of merchanta-
ble timber which a given area can be made to
yield through proper methods of silviculture.
The satisfactory results attained from planted
forests in Europe, where this practice has been
followed for two hundred years or more, would
justify the adoption of this system in the United
States. The planted forest, like the virgin forest,
is grown from seed, only in the former the dis-
semination is under intelligent control. This
may be done by sowing seed broadcast, by the
spot method, by raising small seedlings in nursery
beds, or by wind sown seeds skillfully directed
and managed. Broadcast sowing is unsatisfactory
except under conditions where a supply of seed-
lings cannot be obtained, or w^here rocky, uneven
ground is covered with a scrubby growth and
compels its use. The disadvantage is the uncer-
tainty of germination, the irregularity of stand
and expense of filling in blanks. By planting
the seedlings at regular intervals the forester has
better control of his future work ; this means the
establishing of nurseries for the propagation of
young seedlings.
The situation of these nurseries will depend
greatly on the character of available soil, the spe-
cies to be propagated, the facilities for distribu-
tion, and the available labor to be had.
For the raising of coniferous species, I would
prefer a northern slope of light soil. Should the
soil be too thin, this may be remedied by mixing
soil taken from the forest with well rotted barn-
yard manure and left for at least one year to
become decomposed before using. It is advisable
to have a portion of this on hand at all times to
renew fertility of nursery beds. In many of the
forests and commercial nurseries of Europe,
Thomas slag, kainit, and bone meal are used as
fertilizer. Where the nitrogen of the soil has
been lost through washing and leaching, lu])ine
is sown in the spring and left grow until fall,
when it is spaded under. This, I think, would
be advisable on slopes every few years, as there is
more or less leaching of the seed beds there.
For the broadleaf species, I would prefer a lower
land with a heavier soil made to a mucky char-
acter with humus. The clayey soils as a rule are
hard to cultivate by hand, and are more liable to
heave from frost and freeze out the seedlings. A
sandy loam has been used with more or less suc-
cess, but as a rule broadleaf species prefer a heavy
soil.
The nursery beds are made of any convenient
size ; they are usually four feet wide, of any
desirable length, with paths between, ranging in
width from one to three feet, with cross paths,
usually three or four feet wide. The question of
'
f i
T'*A:^
iS
V -'V
Vv^
•■•^''f^:
•*•• /'M:
A.^*..'f>.:;
H^y
^ v^ . . •
r'^^'"-
r.4, y .
^;^t^
UJ
'<
CO
UJ
^ z
Jl
^ I-
I
< I-
z ^
— CO
Q. <
I N
ui
CO a:
D <
cr ^
UJ
UJ
UJ
CO
X
s
c
Vju' t-T
UJ
UJ
CO
O
CO I-
UJ X
I t-
\J CD
z <
< y
03
UJ
UJ
UJ
UJ
UJ
r
X
12
LlJ
CO
UJ
^ ^
< I-
z ^
— CD
N
UJ
CO cr
LU
UJ
UJ
CO
(T.
u
UJ
UJ
CO
CO I-
UJ I
I 1-
yj CD
z <
< y
CD ^
z <
UJ
UJ
UJ
UJ
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
FOREST LEAVES.
169
raised or level seed beds in a nursery, will depend
on the contour of the land and dryness of the soil,
which are the principal factors. Both styles of
seed beds have been used with more or less suc-
cess. Where the nursery is situated on a slope,
raised beds are an advantage when run cross-wise
of the slope, as they greatly lessen the danger of
washing and leaching away of the soil.
Sowing the seeds in beds is usually done in two
ways, broadcast and in drills. While broadcast
sowing has the advantage in economy of space,
the general method used by most nurseries in
Europe and this country at the present time is
sowing in drills, the distance between drills
varying somewhat ; but as a rule, it is four or six
inches apart. Sowing in drills has the advantage
in weeding and cultivating the seedlings with
inexperienced labor. The seeds may be sown so
thick in drills that they will touch each other.
I find the seedlings are more uniform in growth
than in the broadcast method, and besides are
much easier to remove from the seedbed.
In removing the seedlings from the beds for
the plantation, the question of pruning the roots
will lay with the forester in charge. Personally,
I prefer to prune broadleaf to some extent where
a large tap root has developed, but with the coni-
fers let all lateral roots possible remain on the
seedlings. The cost of planting is perhaps greater
on account of larger holes to be dug, but final
results will be better in growth of seedlings.
Nature's methods, as a rule, are wasteful in the
sowing of seeds, yet practical ideas have been
taken from her methods in the propagation of
seedlings. The value of mulch in fall seed sow-
ing is a lesson learned from nature.
Most trees mature their seed before shedding
their leaves, or at least a part of the seed, so that
the falling seeds are thus wholly or partly covered
with leaves or needles. Wind, rain, and snow
work and wash seeds under cover, and those
finding a sufficient covering are kept stored during
winter to start germination in the spring.
Fall sowing of seed in the nursery, as in nature,
has enemies quite as great as the elements to be
overcome. These are mice, squirrels and birds,
which are great destroyers of seed in a nursery
during the winter. This no doubt is from scar-
city of other available food.
Mulches of various kinds may be used, but
should not be put on if possible before severe
weather or just before a snowfall. The mulch
causes more or less heat and retains moisture in
the bed, which may rot the seed or kill germina-
tion if put on too early in the fall. Pine needles,
other leaves, hay, straw, chaff, or excelsior may
be used as a mulch. These are all easily removed
in the spring without any injurious effects to soil.
Sawdust may be used, but has a tendency to sour
the soil.
The careful manipulation of mulches on heavy
fiat and bottom land soils, especially on mucky
soil, will usually prove successful in fall planting.
The lighter and shaly soils on slopes are not so
apt to heave from frost, but mulching during
germination or a dry spring is beneficial, as it
holds moisture. Success from mulching depends
upon judicious handling, an excess moisture may
induce seed to rot or fungus to develop, causing
damping off of young seedlings.
Germination test should be made in a labora-
tory, as better facilities can be had there. Tests
may be made by the forester at the nursery, and
he should have some facilities for doing so,
for by this method alone can the degree of
thickness to which seed should be sown be de-
termined. Should seed* be tested at a central
laboratory, the percentage of germination, unless
made late in winter, may be lowered in storage
after test is made. However, under ordinary
circumstances this is not likely to happen.
W. H. Kraft.
Special Instruction in Saving Timbers, etc.
THE first courses of instruction in wood tech-
nology and the mechanical engineering of
wood: working plants at the University of
Wisconsin are announced for the coming year, as
a result of the co-operation of the college of engi-
neering with the new U. S. Forest Products
Laboratory at the university.
The three phases of the problem of saving tim-
bers and using all the present waste from the
lumbering and wood manufacturing industries will
be considered in the new lectures and laboratory
practice by the students, including special study
of the physical and chemical properties of wood ;
of preserving and utilizing not only the timbers
but the stumps, small branches, bark, sawdust,
and all the waste bits ; and of the mechanical
means of transforming standing timbers into com-
mercial products.
Four courses in wood distillation, wood preser-
vation, the chemical constituents, and the physical
properties of wood will be given by the staff of
government experts in charge of the laboratory.
A fifth course in wood manufacturing machinery
will be given by Prof. Robert M. Keown.
In the course on the properties of wood, the
study will be mainly of the elementary structure
of different species and its effect on the value of
woods for use in various arts and industries.
170
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
171
Methods of testing woods and conditioning them
will also be shown in the laboratory demonstra-
tions.
The chemical constituents and fibers of wood,
with reference to the uses made of the material in
art and industry will also be taken up.
Hardwood and softwood will be studied and
compared as to their use in distilling alcohol and
producing turpentine and other materials. All of
the basic principles, as well as the processes and
products of such distillation will be taught, and
the students will have an opportunity to make a
personal study of the government's investigations
in ways and means of using all the waste products
of logging, lumbering and wood manufacturing,
amounting altogether to two- thirds of every tree
cut down.
How to save timbers, especially those in mines
and on the water front from animal and fuligus
pests, will be the problem on which a course in
wood preservatives will work. The resistance of
different woods will be compared, their fibers and
the conditions of deterioration, also the different
preservative processes in the laboratory, including
both those in which the timbers are given surface
applications and those in which the aseptics are
forced into the fibers.
All the machinery and methods used in logging
and in wood manufacture with the designing of
wood working plants will be taught by Prof.
Keown.
In addition, advanced research work may be
done by students, who are prepared for it, in the
government laboratory under the supervision of
the experts in charge.
The Important Timber Trees of Penn-
sylvania, and Where They Should
be Planted.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention at Harrisburg, Pa.)
I HAVE been requested to prepare an article
on ** The Important Timber Trees of Penn-
sylvania, and Where They Should be
Planted." The following is presented in fulfill-
ment thereof.
At present we may well be guided by nature.
Where certain species once grew they should
grow again. Several foreign trees have been in-
troduced which have been given little real test.
These ought to succeed, and in some cases excel,
many species in the native forests in rapidity of
growth, in hardiness, as a soil enricher, and in
the value of a final output.
In all plantings a tree, if given its preference
with regard to soils, will do its best. In most
cases trees will do well on other soils, if the mois-
ture content and altitude are correct.
With regard to '-Mixed Forests" the follow-
ing extract from Dr. Meyer, of the University of
Munich, may well be quoted: **In nature we
find a mixed stand of trees of the widest botani-
cal characteristics."
The following regarding Pennsylvania forests is
quoted from Dr. J. T. Rothrock's 1895 report,
from which, and from Prof. Geo. H. Wirt's
notes, I have had great help in arranging this
article :
*' Pennsylvania, under original natural condi-
tions, was one of the best wooded States, if not
the best, in the entire eastern half of the Union.
Not only were her forests dense, and her trees
large and valuable, but they comprised a variety
that were of greater commercial value than could
be found, probably, in any other State. To say
that for years Pennsylvania stood first as a lumber-
producing State, and then second on the list, is
but another way of expressing the same truth.
** To illustrate this we have but to call to mind
the fabulous quantities of white pine, hemlock,
hickory, black and white walnut, chestnut, oak
(of various kinds), ash, elm, beech, cherry, black
and yellow birch, and latterly pitch pine, that
have been consumed within the limits of the State,
or exported.
** It is true that a portion of her area was tree-
less. Here and there a lake, or an open meadow,
occupied the surface, but these formed a very
small proportion of her territory.
**0n the lower grounds, bordering the large
rivers, in the southeastern portion of the State,
the most valuable timber was white oak, or white
pine in the northeastern portion. With these
were associated the ordinary forest trees. Several
species of hickory and birch, together with chest-
nut, walnut, and cherry were the most abundant.
On the higher grounds, toward the central part
of the State, the forests became more positively
cone-bearing in character ; that is, white pine,
hemlock, pitch pine, and occasionally Norway or
red pine, were more abundant than the ordinary
hardwoods, as sugar maple, black and yellow
birch, beech, and cherry, which made up the mass
of the remainder of the forest. It is also true
that rock or chestnut oak, chestnut, and locust
were exceedingly common on the rockier declivi-
ties of the mountains, and especially so on the
southern border.
** The altitude of the State varies between sea-
level, and 3,100 above tidewater on Negro moun-
tain, in Somerset County. This range of altitude
is equivalent to a gain of one degree in latitude
northward for about every 300 feet of elevation.
In other words, on the extreme altitudes of the
State, say, all higher than 1,800 feet above the
tidewater, we might expect to encounter the trees
that are common in the British provinces. Thus,
we find the black and red spruces, the balsam, and
the larch or hackmatack represented in the pri-
meval forest of Pike, Sullivan, Wyoming, and
Clinton Counties.
** West of the Allegheny River the cone-bearing
trees never predominated in this State. Chestnut,
oak (red and white), may be said to have been
the most characteristic species. In the southwest
there was a mixture of our common trees with
those from the region of Kentucky and West Vir-
ginia. As, for example, the honey locust and the
Kentucky coffee tree. Everything considered,
the sugar maple was, and is to-day, probably the
most common tree in the State of Pennsylvania.
That is when we remember its general distribution.
Reckoning the crop of timber which stood in Penn-
sylvania three centuries ago, as the lumbermen of
to-day would reckon it, it may be said that a
yield of hemlock of 30,000 feet, board measure,
to the acre was not uncommon. White pine often
greatly exceeded this, and 50,000 feet, board
measure, was no unusual yield for an acre of good
timber oT this species. Mixed with the hemlock,
the various hardwoods, such as beech, maple, and
birch, aggregated from 2,000 to 3,000 feet addi-
tional lumber to the acre.
*' White pine of the first quality was often pro-
duced on the poorest soil. The case was widely
different with white oak, the latter species re-
quiring, to produce its best timber, a rich, lowland
soil. rhis is contrary to the general belief, but
nevertheless true. Indeed, one must have been
imjjressed with the idea when inspecting our pri-
meval forests that life was superabundant ; that
some species, as, for example, the spruces and the
yellow birch, would seize upon and take posses-
sion of spots on which no other species could
thrive. Thus, every possible foot of ground was
used, either by trunk or roots, to nourish or bear
the amazing forest growth."
White Ash {Fraxinus Americana). — One of
our most valuable timber trees. Easily reared
and not particular as to soil conditions. Its most
rapid growth, and therefore its best, is produced
in moist situations along streams, a porous sub-soil
and a to- to 12-feet water-table being ideal. This
tree does well in mixture, and may be planted
with slower-growing species of both conifers and
hardwoods. Young seedlings will start in dense
shade, but require light for development. Mature
trees stand but moderate shade.
Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra). — A smaller and
less valuable tree than white ash. Grows to bet-
ter advantage on swampy and marshy land,
although it can be produced on dry- soils, the re-
sults being slow and more uncertain. The ashes
in Pennsylvania are adapted to the following soils :
Clay, gravel, black slate, bottom-lands, and
swamps.
Bass wood {Tiiia Americana). — One of our
common forest trees found in mixture with other
hardwoods, more commonly in the north central
counties. As with the ash, it grows best on moist
alluvial soils, but can be grown on drier situations
with not so satisfactory results. The tree is a
shade bearer.
Beech (Fagus Americana) . — One of our large
timber trees. Will grow slowly on good moist
soil. It is ideal for underplanting both conifers
and hardwoods. Is a shade bearer. Best soils in
Pennsylvania for beech are gravel, loam, clay sub-
soil, and table-land.
Water Beech {Carpinus Caroliniana). — Usually
very small, but wood of considerable value for spe-
cial uses. Its best growth occurs on moist sandy
soil of rich quality.
Ohio Buckeye (Aesculiis glabra). — A medium-
sized tree, easily propagated. Prefers moist soil
along streams, but can be grown on drier soils.
Black Birch (Betula lenta). — The most valua-
ble member of the family, and prominent in our
native forests. Grows best in moist situations,
cool mountain slopes, and along stream borders.
Yellow Birch (Betula lutea). — Of less value
than the black birch, but can be reproduced on
soils very inferior to what the black birch de-
mands. This tree seemed to be the one that filled
up barren places in the original forests of Penn-
sylvania, where other trees apparently refused to
grow.
Canoe Birch {Betiila papyrifera). — This birch
prefers rich moist hillsides, borders of streams,
lakes, and swamps, and, unlike yellow birch, does
not succeed if planted otherwise. The birches
are both light demanders and intermediate.
Catalpa {Cataipa speciosa). — Easily propa-
gated, at present suitable for planting in the
southern portion of Pennsylvania, where there is
less hard freezing, and does well on both moist
and dry soils, although it succeeds better in moist
situations.
Wild Black Cherry {Prunus serotina), — A very
valuable tree, easily grown, and may be planted
in mixture with most any of our conifers or hard-
woods. Prefers a rich moist soil, but will do well
on that of a light sandy nature.
Kentucky Coffee Tree ( Gymnocladus dioicus). —
One of the rarest of our forest trees ; can be pro-
duced on almost any soil and under nearly as
many climatic conditions as the chestnut. Grows
172
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
173
well in mixture with hardwoods, and naturally
prefers rich moist soils. On other than these the
growth is slower.
Chestnut {Castanea dentata). — One of our
largest, most common, and easily grown trees.
It can be grown on almost any soil, river flat to
mountain top. Grows on gravel, sand, sandy
loam, loam ridges, light mountain soil, black slate,
and gneiss, but not well on limestone. It is both
intolerant of shade and intermediate.
Cucumber Tree {Mai^nolia acuminata). A tree
not attaining very large size, but sufficient to en-
courage planters, who will find it easily grown
when planted in alluvial, gravel, and sandy soils
as found in valleys and along rocky streams.
Also does well in mixture, and is a semi-light
demander.
American Elm {Ulniiis A/fiericana). — One of
our largest hardwoods, preferring moist, rich, well
drained soils, but doing well in almost any loca-
tion, even on high hillsides, to which it adapts
itself, but under the latter circumstances not grow-
ing so successfully. It also seems able to with-
stand great extremes of moisture and temper-
ature.
Slippery Elm (^Ulinus fulva^. — Greatly resem-
bles American elm, but preferring more moist
situations. It will also succeed on dry hillsides,
limestone ridges, and rather sterile upland soils.
Both the elms mix well with hardwoods, and are
shade bearers.
Sweet (ium {Liquidamhar Styraciflua), — A
large tree, easily propagated, doing best on moist
soils, but also growing on dry hillsides. Should
be planted close together on account of branching
habit. Mature trees are part light demanders.
Sour Gum {Nyssa sylvatica). — A large tree if
given the benefit of low, rich, moist soils, but
will grow, although much slower, on high dry
situations. As with the sweet gum it should be
planted closely. Grows well in mixture with
hickory, oak, and ash, and is a light demander. I
Mocker Nut Hickory {Hicoria alba). — One of !
our large trees capable of growing on soils inferior ;
to the other hickory species following.
Pig Nut Hickory {Hicoria glabra). — Another
important tree of our forest, prefers moist soils,
but will succeed on both high and low situations,
on dry ridges, hillsides, and valleys.
Shell Bark Hickory {Hicoria ovata), — This is
a much faster grower than the mocker nut, and
attains best growth on deep, rich, rather moist
soils. All the hickories are part light demanders,
and their best growth in Pennsylvania is on the
following soils: Heavy clay, sandy loam, lime-
stone, black slate, table-lands, and bottom-lands.
Sugar Maple {^Acer saccharum). One of the
very largest of our timber trees, having perhaps
the widest range of any Pennsylvania tree. Grows
on wet or sandy gravel, loam, clay sub-soils, and
table-lands, but does best on fresh, well drained
soils, although it will succeed on poor, dry soils.
Also one of our most tolerant trees, and can be
planted pure, or with both hardwoods and coni-
fers.
Silver Maple (^Acer sac char Inum). — Another
large tree, faster growing, but inferior to the
sugar maple. Adapted to any soil, but shows a
preference for deep rich ground.
Burr Oak {^Quercus macrocarpa), — A large tree
with branching habit, quite common in western
Pennsylvania. Grows best along lower Ohio
River on alluvial soils, and also -in Mifflin and
Lancaster Counties.
Chestnut Oak {Que reus Prinus). — Most valu-
able tree of our mountain regions, especially south
of latitude 41 deg. 20 min. N. Grows especially
on soils too DOor for other species, except pitch
pine, chestnut, and locust, with which it does
well.
Post Oak {Quercus minor). — A small tree
growing on thin soils, and at edges or groves of
other species.
Swamp White Oak {Quercus platanoides). —
Large and valuable oak once moderately common
in Pennsylvania. Succeeds in moist situations
best, but will grow on drier soils.
White Oak {Quercus alba). — One of our most
important and valuable species. Growing on
land not absolutely rocky, but its preference is
alluvial soils ; and in Pennsylvania we find it on
low soils, deep clay, black slate, hillsides, and up-
land woods. •
Yellow Oak {Quercus acuminata). — By no
means common in Pennsylvania. Its preference
is alluvial soils along rivers.
Black Oak {Que reus i^elutina). — Common in
Pennsylvania on poor soils, and will succeed if
planted thereon.
Pin Oak ( Que re us palustris). — Not a widely
distributed species, and shows a decided prefer-
ence for swampy ground, but will grow on drier
soils also.
Red Oak {Quereus rubra). — Rather common
in Pennsylvania. Perhaps the fastest grower of
the oak family, and seems to do well on poor
soils, mountain sides, and rich river bottoms ;
also seeming to prefer the cooler portions of the
State.
Scarlet Oak ( Quereus coccinea). — Of little value
for its timber at present. Will grow on rather
thin soils in Pennsylvania.
Spanish Oak ( Quereus digitata). — At best little
known in Pennsylvania, and said to inhabit rich
alluvial soils. (In the south it is tolerant of
many soils. It flourishes in dry sandy barrens
and wet low lands. ) The oaks, as a family grow
on clay, heavy soils, clay sub-soils, gravelly loam,
limestone, rich tablelands, lowlands, and swamps,
and are all light demanders. In the young stage
white, red, and chestnut oak stand shade, but
later are as the rest.
Ironwood {Ostrya Virgifiiana). — ^"Small tree.
Uses similar to blue beech. Will grow on poor
soils and rocky situations. Not likely to be of
much use to the planter.
Black Locust {Robinia Pseuiiaeacia). — One of
our fastest growing trees, may be planted on any
well drained soil. It attains its best growth on
deep fertile loam and limestone formations. Does
well in mixture with both hardwoods and conifers,
and is a light demander. On Pennsylvania soils
we find it at its best on high sandy soil, gravel,
blue slate, limestone, sandy loam, or any rich soil.
Honey Locust {Gleditsia triaeanthos). — More
likely to reach larger size than the black locust,
and like it, grows well on lime soils, but prefers
deep rich soils of river bottoms. This will also
do well on poorer soils, but does not hold up to
its reputation for fast growth thereon. Also does
well in mixture with other hardwoods. Some
advocate plantings with conifers.
Red Mulberry {Morus rubra). — Medium sized
tree, easily propagated, a fast grower on low rich
soils, and can endure partial shade.
Carolina Poplar {Populus deltoidea). — One of
our easiest reared and fastest growing species.
Its most favorable site is alluvial soils along water
courses, its success depending on moisture more
than soil content. It can be grow^n on somewhat
drier situations on account of its extensive root
system. Abundant light must be given this
species, as shade is detrimental.
Tulip {Liriodendron Tulipifera). — One of our
grandest forest trees, succeeding best on gravel,
sandv, and rich loam soils, always preferring soils
deep and well drained, and at all times an even
moisture content. It is very intolerant, and does
well in mixture with locust and walnuts. Never
thrives on heavy clay, or dry ridge soils, and
does best in sheltered coves and along cool moun-
tain slopes.
Button wood {F/atanus oecidentalis). — One Of
our largest native trees, a fast growing and easily
propagated species with few requirements as to
soil, but doing best on rich bottomlands and along
banks of streams.
Black Walnut {/uglans nigra). — One of our
large and most valuable species. Can be success-
fully reared if given rich soils, doing well in
Pennsylvania on clay, black slate, limestone, rich
tableland, and rich loam soils. It requires moist
conditions with these soils to excel. Does well
in mixture with locust, tulip, and the faster grow-
ing hardwoods, but if planted with faster growers
should be given about two years start so it will
not be overtoppod, as it is intolerant of shade.
White Walnut {Juglans einerea). — A smaller
and less valuable species than the black walnut,
growing on similar soils, but not requiring the
moisture content the former exacts ; also thrives
on higher ground and is intolerant of shade.
Willows {Salix). — Of little value as timber,
but successful along banks of streams to prevent
inroads of high water, and washing of banks.
Conifers :
Balsam Fir {Abies balsamea). — Grows best on
moist alluvial soils in the higher altitudes of this
State. Is a very great shade bearer, excelled
only by the hemlock. Of no great value.
Red Cedar {Juniperus Virginian a). — A slow^
growing tree of small size at maturity. Does best
on rather light loamy soil with lime content, but
will grow on almost any location. It is a light
demander.
Hemlock {Tsuga Canadensis). — One of our
grand old forest trees, but hard to perpetuate, be-
ing a slow grower at best, especially in its youth.
Prefers moist, but will grow on nearly all soils.
The soils suitable in Pennsylvania are in lowlands,
swamps, sandy and clay bottoms. It is an intense
shade bearer.
Norway Pine {Finns resinosa). — A large fast
growing pine, slightly inferior in product to white
pine. Doing well on sandy loam soil which is
well drained and of moderate fertility. Does
well in mixture with white pine, beech, elm, and
sugar maple, also does equally well if planted
pure. It is intolerant of shade.
Pitch Pine {Finns rigida). — A tree of medium
size which may be safely planted in situations too
poor for other species.
White Pine {Finns Strobus). — This is the pre-
mier tree of our native forests, found in nearly all
parts of the State, and produces on poor soils its
best timber. It prefers light mountain soils, but
can be grown on any excepting very moist situa-
tions. It is intermediate as to shade.
Yellow Pine {Finns echinata). — A valuable
species adapted to dry sandy soils and poor moun-
tain slopes. It is a light demander.
Black Spruce {Pieea Mariana). — A mountain
tree preferring cold wet situations, as swamps.
Slow growing in its youth. Altitude where best
growth thrives, 1,200 to 2,000 feet.
Red Spruce {Fieea rubens). — Larger than the
black spruce. Prefers soils of high ridges and
174
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
175
cool northern slopes. It should succeed well for
planting on rocky slopes, if closely spaced.
Tamarack {Larix Americana). — Distinctly a
tree for high altitudes in Pennsylvania, preferring
cold swampy soils. May be planted with the
black ash, balsam fir, and black spruce. It is
very intolerant.
European Larch (^Larix Europea), — An im-
ported species of tamarack, which seems to be far
more profitable for planting than the native
species. It grows on deep, light, moderately
fertile soils in well drained situations, and will do
well on lower altitudes than tamarack. It is
very intolerant.
Norway Spruce {Ficea Abies). — An excellent
tree for planting, and is easily grown. It adapts
itself to the same ranges as the native spruces,
and is in every way superior to them. Can be
planted pure or in mixture with white pine, red
pine, larch, and chestnut. It is a shade endurer.
Scotch Pine (Finns sylvestris). — Another im-
ported species of rather rapid growth, but of less
commercial value than our native white pine. It
is quite indifferent to soil requirements ; but its
best development is found on deep sandy loam
having lime content and underlaid by a fresh well
drained sub-soil. It succeeds on dry soils and
shows remarkable hardiness in seasons of drought.
It is as intolerant of shade as larch.
Paul H. Mulford.
New Publications.
Apgar's Ornamental Shrubs of t/ie United States,
by Austin Craig Apgar. i2mo., 352 pages, illus-
trated. Bound in cloth. American Book Com-
pany, New York. Price, $1.^0.
Mr. Apgar has prepared this book to enable
the public to know by name the attractive shrubs
cultivated in parks and private grounds, using
wherever possible the conmion, instead of the
botanical, names. It gives a short chapter on the
propagation of plants, and then takes up a descrip-
tion of the leaves, flowers and fruit, telling the
observer how to study them so as to determine
which of the different genera the shrub belongs
to. Keys for these are given, and when the
individual specie is finally reached it is described,
and the leaves and flower or fruit of the more im-
portant ones illustrated. A glossary of botanical
terms is also given to aid the student in the work
of determining species.
Forest Fires in North Carolina {luring igog.
North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey.
Economic Paper No. 19. 8mo., 52 pages, paper
cover, illustrated. Raleigh, N. C. Price, 3 cents.
Mr. J. S. Holmes, forester, makes a report on
the forest fires in North Carolina, showing that in
1909 over 60c fires were reported, and 166,00a
acres of land burnt over in the mountain counties,,
approximating 5 per cent, of the total forest area
of that region. The total acreage burned is
given as approximately 400,000, and the loss
$60,000. The direct loss was 66 cents per acre
burned, which does not include damage to liv-
ing timber, young growth, soil and streams, which
amounts to as much again. Suggestions are
given for prevention of forest fires, and strong
public sentiment asked for to prevent this forest
scourge.
Canadian Forestry Association. Eleventh An-
nual Report. 8vo., 141 pages. Ottawa, Canada.
The annual report of the Canadian Forestry
Association has just been issued. In addition to-
a description of the business meeting of the Asso-
ciation, a full report of the convention held in
Fredericton, N. B., last February, is contained in
the volume. All papers read there are given in
full, together with the ensuing discussions. Valua-
ble information is given in regard to the protection
of the forest from fire ; the wood pulp industry ;
the education of professional foresters or forest
engineers, and many other aspects of forestry,
especially in eastern Canada. Requests for copies
of the report should be addressed to James Law-
ler, Secretary Canadian Forestry Association^
Ottawa, Ont.
A Study of the Wisconsin Wood- Using Indus-
tries, by Franklin H. Smith, U. S. Forester.
i2mo., paper cover, 68 pages. State Board of
F'orestry, Madison, Wis.
This pamphlet, contains a report of the wood-
using industries of Wisconsin.
The report embraces, in detail, figures that show
the consumption of wood by industries and spe-
cies, and also the quantities derived from the forests
of Wisconsin and from without the State ; the
uses of the different kinds of wood ; the relative
prices paid by the industries for the various woods
consumed, and other data pertaining to the manu-
factures.
The wood-using industries of Wisconsin repre-
sent a large part of the wealth of the State that is
dependent upon its natural resources, and it is to
the advantage of all to encourage the fullest devel-
opment consistent with proper protection of the
forests.
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
Terms upon Application.
L-Ein£IS' TRee CHARTS.
Part I.— THE OAKS. Forty-two species.
No. 1. Biennial Fruited Oaks. Black Oak and Allies.
No. 2. Anntial Fruited Oaks. White Oak and Allies.
No. 3. Southern, Pacific, Hardy, Foreign, and examples qf
Extinct Oaks.
Part II.— THE NUT BEARERS. Numerous species.
No. 4. The Chestnuts and Beeches. American, Japanese and
European Chestnuts.
No. 5. The Walnuts. American, Japanese and European
species and varieties.
No. 6. The Hickories. American species and varieties.
Part III.—
No. 7. The Willows and Poplars. Numerous species.
No. 8. The Birches, Elms and allies.
No. 9. The Lindens, and allied families of numerous species.
Part IV.—
♦No. 10. TTie Magnolia and related trees.
♦No. 11. The Horse Chestnuts and allies.
No. 12. The Maples. (Printed in advance.)
(Those with an * as yet unprinted.)
Price for the ten Charts published, $4.00.
For ftirther information address the author, publisher and
proprietor,
FOREST LEAVER.
odbo
THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
OF THE
Pennsylvania
Forestry
Association.
a-^^^
The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.
ORACEANNA LEWIS,
Media,
Fennsylvania.
f
1
•
RATES.
I inch, . .
X
insertion.
$1.00
6
insertions.
$4.00
insertions.
$8.00
X page, . .
4.00
17.00
34.00
yi " . .
7.00
30.00
60.00
1 " . .
12.00
50.00
100.00
176
FOREST LEAVES.
The Pennsylvania State College
l-^y^ FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
,< forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
FORESTERS
CONSULTING AND OPERATING
The beauty aiul value of forest growth depends
materially on the proper care and training of the
trees. Nature is in many things a rough mother.
Her method of pruning leads to decay ; she over-
burdens the trees with superabundant growth ; the
feeding matter is washed off the hillsides and in
exposed situations the dropping leaves, the main
source of food supply, are blown away. •
Proper and scientific pruning will prevent decay
and relieve the tree of superfluous growth, while
well advised planting will conserve the food
supply.
With our professional foresters and trained corps
of scientific pruners we are prepared to give the
best possible attention to forestry problems and to
properly treat ornamental trees and shrubs of all
kinds.
Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc.
LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND ENGINEERS
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa.
Biltmore Forest School,
BILTMORE, N. C
0 0 0 0
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry anc;! lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods.
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Station.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
fllutttrated Catalogue upon application,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rey. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., Prmdeiit.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-Prendenl.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treamrer.
JAMES M. beck.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB S. DISSTOV.
EDGAR DUDLEY PARIES.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LETBRING J0NB8.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MOCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
tSs^jT^ f^^^'^hfl
Vol. XII. Philadelphia, December, 1910. No. 12.
Published Bi- Monthly by the
PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,
loia ^Valnut St„ Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter.
^ CONTENTS.
"*'^»mm Editorials 177
Narrative of the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association 178
Treasurer's Report 179
Address of the President of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association 180
Report of the Gtneral Secretary of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association 181
Report of Council 183
Black Walnut Plantation in Kentucky 185
Roads on the Jack's Mountain Forest Reserve 185
Effect of Moisture on Wood 186
•Conditions of Tree Planting in Northern Pennsylvania 187
President Taft on Forestry 188
The Chestnut Blight 188
Forestry at White Haven 189
Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
0/ FoRBST Leaves as an advertisings medium. Rates will be fur"
Mi shed on application.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.
Annual member ship fee ^ Two dollars.
Life membership^ Twenty-five dollars.
Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to the Chairman of the Membership
■Committee, 1012 Walnut Street, Phila.
President^ John Birkinbine,
Vice-Presidents, Wm. S. Harvey, James C. Haydon, Albert Lewis.
General Secretary^ Ur. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles K. Pancoast.
Council- at- Larg^e^ Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Hon. Robert S. Conklin,
-Samuel L. Smedley.
Finance, W. S. Harvey, Chairman ; Dr. Henry M. Fisher, W. W.
Frazler, Charles E. Pancoast, and J. Rodman Paul.
Membership, Albert B. Weimer, Chairman : Mrs. George F Baer,
Edwin Swift Balch, Robert S. Conklin, Hon. Lucien W. Doty, Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, W.W. Scranton, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, and Hon. S. P.
Wolverton.
La7v, Hon. W. N. Ashman, Chairman; Henry Budd, and John
A. Siner.
Publication, John Birkinbine, Chairman ; F. L. Bitler, S. B. Elliott,
Alfred Paschall, and Harrison Souder.
Work, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. Chairman ; Miss Mary Blakiston,
Mrs. George T. Heston, Miss Florence Keen, William 8. Kirk,
J. Franklin Meehan, and Abraham S. Schropp,
County Organization, Sa.mue\ Marshall, Chairman; Eugene Ellicott,
James C. Haydon, and Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger.
Office of the A«%sociation. 1012 Walnttt St.. Philaoblphia.
EDITORIALS.
IN his Message to Congress, from which we
have excerpted the reference to the * * Forest
Service," President Taft says: '*The ques-
tion of conservation is not a partisan one ' ' and we
hope will not become so. The natural resources
with which this country is favored are great.
Their utilization has developed a wonderful nation
whose growth in population and material advance-
ment is without parallel, but in making use of
these resources there has been waste, part of
which is excusable, because the environment at
the time made this apparently necessary, but much
has been sacrificed without thought of the future.
Measures for protecting our reserves so that they
may be of greater service to the present genera-
tion and those who follow, and of propagating
those which can be reproduced, should be ap-
proached in a spirit of national patriotism, free
from practical bias.
The proceedings of the Annual Meeting which
appear in other columns of this issue demon-
strate that the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion believes with President Taft that ** the ques-
tion of conservation is not a partisan one," and,
as far as forestry is concerned, its members will
use their influence against diverting the strong
hold which forestry evidently has upon the in-
telligent class of American citizens, to the ad-
vancement of any party, faction or clique. J. B.
*^0 ^^ ^^ ^M
0^ ^^ ^^ ^^
It is hoped that during the session of the Penn-
sylvania Legislature which convenes in January
some comprehensive and broad-minded scheme
for forest taxation will be approved, one which
will encourage individual owners to maintain old
or propagate new forests. We believe that forestry
will be best advanced by supplementing the State
reserves by forests held by individuals or corpora-
tions. J. B.
178
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
179
Narrative of the Annual Meeting of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
THE Annual Meeting of the Association was
held at IOI2 Walnut street, Philadelphia,
on Monday afternoon, December 12th.
President John Birkinbine in the chair.
The reading of the minutes of the last Annual
Meeting was dispensed with.
The President's annual address, the reports of
the Treasurer, General Secretary and Council were
presented, the text of which appear in full on
other pages of this issue.
Mr. C C. Binney asked whether any specific
legislation in regard to the taxation of forest
lands was contemplated by the Association. The
President stated that this would be prepared by
the Forestry Department and submitted to the
Association,
Mr. Joshua L. Baily questioned the desirability
of opening lands for grazing, as cattle seemed to
show enmity to young pine trees, doing much
damage. He also referred to the many pleasure
places in the forest reserves, which were readily
accessible, especially in Pike and Monroe coun-
ties, where beautiful falls and forests abounded,
and were convenient not only to our own citizens,
but those of other States. As to forest fires, he
instanced the difficulty of locating those who were
responsible ; if this could be done it would be a
great aid in prevention. He also indorsed the
sentiment that the Association should be careful
not to affiliate in any partisan movement.
Mr. Joseph Elkinton asked for information in
regard to growing Norway pine, as he had noticed
the blight on some white pine tree growth on the
Pocono Lake Preserve. He spoke of the difficulty
of finding the parties who start forest fires, and
stated that persons do not take time to stop incip-
ient fires, which later become uncontrollable but
could easily have been extinguished at the start.
He offered the aid of the Pocono Lake Preserve
in any movement to control forest fires.
Dr. Henry S. Drinker, President of Lehigh
University, stated that a $50 reward for the de-
tection of persons causing forest fires on the South
Mountain, together with the assistance of the min-
isters, particularly the Catholic clergy, had aided
materially in preventing forest fires, which were
principally started to afford pasture for domestic
animals.
Mr. Wm. L. DuBois referred to the New Jersey
laws, where a certain amount per day was allowed
to all who joined in fighting forest fires, and stated
that some considered this payment might be an in-
centive to lawless people to start forest fires for the
sake of securing employment.
Mr. C. Oliver Hillard spoke of incendiary fires in
the South in the cane fields. The insurance com-
panies paid for the losses, and left the cane dry in
the fields ; and the negroes, when they found that
they obtained no employment, as the cane was not
gathered, resulting in a loss to them, the fires be-
came less frequent.
The President suggested that if the members-
would send in statements as to the losses resulting
from forest fires started by huckleberry pickers,
etc. , together with other information, such as had
been presented at the meeting, they could be pub-
lished in Forest Leaves for the benefit of the
members.
Mrs. Brinton Coxe spoke on the encroachment
on the breathing places in the small city parks by
the erection of large buildings, while a communi-
cation from Dr. Edwin J. Houston called atten-
tion to the unnecessary mutilation of the trees in
the public squares.
It was moved and carried that the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association appoint a committee to be
present at a hearing before the Public Playgrounds
Committee of City Council in regard to permitting
buildings in the city parks. The President named
Messrs. Baily, Binney, Elkinton and Wilson as the
committee.
Dr. Henry S. Drinker and Mr. C. Oliver Hillard
were appointed tellers of the election, and after
counting the ballots announced the unanimous
election of the officers given below to serve dur-
ing the ensuing year.
On motion adjourned.
President^ John Birkinbine.
Vice-Presidents^ Wm. S. Harvey,
James C. Haydon,
Albert Lewis.
General Secretary^ Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock.
Kecordini^ Secretary ^ F. L. Bitler.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.
Council.
At Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe,
Robert S. Conklin,
Samuel L. Smedley.
Adams County, C. E. Stable.
Allegheny County, Wm. A. Baldwin,
H. M. Brackenridge,
Hon. Geo. W. Guthrie,
Thomas H. Johnson,
George M. Lehman,
James P. Orr,
Wm. Wade.
Beaver County, Charles H. Stone.
Berks County, Mrs. George Brooke,
J. H. Stembergh.
Blair County, Jos. S. Silly man.
Bradford County, C. S. Maurice.
Bucks County, T. Ogborn Atkinson,
Henry T. Moon.
Cambria County, Hartley C. Wolle.
Cameron County, Hon. Charles F. Barclay.
Carbon County, M. S. Kemmerer.
Centre County, Prof. Hugh P. Baker.
Chester County, Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall,
William M. Potts,
Mrs. David Reeves.
Clarion County, Jos. M. Fox.
Clearfield County, M. L McCreight.
Clinton County, Sidney D. Furst.
Columbia County, S. C. Creasy.
Crawford County, E. O. Emerson, Jr.
Cumberland County, Frank C. Bosler.
Dauphin County, Miss Mira L. Dock,
E. C. Felton.
Delaware County, Joseph Elkinton,
Dr. Samuel Trimble,
Chas. S. Welles.
Elk County, C. H. M'Cauley.
Fayette County, Hon. Nathaniel Ewing.
Forest County, T. D. Collins.
Franklin County, Geo. H. Wirt.
Greene County, A. H. Sayers.
Huntingdon County, Hon. Geo. B. Orlady.
Indiana County, S. J. Sides.
Jefferson County, S. B, Elliott.
Juniata County, S. E. Pannebaker.
Lackawanna County,. W^ W. Scran ton,
Hon. L. A. Watres.
Lancaster County, J. H. Baumgardner,
Prof. E. O. Lyte.
Lawrence County, David Jamison.
Lebanon County, Mrs. Bertham Dawson Coleman.
Lehigh County, Dr. J. M. Backenstoe,
Luzerne County, Mrs. Eckley B. Coxe,
Sidney K. Miner,
Gen. Paul A. Oliver,
Gen. H. W. Palmer,
Col. R. Bruce Ricketts,
I. A. Stearns.
Lycoming County, Hon. J. Henry Cochran,
C. LaRue Munson.
McKean County, F. H. Newell.
Mercer County, Jonas J. Pierce.
Mifflin County, F. W. Culbertson.
Monroe County, Joshua L. Baily.
Montgomery County, Dr. J. M. Anders,
Isaac H. Clothier,
Dr. H. M. Fisher,
W. W. Frazier,
Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger,
Dr. Samuel Wolfe.
Montour County, H. T. Hecht.
Northampton County, John Fritz,
Dr. J. S. Hunt,
Abraham S. Schropp.
Northumberland County, Q. R. Van Alen.
Perry County, Mrs. John Wister.
Philadelphia County, Henry Budd,
Henry Howson,
Joseph Johnson,
J. Franklin Meehan,
J. Rodman Paul,
Albert B. Weimer,
Dr. W. P. Wilson.
Pike County, John E. Avery.
Potter County, Arthur B. Mann.
Schuylkill County, Wm. L. Sheafer,
Heber S. Thompson.
Somerset County, H. D. Moore, M.D.
Susquehanna County, Edgar A. Turrell.
Tioga County, H. I. Fick.
Union County, Andrew Albright Leiser.
Venango County, James; Denton Hancock.
Warren County Hon. H. H. Cumings.
Wayne County, Alonzo T. Searle.
Westmoreland County, Hon. Lucien W. Doty.
Wyoming County, James W. Piatt.
York County, Dr. I. C. Gable.
Treasurer's Report.
vS
THE fiscal year of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association ends December i, 19 10, and
the statement of finances on that date was
as follows :
Treasurer's Statement to December i, igio.
Dr.
To balance on hand December i, 1909, , . | 959 35
Cash, annual dues to November 30, 1910^ , 1948 00
Cash, donations and subscriptions, . . 154 00
Cash, sale of Forest Leaves and advertise-
ments, . .' 239 81
Cash, interest on Life Membership bonds and
deposits, 351 74
Cash, Life Membership fees, . . . 100 00
Total, ^3752 90
Cr.
By cash, sundries, postage, office rent, etc., . % 448 68
Publication of Forest Leaves, . . . 993 8i
Assistant Secretary's salary, . . . 600 00
Meetings, 30 97
Life Membership fund, , . . . 100 00
Membership Committee, expenses of, . . 18 44
Finance Committee, Expenses of, , . 417
Taxes on investments, . . . . 14 80
Money invested, 1064 75
Balance on hand December I, 1910, . . 477 28
Total, ^$3752 90
Forest Leaves Fund.
Invested I2067 42
Life Membership Fund.
Invested,
Invested,
• •
• •
General Fund.
. I3710 00
I4078 06
Special Fund for Forest Exhibit.
In Bank, 375 00
Subscriptions promised, . . . , 105 00
Charles E. Pancoast,
Treasurer.
The owner of a suburban property in Merchant
ville, N. J. , obtained in the Circuit Court an award
of J 2, 000 damages for the destruction of five large
silver maple trees which, it was claimed, had been
killed by a leak in the gas main belonging to a
prominent corporation.
180
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
181
Address of the President of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association.
SIX years ago it was my privilege as your
President to invite attention to possible
future danger to the cause of forestry as it
won favor with the people, and circumstances
indicate that the time is near which may call for
the exercise of exalted patriotism to prevent a
noble effort being dragged in the mire of politics.
In a republic in which the people divide their
suffrage in favor of or against specific govern-
mental policies, there is the ever-present tendency
of parties or factions seeking to create or appro-
priate issues with which to appeal to voters.
Hence, we may expect that forestry, a late feature
of administration in National or State Govern-
ment, may need to be guarded against partisan
interest, stimulated by increasing numbers of per-
sons employed in administering and caring for
our forests, or against factional assumption of
guardianship.
Acknowledged allegiance to the tenets of a
political party or adherence to faction cannot be
considered indicative of special fitness in one who
is to care for or protect our forests. Neither can
it be assumed that such person will be the best
prepared to plant seedlings, to carry forward im-
provement cuttings, or to direct a combat with
forest fires.
While recognizing the value of technical educa-
. tion in all branches of industry, forestry is per se
a practical problem to be solved by experience
and study, for except in the Ipnger interval
between seed-planting and crop maturity, the
growth of trees does not differ from that of other
soil products. But the time which a tree must stand
before it should be harvested, and the intrinsic
value of individual plants, suggest that greater
care in propagation and protection are warranted.
Forestry presents practical as well as scientific
problems, and these are best solved by those
whose knowledge and experience fit them to in-
telligently grasp these ; and to produce the best
results in any community, the administration and
control of wooded areas, or the creation of forests
for the future, must be delegated to those who
have proven their capabilities and their devotion.
Pennsylvania is in the van in this particular,
her Forest Academy educating men for the special
duties of Forest Wardens, who, under the direction
of the Pennsylvania State Forestry Reservation
Commission, are given opportunities for practical
work in tree propagation, in improvement cut-
ting, and in combatting forest fires, thus securing
a combination of technical education and practi-
cal experience.
The Pennsylvania State College has a large
class studying forestry under eiificient leadership,
and the Yale summer school is offering young
men opportunity to combine technical courses
with practical demonstration.
Lehigh University, although making no attempt
to insert forestry in the curriculum, is enthusing
its students to appreciate the true value of fores-
try by lecture courses and by an arboretum.
With such sources to draw upon, Pennsylvania
need not rely upon uneducated or unskilled men
to care for its million acres of forest reserves, and
those who favor progressive forest policy may well
oppose every effort to confuse this with partisan
allegiance.
Another danger menacing is an apparent effort
to divide the friends of forestry and of other feat-
ures of conservation, upon the question of Govern-
ment or State control, of centralization of power,
or the assertion of State rights. There seems
little, if any, excuse for injecting this discussion
into the conservation movement, nor does any
real necessity for such discussion appear. In fact,
it is questionable if champions of either side can
present well established facts to conclusively de-
monstrate the merit of one or demerit of the
other. If forestry or other features of conserva-
tion become a partisan or factional slogan ; if a
controversy is inaugurated which divides the
friends of a movement which promises to result in
so much good ; the cause must suffer.
It is proper to discuss methods of administra-
tion and practices followed, with the purpose of
adapting those which show the best result from
the least expenditure, and neither National or
State control of forests have been applied in our
country for a sufficient time to demonstrate this
conclusively. We also do well to study the
methods followed in European countries, but
these may not be adapted for our Nation, an
aggregation of what has been termed Sovereign
States.
The accumulation of forest reserves by the
General Government has been rapid, and wisdom,
discretion and well applied energy will be re-
quired to determine the best system of administra-
tion for a total of 191,000,000 acres, widely
scattered and affected by diverse topographical,
geological, climatic and utilitarian conditions.
These reserves have been created by setting apart
vast areas of Government land, some of which
have been found to be better suited for other pur-
poses than forest growth, and these must be
segregated and otherwise allotted ; and it will
take time to solve the many problems connected
with the administration of these vast areas.
The National reserves have been made possible
by the people of the United States being brought
to an appreciation of past profligacy and the
necessity of caring for the future, and not by the
force of party measures. In Pennsylvania the
forest reserves have been secured and their admin-
istration provided for, free from partisan or fac-
tional influence, the minority and the dominant
parties aiding in this good work. The result is
shown by the record of a million acres of forest
reserve secured by direct purchase from owners,
by the establishment and maintainance of a Forest
Academy, and extensive tree nurseries, by the ap-
portionment of land for Sanitarium, and by a busi-
ness policy which commends the management.
The total expenditure for land, academy, educa-
tion, nurseries, seedlings, planted and distributed,
forests improved by cutting and for extinguishing
of forest fires during a period of 12 years is less
than $5,000,000.
With such records there would seem no field
* for the partisan, no need for a faction leader, as
the injection of either may be expected to weaken
and not to strengthen the cause of forestry. The
National Government requires time to demonstrate
the best method to care for 300,000 square miles
of forest reserves. Pennsylvania and other States
are working out problems which cannot be solved
in a day, and there seems to be no warrant for
dividing the friends of conservation upon ques-
tions which do not appear ripe for action.
P'or a quarter of a century the Pennsylvania
F'orestry Association has carried forward a cam-
paign for the education of public sentiment for
forest conservation, and during this interval it has
consistently avoided any political entanglements.
Public officials of high position have by their acts
demonstrated an interest in the movement for im-
proving the forested conditions of Pennsylvania,
but this has been free from any partisan bias.
The progress which has been made is believed
to be largely due to those who have been active
in advancing the forestry movement having a sin-
gleness of purpose, and not because a party or a
faction has accepted forestry as a slogan. It is
believed that a continuation of this same non-
partisan policy will bring the best results to the
State, for forest protection and all which it implies,
augurs good for the whole people, and the whole
people should be its champion.
No other forestry organization has been engaged
in a continuous effort for conservation for a longer
time than the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
It has published literature devoted to forestry
covering thousands of pages, it encourages the
co-operation of citizens of the State by lectures
and addresses, and its members have used their
individual influence in securing legislation which
places forestry in Pennsylvania in advance of any
other State in this particular.
If the organization is to continue a leader, such
leadership must be based upon mature delibera-
tion, and we cannot afford to depart from the safe
conservative policy which has heretofore charac-
terized the efforts which have resulted in so much
good to the State.
John Birkinbine,
President,
Report of the General Secretary of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
I
^^J OUR General Secretary regrets that business
of importance elsewhere renders it im-
possible for him to be present at this
meeting. He believes that it is of the first im-
portance that this Society should take a much
more aggressive stand than it has ever done in
regard to the forest policy of the State. The
time, in his judgment, has come for a fuller recog-
nition than ever by the public, and through the
public, by our Legislature, of the absolute press-
ing need of a most vigorous policy of forest
restriction and protection. We have allowed this
work upon which so much of the prosperity of the
Commonwealth depends to be relegated to a
secondary place in the government of the State.
It is of the first importance, and failure to recog-
nize this can only entail disaster in the future.
There are two avenues open to us by which
this much needed reform may be hastened.
The first one is by making the State forest
work and reserves bear an immediate, direct rela-
tion to as many as possible of our citizens. They
must in some way bear directly upon the life of
our people, and thus impress them with a sense
of ownership.
It is not difificult to find such points of contact.
In this connection we may allude to the high
price of meat during the past year or two. This
has primarily depended upon the scarcity of beef
cattle, whatever other influences may have been
brought to bear. And this in turn has reacted
in another direction, and tended to higher price
for and a poorer quality of milk, because many
milk producing cows have been slaughtered for
beef.
Do our forest reserves offer any aid in the
solution of this problem ?
Grazing in State land is at present forbidden ;
and this was rendered necessary by an abuse of
the privilege. Nevertheless, the prohibition has
been disregarded in some quarters, and cattle
roamed at will over part of the forest holdings of
the State.
! i
182
FOREST LEAVES.
I am of the opinion that this policy should be
reversed, and that the time has come for opening
our reserves to grazing, and that a system of
regulations should be adopted which will reduce
grazing to a properly regulated industry, where it
can be done without injury to the growing forest
crop.
There are at present hundreds of thousands of
acres of State forest land available on which the
young timber has passed the point at which it
could be hurt by cattle. And on this ground an
enormous body of meat could be annually pro-
duced.
I wish it to be distinctly understood, however,
that I realize this business must be under the
strictest control of the Forestry Commission,
otherwise grave injury would be done and serious
abuses would arise.
A second point of contact presents itself which
should bring about a closer alliance between the
public and the forestry work of the State.
During the hunting and fishing seasons thous-
ands of our citizens seek recreation in the forests
of the State. It has been the custom to consider
these outers as a negligible element. The fact is,
they are one of the most important elements of
our community. As a rule, they are law-abiding,
productive, influential citizens, and we are guilty
of a fatal error if we fail to recognize their im-
portance and their helpful influence in the forestry
work. Whatever help this Association can give to
the (xame and Fish Commissions of the State
should be most fully given.
It may not be out of place here — though not
strictly in the line of State forestry — to add that
four deer can be raised, according to the best esti-
mates, on forest land which will support but one
steer, and that deer-farmino^ is becoming a part
of Federal inquiry, and merits the consideration
of our State authorities. Its bearing upon the food
supply is evident.
Another point of contact between the people
and the State forest reserves is the opportunity
presented by the latter for public health. In this
respect the State of New York is distinctly in ad-
vance of Pennsylvania. Years ago that State ob-
tained large holdings in the great Adirondack
region with the avowed purpose of making an out-
ing ground for its people. That was the one great,
distinctly understood reason for State action. We
have in our own forest reserves equally suitable
regions, and the importance of action is no less
imperative on our part than it was in the case of
the sister State. It redounds to her credit that
her legislative action was so far in advance of
public recognition of its importance. I do not
base my appeal here on the fact that there are
thousands of persons in this State whose physical
condition demands rest in the open air, and whose
poverty debars them from obtaining it, though
that ought to awaken the sympathy of any prop-
erly contituted person, but upon the fact that it
would pay the State to set apart and equip outing
grounds on its forest reserves for such of our citi-
zens as need this rest and restoration to keep them
in the condition of wage earners. It would vastly
diminish the number of those who now become
charges upon the public bounty.
The oft-expressed fear that such campers would
increase the number of forest fires we have good
reason to know is ill-founded. Though I am
sure it would add thousands to the number who
would have a lively interest in the forestry work,
because of a sense of ownership in the forest re-
serves.
The question of forest fires is one which we have
ever with us. We cannot over-estimate its im-
portance. Though it must be stated here that
those who believe the prevention of forest fires
alone is all that is requisite in the way of State
forestry, are poorly informed upon this subject.
Production of the best forest crop without forestry
is no more possible than production of the best
farm crop without agriculture. There are useless
trees that grow as insistently in forests as weeds
do on farms, and the need of their elimination is
as great in the one case as in the other. It is
folly to suppose that France, Italy or Germany
would have persisted for centuries in scientific
forestry if they had not discovered that it paid to
do so.
Year after year I have insisted that our fire
policy was wrong. We should, on the score of
economy, aim to prevent rather than to suppress
forest fires. If we devoted as much money to the
former as we do to the latter we would have but
few fires, and the value of the timber saved would
be enormous. It is time for our people to recog-
nize that these annual conflagrations are burning
the very life out of the State.
Furthermore, it should be recognized that there
has not been a time in the last twenty years when
the laws were inadequate. Enforcement of ex-
isting laws would have been sufficient, and would
be now. It is unfortunately true that there are
regions in this State where every legal obstacle
is thrown in the way of those whose business it is
to protect the woodlands. My creed upon this
question is short. I would, if possible, bring suit
against every person or corporation where there
existed a reasonable suspicion that they had negli-
gently, or designedly, started a forest fire. Even
if the suit were decided against the forestry inter-
est, the public would awaken to the fact that we
FOREST LEAVES.
183-
were looking for the guilty parties. This alone
would have a deterrent effect.
It is imperative that on suitable ground forest
tree planting should be continued with increased
vigor. Anything short of 20,000,000 trees as- an
annual planting is inadequate. To accomplish
this not only should the Forestry Commission be
enabled to redouble its efforts, but it should be
encouraged to help the private land owner to re-
forest his waste land.
Tree diseases of recent origin demand investi-
gation and application of all known methods of
prevention. Blight and ^*pine wevil" are mak-
ing serious inroads upon our young white pine,
and the chestnut tree fungus is a menace of most
grave import. In this connection it may not be
amiss to say that I think we should pay more at-
tention to growth of the red, or so-called Norway
pine, which is indigenous to the colder parts of
our State and is of great commercial importance.
The second avenue by which we may reach
larger results in our forestry work is the recogni-
tion that we are an Association of 1,500 members,
and that each one of us is entitled to the privilege
of calling the attention of our representative in the
State Legislature to measures which we think are
in the interest of the Commonwealth. They are
our Representatives, and if we fail to inform them
of our wishes we can have but ourselves to blame,
even when they may think better to vote against
such measures as we favor.
I trust that every member of this Association
will give us active aid this winter in the passage
of rational methods of forest protection, and
especially of a rational system of forest taxation.
It has become a problem of great public import-
ance whether or not the State should interfere
with the private land owner in removal of timber
from his land.
There is no question that it is a legitimate func-
tion of Government to do whatever is requisite to
its own prosperous perpetuity, and whatever ob-
jection to State supervision of any private owner-
ship in forest lands might exist, would be set
aside by the constitutional provision of adequate
compensation, which I hope may be provired
for.
The Forestry Commission of this State has
given largely of its time and thought to the duties
for which it was created. There is not one of the
four advisory members who gives less than twenty-
four days each year without other compensation
than his actual expenses. Some of these gentle-
men give the State a hundred days each year of
uncompensated labor, and none of us begrudge
the service we may be able to render the Com-
monwealth.
All of its actions have been honestly conceived,
and we believe, honestly executed.
Whatever criticism the State Forestry Depart-
ment has received, I think, can be traced to
ignorance, political partisanship, personal interest,
or maliciousness. Until the Millennium dawns,
no public servant may hope to escape such influ-
ences. *' Less could not be said and more need
not be."
Respectfully submitted,
J. T. ROTHROCK,
General Secretary,
Report of Council.
PURING the past year the forestry move-
ment in Pennsylvania has shown a marked
advance, and this has also been the case
in the National Forest Service, although in the
latter there has been a deplorable clash between
those having authority over the National Forests,
while in New York the head of the State reserves
has resigned. In other States there has been
usually steady improvement, and in some instances
nucleii of State reserves have been established.
The United States Census has issued the offi-
cial figures of lumber production for the year
1909, showing that Pennsylvania ranks thirteenth,
with an output of one and a half billion feet B.
M., over one hundred million feet less than in the
year 1907. If this valuable industry, which has
for years shown gradual decreases, is to be con-
tinued, the areas suitable for timber must be pre-
served and conserved, the waste mountain sides,
the starting point of floods, being reforested,
bringing back part of the heritage originally
spread so lavishly over the State.
Unfortunately, however, our present laws give
no financial incentive to purchase or retain cut-
over lands and reforest them, the principal ob-
stacles being taxation and forest fires. Assessors
do not tax farms and then triennially raise the
rate on account of the crops obtained, and yet
this is the practice with timber land. Mountain
land worth fifty cents to one dollar per acre may
be purchased on which to raise a crop of timber,
and a small financial return can probably be secured
when thinnings are made, but the owner must
await the cutting of the crop (which is always
subject to the risk of destruction by forest fires),
forty years or more, before any profit is secured.
During this period he is obtaining no return, while
the State is being benefitted in the raising of the
timber, and his tax rate is constantly increasing.
In fact this has become so onerous as to force the
cutting of timber which would otherwise have
184
FOREST LEAVES.
been preserved. One member of our Association,
with a tract of virgin timber which he wished to
hold, stated that his tax rate was so high that he
could not afford to continue to pay it. It would
appear better to have a fixed tax rate on the land,
and then when the timber crop is gathered levy a
reasonable tax on this also. For a number of
years the Association has advocated the formation
of auxiliary forests taxed on the above plan. At the
first of the year the Legislature will convene in
its biennial session, and the support of the mem-
bers of the Association and their friends is
solicited in the endeavor to secure proper legisla-
tion covering taxation on forest lands, as well as
any other proposed laws which are just and will
aid in increasing, preserving, and conserving the
forests.
In the year 1910 the forest fire warden system
had its first full year with results justifying the
expense incurred. The total number of acres
burned over in Pennsylvania was 402,903, and
the estimated loss or damage $850,000 This,
of course, does not include the losses due to the
killing of young trees and saplings which had not
reached salable size, damage to the soil, etc.
This potential loss is attracting more attention in
this State, and has been allowed in some damage
suits.
Of the above amount, but 38,350 acres of
State forest reserves were burned, the loss being
approximately $57,750. The extreme drought
conditions which existed, particularly in the early
summer, resulted in a considerable area being fire
swept, but by the new system of forest fire
wardens this was reduced to a minimum, much less
than would have been the case under the old law.
The State Forest Academy has graduated
another class of students who are now actively
engaged in administering and conserving some of
the State forest reserves, which now aggregate a
million of acres.
The year 19 10 will be long remembered on
account of the large number and great destruction
by forest fires throughout the United States and
British Columbia, causing not only the loss of
timber, but valuable lives — 74 men being reported
killed in one of the Forest Service districts.
The fires were especially severe in the Pacific
Coast and Rocky Mountain Region. In the
National Forests in Montana and Idaho, the total
amount of timber killed or destroyed is estimated
by the Forest Service as over 6,000,000,000 feet
B. M., the area burned over being over 1,250,000
acres. One area devastated was nearly 100 miles
in length, and at its widest point reached 40
miles across. How much of the timber can
be salvaged is hard to predict ; but if it were all
a total loss, the stumpage value alone is equivalent
to $15,000,000. It is believed that the year's-
fires burned or killed between i and 2 per cent,
of the total stand of National Forest Timber.
The total lumber cut of the United States in
1909 was 44.5 billion feet, and in the National
Forests of but tw^o States, practically one seventh
of this amount was killed. If to this is added
the vast areas burned over in the National Forests
in other States, of State reserves, and the forests
owned by private parties, it is probably safe to
say that the value of the timber killed by fire in
the United States in 19 10 equalled, if it did not
exceed, the timber cut of last year. This does
not take into account the damage to young trees,
etc., and conservation will find here a wide field.
The area of the National Forests has been con-
siderably reduced during the past year due to the
elimination of non forest lands, being the result
of a careful investigation of the reserves, the total
on October i, 1910, being 191,482,807 acres, as
compared with 194,430,644 acres at the close of
the year 1909. These figures do not include our
insular possessions.
Arbor Days in the spring, declared by the Gov-
ernor, and that in the fall, when the schools are
all in session, announced by the Superintendent
of Public Instruction, were well observed.
The chestnut blight, the most serious menace
to one of Pennsylvania's valuable forest trees, has
been making ravages, more particularly in the
eastern portion of the State. It is now being
fought with more knowledge, and we trust may
soon be reported on the wane.
Railroads are studying the forestry problem,
and the principal system is this State has estab-
lished a nursery to raise young trees for plantation
purposes on lands owned by the company, with
the intent of raising part of its tie timber. Plants
have also been installed to treat the ties and tim-
bers used, so as to prolong their life. The tele-
graph and telephone companies are also treating
their poles, thus lessening this drain on the forests.
One of the largest coal companies in western
Pennsylvania has planted a tract of denuded land
with trees, while as has been mentioned from time
to time, there are many instances of scientific
forestry and tree planting by individuals in this
State.
The Department of Forestry is increasing its for-
est reserves when suitable tracts can be purchased,
and improving its facilities for properly caring
for and protecting those already secured. Nurse-
ries have been established at desirable points where
seedlings are raised for plantation purposes, so
that in course of time some of the large tracts of
fire-swept barren land now owned by the Com-
\N^
Forest Leaves, Vol. xii., No. 12.
o
2
i
>
i
>
i,
CO
en
<
LU
>
CM
CM
>
Z
o
I-
o
cc
<
UJ
<
I-
co
UJ
o
u.
D
Z
_l
<
O
<
QQ
A SECTION OF THE SWIFT RUN VALLEY ROAD READY FOR THE TOP
DRESSING OF GRAVEL.
A FINISHED SECTION OF THE SWIFT RUN VALLEY ROAD.
'*xwji.4»
Forest Leavks, Vol. xii., No. 12.
N
M
o
52;
o
>
<
i2
O
CO
<
HI
>
CM
CM
>
z
o
h-
o
z
Ij
<
UJ
<
I-
co
LU
QC
o
u.
H
D
Z
_l
<
<
_i
CD
A SECTION OF THE SWIFT RUN VALLEY ROAD READY FOR THE TOP
DRESSING OF GRAVEL.
, . !- '^
- ■ 1"
> ■
'• " - / \-' •
» ■ ■ >
»■ • • . ..
* '.'•
*
^ I
-_
N
**'"jT">. ' .
it^
"'■' •
^
^'--^
^ i.^ ^. -
^kSk..^M
^^i^^'s^X'^ -■
^':^ -1^5^
3^^^*- "lis**-
•>r ^
►\,.:,.^
.- ^..
^x.
r **
»
- '-'If
"^ ■ •,
-m^
' , ■ •
■». -
•^mhh^
^ ■'^^^:,t^.
A FINISHED SECTION OF THE SWIFT RUN VALLEY ROAD.
INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE
FOREST LEAVES.
185
monwealth can be planted with valuable species
of trees.
The press throughout the State, the lumbermen,
women's clubs and other organizations have at.
all times extended willing and valuable aid.
The official publication, Forest Leaves, has
been issued regularly, and has nearly completed
the twenty-fifth year of its continuous publi-
cation.
The intention to hold a Forest Exhibit has not
been abandoned, and it is hoped that this ex-
hibit may be a feature of the coming year. The
amounts contributed for this purpose are kept in a
separate fund.
The Association has been prosperous, and dur-
ing the year many new members were secured ;
but we regret to announce the loss of Mr. Richard
Wood, a Vice-President, of Mrs. William Dorris,
Mr. Henry T. Coates, and Mr. Charles Potts,
members of Council, and of other members
throughout the State. The total membership is
now 1,484. F. L. BiTLER,
Recording Secretary.
Black Walnut Plantation in Kentucky.
MR. J. B. ATKINSON, President of the
St. Bernard Mining Company, Earling-
ton, Ky., has kindly supplied the larger
illustration of young black walnut trees. He
says that ** twenty years ago the St. Bernard Min-
ing Co. began to plant trees on lands that were
no longer valuable for the growth of tobacco and
corn. My experience as a mining man indicated
that the time would come when timber would be
far more valuable and difficult to secure for min-
ing operations.
*' At that time I had given little thought as to
the time it takes forest trees to mature, and had
little knowledge of tree growth. Considerable
timber of the many varieties growing in the Ken-
tucky forests had been cut, and the study of tree
growth began by counting the annular rings of the
stumps, and much time spent, then and since, in
determining how long it took the destroyed tree
to grow.
** The first tree planting was with the black wal-
nut, the nut of which was planted in the autumn,
with the hull on, when the nuts became mature.
The ground was prepared as for corn, and the
nuts planted 4'x4', or 2770 to the acre, being
covered with soil from ^" to i" in depth. The
land was cultivated for three or four years the
same as for corn, and then blue grass sown, the
idea being that in ten or twelve years the trees
would be large enough to permit pasturage. One
of the inducements in planting walnut forests,
adding blue grass, and making a pasture was,
there would be no danger of fire. The leaves
and stems of the walnut trees quickly assimilated
with the soil.
**All trees thrive as the soil is good or indif-
ferent, and maturity depends much on the same
condition.
**The forest planting of walnuts 22 years ago
has been thinned out until an acre contains about
770 trees. Three groups of trees were selected in
the above forest, counting the trees in rows as
planted.
^* Twenty-nine trees, with average diameter of
5.3", should grow to 12'' in 50 years. Largest
tree was 9.3'' and smallest tree 2.3" diameter.
** Twenty -seven trees gave average diameter of
4.89", and should grow to 12" in 57 years.
** Forty trees, average diameter of 4.04'', will
take 65 years to reach 12" diameter.
** Out of the 4,000 trees standing in this forest,
one tree is 11.7" diameter, and one tree 9.3"
diameter. At 9 and 10 years old the trees pro-
duced nuts, and this forest has been used as a
pasture ever since.
) >
Roads on the Jack's Mountain Forest
Reserve.
THE Jack's Mountain Forest Reserve in-
cludes the mountainous sections of the
northwestern corner of Snyder and the
southwestern corner of Union counties, and con-
tains in the neighborhood of 35,000 or 40,000
acres.
Within this area, at the time of purchase by
the Forestry Reservation Commission, there was,
all told, about 15 miles of roads which could be
driven. Between 4 and 5 miles of this was
township road, and, as is generally the case in
mountainous sections, very little money is ex-
pended on them for repairs. The remaining 10
miles, formerly used principally by hunters and
known as '* Hunter's Road," was in very bad
condition. I know of one instance where a man
was thrown from the seat of a wagon to the
ground by jolting over a rock. At a cost of
about $30 per mile this road was ** brushed out '*
and repaired, being now in fairly good driving
condition.
The lack of roads here is due to the fact that
lumbering was carried on by means of tram roads,
thus making wagon roads unnecessary.
It now becomes essential to construct a system
which will cover present needs and also the re-
quirements of the future. The system as planned
186
FOREST LEAVES.
will include a road throughout the length of each
valley, which are nearly parallel to each other,
with connections through gaps in the mountains.
Where gaps are too far apart, either a road, trail,
or a fire lane will be made crossing the ridge,
connecting with the roads in the valleys. This is
working towards the ** checkered" system.
Operations for the working out of this plan
were begun with the repairing of the '* Hunter's
Road" in the fall of 1908. The following spring
a new piece of road, over a mile in length, was
constructed through a gap which shortened the
distance to the Hunter's Valley almost 3 miles,
made a much easier grade, and a vastly better
road. The cost was about $438.
At present, we are building a road through the
Swift Run Valley. A section of this valley for
several miles in length is very rocky, which
necessitates the breaking up of the rocks and
'* pikeing ; " a good idea of the conditions to be
dealt with is given in the illustrations. The
breaking of the rocks for '* pikeing" is done by
the use of dynamite and ten pound sledges and
*' napped" fine (as shown in illustration No. i),
with five pound hammers. The broken stones are
about eight inches in depth.
The second illustration is of the same section
as that of the other, and shows the completed
road. The top dressing or surface covering, is a
red gravel which is carted on from an outcrop in
a gap through which the road extends.
This road is costing about $1500 per mile,
which includes boarding the crew. A glance at
the illustrations will show that the cost of con-
struction is low considering the conditions to be
dealt with.
Frequently the question is asked me, *'Why
are you building these roads? " The answer can
be given in a few words. It is to make the re-
serve accessible. A few of the more important
reasons why the reserve should be made access-
ible may be outlined as follows : —
I. For General Management. In order to at-
tend to their many and varied minor duties, the
reserve force require the use of roads.
II. P'or Specific Management. This includes:
1. Fire protection.
(df) As a means of transporting a
force of men to fight fires.
(<^) The bases from which to fight
fires.
2. Silvicultural operations, such as plan-
tations, thinnings, improvement
cuttings and lumbering.
Roads are absolutely necessary for specific
management. It is almost an impossibility to
have an adequate system of fire protection with-
out them, and the necessity for this cannot be too
strongly emphasized. Plantations and other
silvicultural operations should be carried on in
many localities, but cannot be done with any
degree of success until there are good roads.
Taking into consideration the approximately
small cost for which good roads can be con-
structed, and the many benefits to be derived,
there should be no question regarding the advisa-
bility of putting more money and time in this line
of work at present than in any other.
W. Gardiner Conklin,
Forester,
Effect of Moisture on ^A^ood.
•
rXTHE effect of water in softening organic
1 tissue, as in wetting a piece of paper or a
^ sponge, is well known, and so is the
stiffening effect of drying. The same law applies
to wood. By different methods of seasoning two
pieces of the same stick may be given very
different degrees of strength.
Wood in its green state contains moisture in the
pores of the cells, like honey in a comb, and also
in the substance of the cell walls. As seasoning
begins, the moisture in the pores is first evaporated.
This lessens the weight of the wood, but does not
affect its strength. It is not until the moisture in
the substance of the cell walls is drawn upon that
the strength of the wood begins to increase.
Scientifically, this point is known as the ^* fiber-
saturation point." From this condition to that
of absolute dryness the gain in the strength of
wood is somewhat remarkable. In the case of
spruce the strength is multiplied four times; in-
deed, spruce, in small sizes, thoroughly dried in
an oven, is as strong, weight for weight, as steel.
Even after the reabsorption of moisture, when the
wood is again exposed to the air the strength of
the sticks is still from 50 to 150 per cent, greater
than when it was green. When, in drying, the
fiber-saturation point is passed, the strength of
wood increases as drying progresses, in accord-
ance with a definite law, and this law can be used
to calculate from the strength of a stick at one
degree of moisture what its strength will be at
any other degree.
Manufacturers, engineers, and builders need to
know not only the strength but the weakness of
the materials they use, and for this reason they
are quite as much interested in knowing how
timbers are affected by moisture as they are in
knowing how they are weakened by knots, checks,
cross-grain, and other defects. It is obvious that
where timbers are certain to be weakened by ex-
FOREST LEAVES.
187
cessive moisture they will have to be used in larger
•sizes, for safety. So far, engineers of timber
tests, while showing that small pieces gained
greatly in strength, do not advise counting on
the same results in the seasoning of large timbers,
owing to the fact that the large timbers usually
found in the market have defects which are sure
to counterbalance the gain from seasoning.
The Forest Service has just issued a publication
■entitled *^The Strength of Wood as Influenced by
Moisture," in which are shown the strength of
representative woods in all the degrees of moisture
from the green state to absolute dryness, and the
-effects of resoaking.
Conditions for Tree Planting in Northern
Pennsylvania.
(Read at the Foresters' Convention, Harrisburg, Pa.)
THE forest lands of northern Pennsylvania
now owned by the State, are those areas
which include the most rocky and rugged
portions of the region. This section consists
principally of a highland carved out by streams,
and abounds in narrow uplands, steep slopes, and
extremely narrow valleys. 7'he soil as a rule is
moderately fertile, well drained, and of a sand-
stone character. White pine was the dominant
tree, and hemlock was also found in great quanti-
ties. Valuable crops of hard woods were removed
after the conifers were taken, but with the ex-
ception of a few scattering operations, lumbering
is about over, and in all probability ten years will
«ee the end of the big lumber operations. The
headwaters of many of the important streams of
the State are here, and, aside from the revenue
realized from the production of forest cro})s, the
necessity of reforesting these areas for the preven-
tion of flood, water famine and disease, is strongly
apparent. The repeated fires fed from the slash-
ings left by the lumbermen have placed many
parts of this region in such condition that the
only species growing are aspen, wild cherry, scrub
oak, and red maple.
Many of the steeper slopes have been so
burned and the soil loosened, that the erosion,
which naturally follows, has exposed the bare
rocks. Hardly any growth is visible, and it is
extremely probable that no suitable forest cover
can ever be obtained under the conditions just
mentioned, and if possible, then only at enormous
cost.
On the other hand, on many of the slopes where
fires h^ve not been too numerous and severe,
fairly good stands of hardwoods with scatterings
of white pine and hemlock are coming up. If a
suitable growth is desired, there is no question
whatever that artificial regeneration will have to
be resorted to. There are thousands of acres of
such lands, and the cost of reforestation will be
L greatly in excess of that under normal conditions.
I The question is how to reforest these lands suita-
bly at the least expense. In the open spaces and
where the growth is not thick enough, planting
may be done with species meeting the soil and
light requirements, but owing to the excessive
amount of dead and down timber the work would
be difficult as well as expensive.
The flat upland region presents about the same
conditions. Along the ridges stands of pitch
pine of nearly merchantable size are quite com-
mon. The heads of many of the hollows still
contain some merchantable white pine, hemlocks,
and hardwoods left by the lumbermen.
Where the fires have been severe in the upland
region, bracken comes up in such rank masses
that all other plant growth worth mentioning is
excluded. Such areas if ever restocked will have
to be planted up with some suitable shade endur-
ing species or with seedlings old enough to com-
bat favorably with the bracken.
The extremely dry sandy areas which once
contained the red (Norway) pine, are locally
designated as ** barrens." For restocking, the
same or some species of similar requirements
would be necessary. The hollows as a rule have
a good regeneration of hardwoods and hemlocks,
and if fires are kept out will produce a good crop.
Abandoned farm lands can easily be restocked
with white pine, as is shown by the amount of it
now coming up on lands in reach of nearby seed
trees.
In all probability conifers are the best adapted
for planting. ' The soil is favorable to white
pine, as is shown by the enormous crops that
were once removed. Conifers produce a vari-
ety of material which is in great demand, are
far superior to hardwoods for protective planting,
and grow on soils where hardwoods would not be
profitable.
Suitable species for this region are white pine,
red pine, Scotch pine, jack pine, Norway spruce,
chestnut and red oak.
As previously mentioned, white pine is prefer-
able, seeming to meet the conditions best. Its
finest growth is on deep, light, sandy soil with
porous subsoil, and it endures windy and cold
exposures. Its ligllt requirements are such that
it will grow favorably with species already on the
ground.
Red pine, though not so valuable as white
pine, is also a good tree. Its freedom from insect
injury makes it valuable, and its ability to grow
188
FOREST LEAVES.
on dry sandy areas is of importance. Scotch
pine could be used because of its ability to grow
on sandy and exposed situations. Norway spruce
will thrive on dry soil, does not require a particu-
larly fertile situation, and is shade enduring.
These characteristics make it a valuable tree for
those areas now occupied by bracken.
Of the hardwoods, chestnut, because of its
adaptability to different soils (limestone ex-
cepted), its quick growth, and value as lumber,
would probably be as good as any.
Although planting is necessary in many places,
the conditions are such that better protection will
have to be assured before it can be carried on
safely. Most of the land is out of sight of habi-
tation, heavy slashings still remain in many
places, and the soil and humus, through lack of
sufficient leaf canopy, is so dry that fire can be
expected at almost any time of the year. An
adequate system of roads and fire lanes will have
to be perfected, and quick communication to all
parts of the reserve must be established.
Harry E. Elliott.
President Taft on Forestry.
*■
IN his Annual Message to Congress, the Presi-
dent recommends that the limitation now
imposed upon the Executive which forbids
reserving more forest lands in Oregon, Washing-
ton, Idaho, Montana, Colorado and Wyoming be
repealed.
In referring to the forest service he says : ** The
Secretary of Agriculture gives a very full descrip-
tion of the disastrous fires that occurred during
the last summer in the national forests.
A drought more intense than any recorded in
the history of the West has introduced a condition
into the forests which made fires almost inevitable,
and locomotive sparks, negligent campers, and in
some cases incendiaries furnished the needed im-
mediate cause. At one time the fires were so
extended that they covered a range of loo miles,
and the Secretary estimates that standing timber
of the value of $25,000,000 was destroyed. Sev-
enty-six persons in the employ of the Forest Ser-
vice were killed and many more injured, and I
regret to say that there is no provision in the law
by which the expenses for their hospital treatment
or of their interment could be met out of public
funds. The Red Cross contributed $1000, and
the remainder of the necessary expenses was made
up by private contribution, chiefly from the force
of the Forest Service and its officials.
I recommend that suitable legislation be adopted
to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to meet the
moral obligations of the Government in this re-
spect.
The specific fund for fighting fires was only
about $135,000, but there existed discretion in
the Secretary in case of an emergency to apply
other funds in his control to this purpose, and he
did so to the extent of nearly $1,000,000, which
will involve the presentation of a deficiency esti-
mate for the current fiscal year of over $900,000.
The damage done was not, therefore, due to the
lack of an appropriation by Congress available to
meet the emergency, but the difficulty of fighting
it lay in the remote points where the fires began
and where it was impossible with the roads and
trails as they now exist promptly to reach them.
Proper protection necessitates, as the Secretary
points out, the expenditure of a good deal more
money in the development of roads and trails in
the forests, the establishment of lookout stations,
and telephone connection between them and
places where assistance can be secured.
The amount of reforestation shown in the report
of the Forest Service — only about 15,000 acres as
compared with the 150,000,000 of acres of na-
tional forests — seems small, and I am glad to note
that in this regard the Secretary of Agriculture and
the chief of the Forest Service are looking for-
ward to far greater activity in the use of available
Government land for this purpose.
Progress has been made in learning by experi-
ment the best method of reforesting. Congress-
is appealed to now by the Secretary of Agricul-
ture to make the appropriations needed for en-
larging the usefulness of the Forest Service in this
regard. I hope that Congress will approve and
adoi)t the estimate of the Secretary for this pur-
pose."
The Chestnut Blight.
FOR several years it has been known that the
chestnut blight i Diaporthe parasitica) has
been at work in Pennsylvania, its worst
attacks having been made in the southeastern
counties. The Department of Forestry has made
an investigation as to the extent of the infection,
and issued a bulletin describing the Blight, giving
its history, and, in fact, a resume of what was
known concerning the disease to the date of pub-
lication.
In some few instances efforts were made to
check the damage, but in no case was there any
concerted action taken ; consequently, what was
done resulted in no general good. During the
past summer the matter was taken up by the Main
Line Citizens' Association, which is composed of
those whose properties are located on either side
m. M!m.\
FOREST LEAVES.
189
of the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad be-
tween Philadelphia and Pittsburg, for some dis-
tance from the former city. The object in view
was to interest all or most of the owners of land
in the region, and then work together in a sys-
tematic way toward the removal of infected trees
or parts of trees, so as to stop the spread of the
fungus spores, and, if possible, to save the unin-
fected chestnut trees.
To this end an appeal was made to the Depart-
ment of Forestry for assistance, which was promptly
granted. Hon. I. C. Williams, Deputy Commis-
sioner of Forestry, took charge of the work, and
with the assistance of the State Forest Inspector,
several foresters, and a number of students from
the State Forest Academy, has rendered all the
help possible. The Citizens* Association has
paid the expenses for transportation and mainten-
ance of the men.
The method of work was to inspect each chest-
nut tree on an estate, mark its location on a draft
of the estate, tag it with a numbered tree tag, and
make a report concerning the tree under its re-
spective number as to any infection found. A
tracing was made from the draft, infected and un-
infected trees indicated, and blue prints made
from the tracing. A blue print, together with a
copy of the tree record and a letter of instruc-
tion, were sent to the owner of each property ex-
amined. In case the owner desired to remove
whole trees, the foresters marked the trees to be
removed.
It can be understood readily that on these
estates trees are valuable, not because of all the
wood or timber they will make, but because of the
other things for which trees stand. Any amount
of money would be spent to save a large tree for
its shade or its landscape value. A high percent-
age of the trees found growing naturally are chest-
nut, and many of them are immense — centuries
old. When the chestnut blight began to affect
such trees, it brought about an irreparable loss.
Small trees could be replaced by others ; other
trees would produce wood or timber in time ; but
these stately monarchs could never be replaced.
In recent years there has been a great demand
for **tree doctors" to care for trees on estates,
parks, etc., and numerous firms have set themselves
up to do service. Such firms were at work before
the chestnut blight. When the latter came and
caused dead or dying branches, they were re-
moved in the usual manner. It was customary,
with the exception of one firm, to use climbing-
irons in doing the work. Old wounds and fresh
wounds were often unprotected by paint, creo-
sote, or other disinfectant, so altogether a great
deal of infection may be laid at the feet of the so-
called *' Landscape Foresters" — a misnomer in
every way. In not a i^^N instances it was evident
that infection was carried by tools from an in-
fected branch to what had been an uninfected
one. Also many cases were found where infec-
tion started in the holes made by climbing-irons.
In most instances the trees worst affected were
those standing on lawns, where artificial condi-
tions exist, or where recent cutting had been
done. Trees with numerous spore cases develop-
ing just above the surface of the ground did not
always show death in the crown. Indeed, many
times such trees, and some smaller trees com-
pletely girdled as far as outward appearances
went, bore the greenest leaves. Infection was
often found in bark cracks. No doubt in some
cases the blight caused the bark to crack, while
in others the seasonal cracks due to growth may
have been the openings in which the spores found
lodgment.
On a branch, girdled at a point where it was
about one inch in diameter, and dead from there
to the tip, signs of the fungus were found twenty-
one inches from the point of girdling toward the
tree. This would indicate that in pruning it is
necessary to remove a branch at a point quite a
distance from where the fruiting bodies are evi-
dent.
All bark should be burned. As long as there
is any food in the neighborhood of the cambium
layer, the fungus will continue to develop ; and
this may be sufficient to produce millions of
spores. Instances of such conditions were found
on a number of wood piles. No blight was found
on dead wood, but spores were found developing
on the top of a growing root from which the bark
and a thin layer of wood had been removed.
A species of diaporthe was found attacking the
beech. It appears very similar to parasitica when
examined by naked eye, but under the microscope
the spores are seen to be quite different.
G. H. W.
Forestry at White Haven.
THE picturesque Lehigh Valley in the neigh-
borhood of White Haven was for many
years well known as a lumbering center.
Within a distance of half a mile there were six
large saw- mills built at the water's edge, a large
tannery from which the village ** Lehigh Tan-
nery " takes its name, and a kindling-wood fac-
tory on the east side of Lehigh river at a place
called Bridgeport.
The water for handling the logs and furnishing
power to the mills was obtained by damming the
river at frequent intervals. Most of these dams
190
FOREST LEAVES.
FOREST LEAVES.
were washed away by the freshets twelve years ago
and there is only one remaining in this region,
that at White Haven.
Of the six mills there remains but one, an im-
mense structure in a more or less weather-worn
condition, giving mute but convincing evidence
of the greatness of a powerful industry that has
passed away forever from this section — unless the
present generation awakes to the importance of
reforesting the barren and waste places. The
large tannery and kindling-wood factory were long
since abandoned and became a prey to fire so that
the ruined foundations alone mark the spots where
they once thrived.
The land on either side of the river was once
the site of an immense forest consisting mainly of
white pine, interspersed with giant hemlock.
This furnished the main part of the lumbering in
this section.
There is no virgin timber remaining, and the
second growth has been terribly retarded by the
frequent forest fires which rage every fall and
spring. As I sit on the portico of my cottage,
which is at an elevation of i,6oo feet on the west
side of the Lehigh river, I can look over at the
Pocono mountains — a distance of from 19 to 25
miles. Here and there for miles and miles I can
see dark brown areas covering many hundreds of
acres where there is no green foliage as a result of
the devastating fires of the fall of 1909 and spring
of 1910. The contrast with the parts which were
not burned is very vivid, and would make a very
beautiful scenic effect were it not saddened by the
knowledge of the permanent loss effected by the
fires.
The new growth of timber consists of hemlock,
chestnut, walnut or butternut, poplar, bass, red
oak, the birches, but practically no pine except
where it has been planted.
About nine years ago the White Haven Sana-
torium Association secured land in this section to
the amount of about 230 acres, including a part
of what is known as Green Mountain. This land
has a cleared area amounting to about 75 acres —
the remainder is very thickly covered by second
growth timber, much of which is of good size.
Very large trees are scarce ; we recently, however,
cut down a large curly maple (on account of death
of top), which measured 40 inches across the butt
and which was estimated to be 275 years old.
Recently, through the generosity of the late
Miss Rebecca Coxe, the Association came into
possession of a large tract containing about seven-
teen acres, which is continuous with the Sana-
torium tract. This plot has considerable virgin
timber on it and a great many young and old
white pines.
About eight years ago the Association planted
a large quantity of white pine seed on the slopes
of the mountain, and at present in many places
numerous small vigorous growths can be found as
a result of this, but on account of the nature of
the soil (shaly) much of the seed was probably
washed out soon after planting.
A fire- line fifty feet wide was established and is
yearly re-burned, so that there never has been an
uncontrollable fire since. A forestry department
has been established and patients, whose disease
has been arrested, are given employment in the
woods. The plan is to clear the forest of all
underbrush, make the necessary improvement cut-
tings, and create a series of scenic paths and
walks for the convalescent patients.
After consulting Dr. J. T. Rothrock, a small
saw-mill was installed, and all logs are sawed into
lumber to be used on the plant. This has proven
to be a very economical way of paying for the
cost of the forestry clearing. He also advised the
planting of white pine seedlings — two to three
years old — for reforesting. This past spring nearly
8,000 of these seedlings were planted, and they
are mostly all taking root, and will help materially
in replenishing the woodland on our mountain
slopes. Alex. Armstrong.
*' The influence of forest cover on water-flow is
of a three-fold nature; (i) the mechanical ob-
struction which the foliage offers reduces the
amount of the water which reaches the soil and
lengthens the time during which it can do so ';
the foliage, together with the loose litter of the
forest floor, also reduces the compacting efl'ect of
the rain-drops and the drying efl'ect of sun and
wind and keeps the soil granular, so that the water
can easily percolate ; ( 2 ) then the mechanical ob-
struction which the litter, underbrush and trunks,
and possibly here and there moss, offer to the
rapid surface drainage of waters, lengthens the
time during which this percolation may take place ;
and (3) the network of deeply penetrating roots,
live and decayed, offer additional channels for a
change of surface drainage into sub-drainage. In
addition, owing to the influence on temperature
and moisture conditions of the air, together with
reduced evaporation, more water becomes availa-
ble to the soil, and certainly the fact that the
water, by ready percolation, is withdrawn from
the dissipative effects of sun and wind, must tend
in this direction. We should consider the pro-
tection of our watersheds as much a national
problem as the improvement of our waterways,
and even more so." — Dr. Fernow.
191
J. T. ROTHROCK,
Consulting Forester,
WEST CHESTER, PA.
FOREST LEilVE^.
o4tx>
THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
Terms upon Application.
L.B^a£IS* tr
OHKRTS.
Part I.— THE OAKS. Forty-two species.
No. 1. Biennial Fruited Oaks. Black Oak and Allies.
No. 2. Annual Fruited Oaks. White Oak and Allies.
No. 3. Southern, Pacific, Hardy, Foreign, and examples qf
Extinct Oaks.
Part II.— THE NUT BEARERS. Numerous species.
No. 4. The Chestnuts and Beeches. American, Japanese and
European Chestnuts.
No. 5. The Walnuts. American, Japanese and European
species and varieties.
No. 6. The Hickories. American species and varieties.
Part III.—
No. 7. The Willows and Poplars. Numerous species.
No. 8. The Birches, Elms and allies.
No. 9. The Lindens, and allied families of numerous species.
Part IV.—
♦No. 10. The Magnolia and related trees.
♦No. 11. The Horse Chestnuts and allies.
No. 12. The Maples. (Printed in advance.)
(Those with an * as yet unprinted.)
Price for the ten Charts published, $4.00.
For further information address the author, publisher and
f proprietor,
GRACEANNA LEWIS,
Media, - - - - FennsylvaDia. i
OF THE
Pennsylvania
Forestry
Association.
^s^P^
The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.
RATES
■
•
1
insertion. i
6
nsertions.
It
insertions.
I inch, . .
$1.00
$4.00
$8.00
'A page, . .
4.00
17.00
34-0^
7^ • •
7.00
30.00
60.00
T <<
12.00
50.00
100.00
i
192
FOREST LEAVES.
■,-■■ ' •»*. ■.■•■.•..■' ^^
■' ' ■■ "" ■■' ■' "'7'
1 ^
• .
• ■ -.i-i ^T-^t- .».«'.■:;■ L : ■■
"'^v-....;,,-^s*^'-':.-
,-:V.';^aSkaiiS;"- .
The Pennsylvania State College
Hi
FOUR YEAR COURSE
IN FORESTRY.
A thorough and practical undergraduate
course in technical forestry — preparing men
for all lines of professional and applied
forestry.
Special attention is paid to practical field
work in surveying, mapping and forest
measurements. One of the largest of the
State Forest Reserves is within a short walk
of the College. For information regarding
entrance requirements, expenses, etc., address
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY,
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
FORESTERS
CONSULTING AND OPERATING
The beauty and value of forest growth depends
materially on the proper care and training of the
trees. Nature is in many things a rough mother.
Her method of pruning leads to decay ; she over-
burdens the trees with superabundant growth ; the
feeding matter is washed off the hillsides and in
exposed situations the dropping leaves, tlie main
source of food supply, are blown away.
Proper and scientific pruning will prevent decay
and relieve the tree of superfluous growth, while
well advised planting will conserve the food
supply.
With our professional foresters and trained corps
of scientific pruners we are prepared to give the
best possible attention to forestry problems and to
properly treat ornamental trees and shrubs of all
kinds.
Thomas Meehan & Sons, Inc.
LANDSCAPE GARDENERS AND ENGINEERS
Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa.
Biltmore Forest School.
BILTMORE. N. C.
0 0 0 0
The Biltmore Forest School is the
oldest school of forestry and lumbering
in America. Its working fields comprise
the Southern Appalachians, the Lake
States, and Central Germany. It never
leaves the woods. ,
The complete course covers twelve
consecutive months at the school, fol-
lowed by six consecutive months of
practical prenticeship.
Write for particulars, addressing
C. A. SCHENCK, Ph.D., Director,
BILTMORE, N. C.
CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY,
CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA.
30 minutes from Broad St. Statioo.
BOARDING SCHOOL FOR BOTS.
Illustrated Catalogue upon, application,
JAMES L. PATTERSON,
Head Master.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., President.
Samuel F. Houston, Vice-President.
George Woodward, Secretary and Treasurer.
JAMES M. BECK.
WALTON CLARK.
JACOB 8. DIS8T0N.
EDGAR DUDLEY FARIBS.
FRANCIS I. GOWEN.
J. LEVERING JONES.
DR. HOWARD A. KELLY.
FRANCIS D. LEWIS.
RANDAL MORGAN.
H. GORDON MCCOUCH.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
JAMES R. SHEFFIELD.
Of twenty-three graduates in 1910, twenty entered
college, and of the twenty, seventeen entered without
conditions.