Title: Forest leaves, v. 16 Place of Publication: Philadelphia Copyright Date: 1917 Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAg062.3 ^ Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 1 Philadelphia, February, 1917 Whole Number 177 EDITORIALS. THE Allied Fish, Game and Forestry Associa- tions of eastern Pennsylvania had their meet- ing in Harrisburg, January 4th, 5th and 6th. The Pennsylvania Forestry Department and the Pennsylvania Forestry Association were repre- sented in the meeting. Most, if not all, of the organizations of outers in the State had been in- vited, either : ** to throw up their hands by casting to the winds the principles and objects of your Association;" or to *'join with the other Associa- tions of the southeastern section of the State in forming the views of a section whose geographic and climatic conditions are the same." This would seem to be the proper place to say, that the reason why the Pennsylvania Forestry Association did not throw up its hands, is that for more than thirty years it has been aiding in bring- ing the sentiment of the State to the very point for which the Allied organizations are now earnest- ly laboring. To be explicit : The Pennsylvania Forestry is thirty-one years old; with the exception of one short-lived associa- tion, it is the oldest State Forestry Association in America. When it began its useful career the word '^Forestry" was practically a new term in the country. The Association employed its agent to go over the State and give illustrated lectures, showing the deplorable condition to which lum- bering had reduced a large portion of the Com- monwealth. It also prepared and influenced the enactment of wise forestry laws., The bill creating the first Forestry Commission was drawn up in the office of the Association by its secretary, and through the direct influence of leading trade, commercial and educational agencies enlisted by the Forestry Association, that bill be- came a law. The present State Department of Forestry is the direct outcome of the report of that Commission and of the aid received from the '' State Federa- tion of Pennsylvania Women." When that Forestry Commission was created, the State owned not an acre of Forest Reserve. It has now more than a million acres ! Because of the influences, and the educational agencies of the Department of Forestry, the State has at last be- come awakened to the wickedness and the use- lessness of forest fires. The claim of the citizens of the State upon its lands as outing grounds was first distinctly, autho- ritatively recognized in 1900, when the following notice was posted on State Lands : This Land Belongs to the State of Pennsylvania Destruction or Removal of Timber or other property is Forbidden Lawful Hunting and Fishing are allowed on State Lands ; but Fires must not be started Commissioner of Forestry. Every year thousands of people go into^ camp' on the State Forest Reserves, and are welcomed there. Hundreds of cabins, summer homes, and bungalows, for a mere nominal rent, have already, or will in the near future, be located on State Land. The first free Sanatorium for consumptive citi- zens of the State was instituted by the Department of Forestry on State Land, and out of it has been developed by the efficiency and wisdom of Dr. Dixon, a great charity which is a crown of glory to the Commonwealth. Before even the first State land for a game re- serve was asked for it was off'ered by the Depart- ment of Forestry. That there is yet so small an area of State Re- serve on the Ohio watershed is no fault of the Department of Forestry, or of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. It has been diligently sought for under exactly the same conditions as every acre of the existing reserves were purchased. These facts are plain to all who care to recognize them ! Now, gentlemen of the Allied organizations, we wish you success in your plans, for they are in line* with our own. We will aid you whenever, wher- ever possible, and we will sincerely welcome like help from you. /4o^^^ .» ^ Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 1 Philadelphia, February, 1917 Whole Number 177 EDITORIALS. THE Allied Fish, Game and Forestry Associa- tions of eastern Pennsylvania had their meet- ing in Harrisburg, January 4th, 5th and 6th. The Pennsylvania Forestry Department and the Pennsylvania Forestry Association were repre- sented in the meeting. Most, if not all, of the organizations of outers in the State had been in- vited, either : *' to throw up their hands by casting to the winds the principles and objects of your Association ;*' or to *' join with the other Associa- tions of the southeastern section of the State in forming the views of a section whose geographic and climatic conditions are the same.'* This would seem to be the proper place to say, that the reason why the Pennsylvania Forestry Association did not throw up its hands, is that for more than thirty years it has been aiding in bring- ing the sentiment of the State to the very point for which the Allied organizations are now earnest- ly laboring. To be explicit : The Pennsylvania Forestry is thirty-one years old; with the exception of one short-lived associa- tion, it is the oldest State Forestry Association in America. When it began its useful career the word "Forestry" was practically a new term in the country. The Association employed its agent to go over the State and give illustrated lectures, showing the deplorable condition to which lum- bering had reduced a large portion of the Com- monwealth. It also prepared and influenced the enactment of wise forestry laws. The bill creating the first Forestry Commission was drawn up in the office of the Association by its secretary, and through the direct influence of leading trade, commercial and educational agencies enlisted by the Forestry Association, that bill be- came a law. The present State Department of Forestry is the direct outcome of the report of that Commission and of the aid received from the '* State Federa- tion of Pennsylvania Women." When that Forestry Commission was created, the State owned not an acre of Forest Reserve. It has now more than a million acres ! Because of the influences, and the educational agencies of the Department of Forestry, the State has at last be- come awakened to the wickedness and the use- lessness of forest fires. The claim of the citizens of the State upon its lands as outing grounds was first distinctly, autho- ritatively recognized in 1900, when the following notice was posted on State Lands : This Land Belongs to the State of Pennsylvania Destruction or Removal of Timber or other property is Forbidden Lawful Hunting and Fishing are allowed on State Lands ; but Fires must not be started Commissioner of Forestry. Every year thousands of people go fnto^ camp* on the State Forest Reserves, and are welcomed there. Hundreds of cabins, summer homes, and bungalows, for a mere nominal rent, have already, or will in the near future, be located on State Land. The first free Sanatorium for consumptive citi- zens of the State was instituted by the Department of Forestry on State Land, and out of it has been developed by the efficiency and wisdom of Dr. Dixon, a great charity which is a crown of glory to the Commonwealth. Before even the first State land for a game re- serve was asked for it was ofl'ered by the Depart- ment of Forestry. That there is yet so small an area of State Re- serve on the Ohio watershed is no fault of the Department of Forestry, or of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. It has been diligently sought for under exactly the same conditions as every acre of the existing reserves were purchased. These facts are plain to all who care to recognize them ! Now, gentlemen of the Allied organizations, we: wish you success in your plans, for they are in line' with our own. We will aid you whenever, wher- ever possible, and we will sincerely welcome like help from you. /4o^^2. FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 8 The Pennsylvania Forestry Association was formed for a definite purpose. It has been the motive power that (in the words of Dr. Fernow, the most distinguished forester in America) led to * * the only statesmanlike forest policy possessed by any State in the Union." It cannot throw up its hands and quit, for more than a hundred life mem- berships have claims upon it. It has received for maintenance by gift and by legacy thousands of dollars which it cannot alienate, but it can wel- come you to membership within its own body, or as organizations to federation with us. Come ! There is work enough for all. J. T. R. ^i# «j> %^ ^^ ^U ^^ ^* *J* ^T* T* Dr. Rothrock's editorial in the December number of Forest Leaves, presenting a short summary of the record of the Pennsylvania For- estry Association, contains a fitting reference to our past president, John Birkinbine, who for so many years faithfully guarded and forwarded the work and interests of the Association. And now it is for us all who love and have loved and appreciated Dr. Rothrock himself, — who have sat at his feet and learned from him lessons of patriotic endeavor, of unselfish and heartfelt devo- tion to the public service, to pay him tribute of our esteem and affection, and of our admiration of his great qualities of head and heart, always work- ing for others and for the public good, — rarely, if ever, for himself. It has been my great and valued privilege to know him for a life-time, — since far back in 187 1, when he was a young physician at Wilkes-Barre, and I a colliery clerk at a Colliery out on the Plains nearby. Service such as he has quietly, unobtrusively, unselfishly, rendered to our State, is unequalled in its record of absolute altruistic endeavor — a record of negation of self — of devo- tion to ideals, — and as it happens of very practical ideals, — of public service. By it all he has won the love of those privileged to know him well, and the esteem of his fellow citizens of this old Keystone State. We, who have been admitted to learn from him and to follow, though afar, in his footsteps, — feel a great loss in his insistence on retirement from the presidency of our Association ; but he has well earned the right to rest from responsibility, and we know that his big heart and his devotion to forestry will en- sure to the Association and the forestry interests of the State the benefit of his oversight and care as long as he lives. So we hail him as our Presi- dent Emeritus — honored and loved, — a leader who is so instinctively looked up to and followed that whatever position he may elect to fill he is and will be the leader of leaders in the Forestry Cult of our State. H. S. D. •Cv. Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. THE annual meeting of the Pennsylvania For- estry Association was held at 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia, on Monday, December nth, 1916, at 3 p. M. President J. T. Rothrock in the chair. The Report of the Council, Address of the President, also Reports of the General Secretary and the Treasurer were read. These will all be found on other pages. The Nominating Committee presented a ballot, and stated that it had added a new official, viz.: Dr. J. T. Rothrock, President Emeritus. It was duly moved and carried that the new office be approved. Mr. Irvin C. Williams and Mr. Oliver C. Hillard were appointed tellers of election, and on collect- ing the ballots declared that the following officers were unanimously elected : President Emeritus^ Dr. J. T. Rothrock. President^ Dr. Henry S. Drinker, Vice-PresideniSy Robert S. Conk I m, Wm. S. Harvey, Albert Lewis, Col. R. Bruce Ricketts, Samuel L. Smedley. General Secretary^ Samuel Marshall. Recording Secretary ^ F. L. Bitler. Treasurer^ Charles E. Pancoast. Council. Adams County^ C. E. Stable. Allegheny County y H. M. Brackenridge, Hon. Marshall Brown, George M. Lehman, John E. Potter. Beaver County y Robert W. Darragh. Bedford County y W. L. Byers. Berks Countyy Solan L. Parkes, Geo. G. Wenrick. Blair Countyy Jos. S. Sillyman. Bradford Countyy C. S. Maurice. Bucks Countyy Wm. R, Mercer, Jr., Henry T. Moon. Cambria County, Walter D. Ludwig. Cameron Countyy W. B. Evans. Carbon County y M. S. Kemmerer. Centre Countyy Prof. J. A. Ferguson, W. E. Montgomery. Chester County y Miss Christine W. Biddle, Alexander Brown Coxe, Miss Esther G. Leggett, Mrs. David Reeves. Clarion Countyy Jos. M. Fox. Clearfield County y W. F. Dague. Clinton County , Forrest H. Dutlinger, Henry W. Shoemaker. Columbia Countyy C. R. Woodin. Crawford Countyy E. O. Emerson, Jr. Cumberland Countyy A. Elwyn Strode. Dauphin County, W. Gard. Conklin, Geo. H. Wirt. Delaware County, Miss Martha M. Brown, Joseph Elkinton, Miss Ethel A. Shrigley. Elk Countyy Charles E. Zerby. Fayette Countyy Roland C. Rogers. Forest Countyy E. S. Collins. Franklin Countyy Jos. S. I Hick, Alfred E. Rupp. Greene Countyy A. H. Sayers. Huntingdon Countyy Hon. Geo. B. Orlady. Indiana County, S. J. Sides. Jefferson Countyy S. B. Elliott. Juniata Countyy S. E. Pannebaker. Lackawanna Countyy J, Benjamin Dimmick, Hon. L. A. Watres. Lancaster Countyy Horace L. Haldemann, Hugh M. North, Jr. Lawrence Countyy David Jamison. Lebanon Countyy Mrs. Horace Brock. Lehigh County, Harry C. Trexler. Luzerne Countyy Dr. Alexander Armstrong, Russell Bonnell, ^ Mrs. Eckley B. Coxe, Alvan Markle, William R. Ricketts. Lycoming Countyy Arthur B. Wells. McKean County, Elisha K. Kane. Mercer County, F. H. Buhl. Mifflin County, D. Kerr Warfield. Monroe County, Dr. Wm. R. Fisher. Montgomery County, Isaac H. Clothier, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Miss Mary K. Gibson, Dr. J. Newton Hunsberger, John Wanamaker, Irvin C. Williams. Montour County, H. T. Hecht. Northampton County, Dr. John Henry MacCracken, J. Clarence Cranmer. Northumberland County, C. Q. McWilliams. Perry Countyy H. E. Bryner. Philadelphia County, Dr. J. M. Anders, Owen M. Bruner, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Geo. F. Craig, W. Warner Harper, Mrs. John Harrison, John W. Harshberger, Bayard Henry, Joseph Johnson, Mrs. Geo. deB. Kcim, Mrs. John Markoe, J. Franklin Meehan, J. Rodman Paul, Eli K. Price, Charles Richardson, John H. Webster. Jr., Albert B. Weimer, Dr. W. P. Wilson. Pike County, John E. Avery. Potter County, R. Lynn Emerick. Schuylkill Countyy C. E. Berger. Snyder County, W. J. Bartschat. Somerset County, V. M. Bearer. Susquehanna County, Edgar A. Turrell. Tioga County, Paul H. Mulfard. Union County, C. K. Sober. Venango Countyy Peter M. Speer, Warren County A. J. Hazel tine. Wayne County, Alonzo T. Searle. Westmoreland Countyy Hon. Lucien W. Doty. York County, Samuel Small, Jr. Dr. Henry S. Drinker was then presented as President, and in a few words pledged his con- tinued support and best endeavors in the cause to which our Association is devoted. The Auditing Committee reported that the books of the Treasurer had been examined and found correct. Prof. R. W. Hall spoke of the necessity of se- curing more members. The Boy Scouts win a point by having a knowledge of a certain number of trees, and if they could be interested it would be advantageous, as they are the coming citizens of the State. In reply to a query as to the reported prevalence of the White Pine Blister Rust in the Pocono Lake Preserve, Mr. I. C. Williams stated that it was not known in that region. He then gave a descrip- tion of that disease, also of the white pine weevil, an insect which burrows into white pine shoots. Mr. Geo. H. Wirt, Chief of the State Bureau of Forest Protection, referred to forest fires, and the educational work which is being done in order to have people realize what the annual loss by forest fires means. Although this is usually given at from $500,000 to $600,000 the damage to the young trees and soil, together with other losses, means a direct loss to the State of many times this sum. In addition human lives were also sacrificed. There were evidences of a growth of public senti- ment which was shown in some cases by voluntary payment by offenders, of losses incurred through forest fires. In other cases, where there was suffi- cient evidence, those starting forest fires would be prosecuted. Mr. Joseph Johnson stated that a vigorous campaign should be made at Harrisburg to secure sufficient appropriations for forestry work, and thought these could be secured. On motion adjourned. Arrangements have been completed for co- operation between the Department of Forestry and the State Highway Department in planting shade and fruit trees along the State Highways. The Department of Forestry will grow the trees from seed in its big nurseries. They will be transplanted into areas set aside for the purpose, and when they have reached suitable size the trees will be turned over to the Highway Department and private good-roads organizations for planting. Missouri has been planting fruit and nut-bearing trees along state roads for a number of years. Many of the trees are now bearing, and very little of the fiuit is stolen. The idea is favored by Governor Brumbaugh. FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. Address of President. NO one may tell when a foundation is laid tor an important public policy just what the ^ superstructure will be. Human thought and human interest change with the times. It is but a few years since Forestry in this country had few friends and fewer active advocates. Now one aspect or another of the common cause (forestry) appeals to thousands of our citizens ; some from the view point of lumber production, others as a source of water power, others as a protection to our soil. Still others because the woods are outing grounds and sites for sanatoria and yet others are forestry advocates because the woods are the homes and breeding places of the wild life, the game, which attracts the hunter. Then there are those who love the forest from a purely aesthetic outlook. These are all proper view points, and it is clear when we come to sum up all these aspects that they carry with them a very large following of the respectable citizenship of the State, a following which has weighty claims on our Legislature. It is probably true to say that if all of those who are interested thus in forestry could be brought to- gether, it would produce one of the most compell- ing representations in Pennsylvania. Yet, with all this, the Forestry Department re- ceives State financial support which is utterly in- adequate to protect the vast and varied interests committed to its care. The last session of the Legislature made the scantiest possible appropriation for the purchase of land, which it is essential to the prosperity of the State, should at once be brought under care. For example, in McKean, Potter, Tioga and Cameron counties alone a million acres of neglect- ed land exist (half of the areas of the counties), which should be rescued, protected and made productive. This is no minor interest. The relation of that land to the future of Penn- sylvania is one of the vital questions of this hour. We may, for the nonce, fail to recognize this, but it will soon press upon us for a solution : — when the cost of its restoration will be much greaterthan now. Then again, there is the forest fire question ! There never has been made an adequate legislative appropriation for the prevention of forest fires. No sane man now considers that suppression of forest fires meets the existing trouble. Prevention in the long run costs no more than suppression of a fire, after it is started. The friends of forestry have a right to expect a sufficient appropriation to police and guard the forest regions of the Com- monwealth. Planting should go on more vigor- ously in all districts where protection against fire is afforded. These are simply a few of the many interests in- volved. They, however, will suffice to meet the statement that the funds of the Commonwealth do not permit of larger appropriations to forestry ;— which statement is true // f/ie appropriations are to continue to be made in accordance with the sys- tem which has prevailed /—but that system is as wrong as wrong can be. It utterly ignores the fact that the first duty of a government is to pro- vide for its own prosperous continuance, by pro- viding means to effectively conduct the various duties delegated to its various divisions. There can be no individual, no national, safety without government. Therefore, it is to be pro- vided for and protected in its functions first of all. The fact is, however, that all the minor interests come in first. The State Treasury is depleted before the general appropriation bill, which pro- vides for governmental expenses, is brought to light and then we hear (and shall continue to hear so long as this system exists) *' there is no more money available." The system is discreditable to legislative intelligence, wrong in policy and rotten in its results. The existing order of appropriations, further- more, is utterly wrong because the necessary, legitimate expenses of each state department are known, or should be, before the Legislature meets, and the budget should be decided upon and ready for presentation and action early in the session. Provision can then be made for providing the funds. The minor, extra, issues can then properly be met by Legislative action. As things now are, the Executive is driven to scale down appropriations after the Legislature has adjourned :— which is no part of his duty, and is by no means clear, even as an executive right ! The Outers (including all who seek the forests), but a feeble flock a few years ago, now number many thousands in this State. They differ in the objects for which they seek the woods, but all are for forestry. We certainly do appre- ciate the powerful support they have given to our work, and we desire to meet them half way in their wishes, even when we can not entirely agree with them. They, in common with the members of this Association, desire that the State shall im- mediately acquire extensive holdings for forestry purposes on the Ohio water shed. For several years the Forestry Department has endeavored most earnestly to locate and purchase such land,, but it has always encountered the fact that the lands of the Ohio water shed were immensely valuable because of their rich mineral deposits of coal, oil, or gas. The limit allowed by law was five dollars an acre. This created no desire on 1 the part of the owners to sell to the State. The desire for State land on the Ohio water shed is natural and just, and more than this, the need for it is imperative. It was part of the original plan of the Forestry Department. Even in spite of failure to acquire it, the wish to accomplish it remains as urgent as ever. It is now proposed, by our friends west of the Alleghenies, to secure Legislative permission to purchase the surface, leaving the mineral rights in the hands of the present owners. There are serious objections to this plan ; but it is a fair subject for discussion and merits careful considera- tion. If, however, this becomes legally possible, the question will arise, is it just, equitable, or necessary, to pay more for the surface right West of the mountains than was paid for land (surface, min- erals and all) East of the mountains? If it is necessary to do so, the price of land East of the mountains will inevitably rise :— this may put an actual obstacle to State purchase anywhere. These statements are made, not with the desire to discourage purchase of land (at an advance in price, when proper) but in earnest hope that a way may be opened for the long, earnestly desired Forest Reserve on the Ohio water shed. We need a large increase in our membership. It is unpleasant to make special appeals for addi- tional funds to conduct the campaign which is im- mediately before us. Forest Leaves must be sus- tained and made an active, aggressive medium for placing our plans before the public. The Asso- ciation has outlived the period when it was neces- sary to plead for its existance. Our position among the motive powers is granted. What is ex- pected of us is, to put that power to its proper use. The improved appearance of Forest Leaves and the increase in size seem to have been generally approved. Our aim should be to make it so at- tractive as to create an earnest desire for it ; to have its coming awaited and enjoyed. This can be done by introducing more variety into it and by touching more of the topics of the times. The campaign of education should be renewed with the vigor that once characterized it. It is possible now to utilize the moving picture film, and to show in a way, never before possible, the destructive waste by forest fires from an actual ex- ample. Respectfully submitted, J. T. ROTHROCK. Oiled paper has been found to be an excellent material for packing tree seedlings, when shipped in crates. When crates are not used, paper-lined burlap makes a particularly satisfactory wrapper. Report of General Secretary. ONE might naturally conclude that the busi- ness of the General Secretary was to note general rather than specific phases of Forestry, leaving the latter for the Secretary of the Council. Your General Secretary, therefore, desires to call attention to the increase of interest in several lines of thought which are engaging public notice, but which all revolve around the forest as a centre. It is unnecessary to consider here the relation of lumber production, for that is self evident. Let us, however, glance for a moment at the recognition now given to the importance of our water power to the future of the State. It is quite possible that much of this grows out of the dis- cussion of the National water powers at the various Conservation Congresses and of the attempted legislation which followed. The next National Congress has before it the duty of determining under what conditions the General Government shall dispose of these water powers. It is assumed by all that they should be utilized in order to save our fast disappearing coal resources. Then again, the work being done in our great West, where the immense water powers are utilized in electri- fying railroads, is commanding public attention. So the recognition of the value of our water power in Pennsylvania has crept into the Pennsylvania mind. If you were transported into some of the moun- tain regions of Pennsylvania and brought face to face with the deep valleys worn out by the flowing water, two problems would present themselves. I St, How much power was required to produce these vast excavations, and what became of the soil so removed? That, however, you might con- sider an academic, rather than a practical question. The second problem would be one of the most practical character, i. e., what is to be done with these valleys, as we find them ? They represent too much area to waste and they seem to have neither agricultural nor mineral value. The soil is largely gone ; the banks are too steep and too rocky to farm. The water is still there ; year in and year out ;- flowing now to waste. In the spring when the snows melt, it comes roaring down those channels in a tumultuous torrent, which dwindles during the summer into a peaceful, but still abundant, stream. But there are other uses for water than the pro- duction of mechanical power. One of the most important is hoarding water in times of plenty to use in times of drought. The importance of this has been well recognized in the South-west, where the National government has undertaken to irri- 6 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. gate and make productive large areas of otherwise unproductive land. It is not impossible that we here may eventually have to guarantee production of good crops by irrigation. That question has been seriously con- sidered by many prominent agriculturists. We may well leave that problem to the future : but there is a question in relation to the water flow that is pressing and important, even though not generally recognized :-that of equahzing it preventing destructive freshets on the one hand and equally destructive droughts on the other. It is fairly a question whether we can not find in the many deep, sterile mountain valleys of the Com- monwealth, safe and commodious storage basins for an almost unlimited water supply. There is again the possibility of a return to a canal system in the State. This would render the need of such storage basins imperative. In fact every dam that is thrown across a river for the accumulation of electrical power makes a lake above it. The probable multiplication of these lakes would in itself make a possible system of dead water canals, if locks were provided in the dams for the passage of boats. A dry river bed is a double danger, ist, be- cause it has to a greater, or less degree, diminished the surface from which watery vapor is given to the air, and 2nd, because it may be miasmatic and a breeder of disease. These are a few of the points which come to mind in considering the water power problem. We can see how important it may become in our daily life. 1 i r ♦u We must not forget, however, that back ot the water power question lies the forestry problem. We know full well that it is more than doubtful , whether forests increase rainfall ; but we believe the bulk of human testimony and of scientific opinion confirms the statement that they do aid materially in conserving what does fall. Hence, then, it is pertinent to ask. What is to be done with the vast areas of unproductive land that exist in our State at the headwaters of these streams ? Are they to remain forever in that condition, or are they to provide forests and at the same time save power for the State ? Another general consideration invites attention. The fountain head of health is the open air. Hos- pitals and sanatoria are mainly necessary for those who have divorced their lives from the source of health. There is no doubt that public attention is directed now to proper recreation as a source of productive power as it never was before. Within two years thousands of Pennsylvania citizens have enrolled themselves in the Wild Life League and the League of United Sportsmen. They are men who are interested quite as much in the preserva- tion and study of our game animals as in pursuit of them. Every autumn calls ten of thousands of these men (and women too) into the woods in search of health and strength, necessary to support them during the rest of the year in their life work. Time was when we could ignore them. It can no longer be done. They are to be reckoned with ! It would not be difficult to prove that from the dawn of our National life, these men of the woods have been the most loyal of our citizens, and among the most effective in times of national peril. A remarkable change in public sentiment, con- cerning our forest reserves, has come and no I doubt is permanent. Ten years ago the Forestry ! Department of the State felt that it was almost ex- ceeding its power when it granted to citizens the right to pitch their tents for a season on State land. Such an idea as making leases of State land to citizens for the purpose of erecting permanent summer homes upon it, was thought beyond possi- bility. Yet an Act was passed by our last Legis- lature authorizing erection of permanent dwellings in the State Forests. From our present view point such a policy is not only permissable, but it is wise and equitable, because we are opening sensi- ble channels towards pursuit of health, interesting our people in forestry, and placing right there, on the ground, a host of guardians against forest fires, or illegal removal of State property. National efficiency and National happiness are involved in the outing grounds provided for our I citizens. The idea has reached a point where '* it will not down." It has engrafted itself on the forestry problem, become our friendly ally and we may well recognize the help it brings. Two influential journals, ** In the Open," and *^The Pennsylvania Sportsman," have joined forces with *'* Forest Leaves " in advocating in- creased appropriations for State Forestry purposes. We welcome the cordial co-operation and in justice should give to them all possible assistance in re^ turn. The coming Legislative session will afi'ord many points where the interest of '' The Outers and **The Foresters" are identical and where there should be earnest co-operation ! Samuel Marshall, General Secretary, The National Forests. The Postmaster-General has advised Pennsyl- vania postmasters that all rural mail carriers must report any forest fires seen, to the nearest fire warden. The postmasters are to be advised of the appointment of fire wardens by the Depart- ment of Forestry. THE Hon. David F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture, in his Annual Report for the year ending June 30th, 191 6, has dealt at length with the National Forests, and the follow- ing excerpts will be of interest : << The value of the National Forests to the pub- lic and the use made of them increased steadily. Their returns to the Treasury last year, exceeding j;2,8oo,ooo— an advance of more than $340,000 over the previous year— are only a partial indica- tion of their service. '* Through successful administration the perma- nence of the National Forests is becoming more and more assured. They are now a vital part of the economic life of the regions which use their resources. It is increasingly clear that National supervision and control of them is necessary and that they could not be abandoned without dis- astrous consequences to western industries and to local welfare. *ooo acres and eight | other states smaller areas. Most of them have a forestry bureau or commission or similar organiza- tion, and many have passed excellent laws. In all of the states Arbor Day is now celebrated. | Most of the forest reserves in the western sec- tion of the United States are owned by the gen- eral government, the total area, exclusive of pur- chases under the Weeks Act now being 155,420,- 280 acres, a decrease since last year of 860,786 acres, due to the elimination of areas which it was found were more suitable for agriculture. The National forests are located in 28 states. The only ones in the East are those established by the Weeks Act in the White Mountains in the North and the Appalachian chain in the South; the areas owned on June 30th, 1916 being respectively 195,215 acres and 511, 759 acres, with 163,048 acres, and 468,705 acres approved for purchase. The J3, 000, 000 which was unexpended under the Weeks Law was reappropriated by the last Con- gress, $i,ooo,oco being available for purchases in 1917 and jj2,ooo,ooo in 1918. This favorable action so important for forestry interests was mainly brought about by the work of the American For- estry Association. The value of the National Forests which contain about one-fifth of the standing timber of the United States is estimated at over two billion dol- lars, and the annual revenue obtained from them is now $2,823,541. This is gradually augmenting and will it is hoped soon equal the annual ex- penditure of $5>5.S3>256, niuch of which is for work of a permanent character, such as .roads, fire lanes, telephone lines, fire towers, etc. In the year 1915 there were approximately 47,- 000 forest fires in the United States, burning over 6,250,000 acres and causing a loss of about J7,- 250,000 not including damage to young growth and soil deterioration. Such a fire loss incurred by sweeping away blocks of buildings in one of our large cities such as San Francisco at the time of the earthquake will be recorded for centuries, and yet the annual loss by forest fires goes 011 from year to year unheralded unless accompanied by loss of life. That good care will greatly decrease the loss is shown by the fact that in the National Forests in the same period there were but 6,934 1 fires burning over 279,245 acres, causing a damage of $353,389. The Journal of the Canadian For- estry Association gives the estimated forest fire loss in Canada in 1916 as from seven to nine mil- lion dollars, an appalling figure. The State Forest Academy this year graduated II young men who will assist in caring for the State forests, the number so employed being now 70 The Forestry Department of the Pennsyl- vania State College has in late years shown a large augmentation in the number of students. Lehigh University has a course of forestry lectures, also an Arboretum. In Pennsylvania much aid has been rendered by the various fish and game protective associa- tions as well as those interested in the preserva- tion of our native birds and wild flowers, all of which are dependent on the forests for their ex- istance. Private organizations such as the Pocono i Protective Fire Association, the Central Penn- ' sylvania Fire Protective Association and the McKean County Forest Fire Protective Assoria- , tion have done excellent work in their special sphere. The State Bureau of Forest Protection is also enlisting the aid of the railroads, the mining, and other large companies in the preven- tion of and extinguishment of forest fires in their vicinity, and a movement is on foot begun at a recent meeting at Hazleton, called by the State Bureau of Forest Protection which gives promise of very valuable results. The Association held its Summer Meeting at Reading on June 27-29 in conjunction with the Berks County Conservation Association. The Alumni of the State Forest Academy also met here, together with representatives of the American For- estry Association, and some sister State organiza- tions. The large number of those present had an opportunity, through interesting and instructive trips, of becoming acquainted with the splendid j results obtained by the local organization. The i forest plantations of Messrs. Nolde and Horst, also those made on various water sheds near Read- ; ing were inspected. At the sessions valuable addresses were made on various forestry, game, fish, and bird problems in the Commonwealth, while still others described the progress made in sister States. Many private companies, water, railroad, hotel, lumber, and mining, also public spirited individu- als, have either planted new or are caring for ex- isting forests. Many of the High, Normal, and Preparatory Schools gave addresses on forestry and its need, while all of the public schools universally observed Arbor Day with appropriate exercises. Notable aid has been rendered the cause by the Women's Clubs, the Press, the Boy Scouts, and others. During the year 61 persons connected themselves with the organization while 63 died, resigned or were dropped, making the present total 1305. Over one half of those leaving the Association were reported deceased, and among these we re- gret to chronicle six members of the Council, Joshua L. Baily, Miss Fanny Brown Coleman, Mr. Eckley B. Coxe, Jr., Mr. John S. Cope, Mr. Theo. N. Ely, and Mr. W. W. Scranton. Next January there will be another biennial meeting of the Legislature. Our members should use their influence in seeing that the Department of Forestry receives ample appropriations so that it will not be crippled, as during the past two years, by inadequate finances for land purchases, care and improvement of the State forests, and for forest fire prevention. It is also urged that an earnest effort be made to augment largely the membership of the Asso- ciation. 5,000 members should be readily obtain- able, and this would put the Society in position to do much more effective work. '' Forest Leaves " has been issued regularly, has been improved in appearance by supplying a cover, while the reading matter has been increased to 16 pages. The Association has also been the recipient of a bequest of $1,000 from the late Mrs. Anna F. Brush, which has been invested in the permanent fund. F. L. BiTLER, Secretary, Recent News About Forests of the War Zones. AUTHENTIC and first-hand information con- cerning the present condition of the for- ests in the regions occupied by the con- tending European armies is very difficult to obtain. Professor J. S. Illick is the possessor of a letter re- cently written by Dr. C. A. Schenck, the founder and for sixteen years the Director of the Biltmore Forest School. Prior to his departure from Ameri- ca Dr. Schenck was regarded as one of the most 'VLZi AY**^ conspicuous and best known men in American forestry. Excerpts from the letter are printed here- with for the readers of Forest Leaves, among I whom Dr. Schenck has many acquaintances and friends. Darmstadt, Germany, Dear Illick : October 23, 1916.* ** Quite recently and after waiting more than * Letter arrived on December 5, 1916, requiring 43 <1^)S to come a distance usually made in 6 to 14 days. 10 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 11 in the purchase of lands, their care and improve- ment, has been profitable, for if the State should so desire it could now dispose of its holdings at double what it has cost to secure and care for them, and this increase in value will be still more \ rapid if the necessary money be made available for their further improvement. i The forest fire question is ever with us. Dur- ing the spring of this year, although the condi- tions were favorable, more than 100,000 acres were burned over, the timber loss being estimated at $170,000. Figures for the fall fire season are not yet available but they will considerably augment the above. The State now has on its statute books an admirable law constituting a Bureau of Forest Protection but unfortunately the machinery is crippled by a lack of sufficient appropriations, not to extinguish forest fires after they start (much of the expense of which is met by a deficiency ap- propriation by the succeeding Legislature), but a sufficient sum to patrol the woods properly during the danger seasons and prevent the fires, thus doing away with this constantly recurring loss to the Commonwealth, which should protect its citizens who pay taxes for such protection. More attention is now being given to the prosecution of persons starting forest fires, and this will also have a salutary effect. More money should also be appropriated for the the purchase, care, and administration of State Forests, the present amounts being inadequate. ! Many other states have secured forest reserves, New York leading with a total of 1,826,000 acres, Wisconsin 400,000, Michigan 233,000, South Dakota 75,000, Minnesota 43,000 acres and eight other states smaller areas. Most of them have a forestry bureau or commission or similar organiza- tion, and many have passed excellent laws. In all of the states Arbor Day is now celebrated. ' Most of the forest reserves in the western sec- tion of the United States are owned by the gen- eral government, the total area, exclusive of pur- chases under the Weeks Act now being 155,420,- 280 acres, a decrease since last year of 860,786 acres, due to the ehmination of areas which it was found were more suitable for agriculture. The National forests are located in 28 states. The only ones in the East are those established by the Weeks Act in the White Mountains in the North and the Appalachian chain in the South; the areas owned on June 30th, 19 16 being respectively 195,215 acres and 511,759 acres, with 163,048 acres, and 468,705 acres approved for purchase. The $3,000,000 which was unexpended under the Weeks Law was reappropriated by the last Con- gress, $i,ooo,oco being available for purchases in 1917 and $2,000,000 in 1918. This favorable I action so important for forestry interests was mainly i brought about by the work of the American For- ! estry Association. The value of the National Forests which contain i about one-fifth of the standing timber of the United States is estimated at over two billion dol- 1 lars, and the annual revenue obtained from them is now $2,823,541. This is gradually augmenting and will it is hoped soon equal the annual ex- penditure of $5,5.S3>256, much of which is for work of a permanent character, such as .roads, fire lanes, telephone lines, fire towers, etc. In the year 191 5 there were approximately 47,- 000 forest fires in the United States, burning over 6,250,000 acres and causing a loss of about $7,- 250,000 not including damage to young growth and soil deterioration. Such a fire loss incurred by sweeping away blocks of buildings in one of our large cities such as San Francisco at the time of the earthquake will be recorded for centuries, and yet the annual loss by forest fires goes on from year to year unheralded unless accompanied by loss of life. That good care will greatly decrease the loss is shown by the fact that in the National Forests in the same period there were but 6,934 fires burning over 279,245 acres, causing a damage of $353,389. The Journal of the Canadian For- j estry Association gives the estimated forest fire loss in Canada in 1916 as from seven to nine mil- lion dollars, an appalling figure. 1 The State Forest Academy this year graduated II young men who will assist in caring for the State forests, the number so employed being now 70 The Forestry Department of the Pennsyl- vania State College has in late years shown a large augmentation in the number of students. Lehigh University has a course of forestry lectures, also an Arboretum. ! In Pennsylvania much aid has been rendered by the various fish and game protective associa- tions as well as those interested in the preserva- tion of our native birds and wild flowers, all of which are dependent on the forests for their ex- istance. Private organizations such as the Pocono Protective Fire Association, the Central Penn- sylvania Fire Protective Association and the McKean County Forest Fire Protective Associa- tion, have done excellent work in their special sphere. The State Bureau of Forest Protection is also enlisting the aid of the railroads, the mining, and other large companies in the preven- tion of and extinguishment of forest fires in their vicinity, and a movement is on foot begun at a recent meeting at Hazleton, called by the State Bureau of Forest Protection which gives promise of very valuable results. The Association held its Summer Meeting at I Reading on June 27-29 in conjunction with the Berks County Conservation Association. The Alumni of the State Forest Academy also met here, together with representatives of the American For- estry Association, and some sister State organiza- tions. The large number of those present had an opportunity, through interesting and instructive trips, of becoming acquainted with the splendid results obtained by the local organization. The forest plantations of Messrs. Nolde and Horst, also those made on various water sheds near Read- ing were inspected. At the sessions valuable addresses were made on various forestry, game, fish, and bird problems in the Commonwealth, while still others described the progress made in sister States. Many private companies, water, railroad, hotel, lumber, and mining, also public spirited individu- als, have either planted new or are caring for ex- isting forests. Many of the High, Normal, and Preparatory ^ Schools gave addresses on forestry and its need, while all of the public schools universally observed Arbor Day with appropriate exercises. j Notable aid has been rendered the cause by the ' Women's Clubs, the Press, the Boy Scouts, and ' others. ! During the year 61 persons connected themselves with the organization while 63 died, resigned or were dropped, making the present total 1305. Over one half of those leaving the Association were reported deceased, and among these we re- gret to chronicle six members of the Council, Joshua L. Baily, Miss Fanny Brown Coleman, Mr. Eckley B. Coxe, Jr., Mr. John S. Cope, Mr. Theo. N. Ely, and Mr. W. W. Scranton. Next January there will be another biennial meeting of the Legislature. Our members should use their influence in seeing that the Department of Forestry receives ample appropriations so that it will not be crippled, as during the past two years, by inadequate finances for land purchases, care and improvement of the State forests, and for forest fire prevention. It is also urged that an earnest efl'ort be made to augment largely the membership of the Asso- ciation. 5,000 members should be readily obtain- able, and this would put the Society in position to do much more eff'ective work. ** Forest Leaves " has been issued regularly, has been improved in appearance by supplying a cover, while the reading matter has been increased to 16 pages. The Association has also been the recipient of a beciuest of $1,000 from the late Mrs. Anna F. Brush, which has been invested in the permanent fund. F. L. BiTLER, Secretary. Recent News About Forests of the War Zones. AUTHENTIC and first-hand information con- cerning the present condition of the for- ests in the regions occupied by the con- tending European armies is very difficult to obtain. Professor J. S. Illick is the possessor of a letter re- cently written by Dr. C. A. Schenck, the founder and for sixteen years the Director of the Biltmore Forest School. Prior to his departure from Ameri- ca Dr. Schenck was regarded as one of the most %. Ac I^JXQ A^W) conspicuous and best known men in American forestry. Excerpts from the letter are printed here- with for the readers of Forest Leaves, among whom Dr. Schenck has many acquaintances and friends. Darmstadt, Germany, Dear Illick : October 23, 191 6.* <* Quite recently and after waiting more than * Letter ariivtd on December 5, 1916, requiring 43 ^'^'')^ to come a distance usually made in 6 to 14 days. INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE 12 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 13 two years, I received a few American lumber pa- pers and forestry magazines — The American Lum- berman, Southern Lumberman, Northwestern Lum- berman, American Forestry, and Forest Leaves — the latter containing an article by yourself on *The Forests of the War Zones.' You can imagine that I did not lose any time in getting after it. Your remarks were of peculiar interest to me, per- sonally, since I was an adjutant of a batallion in Poland and have been connected with the civil administration of Brussels. I wish that I might have been able to give you some hints and facts concerning your topic. It is too late now. Thus, my notes are coming postfestum. I. ** Poland. — I have seen only that part' of Poland, during a stay or rather a meandering of 5 months, which lies south of Lodz— where I was wounded quite unnecessarily. The woods and forests belong to the landed aristocracy and to the crown— in this case the Czar. The poor farmers have never had a show. It is amazing to think that the poor were formerly compelled to go begging for fuel with gigantic forests lying at their doors and the timber and wood therein going to waste. Those poor fellows were never allowed to gather even the decaying stuff. I tell you, if the land policy, from a national point of view, has been wrong in the good United States of America, then it certainly has been infernally and cursedly wrong in Poland. All these forests are now placed in charge of German foresters who have been taken from their jobs at home. Some of these you hap- pen to know, e. g., Herr Krutina, of Heidelberg. No timber or wood is being cut without being pre- viously marked. Fire patrols are maintained dur- ing the hot season. Industries, such as sawmills, paper mills, tannic acid factories, and naval store establishments, are being developed. Never have the woods been handled better than they are now. II. '* Belgium. — There are practically no for- ests in Belgium, excepting that gorgeous stretch near Brussels. The wooded areas in the Ardennes are ** woodlands" or, in a few cases, park of the wealthy e. g., that of Sir William Schlich. The rest is scrubby stuff, so conspicuous in the sandy plains of Flanders and the province of Limburg. There is nothing I should like to own in the prov- ince of Brabant, Hainaut, and Liege. Such were the conditions before the war. All that the Ger- mans have done, has been to insist that the woods do not suffer from fire. I have been active along this line myself. There is no such thing as reck- less cutting by the Germans. Wherever the wood- lands have been laid low by the armies of both sides, it was done to build trenches, log houses, and above all to gain a free sight for the guns. A few fine avenues of trees had to come down, but upon my best knowledge and true belief less than 3 per cent, of all the avenues were thus ruined. To speak of wholesale destruction of fine wood- lands by reckless soldiers, is in the case of Belgium absurd, because they did not exist before the war, excepting the famous ones at Brussels, which stand as beautiful today as they ever did. III. ** Occupied Part of France. — I have no personal knowledge of this part of the war zones, for I have not been there. My informants are my relatives who have been fighting there and forest ranger Pfeifer, of Lindenfels, whom you may re- member. They tell me that there is a committee on economic questions with each army corps. A forest officer of rank is a member of each com- mittee. He is assisted by forest rangers taken from the ranks. Not a tree is cut without being marked, except those cut by shells. Whenever a batallion wants wood for fuel, charcoal or building purposes a forest ranger is sent out to mark the trees. Naturally, no forest planting is being thought of, but otherwise the woods are being cared for. <*To make a long tale short, and so as not to annoy the censor unduly, let me say, that the woods of the fighting countries are suffering less from the war than the men ; the animals, including game ; the fields, because of lack of phosphate and stable manure ; the buildings, and the human hearts. '* I have offered my good help for the winter to one of the universities as lecturer on forestry, the regular ones being absent in Poland and Livland, where they are acting as forestry officials. Since my return from Belgium, I have been spending my time hunting, resting and enjoying myself, which is more than a decent fellow ought to do in time of war. But there were so many deer, hares, pheasants and quail to be killed that I would not deny myself the pleasure. I also got a big stag, not in Lindenfels, but on a friend's holdings in the Spessart woods. Do not imagine that the game was killed by order of the boss ! No sir ! Not yet ! Having procured the hunting rights on 5,000 acTt^ of land in the environs of Lindenfels, and being absent in Poland and Belgium for almost two years the game had increased so wonderfully that I am now having the sport of my life — that very sport which I got so little of during my 18 years in America — the land of the free. '* You can imagine that my dreams, thoughts, and heart continue to take little spins over to you almost every day. Sometimes my thoughts are sad and * set the word against the word.' and often they are cheerful, loving, and thankful. '' When the war is all over — in a year or two — come over and see me, and I shall be glad to travel with you over those 'Forests of the War Zones,' which you have described in Forest Leaves. *°'^ Labor, 250,000 Equipment and materials expenses, ..... ioo,oco School taxes. Road taxes, •.•■.'* Land purchase and examination of titles, Forest fire prevention and extinction, . . Forest Academy, District foresters, 42,000 42,000 600,000 185,000 25,000 15,000 The first three items in this statemenr^e fixed by law, as are the amounts for school and road taxes. Two cents per acre per year for schools, and the same amount for roads, is paid to the townships within which State Forests are located. The largest single item in the budget, $600,000 for land purchases and examination of titles, is the exact amount allowed by the Act approved April 15th, 1903. Last session only $40,000 was al- lowed for this purpose, but Department officials point out the fact that it would take just a century and a quarter for the State to acquire another million acres with an appropriation of $40,000 every two years, provided land could be bought for the same price as in the past. They also say that the State's present holdings need consolida- tion by the purchase of interior and adjoining tracts, and that other areas should be purchased at the headwaters of many of our streams. If refor- esting is to play the part it should in the campaign for flood prevention, the first step undoubtedly should be the acquirement of the lands to be re- forested, and the provision of sufficient funds to care for them. The appropriation asked for would permit the purchase of about 225,000 acres within the next two years. The State of New York, which already owns almost twice as much forest land as Pennsylvania, within the past year authorized a bond issue of $10,000,000 for the purchase of additional lands. The amount requested for foresters' and rangers' salaries and expenses is just sufficient to provide for one forester and two rangers for every 20,000 acres of State Forest. The rangers' salaries now average less than $50 per month, and the foresters, who must have three years of technical training before receiving appointment to the Forest Ser- vice, receive an average of less than $100 per month, the highest salary paid being $125, with no allowance for expenses. Some of the State's chauffeurs in other departments are as well paid. The $250,000 for labor, and the $100,000 for equipment and materials expenses are for the erec- tion and repair of buildings where foresters are compelled to live in the backwoods ; for the grow- ing and planting of trees on barren land ; for the construction of forest roads, trails, and fire lanes ; for the purchase of tools and equipment ; and for any other legitimate expenses not specifically pro- vided for. In this connection it is noted that the State Forest nurseries are now producing more than 10,000,000 trees a year, and they must either be given financial support or forced to curtail their production. . The appropriation for forest protection, if granted will provide for the first time in the his- tory of 'the State a fund sufficient to permit carry- ing on a certain amount of fire preventive work. The Department of Forestry is charged by law with the duty of both preventing and extinguish- ing forest fires on the eight million acres of forest land in Pennsylvania, but it has rarely had suf- ficient funds to meet the bills for extinguishment alone. The appropriation requested would pro- tm 24 FOREST LEAVES. m vide a trifle over a cent an acre a year, from a third to a half of which would be available for preventive measures. The i,ioi forest fires m 19 1 5 caused a loss in burned timber only of over $850,000. The Forestry Commission makes no apology tor asking for these amounts, but takes the stand that the appropriation to the Department of Forestry is practically the only State appropriation which is not spent outright, but which is invested in such a way that future direct returns to the State are certain. Respectfully Addressed to Our Pennsyl- vania Legislature ! TO lay a solid foundation is as wise in State- craft as in any other form of building. The essentials of Pennsylvania' s prosperity are mining and agriculture. Our very life comes out of the ground. Some nations now are cramped for productive acres to furnish daily bread. They are giving up their parks, and even their flower gardens in England, to production of food. The necessity for food and for all other soil products increases with the density of the population. To this there is no exception. It is equally sure that every State owes it to the future that not an acre shall be despoiled or allowed to become unproductive. This truth is also universal and without exception, because there is no State in our Federal Union that is not counting on a rapid increase in population. It is criminal ne- glect to fail to provide for what we so certainly desire and anticipate. It is less than three hundred years since the first white settlers reached what is now Pennsylvania. It is needless to repeat the story of its vast forests and of the fertility of the soil. It is enough to say that we have already made one-seventh of its acreage unproductive; and, through our neglect, much of this is passing on to sterility and becom- ing by flood and fire more hopelessly barren. It must be reclaimed some day, but each year of de- lay adds to the final cost. There are areas of more than one hundred square miles in this State from which the timber has been removed and the land practically aban- doned. It was a misfortune that the timber was cut before there was any urgent necessity for it :— but even this might have been atoned for if the land had been protected against forest fire, and planted again to young trees, for it had neither agricultural nor mineral value. The State has already made a start at placing its waste areas under care. In fact, it had set the pace for all the other States in establishing a sys- tern of forest restoration, and then it cut down the necessary appropriation to so low a figure that it was impossible either to maintain adequate pur- chase of additional lands or to properly protect what it had acquired ; all this in spite of the fact that there existed legal permission for the annual expenditure of $300,000 in purchase of suitable Before we willingly allow our State to fall hope- lessly in the rear of other progressive States, it may be well to note what they are doing. Plan for Reforesting in Michigan, **By asking the Legislature to increase its an- nual appropriation to $150,000, the Public Domain Commission is preparing to carry into eff^ect a gi- gantic forest conservation or tree-planting plan. The plan has the backing of the members of the commission and is also approved by the forestry experts at the University of Michigan and the Michigan Forestry Association. The State now owns, in round numbers, 540,000 acres of land. It is proposed to plant trees at the rate of 4,500 acres per annum, and in what is known as a period of rotation consisting of sixty years ; all of 270,- 000 acres can be planted. One-half of the other 270,000 acres will in the next thirty years, under protection, produce sufficient material by cutting, to clear a gross revenue of $15 per acre. Beginning with 1947, it is thought advisable, according to the plan, to cut at the rate of 4,500 acres per annum, and plant it at the same rate with the more valuable pines. By 1977 the re- maining 135,000 acres will be treated in a like manner, so that the initial restocking of all forest lands will have been completed in 2007.'* The above is a definite, well considered plan; but with our abundant resources, we could easily double it here to the great advantage of the Com- monwealth, provided the requisite appropriations were allowed. Eight years ago bills providing State outing grounds for our ^* shut-in " population were intro- duced into our Legislature. They were defeated then and have been twice since. No one is blamed It required vision, which all men do not possess, to see the need of such grounds at that time ; but now it requires no special foresight to recognize it. New York recognized it as early as 1885, when it established its great Forest Re- serve for the specific purpose of outing grounds for its people. And this *^ was made absolutely and forever inviolate by popular vote under the State Constitution of 1894." That '*was going some * ' for such an early period ; but on Novem- ■^ \l ti > ttu^ ui CQ UJ CO o UJ UJ UJ UJ UJ UJ CO UJ y^ N > CO UJ UJ UJ CO D CO CD CO Ul fliR ei > J > > % S. M "..if ^ ' Jt %■ Hi > CD O UJ I O CO z o z i > UJ > UJ < Q. z D o u UJ H < UJ -J O UJ UJ QC O CO OC < UJ M > 12 > < 12 "^ Z < > > CO z z UJ Q. OC UJ > < z z < I UJ D a CO D CO u. O I O z < oc CD I- co UJ z o o o o m' FOREST LEAVES. 25 Svl i'# ber 7, 1916, *'the voters of the State of New York," by a majority of 150,000 decided in favor of a bond issue of $10,000,000 for increasing the area of the State Parks, as provided for in the laws of 1 916. After a trial of thirty-one years the idea of State outing grounds seems to have established itself there in the affections of the people. That, however, is not all. In addition to this, $2,500,- 000 were also privately subscribed for developing and beautifying the Palisades Park, *' which in the single season of 191 6 a million and a half per- sons visited." Five thousand boy scouts camped on the shores of one pond alone. At another camp site, three thousand working girls were ac- commodated during the same season. In a third camp 428 undernourished and anaemic boys from New York City were encamped for from two to eight weeks each, in an attempt to bring them back to health and strength. Their average gain in weight was four pounds. This led to a resolu- tion ** to make it a permanent feature upon a far larger scale. ' ' The reasons which led New York to vote such a great sum to increase its Forest Reserve area are : ist. — "Forests are great conservers of waste supply." 2ci. — "Forests are great equalizers of climate and temperature." 3d. — << Because of the pace of our modern civili- zation, forests have become invaluable as recreation grounds for all the people. 4th. — "Without preservation of the forest under State ownership, the supply of timber for the future will be seriously endangered." To the above, Pennsylvania may add. Without forests on our naked impoverished lands, the soil will be carried away in destructive floods and the vast water power impaired ! There remains also one more reason of especial moment just now ; The forests are a nursery of the red-blooded trained riflemen, of whom there can not be too many. Gentlemen of the Legislature, give us the full appropriation allowed by law for purchase of lands, and we can add extensive areas on the Ohio water- shed and in the Allegheny highlands to those now owned by the State. J. T. Rothrock. The National Forest Reservation Commission has authorized the purchase by the Government of 32,266 acres of land in the Southern Appala- chians and the White Mountains for inclusion in the eastern National Forests. The largest pur- chase is one of 14,360 acres in Alabama. Proposed Forest Fire Protection in the Anthracite Coal Region. ON September 29th, 1916, representatives of timberland owners met at Hazleton, Pa., at the call of the Chief Forest Fire Warden of Pennsylvania, to consider protection from forest fires. A Committee was appointed to draw up a report setting forth the necessity of better protec- tion of forests from fire, and how such protection may be accomplished and this report has just been published. The region considered was the middle and southern anthracite coal-fields. It contains 500,000 acres of forest and brush land of which 200,000 acres are partly productive, and 300,000 acres non- productive, and 500,000 acres of farm land of which 50,000 to 100,000 acres are non-produc- tive. All of this present non-productive land is capable of growing trees, but forest fires, the curse of the region is making and keeping it in this condition. Forest reproduction means utilization of every acre of soil, with local wood crops. At the present time there is not more than 9,000,000 cubic feet of merchantable wood now being pro- duced within the area annually, or less than 6 per cent, of the probable local demand estimated as 67,560,000 cubic feet. If properly planted, cared for and protected this area could produce fully five times as much lumber as it now contributes. It would mean cheaper timber for the mines, less taxation, a better regulated and pure water supply, more game and fish, better agricultural conditions, a more beautiful region— attracting tourists. To secure this it is necessary to control forest fires as far as possible— controlling within small limits such as will occur. It is useless to attempt reproduction unless the forest fires are stopped. The forest fire wardens under little control by the State are ineff'ective and inadequate, and pri- vate control is not only expensive but does not secure results. The solution ofl'ered is to have an organization formed of the land owners, members being assessed on an acreage basis, costing from i J4 to 3 J^ cents per acre per year. Institute a system of lookout stations, telephone lines, patrolmen and fire crews, which would co-operate with the State forces per- mitting the State to assist in planning and direct- ing and the latter refunding to the Association a considerable proportion of its expenses ; also con- duct an educational campaign. It is hoped that this organization may be formed —restoring the barren and denuded hillsides to their former tree-clad beauty. At a meeting March 2, at Pottsville, a number of timberland owners and representatives of land 26 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 27 owners came together and a temporary organiza- tion was compjfeted. Mr. J. E. Patterson, of Wilkes-Barre, \^^s elected as temporary chairman and Mr. H. C./ Wiener, Forester of Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., as temporary secretary. A committee on constitution and by-laws and a committee on membership were appointed. Per- manent organization is to be accomplished at a meeting in Wilkes-Barre, April 6. Reforesting Pennsylvania's Waste Land. ¥R. W. GARDINER CONKLIN, in charge of the Bureau of Silviculture and Men- suration of the Department of Forestry, has prepared ** Bulletin No. 15," in which much valuable information obtained from data secured on State Forests, is given. It is written for the purpose of advising those interested how to re- claim the waste areas of the State, where planting stock can be obtained, the best species of trees to use, and how these should be set out. The fol- lowing extracts will be of interest to our readers : **A conservative estimate places Pennsylvania's forest area at approximately 7,500,000 acres, of which 5,000,000 acres are in a non-productive condition. The remaining 2,500,000 acres are producing timber suitable for lumber. These 7,500,000 acres of land are largely mountainous and because of their steepness, rocky condition, and lack of fertility, are not adaptable for any purpose except the production of lumber. A large proportion of the 5,000,000 acres can be made productive only by the planting of forest trees, and a systematic effort should be made by every owner of such land to plant at least a portion of his hold- ings each year. If this be done, Pennsylvania can produce lumber sufficient not only for its own use, but can supply millions of feet annually for use outside of the State. *' It is estimated that, in addition to the 7,500,- 000 acres of forest land, there are in Pennsylvania 2,000,000 acres of waste farm land. This land was cleared but now proves worthless for agricul- ture. A portion of it, no doubt, is used for graz- ing purposes, but undoubtedly with little success. Such land should be planted with forest trees. **Two of the most substantial reasons for refor- esting are the need of producing lumber for future use, and the need of protection of watersheds. ** In i860, Pennsylvania produced more lumber than any other State in the Union. In 1880, it stood second with an annual cut of 1,733,844,000 board feet. In 191 5, the reported cut was 657,- 853,000 board feet and its standing as a lumber producing State was twentieth. Forest fires fol- lowed lumbering, completing the destruction of our forests. Now, nearly one-fifth of the State, so far as surface value is concerned, may be classed as unproductive. The only way to reclaim this land is by artificial reforestation, /. e., planting. '< Protection of watersheds is a matter of most vital interest to every resident of the State. A continuous supply of pure water is essential to health and prosperity. Where better can pure water be had than direct from forested areas ? ** The success or failure of a plantation depends on a great many factors, most of which may be influenced or controlled by human endeavor. Among the more important factors which influence success and which must be carefully considered before planting, are soil, climate, and existing growth ; also topography, including altitude, angle of slope, and aspect. The species to be planted should be such as are adaptable to the site, that is, to the soil, topography, etc. Adverse conditions of the planting site require more careful selection of the planting stock, both in regard to species and quality of stock, and the degree of care in the planting. **The age and size of plants used depend on the type of land to be planted and the species se- lected. ** Coniferous plants used for reforesting on State Forests vary in height from 4 to 1 2 inches and are two or three years old. By far the largest per- centage of seedlings used have been two-year olds. * * Little previous preparation of the area to be planted is necessary in this State. ** Various spacing distances for planting are in common use in this State. In most cases an attempt is made to space the seedlings at regular intervals in the rows and the rows are then spaced the same distance apart. This is not always possi- ble, especially in 'under-planting,' for existing growth prevents regularity. When cleared ground is to be planted, straight rows and regular spacing can be followed. ** Close spacing of trees in plantation is prac- ticed in order that the crowns of the trees may form a closed canopy over the ground in a mini- mum number of years. The aim is to shade out and kill the lower branches, causing natural prun- ing to take ptace. ** Plantations may be made pure, that is, using one species only, or in mixture, using two or more species in the same plantation. Several different methods of mixing are followed, viz.: Group mixtures. Alternating by rows. Alternating in the rows. ** Digging the Hole, — The method of planting adaptable to Pennsylvania conditions is to plant the trees in holes dug with a mattock or grubbing hoe. The digging end of the mattock only is required. One stroke is usually sufficient to loosen the soil, and one or more additional strokes to draw the loosened soil from the hole, leaving it in a mound at the edge. Where planting is be done in heavy sod, two parallel cuts, six or eight inches long and about four inches apart, should be made with the cutting end of the mattock. A third stroke with the digging end of the mattock turns back the sod. **The tree to be planted is held between the thumb and finger of the left hand at the root collar and lowered into the hole until the the root collar is level with the ground, the roots resting against the side of the hole. The dirt is then drawn back into the hole with the right hand and firmed about the roots either with a planting mallet or stone, or with the foot. The following rules should be ob- served generally in setting the plant : 1. See that the root collar comes about level with the ground. 2. Spread out the roots, putting them as nearly as possible in the position they originally had in the nursery. 3. See that the roots are pointing downward, not bent upward. 4. Have the stem of the plant as nearly erect as possible. 5. See that soil and not vegetable matter (grass, dead leaves, etc.) comes into contact with the roots. 6. Try to bring moist soil into contact with the roots. 7. Firm the soil well around the roots so that the plant cannot easily be pulled out. 8. Keep the roots moist until planted. **The number of men required in the planting crew depends upon the extent of the planting. Experienced men on different classes of land will plant anywhere from 500 to 1,000 seedlings a day. The better the planting conditions, the greater the number which may be planted per man per day. One man can plant about as fast as another can dig the holes. As a rule, two experienced men should be provided for each 10,000 seedlings to be plant- ed. If 100,000 seedlings are to be planted, the crew should include ten mattock men and ten planters. ** In addition to the mattock men and planters, an additional man or boy is sometimes provided for each five planters. It is his duty to carry the seedlings to the planters and to drop one in each hole. One foreman to every twenty men should be charged with the duty of seeing that the seed- lings are properly planted. ** Planting costs vary widely with the many dif- ferent soil and growth conditions encountered. **0n Pennsylvania State Forests planting has been done under conditions many and varied, and usually more or less adverse. The first planting was done in 1899. Since that time to the end of the year 191 5, a total of 16,553,291 seedlings were planted at a cost of $52,919.25, making an average of J3.20 per thousand for planting. For 191 5 alone, the average cost was $2.95 per thou- sand. In that year a total of 4,349,386 seedlings were planted, so this average cost per thousand is a very fair one. ** The cost of planting per acre depends also on the spacing which regulates the number of seed- lings required per acre. As a rule, either 4 ft, x 4 ft. or 5 ft. X 5 ft. spacing is recommended. Where 4 ft. x 4 ft. spacing is used, 2,722 seedlings are required and the planting cost per acre would be about $8.00. If 5 ft. x 5 ft. spacing is followed, 1 , 740 seedlings are used and the cost would average about $7.00. But it should not be overlooked that to produce lumber free of knots close planting of the seedlings is required. '*The rate of growth of planted trees varies widely for different species on different soils and on the different classes of land. Slow growth may be expected on poor soils. However, soils con- sidered too poor for agriculture may be good for wood production. *'The success or failure of the plantation is di- rectly dependent on various external dangers which may injure the trees or destroy them entirely, either as a whole, or in part. Among the factors of danger most to be guarded against are : Fire — First and foremost. Grazing. Gnawing animals. Insects. Fungi. ** The Department of Forestry is willing to give all possible assistance to individuals in planting operations. Where it is proposed to plant up areas of considerable size, the Department will make every effort to have its foresters make an examina- tion of the area to be planted, and to do this free of charge. The forester will then make a report to the Department on his examination, suggest the species it is proposed to plant, and furnish a plant- ing plan to be followed. He will also give the in- dividual what advice he can on how best to plant, the number of men necessary to do the planting, and how to organize the crew." Tables are given showing the rates of growth of different species of trees, and numerous illustra- tions aid in an understanding of the subject. Write to the Department of Forestry, Harrisburg, Pa. , for a copy. M: 28 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 29 iJI :il ill The Lumber Outlook. ONE of the very best of the many valuable Reports issuing from the U. S. Forest Service is Number 114, ''Some Public and Economic Aspects of the Lumber Industry." Part I., by William B. Greely. The following are quotations from it : . '' About 40 billion feet of lumber are now cut yearly from 2,700 billion feet of standing timber, but the latter furnishes raw material for many other products. The industry seems to have been built up beyond the needs of its market, for at least a third of its saws are idle. **The importance of lumbering is emphasized by its investment of 2^/^ billion dollars and its employment of over 900,000 men. **The Mfs' in timber ownership in the West grow out of the vast extent of its forests, their dis- tance from the large consuming regions, and their abnormal rise in value. Speculation in quantities of public timber, cheaply acquired, and the push of sudden development carried timber values very high. Borrowed money was used freely. Tax burdens rose with the price of stumpage. The interest and taxes paid out on timberlands held over long periods may thus mortgage liberal ad- vances in future worth. * ' On the other hand market values of stumpage have stood still for eight or nine years, and even declined in 191 5. Western timberlands have been overcapitalized more or less, and can hardly earn in the long run the profits expected of them. The large speculative gains in buying stumpage which have tided lumbermen over many tight places are mostly over. The future earnings of the industry probably will have to be made in its milling and merchandising. ** Southern pine timberlands have traveled much the same road, but at a slower pace and with less striking results. '* A fifth or more of the cost of lumber to con- sumers is eaten up in railroad freights ; retailers take about the same amount ; and manufacturers, on the average, little more than one-half. Rising costs of transportation as timber shortage has ■ moved the mills farther and farther from the bulk of consumers is an important factor in the increas- ing cost of lumber. Other causes lie in the greater demands made upon the retailer by the public, in higher labor costs, and in the decreas- ing purchasing power of money. At that, the rise in lumber prices, though very marked during the 10 years before 1908, has not been greatly dif- ferent from that of most commodities ; and since 1907 lumber has fallen behind. '* Economic and social changes in the United States are reducing the use of lumber in propor- tion to other structural materials. Uses lost to other structural materials within the last 10 years equal one-fifth of the present yearly cut. Since the year of heaviest demand, 1906, the home con- sumption of lumber per capita has dropped nearly one-fourth. ** Lumber's competitors will undoubtedly re- strain future increases in its cut and price to a considerable degree. And yet there is every reason to believe that the United States will need all of the timber which it has. **The labor and economic welfare of many communities where lumber is a mainstay have been hard hit by its enforced curtailment and low returns. But the greatest public loss in the long run is the waste ^of timber caused by cutting be- yond the wants to be supplied and by inability to use a considerable part of the stumpage destroyed. No public gains, like the extension of agriculture, offset this loss of a natural resource. *' Abundant forests have been one of the great assets of the United States and its best . guarantee of cheap lumber. Their depletion, to no public or industrial advantage, is a natural waste which bids fair to be felt sooner or later in the cost of forest products. * ** At the same time the public has gained some- thing from the better service forced upon the industry by its hard times. ** There is over 700 billion feet of private tim- ber in the West beyond what can be carried by its mills. A safe means of holding this vast sur- plus, like surplus currency in a bank, until manu- facturers need it is necessary. As far as this can be done by private ownership, it must be non- speculative and free from pressure for early or high returns. The small holding which meets these needs of the East will move westward but slowly. Large holdings may or may not perform this timber banking service effectively, but give promise of leading the way to greater stability. ** Public co-operation in fire protection and moderate taxation will be an important factor. In self interest, however, the public should par- ticipate directly by extending State and National Forests. Thereby it will intrench itself in the strongest position to check wasteful use of timber and keep the lumber trade competitive should occasion arise. *' Fresh virgin forests farther on will not be available always. Each region will become more dependent, for lumber at reasonable prices, upon its own resources. '* Staggering areas of cut over lands have accu- mulated in many sections, and millions of acres are added to them annually. The difficult prob- lems involved in the rational use of this residue can hardly be solved without public aid, to put the farmer oh what is tillable and restore the forest on what is not. ** Greater economy in the use of wood will be- come necessary at best when the virgin forests of the United States are exhausted. Severe shortages are certain unless the productive capacity of cut- over forest lands is put to work. Private owner- ship can do but a part. Public ownership must do the rest, aided by regulation of the handling of private forest lands. ' ' Pennsylvania Forest Fires in 1916. THE report covering the spring and fall forest fire seasons of 191 6, issued by the Penn- sylvania Department of Forestry, shows that while there were almost as many forest fires in Pennsylvania in 1916 as in 191 5, the area burned over was less than half that of 19 15, and the timber loss was only about one- fourth as large. In 1915, 1,101 forest fires burned over 336,635 j acres, with a resulting timber loss of $850,700; in 1916, 1,013 fires burned 154,752 acres, and the timber loss was only $236,200. Less than three per cent, of the area in the State Forests was burned over in 1916. This was due to a combination of favorable weather conditions, better fire warden service, and awakening public sentiment against forest fires. The fact that almost the same number of fires as burned in 191 5 covered fifty per cent, less forest land, does show, however, that the reorganization of the fire warden system was the largest single factor in cutting down the loss. As usual, railroads and campers head the list of causes, with 270 and 182 fires respectively to their discredit. Brush burning on dry days, 55 fires; 95 were of incendiary origin ; carelessly conducted lumbering operations started 44 ; 10 originated from lightning ; and 45 were caused by miscel- laneous agencies, such as children playing with matches. The causes of 312 fires are unknown. It is noted that 103 fires burned less than one acre each, and 765 were extinguished before they covered a hundred acres. Over half the damage was done by 28 fires of over 1,000 acres each, which burned a total of 80,000 acres in sixteen counties. ' The largest of these fires occurred m Blair, Cameron, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Luzerne, and Potter counties. Blair, Luzerne, and Potter are tied for the doubtful honor of being first on this list, each having had a fire of over 10,000 acres. No fires were reported from Allegheny, Beaver, Delaware, Erie, Greene, Lawrence, Montour, Philadelphia, or Washington counties ; but small fires occurred in such agricultural counties as Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery. Blair county suffered most severely, with 18,000 acres burned. Almost 16,000 acres went up in smoke in Luzerne county, and 13,400 acres in Potter county. The heaviest money loss occurred in Clinton county, where 6,700 acres, valued at almost J 2 5,000, were burned over. As indicating how variable weather conditions affect the forest fire seasons, it is interesting to note that fires occurred in every month of 1916 except February. Almost 50 per cent, of the fires burned between August ist and December 15th, which is very unusual. In 19 15 nearly 90 per cent, of the fires occurred before June ist. Practically half of the fall fires in 19 16 occurred during one very dry week in the early part of December. Further changes aie being made from time to time in the list of fire wardens. The State will be thoroughly covered, township by township, and wardens will be appointed wherever there is enough forest area to justify appointment. The greater part of the State has been covered in this way already, and over 1,500 wardens are now on the roster, in addition to the force of foresters and rangers. CHIPS. Dr. William Bray has written a very interesting paper on the Development of the Vegetation in New York State. In it he says : ** But over a dis- couraging proportion of the State, the soil has been reduced by the human factor to a condition of unproductive yield,"— which is still more em- phatically true of Pennsylvania ! Wood Lot Forestry is coming to the front. Professor Ferguson's recent volume is most helpful to those in this State who seek information upon this subject; and Farmer's Bulletin, No. 715, U. S. Department of Agriculture, is full of instructive general information of a thoroughly practical character. **Dan Beard," who is known to most of the <* red blooded " boys of this country, has printed a most attractive circular of an Outdoor School for Boys, in Pike County, Pa. The boys of today who come from his camp will be the forest lovers and protectors of the future. If you are inter- ested inquire of Daniel Carter Beard, 87 Bowne Avenue, Flushing, N. Y. '4 !f I 30 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 81 i The New York State College Forestry at Syra- cuse University publishes - A Street Tree System for New York City. It is commended to the care- ful study of our town Tree Commissions. The term Stumpage is one that bothers many when they come to place their standing timber on the market. The following is from Bulletin No. 426 U S. Department of Agriculture ; Sugar Pine- ** Theoretically the stumpage value of a given body of timber is that portion of the differ- ence between the cost of operating and the selling of the manufactured product remaining after a reasonable profit has been deducted for the opera- tor National forest stumpage is appraised on this value.'* *' Stumpage values, however, trend steadily upward, with much less fluctuation than there is in lumber prices." Forest Leaves welcomes *' The Conserva- tionistr published by the Conservation Commis- sion of the State of New York, to the field of endeavor for saving and utilizing that States great resources. The first two numbers, most at- tractive in appearance, are out. -God has lent us the earth for our life. It is a great entail, it belongs as much to those who are to come after us as to us, and we have no right, by anything we do or neglect, to involve them in any unnecessary penalties, or to deprive them of the benefit which was in our power to bequeath." — Ruskin. The Biological Survey estimates that the cats of New York kill ** 3,500,000 birds annually." • The New York Conservation Commission will have '* approximately 10,000,000 trees available for forest planting upon State land and for sale to private land owners during 1917-*' Twenty years ago those who predicted a scarcity of wood were called '' Calamity Howlers." Ten years ago a timber famine was considered possible. Five years ago it was accepted as probable. Now we know that it is here. What is ** Clear stuff white pine" worth? The slabs of the poorer pines that once went into plastering lath are now bought at advanced rates for soda process paper pulp; and the newspapers are increasing their prices, or decreasing their issues, or both, because of the price and scarcity of paper. When a new idea is advanced ''men say first that it is not true ; second, that it is contrary to religion; lastly, I always did believe it!" Hu- man thought still follows in the old path. State-owned watersheds are needed to furnish water for navigation and for water-power in Penn- sylvania west of the Alleghenies. We of the east owe it to the industries there. Write to your representative in Harrisburg to vote for liberal appropriation for the purchase of more land for State Forest Reserves. The General Government is definitely com- mitted to war against the White Pine Blister rust, having appropriated $300,000 towards its suppres- sion. Of this, $1 50,000 is as an aid to the several States, to be given in sums equal to those provided by the State, county, local authorities, individuals or organizations. What is Pennsylvania doing to entitle it to a liberal share ? Money appropriated for the purchase of State Forest Reserves is not to be considered simply as an expense, or merely as a safeguard. It is an investment. Conservative estimates place the present value of the State Forest Reserves at $6,000,000, and the total cost to date at $2,- 275,000. Striking as this is, it probably is far less note- worthy to the Commonwealth than the facilities the reserves offer to our citizens in the nature of outing grounds, where health and renewed vigor can be restored to those who are ailing. Do Birds Return Year after Year to the Same Nesting Places? This question is probably hard to answer except in a general way ; but occasionally birds with pe- culiar markings are found and these can be identi- fied. For example, in West Chester there is a robin with a snow-white tail that for four or five years has regularly appeared and spent the summer there. In the same place there is a maple tree, with a dead, dry, hard limb, on the tip of which, for several years, a male downy wood-pecker has come, with each spring, to rap, rap, rap, in the early morning, loud enough to be heard by all the neighbors. The limb is so small, hard and dry that it can contain little or no food. It is proba- bly a freak of a single bird, that for some reason, comes from mere *' force of habit," to his ''old stamping ground." The vigor of a nation is the sum of the vigor of its individuals ! Vigor, efficiency and courage usually go together, and the nation needs them all just now 1 Outing grounds are cheaper than hospitals. The bark of black oak, or *' yellow oak," as it is often called on account of the color of the inner bark, is now used for dye-making. New Publications. Handbook for Rangers and Woodsmen. By, J. L. B. Taylor, Forest Ranger. 12 mo, 420 pages, bound in cloth, illustrated. Price, $2.50. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N. Y. Mr. Taylor has prepared a useful handbook for those who are inexperienced in woodscraft, which was compiled after eight years of field work with the United States Forest Service. The aim has been to give short descriptions of the more im- portant problems, avoiding, as far as possible, technical terms. The equipment which is necessary is first dis- cussed ; not only the personal outfit but also riding and pack animals, cooking and provisions, recom- mendations being given as to the kinds to be pur- chased, with the range in prices. Construction work, such as building telephone lines, making trails, rock drilling, blasting, build- ings, concrete work, painting, fencing, together with carpenter's kit and square, are described and priced. General field work, consisting of riding, pack- ing, wagons, driving, estimating and felling tim- ber, log scaling, land surveys, fire fighting, field cooking and care of cooking utensils are all given. The proper care of live stock, shoeing, hob- bling, diseases of stock, medicines, selecting horses, branding, ear marks, buttons, loops and tags are all set forth. Suggestions are given as to human ailments and injuries, poisons, bites of reptiles, location of camp sites, etc., while an appendix describes adminis- trative districts, forest supervisors' headquarters, weights and measures, how to ascertain grades and estimate distance, elevations, preservative treat- ment of telephone poles, size and number of nails and screws per pound, materials required for con- crete, blasting charges, and log rules. The book closes with a glossary and index. Numerous illustrations aid in giving an under- standing of the text, making the handbook valu- able for novices in woods knowledge. Proceedings of the Southern Forestry Congress. 8vo, 187 pages, paper covers. Price, 50 cents. Southern Forestry Congress, Chapel Hill, N. C. The interesting papers which were presented at the Congress which was held at Asheville, N. C, July iith-i5th, 19 1 6, are printed in a monograph, and a list of these with the authors are as follows : * 'Address of Welcome," Governor Locke Craig. ** Welcome to Asheville," Hon. J. E. Rankin, Mayor. ** Response" to address of welcome. Dr. Hugh P. Baker, Dean New York State College of For- estry. **The Southern Forests and Their Place in the Nation's Timber Supply," Hon. H. S. Graves, United States Forester. ** Re-establishment and Protection of Big Game in the Southern Appalachians," Edmund Sey- mour, President American Bison Society. '*Biltmore Forest and Forest Plantations," Verne Rhoades, Forest Supervisor, Pisgah Na- tional Forest. ** Greetings From the American Forestry As- sociation," Charles Lathrop Pack, President. ** Appalachian Purchase Bill Resolutuion," George S. Powell. **The Erosion Problem of the South and Its Relation to Forestry," R. S. Maddox, State For- ester of Tennessee. Announcement of Committees. * * A Practical example of Forest Management in Southern Yellow Pine," Henry E. Hardtner. ** Organization of State Forest Protective Sys- tems," Prof. H. H. Chapman, Yale Forest School. ** Forest, Fish and Game Departments," dis- cussion, Messrs. Peters, Viquesney, Maddox, Hardtner and Palmer. '* What the States Can Do in Forest Fire Pro- tection," F. W. Besley, State Forester of Mary- land. **The Railroads and Forestry," discussion, Messrs. Foley and Richards. ** Co-operation in Fire Prevention," discussion, Messrs. Stikeleather and Lindsey. ** Publicity and Education in Forest Protection in the South," J. E. Barton, State Forester of Kentucky. ** George W. Vanderbilt Memorial in Pisgah National Forest : Resolution. ' ' ** Protection of Federal Lands in the Appala- chians," William L. Hall, Assistant Forester, U. S. Forest Service. Permanent Organization : Report of Commit- tees. *< What West Virginia is Doing in Forest Fire Protection," J. A. Viquesney, Forest, Fish and Game Warden of West Virginia. ** Forest Management in the Virginia Moun- tains," discussion, W. W. Hurt. ** Propagation, Conservation and Disposition of Timber on Coal Bearing Lands," letter, W. W. Coe. << The Regeneration of Southern Forests," Prof. J. W. Toumey, Director of Yale Forest School. *».: 82 FOREST LEAVES. ' M General Resolutions adopted by the Southern Forestry Congress. Report of Nominating Committee. Vanderbilt Memorial. Standing Committee. List of Delegates attending Congress. List of Contributing Members. Forest Working Plans. Prof. A. B. Recknagel. 8vo, 265 pages, bound in cloth, illustrated^ second edition. Price, J2.00. John Wiley & Sons, New York, N. Y. This is a second edition of the excellent book which Mr. Recknagel, Professor of Forestry at Cornell University, prepared in 191 2 It has been revised, improved, and some excellent features ^ ptrt one describes the foundation of working plans taking up the normal forest and its attributes the forest survey, and how to determine method of treatment to be pursued. The best ways to regulate and distribute the cut, also the outlines for working and planting plans. Part two gives the practice of working plans, the first section describing methods used in Germany, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wurttemberg, Baden, Alsace- Lorraine, France, and Austria. The second sec- tion deals with America, describing the early beginnings, present procedure, forest plans, pre- lii^inary, working and annual plans, closing with an outline for the plan of silvicultural manage- ment, and an index. „ » j The data which Prof. Recknagel has collected in the course of a year's study abroad, and ten years' experience in the United States is fully set forth The theoretical part has been reduced to a minimum. The aim has been to compile a text- book of value, not only to the student, but also to the practising forester, and, therefore, theory has been subordinated to practice. The illustrations and tables aid in a clearer understanding of the j descriptions. of a spruce tree, which is finally made into paper The Merry Greenwood is the sixth chapter, and describes the cutting off of trees with its disastrous results, and the coming of the forester, to care for and reproduce the forest. The last chapter is en- titled ''The Christmas Tree," with a description of a young balsam, which ended its life as an Xmas tree. The book is written in a way which will interest the children in the trees. FORBST LEAVKS II Forest Fancies. By Lucy C. Kellerhouse. 8vo, 164 pages, bound in cloth, illustrated. Frice, ; $1.50. Duffield & Company, New York, N. Y. . This book consists of seven chapters, each a complete story in itself. The first describes the growth of an oak from the acorn to the giant ot the forest, which is finally cut down by man. The second, called the Sugar Moon, is a tale for boys and girls of maple sugar time. The third describes a Sylvan Easter, and the flowers and blossoms the different trees are clothed with in the spring. The fourth story is of a Linden or holy tree growing in Jonsboda, Sweden, and with this is linked the story of Linnaeus, the great botanist. The fifth chapter, on ** Forest Leaves," is a tale Report of the Department of Forestry for the Years jni/and 191 5 • 8vo, 247 pages, illustrated, bound in cloth. Department of Forestry, Harrisburg, Pa. The report gives interesting details of the work done by the Department of Forestry during the years 1914 and 1915- The letter of transmittal calls particular attention to the amount of develop- ment work done on the State Forests, and suggests that the revenue derived will be directly propor- tioned to the amount of such work undertaken and completed. During the period covered by the report 12,862 acres were added to the btate Forests, making the total January i, 19 16, I 006,891 acres, which are located in 26 counties. The immediate forest fire loss was $704,99^ m iQUand $850,777 in 1915. A synopsis is given of the legal proceedings of the Department, also a statement of the expenditures made for the State forests, and of the revenue derived therefrom ; the latter amounting to $28,550. A list is given of permanent camp leases, there being now 252 in force, while 300 temporary permits were issued. The reports of the State foresters and the Forest Inspector are given. The nursery report for the two years under con- sideration, shows that there were 4 large and 22 small nurseries. There were shipped from these I in 1914, a total of 3,228,868 seedlings, trans- plants and cuttings; and in 191 5, a total ot 4,165,963, the greater portion of which were planted on the State Forests. Interesting data as to the cost of these plantings have been com- piled The reports of the Bureau of Silviculture and Mensuration, and of the Division of Surveys are given, showing the work they have accom- Descriptions are also given of a visit of the Society of Eastern Foresters to Mont Alto, Pa., and of the shooting of Frank D. Jerald, Forester, and of the Testimonial Luncheon tendered to Dr. Rothrock. ^ The report closes with tabulated statements ol the forest fire losses, and of the timber cut of Pennsylvania in 1914 and 191 5. „ • Send to the Department of Forestry, Harris- burg, Pa., for a copy, and learn what is being i done on the State Forests of Pennsylvania. Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 3 Philadelphia, June, 1917 Whole Number 179 EDITORIAL. PITTSBURGH is a necessary product of the location. At the forks of the Ohio is the predestined seat of commercial power, fixed beyond the ability of man to alter or subvert. It was The Point to which travel must trend in the march of empire westward. This led, natu- rally, to an important political development which las been hitherto hardly recognized, but which aas a most profound relation to our National pros- perity: The old National Pike, and what is now known as The Lincoln Highway, led to Fort Pitt. Along these routes the western travel went which became so important that interstate trade laws were necessary. If neither coal, iron, oil nor gas had been found on the Ohio Watershed, there would still have been a great city where Pittsburgh stands. The mineral wealth added immensely to the importance of the place : but the confluence of the rivers and the open stream to the west and southwest produced Pittsburgh. The American Revolution ended in 1782. Even before this it was realized that a strong cen- tral authority was needed to hold the States together and to provide mutual protection. This came in 1787, when the Constitution of the United States was adopted. P'ive long years in- tervened between the end of the war and the adoption of the Constitution. They were years of Congressional distraction. The war seemed to have led to distrust and suspicion between the States. Even Washington feared that the peace with Great Britain was to be but the prelude to hostilities between the States. There were, in- deed, mutterings, that it might be wiser to make a voluntary submission to the mother country and come under the yoke, than to live in perpetual strife. Help came in 1784 from a most unexpected quarter, after all efforts at forming a closer union of the States seemed to be fruitless. Along the Potomac River there was, more or less, smuggling between Virginia and Maryland. The same was true on the Eastern shore, where the Pocamoke River separated Maryland and Vir- ginia. There were, of course, other irregulari- ties. But in any event there was at that time no great interest at stake there. In order, however, to meet these irregularities a joint commission of three members from Virginia was appointed by the House of Delegates, and Maryland appointed three more. The Commission met. The only result was to show that the problem was too large to be solved by it. Maryland proposed that Delaware and Pennsylvania be invited to join ; but the eleven other States were led to join the Commission by Act of Congress, and the original task was enlarged to ** examine into the condition of the trade of the Confederation," which Com- mission was to make a report that would enable Congress ** to provide for the trade of the whole country." The National Trade Convention met at Annapolis in 1786. It was followed by another meeting at Philadelphia in 1787. Then and there the Report of the National Trade Convention led to the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. The original causes, those directly interesting Maryland and Virginia alone, were too small to have united the Congressional forces. There must have been a more compelling power ! What was it ? The year 1758 marked the end of the French domination in America, and placed the control of the country into English keeping. In 1782 the peace between this country and Great Britain led to our possession of what England had wrested from France. Long before this, however, rumors had reached the East of the rich lands to the West, which were accessible by way of Fort Pilt. The old National Pike from Wills Creek (now Cumberland) led most of the way there. And what is now known as the Lincoln Highway led directly to it. Once at Fort Pitt the way into the Promised Land was open, either by wagon or by boat. The vision of States yet to be born, of in- dustries to be developed, of national wealth, power and population to be provided for — all ne- cessitated legal provision for the coming trade. It was this which sidetracked the smaller issues between Maryland and Virginia, and led the Na- tional Congress to recognize its responsibility to the future. ^ , ^. Three years before the adoption of the Constitu- ,M. 34 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 35 I tion, the roads through Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh wS dusty from the long wagon trams leading to and {xom"The West," where a power was build- Zt whTch must be firmly bound to the thirteen Kes! under a new centralized Constitutior. or allowed to follow the current and seek another outlet to the sea under a flag of its own. It is not too much to say that when we journey in June to Pittsburgh, we may well regard it as a ; Dilerimage to a National shrine. , _ ^ , ^ If those who make the trip from the East go by automobile, and go over the old " National Pike from Cumberland, Maryland, they will be on his- toric ground ; for it was over this road that Brad- dock marched to defeat. If they return by way of the Lincoln Highway, they will be on or in sight of the road on which Forbes marched to victory. Both of these roads are good and the accommodations ample. The scenery is the grandest in our grand State. Let us make this annual outing meeting (June 2ist-2^d) of the Pennsylvania Forestry Associa- tion a memorable one, worthy of the place :_ Pittsburgh, the Gateway to both the West AND the Constitution of the United States. J. 1. K.. Pennsylvania's Potential Forest Area and Land Policy. ?ENNSYLVANIA has been one of the first states to take up forestry in a serious man- ner and it is the only state that has taken . up forest management in a thoroughly logical and professional way. The chief difficulty has been that it began and limited its activities to strictly ; cut-over forest lands and often thoroughly devas- tated lands. Hence, it must be a long time before its foresters, whatever their skill, can restore any considerable part of the once magnificent timber _ cover To accomplish anything at all the State , must adopt a far-seeing statesmanlike policy, and then persistently stick to it until the foresters can show the final results— one hundred years and more hence. Here lies the chief difficulty in state for- estry. Very few states have carried out any con- sistent long time policies of any kind. State activi- ties go by fits and starts, and if there is anything hostile and injurious to the forest work, it is the "fits and starts" method of procedure. The continual organizations and reorganizations, the changing of men and ideas, the upsetting of poli- cies, and ^&n\c\\\2iT:\y greatly fluctuating appropria- tions are incompatible with a successful State For- est Policy. Forestry requires men trained for a life work, and men of faith and vision in the future. Nothing kills the spirit of such a force of men as the uncertainty of what the next leg.sla ure will do • of what attitude a new governor will assume ?o^^;ard the work ; of what change in viewpoint and ideals the always possible replacement in ex- ecutive head may bring about. Until our State will hold a conference of its lead- ing scientists, publicists, business men ^»f'P<>f"'f!' and outline a broad gauge far-reaching forest ply^^ and then pledge its representatives to apjsistent and uniform financial support of that policy, for- estry can have but a precarious existence. This applies to fish and game as well. , . . , .. „ This must be followed up by an administration of men who can hold the confidence of the forestry profession and the public by their framing techn- cal ability and enthusiasm. Appointments must , be made for a life profession when the right men c A ""' The aims and limits should be set in the acquire- ment of State forest land, and then a uniform and persistent carrying out of this policy should be provided for. The executive in charge can then plan to maintain the required trained personnel Lnd provide the young trees for extensive reforesta- tion plans years in advance. At present, planting plans are being made five years m advance-and riehtlv so. Nurseries are being stocked with seed that will furnish plants two to four years hence for reforestation operations. These plans may be laid ' on a basis of lo million trees and 8 to lo thousand ' acres of reforestation per year. But when all is ! ready the legislature or governor may cut the ap- ' propriation in two and the five-year planting plan becomes not a plan, but a guess And forestry becomes a succession of - fits and starts -soon a football for politics, and trained men seeking a ; life profession abandon it (if they have any self- respect left). It will be very interesting to see what happens to the extensive supply of forest ' seedlings in the State nurseries in the spnng of iQi 7 Will they be planted as they should be i But this comprehensive forest policy in the ac- Guirement of State forest land presupposes a tairly adequate knowledge of our total State area and the part that is and should remain in forest. Can we blame the public, the governor and the legislature for failing to put confidence in our professional ability, when we differ as much as 6o per cent m our statement of fact in reference to the fotest area of the State? , The United States Forest Service (Kellogg-- Circular i66, and after him '^^'^--^'f^^'\f^\ places an estimate of the actual wood and brushland (the varying stages of forest cover) at 9,200,000 1 acres for Pennsylvania. The l^^f^^'^^'^'^J^Xn : partment of Forestry (W. G. Conklin-Bulletin 1 lO estimates the area most recently at 7,500,000 I acres, after the Interior Department report. Hon. S. B. Elliott, of the State Forestry Reservation Commission (in a recent published address ^*The Present and Future of Pennsylvania' s Forests " ) , places the potential forest area at over 12,400,000 acres. It will be seen below that this last estimate is nearest the truth as far as the writer can check it, although this figure, also, has too much estimate and has not used the very definite farm woodlot acreage reported by the 1880 and 19 10 Censuses — the latter on p. 672 of the ^'Abstract with Sup- plement for Pennsylvania." The Interior Depart- ment estimate of 7,500,000 acres will appear par- ticularly indefensible. The object of this discussion is to arrive at the best figure possible for Pennsylvania's forest area, using all definite data available and resorting to indirect deductions only when the census fails. This figure should command the general confidence as the best data available and without doubt suffi- ciently near to the absolute truth, to base a dis- cussion of State forest policy on. We will first examine the estimate of the Inte- rior Department report for 1909. This attempts to classify the land area of the State into *' cleared land " and ** timber land," and is based on asses- sors' lists by townships, boros and cities, summed up for each county by the County Commissioners. *' Cleared land" includes taxed town areas and farms, so that this table should include the entire land area of the State, except the untaxed State owned forest lands and possibly railroad rights-of- way. In 1 9 10, the Interior Department reports for the State : '* Cleared land . 16,878,562 acres ''Timberland" . 7,069,016 acres If we add to this . . 916,440 acres in State owned forests and 136,000 acres in R. R. rights-of-way (as explained later) we get the total . . 25,000,018 acres total land area, but the Census shows 28,692,480 acres total land area. Unaccounted for . 3,692,462 acres. If we seek the cause of this discrepancy we find that it lies mainly in the mountain counties, and that these 3,700,000 acres are almost entirely for- est land. A few of the more striking examples are cited : County. Center . . Bradford . Huntinijdon Lycoming . Schuylkill . Tioga . , Total Land Area. Interior Report, 1910. ,tt'\ A I. "Timber- "Cleared.' . „ . ., and. State I Not Ac- Forest t counted Land— , for. 19T0. (acres) ! 733»440 732,800 5^7,520 1780,800 '497,280 1730,880 (acres) 195,098 496,433 201,560 216,510 212,223 4-57,154 (acres) 138,771 130,802 220,127 178,639 21,567 75.803 (acres) | (acres) 75.7901323.781 none 105,565 54,184111,649 73,5421312,109 none '263,490 50,643:177,280 From these few examples it is seen that the land omitted in the Interior Department report lies mainly in the mountain counties and can not be explained except as wild mountain land. Further, Delaware, Sullivan and Greene counties are omitted in the ^^ timberland " report entirely. But not only has the interior report amiUed some 3 million acres of forest land, but a large area of the ''cleared'' land \s forest \2,w^ ! By the follow- ing figures it can be seen that some counties have reported cut-over forest la?id as ^'cleared,'" while other counties have reported all farm land as cleared, disregarding the large woodlot areas as timberland : County. Clearfield Elk . . I'orest Lackawanna McKean Warren Clearfield county has a total area of 730,880 acres, so that a ^^ cleared area" of 612,992 acres very clearly includes over 400,000 acres of cut- over forest land reported as ''cleared" to the Interior Department. So, also in some of the better farming counties, the ''cleared land" of the Interior Department must include farm land with no allowance for woodlots : • " Cleared land " Improved and Unimproved Farm land — excluding woodlots nterior Dept. 1910 . (Census 1910), Discrepancy. (acres) (acres) (acres) . . 612,992 170,774 442,218 • • 145,074 • . 258,852 a . 262,308 - 53,718 24,280 91,140 91,356 234,572 171,168 • • 552,352 . • 338,074 107,077 159,139 445,275 178,935 1910 Interior Dept. total "Timberland." County. (acres) Allegheny .... 10,875 Bucks 18,700 Erie 37,954 Lawrence .... 7,273 Mercer 26,948 Schuylkill . . . 21,567 Washington . . . 19,104 Westmoreland . . 69,363 1910 Census " Farm woodlots " alone. (acres) 43,299 37,"2 65,915 25,740 61,616 59,978 47,251 91,018 In these counties, the census woodlot areas alone exceed the entire timberland area as reported by the Interior Department. If these illustrations have not completely shown the utter worthlessness of the Interior Depart- ment's land classification as a basis for arriving at forest and non- forest lands of the State, we may add a few of the discrepancies or lack of corrob- oration in two Interior Department reports : " Timberland " area- County, Cambria Clinton Somerset lioga Interior Dept. 1910. (acres) . . 232,818 . ■ 373,989 . • 363,565 75,803 Union 93, 808 Westmoreland . 69,363 Wyoming . . . 77,644 Interior Dept. 191 5. (acres) 43,712 71,488 298,532 145,912 65,602 103,255 120,277 ! I i.lj i n 36 FOREST LEAVES. Discrepancies in the "cleared area" also are very large : „ ^^^^^^^ „ ^^^^ (acres) Elk 212,494 Luzerne . . . • 333.997 Mifflin 130.553 York 446,353 (acres) 145.074 251.718 218,316 547,187 We are, therefore, forced to reject the Interior tabulation as a basis for classification. The total lamUrea of Pennsylvania is 28.692,480 acres. Total land in farms improved and un- ^^^^^^ g^^ ^^^^^ Improna^d-inVarms: ! 'I'^^^iig a-e- f^,W/««,/ in farms 4,281,439 acres. These figures of the 19 10 census are very con- sistent with the figures for 1880, and command entire confidence. _ • ^ ■„ „ c^. Here we have a definite starting point in a lor- est area estimate, i.e., 4,281,439 ^"^'^^ f .'^^''t ' land in farms alone. Anyone conversant with the State conditions knows that there is much more "unseated" forest land outside of farms than in farms in the mountain counties. So that deduct- 1 ine the total farm area (including farm woodland) from the State area, 10,105,648 acres remains to , be accounted for as "wild" woodland ("un- I seated"), towns, and possibly railroad nghts-of- way Lakes and streams are not included in the Ma/ land area. That the larger part of these 10 million acres are forest land may be deduced from a few typical counties. Thus, Center county has an area of 733,440 acres and a farm area of only 286,822 acres, or a balance of 446,612 acres to be accounted for. The towns, streams and railroads in this county do not occupy 25,000 acres of land, so that the " unseated " forest land must embrace over 420,000 acres. On the other hand, in Bucks county 352.928 acres of the 389,120 acres total area is in farms. Here the area not in farms is only about 36,000 acres-all of which could be eranted to town sites and railroads. In order to get a fair idea of the deduction from area outside of farms due to town sites, the follow- ing is offered to account for land occupied by the entire population : P<3PiLATioN (1910 Census). Population of farms . 2,452,483 (»>-ea occupied, included Small towns less than >" f™ 2500 each ... . 58'.959 '-tS-Ooo acres (i acre foi Larger cities & towns ^ac^ family except Allegheny »• 4 • Co. I Philad-a Co. 2,547.756 .59.ooo acres K^ ^acre AUeeheny Co. & Phi-' '^ °'^ , ^): ■ lakJo 2,082,9.3 '-.-°--,K * I stood and gazed in admiration on the ex- ample of heroic maternal devotion before me. It is doubtless common enough in the bird- world, i but I can testify, that to stand within twelve feet of a truly wild creature, whose majesty is second only to that of the Eagle, and see her shield her chick with all the tenderness and solicitude of a barnyard fowl, arouses a thrill of satisfaction such as few ornithological experiences are capable of I doing." I In closing his fascinating monograph, he says. ^* I shall hope to spend many more happy field days 1 with my friends the Ospreys, although in some instances 'familiarity breeds contempt,' in case of the Osprey, this can never be true. There is a nobility and dignity about this bird, an industry and inoffensiveness of life, a tender affection for I its mate and young, that can only bring increasing admiration with acquaintance." I can most cordially assent to this tribute, and each visit to its haunts has served to raise my esti- mation of its admirable qualities. C. E. Ehinger. Milestones in Entomological History. (Presented at the Reading Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.) R" NTOMOLOGY has always been a stepchild A, in the economy of our civilization. Its true values have not been recognized for ages, and even today it receives but scant appre- ciation from the public and the authorities, while her sister sciences are nursed and pampered with jealous care. But Entomology has wedged its way from obscurity to prominence, and plays today an important part in shaping directly or indirectly all phases of our economic life, whether generally conceded or not. Let us go back to remote ages and review briefly the history of this interesting study. At a time when the human hand and mind were not em- ployed in searching for a system to establish the relation between natural objects, we can only ex- pect disconnected utterings either in writing or by picture. Thus we find in the early Chinese and Japanese history mention made of insects which benefitted them — such as the silk moth and honey bee. Butterflies often appeared in early Chinese ceramic art. The early Egyptians (about 1500 B. c. and centuries before) went so far as to hold a beetle in religious veneration. We all are familiar at least with the name of the Egyptian scarab. The female of this species lays an egg in a ball of dung, and may be seen on sandy slopes pushing it backwards uphill with its hind legs, and allowing it to roll down again, eventually reaching a place of deposit. Whatever the early Egyptians may have seen or understood by its actions, this we know, that they compared its pellet to the globe of the Sun ; hence this bee- tle was considered sacred to the Sun -God. There are at least two species which shared the honor of being considered sacred : the Scarabeus sacer and the S. laticollis. The Scarabs were often figured with striate elytra, which pertains to S. laticollis only. Both species are found commonly today throughout the countries bordering the Mediter- ranean. In Greek and Roman literature we find abun- dant references to insect life, but no attempt seems to have been made to describe and classify insects until the year 330 r. c. Before this time we come across many stories, anecdotes and char- acteristic features of animals, often based on most surprisingly close observation ; but often the facts, though related in all simplicity, were wrongly interpreted. As a typical illustration let us turn to Varro, who lived half a century before Virgil, that is the year 100 b. c. He was a con- temporary of Cicero, and considered the most learned of the Romans. In his book on Agricul- ture, after praising the value of the oxen, he says : '' Finally, it is from rotten oxen that are born the sweet bees, the mothers of honey, which the Greeks for this reason call Bugones." This shows that their observation was close enough, but they mistook the Chrysanthemum fly (^Eristalis tenax) for a honey bee. This fly resembles the honey bee very closely and it lives in its early stages in decaying animal matter. This same error has been repeated in one form or another for ages. Thus we find in Ovid's Metamorphoses XV, verses 361-368, a translation of which would read as following ; ** If any fur- ther evidence is necessary to enhance the faith in things already proved, you may behold that car- cases, decaying from the effects of time and tepid moisture, change into small animals. Go, and bury slaughtered oxen — the fact is known from ex- perience— the rotten entrails produce flower- sucking bees, who, like their parents (here Ovid, as parents, evidently means oxen) roam over pas- tures, bent upon work, and hopeful of the future. A buried war-horse produces the hornet. ' ' (Pres- sus humo bellator equus crabronis origo est. ) In the Scriptures we find about 25 different kinds of insects mentioned. In some cases the species are easily recognized. For example, the Cochineal, which we know under the name Dac- tylopius coccuSy and the Manna, a gummy sacharine secretion caused by the sting of Coccus inanniparus Ehrenb. on the Tamarix inannifera, a tree very common at Mt. Sinai. The natives of today con- sider this gum the real Manna of the Israelites. The bee is mentioned, being descriptive of Pales- tine— such as ** flowing with milk and honey." The flea is met with twice in the Scriptures as an illustration of the most insignificant of crea- tures and so on. When we read about grass- hoppers, locusts and ants, all of which are very abundant in the Holy Land, there is no question as to family at least, but with the specific names we would have some trouble even now. When we read of beetles in the Bible we are very much at sea what is meant ; it may be a roach, a grass- hopper, or there may be a remote possibility that it really was a beetle. With the same vagueness we read about flies, cankerworms, moths, etc. But before the New Testament appeared, the foundation of Natural History was already estab- lished. The earliest essay to group animals, in general, and consequently insects, is that of Aris- toteles, about 330 b. c, and Burmeister says that the Divisions of Aristoteles are in general so suc- cessfully made that we are perfectly astonished at his vast genius. He maintained in everything he attempted an equal greatness. Since Aristotle, i \s 44 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 45 \B\ i nothing of any consequence, either in antiquity or in the middle ages, was done for Natural History. Plinius' Natural History is merely a systematic compilation of the works and stories which the author came across within his lifetime. Aelian s Natural History of Animals contains stories, anec- , dotes and disconnected fragmentary observations of animals, but no Zoological descriptions, and in this respect it resembles all the work done before the time of Aristotle, so that we leap over a space of more than 1800 years, and with Conrad Gesner , recommence our historical detail. While we are on this long journey of time let us contemplate what has happened of entomologi- cal value during this period. In the light of our present day knowledge we know that both Greece and the Roman Empire broke down, not so much on account of the acquirement of luxurious habits of their citizens, which were bad enough, nor by armed invasion, but far more on account of the misunderstood causes of diseases, especially Ma- laria Even until very recently a large area ot swamp land in the vicinity of Rome, known as the "Campagnadi Roma," was a pest-breeding place on a lar^re scale of mosquitoes and Malaria— the relation of which everyone one knows today. The ravages of the Black Death or Plague in the Middle Ages, now known as being caused by bacilli transmitted by fleas, which in turn are car- ried bv rats, have claimed victims by the millions. In the vear 542 a. d. an outbreak occurred in Egypt, which spread all along the Mediterranean to Europe and Asia. It lasted 60 years and caused the death of many millions of people. In the year 1364, another outbreak of Plague spread over the whole then known world, and the mor- tality is estimated at about 25 million people. There are many instances in which the all per- , vading ignorance on entomological matters in these days is overshadowed by glaring superstition. Turning to the pages of Frank Cowan's " Curious History of Insects," we find dotted all through history records of " Showers of blood." Homer, Ovid and Livius speak of them, and during the Middle Ages no explanation was given as to how red drops could fall from the sky so numerous as to .-qipear like rain. We know that certain butterflies, especially of the genera Vanessa and Grapta, after emerging from the pupa void their body of a reddish liquid, which when the in- sects are numerous enough, would give the appear- ance of " red rain." In the annals of England we find two such accounts of showers of blood, and there are many accounts from the European Continent. In the year 1296, in Frankfort, one of these showers led to a massacre of the Jews, in which 10,000 people lost their lives. Many similar incidents could be cited, but these accounts suffice to show what momentous effects the knowledge or the solution of two simple bio- logical questions in those days would have on the whole human race. Thus, in these good old days, the world labored and suffered, not knowing in which direction to look for the simple truths of nature, which not until the present era was des- tined to be revealed to mankind. After these contemplations, and having made the leap from the days of Aristotle, we now find ourselves in the 1 6th century. , Exactly 400 years ago, in the year 15 16, a poor Swiss boy was born who developed a great love for the Natural Sciences. With an industry which only the love for its avocation can impel, Conrad Gesner collected all that was known of the Natural History of animals, and wherever a gap occurred he filled it up by his personal study and observa- tions. Unfortunately he died before he reached the insects. His unpublished papers changed ownership several times, until they drifted a hun- dred years later into the hands of 1 homas Moufet, who incorporated them with his " Theatro Insec- torum," and they were thus imparted to the world. . r XT 4 . Gesner is justly considered the restorer of Natu- ral History, and by means of his extraordinary industry, long lost treasures were made again known to that age which was thus stmiulated to further researches. From now on the systematic work began to flourish, and the writers and their various proposed systems became very numerous —too numerous to refer to in this short paper. The time was getting ripe for a master mind, and-presto-he appeared. Carl von L^^ne or, as it was the fashion in those days of all scientific writers to latinize their names, Carolus Linn^us, the great Swedish Naturalist, devoted his life to systematize all forms of organic nature. Some o his systematic arrangements survived to the present day, others did not. His artificial system arrang- ing plant life into 24 classes is now obsolete and is replaced by the arrangement into natural fami- lies • but Linne's system was a most ingenious one,' and answered its purpose very well for more than 150 years. He wrote many books, and his ''Species Tlantarum," published in i753. ^^ epoch-making, as may be judged from the fac that in 1892 the systematic botanists at Rochester formally adopted the date of publication of '* Spe- cies Plantarum" as the starting-point for modern nomenclatural rulings. His - Systema Naturae went to press in 1735. It contained only 8 folio sheets, but was enlarged with every successive edition, of which there were 12. I For entomology the loth edition of *^ Systema Naturae," published in 1758, is the starting-point of binomial nomemclature, or, in other words, no name, binomial or otherwise published before January i, 1758, has any standing whatsoever in entomology. This was not done in order to honor Linnaeus; it was done because it was expedient. Thus we see that if Linnaeus had done nothing else for Natural Science but originated the use of the latin binomial method; /. e., the use of systematic names, his fame was guaranteed for all time. The next systematist after Linnaeus was DeGeer, also a Swede. He made several changes in the Linnaean classification of insects, and especially in the Hemiptera, which was separated into several equivalent groups. Twelve years later, in the year 1764, Geoffroy, a Frenchman, introduced a system in which the tarsal joints of insects were made points of division. Next we hear of the classification of John Chris- tian Fabricius, in his ^^Systeme Emtomologiae," published in 1775, and his principle of subdivi- sion was founded upon the oral organs, Illiger, in 1798 proposed to unite the Linnaean system with that of Fabricius. Latreille established the Orthoptera as an Order, and professes to have founded his divisions not so much upon a single character as the general expression of the whole ; but in this he did not succeed very well. How- ever, in 1806, in his ** Genera crustaceorum et Insectorum," he and Cuvier separated Linne's Insecta into Crustacea and Insecta, which was surely a step foreward. I will not continue to burden you with tedious systematic detail, but the foregoing shows that the elaborate system of classification of our present day is not the work of one individual, but the work of the collective mind. Continuing in chronological order we hear of Lamarck, Dumeril, Leach, Kirby, Spence, Maclay, Schelling, Oken, Burmeister and so on. It is well to state here that it was Burmeister who, in 1836, for the first time ignored the old Order Aptera, which means *' wingless insects," since he recognized that almost every Order of Insecta contained wingless forms. Besides these systematists mentioned there were many eminent contemporaneous writers, such as Peter Cramer, a Dutchman, about the time of Fabricius; Jacob Hubner, born in Augsburg, 1 761 ; Carl Geyer, who continued the work of Hiibner after his death. There are the works of Smith and Abbott, which appeared in 1797, of which Abbott made all the drawings, and the works of Boisduval, assisted by Major LeConte, etc., etc. Thus the work went on with the European sys- tematists ; but let us cross the Atlantic and see what is being done here for Entomology. In the beginning of the 19th century, before very many people in America spent their time studying Natu- ral History, occurred the very awakening of this science which seems to me was a matter of acci- dent rather than the desire of the public soul. In January, 181 2, a few men in Philadelphia met to organize a Society of Natural History, known as the Academy of Natural Sciences, and George Ord, in a memoir on this subject, writes as fol- lows : ** Of the origin of this highly respectable and useful institution I shall merely assert that its founder had anything in view but the advance- ment of science. Strange as this may appear, it is nevertheless true, that the club of humorists, which subsequently dignified the Association under the imposing title of Academy, held its weekly meetings merely for the purpose of amusement, and, consequently, confined itself to those objects which it was thought would be most conducive to that end. But in process of time, when it was found that mere colloquial recreation soon loses its charm, a higher object was suggested to the attention of the association, one which it was thought would tend to awaken public curiosity, and thereby procure an accession of members, and, consequently, an accession of means. This object was collecting and preserving of natural curiosities. At the date of Mr. Say's joining the Society, this plan had been recently adopted ; but how great was his surprise on being inducted into the temple of science, to find that the whole collection consisted of some half dozen common insects ; a few madre- pores and shells, a dried toad fish and a stuffed monkey ; a display of objects of science calculated rather to excite merriment than to procure respect, but which, in the end, proved to be the nucleus of one of the most beautiful and valuable collec- tions in the United Slates. Thomas Say found here the opportunity of his life. His passion for collecting natural objects and his love for research gave the Academy a valuable asset. In 1817 the Academy undertook the publication of a Journal, and in this Thomas Say made his first appearance as an author. In this manner the Science of Entomology had its inception in America, just about 100 years ago. A few words of Thomas Say's life will not be out of place at this time. His father had a drug- store at Second and Market Streets, Philadelphia, ' and it was his wish that his son should continue ! the business ; but Thomas Say had no desire nor ' inclination for business, and thus it resulted in I bankruptcy. He devoted his life to science i though he had no other means of support except what the bounty of Mr. Maclure, the president of l!l I 1 1 ;; 1 46 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 47 iU the Academy afforded him. This, however, was very scant, 'for we derive from Mr. Maclure's own letters the information that his and Mr. Say's daily expenses for food of each for a considerable length of time amounted to no more than the sum of six cents , r ^ c ^ We note that Thomas Say, the father of Ameri- can Entomology, was evidently less provident than his prototype Aristoteles, the founder of Natural Science. Aristoteles also had a drugshop, but he realized that neither in Athens nor any- where else in those days was there money in Science ; hence he ran the drugshop for a living. Aristoteles, the man behind the drug- counter, and Aristoteles, the great writer, whose dictum was fmal with the scholars of the Middle Ages, were the same man. Old Socrates also knew that Philosophy didn't pay ; he was a stone-cutter by trade, and he worked at it whenever his funds ran low. ' Plato peddled oil in Egypt ; for he wasn't rich either. But let us return to Philadelphia, the cradle ot American Entomology. The works of Thomas Say are well known and need no further introduc- tion ; but his and all the writings up to this time were descriptive — the main object seemed to be to create new species. Biology was unknown. It seemed as if another era of apathy was approach- j ing, were it not for the untiring zeal and interest j of Melsheimer, Ziegler and Dr. LeConte, who, \ however, continued along the same line of study. There is no question that farms and forests, gar- dens and orchards have always suffered more or less injury from insect pests. There is no ques- tion that the majority of insects which are benefi- cial to mankind today have always been so. The damage received from Insect Pests was considered as inevitable and accepted with stoic resignation ; while the benefits derived from others were nei- ther understood nor realized. It seems as if it was high time for an awakening in this direction, when, in 1841, Dr. W. T. Harris published his Report on the Insects of Massachusetts injurious to vegetation. This work is the foundation of our modern economic entomology; that is, the study of insects in relation to man, and marks the second milestone in American Entomological History. The need and appreciation of this work was clearly shown by the fact that a second edition was pub- lished in 1842; a third in 1852; a fourth in 1862, and I have a copy of an 1884 edition. It is impossible now to go into detail of what was done in Economic Entomology after this, but there are certain names which cannot be omitted even in the briefest history, such as Dr. Asa Fitch, State Entomologist of New York, whose Reports, beginning with the year 1856, on noxious and beneficial insects, contain a mass of information with which every reader in this field must famili- arize himself. Equally important are the Reports of Charles V. Riley on noxious and beneficial in- sects of the State of Missouri, from 1869 to 1877, of which Dr. L. O. Howard says that they are monuments to the State of Missouri, and more especially to the man who wrote them ; that they are the basis of the new Economic Entomology of the world. . When we consider that the American farmer loses about 10 per cent, of his crops annually from insect infestation, which is according to a con- servative estimate by Walsh and Riley, about 300 million dollars, we realize what Prof. Webster said, that it costs the American farmer more to feed his insect foes than it does to educate his children. No wonder that since the time of Harris (about 75 years), the literature on this subject grew to phenomenal proportions. For, wherever there is a strong demand there will soon be a supply. At present there are over 500 peri- odicals which either wholly or in part treat on en- tomological subjects ; and there are about 100,000 different works on entomology. It is hard to find a landmark when Forest Ento- mology had its inception in this country, unless it is the year 1881, when the U. S. Entomological Commission published Bulletin 7 on insects inju- rious to forest and shade trees. This Bulletin reappeared revised and enlarged in 1890, as the 5th Report of the U. S. Entomological Commis- sion on Insects affecting forest trees, by Alpheus S. Packard. Of this most excellent work only 2000 copies were printed, and it is now very dif- ficult to obtain. Another most useful and well known work on this subject is the 59th Report of the New York State Museum, Volumes III. and IV., published at Albany, 1905, by Dr. Felt, State Entomologist of New York. If we accept the figures of experts who a few years ago estimated the annual loss of forests in the United States from insect depredations at not less than one hundred million dollars— it seems to be high time the spirit should move this country into similar action, as it recently did in building bird-boxes, which, by the way, is surely a hope- ful beginning. Until now, Economic Forest Entomology has been a very neglected branch with us, while in i Europe, and especially in Germany, much atten- tion has been given to it for nearly a century past. The most important works on this subject which should be consulted by students are those j of Dr. Ratzeburg of Berlin, 1839, Kaltenbach. I Perris, Taschenberg, Eichoff, Nordlinger, Hen- j schel, ludeich and Nitsche. Our forest trees harbor enormous numbers of insects, not alone in specimens, but also in spe- cies. Thus, over 500 species of insects are injuri- ous to -our oaks, over 250 feed on birches, about the same number are found on poplar and willow, and over 150 on beech. Our conifers harbor over 325 species. There is not a part of a tree which is immune from the attacks of some insect. With the wood-borers the trouble does not end here, it is simply the beginning of the second stage, when fungi enter old insect galleries and finish the work of destruction. On lawns and in orchards spraying methods are applicable ; but in the forest, besides clean culture, the judicious handling of fire and the axe are the principal weapons against insect pests. Last, but not least, we come to a branch of Economic Entomology which deals with health and welfare of the human body. Medical Entomology. I have already referred to a time of history when least known and the need of it was greatest ; when many millions of human beings suffered and perished from diseases, the causes of which were unknown, when help and relief was expected by penance and supplication — but of no avail. Just a few words from Dr. Victor C. Vaughn's interesting essay on '*The Services of Medicine to Civilization": **The Greek developed the most glorious civilization of antiquity because he was the most ardent student of science ; but he was unable to cope with malaria and bubonic plague, and his descendants have been in bondage to malaria for nearly twenty-four centuries. The medicine of Hippocrates, the wisdom of Socrates, the philosophy of Plato, the plays of Aristophanes, the laws of Pericles and the science of Aristo- teles, could not save the Greek from the degrad- ing effects of disease ; and under its withering influence the civilization of this great people slowly but surely decayed." Of the Roman Em- pire the same writer has this to say : **If one reads the history of the decline of the Roman Empire, he can hardly fail to see that disease was an important factor in that retrograde movement which involved the greater part of the then known world. ' ' We know today that nearly all diseases, either bacterial or protozoan, which left deep scars on our civilization, are carried and transmitted by in- sects. Malaria, as is well known, is a protozoan disease, a plasmodium which is carried by mos- quitoes of the genus Anopheles. Plague or Black Death is a bacterial disease caused by Bacillus pes lis, and is carried and transmitted by fleas. Leprosy is caused by the Bacillus leprcc^ and in- sects and mites are suspected as carriers. Ele- phantiasis is caused by nematodes, transmitted by mosquitoes ; sleeping sickness is caused by proto- zoans, carried by the tsetse fly ; typoid fever is caused by the Bacillus typhosus, disseminated principally by house-flies, etc. Speaking of the house-fly, let me give you a few interesting facts. It carries and disseminates typhoid fever, cholera, tuberculosis, enteritis, bubonic plague, anthrax, leprosy, small-pox, Asiatic cholera, dysentery, cholera morbus, infantile paralysis, etc. A most formidable record for such a small culprit. In the light of modern research most of these diseases have lost their terror to mankind. Reme- dies were certainly known before. With the dis- covery of cinchona bark, which was first employed when the Spaniards arrived in South America, and which was first imported into Europe about 1639, malaria was no longer a deadly disease. Sulphate of quinine, the s.pecific of malaria, was discovered in 1840 by a French army surgeon ; but discoveries like these did not explain the cause of the diseases, hence could not indicate their prevention. Small-pox, though not an insect-borne disease, and besides very little understood, may be men- tioned here on account of the method of pre- vention. The discovery of vaccination against small-pox was accidental. A country woman consulted Dr. Jenner about some ailment. In course of conversation the physician suggested that she may have small-pox. Oh, no ! that could not be, the woman answered, because I once had cow-pox. This started Dr. Jenner on a series of experiments, and he soon discovered that persons who had cow pox were immune from small-pox. His investigations were first published in 1789, and this dreadful disease was soon brought under control. It remained largely for the present century that the human race was enlightened of the true nature of these diseases, and the living organisms which caused all the mischief were made visible through stains and the microscope. Great events often cast their shadows before ; thus we find that as early as 17 18 Lancini held that mosquitoes might carry poisonous substances into the bodies of peo- ple ; but it took two centuries to prove it. Manson's work on filaria transmission by mos- quitoes had the effect to stimulate many workers in this field of research. In 1880, Laveran, a French army surgeon found the parasite of mala- ria. Similarly, Dr. Charles Finlay of Havana, claimed for some years that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. He did not prove it by experiments, and his assertions were ridiculed and finally lost sight of. But in the year 1900, during the American occupation of Cuba, the Yellow Fever Commission, under Dr. Walter Reed, 1 1 11! ..H f' fV 48 FOREST LEAVES. i] li II I began to conduct a series of experiments, and after two years of work it was found that Finlay's asser- tions were correct. , ^ . , These illustrations of the work of insect-borne diseases, the latest branch of applied Entomology show the marvelous possibilities of a science which is practically a present century creation. The revelation of the minutest forms of biological objects, with their complex life-histories, is des- tined to prop up the intricate meshwork of human civilization, and save it from a fate of former ex- periences. . .. -n u When civilization is threatened again, it will be neither through ignorance or disease ; it will be through human insincerity and greed under a plausible cloak ; but most likely that of humanity. ^ V. A. E. Daecke. CHIPS. Out of a list of forty-four States, Pennsylvania stands as number eighteen with a lumber cut of nearly a billion board measure feet in 1915 ; as against Washington and Louisiana each with nearly four billion feet cut. 1 Carlos Bates, in Farmers' Bulletin No. 788, p. 14-15, U. S. Department of Agriculture, estimates (without counting cost of ])lanting) that the aver- age annual income of the following species of trees ! per acre when planted as wind-breaks on the farm is: Cottonwood in rows and belts, from $2.64 to ; $8.01; willow on moist land, from $4-i7 to §15.81 ; green ash on good soil, from $2.53 to S6.51 ; honey locust on good soil as posts, from $1.00 to $5.42; osage orange ranges for posts from $3.94 to $12.51, according to soil ; Russian mulberry ranges for posts from $8.00 to $30.00, but can't stand severe cold. Forester Samuel T. Dana, in April Munsey' s Magazine, gives a graphic statement of the rise and fall of Cross Forks, which was once a noted lumber centre in Pennsylvania. Its population went out when the lumber was gone *' and was re- duced in four years from two thousand to sixty one. The land passed into possession of the State, and under care of the Forestry Department the slow process of restoration of the region to a productive condition has been commenced." A ROYAL WELCOME AWAFFS YOU— DON'T MISS IT, AT THE PITTSBURGH MEETING OF THE PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION JUNE 21sT, 22nd, 23rd. EVERY DAY IMPORTANT! The Forestry Branch of the Department of the Interior, Canada, publishes A Roll of Honor, con- taining the names of its employees who had en- listed for active service up to November 30th, 1916. There were fifty-five names on the list. There is no doubt about the account they will give of themselves ! It is but a few years since we were told that we had the inexhaustible timber supply of Canada to draw upon when our own timber was gone. The Canadian Director of Forestry is skeptical about it ! He quotes '' That the timber saved from fire and created by better methods of exploitation will have its effect on future supplies cannot be doubted ; that it will in any sense overstock or satisfy the market, your Commissioners do not believe." February Journal of Forestry, p. 244, reports that of 2,000 trees struck by lightning, the species most frequently struck is chestnut, then follow pitch pine, rock oak, white pine, hemlock, red oak, white oak, black oak, locust, sugar maple." It costs to dispose of waste matters due to lum- bering in the United States yearly about $6,000,- 000 ! Blight-proof, nut-producing chestnut trees are now reported as available. They do not, how- ever, seem to be valuable for timber, w^hich is much more important than the nuts. Quoting from American Forestry of March : — *^The popularity of the National P^orests as sum- mer playgrounds is increasing by leaps and bounds each year. These vacation wonderlands were visited by over 2,000,000 people in 1916. Of this number Colorado received 605,000, or 30 per cent, of the total. ' ' Take notice Pennsylvania ! Nineteen seventeen is Locust year for western Pennsylvania. <*Keep the crowns of young trees free to the sunlight. Let low-growing brush and weeds alone. They stimulate height growth and shade the ground."— From The Forest Planters' Guide oi the D. Hill Nursery Co., Dundee, 111. In 19 14-15, Canada imported for structural pur- poses, southern pine valued at $1,608,788. Dur- ing the same period Canada exported coniferous woods valued at only $389,164. Douglas fir timber, 46 by 46 inches square and 70 feet long, is used in Montreal for harbor work. Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 4 Philadelphia, August, 1917 Whole Number 180 EDITORIAL. T EGISLATIVE year is always one of anxiety I \ to those responsible for State Departments or those who are interested in them. There are so many contingencies growing out of obscure causes, and so many applications for State aid to uplifting institutions that one is abso- lutely safe in assuming the general appropriation bill must be cut by the Governor. Hence, the anxiety felt by the friends of the forestry movement for the Forestry Department. It was known that the Governor recognized the importance of the work to the State. For, from his youth up, he had seen the forests melt away, and he had clearly recognized the impoverishment of the soil that followed. It was a comfort to know that his judgment would be both competent and fair. The appropriations received are : 1915 1917 Salary, Commissioner |;6,ooo $6,000 Salary, Deputy 5, 000 5, 000 Salary, two clerks 6,000 6,000 Contingent Expenses 4,000 1 Expenses Members' Commission . 5,000 j ^' Foresters and Rangers 225,000 245*000 Draftsmen, etc 18,000 18,000 Surveys 4,000 5,000 Labor 85,000 115,000 Incidental Expenses 50,000 65,000 School Taxes 42,000 42,000 Road Taxes 42,000 42,000 Purchase of Lands 40,000 130,000 Examination of Titles 3, 000 4,000 I'orest Protection 62,500 80,000 Forest Academy 20,000 25,000 District Foresters 8,500 10,000 letectives 4i75o Totals $^J30»75o $807,000 This year shows clearly an improvement over the appropriation of 19 15, and we are entitled to corresponding results. It is a realization of the fact that our living comes from the soil and that in impoverishing it, .ve are inviting the wolf to our own door. There is special cause for congratulations over the appropriation made to the State Forest Acade- my, though we hope the Forestry Department, at the State College, was also liberally dealt with, for each school is doing a special, needed work and doing it well. Increased appropriation has been given for land purchase, and we hope that this will make possible early purchase on the Ohio watershed. Forest protection is also more amply provided for — which is a cause for thankfulness. There was a dread among the advocates of for- estry lest the power and efficiency of the Depart- ment would be impaired by merging it with other Departments. This, wisely, was not done ! On the whole, and in view of the large demand made upon the State Treasury, we feel that no injustice has been done to the Forestry interests, and we thank the Governor for his appreciation and approval of the forestry work. J. T. R. The record of 2 acquittals and 11 convictions out of 13 forest fire suits is given by the Chief Forest Fire Warden. Altogether 47 suits have been started for the setting of forest fires. In addition to the above acquittals and convictions, 31 cases are pending and 3 have been withdrawn. Following the policy of presenting bills for costs and damages caused by forest fires, 96 cases have been settled out of court since April ist through the payment of these bills by the guilty persons. Claims to the number of 415 have been presented for this spring's fires only, 226 of them to rail- roads. Settlements are still being made daily, and the chances are that almost one-half of the 400 cases will be settled without recourse to law. For the first time in the history of forest fires in Pennsylvania, the big railroads have reimbursed the Commonwealth promptly for money expended for fire fighting and damage to State lands caused by fires started by locomotives. Scarcely any of the railroads have raised objections to paying these bills where it could be established that their engines or men were responsible for the fires. Anti-conservationists to the contrary notwith- standing, the big reason for rising lumber prices is scarcity of accessible timber. Of the 30,000,000 trees planted in the United States in 1916, Pennsylvania planted almost one- fourth. m m 50 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 51 II m i Narrative of the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference. A T the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce A of Pittsburgh, a Forestry Conference was ■^ ^ held at Pittsburgh, Pa., June 21st to 23d inclusive, the sessions being held in the Audito- rium of the new Chamber of Commerce, where there were exhibits of forestry views by the U. S. Forest Service, and tree diseases by the Economic Zoologist of Pennsylvania. * This invitation was extended to the Pennsylva- nia Forestry Association at its Reading meeting, in 1 91 6, and was later made a Forestry Confer- ence representatives being present from other or- ganizations as follows : American Forestry Asso- ciation, National Emergency Food Garden Com- mission, Southern Forestry Congress, Public Do- main Commission of Michigan, Society of Ameri- can Foresters, Pennsylvania Conservation Associa- tion, Wild Life League of Pennsylvania, and the Berks County Conservation Association. Seventy members of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association were present, at the sessions, and en- joyed the fine outings arranged for by the local committee. The opening session was held on June 21st, at 9 A.M. Addresses of Welcome were made by Thomas Liggett, General Chairman local com- mittee, and Chas. A. O'Brien, City Solicitor of Pittsburgh, while Frank J. Lanahan extended greetings from the Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Henry S. Drinker, President of the Penn- j sylvania Forestry Association and of Lehigh Uni- | versity, acted as Chairman of the Convention, making an address which will be found on another ! page of this issue. I Dr. J. T. Rothrock presented a resolution on the death of S. B. Elliott, which will be found elsewhere in this issue. Dr. Filibert Roth, repre- senting the Society of American Foresters ; P. S. Ridsdale, the American Forestry Association ; Dr. B. E. Fernow, the Canadian Forestry Association, and L C. Williams, Deputy Commissioner of Forestry of Pennsylvania, then made short ad- dresses. At I P.M., an automobile trip was taken over Allegheny County's wonderful system of improved roads, a stop being made at the beautiful grounds ' of the Allegheny Country Club, where the work of the County Lanes Association of Sewickley Valley was inspected, 15 miles of lanes have been opened up between roads, and 10 additional miles are to be made in the near future. At 8 p.M , a session was held. Dr. Filibert Roth presiding, at which Mr. Thomas Liggett advocated the securing of the Cook Park, and telegrams were prepared and sent to the Governor of Pennsylva- nia, the Senate and the House of Representatives, thanking the House for passing the act creating the Cook Park, and urging the Senate and Gov- ernor to take similar action. Prof. J. G. Sanders, Economic Zoologist of Pennsylvania, then gave an illustrated talk on ** Friends and Foes of the Forest;" Geo. H.Wirt, Chief Forest Fire Warden, made an address on ** Forest Fire Prevention — the Old Way and the New," illustrated by the motion films **The Curse of the Forest." Friday^ June 22d. At 9 A.M., there was an address by Dr. B. E. Fernow, Professor of Forestry, University of To- ronto, Canada, on ** State Forestry," which will be found on another page. William L. Hall, of the U. S. Forest Service, spoke on the ** National Forests, with Particular Reference to those in the Appalachian and White Mountains." George M. Lehman, Engineer Lake Erie & Ohio River Canal Commission was unable to be present, but his paper on ^^ The Upper Ohio River Drainage Basin," will be given in the next issue of Forest Leaves. Mr. Joseph Elkinton described the Pocono Manor and Pocono Lake preserves of about 3,300 acres of forest land, and Mr. Solan L. Parkes, Secretary of the Berks County Conservation Association, told of the planting of trees there and the work of the boy scouts in fighting forest fires. I In the afternoon, an automobile trip was made ! to City Parks and Nurseries, a stop being made on ' the Boulevard above Lawrenceville, where the ! Womans' Clubs had planted some young trees on 1 the steep barren hillside. Short addresses were made by Mr. Liggett, Mrs. W. M. Brown, Miss Helen Grimes, Dr. Henry S. Drinker, Filibert Roth, William Hall, Joseph Elkinton, closing with i a poem by Mrs. Jean W. Shaw. After passing through Schenley Park, a stop was made at the City Nurseries at Homewood Park. James L. Grimes, the City Forester, described the work of filling in waste land for nurseries, and illustrated the growth of different species of trees. At the Carnegie Institute Dr. Holland escorted the visitors through that splendid building, briefly describing the fine exhibits of minerals, animals, birds, ethnology, art, architecture, etc. At the evening session. Dr. B. E. Fernow pre- sided. Dr. J. T. Rothrock delivered an^ illus- trated lecture on '' Desolate Pennsylvania." He was followed by John M. Phillips, State Gan>e Commissioner, who spoke on **What Can le Done to Help Western Pennsylvania Secure Forest Area?" Dr. Filibert Roth then made an addre s- on '' The Right Use of Our Land. ' ' All of these papers will be printed in Forest Leaves. Dr. Rothrock then presented three resolutions which will be found elsewhere in this issue. These were unanimously adopted, the session closing with some magic lantern slides, showing fine forest growths in the Cook Park, which were described by Thomas Liggett. Saturday, June 2jd, A special train conveyed the party over the Baltimore & Ohio and the Indian Creek Valley Railroads -to Killarney Inn, in the Indian Creek Valley. This trip gave a good opportunity to see the most beautiful scenic portion of Western Penn- sylvania, showing the forest possibilities of this section of the State, where the fires are kept out. Luncheon was served at the Killarney Inn, and short addresses made by Messrs. J. R. Cowan, Hon. John A. Schafer, W. L. Scaife, O. E. Jennings, Erasmus Wilson, James B. Sansom and George R. Green. Dr. Rothrock presented a resolution in regard to continuing the appropria- tions for National Forests, which was carried and appears in this issue under the head of Resolutions. Visits were then made to plantations on the water- shed of the Mountain Water Supply Company and to the summit of Indian Ridge, from which point Chestnut Ridge and Laurel Ridge could both be seen, affording a magnificent view of the valleys. The train then returned to Pittsburgh, closing an interesting and successful meeting. The citizens of Lakemont, Blair county, have organized a forest fire company, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. The organization started with over 150 members enrolled, all of whom are pledged to wage instant warfare on all forest fires. Meetings will be held in the town firemen's hall »n the second and fourth Mondays of the months of ti'-e danger. Fire alarms will be sent out through the town's fire signal system, and a special alarm of ** 6 - 6 " will be used to give notice of a forest fire. Money received from the Department of For- estry for fire fighting will not be used by the members for their own benefit, but will be paid over to a common fund for the purchase of equip- inent to be used in fire fighting. The heavier the fire wood, the more heat to the cord. Hickory, oak, beech, hard maple, locust, ash, and elm have high heat value, and one cord of seasoned wood has a value as fuel equal to one ton of coal. Resolutions Passed at the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference. June 21 St. WHEREAS, the Foresters and friends of forestry in Pittsburgh assembled, who hoped to meet and to greet the oldest active advocate of forest restoration in Pennsyl- vania, the Honorable Simon B. Elliott, are shocked by unexpected intelligence of his death. There- fore, be it Resolved, that we 'desire to place on record our appreciation of the value of his services, not only to this State, but to the country at large. We also recognize his high moral character, his great intellectual endowments and his interest in all that made for the betterment of social conditions. Mr. Elliott was born in what was then the back- woods of the State. His early educational ad- vantages were few ; but, by his own efforts, he be- came not only a successful business man and civil engineer, but one of wide, exact information. He was for thirteen years an active member of the State Forestry Reservation Commission, and at great personal discomfort to himself, a regular attendant at its meetings. He was a constant contributor to the forest literature of the day. He knew the glory of the primeval woods of the State, recog- nized the folly of their wasteful and too rapid re- moval, and any alarm sounded by him as to the consequences merited respectful consideration. Our country is the better for his life, and for the encouragement it offers to aspiring manhood. Resolved, that these resolutions be adopted by this convention and offered for publication to the Forestry journals of the country. Also that a copy be sent to the family of the deceased. June 22d, To the Senate and House of Representatives, of Pennsylvania : The convention of foresters meeting at Pitts- burgh, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce, respectfully urge upon your honorable bodies the need of larger appropriations for forest protection in Pennsylvania. The State of Pennsylvania has led in the past in the policy now being so generally followed throughout our land, of the acquisition of land to be reserved and set aside for the planting and growth of trees to conserve and promote the water supply of the State, and to furnish a continual supply of timber for the needs of the State. The State today owns the largest timber reserve of any state except New York. It is highly desirable that this valuable asset should be properly pro- n, av '^ ^ il 52 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 53 1 tected and preserved from fire, and that adequate protecUon from forest fires should be extended to r he timber growth of the State, and thrs con vention of foresters earnestly urges upon the leg.s- Tature of Pennsylvania the importance of making larger appropriations for forest protection than have been made by the State in recent years. The erowth of the Forestry idea in Pennsylvania is largely due to the active interest of the women ^^ I? wastecause of the powerful assistance of the State Federation of Pennsylvania women, that the State Department of Forestry became possible, and it is largely to this Department that the advanced position of forestry in our State is due. ^ We commend the Congress of Women s Clubs in Western Pennsylvania (a branch of the State Federation) for its successful tree planting activi- ties in and about Pittsburgh. ■June, 23d. Resolved, that the State authorities of Penn- sylvania, having jurisdiction and charge of the ac- q'uisitioi; of land by the Sute for forestation pur- noses be. and they hereby are, urged to give Lrly heed to the needs in this direction of the western part of the State. The great floods, that periodically afflict and waste the Pittsburgh region, are a potent argument in support of an active policy looking to the reforestation of the bare hills and waste places of western Pennsylvania with a growth of forest cover that shall conserve and regulate the water supply and insure to our people in the future, a timber reserve in place of that which has been so improvidently wasted in the oast The State Forests give to our hard worked Jeople an outing place for recreation and for the IKomotion of health, which is becoming so in- creasingly important in the maintenance of na- tional vigor and strength of mind and body. Resolved, that this Forest Convention, held on the call, and under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh, and composed of rep- resentives of the following associations : The Pennsylvania Forestry Association (Annual .-sum- mer Meeting), the American Forestry Association, the National Emergency Food Garden Commis- sion, the Southern Forestry Congress, the Public Domain Commission of Michigan, the Society of American Foresters, the Pennsylvania Conserva- tion Association, the Wild Life League of Penn- ■svlvania and the Berks County Conservation Asso- ciation, tenders to the Chamber of Commerce and to the people of Pittsburgh grateful and apprecia- tive recognition of. and thanks for, the cordial welcome extended to the visiting delegates, and congratulates the city of Pittsburgh on the pro- gressive spirit manifested by its people in the im- portant question of the promotion of forestry in- terests in Pennsylvania. i Recognizing the vast importance to the Nation of the non-agricultural mountain lands in the production of timber and in the conservation of lource-waters of important rivers the National Forestry Conference assembled at Pittsburgh, Pa., commends the policy of establishing National Forests in the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains, and urges Congress, notwithstanding the insistent and large demands of the war, to continue to make adequate appropriations to carry forward and complete this important national project. Address by Dr. Henry S. Drinker, President. (At the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference.) TT is a great support and incentive to further eff^ort, in a national cause, such as the pro- -■- motion of forestry, for Pittsburgh to call here this Convention of Foresters from all sections of our country for conference and exchange of views Pittsburgh, as a community, strides in the van of progress in our country in manufacture and m industry ; noted for its excellent public school svstem ; the home of famed institutions of higher learning, having in the Carnegie Museum an art centre giving Pittsburgh an enviable position in the cultural development of the great cities of the land; the home of scientific research and ot practical philanthropy in the care of the young and the sick ; surely this great city with Jts stirring live, progressive and thoughtful people does well to tkke up practically, and on the •mtiative of its Chamber of Commerce, the matter of the better- ment of forest conditions in our couiitry,— the re- habilitation and regrowth of the woods that shou d crown our hills, control our floods, and give our people a constant supply of timber of whu^h t^^ great war is robbing Europe, and of which those who know tell us our country is becoming so woefully lacking. In this home of high education ; of energetic successful business men ; of research, and ol ar and culture,-it is highly fitting that qu^^^^^,"^,.^; national public import should be studied and dis- cussed and support given to movements looking to I national progress. Those who have come here from afar for this meeting appreciate and heartily respond to the warm welcome they find. They are men and women devoted to an unselfish and patriotic cause, — one in which Pennsylvania was an early leader. So far as we know, the American Forestry Asso- ciation, represented here today by a delegation of its directors and members, led the early stages of the forestry movement as ** The American Forestry Congress," organized in 1883, and later reorgan- ized in 1890 as *^ The American Forestry Associa- tion." The earliest State Forestry Association organized in our country was started in Philadelphia in 1886, the existing Pennsylvania Forestry Association, which first met in Philadelphia at the residence of Mrs. Brinton Coxe, to whom, with Mrs. J. P. Lundy, it primarily owed its existence. Who can measure the untold and immeasurable good its steady, quiet, persistent work and influence have had in the development of Forestry interests in the country at large, and in the adoption of the policy that gave Pennsylvania a State Forestry De- partment and that has today secured to Pennsyl- vania the second largest Forest Reserve in any State — over 1,000,000 acres — New York only be- ing in advance. The official organ of the Asso- ciation, Forest Leaves, has been published and circulated uninterruptedly since July, 1886. The original organization, in 1886, consisted of Dr. J. r. Rothrock, President ; Dr. J. P. Lundy, Treas- urer, and John Birkinbine, Secretary. Mrs. Brin- ton Coxe was a member of the original council and has remained an active member to this date ; lohn Birkinbine, elected President in 1893, and br. J. T. Rothrock, elected General Secretary in that year, continuously held thbse positions for many years. John Birkinbine, who has passed away, also served our State for many years as Chairman of the Water Supply Commission, and we sadly miss his wise counsel and broad experi- ence in the matters to be considered at this gathering. Dr. Rothrock, and Dr. Fernow, who were so intimately connected with the early study of For- estry in America, are still with us—and to Dr. Rothrock, for his life-long devotion to the cause, Pennsylvania cannot be too grateful. In National Forestry, Gifford Pinchot has been and is a leading figure— and today his successor as United States Forester, H. S. Graves, has ably and worthily carried on the National movement. From small beginnings thirty years or so ago, the interest in Forestry has spread over our land. Great schools for its study have been established at Yale and Harvard, and at a number of our State Universities, and the School of Forestry at Penn- sylvania State College, and the State School at Mont Alto, have no superiors in efficiency. Throughout our land. States have established and are maintaining Departments of Forestry and Con- servation, and the State Legislatures and Congress have cooperated with State and National support. Food conservation is today a matter of vital in- terest to our country, and the able President of the American Forestry Association has supple- mented his labors of years past in the cause of Forestry by his patriotic work as President of the National Emergency Food-Garden Commission^ whose circulars and lessons on Food Thrift have, by energetic effort, been made household words throughout our land. In the June number of American Forestry you will find able and exhaustive articles on forestry questions pertaining to the present war emergency at home and abroad ; on the function of the farmer's woodlot in the almost certain shortage of coal in the coming year ; on the service rendered by the United States Forest Service in the recruit- ing and organization of a full regiment of trained j American woodsmen as part of the Engineers*^ Reserve Corps, for special duty on the Continent abroad behind the battle lines. The duty of this regiment will be the cutting of timber and its manufacture into the forms needed for military for repairing railroads ; for bridge construe- use tion ; for trench timbers, and for other uses. The organization of additional regiments for these pur- poses is in contemplation. England has asked for special aid, and it has been given promptly and efficiently in the solution of serious problems, involving timber supply for England's forces in France. The need was for skilled lumbermen and equipment. Inadequate shipping facilities made it impossible to send the lumber itself. A Committee of timber owners and foresters with W. R. Brown, of New Hampshire, a director of the American Forestry Association, and known as a leading forestry expert, as Chair- man, was promptly formed, and ten portable saw- mill and logging units were provided at a cost of $120,000; the entire cost being raised in the New England states, and the units sent as the gift of the New England states and timber interests to the British Government. These units are to be used for the cutting of lumber and the manufacture of timber from the parks and timber reserves of Great Britain— a sad necessity— forced by the needs of the present de- structive war. Valuable aid is being given at home by the Lumber Committee of the Council of National Defense in the matter of purchases of lumber for building the big new army cantonments and ia 5ri M 1 w 64 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 55 other directions ; and it is not only through their forestry knowledge and training, but through their familiarity with lumber manufacture and trans- portation problems as well, that these men are giving the Council of National Defense and the Shipping Commission a measure of helpfulness that cannot be computed in dollars and cents. Thus we see that the Forestry Cult— originating . a generation ago in the love of forest lovers for I the woods, and in the far-seeing sagacity of a few men and women who realized that the day was coming when the reproduction of our cut forests would become a national necessity— has grown into a great national asset of value and practical use,— not only in our national industrial needs, but' now in the sudden strain of war on our re- sources, available and most efficiently available in the promotion of national defense, and in the aid of our allies abroad in the great war. We do well to assemble here this week, for consultation and exchange of views, between the foresters of many states ; and this conference is appropriately staged in a great city whose Chamber of Commerce and business interests recognize that today the promotion of forestry is a factor in National affairs that is known as of vital im- portance, and that in the present and growing war emergency is a matter of vital moment. State Forestry. (Read at the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference.) IT is with peculiar pleasure that I have accepted the honor of the invitation to address your ^ Association. I The peculiarity of the pleasure lies in the fact that I was privileged to be present and to assist at the birth of your Association a whole generation ago, and now am privileged as you enter into the second generation to congratulate you on the per sistency of your efforts to commit your State to a proper and sane policy, and upon the signal success of your work in the first generation. Without meaning to flatter you, but as an un- biased historian, I may repeat what I have had occasion to say lately several times, namely that your State is the only one that has succeeded in inaugurating a business-like, definite, worth while forest policy, and has made the best organ- ized attempt at technical administration of its State forests, which it is only necessary to extend on the lines on which it is built. Outside the Federal Forest Service there is no other State forest administration that can make such a claim ; all other States are still * Sputtering*' with the problem. This does not mean that your work as a driving force is finished— only that you have laid a founda- tion upon which to build. Even this foundation is not finished. . . Indeed, so fickle are democratic institutions that unless you keep a watchful eye on this founda- tion, it may slip away or collapse through lack of persistency in legislative basis. It is still necessary for you to insist and make your people realize that forestry, on account of the long time element involved in growing forest crops, is State business; that no reliance can be placed on private endeavor to work for future generations, and that it is necessary to formulate a definite State forest policy which cannot be disturbed, which cannot collapse. Let me repeat this injunc- On account of the long time involved and the large expenditure without immediate returns, a I comprehensive and persistent policy, which lasts I beyond the terms of governors and legislative I bodies, removed from the politics of the day, is absolutely necessary, a working plan of broad gauge which will hold good for generations. And it is particularly necessary to have the basic \ legislation right or else there will be sooner or later a collapse. ^ , ^ . . ui We have had experience m other States, notably New York and Wisconsin, in the way of collapse for lack of proper basic legislation. In the state of New York a foolish clause inser- ted in the State constitution by misguided friends of the forest has prevented the State from inaugu- rating a sane forest management of its forest re- servation. In Wisconsin, which was on the road of equaling you in a sane forest policy, unsuspected provisions of the State constitution have, under the construc- tion of the State Supreme Court, made illegal spending money for the acquiring and devoting to forestry purposes and reforestation of waste In your own State, your late member of the Forestry Reservation Commission, the lamented Mr Elliott, had hoisted the danger signal, had pointed out only lately, in an excellent article on '^The Present and Future of Pennsylvania s Forests," that the whole forest reservation policy of your State is based solely upon the claimed in- fluence of forest cover on water flow, and that the lands acquired by the Commonwealth at the head waters of streams are to be reforested ^^ as a pro- tection against destructive floods." The question may arise whether this theory is tenable and whether and how much of the lands acquired need to be reforested for this protection. As Mr. Elliott pointed out, a change in the ad- ministration or in the personnel of the Department, or in the attitude of the legislature, may create seri- ous disturbance and a discontinuance of the reser- vation and planting policy. It is therefore needful to amend the basic law upon which your State forestry work is founded. It is needful to recognize that there are other than the cited reasons for State forestry, that not only obligations with regard to the welfare of the Commonwealth, but practical common sense rea- sons exist, why the State should engage in forest work — and that more extensively than it has so far. These reasons are at least two, besides the one cited in the law which led to the inauguration of your forest department. The most important reason of the two, to my mind, is the fact that under the careless exploita- tion of the native forest by private owners, large areas of waste land have been and will continue to be created. These waste lands are fit only for timber grow- ing, and timber crops are long in maturing : they are therefore not inviting private enterprise which looks for the present dollar, having only a limited interest in the near, and still less in the distant, future. It is, however, in the interest of the public, and of every citizen and taxpayer, that every acre con- tribute to the wealth and to the taxes of the State.. When it is realized that nearly one half of the State is non-agricultural land, fit only for timber growing, and that already at least one half of this may be designated as waste, non-productive, and that in private hands the balance is bound to fall into the same category, it does not take much statesmanship to consider the propriety of arrest- ing this loss of taxable property. It would, indeed, be an unpardonable economic sin to allow from 40 to 50 per cent, of the land area of the State to become, and to remain, brush- land and worthless. Even now, according to Mr. Elliott, ** the value of the land is so lowered in certain sections that some townships and counties find it hard to meet •expenses owing to the lessened valuation within their limits. There is absolute danger," he says, '*of some counties becoming insolvent or going into practical bankruptcy" — the consequence of waste lands. The other, only slightly less cogent, reason for State forestry is to secure wood materials for the industries. There are two rejoinders that may be made to this argument, namely : that if it is necessary to maintain wood manufactures in the State, the raw materials may be imported, and, moreover, it may be left to private endeavor to grow these materials. The bulkiness of wood materials, and hence expensive transportation, renders the first expedi- ent somewhat impracticable; yet, if it were not for the combination of utilizing waste acres for the production of these materials and at the same time maintaining home industries, the supply argument would have less weight. 'To maintain only the presently existing wood manufactures in the State a round one billion feet b.m. annually is required, the product of, say, 2,000,000 well managed acres. As regards the reliance on private endeavor to produce the materials, it is utterly futile to en- tertain such expectations. To engage in the grow- ing of crops which it takes from 60 to 100 and more years to mature, is not inviting to private enterprise. It must be realized that except under special conditions private enterprise has in view present returns or returns in a near future. Just as little concern as the private owner has in creating flood conditions by mismanagement of his pro- perty for the people along the lower reaches of the river, just as little is he concerned in depriving future generations of supplies of an indispensable material. More than ever reliance upon private endeavor, especially on the part of lumbermen, to introduce forestry practices is futile. The lumber industry of the whole country has been for some time, and is financially **in the dumps," largely due to over- investment in timberlands. The operators can, as a rule, hardly pay the interest on their investment and cannot afford to add to their financial burden for any measures that cost money and bring no immediate return, and forestry costs money ; fi- nancially defined, it means foregoing of present revenue or making present expenditures for the sake of future revenue ! Having established beyond peradvanture the propriety and obligation of the State to develop its forest policy, it becomes necessary to realize what this obligation involves, particularly in ex- penditure. Mr. Elliott has convincingly argued that for the majority of the lands that should form the basis of your State forest, reforestation by planting is necessary. Such planting has been started on a considerable scale— in 191 6, the Department re- ports 6,000,000 trees planted. But if the State is to follow up in earnest the requirements of the situation, three times this amount should be planted. There is, however, as far as appears from official reports no comprehensive plan of progress developed, either as to acquisition of further lands, or as to planting, and no conception as to the fi- nancial aspect of the enterprise except in very general terms seems to have been formulated. 56 FOREST LEAVES. lii A\ '0 Mr Elliott merely pointed out that the enter- prise of reforesting the 6 or ^ million acres which need artificial help will be very expensive, but does not attempt a financial calculation. . He also suggested the propriety of raising the necessary funds by a bond issue. . This led me to formulate the problem for my class of students in forest finance, largely based on da" taken from the experience of the State as la^d down in the Department report. W th some assumptions introduced to test the ability of the students in handling financial questions, the prob- lem was formulated as follows : . . The State of Pennsylvania has acquired i,ooo,- ooo acres of waste woodlands at a cost of $^,^5°r ooo. One quarter of this is sufficiently wooded to secure b? improvement fellings and otherwise some returns, besides natural reproduction ; the bulk of 750,000 acres is to be planted in annual instalments ^f 10,000 acres, so that at the end of .c years the normal stock for a 7 5. year rotation is on hand, permitting then regular annual felling of 10,000 acres. , The cost of planting averages $8 per acre ; the administration involves an annual expenditure ot ^^00,000. , . , The wooded portion, together with various sources of income may from the start be expected ^ to furnish a net return of 25 cents per acre per . vear, which increases due to augmentation in values at the rate of i per cent, for the first 30 , years, then remaining at the value then attained , Each plantation of 10,000 acres after the 30th year furnishes every 10 years a return from thin- nings, which in the period from 30 to 40 years amounts to §10 per acre and increases by $10 for , each decade. . In the plantations, the average annual increment at felling age will have been 500 feet b m., /. e. yielding at 75 years a little less than 40 M feet per acre— not considering minor products. 1 he stump- age price per M feet will by the time the first area is ready for cutting, have grown to $30 (at the rate of 1 14 per cent, on the present $10 stumpage), hence the annual net income from each 10,000 acre felling area will amount to $i,i2S per ac^- Money is supposed to be worth in such an en- terprise 4 per cent. . What will be the financial condition of the enterprise 90 vears hence? What bond issues would be necessary, if the State takes recourse to this method of providing funds ? If merely annual appropriations are made, without the need of interest charges, to what amount will the annual expenditures, diminished by returns, have grown 71; years hence? Before discussing the solution of this problem we may inquire briefly into the reasonableness of the data, some of which must, of course, be specu- la.tive. The purchase price is the actually paid out amount for the present State forest property, and incidentally, it may be assumed that the price for additional units can be kept within similar limits, especially if the State may be invested with the power of expropriation for forest purposes under eminent domain. .... r The proportion of wooded land which can fur- nish incomes from the start, is, perhaps, assumed large but it is reasonable to expect that incidental incorJies from various sources over the whole prop- erty such as camp site rents, hunting and fishing privileges, etc. , will produce the moderate amounts i represented as coming from wood sales alone. I The cost of administration is placed somewhat i higher («ioo,ooo) than the present expenditures. ' In practice it will probably be kept at present I level for some years and then gradually grow, but may be kept at the average cost of 30 cents per acre, especially if, with increased acreage, the overhead charges become relatively less. The cost of planting is taken as the average ot present experience, but there are evidences of the possibility of reducing the cost, when large opera- tions are systematically planned. ^ , . • The rate of growth assumed is moderate tor planted forest, and may on some acres run to double the assumption. . , ^ ^ , ..^ The rotation is chosen with reference to white pine in Pennsylvania climate conservatively ; it could possibly be reduced to 60 years having in mind that lower standards of miUable size will prevail 7 5 yeftrs hence. The expected stumpage value 75 years hence is, perhaps, the most speculative item and needs to be iustified. It is based upon the expectation that as the forest resources of the whole country are re- duced, the present stumpage values will first ot all come up to present European stumpage values— «ic to S20 per M feet, and will continue to in- crease at a rate similar to that of Germany during the last 100 years, namely around i}f percent per annum. We will, however, see that even if the final stumpage price is made equal only to the present highest European stumpage value, the en- terprise pays. ... The iiicome from thinnings and their progressivt increases are based upon European experience^ The interest rate of 4 per cent, is supposed to represent the rate at which the State can borrow money. The probability is that in time it can be reduced, since the expenditure is creating tangible values. . ,. c ,u I To secure an answer to the first question of the ■ liiili li!^ ■U^ %.m Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi.. No. 4. ^'•1'" j» - -> •*« •^*^# " *.. . ■:^v k^l': •' .'A' ••' ' . %*f»*» ".-v^ If •^•* •• - , • -^.' ' . *^ '44;^ ^ .^ .- ^ _ . V ^^. /-'/f^^' ,• ' . ■' *v - -r--^^ ;V" ■'' ^ TYPE OF TIMBER FORMERLY FOUND IN PENNSYLVANIA COVERING THE OHIO RIVER BASIN. ■<\ Forest Leaves, Vol. xvl, No. 4. ■4 ■1 THE WAY IN WHICH ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA SHOULD BE TREE CLAD. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 4. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvl, No. 4. 1 TYPE OF TIMBER FORMERLY FOUND IN PENNSYLVANIA COVERING THE OHIO RIVER BASIN. i i THE WAY IN WHICH ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA SHOULD BE TREE CLAD. n I FOREST LEAVES. 57 problem, namely what the financial issue of the business is in the 90th year, if a return of 4 per cent, is to be made, a compound interest calcula- tion is required, debiting all expenditures with compound interest, as well as crediting all incomes similarly. We will find then that 90 years hence : The purchase price of $2,250,000 has grown to $76,770,000 The annual planting cost of $80,000 to . . . $64,598,000 The annual administration cost of $300,000 to $248,400,000 Total expenditures with compound interest, $389,768,000 The annual incomes from the wooded portion to $63,682,000 The periodical incomes from thinnings to . . $119,500,000 The 15 annual final harvests of $11,250,000 to $225,000,003 ^o8, 182,000 In other words, in 90 years every penny of ex- penditure with 4 per cent, interest will have been paid off and a property remains which yields an annual income of $12,000,000. If the stumpage price had only advanced to $20 per M, so that the final annual cut were reduced to $7,500,000, the redemption of all expenditures would only be deferred 8 years, and the property would then be worth around $200,- 000,000, figured on its yield. I do not invite you to invest upon the basis of this calculation. It is purely academic, leaving out mishaps and losses and other practical con- siderations which require further detail discussion. But the figuring serves the purpose of showing the relationships of different parts of expenditures and incomes, and especially in accentuating that per- sistent systematic procedure and expenditures eventually make returns tenfold. It is especially interesting to note that the plant- ing cost is the smallest item and may be covered from the assumed income from the wooded portion or almost twice from the thinnings alone. If we were to finance the enterprise by bond issues as they become necessary from time to time, we will have to provide for the annual expendi- tures of administration and planting, as well as the interest on these and the interest on interest, di- miaished, however, by annual incomes as they 0( cur. The original cost, having already been nict by appropriation, need not be considered. We start in* the first year with an issue of $332,700. By the 30th year, when the first larger income from thinnings begins to make itself felt, the issue will have accumulated to $16,480,000. For the next to years an annual income of $184,375 diminishes the needed issue for expense a^^^ ^^^^ ^^ sheep and goats. The National Forests are tending to stabilize timber production and lumber prices in this country. During each of the past two years there have been cut from the National Forests about 650,000,000 feet of timber. This is less than 2 per cent, of the total timber cut of the country, yet it is so distributed as to be of considerable im- portance in the supply. The National Forests contain some 630,000,000,000 feet, so that the present cut can safely be multiplied by 10 with- out fear from over cutting. All of these important things the National For- ests are doing, and at the same time they are rap- idly approaching the point where the income from them will meet all expenses conected with their administration. In 19 16 the income to the Na- tion from the forests was J2, 823, 540. 71, an in crease of $342,000 over the year before. Durin< the year ending the 30th of this month the re- ceipts will total not less than ;f3, 300,000. Last year the receipts from the National Forests were approximately three-fourths what it cost to protect them and carry on the business. It will be neces- sary to increase the earnings about a million dol- lars to cover the cost of actual operation, and $500,000 of that million is being secured this year. Extension of the National Forests Desirable, Extensive as are the National Forests, amount- ing at present to i55>i53»228 acres, they do not include even in the west anything like all the lands which are valuable only for timber and water pro- duction. Many millions of acres of such lands are in the hands of individuals or companies. Some belong to the States. It is reasonable to suppose that the States will find a way of protect- ing their lands. Some are doing so now. To a certain extent the corporations may be able to protect their mountain timberlands permanently, but individual and most corporate holdings are I not likely to be protected beyond the time ot cutting off* the stand of mature timber which covers them A very serious question arises from this situation. What is to be done with these lands ?^ Because they are in the hands of individuals must they after the mature timber is cut have the timber stand obliterated by fire and become a men- ace to the National Forests surrounding them? Must they be allowed to bring ruin to the valleys below them through the floods to which they give rise ? Frequently such lands are so scattered in the National Forests that the Government practi- cally has to protect them from fire in order to pro- tect its own holdings. Constantly a menace they increase the cost of administering the forests and reduce the financial success of handling the Fed- eral lands. No other solution of this problem appears n have the advantage of the solution to be obtainc 1 through Government ownership, attained if nece - sary through purchase. Such purchases shou -I probably await the cutting off" of the valuable star 1 of timber and bring them to the Government n a cutover condition. That will not be a serio .s handicap if fires can be prevented. If this policy can be put into eff'ect, to be worked out gradually in the future it will mean the rounding out of each one of the National Forests to the point where it will include all of the lands suitable only for tim- ber growing that are not already given protection under other kinds of ownership. The converse of this policy is already being ac- complished. Since 19 10 the National Forests have very largely been classified and the lands of agri- cultural value have been segregated and opened to homestead entry. As result of this work since 1910, 21,728,178 acres have been eliminated from the forests, and work of classification is expected to be completed within the next year or two. Appalachian and White Mountain National Forests . It is requested that I discuss particularly tbe National Forests which are being built up in the Southern Appalachian and White Mountains. It is unnecessary that I rehearse before this audience the arguments which convinced the Federal Gov- ernment of the necessity of establishing National Forests in those regions. No land in them be- longed to the Federal Government or ever had belonged to it. Originally all belonged to the States and practically all had passed into private hands. The conditions in the east as to abuse were the same as in the west except that here through 150 years of misuse the damage had gone further. It had reached that point where it was evident that the two regions would in time be utterly ruined as to timber and soil and as to water resources if some control were not put into eff'ect. Besides, evil work in the mountains extended down all the rivers, causing disastrous floods, inundation of fertile valleys with gravel and sand, ruin of water- ])Owers and serious menace to the navigability of the streams. Much discussion finally lead to the conclusion that no agency other than the Federal (iovernment was competent to deal with the sub- ject adequately. Therefore what is now known as the Weeks' Law was passed in 191 1 and the project was put under way. The program which has been followed from 'hat time involves the purchase of some 5,000,000 icres in the Southern Appalachians and about 1,000,000 acres in the White Mountains in New Hampshire and Maine. Upon this program nearly ^9, 000, 000 have now been expended and lands to he extent of 1,400,000 acres have been acquired )r contracted for. Of this area 375,000 acres are n the White Mountains and 1,025,000 acres are in the Appalachians. All acquired lands are situated within certain iefined Purchase Areas, which are located at the sources of the principal rivers of the two regions. These lands also include the highest mountain watersheds and the localities of heaviest rain and snow fall. They include the least agricultural land of any sections in the eastern States. In most cases more than 90 per cent, of them are too rough or too steep ever to have value for anything else than timber growing, with minor uses such as grazing and mining. Public ownership of these lands quickly justifies itself. Where we have been able to buy fairly solid bodies of considerable size we have been able practically to control fires. Young timber growth has sprung into quick recovery, and the soil fertility is being rapidly increased by leaves and litter from the forest. Because of this in- creased mulch which keeps the ground moist bet- ter growth is taking place in the young timber so- that taller, straighter and more perfect trees will be secured in the next stand. The streams are running clearer ; their flow is more regular. Waterpowers and all uses of water has been dis- tinctly aided. While much of these lands have been cutover for their best timber, we find that under the careful methods employed by the Gov- ernment it is possible to make sale of much dead and defective stuff" hitherto considered unsaleable. In this way we are cleaning up the ground and putting the land into far better condition both for fire protection and for the production of a valuable forest. It would do you good to go with me into one of these stands which was full of the wreckage of former timber operations and see how it has been cleaned up and regenerated under improve- ment cutting by the Government. The returns from these purchased lands are already coming in. Beginning with a few hundred dollars in 19 14 they amounted to nearly $10,000 in 1 9 16, and will double that during the present fiscal year. Further, the people are beginning to sense their ownership of this property. They are going into the mountains in far greater numbers than ever before because the way has been opened for them to get there. In great numbers they are using the Government trails, which for the strong tramper, off'er an enjoyable means of getting through the mountains. In the White Mountains of course the highways of the States of New Hampshire and Maine off'er splendid opportunity for enjoying the scenery through automobile travel. Few automo- bile roads penetrate the Southern Appalachians, although those that do off'er scenery unexcelled. For the most part, however, the construction of good highways through the Southern Appalachian Mountains is a work for the future. It is possible, however, even now to reach by railroad or high- way many of the spots of great beauty and charm. 64 FOREST LEAVES. 11 inj |t| it. I I More roads and trails, more hotels and lodges are needed. Every year will see further development of this wonderful region. . There remain for expenditure under appropria- tions already made slightly more than $^>°°°'°°°' which will carry the work very satisfactorily for a full year from this time. The program, however s now only about 25 per cent, complete. Beyond Question it ought to be carried on to conipletion The only question which can arise is whether it should be continued now during this crisis when so much of our resources and energies are needed Tn the war. On the one hand it may be argued that this is a work which can be suspended now and resumed later. It is not absolutely necessary that t go on continuously. On the other hand it is unquestionably true that the results are Paving of distinct value to the Nation, and if valuable re- sults are being secured with th« P-'og'-f '^^^ly^"^^ fourth carried out, how important '*« that the work should go forward without curtailment until the program's finished. The work cannot stop without great loss. The force which is now thor- oughly trained and working effectively will be SisVrsed and can never be 8°^. together agair^. A new force would have to be trained The inti- mate touch with the land situation of the region, which means much to progress of the 'mmed.ate future, would be lost, as would also the results of examinations which have been made in the past two or three years on several hundred thousand acres of land which has not yet been acquired. Much of it we shall be able to acquire in the im- mediate future if we can keep on. , I wish the advice of this conference. Shall we ask Congress for further appropriations for the continuation of this work without interruption or shall we allow it to be suspended and try to take it up again after the war is over? ^ ^ William L. Hall. An interesting lawsuit has arisen from the burn- ing over of a portion of the State Forest in Elk county by a fire which was undoubtedly caused by sparks from a locomotive. The land burned over was covered with very young trees of little value at the time of the fire-but of large prospective value The Department of Forestry claims damages on the basis of the value of the trees 60 years hence, when they would have been mature, dis- counted to the present at 3 per cent, interest^ The railroad company insists on 5 per cent., which would make the bill considerably lower. Enough campers and transients visited the State Forests last year to make a city larger than Altoona. New Publications. jr,r>ich Forests and Forestry. By Theodore S. Woolsey, Jr. 8vo, 238 pages bound in cloth, illustrated. Price, $2.50. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N. Y. Mr Woolsey was a former student of the French Forest School at Nancy, and treats of the more important phases of forest practice in lunisia, Algeria and Corsica, the aim being to set for h the methods which may be applied in the United States, as 90 per cent, of the forests under French administration are regenerated naturally. There is first a general description of conditions in Tu- nisia, Algeria and Corsica. Then each of these countries is taken up in detail, giving forest and climatic conditions, forest management, working plans, fire protection, administration, and in the case of Tunisia protection against moving sand, also a translation of the Algerian Forest Code. The methods used are worthy of study by those who wish to practice reforestation in and and difficult sites. In Tunisia the forests of the regency . cover approximately 1,606,000 acres, the principal trees in the north being the cork oak and zeen oak, producing an annual income of $116,000 to «2.;8 000 In the central plateau the trees pro- duce'no revenue, being maintained for the pro- tection of the water supply, the chief species being aleppo pine and holm oak. The wooded area in Algeria is about 7.000,000 acres, over half being federal forests, the principal species are the cork oak, zeen oak, afares and holm oaks, aleppo pine maritime pine, cedar, thuya and jumper. The annual value of the cork and wood secured is about $050,000. Corsica has a forested area of 326 x85 acres, the chief species being holm oak, ^or^ican pine, maritime pine, beech and cork oak^ The revenue obtained in 191 1 from the federal and communal forests was $123,648. Commissioner of Forestry Robert S. Conk in states that no seedlings will be d'J^b^ted for private planting this fall. The S^a^ Fores nurseries are organized fo%>«^^»''"g ,^P""f s'^/^^^^ ments, and the experience of the State s forester has been that spring plantations have a bette, •^'ThTs dedsiofwill in no way affect the free dis^ tributlon of trees for planting in tbe sp^-g.„°: I o 1 8. If weather conditions are favorable durin Jn from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 trees will b. available for private planting about April 1,1918 Did it ever occur to you that your ^Jade trees an(l nut trees, as well as your fruit trees, should be fed Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 5 Philadelphia, October, 1917 Whole Number 181 EDITORIALS. IT is gratifying to note one portion of the State in which the chestnut blight has not made extensive inroads. But a five days' sojourn in Clarion county, near Foxburg, failed a month ago to disclose any undoubted examples of it. One suspicious case was noted and it is^ in all probability, disposed of before this. So far as observed, the chestnut timber in the main had a healthy appearance and any existing trouble seemed to be clearly due to some other cause than blight. J. T. R. * * :|c * * There are many good things to be attributed to Pennsylvania Forestry. We are not satisfied with the high encomium recently passed upon it by a Doctor Fernow, /*. e. , that our Forestry System is a genuine system leading to genuine forestry results. His kind words prepared us to prepare for other evidences of public service growing out of our system. And now it appears ! Of all the gradu- ates of the State Forest Academy more than 30 per cent, are in the service of the United States as officers. There is surely something in their whole- some outdoor life that is conducive to patriotism. It is true that they were physically a picked body of men, in the early prime of life, in full enjoy- ment of a vocation which allowed an unusual de- gree of freedom, or rather, perhaps, it would be better to say that their profession required vision to recognize the possibilities of the future and the initiative to lead up to the vision. They have left behind them many friends who hope that they may not have to actually enter the conflict, but who have full confidence that if they do, they will give full account of themselves— and of Pennsylvania ! J* T- ^' * * * * * We quote the headlines of an article which gives the opinion of Conservation Commissioner George D. Pratt, New York, who says that ** Catering to Vacationists and Health Seekers is the Greatest Industry" in the Adirondacks, and '*that all in- dustries including lumbering, sink into compara- tive unimportance and declares that the principal use of the region is as a Vacation Ground." There is nothing remarkable about this. New York is reaping what she sowed ; and furthermore, is finding it a most satisfactory return. The Adi- rondacks region was purchased as an outing-ground for the people many years ago, and lumbering on the public domain was forbidden by constitutional limitations, which were twice maintained by voice of the people when an attempt was made to amend the constitution in that respect. What most concerns us is that our own people are coming to the same opinion in regard to our State Forest Reserves, which, year by year, are becoming more popular. Thousands of health seekers go on to them every year. Within the memory of middle-aged men such recreation was considered somewhat disreputable. It was simply '* loafing in the woods." The most hopeful sign of it all is, that it is going back to nature for the cure of ills created by too much civilization. It is even decent and proper now to anticipate and head off sickness by taking the woods' treatment as a preventive. We were slow to recognize that for our own red-blooded men, who hear a very loud wilderness call every autumn, or oftener, that the woods were a necessity. They do'nt well endure a round year in the counting-room, or in the professions, or in the trades. But what a good thing it is to have these same hardy ones in such times of stress as now — we cannot have too many of them. We congratulate New York that she is enjoying what she bought. And we hope for a still larger popular use of our State Forest Reserves. , J. T. R. One million acres of cut-over lands situated in various parts of the Gulf coast territory have been offered by the Southern Pine Association to West- ern cattle owners for the transfer of their herds to the South. Requirements to feed one herd of stock range from two to ten acres. Selling prices from four to ten dollars per acre. Lease prices twenty-five cents to two dollars per acre per year. While the forage is diversified the land is not tick free. m 1 66 FOREST LEAVES. rp . . \ li t m i Autumn Arbor Day. THE ravages of war emphasize anew the im- portance of observing Arbor Day. Large areas formerly covered by forests have been turned into deserts. New tracts have been robbed of their timber to supply the lumber needed for ship-building. The problems of conservation and reforestration are more pressing than ever before. The rising generation should be made to see the relation of tree planting to the food problem. Trees produce not merely apples, peaches, pears, cherries and many other fruits, but indirectly they have much to do with providing food for man and beast. Forests regulate the flow of water, help to prevent destructive floods and soil erosion, and thus indirectly contribute to abundant harvests. The economic uses of trees in their relation to food, fuel, shelter, shade, commerce and industry, should be taught along with the best methods of planting trees and protecting them against noxious insects and other enemies. Few birds are found where there are no trees. The value of the feathered friends of the farmer should receive due attention in the lessons on trees given at school. Annually the Chief Executive appoints two Arbor Days in the month of April. To perpetu- ate the laudable custom of observing in the fall an additional Arbor and Bird Day, Friday, October 26, 191 7 is hereby designated as Autumn Arbor Day, and the schools are earnestly requested to observe the day by the planting of trees and by other appro- priate exercises. Nathan C. Schaeffer, Su/)f. of Public Instructiofi. \%\ When cutting firewood, remove the poorer species first from the woods. Defective chestnut might as well be cut, for the blight will surely get it. Soft maple, gum, sassafras, catalpa, aspen, and hackberry are not often valuable for other uses. Chestnut blight is now reported from almost every one of the fifty-two State Forests. The Department of Forestry is advising against the planting of chestnut anywhere in Pennsylvania. The total area of Pennsylvania is 28,692,480 acres. Forests once grew upon 27,000,000 acres. From 9,500,000 to 10,000,000 acres can never be used profitably for anything but growing timber. The Upper Ohio River Drainage Basin. (Read at the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference.) UNDER the title of this paper it is proposed to consider the physical and other condi- tions particularly concerning the combined basin of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, above the city of Pittsburgh ; with some mention of developments made and proposed connected with the region. The position of the combined basin lying be- tween latitude 38.30 and 42.30 and longitude 78 and 80.30, has a nearly due north and south trend. It is shaped somewhat like an hour-glass with a greatest length of 290 miles and a least width of 46 miles, which latter occurs at a point about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh. The total area amounts to nearly 19,000 square miles, dis- tributed in per cent, as follows : New York State, 10 ; Pennsylvania, 66 ; West Virginia, 22 ; .Mary- land, 2. Nearly the entire western part of Penn- sylvania is covered by the basin, in fact it involves about 28 per cent, of the area of the State. The Allegheny River drains an area of about 11,600 square miles and rises in Potter County, in northern Pennsylvania, flows into New York State and thence back into Pennsylvania south- easterly to Pittsburgh, where with the Mononga- hela the Ohio River is formed. The Monongahela drains an area of 7,350 square miles and generally speaking flows almost due north from its source in West Virginia. General Physical Description. — The Allegheny from its source 2,200 feet above sea, to the mouth 703 feet, has a total fall in its length of 312 miles, of about 1,500 feet, or at the rate of 4.8 feet per mile. The Monongahela rises at an elevation of 4,100 feet and flows by its main branch a total distance of 246 miles, with a total drop of nearly 3,400 feet, or at the rate of 13.8 feet per mile. The length of the Monongahela proper is 128 miles and falls at the rate of 1.2 feet per mile, while the Allegheny in the same distance, below Franklin, falls 2 feet per mile. The topography of the combined basin varies considerably, as along the east boundary it is mountainous and rugged, this condition involving much of the country of the. tributaries of the basins on this side, while on the west it is gener- ally not nearly so rugged. Along the east rim, which largely follows the Appalachian divide, the altitudes range from 2,200 feet at the north to 4,800 feet at the south, and on the west probabl) average 1,000 feet lower. The highest point in the Alleghenies, in Pennsylvania, is 20 miles due east of Johnstown and has an altitude of 3,150 feet. Most of the principal streams of the east FOREST LEAVES. ft7 side naturally flow on a greater slope than those of the west and average about 50 miles in length, while those of the opposite slope average 23 miles A feature that may be rather surprising to some is that the head waters of the Susquehanna stretches rar enough westward to come within 60 miles of Pittsburgh. A very interesting subject is the early drainage of the valleys, particularly the Allegheny, upper Ohio proper, and the Beaver in the direction of ]^ke Erie. Many years ago geologists discovered indications, by buried valleys and otherwise, that* undoubtedly show that the head waters of the Allegheny at one time emptied into Lake Erie near Dunkirk, New York. The mid-Allegheny^ with many of its tributaries flowed northwestwardly through what is now the Frenck Creek valley emptying into Lake Erie at a point east of the Ohio State line. It is supposed that the lower Allegheny followed the present course and that the Ohio passes over the original bed as far as the mouth of the Beaver River, but from here the Ohio, including a reach of a number of miles below the Beaver, drained northward along the Beaver, in a direction the reverse of the present How, and after following a portion of the Mahoning River into Ohio, passed almost due north by way of the upper waters of Grand River, to Lake Erie. The glaciated field involved the northern part of the basin to the extent of about 25 per cent, of the total area. The Terminal Moraine practically parallels the Allegheny River, keeping on the north, for a distance of nearly 200 miles below the river's source, and then passes out of the basin after crossing the Beaver. It has been thought, for a long time, that the streams north of the terminal moraine have a heavier annual discharge than those to the south. The summer tlow is supposed to be stronger. This is attributed to the ground storage accumulated in the glacial drift which in some localities obtains in great depth, reaching several hundred feet or more, but adequate comparative results as to flow have not yet been set forth to positively determine this I ondition. Geology. — While building stone, limestone, flint and plastic clays, gravel and sand abound in al- most unlimited amount, including considerable 1 ematite iron ore, the great mineralized wealth consists of bituminous coal, oil and gas. In the V ork conducted for the Flood Commission, with V hich the speaker was connected, it was estimated Mat about 13,000 square miles, or say 70 per cent, •fthe combined basin area is underlaid with coal \ ( f the lower measures. The Pittsburgh coal bed, • > it originally extended, was computed to have ' .100 square miles or over 16 billion tons of usable coal. The greater part of the mineral de- posits remain in the ground. The geologic formation is of such nature 'that comparatively little erosion occurs, particularly when compared to streams of the western and southern sections of the United States. This has been ascertained by careful observation, and it has been found, generally speaking, that the stream t)ecls, for the greater part of a century, have been subjects to practically no change. Forest Cover.— The world over there is nothing perhaps of greater importance to the needs of human life than the forests, and yet we have slashed, utilized and destroyed, but have done practically nothing iij the way of scientific restora- tion for the prosperity of present and future gen- ations. After some generations of improvident behavior and disastrous results, the value of con- servation, for all interests, is only beginning to be realized. By reckless deforestation not only is there a timber loss, but a material interference with some of the processes of nature, for instance with the run-off- of the rainfall, which in denuded areas of the more or less rugged country with the humus destroyed, must undoubtedly be more rapid and damaging than would be the case where there IS the protection of a certain amount of natural growth. In connection with the extensive investigations of the Flood Commission, which had its origin in the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, it was thought advisable to know the extent of the forest cover of the combined basins, and in this regard the United States Forest Service and the Pennsyl- vania Forestry Department cooperated with very valuable results. Using the forest map provided, as a basis, it was found, in 191 2, in totalling the many hundreds of detached areas that about 7,700 square miles, or say 41 per cent, of the basin above Pittsburgh was wooded, the rest of the country being denuded and composed of cul- tivated and barren land. A very considerable part of the 41 per cent, of course consists of second and third growth trees of little or no present commercial value. About 360 square miles or 2 per cent, of the basin remains in virgin forest, the greater portion being situated on the higher elevations of the northeast parts of the basin. Most of the good timber is now found above an elevation of 1,500 feet above sea. Judging from indications, obtaining at the time of the investigations, over 400 square miles of timber were destroyed by fire, involving some of the virgin timber. The tree types are distributed in general as follows : white pine in the northeastern part of the Allegheny ; hemlock, mixed oaks and chestnuts II 68 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 69 '< scattered over the combined basin, also beech, birch, maple and bass wood, but these largely on the high elevations. Before going to other matters an estimate is ventured of the quantity of virgin timber cut from the combined basin. Under the assumption that about 14,000 square miles or 70 per cent, were in commercial growth and that there were only 12 000 B. M. produced to the acre the amount would reach nearly 168 billion feet, for the first cutting alone. If only half of the present stand, say 3,800 square miles, were properly treated a yearly asset of considerable proportions for all in- terests can be calculated. 7^^^^/^\— Time has not been taken to study the very recent floods, but in the careful investigations made five years ago, it was found that from 1872 to the end of 191 1 there were 53 floods that reached heights above the danger stage, at Pitts- burgh, which is 22 feet above zero at the gage. The flood of March 15, 1907, reached a height of 1C14 feet. Dividing the time, 1872 to 191 2, into five-year periods, it was seen that there was an in- crease in the frequency and height of floods, as indicated by the following : ist period 2 2nd '' 3 3rd '' 6 4th '' 8 5 th period 7 6th ** 5 7th ** II 8th ** II Hi Total, . .53 The mean annual precipitation over the Alle- gheny slightly exceeds 42 inches, while over the I Monongahela it is 45 >^ i^^^^^. In the former, in the northern section, the maximum reached, to 1012 was about 60 inches and in the latter, south- ern section, nearly 81 inches. The records of the many stations do not disclose any material change at least, in the amount of annual precipi- tation. . „ , The maximum discharge of the Allegheny, at the mouth, has been estimated at about 300,000 sec. ft. and the minimum over 900. The Monon- gahela maximum, 41 miles above the mouth, 207,000 sec. ft. falling to about 160 for the mini- mum. The flood wave of 1907, which remained above the danger line, 22 feet, about 61 hours, discharged a total of about 76 billion cubic feet ; the volume above the danger line amounted to nearly 26 billion cubic feet. This serves to indi- cate, in a manner, the stupendous amount of water that goes to waste annually. As to the causes of the floods it is evident that they are chiefly due to heavy concentrated pre- cipitation, but deforestation must have influence in the frequency and height. With regard to a plan for control of the flood trouble, topographic and other features were most carefully studied, and it was found that storage reservoirs, for holding back the damaging part of the flood water, were entirely feasible and would prove more effective and beneficial than any other means. In fact, conditions are such that no other plan is possible to obtain the desired end, in a comprehensive manner. Moreover, not only would the very source of the trouble be treated and many millions of cubic feet of water prevented from actual annual waste, but benefits extended through- out the river valleys in the form of improvement of the low-water flow and industrial and sanitary needs. Forty-three reservoir projects were investigated and surveyed, having a total capacity of over 80,000,000,000 cubic feet, but analysis showed that a selected and adopted seventeen sites of 60,000,000,000 cubic feet of capacity, controlling 54' per cent, of the drainage area, were sufficient for all practical purposes. Eleven of the principal floods had been studied as a basis, and it was found all but one would have been reduced below the danger line. Further investigation disclosed that a low wall built along certain places of the water front, in Pittsburgh, would, in combination with the reservoir system, prevent overflow of the highest known floods. The estimated cost of the 17 reservoirs and wall amounted to about $23,- 000,000. Many important features cannot be given, as time does not permit, but something must be said about flood damage. In this respect three floods, including the biggest one, all occurring within one year, received attention, and it was found that the total direct damage to this city amounted to over $6,500,000, and that the assessed value of real estate was $50,000,000, lower than it would be if protected from floods. It was esti- mated that the direct loss in twenty years amounted to $17,000,000, over $12,000,000 of which oc- curred in a period of ten years preceding 191 1. Concerning water power, while this is a most important item it can only be briefly said that great possibilities obtain and should, in connec- tion with stream regulation, received considera- tion. A conservative estimate of the horse-power for the entire combined basin, under proper ma- nipulation, probably amounts to not less than 600,000. . Transportation.— \\. was the intention to relate the many important developments that have taken place, but it is impossible to now portray, ade- quately, a considerable part of the most promineit which first slowly and then rapidly progressel since about the time the Frenchman de' Celeron, in 1749, descended the Allegheny and the Ohio with a flotilla for the purpose of establishing right to the land drained by the rivers and tributaries for his native land. To follow the development of transportation, water and rail, and coal, oil, natural gas and the steel industries is not only instructive, but forms a most engaging romance. The Ohio River, with its head tributaries, has always been of strategic importance to the Nation and has been a very large factor in its develop- ment and progress. The early settlers crossed the Alleghenies by pack-horse, later by Conestoga wagon and then by stage coach, upon reaching the tributaries of the Ohio descended the streams by flat boats, for the far west. Whole families, including provisions and live stock floated in a hull of very small size, encountering on the journey the danger of Indians and the navigation of almost unknown waters. The old rafting days were notable for adventure, sometimes a dozen or more large rafts, from the giants of the forest would be seen running the tortuous streams. Pittsburgh, from the year 1790, has been promi- nent in boat building. The evolution of craft on the rivers was about as follows : first the pironque, then followed the batteaux, keel-boat, barge, house-boat, steam packet boat, and lastly the tow- boat. The keel-boat, having a capacity of about 30 tons, seems to have been the first boat of com- mercial importance. The first steamboat, **The New Orleans," to ply inland rivers was built in Pittsburgh by Nicholas Roosevelt in 181 1. At one of the mooring places, en route to New Or- leans, the people held the opinion that she could go down stream all right but not up, so the trip was delayed for sufficient time to prove that the idea was a mistake. The capacity of the present towboat fleets for moving enormous bulk tonnage at low cost is re- markable. On the lower rivers 20,000 tons at a time has been quite common, and the greatest amount moved reached about 60,000 tons. The most economic movements, for industrial purposes, from coal mine to mill now occurs in our local rivers, round trips are made with great regularity and the distance covered about 100 miles per 24 hours. Coal, loads going only in one direction, of about 5,000 tons, is moved at very small cost, say 7 cents per ton. Freight train loads average in the neighborhood of about 2,500 tons. The present local water-carried annual coal tonnage amounts to about 12,000,000 tons per year. This, with other river business, is now having a con- siderable increasing tendency, and many of the steel concerns are equiping with large orders for modern steel barges, and also towboats to handle the business. The rail tonnage of the Pittsburgh district, while not recently totalled, may reach over i8o-- 000,000 tons. To handle this business a vast net -work of tracks has of course been established. The progress of land travel was not particularly marked up to 1840. In 1830, Pittsburgh was reached by canal and railroad, but it was not until about 1852 that through or trunk line service ob- tained. To give some idea of conditions within the drainage basin, in i860, the total mileage amounted to only about 640, and it was not until i860 that there was any very great increase in extension of tracks. Today the total length of main road probably amounts to 4, 500 miles, which is nearly double that of the State of New Jersey. While the railroads, under most able manage- ment are doing the best possible to handle freight, it is of course now well known that the problem is becoming more and more serious, not only to the railroads, but to the public at large. Bacon wrote : ** There be three things which make a Nation great and prosperous : a fertile soil, busy work- shops, and easy conveyance for men and com- modities from one place to another." It might be added that without proper trans- portation, production has little value, and the greater the facilities for economical moving of commodities the more valuable they become. A project planned to provide additional and adequate facilities for handling freight is the Lake Erie and Ohio River Canal, which is now receiv- ing attention by a Board appointed by the Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania. The report will be sent to the Governor in a few days. This canal has been brought up for consideration upon several occasions, but like nearly all great projects of public nature the improvement has experienced detentions. The route of the canal, which has a total length of loi^ miles, is from the mouth of the Beaver River, which stream it ascends 21 miles to near New Castle, thence via the Mahoning River to Niles, Ohio, 30 miles ; thence by canal proper to Lake Erie, 50 >4 miles, which it will enter 6>^ miles west of Ashtabula. Between the Mahoning and Lake Erie, on the '* Continental Divide," the topography being favorable, there will be a summit level of 27 miles length and of elevation 900 feet above sea. Where the Beaver empties into the Ohio, the Government pool level is 668 feet and Lake Erie is 573, so that the rise to the summit will be 232 feet and the drop to the lake 127 feet. A portion of the summit level will con- sist of an artificial lake, nearly 9 miles long, at the southern end. The locks, 26 in number, will have lifts rang- #i 5 tmmmtmtm 70 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 71 ing from lo to 30 feet and all of uniform dimen- sions, 400' X 56' and 12' depth over the ^ills. Estimates were made for a channel 140' wide at bottom and 12 feet deep. From Pittsburgh the canal will be reached by 25 miles of the Ohio River through five Govern- ment locks. The water supply will be taken chiefly from the French Creek tributary of the Allegheny River, conserved in ample reservoirs and fed to the canal during the season of operation. From French Creek, alone, the drainage area available is 694 square miles, and the total from all sources con- sidered, nearly 900 square miles. The main reservoir, on the Pymatuning Swamp, at the Penn- sylvania-Ohio State line and 20 miles south of Lake Erie will be located on the direct line of the feeder canal. The capacity of this reservoir site is 18,000,000,000 cubic feet, and together with the other two sites, one of them on upper French Creek, the total available storage desired amounts to 20,500,000,000 cubic feet. These reservoirs under proper control will fill, annually. Addi- tional reservoir sites are feasible. For single locks the operation of the canal, in- cluding losses, etc., only requires 8,000,000,000 cubic feet. The Shenango River is to be pro- vided, from Pymatuning reservoir, with water suffi- cient to meet demands of the large interests along that stream, and the plans for this have been made by the State. Water of the higher stages will be impounded for canal use — water now wasted and frequently causing destruction. In no case will water be taken from the streams to the extent of interfering with present or future needs of those having interests along the streams. While the project is a very large one, it can be rightly said that there are no serious engineering difficulties. Nature favors the project. The pre- liminary plans have been examined by several of the most eminent engineers of this country. Transportation modes and costs have received considerable study, and it has been found that steel barge fleets, of three barges, carrying 6,600 tons at capacity, can make a round trip in 53^ hours, including lockings and other detentions. The cost per ton single trip is computed at about 14 cents. While the lake season, about eight months, will largely control the time the canal will be open for through traffic, the canalized river divisions, from the great Youngstown steel district, is likely to be open much longer — sometimes nearly the entire year. As transportation is of much vital necessity to the public at large, the crying need for this canal as an economic proposition is self-evident, as it will connect the two most important bodies of internal waters, forming in some respects the in- dustrial heart of the country. Furthermore, the connecting link will pass through the already largest tonnage producing belt of bulky commodi- ties in this country, and for water transport no more ideal situation could be imagined. There are comparatively few places in the world where great canals can be built and where the cost will be in keeping with the returns, but here where Nature favors and there is an enormous growing tonnage, in the currents of commerce, there ran be no doubt as to the benefits to all interests which would be derived. It is a National require- ment, emphasized by the present war needs and the cost of living. This canal will not be an injurious competitor of the railroads, instead it should be regarded as co-operative and beneficial to the railroads, car- ing for a considerable part of the bulky freight, and the railroads conducting the high class freight business, with of course some of the low class, and the passenger service. The annual capacity of the canal, when con- sidering through and local movement, will not be less than 38,000,000 tons, for single locks. In conclusion the liberty is taken of expressing the immediate necessity of scientific handling of the forest areas ; the building of the canal, and the works for flood control and water conservation. George M. Lehman. The Camp and the Camp Fire. i*r ^c:t— During the two-year period ending June i, 191 7, the State Forests paid into the State Trea- sury §36,900.72. If the Department of Forestry had been willing to sacrifice future benefits for the sake of making a big showing now, says the Commissioner, this sum could have been increased fourfold. Practically all of the revenue is derived from the sale of mineral and dead or over-mature tim- ber. Very little growing timber has been cut, and the Forests are really in better condition because of the removal of this material. So far the greatest obstacle to the removal of marketable timber has been the absence of good roads in the forests. If an adequate appropriation is granted, the Department should use a large part of it in road building. Most of the trails and fire lanes have been planned so that they may be made into roads, and because of work already done the cost of covering them will be low. Enough roads, trails, fire lanes, and boundary lines have been opened on Pennsylvania's State Forests to reach from Philadelphia to San Fran- cisco and half way back. WITH the increase in the number of those who camp on the State Forests, the proper care of camp fires is becoming of more and more importance in forest protection. In 191 5, one hundred and thirty-six forest fires were directly traceable to the carelessness of hunt- ers and campers, and the resulting damage was over $100,000. If these men had taken proper care of their camp fires, this damage would have been lessened and probably eliminated, and the campers would have had their reward in being more comfortable, and in being able to return to a camp site not rendered unrecognizable by fire. To the seasoned camper, this article will be merely the rehashing of the A B C's of woodcraft, but it will be strictly news to many of the more recent additions to the outdoor army. In choosing a camp site, there are only two prime requisites for the experienced woodsman : — wood and water. Given a good supply of these, your old hunter will undertake to pass a restful night almost anywhere. Look to these things first when you are in a strange woods. If you cannot get both together, choose water first in summer, and wood in fall and winter. Three points should be given due consideration : ( 1 ) A site on a hilltop is exposed to the wind. (2) Frost settles first and heaviest into the streams bottoms. (3) As a rule, the best springs and firewood are not found in the main creek bottoms, or * 'draws," as they are colloquially called, but in the smaller hollows which branch off" from these main hollows. Hence the best camp site is usually neither on a hill nor along a creek, but between the two. Supposing that you have found a camp site which has the natural advantages in a combina- tion to your liking, your first care is to start your fire and pitch your shelter, the fire first, because it can be burning down to a bed of coals while you are driving tent pegs. Mark it doivn as an established fact that 110 good woodsman builds a fire anywhere without taking precautions against its spreading. Get a forked stick, and scrape away all the leaves and other in- flammable material for a distance of ten feet all around the place where the fire is to be, and do this before you build the fire. Of course, you need some sort of a fireplace. If you have a tool for digging, make a long, narrow trench in the ground, and bank up around the edges the earth you remove. Cover over a foot at the rear, and leave a small opening for a chimney, so that the smoke may be at least partly carried away. Keep your eye on the wind, and build the fire so that the smoke will be carried away from the camp. If you have nothing with which to make a trench, build up a fireplace with flat stones. If you can find no suitable stones, build your fire in the center of the piece of ground you have cleared of rubbish. Cut two stout forked sticks, and drive them, forks up, one on each side of the fire. Lay another strong stick across the- forks. Now cut several smaller forks, the weaker side of the fork three or four inches long, and the stronger side from one to two feet long. Drive nails every two or three inches in the stronger fork at a sharp upward angle, and hang the forks on the cross- stick by these nails. Hang your pot on the weak fork, and regulate the distance above the fire by hanging the fork by a higher or lower nail. If you have no nails drive the heavy forked sticks a little deeper, and hang your kettle directly on the cross-stick. For the actual building of the fire, you should have (i) a small amount of quick burning, easily ignited wood for kindling; (2) a larger amount of wood which will burn quickly to coals for cook- ing ; and (3) a still larger amount of slow burning wood for heating. Following is a list of woods classified under these headings in the order of their excellence : — / Kindling .-—Pitch pine knots, split. v/ White pine. V Thoroughly dry inside chestnut bark. Birch bark. Cooking laood:— Bark of dead hemlock, pine, hickory, or maple. Dry aspen. Hickory. Black birch. Hardwood branches, not too large. Heating wood : — Hickory. White oak. Hard maple. Beech. The last named woods, although they make ex- cellent heating fires, should be watched after the the fire is well started. They are '' spitters," or ''snappers," that is, discharge glowing coals to a considerable distance, and if not watched may start a forest fire which will cover a township. Scrape the dead leaves and litter away for at least ten feet, and keep a watch in addition. Most of the light tents burn easily, and a glowing coal may destroy your shelter at a most inopportune time. Most camps are broken in the morning because distance to the settlement or railroad makes it ad- visable to take a whole day for moving. Trans- sients almost invariably break camp in the morning. 72 FOREST LEAVES. » ^ Remember this .—The morning is a period of comparative calm and dampness. In these still hours your camp fire may seem ■ dead and cold. DonH trust it ! A wind, springing up later in the day may fan hidden coals into a blaze and start a forest fire which will transform your camp site from a natural beauty spot to a charred and desolate reminder of your carelessness. , , , As soon as breakfast is over, spread the coals out flat and pour water over them. Use all the water needed, and then carry an extra bucketful. Now break camp, keeping an eye on the fire for signs of life. When the packing is done, turn over the coals and put the extra bucketful of water on the fire. Finally, be moderate. Do not build a bontire. What is needed is a companionable blaze to sit or lie beside, not a huge conflagration which must be regarded with awe and approached with respect. Besides you may want to come back to the same site next season, and you'll wish then that you had left some dry wood within a mile. Forest Fire Prevention: the Old Way and the New. (Read at the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference.) "TVTOTWITHSTANDING the fact that there is J^ nothing new under the sun, I have been "^ assigned a subject under which there are to be discussed new methods of forest fire preven- tion. But as there has also been included the subject of old methods, we may consider for a few minutes at least what some of the old methods were, and then briefly discuss some new ideas with respect to the application or modification of old methods. It may be paradoxical to start with the state- ment that there have been no old methods, and yet that has been about the condition of affairs. It seems to be the most difficult thing in the world to get the people through their government to grasp the idea of the value of preventive measures as compared to the value of remedial measures. We may go back in Pennsylvania his- tory to the beginning of the Province and even antedating that, and find upon the statute books, laws against the firing of woods, and providing penalties therefor ; and from time to time up to the present moment old laws have been revised and new ones have been approved. Yet the force of these laws in the prevention of forest fires is practically nil for the laws were seldom if ever enforced, and forest fires have been constantly on the increase. Education with respect to the necessity for pre- vention of forest fires has not been lacking in Pennsylvania. Back in 1877, at one of the ear- liest meetings held within the State to discuss the care of forests, it is interesting to note that a great deal of time was spent by the farmers and others in attendance discussing the value of fencing ma- terial. The value of a panel of fence was thor- oughly appreciated, and it has been constantly on the increase ever since that time. But it has always seemed strange that from earliest times to the present the farmers would recognize the value of posts and rails in the fence, but could never appreciate the worth of those posts and rails as they were standing in trees. When fires have oc- curred and fences were burned, even though thousands of acres of good fence material were destroyed, no damage is reported except the loss I of the fence. So we may apply the same proposi- tion to other phases of the subject, and may almost say that the force of education along forestry lines from 1877 to the present time with respect to forest fire prevention is really just now coming into efl"ect, if indeed we may be absolutely sure of this. . For a long time in Pennsylvania we have under- stood what factors must be used for the efficient control of fires after they once start, such as the establishment of an organization of fire wardens, a patrol system, a chain of observation towers, etc. , even yet after seventeen years experience in the establishment of State Forests, the Common- wealth as a whole has not accepted these ideas as necessary, and every handicap is placed in our way to prevent a rapid development of the means for efficient fire control. In the forest fire fight- ing methods commonly found over the State there is the same indiff'erence and lack of practical ap- plication of common sense. Instead of it being a rule of the people who are interested in forests to attack the fire where it is doing the most damage, it is customary to fight at the easiest possible place, and it is usually the result of more luck than good judgment that fires have been controlled before they have reached large size. The spirit of the past with respect to forest fires and their prevention may be summed up in one word, namely — indifference. Notwithstanding the fact that a spasmodic education along this line has been conducted over a long period of years, yet it is an absolute fact that today the people of the Commonwealth are both ignorant and care- less concerning forest fires. Now as to the development of this work under the present Bureau of Forest Protection, we do not claim the instituting of any new methods, but rather call attention to a definition of the conser- vation movement given by Hon. Gifford Pinchot ' ' / 'I Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 5. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 5. i A FOREST FIRE FOLLOWING CLOSE ON THE HEELS OF THE LUMBERMAN NEW 60-FT. STEEL TOWER IN PROCESS OF ERECTION. CABIN STILL TO BE ENCLOSED. TORCHES FOR BACK FIRING. RAKE USED IN FOREST FIRE FIGHTING. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 5. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvl, No. 5. A FOREST FIRE FOLLOWING CLOSE ON THE HEELS OF THE LUMBERMAN NEW 60-FT. STEEL TOWER IN PROCESS OF ERECTION. CABIN STILL TO BE ENCLOSED. RAKE USED IN FOREST FIRE FIGHTING. TORCHES FOR BACK FIRING. FOREST LEAVES. 78 some few years ago when * ' conservation * * first became a household word in this country. It was this, ** Conservation is simply the application of common sense to common problems for the com- mon good.'* Forest fire work is a large factor in the general conservation movement, and we are trying to look at it from a common sense stand- point. In the first place we believe that in order to overcome the ignorance and carelessness of the people, a consistent and persistent systematic campaign of education must be carried on, setting forth the damage which forest fires do and the reason why forest fires should be prevented. We believe that this information should be made so common that there may not be a household in the State in which the damage done by forest fires is not known. To accomplish this end it is neces- sary to take advantage of every educational oppor- tunity known to us, and to push that opportunity to the limit.. All sorts of circulars and other printed material must be devised and distributed. There should be a systematic campaign of lectures among all the organizations which can be reached. As many as possible of these lectures should be illustrated and advantage taken of the possibilities of the moving film. Statements concerning the damages of forest fires must be repeated in so many ways and places that it will become second nature for the person in the forests to be careful instead of careless with fire. Needless to say this cannot be accomplished in one year and probably not in a generation ; but this is the greater reason why the work should be started at once and persistently continued. In the second place there should be an ener- getic enforcement of the laws. While it is true that every handicap seems to be in our way for such enforcement, yet I may state that in the last two years progress has been made. More cases have been prosecuted in the last year than have probably been instituted in the previous twenty- five. On the other hand, with respect to law enforcement, it is believed best to use the law only in so far as it may be necessary to bring an individual forcibly to a realization that when he violates the rights of another individual he is held responsible and must make some effort at restitu- tion. As soon as this is accomplished, we believe that the law has gone far enough, and that then mercy is the best part of justice. Where an indi- vidual sets a fire with criminal intent, or as a result of criminal carelessness, the severest penalty possible should be meted out, and it is hoped that the time will soon come in Pennsylvania when we shall have the authority to use firearms if necessary in order to capture the individual who maliciously starts fires in the woods. Such an individual is a criminal of the worst kind because of the results which he may accomplish. It must not be forgotten that the setting of a forest fire which looks innocent enough at its start, may be the beginning of a chain of circumstances leading to the destruction of untold property value, im- measurable loss to the health of a community, and perhaps, even in Pennsylvania, the taking of a number of lives of innocent citizens. It is further believed that in a great many cases the best results may be accomplished by having the persons who are responsible for the fires pay the damage which they have done, and reimburse the Commonwealth for the cost of the extinction of the fire. During the last two years we have had considerable suc- cess along this line. However, there are some improvements which are necessary in the laws, and it is hoped that these improvements will be ac- complished within the next few years. With the best results that could be looked for from an educational campaign and from proper enforcement of the law, a number of fires may still be expected, and there must be some means for their control. It must be somebody's duty to get after them and extinguish them. For this purpose the old system of fire wardens has been reorganized, and an organization is now gradually being built up, composed of men who are interested in the work and who are becoming more and more efficient. This is evidenced by the fact that with a force much smaller than at the beginning of 191 5, our men are catching more fires, and the acreage per fire is gradually lessening. There are several factors in connection with the system of fire wardens outside of the actual per- sonal factor which must be considered. In the first place there must be means by which the knowledge of the existence of a fire may be brought to the attention of a fire warden. For this pur- pose an interlocking system of fire observation towers is needed on the high points of the State ; these towers to be connected by telephone with the fire wardens and also with the adjoining com- munities from which the fire wardens must obtain assistance for fire extinction. In addition, under certain conditions, and in certain territories there must be patrolmen also who are constantly on their rounds during danger-seasons of the year. Each of the fire wardens should have his own organized forest fire crew and the resources of the community well marshalled so that innumerable details need not be attended to after fires start. The organization should be complete from start to finish. No city fire department can do effi- cient work with equipment a few years old, and yet the forest fire wardens have been expected to do good work without any equipment. The men 74 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 79 s«. must be furnished with such tools and appliances as will give them the desired efficiency and do it quickly. But this is not all. The men must be instructed in common sense methods in attacking fires, and must be kept enthusiastic and made to realize that they are a very important part of the conservation work. This requires innumerable \ details which must be constantly attended to. In the accomplishment of these matters we come back to the legislature and to the Governor. As i long as the appropriations permit of no preven- tive development poor results may be expected. If we continue to advocate the purchase of lands by the Commonwealth for forestry purposes and | do not give reasonable attention to the protection ' of the millions of acres not owned by the Com- monwealth, we are not using common sense. The raising and planting of trees is advocated by the Forestry Department, and the Department raised millions of such trees and distributed them free of charge to private individuals, and if conditions are continued under which more forest trees are destroyed in one year than could be raised and planted by the Department at the present rate of | progress in one hundred years, then common ' sense is not being used. If it is wise to ask the legislature to appropriate hundreds of thousands of dollars for 'he purchase of a few acres of i primeval timber, then it is wiser to request the ' legislature to appropriate several hundred thousaiul dollars for the protection of millions of acres of forest land from its greatest curse and the Com- monwealth from untold damages which result from forest fires. Forest fire prevention in Pennsylva- nia cannot be said to have a good start until the legislature and the Governor shall be willing to place at the disposal of the Bureau of Forest Protec- tion an appropriation amounting to anyw^here from f 100,000 to $200,000 per year; for until the methods are made so efficient that complete pro- tection can be afforded, a large part of the money must of necessity be spent in such a way that in- efficient results are obtained. There is no ques- tion that this is the most important phase of forestry work in Pennsylvania, and those who are interested must come to realize this fact. Every- thing possible must be done to see that the work is pushed forward successfully. As stated in the beginning these ideas may or may not be new, but it seems that they imply an application of common sense to a common prob- lem for the common good. George H. Wirt. [The moving picture films, entitled *' The Curse of the Forest," gave a graphic idea of the havoc wrought by forest fires.]— Ed. Changes at the State Forest Academy. THE Forest Academy has just opened its doors for the fifteenth year of its existence. Numerous changes took place during the past year at this unique and popular institution, which was recently called '' the gem of American forest schools ' ' by one of the foremost forestry educators of the country. Some instructors and a large percentage of the students left for the front. Prof. E. A. Ziegler, who for seven years was director of the school, was commissioned a captain in the coast artillery officers' reserve corps, and is now instructor of military mapping at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. Mr. W. Erdmann Montgomery, who was instruc- tor in Surveying during the past year, is in the Officer's Training Camp at Chattanooga, Ten- nessee. Six members of the graduating class of 191 7 joined the forest regiment (Tenth Engineers') which is now somewhere on the Atlantic enroute for France. The present student body has representatives at the Officers' Training Camp, at Fort Niagara, and in the Aviation Corps. Two more students will leave shortly, having passed their physical examination for the regular army at Greencastle and patriotically waived exemption. Withal these heavy losses, the institution is running on a normal schedule and with a full faculty. The two vacancies on the faculty are filled by men with special training in their par-. I ticular departments. Eugene Deatrick, Ph D. ; (Cornein, was appointed professor of soils and ' chemistry. Prof. Deatrick is a native of Kutztown, Pennsvlvania. He was graduated from the Key- stone Normal School in 1906, from Franklin and Marshall College in 191 1, taught physics and I chemistry in Boyertown High School during 19TI-1913, and for the past four years was at i Cornell University where he received the degree of doctor of philosophy. He comes to Mont Alto highly recommended, and his past achieve- ments promise unusually strong courses in his department. i The other vacancy is filled by W. Boyd Evans, a graduate of the Forest Academy in the cla-ss of 191 2, and' for the past five years Forester on the Sizerville State Forest, with headquarters at Sizer- ville, Cameron County, Pa. Prof. Evans had considerable teaching experience before he entered the Forest Academy as a student in 1909, and his commendable record in school and as a forester brought to him the distinct honor of being called to his alma mater to teach. Extinction of Forest Fires. (Paper read by Leonard G. Barnes, at Fire Wardens' Meeting for Southern Centre County.) IN forestry, there are three classes of fires recog- nized : the surface fire, the ground fire, and the crown fire. In Pennsylvania we are mainly concerned with the surface fire, and to that end the subject matter of this paper is directed. In the extinction of a forest fire, there are five steps : First, the prompt detection and location of the fire ; second, immediate notification of the fire to the proper official; third, the organization of a fire fighting crew ; fourth, the attack upon the fire; and fifth, the making up of reports and bills. In the detection of a fire, too much stress can- not be laid upon the necessity of promptness. Quick detection means a small fire with little or no damage resulting. Fire observation towers, patrol, and the people living in or near the forest, are the means depended upon for the discovery of fires. On State Forests, fire towers and patrols are used. Owing to the lack of appropriation, the detection of fires in wooded areas other than State Forests must depend largely upon the people. Fire towers are structures erected upon places of high elevation, giving view to a large scope of country. They are located so that one tower may be seen from another. In this manner forest fires are discovered by a system of triangulation. Towers will have telephone connections with for- esters, forest rangers, and fire wardens. The ob- server, having a view of thousands of acres, will be enabled to spot a fire as soon as it occurs, definitely locate it, and notify the nearest fire official. The patrol system is used mostly in level or flat country. This system serves a threefold purpose. It prevents fires, detects them immediately after they start, and extinguishes them while they are small. In sparsely settled regions, without the patrol system or looking towers, a fire may burn for hours before it is discovered. The pa- trolman is generally assigned during exceedingly dry seasons to a certain area and charged with the duty of keeping fires out of his district. He is required to patrol this area regularly and may cover it one or more times a day. He should be familiar with the country, knowing all the roads, trails, streams, and other topographic features. His patrol is so arranged that he will be in tele- phonic communication with the outside so as to be able to summon help, if needed. It is hoped that money will soon be available for the patrol of wooded area.s other than State Forests because they are the ones that need it. The detection of fires in areas not State Forests niust for the present time, depend upon the people living in their vicinity. It is the duty of each fire warden, therefore, to create a sentiment among the people of his range to be constantly on the lookout for fires and to report them promptly. This can be accomplished by talking personally to the people, by circulating letters, by telephone, and by the posting of fire notices in conspicuous places. The notification of a fire warden must be imme- diate. Promptness is just as essential here as it is throughout the whole system. All the large fires result from letting time elapse between the start of the fire and the notification of the proper official. In a number of cases, as long as a fire is a mile or so from a person's property and he is not threat- ened, he will remain quietly at home and let the other fellow do the reporting and the putting out. It is such an attitude that we must overcome if forest fires are to be stopped. The fire warden should, as a duty to the State and the public, en- deavor to break up this indifference wherever it exists. Let the people know you are a fire war- den. Let them know what your duties are, and instill into them the necessity for immediate noti- fication of a fire. Notification may be made by means of the telephone or by messenger. The telephone is the better. It saves time. Where a telephone is not available, then messenger service should be used. It is not enough to know that a fire is burning on Nittany Mountain. Find out definitely from the informer the exact location of the fire, the best means of getting there, and the size of the fire. This will enable you to judge how many men you will need. The third step in extinguishing forest fires is the organization of a fire fighting crew. Fire wardens should build up and maintain an efficient and effective co-operative fire crew. It should be a permanent crew, one that is dependable and always ready. Such an organization cannot be built up in a day or a week. It will take time. The men should be made to feel that they are doing a patriotic service to the State. Holding a position in the crew should be regarded as a mark of high honor, trust, and faithfulness. Talk to the men in your community, using the informa- tion supplied by the Department of Forestry, and it should not be hard to organize a permanent fire fighting force. In selecting the men for the posi- tion, take only the efficient, the strong, and the active. Experienced men are preferable. It would be well in making up your crew to select those having telephones so that they can be assem- bled quickly. It is important that it be definitely 76 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 77 understood that the fire warden is boss at all times. He issues the orders and expects them to be carried out. Members of the crew can give suggestions but not orders. The day of the big fire is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. A small crew well organized is more effective than a large one loosely held together. Assign each man to a definite place on the crew and have him know just what his work is and what he is to do. Divide the crew into axemen, rakers, torchmen, and guards. If possible, have a central meeting place to which the men, upon notification of a fire, will go and from that place proceed in a body to the fire. The advantage of such an organization is self evident. Fewer men are needed, time is saved, efficient work is accomplished, and the fire is under control in a shorter time with less work and least cost. Until you build up your local fire or- ganization, you will have to depend upon the old method of getting men wherever and however you can. In getting to a fire, choose the quickest route. By this is not meant the hiring of transportation. Always walk to a fire if possible. Keep the fire bill as low as you can and yet give efficient service. If it becomes necessary to hire transportation, do so. Speed in getting to a fire counts 90 per cent, of the battle. The keynote of successful fire pro- tection is prevention of forest fires and the preven- tion of large fires. A ten minutes early start to a fire may mean hours of extra work saved and a small amount of damage done. The time to at- tack a fire is while it is small. As soon as a fire is reported, collect your crew and start. In the absence of a permanent fire fighting force, pick up men wherever you can. Insist upon the men go- ing, but accept a reasonable excuse. The penalty for refusal of men to fight fire is a fine of $100, or one month's imprisonment, or both. Handle this matter carefully. A too officious manner may do more harm than good. When the crew arrives at the fire, the warden will then give his orders as to how it is to be at- tacked. He must use his own judgment as to the best method of fighting it. To do this intelli- gently, he must know his district, the location of old roads, trails, and streams along which a line of defence might be made. He should know the general character of the country, direction and force of the wind, the probable size of the fire, and the location of the header. The head of the fire is that part which is advancing most rapidly. Knowing these things, a definite plan of attack can be worked out. Haphazard fire fighting is of no avail. Knowing what to do, how to do it, and why, saves time, labor, and money. A forest fire starts as a small circle and gradually spreads out in all directions. If there is a wind, which is generally the case, it burns faster on the leeward side, assuming an oval shape and finally developing a distinct front or head. The size and shape of the head depends upon the topography of the country, the nature of the ground cov^r, and the force of the wind. In many cases, a fire niay develop two or more heads and the windward side of the fire die out. In planning the attack, it is well to know that a fire travels rapidly up hill, due to the heated air currents forming a draft. After passing the crest of the hill, it travels slowly down- ward. The stronger the wind the greater the speed of the fire. Fire also travels faster on a clear day than on a cloudy or damp day. The severity of the fire depends upon the condition of the floor cover. If it is just an accumulation of leaves, the fire will not be so hot nor travel so rapidly as it will in an old slashing. On level ground or a slightly rolling country, the fire may be whipped out. This is accomplished by taking branches of pines and forming a broom. The whipping should be an underhand stroke towards the fire. Never raise the whip above the head and strike downward upon the fire, To do so will raise bunches of burning material on the next stroke and scatter them behind in unburned area, thus starting a new blaze. ' A slow fire on level ground, or one that is burn- ing downhill, may also be extinguished by cutting a fire line 2 to 3 feet wide a short distance in front of the fire and raking this line clear of leaves and debris down to the mineral soil. The material in the path should be raked away from the fire. Upon reaching this cleared line, the fire will go out from lack of fuel upon which to feed. It is necessary to keep men l3ehind to watch that the fire, upon reaching this line, does not jump across. If it should cross, concentrate your men at this spot to stamp it out, otherwise the whole line will be lost and the work of no avail. Such a method of attack will call for the crew to be divided as follows : axmen to cut the line clear of young growth, rakers to rake the line clear of leaves down to mineral soil, guards to remain behind to pre- vent the fire from crossing. The warden should at all times know the progress of the work. If the wind is high and the fire is burning rap- idly up hill, it will be necessary to vary the form of attack and resort to back firing. Back firing ie: the setting of a fire in front of the main fire to burn toward it, against the wind, so that when the two fires meet, both must go out for the lack 01 fuel. The use of the back fire should be under- I stood and must not be allowed unless ordered by ' the warden. Back fires indiscriminately set result I in needless damage and 'often endanger the lives of the men by their being caught between the back fire and the main fire. One of the most common mistakes in back firing is .to overestimate or under- estimate the rapidity of the main fire and not place the line in the proper place, thus burning over more ground than needed, or else losing the line entirely. Make your fire line far enough in advance of the main fire so that the heat of the two, when they come together, will not be so great as to drive away the guards. It should be placed so that when the two fires meet, there will l3e enough burnt ground between them that sparks and bunches of burning leaves will not blow across the line. It is important that the line be started far enough in advance of the main fire so that there will be plenty of time to start the back fire before it arrives. In many cases, men have been compelled to abandon hundreds of feet of line for this reason. Where it is necessary to fight a fire with back fire, first take your crew to the head of the fire. The success of the fight lies in controlling the header first. Divide your crew into two sections and send a gang downward on each side, working around the fire until they meet, or else until they run your line into burnt ground. The crew will be divided as follows : axemen, rakers, torchmen, and guards. The axmen go ahead and cut out a line 2 or 3 feet wide, clear of all young growth and brush. The line should be as straight as possible. Brush piles, logs, and dead snags should be avoided, keeping them out- side of the line whenever you can. The material cut in making the line should be thrown away from the fire. Following the axmen come the rakers. Their duty is to rake the line clean of leaves down to mineral soil. The leaves should be raked towards the fire so as to give a good start to the back fire. The torchmen then follow and fire the line. The back fire should not be started until a considerable distance of line has been cut and raked. Behind the torchmen are the guards. They patrol the line to see that the back fire gets a good start and to prevent it from jumping across the cleaned line into unburned ground. There should be enough guards left be- hind to patrol several hundred feet of line. After the back fire has burned inward 15 or 20 feet, they should extinguish all fire along the edge of the line. If by any chance the fire should jump across the fire line into unburned ground, one guard should not a*ttempt to put it out himself bi't should call for help. Concentrate the whole force, if necessary, in putting it out. If it gets beyond control, then the whole line is lost and the work must be started anew. After the head of the fire is under control, the wings must be taken care of immediately or else they may form a new head. Always back fire down hill and against the wind. The fire warden should know at all times the progress of the fight and the fire so as to be able to place more men at one point or reduce the number at another. The fire is never out until the last spark is ex- tinguished. A log or snag may smoulder and upon the freshening of the wind, break out and throw sparks, thus starting a new fire. When the fire has been surrounded and the work of the crew accomplished, the men may be discharged. Do not discharge your crew until you are sure all dan- ger is over. Two or more men should then be left behind to extinguish all smouldering snags, brush piles, and stumps. Dead trees standing near the line should be cut down. The fire warden should also notify the owners of the land that they are expected to patrol the line, extin- guishing all remaining sparks and preventing the fire from breaking out. Eff"ective work cannot be done without tools. No matter how large the crew, it is useless with- out tools. A few men with the proper tools are better than a large number poorly equipped. At the present time, each man brings his own tools. These generally consist of garden rakes, stable forks, mattocks, hoes, shovels, axes, and forked sticks. Sometimes it is necessary to borrow tools. In such a case, the warden should issue these bor- rowed tools to the men and make each man responsible for the return of the tool to the war- den. If the man fails to return the tool, then the value of it should be deducted from his time. The appropriation of the Fire Bureau is so limited that it is not able to furnish the proper fire fight- ing tools to the warden nor is it able to pay for any borrowed tool lost or stolen. It is hoped, however, that in the future, the appropriations will be of such a size that each warden can be furnished with fire fighting tools. The tools used for fighting fires on State Forests, and which are deemed the best, are rakes having 4 to 6 prongs and handles ^j4 feet long, hand axes, double bitted axes, short brush scythes, and iron fire torches. The care of the crew is an important factor in fighting fires. The treatment the men receive will influence to a large extent their willingness to come out to future fires. A warden who keeps his men out on the fire line without food or water will have a difficult time in maintaining his or- ganization. Where the fire is of such size that the men will be out a number of hours past meal time, arrangements should be made to supply them with food. A hungry man will not put much energy into his work and will desert at the first opportunity. If it is necessary to supply the 78 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 79 men with food, have lunches packed in town and distribute them to the men along the fire hne Lunches should consist of sandwiches, cakes, and hot coffee It would be well to include in the lunches tobacco. Men will leave the fire to get tobacco and not come back. In ordering lunches, provide well for the men, but not extravagantly^ The men should at all times be supplied with drinking water. A forest fire is an attraction for the boy. Use him to carry water to the men along the fire line. . , r *■ i;,.^ The last thing in connection with a forest tire is the making up of reports and bills. 1 hey should be made out on a typewriter or in ink, in a clear, legible, and orderly manner on the forms provided. In making out your forms, follow the printed instructions, and if they are not clear, write for information. Many wardens have trou- ble when making out their bill for fire labor to know who was at the fire and the number of hours they worked. A permanent fire organization will eliminate this. For the present, have it under- stood that the men must report to you before go- ing to work and must not leave the fire until discharged by you. An enforcement of this ru e will enable you to keep a correct and accurate account of their time. The rate of pay must not exceed 15 cents per hour. Reasonable time may be allowed for going to and from a fire. All dis- putes about time should be settled at the fire. Pay the men promptly. Prompt pay means satis- faction and insures the turning out to future fires. The men must be paid by check. If it is , not convenient for you to pay in that manner, in- dorse the check to the .forester and he will make out the individual checks and give them to you for distribution. Have the men call for their checks. When this cannot be accomplished, mail the check to them. No owner, lessee, nor person employed by them, is entitled to pay for fighting fire on his land likewise no person responsi- ble for the spread of a fire to forest land is entitled , to pay for fighting fire. All bills must be for- warded to the Harrisburg office within 60 days ' after the fire occurred. Failure to get the bill in \ by that time will result in its not being honored. | If the fire bill is small, it may be held for 30 , days, and in this manner it is possible that more i than one fire may be reported on Form 16. In- cidental bills for team hire and provisions must be , properly dated to agree with the date of the fire. | They should be itemized, made out in your name, , and receipted. Bills for transportation should ' show the distance traveled. A Word on The Right Use of Our Land. (Read at the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference.) According to the latest figures, Pennsylvania raises less than a third of the timber her manu- facturing industries use. THE great task of the Human Race is to feed, clothe and house itself. This seems evi- dent enough, and yet it is only at long in- tervals that some crisis brings home to us the simple fact that all our wealth and equipment can not make a bushel of wheat, and that the power of the government even can not make a tree, but that it takes a century and more to grow an oak. The meat and bread we eat, the cotton and wool we wear, and the timber we use in our house to shelter and warm us, are the products of the land and if the very existence of the race depends on these products it is evident that this existence is safe or unsafe, according to the use or misuse of our lands. , , , ^^ Txr-,.i. Man, generally, has not used land well. With few exceptions, both in the Old and the New World, a deterioration of the land has set in, and the millions of acres of run-down and even aban- doned lands in our country prove that the period of this misuse, in many cases, need not be long. The science of the soil is new. Broadly speaking, we use our land for farm or for forest, for the desert and half desert with their scant forage, while large in area, are of little value and generally beyond our means for betterment. For the right use of land on the farm, in our own country we have done a great deal, for the forest very little. Manufacture has given the farm better tools, commerce and railroads have helped in distribu- tion ; the Department of Agriculture, Experiment Stations and schools have gathered and spread in- formation. This all has helped immensely, but the most important thing, the man on the farm has been overlooked. Books and bulletins have been written to call attention to the great migra- tion from farm to city ; the slogan ** Back to the Land" has even been overdone, but the things that count are still working in the opposite direc- tion. We pay the worker in town twice what the farmer can aff'ord to pay ; the schoolhouse in the city is a palace, that in the country a hovel ; labor organization ; labor legislation to limit hours and insure in case of accident ; housing and settlement work, and every conceivable effort for safety and betterment apply to the worker in the city and not to the man on the farm. Add the amusements of all kinds, the park and playgrounds,— and the^ mi- gration to the city explains itself. There is no call for any excitement or hysteria, but the plain fact remains that we must raise food and clothing and to this end we must have help to till and maintain the soil. Today the farm is not half manned ; our soil is not maintained. As regards the forest the story is too well known. We cut and burned ; the forest was taxed beyond its ability, and we have refused it protection. Even today, after 30 and 40 years of hard labor of men like Dr. Rothrock and Dr. Fernow, the few fundamentals concerning the forest seem still strangers 4n the land. We are still possessed of the idea that all land should be cleared and farmed, forgetting entirely the fact that our forest crop needs land, and needs a great deal of land. The experience of Europe says that at least a third of the land is needed for forestry if the country is to supply itself with timber. The same countries, and even the best of them show that not all land is plow land, and that large proportions of all the large states of the Old World have not and do not support successful agriculture, in spite of a dense population and much cheap labor. In the same way it seems hard for our people to realize the fact that forestry, like farming, needs work, needs investment, that we riiust plant and care for the forest if it is really to be more than a shooting range. Equally difficult is the notion of time, as it en- ters into forestry as a business. That it takes a century and more to produce a forest tree is well known and is used constantly as an excuse for not planting forest, or even caring for what we have. But that this very long time wait is the most im- portant of all reasons why we should not delay but begin right away, and that this long time element in forestry means that we make up our minds to devote land definitely and certainly to this busi- ness, and not only adopt but follow unswervingly the policy necessary for any success, all this seems wanting in the ordinary logic regarding our forests. Similarly we do not seem to see that for the reason of this time element a forest business with a yearly cut requires a definite organization and regulation of the crop, so that there is old, middle aged and young stuff on the land at all times. That the forest can build up into a property paying 3 cents on the dollar per acre, pay larger taxes per acre than the farmer, support mills and shops and beat the farm two to one in giving freight to the railway may seem a strong statement and yet it is true. And that the forest can do and does all this on cheap lands generally considered too poor, too cold, rocky or steep for farming, makes this use of the land all the more important. And this is emphasized by the fact that the forest takes better care of the soil than does the farmer ; that the forest is the only large agency for water regulation and for wholesale decoration of our landscape. A good deal has been done, but the great task is still before us. This country cuts and uses over 40 billion feet of lumber alone, — over half of all that is used in the world ; we believe we have 6q years' supply, mostly in the far West; we still have 500 million acres of forest lands. But we have hardly made a beginning ; we are not really growing timber as yet ; it is still safe to say that all the trees planted so far would not keep our mills going a week— probably not a day, and the building up of forests on which our industries and our rapidly growing people can rely for future supplies, has not really begun. The question is asked : But what can we do ? There is no need of new associations, nor of any great excitement. But there are a few things which seem clear enough : We need to decide and really keep a reasonable part of our lands in forest. We need to stock this land and make the invest- ment of building up the forest and caring for it. In his own way, every one can do something. Every citizen interested in this better use of our land can acquire the habit to speak for it when- ever opportunity comes. This alone guarantees state action, for the Legislature merely waits to hear your wishes. The owner or co-owner of timber can quit the old way of leaving the forest to itself, and can work for real care and development. In this way we build up the forest and we also build up a body of men who can develop and care for our forest. Let us have some faith in mankind and tree- kind, and if Central Europe can take its inferior lands and build up property worth $100 per acre, and thereby secure timber, water and the perma- nent good and beauty of the land, then let us have faith in the work here, and even if it is not a spectacular affair, and even if it does tax the one virtue we seem to have least of — patience — let us allow that the American man, tree, soil and climate make a combination equal to the best, and that we can and will succeed in forestry. FiLiBERT Roth. Mr. J. L. Sanders, Economic: Zoologist of Pennsylvania, has issued an official quarantine pro- hibiting shipment of Christmas trees and greenery from certain portions of New England and Penn- sylvania. An extremely dangerous and destructive pest known as the Gipsy Moth (^Porthetria dispar L.), originally imported from Europe, has become established throughout considerable portions of New England, and is causing much damage. In spite of an expenditure of more than $14,- 000,000 of state and government monies for con- trol and eradication work, this pest has continued to spread to new areas. The introduction and es- tablishment of this pest in Pennsylvania is possible by means of tgg masses on various evergreen trees !i 80 FOREST LEAVES. -••" cut in the infested districts of New England and transDorted for Christmas decoration. ' sSce this dangerous pest is not known to exist in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be- Ling it important and necessary to protect the horticultural interests from invasion, the Penn syS Department of Agriculture prohibits the shipment, transportation, acceptance, receipt or salHr other disposal in the Commonwealth of P nnsylvama of any coniferous (evergreen tree^, such as spruce, arbor vitae (white cedar) hr hem- lock or pine, known and described as - Christ- mas trees^' a^d parts thereof, and also decorative pUnts such as h'olly and laurel, known and J^ scribed as ^ ' Christmas greens or greenery which we e cut or originated in the gipsy moth quaraiv Te area as bounded, maintained and described by the Federal Horticultural Board. New Publications. BuUetw No. 475. Reforestation on the National ForLL By C. R. Tillotson, Forest Examiner U S Department of Agriculture. 8vo, 63 pages, bound in paper. Washington, D. C. This professional paper treats of the different methods of seeding and planting waste lands in the National Forests, having a total acreage of .600,000. Other lands on which the stands, are thin can be improved in this way. Refores- tation operations on the National Forests now , cover from 12,000 to 15,000 acres annually, it | is estimated that the timberlands of the National i Forests are now producing from 5 to 6 billion board feet annually, and when the barren or sparsely timbered areas are reforested the annual production will be increased at least 3 billion feet In selecting sites for artificial reforestation pref- erence is usually given in the following order : First watersheds of streams important for irriga- tion and municipal water supply, such as those which supply water to Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City; second, lands which will produce heavy stands of quick-growing trees of high com- mercial value, such as those in northern Idaho ^ and western Washington; third, regions where the supply of timber is limited and more wood is needed for local uses, as in western North and South Dakota ; and fourth, sites which offer good opportunities for object lessons in the practice of forestry, such as the sand hills of western Nebraska, where there is practically no natural woodland, and the inferior sandy lands of the Lake States, where the original forest wealth has been largely destroyed by cutting and fire. Some . areas combine several advantages. For instance, a burned-over tract may be suitable for sowing some rapid-growing timber species and may be so situated that the plantation will serve as an excel- lent object lesson. Details of the methods of gathering, drying extracting, cleaning, yield, cost and^ storing of seed are all treated. Sowing and planting methods, quantity of seed, number, of plants per acre, costs, etc., are all set forth, a number of il- lustrations aid in an understanding of the text. Of 124 732 acres covered up to June 30, 191 5, there were directly seeded 84,320 acres, and 40,412 acres were planted. Report of the Chief Forest Fire Warden for the year 1016. Bulletin 16, Department of For- estry. 8vo, 124 pages. By George H^Wirt^ The Chief Forest Fire Warden in the Second Annual Report, for the year 1916, calls particular attention to the following features : Payment for claims for fire extinction, and claims still pending ; legal actions that have been started, and those still pending ; and to the fine spirit of co-opera- tion on the part of the wardens and citizens In accordance with the Forest Protection Code, forest fire districts have been determined upon in accordance with what is believed will be the future requirements for proper forest development and protection. ' , " I Erie, Crawford, Mercer, and Venango. ■ Lawrence, Butler, Beaver, Allegheny, Washington, and Greene. Warren and Forest. Clarion, Jeiferson, Armstrong, and Indiana. Westmoreland, Fayette, and Somerset. McKean and PoUer. Elk and Cameron. Clearfield and Centre. Cambria, Blair, and Bedford. Huntingdon, Mifflin, and Juniata. Fulton, Franklin, and Adams. Perry, Cumberland, and York. Tioga, Bradford, and Sullivan. Clinton and Lycoming. , , ^, . „„,» Union, Snyder, Northumberland, Montour, and Columbia. Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Lackawanna. Monroe, Pike, and Wayne. Luzerne, Carbon, and Schuylkill. Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton. Dauphin, Lebanon, and Lancaster. .1 Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks, In each of these districts there should be a dis- trict fire warden, who will have from 70.^0 8c local forest fire wardens under his supervision, a. well as from 5 to 10 patrolmen or tower observers, excepting districts i and 2. Descriptions are given of the meetings of fores, fire wardens, of local protective organizations, 01 the legal cases which are being pushed. In 1016 there were 154,752 acres burned ovci, the damage being $236,292, the cost of extinction $13,913-80. Of the total burned, 27,718 aero were State Forest Land. 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- 8. 9- 10. II. 12. «3- 14. 15. 16. 17- 18. 19. 20. 21 • • ' Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 6 Philadelphia, December, 1917 Whole Niunber 182 EDITORIALS. I/ROM every side come calls for financial help Jp* . to meet the conditions imposed by the war. The nation is offering its young manhood on the battle line. To provide for the safety and efficiency of these brave men who go out from home to risk their lives that the permanency of our institutions may be guaranteed, we who remain must give to the very utmost of our money and our effort. No self-respecting man, or woman, ran pass by any call for help to *' win the war " without giv- ing it serious consideration. It is not enough to arm, clothe, and feed the men. We must strive to throw around them every possible safety, and to provide means to secure the largest results. It is particularly appropriate that we who are interested in forestry should consider the claims that the ten thousand men who have been selected from the lumber industries to furnish cordwood for fuel and for heat, posts and planks for trenches, mines, and moving heavy guns, boards for hospi- tals, and ties for railroads, have upon us. They not only merit our care themselves, but they merit it because of the safety they add to those who are on the firing line. It is up to the forest regiments to provide 25,000,000 board feet each month from the forests of France for the uses named above. The committee having this important matter in hand is one that inspires our confidence, and it assures us that every cent subscribed will be util- ized to the full in assistance and relief. Funds for the Forestry Regiments may ^* be sent to Mr. P. S. Ridsdale, Secretary of the American F'orestry Association, 1410 H Street N. W., Wash- ington, D. C." Don't pass this appeal by without asking ** How much can I give to it without injury to the other proper claims the war has on me?" J. T. R. :|c * ♦ * * Miss Mary Blakiston, of Fort Washington, Pa., made a special plea at the annual meeting for help to the men in the forestry regiments who went from Pennsylvania. She was appointed offi- cial representative for the Association to receive gifts for Pennsylvania forestry soldiers now in France. We trust our members will make a generous response, through Miss Blakiston, to those who are offering their lives for the country. **l^ %A^ ^1^ «1^ ^I* *^ ^f* ^% At the annual meeting, Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Commissioner of Forestry, spoke of the loss of one-half the force of the Department of Forestry, by the call to arms. It would be extremely diffi- cult to find sufficient labor to plant the 12,000,- 000 or more of young seedlings which were ready to be set out next spring. There is plenty of land to plant, but labor is the question. It was sug- gested that the Boy Scouts and women might aid in the work of planting. At the late Pittsburgh Meeting, Mr. James L. Grimes, City Forester, made an Address in the City Nursery, bringing out the following points : 1. Forestry is divided into three kinds — Practi- cal or Commercial, Esthetic and Silvicultural — meaning treatment of Forest for its value in itself, not commercial and aesthetic. 2. City forestry an intensive and a by-product of the 3d or aesthetic. A street pruning ojperation is an improvement-thinning. 3. City hillside planting is aesthetic forestry where no commercial result is necessary. 4. Cities should have their own nurseries so that trees A'ill be on hand when needed. Re- placements can be made late, and the tree^ will be in much fresher condition,. not being injured en roate. Trees become acclimated from young to plarting size. 5. Ail waste land of cities should be planted with trees. 6. A few remarks were made on the most suita- ble trees to plant in the city — and these varieties were inspected and discussed in passing through the nursery. 7. That expenses of planting should come from direct appropriation of city. No other assessment should be made. It has cost France over $30,000,000 to learn that denuded forest areas must be reforested. Pennsylvania is learning the same lesson in the same way. m 82 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 83 Narrative of the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. THE Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania For- estry Association was held at 1 012 Walnut St Philadelphia, on Monday, December, loth, 1917, at 3 P.M., President Henry S. Drinker '""Th^Report of the Council was read, followed by the Presidential address and the Reports of the General Secretary and Treasurer, which will be found on other pages of this issue. The Committee on Nominations then presented its report. Messrs. William Lloyd and T. L^ Hodge were appointed tellers of election, and after counting the ballots, announced the follow- ing officers as elected to serve during the coming year : President Emeritus, Dr. J. T. Rothrock. President, Dr. Henry S. Drinker, Vice-Presidents, Robert S. Conklin, Wm. S. Harvey, Albert Lewis, Col. R. Bruce Ricketts, Samuel L. Smedley. General Secretary, Samuel Marshall. Recording Secretary, F. L. Bitler. Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast. Council. Adams County, C. E. Stable. Allegheny County, H. M. Brackenndge, Hon. Walton Lyon, George M. Lehman, John E. Potter. Beaver County, Robert W. Darragh. Bedford County, W. L. Byers. Berks County, Mrs. Edward Brooke, Geo. G. Wenrick. Blair County, Jos. S. Silly man. Bradford County, C S. Maurice. Bucks County, J. Freeman Hendncks, Henry T. Moon. Cambria County, Walter D. Ludwig. Cameron County, Harry E. Elliott. Carbon County, M. S. Kemmerer. Centre County, Theodore D. Boal. Prof. J. A. Ferguson, Chester County, Alexander Brown Coxe, Miss Esther G. Leggett, Mrs. David Reeves. Clarion County, Jos. M. Fox. Clearfield County, W. F. Dague. Clinton County, Forrest H. Dutlinger, Henry W. Shoemaker. Columbia County, C. R. Woodin. Crawford County, E. O. Emerson, Jr. Cumberland County, John R. Williams. Dauphin County, W. Gard. Conklin, Geo. H. Wirt. Delaware County, Miss Martha M. Brown, Joseph Elkinton, Miss Ethel A. Shrigley. Elk County, Charles E. Zerby. Fayette County, Roland C. Rogers. Forest County, E. S. Collins. Franklin County, J. S. llhck, Alfred E. Rupp. Greene County, A. H. Sayers. , Huntingdon County, Hon. Geo. B. Orlady. Indiana County, S. J. Sides. Jefferson County, W. N. Conrad. Juniata County, S. E. Pannebaker Lackawanna County, J, Benjamin Dimmick, Hon. L. A. Watres. Lancaster County, Horace L- Haldemann, Hugh M. North, Jr. Lawrence County, David Jamison. Lebanon County, Mrs. Horace Brock. Lehigh County, Harry C. Trexler. Luzerne County, Dr. Alexander Armstrong, . Mrs. Eckley B. Coxe, Alvan Markle, William R. Ricketts, Samuel D. Warriner. . . • Lycoming County, Arthur B. Wells. McKean County, Elisha K. Kane. Mercer County, F. H. Buhl. Mifflin County, D. Kerr Warfield. Monroe County, Dr. Wm. R. Fisher. Montgomery County, Isaac H. Clothier, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Miss Mary K. Gibson, Dr. J. Newton Hunsbcrgcr, John Wanamaker. Irvin C. Williams. Montour County, H. T. Hecht. Wo.rr-rVi^n ' Northampton County, Dr. John Henry MacCrackcn, J. Clarence Cranmer. Northumberland County, C. Q. McWilliams. Perry County, H. E. Bryner. Philadelphia County, Dr. J. M. Anders. ^ Carl P. Birkinbine, Samuel T. Bodine, Owen M. Bruncr, Arthur L. Church, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, W. Warner Harper, Mrs. John Harrison, John W. Harshbergcr, Bayard Henry, Joseph Johnson, J. Franklin Meehan, J. Rodman Paul, Harold Peircc, Eli K. Price, John H. Webster, Jr., Albert B. Weimcr, Dr. W. P. Wilson. Pike County, John E. Avery. Potter County, R. Lynn Emerick. Schuylkill County, William H. Newell. Snyder County, W. J. Bartschat. Somerset County, V. M. Bearer. Susquehanna County, Edgar A. Turrell. Twga County, Paul IL Mulford. Union County, C. K. Sober. Venam^o County, Peter M. Speer, IVarren County A. J. Hazeltine. PVayne County, Alonzo T. Searle. IVestmoreland County, Hon. Lucien W. Doty. York County, Samuel Small, Jr. Dr. Drinker, in accepting his re-election a^^ President, spoke of the importance of keeping up the forestry cult during the war. The Auditing Committee reported that it had examined the accounts of the Treasurer, and found them correct. The meeting was then addressed by Dr. J. T. Rothrock, President Emeritus ; Mr. Jos. Johnson, President Pennsylvania Fish and Game Protective Association; Hon. Robert S. Conklin, Com- missioner of Forestry ; Dr. John W. Harshberger, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Miss Mary Blakiston. Presidential Address. IN this time of national and world strain and anxiety, many cares and projects that have hitherto in times of peace called for our in- terest and support, are clouded to some extent by the imminent needs of the day ; but in the case of forestry we have in the war needs that have de- veloped, an instance and a very marked one — a proof — that the forestry cult, which this Pennsyl- vania Forestry Association was practically the first in our country to encourage and foster in the years from 1886 to the present time, has an im- mediate importance and value far beyond any estimate its most earnest followers ever placed upon it, and we can today feel assurance that for- estry is playing a great and important part in the world war for freedom and security and assured future peace. Regiments of foresters have been enrolled for service in France and in England. A double duty has devolved upon them — to serve in the task, surely a lamentable one made necessary only by the war, of manufacturing the timber needed at the front from the trees of the great parks and forest preserves which have been the pride of many ancestral homes and which are now unselfishly sacrificed to national needs, and to aid in advising and taking measures to lessen the results of the devastation inflicted on fruit and other trees by the barbarous enemy in his retreat. Surely the Teutonic War Lord, claiming as he does a monopoly of Divine guidance and support, might, when in retreat he ordered the destruction of the fruit trees of the peasantry in France, — have borne in mind the injunction that has come down from old time, and is written in Deuteronomy, XXI 19, — ** When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them ; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down ; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down." American Forestry for November shows not only what has been done by these barbarians in the de- struction of fruit trees, but shows also the helpful work done by forestry in the attempt to lessen the evil inflicted. November Forestry states : Vast areas of the trees were cut dowm completely and in other vast areas, where pursuit left no time for this process, German * Kultur' expressed itself in cutting off a circle of bark around each tree. By this latter pro- cess it was sought to kill apple, peach, plum, apricot and cherry trees which had been growing for years. Trained workers succeeded in saving trees of both classes. Those which had been cut down were grafted to their own stumps by careful treatment and during the recent summer they again blossomed and bore fruit. Those which had been ringed were treated with grafting cement and the wounds carefully bandaged. In this work not only French soldiers were engaged under officers familiar with forestry and tree surgery, but army surgeons and Red Cross workers gave assistance. Fre- quently use was made of bandages that had been pre- pared for human wounds. When supplies ran short tar and clay were used instead of cement and twisted moss was tied around the dressed wounds instead of bandages. By these methods years have been saved in restoring the otherwise ruined orchards." The President well said in his address to Congress last week — **The purposes of the Central Powers strike straight at the very heart of everything we believe in, their methods of warfare outrage every principle of humanity." With those already enrolled, and those who are preparing to go, we shall contribute over nine thousand foresters for the work in France. They will, by utilizing the forests abroad, provide the timber needed for military operations. It is im- possible now to ship this from America — and the Forestry Regiments, organized here, are a unique and an essentially valuable contribution to the prosecution of the war abroad. Among the war funds that are being promoted with such whole-souled and patriotic response in our land, there is none that should so appeal to forest lovers as the fund to relieve the needs of dependent families of these foresters who have en- rolled for foreign service, and to supply the for- esters themselves with needed comforts and enter- tainment. Contributions to this fund should be sent to the American Forestry Association, Mary- land Building, Washington. In our own country the war has, of course, greatly stimulated the demand for lumber — the need of immediate supplies in the building of the cantonments for troops alone has been a large matter. Much has been said of the need in our country of the adoption of some general system of military preparedness, and national sentiment is largely settling into endorsement of a system of universal compulsory military training for our youth, which would physically benefit our young men, give them ^\\\ 80 FOREST LEAVES. cut in the infested districts of New England and transported for Christmas decoration. Since this dangerous pest is not known to exist in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be- lieving it important and necessary to protect the horticultural interests from invasion, the Penn- sylvania Department of Agriculture prohibits the shipment, transportation, acceptance, receipt or sale or other disposal in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of any coniferous (evergreen) trees, such as spruce, arbor vitae (^-^l^i^^ the growing of trees. Twenty-four men connected with the Depart- ment of Forestry and 8 students of the State Forest Academy have gone to war. The draft is also expected to take 9 or 10 more men. As the training and excellent physical condition of the foresters makes them fit for active service, and ex- perience in handling men and conducting camps, are valuable assets — it is not surprising that 4 hold commissions while a number of others are non- commissioned officers. Two ex-State foresters are already in France with a forest regiment. If the draft takes the number of men expected, it will leave the Department with less than one-half of its force of foresters. In addition, four listing officers connected with the Department have se- cured 137 men for the 20th Regiment of Engineers, all of whom are now in service. The area of the 152 National Forests in the United States, including Alaska, on June 30th, 1916, was 155,399,809 acres, but was decreased by eliminations of areas more suitable for agricul- ture, the net acreage at the same date in 1917 being 155,166,619. These forests are located in 20 States. During the fiscal year 191 7, there was actually acquired and paid for, 194,272 acres in the Southern Appalachian reserve, and 45,951 acres in the White Mountain Forest, making the total area in the first-mentioned forest 706,030 acres, and in the latter 241,167 acres. There is an additional appropriation of $2,000,000 for the purchase of land in these two forests in the fiscal year 1918., The receipts from the National Forests, in the fiscal year 19 16, amounted to $2,823,541, and in 191 7 to $3,457,028, while the appropriations during the past year amounted to $5,549,735. Of this amount only about four million dollars are chargeable to the National Forests, the balance being used in investigative and educational work, so that the income was only about a half million dollars less than the expenses of protection, and administration. There were 40,000 forest fires in the United States in the calendar year 191 5, burning over 6,000,000 acres, the damage being estimated at $7,000,000, and while in 1916 there were but 37,600 fires, the area burned over was more than double, the damage amounting to $10,462,000. In 191 7, the fire season in the east and south was about the same as in the two previous years, favorable ; but in the Lake states the spring season was unusually severe, and the same was true of the summer in the northern Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast states, it being probable that there will be an increase of between 15 and 20 per cent, over the record of 19 16. One hundred and fifty-eighf men from the U. S. Forest Service are absent on leave on military duty, this number representing about 6}i per cent, of the males employed under appointment, and the draft will probably still further increase this number. Fifteen states now own 203 forests with a total acreage of over four million. Of these, five have over a hundred thousand acres, as follows ; New York 1,814,550 Pennsylvania 1,016,383 Minnesota ... 393,ooo Wisconsin 38o,443 Michigan 300,000 There are at present in the United States, 23 schools with courses leading to a degree in forestry' situated in 17 States, and 29 schools with short courses in forestry situated in 26 States. At the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce, a well attended Forestry Conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pa., June 2ist-23d, at which many allied organizations were represented. Four sessions were held, at which papers treating of various phases of forestry were presented, while I li ■ 86 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 87 two automobile trips were taken--one over the improved roads in Allegheny County to the Alle- gheny Country Club, the other to the City Parks and Nurseries. The whole of Saturday was de- voted to a railroad trip to Killarney Inn, in the Indian Creek Valley, giving an opportunity to see this fine scenic portion of Western Pennsylvania and view the excellent tree growth where it had been protected from forest fires. After luncheon at the Inn there were short addresses by a number of speakers, the members returning late in the afternoon, thus ending a most successful and in- structive meeting. The press throughout the State, the various Women^s Clubs, Boy Scouts, Hunting and Fishing organizations, as well as public-spirited citizens, all have rendered service in the cause. Although many of the students of the btate Forest Academy have left to serve their country in its time of need, the courses are still being regularly continued, and the same is true at the Forestry Department of the Pennsylvania State College. Lehigh University, with its course of forestry lectures, its Arboretum and Experimental Tree Planting Station has, and will supply valu- able information. in During these momentous times when nearly all Of the natural resources of the United States are being drawn upon to their limit, the wisdom of conserving the wood supply is obvious, as this can be used for ships, houses, etc., as well as supple- tnenting the enormous demand for coal for fuel, and unlike the latter— it can be replaced. The demands of war have drawn upon the mem- bership of our Association, and attention is called to the desirability of endeavoring to add new members whercvet this is practicable. • Arbor Days, both Spring and Fall, were well observed throughout the State by appropriate ex- ercises ; attention also being directed to birds— the friends of the trees. At Harrisburg, a special feature of the Fall Arbor Day was the planting of j trees along the new Capitol Park, in honor of past Governors of Pennsylvania, it being the intention to continue this custom. Arbor Days are celebrated in all states of the Union as well as the Philippines, Hawaii and Porto Rico, although different days are selected, varying according to situation and climate During the year, 22 new members were added to the Association, but the number who died dur- ing the year was large, among them being Hon. S. B. Elliott, a member of the Council and of the Publication Committee, also of the State Forestry Reservation Commission, who for years labored earnestly and unselfishly in forwarding the cause of forestry in every way in his power. Others were lost by resignations, the total membership being now 1247. , ,. , , 11 Forest Leaves has been published regularly, but at increasing cost, due to high prices for ma- terial and the addition of a cover. F. L. BiTLER, Recording Secretary. Treasurer's Report. THE fiscal year of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association ends December i, 191 7, and the statement of finances on that date was as follows : Treasurer's Statement to December /, '9^7- To balance on hand December I, 1916, . • I 188 44 Cash, annual dues to November 30, 1917, Cash, donations and subscriptions, . Cash, sale of Forest. Leaves and adverUse ments, . . . / , .* 1 j a Cash, interest on Life Membership bonds and deposits, . . . • • Cash, Life Membership fees, Cash, sale of badges, Total, By cash, sundries, postage, office rent, etc., Publication of Forest Leaves, Assistant Secretary's salary, Meetings, , . . Life Membership fund. State Chamber of Commerce, Investment, President, expenses, . Badges, . • • • Balance on hand December I, 191 7> Total, Invested, In Bank, Invested, In Bank, Invested, Forest Leaves Fund. Life Membership Fund. 1,656 00 825 50 98 52 474 32 75 00 I 50 l3»3i9 28 Cr. $ 488 74 1,^26 53 600 00 145 ^ 75 00 10 00 14 00 6 65 5 00 748 36 l3.3»9 28 $2,405 42 26 00 $2,43 < 42 $4,585 00 25 00 General Fund. $4,610 00 . $5»797 28 Charles E. Pancoast, Treasurer. Birch, cherry, walnut, oak and mahogany have been approved for airplane propeller stock by the United States Government. Spruce is the princi- pal wood used for the frames. Shuttle factories and other manufacturing plants use more than seven and one-half million feet of ! dogwood annually in this country. The Planting of Scotch Pine sylvania. in Penn- THE recent increase in forest tree planting in the United States has been almost phe- nomenal. More than 30 million trees were set out for forestry purposes during 1916. The following tabulation, which gives the number of trees planted upon the State forests of Pennsyl- vania during the past eighteen years, may be taken as representative of the progressive tendency of the practice of forest tree planting throughout the eastern part of the United States : Number of Year. Trees Planted. 1899 1,000 1900 1,500 I90I 1902 5,000 1903 1,600 1904 7,700 1905 40,000 1906 99,550 1907 37,930 Number of Year. Trees Planted 1908 100,628 1909 738,461 I9IO 1,092,213 I9II 1,663,661 I912 1,890,404 I9I3 3,164,637 I9I4 3,393,571 I915 4,315,436 I916 5,492,020 Total 22,045,311 While the above total represents many different species, yet seven species embrace more than 95 per cent, of the total number set out. The sub- joined tabulation names these major species and gives the number of each planted on the Pennsyl- vania State forests from 1899 to 1916 : Species. Number of Tree*. White pine 14,870,797 Norway spruce 2,785,070 Scotch pine ',354,734 Red pine ^93,955 Red oak 394,877 White ash 3"3,35» European larch 298,117 Total • • • 20,910,908 Why these few species were given such a promi- nent place in forest planting is a question of great significance. Four of the seven species are indi- genous to Pennsylvania and three native to Europe. It was comparatively easy to determine the desira- bility of the four indigenous species for such ex- tensive planting, because their intrinsic value and the rate of growth could be forecast rather accu- rately. The selection of the three exotic species, viz.: Norway spruce, Scotch pine, and European larch, was a more hazardous undertaking. It is well- known that these species have established a credit- able record in the forests of their homeland, but this alone is no unquestionable proof of their suitability to American conditions. The successful growth and development of an introduced tree depends primarily upon the closeness of the correlation be- tween its sylvical requirements and the site factors of the region where the specimens are set out. Each kind of tree thrives best under a particular set of. soil and climatic conditions. A species may grow vigorously and produce healthy wood in one country and be entirely unsuited in another, be- cause of differences in the prevailing growth con- ditions. Furthermore, a species may thrive in one locality, and become entirely subordinate under another set of conditions in a nearby site. The economic significance of the response of trees to the factor of the habitat is not fully com- prehended by most forest owners and many forest managers in America. Trees are being planted continuously upon sites to which they are entirely unsuited. Such procedures may be justified upon experimental grounds, but the ultimate economic results thereof will certainly prove the seriousness of the original mistake. Trees planted for the purpose of procuring the best commercial forest crop should be suited to the particular site. Past experience and experimental results in handling a species are the best criterion by which to de- termine its suitability to a specific habitat. It seems imperative, therefore, to inform ourselves concerning past experiences and all available ex- perimental results, with the assurance that the gathered information will help materially in the selection of proper species for restocking specific sites, and also assist in the eradication of promis- cuous planting, so characteristic of the formative period of forestry. Judicious planting must pre- vail in the future, if economic success is to be the goal of the undertaking. To aid in the accom- plishment of this worthy ambition, a discussion of the peculiarities and demands of Scotch pine, now being introduced extensively in America, is sub- joined. Scotch pine {Finus sylvestris) is an miportant timber tree in its native and adopted European range. It has been planted rather extensively in the United States as an ornamental tree, and is now being set out on a large scale for forestry purposes. The subjoined tabulation, giving the annual planting of this tree on the State forests of Pennsylvania since 1909, may serve as a general guide to the role which this species is now playing in the United States : Number of Trees Planted. Year. 1909 I9IO I9II I9I2 74,404 70,925 98,576 152,900 91,050 Z\ ;::::::::.. 133,154 WW : : : : : ::;::: ^4^ 1,354,734 Total V I .11 * M 88 FOREST LEAVES. Scotch pine, next to the Norway spruce CFicea A dies'), has the widest geographical distribution of any European forest tree. Its range extends from the Sierra Nevada mountains of southern Soain ( xl°) and northern Italy to latitude 70 on the west coast of Norway, thence east through Lapland and Siberia along the Arctic Circle to the region of the Amur, and thence through Asia Minor to Persia. It does not grow everywhere within the range delimited, being absent upon many small and some large areas. It, however forms extensive forests upon the sandy plains of northern Germany and the sandy areas along the Rhine, and is the prevailing tree upon the low- lands bordering the North and the Baltic Sea. It is essentially a lowland tree, but ascends to 1,150 ft in the Harz mountains ;. 1,650 ft. in the Thur- ingian forest ; 2, 1 5° ft- in the Spessart mountains ; , ^00 ft. in the Black Forest ; 4,000 ft. in the Carpathian and Vosges mountains; 5,300 ft. in the Central Alps, and 6,600 ft. in the Pyrenees mountains. . .p. The rate of height growth of a plantation (i'lg. I) comprising 34,000 trees and located near Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, is given in the following tabu- lation : ,, . X. Age of Trees ,^'"'*'"^I^V"^',^"'^, (years). Year. 1907 1908 1909 I9IO I9II 1912 1913 I914 I915 I916 I917 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II Growth (inches). 2.0 3.0 3-2 4.0 6.4 13-5 18.2 233 25.9 30.6 319 Total Height (inches). 2.0 50 8.2 12.2 •' • 18.6 32.1 50-3 73-6 99.5 ' ' • : 130. I ib2.o (13.5 ft.) The foregoing table gives the height growth of average trees. Special precautions were taken not to measure exceptionally thrifty or evidently stunted specimens Some of the thriftiest speci- mens showed an almost phenomenal growth. One tree grew 52 inches during a single season, and the ten largest trees in the plantation averaged 264 inches (22 feet) in height at the end of the eleventh growing season. Judging the Scotch pine by its growth during the first decade one would be com- pelled to give it first place among our common timber trees. The best height growth of white pine, on the Mont Alto State forest is present in a plantation of 35,000 trees established the same year as the Scotch pine plantation, using the same age seedlings. The white pine plantation is on a better site than the Scotch pine, yet at the end of the eleventh growing season the trees averaged only T09.84 inches in height. A Norway spruce plantation on the Jacob Nolde estate, Berks county, Pennsylvania, at the same age, had reached an average height of only 7 1 inches. European yield tables show that Norway spruce at the end of the first decade rarely exceeds 8 feet in height. The following comparative tabulation of the height of these three species at the age of eleven years shows that Scotch pine is the leader and Norway spruce the trailer : Average Height at Eleven Years (feet). Species. Scotch pine ^3-5 White pine ^* Norway spruce 5-9 The rapid growth of Scotch pine during youth has developed a tendency to over-estimate its real commercial value. Just as the horse which leads at the end of the first heat is not necessarily the winner of a race, so the species which leads in height growth at the end of the first or second decade will not necessarily rank first at the end of the rotation . Since no satisfactory stands of Scotch pine have yet reached maturity in America, Euro- pean results must be drawn upon for information concerning the comparative rating of the above species in their later development. A 32-year old stand of Scotch pine (Fig. 2) was established by the 'Uoungya" system, /. ^., the waldfeldbaubetrieb of German forestry practice In the application of this system some agricultural crop is raised with the forest trees for the first i to X years. In the establishment of this particular stand, the ground was carefully prepared and the trees planted at intervals of 1.3 feet in rows 3.3 feet apart, making a total of about 10,000 trees per acre. For three successive seasons potatoes were raised between the rows of trees with the re- sult that a surplus of $20 per acre above all Ex- penses, including the cost and planting of the seedlings, was at hand at the end of the three years. This economical practice enabled the stand to start its development without any initial estab- lishment expense charged against it. Furthermore there was a complete use of the soil which would not have been possible if only the small trees were present. Such a practice is especially recom- mendable in times of war, when every available acre of suitable soil should be utilized for the pro- duction of food. If the goal can be accomplished in conjunction with another constructive opera- tion, such as the establishment of forest tree plan- tations, so much the better. The complete utili- zation of the productive capacity of the soil is continuously becoming more imperative, and the above method of raising potatoes and growing forest trees is a step in this direction, with the added advantage of eliminating separate prepara- tion of the soil for the two crops. The photographic reproductions shown in Figs. Forest Lp:aves, Vol. xvi., No. 6. ■i Fio. I. — Measuring the growth of a plantation of 3^,000 Scotch Pine trees on the Mont Alto State Forest at the age of 9 years. The trees are now ( 1917) 1 1 years old and have an average height of 13.5 feet. Fh;. 2._A stand of Scotch Pine 32 years old, grown on well-drained ^^ndy soil ^^d comprising I 14^ trees per acre with an average height of 46 feet and an average diame er of 4-5 »"^ll^^- ^ \* J;nta^ir2,2^54 X feet (25 cords^) per acre, and was recently underplanted wuh beech seedlings, a few of which can be seen projecting above the snow. FuRKST Lkavks, Vol. xv^i., No. 6. 88 FOREST LEAVES. Scotch pine, next to the Norway spruce {Picea \ Abies^, has the widest geographical distribution j of any European forest tree. Its range extends from the Sierra Nevada mountains of southern Soain r^7°) and northern Italy to latitude 70 on ; the west coast of Norway, thence east through | Lapland and Siberia along the Arctic Circle to 1 the region of the Amur, and thence through Asia Minor to Persia. It does not grow everywhere within the range delimited, being absent upon many small and some large areas. It, however forms extensive forests upon the sandy plains of northern Germany and the sandy areas along the Rhine, and is the prevailing tree upon the low- lands bordering the North and the Baltic Sea. It is essentially a lowland tree, but ascends to 1,150 ft in the Harz mountains ; 1,650 ft. in the Ihur- ingian forest ; 2, 1 50 ft. in the Spessart mountains ; . 300 ft. in the Black Forest ; 4,000 ft. in the Carpathian and Vosges mountains; 5,300 ft. in the Central Alps, and 6,600 ft. in the Pyrenees mountains. . ^. The rate of height growth of a plantation (I^ig. I ) comprising 34,000 trees and located near Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, is given in the following tabu- lation : Year. 1907 1908 1909 I9IO I9II I912 1913 I9I4 1916 1917 Age of Trees (years). I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II Clurrent Height Crowih (inches). 2.0 3.0 3-2 4.0 6.4 13-5 18.2 23-3 25.9 30.6 31-9 Total Height (inches). 2.0 ^.o 8.2 12.2 18.6 32. I 50.3 73-^ 99-5 1 30. 1 Ib2.o (13.5 ft.) The foregoing table gives the height growth of average trees. Special precautions were taken not to measure exceptionally thrifty or evidently stunted specimens Some of the thriftiest speci- mens showed an almost phenomenal growth. One tree grew 52 inches during a single season, and the ten largest trees in the plantation averaged 264 inches (22 feet) in height at the end of the eleventh growing season, judging the Scotch pine by its crrowth during the first decade one would be com- ■ pelled to give it first place among our common timber trees. The best height growth of white pine, on the Mont Alto State forest is present in a i.lantation of 35,000 trees established the same year as the Scotch pine ])lantatiOn, using the same age seedlings. The white pine i^lantation is on a better site than the Scotch pine, yet at the end of the eleventh growing season the trees averaged only T09.84 inches in height. A Norway spruce plantation on the Jacob Nolde estate, Berks county, Pennsylvania, at the same age, had reached an average height of only 7 1 inches. European yield tables show that Norway spruce at the end of the first decade rarely exceeds 8 feet in height. The following comparative tabulation of the height of these three species at the age of eleven years shows that Scotch pine is the leader and Norway spruce the trailer : Average Height at Eleven Years (feet). Species. Scotch pine '^'^ White pine ^* Norway spruce ^'^ The rapid growth of Scotch pine during youth has developed a tendency to over-estimate its real commercial value. Just as the horse which leads at the end of the first heat is not necessarily the winner of a race, so the species which leads in height growth at the end of the first or second decade will not necessarily rank first at the end of the rotation . Since no satisfactory stands of Scotch pine have yet reached maturity in America, Euro- pean results must be drawn upon for information concerning the comparative rating of the above species in their later development. \ 32-year old stand of Scotch pine (Fig. 2) was established by the - toungya " system, /. e., the j waldfeldbaubetrieb of German forestry practice In the application of this system some agricultural crop is raised with the forest trees for the first i to ^ vears In the establishment of this particular stand, the ground was carefully prepared and the trees planted at intervals of 1.3 feet in rows 3.3 feet apart, making a total of about 10,000 trees per acre. For three successive seasons potatoes were raised between the rows of trees with the re- sult that a surplus of $20 per acre above all Ex- penses, including the cost and planting of the seedlings, was at hand at the end of the three years. This economical practice enabled the stand to start its development without any initial estab- lishment expense charged against it. Furthermore there was a complete use of the soil which would not have been possible if only the small trees were present. Such a practice is especially recom- mendable in times of war, when every available acre of suitable soil should be utilized for the pro- duction of food. If the goal can be accomplished in conjunction with another constructive opera- tion, such as the establishment of forest tree plan- tations, so much the better. The complete utili- zation of the ])roductivc capacity of the soil is continuously becoming more imperative, and the above method of raising potatoes and growing forest trees is a step in this direction, with the added advantage of eliminating separate prepara- tion of the soil for the two crops. The photographic reproductions shown in Figs. Yw,. I. — Measuring the growth of a plantation of 3;,ooo Scotch Pine trees on the Mont Alto State Forest at the age of 9 years. The trees are now ( 1917) 1 1 years old and have an average height of 13.5 feet. IV- ; -A .,.,1 of Scold, lln. V ■"-> ■>". B"-" °" »•"-*""•■' Slw I'rTi InXr""'; few of which can be seen projecting al)Ove the snow. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 6. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 6. F,o.3.-A stand of scotch Pine 73 yea. 0^.3^^^^^^^ ^^^o\trni\\3e:dTbTer.^^^^^ 'o-he next cntting-season. A cc- plete cover of beech is present. Fig. 5. — A clear-cut strip of Scotch Pine. Note the bordering dense stands of straight and clean trees, which originated from seed sown broadcast, and the complete utilization of the trees which were not felled in the customary way but grubbed out of the ground. No stumps remain and considerable root wood was removed. This working of the soil prepared it for the natural establishment of a young stand from seed scattered from the adjoining trees. Fig 4 -A iio-year old stand of Scotch Pine, comprising 99 trees per acre with an average height of sTfett and an average diameter of 15.3 inches, and containing 5,400 cubic feet (60 cords) per a re^ FWe thinninglhave been made, the last two being rather heavy The final clear-cut will soon fake place A very dense growth of bracken fern is present in the absence of underplanting with a tolerant forest tree. Kk; 6 — Farly stage of regeneration in an almost completely cleared strip of Scotch Pine. The 10 to 12 remaining standards help in the seeding of the cut area and in the course of another rotation will increase somewhat in size and considerably in value. Esthetic reasons also prompt foresters to leave these scattered veterans. Note the straight trunks and shallow crowns of the standard trees. Scotch Pine is very windfirm. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 6. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvl, No. 6. plete cover of beech is present. I I '<^r ''^^•-'••''^. ^\- ^^-'■p^iWlFv 'r"'-' Fig 4 —A iio-year old stand of Scotch Pine, comprising 99 trees per acre with an average height of 8; *feet and an average diameter of 15.3 inches, and containing 5,400 culnc feet (60 cords) per acre Five thinnings have been made, the last two being rather heavy. The final clear-cut will soon take place. A very dense g.owth of bracken fern is present in the absence of underplanting with a tolerant forest tree. Fig. 5. — A clear-cut strip of Scotch Pine. Note the bordering dense stands of straight and clean trees, which originated from seed sown broadcast, and the complete utilization of the trees which were not felled in the customary way but grubbed out of the ground. No stumps remain and considerable root wood was removed. This working of the soil prepared it for the natural establishment of a young stand from seed scattered from the adjoining trees. yu: 6.— Farly stage of regeneration in an almost completely cleared strip of Scotch Pine. The 10 to 12 remaining standards help in the seeding of the cut area and in the course of another rotation will increase somewhat in size and considerably in value. yKsthetic reasons also prompt foresters to leave these scattered veterans. Note the straight trunks and shallow crowns of the standard trees. Scotch Pine is very windfirm. INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE FdRKST LkavEs, Vol.. XVI., .\i>. 6. FOREST LEAVES. 89 Fir 7 A teniDorarv and sheltered forest nursery under an almost mature stand of Scotch Pine. those under which they will be set out. I to 4, and the data accompanying them, in- dicate visually and concretely what may be ex- pected from Scotch pine at a certain age and grow- ing under specified conditions. They do not show, however, the optimum growth which this tree is capable of making under extremely favorable con- ditions. The normal yield of Scotch pine on site- quality, I; /'. r., the best site-quality, according to Swappach is given in the following table : Number Average Average Yield per Age of Trees Height Diameter Acre (years). per Acre. (feet). (inches). (cubic feet). lO 1,696 12 1.5 800 20 1,420 29 3.6 • 2,310 30 . 1,010 • 44 4.8 •4,110 40 . 720 55 6.1 5,970 50 510 65 7.5 7,750 60 370 73 9:0 9,290 70 290 80 10.4 10,550 80 230 86 II. 8 11,670 90 200 91 12.8 12,640 100 170 95 14.0 13,470 no 150 99 14.9 14,230 120 140 103 15.4 14,890 Scotch pine is an extremely modest species. It will grow satisfactorily upon almost any soil, ex- cept compact clay and swampy or peaty soils, but thrives best in a deep, loose, and rich sandy soil. When grown in pure stands it is very sensitive to the removal of the forest litter. Recent instruc- tions in some European forests not only prohibit the removal of the litter, but recommend under- planting (Figs. 2, 3, and 7) with hardwoods, such as beech, basswood or maple. It is not exacting in its demands upon the cli- matic factors of the habitat, for it is not sensitive to summer heat nor winter cold, but prefers plenty of sunlight. Of the native European species only larch and white birch are more light demanding. It has a relatively long tap-root which makes it windfirm (Figs. 6 and 8) and enables it to secure water and food from layers of soil below those penetrated by the roots of some other trees. Crookedness is a common feature of the tree. The late Heinrich Mayr claimed that crookedness usually made its appearance after the twenty-fifth year, and consequently is not an inherited charac- teristic, but due to climate, soil, management or mismanagement. That climatic agencies may pro- duce crookedness is proved by a stand upon whose exposed border 76 per cent, of the trees were crooked, while upon the interior only 24 per cent, showed this undesirable phenomenon. It has also been observed that the trees in regions with high atmospheric moisture are, as a rule, straighter than in the dry regions. Other equally authoritative writers state that crookedness is a form of growth which can be transmitted from one generation to another. Experiments are now in progress which will decide the point under controversy. Seeds from (i) crooked, (2) wolfy, (3) young, (4) mature symmetrical trees were planted under similar conditions, and the resulting trees are receiving exactly the same treatment. Before long these experiments will have progressed far enough to fnrnish decisive results concerning this much discussed and little understood question. An interesting experiment came under the writer's attention in 191 1, which proved that cer- tain growth characters can be transmitted from one generation to another through the seeds. For this experiment Scotch pine seed was obtained from five remote sources ; viz.: Belgium, Finland, Hungary, south-central Germany, and southern France. All the seed was planted in the same nursery on the same day, and the resulting trees set out at the same time on uniform soil and spaced the same distance. Briefly, the same treatment was given to all the plants resulting from the seeds from the different sources. In spite of the uniform treatment, the resulting growth showed a marked variation. After 12 years, the following results were at hand : 1. Belgium. A dense stand of trees with dark foliage and 11 to 13 feet high. 2. Germany. A fairly dense stand of trees with ., healthy foliage and 11 to 12 feet high. 3. France. An open stand of wolfy trees averaging 5 feet high. 4. Finland. An open stand of short but sym- metrical trees with a light yellow foliage < and about 4 feet high. 5. Hungary. A very incomplete stand of wolfy and unsymmetrical trees of uneven growth and unhealthy color, and only slightly ' over 3 feet high. Another similar experiment conducted at Ebers- walde, Prussia, shows fnarked variation in growth of Scotch pine developed from local seed and that from more northern localities. Insufficient con- sideration has been given to the source of the seed from which forest trees have been grown. Too often the cheapest seed was purchased which may ultimately prove the most expensive, for the price of seed is largely determined by the cost of its collection, and it is well-known that seed can be collected easier and cheaper from open grown, low-crowned and malformed trees than from tall, shallow-crowned and straight- boled trees. Here- tofore, most of the Scotch pine seed used in America came from south-central Germany, which is not the region where Scotch pine grows at its optin>um, and consequently the trees resulting from this seed could not have the best inherent I f Fig 8 —A lumbering operation in Scotch Pine. Almost all the trees have been removed ; only a few scattered standards remain. Note the complete utilization and careful gradmg of the material. F(>RKST Lkaves, Vol.. XVI. » ^*>- ^• TT,.^ ^ 4 tf^mnnrin' and sheltered forest nursery under an almost mature stand of Scotch Pine. those under wliich they will be set out. Fir 8 —A lumbering operation in Scotch IMne. Almost all the trees have been removed ; only a V scattered standards remain. Note the complete utilization and careful gradmjr of the material. INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE FOREST LEAVES. 89 I to 4, and the data accompanying them, in- dicate visually and concretely what may be ex- pected from Scotch pine at a certain age and grow- ing under specified conditions. They do not show, however, the optimum growth which this tree is capable of making under extremely favorable con- ditions. The normal yield of Scotch pine on site- quality, I; i\ e.y the best site-quality, according to Swappach is given in the following table : Number Average Average Yield per Age of Trees Height Diameter Acre (years). per Acre. (feet). (inches). (cubic feet). lO 1,696 12 1.5 800 20 1,420 29 3-6 2,310 30 1,010 . 44 4.8 4,110 40 720 55 6.1 5,970 50 510 65 7.5 7,750 60 370 73 9:0 9,290 70 290 80 10.4 10,550 80 230 86 II. 8 I 1,670 90 200 91 12.8 12,640 100 170 95 14.0 13,470 1 10 150 99 14.9 14,230 120 140 103 15-4 14,890 Scotch pine is an extremely modest species. It will grow satisfactorily upon almost any soil, ex- cept compact clay and swampy or peaty soils, but thrives best in a deep, loose, and rich sandy soil. When grown in pure stands it is very sensitive to the removal of the forest litter. Recent instruc- tions in some European forests not only prohibit the removal of the litter, but recommend under- planting (Figs. 2, 3, and 7) with hardwoods, such as beech, basswood or maple. It is not exacting in its demands upon the cli- matic factors of the habitat, for it is not sensitive to summer heat nor winter cold, but prefers plenty of sunlight. Of the native European species only larch and white birch are more light demanding. It has a relatively long tap-root which makes it windfirm (Figs. 6 and 8) and enables it to secure water and food from layers of soil below those penetrated by the roots of some other trees. Crookedness is a common feature of the tree. The late Heinrich Mayr claimed that crookedness usually made its appearance after the twenty-fifth year, and consecjuently is not an inherited charac- teristic, but due to climate, soil, management or mismanagement. That climatic agencies may pro- duce crookedness is proved by a stand upon whose exposed border 76 per cent, of the trees were crooked, while upon the interior only 24 percent, showed this undesirable phenomenon. It has also been observed that the trees in regions with high atmospheric moisture are, as a rule, straighter than in the dry regions. Other equally authoritative writers state that crookedness is a form of growth which can be transmitted from one generation to another. Experiments are now in progress which will decide the point under controversy. Seeds from (i) crooked, (2) wolfy, (3) young, (4) mature symmetrical trees were planted under similar conditions, and the resulting trees are receiving exactly the same treatment. Before long these experiments will have progressed far enough to fnrnish decisive results concerning this much discussed and little understood question. An interesting experiment came under the writer's attention in 191 1, which proved that cer- tain growth characters can be transmitted from one generation to another through the seeds. For this experiment Scotch pine seed was obtained from five remote sources ; viz.: Belgium, Finland, Hungary, south-central Germany, and southern France. All the seed was planted in the same nursery on the same day, and the resulting trees set out at the same time on uniform soil and spaced the same distance. Briefly, the same treatment was given to all the plants resulting from the seeds from the different sources. In spite of the uniform treatment, the resulting growth showed a marked variation. After 12 years, the following results were at hand : 1. Bk.loium. a dense stand of trees with dark foliage and 11 to 13 feet high. 2. Germany. A fairly dense stand of trees with healthy foliage and 11 to 12 feet high. 3. France. An open stand of wolfy trees averaging 5 feet high. 4. Finland. An open stand of short but sym- metrical trees with a light yellow foliage and about 4 feet high. 5. Hungary. A very incomplete stand of wolfy and unsymmetrical trees of uneven growth and unhealthy color, and only slightly over 3 feet high. Another similar experiment conducted at Ebers- walde, Prussia, shows fnarked variation in growth of Scotch pine developed from local seed and that from more northern localities. Insufficient con- sideration has been given to the source of the seed from which forest trees have been grown. Too often the cheapest seed was purchased which may ultimately i)rove the most expensive, for the price of seed is largely determined by the cost of its collection, and it is well-known that seed can be collected easier and cheaper from open grown, low-crowned and malformed trees than from tall, shallow-crowned and straight- boled trees. Here- tofore, most of the Scotch pine seed used in America came from south-central Germany, which is not the region where Scotch pine grows at its optimum, and consequently the trees resulting from this seed could not have the best inherent 90 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 91 characteristics. The optimum habitat for the Scotch pine in its natural European range is in the Baltic province of Prussia and the Riga dis- trict of Russia, where not one specimen in a hundred is crooked. Had the seed of the trees now growing in the United States been collected there, no doubt they would be straighter and freer from defects. Scotch pine in its native range occurs in pure stands and mixed with spruce, fir, beech, oak and birch Pure stands are more frequent than mixed stands, but recent experiments show that mixed stands are more recommendable than pure stands. Great care must be exercised, however, in selecting its companion species since it grows very rapid y, and consequently is apt to suppress completely, j and in extreme cases eliminate, a slower- growing species of superior quality. At present there seems to be a tendency to mix Scotch pine with the Norway spruce. That Norway spruce will ultimately exceed Scotch pine in height growth is well-known, but during youth the height growth of the former is too slow to compete with the latter. These two species, if planted together at the same time, do not form a satisfactory mixture. About 50 years ago, in the municipal forest of Heidelberg, Germany, and locally in the nearby Odenwald, a large number of stands were estab- lished by the use of ^* Jager's Mixture," consist- ing of equal parts of the seed of Scotch pine, Norway spruce and European larch, which was sown broadcast over prepared areas. Today the stands resulting from this mixture appear from a distance to be composed almost entirely of Scotch pine, now ranging from 8 to 12 inches in diameter. A closer examination of the stand, however, reveals a few larch in the main story and a large number of suppressed Norway spruce in the understory, , the latter, in many cases not over 2 to 3 feet in , height, while the Scotch pine and the few larch ; range from 40 to 50 feet in height. This experi- ence, and many others which could be cited, fur- nish ample and conclusive proof that great care must be exercised in mixing Scotch pine with other trees. . Different methods of regenerating Scotch pine have been in use since the advent of forestry. Most of the older stands in the German forests were established by sowing seeds. At first the whole cones were scattered over the ground and then sheep were pastured upon the area for the purpose of extracting the seeds, and in some cases they were driven systematically over the regenera- tion areas with the object of removing the seeds from the cones and bringing them in contact with the mineral soil. Later the seeds were extracted from the cones by simple mechanical devices and then sown broadcast over the prepared sites. In more recent times nearly all stands have been es- tablished by planting seedlings, usually one or two years old. Numerous instances are cited in Euro- pean literature where attempts to regenerate Scotch pine naturally, failed completely. These failures were due largely to incomplete knowledge con- cerning the tolerance of the species. In the Isen- burg Forest, near Frankfort, Germany, are some of the best Scotch pine stands in the entire Rhine valley. They are being successfully regenerated by natural means. When the trees are about eighty years old, cuttings— technically known as preparatory and seed cuttings— are made for the purpose of opening the stands. In the wake of \ such cuttings there results a dense and thrifty ' natural regeneration. When this is far enough advanced and sufficiently complete, the remaining portion of the old stand is removed, and hence- forth the young growth, often consisting of 30,000 or more trees per acre, has complete control of the site. Even in the extensive pineries of eastern ' Prussia, there is a growing tendency towards the I natural reproduction of Scotch pine. In other regions satisfactory natural regeneration was ac- 1 complished by clear-cutting strip (Figs. 5 and 6) ! and having the seeding take place from the border- 1 ing trees- I The foregoing discussion, is no attempt at a complete consideration of the sylvical peculiarities ! and managerial features of Scotch pine, but rather ! aims to suggest problems and point out past results 1 and experiences, which may aid in regulating ra- ! tionally the rate of planting in Pennsylvania and in the selection of the proper methods of handling the tree. . Even though Scotch pine is an important timber tree in Europe, there seems to be no special need for planting it extensively in Pennsylvania for forestry purposes. Many of the native pines pro- duce equal or superior wood, reach a larger size, continue their growth for a longer period, and with some experience can be handled as success- fully. It may, however, be advisable to continue the planting of it until we understand the sylvical requirements and preferences of the native pines better, especially upon sites with adverse growth conditions, such as extremely sandy areas and windswept slopes and plateaus, upon which this soil-modest and windfirm species is known to grow satisfactorily. It may also be recommended for planting upon areas preoccupied by scrub oak and other inferior forest growth, for its aggressive habit during youth fits it particularly to overcome this type of almost worthless growth, which is very com- mon and covers extensive areas in Pennsylvania. J. S. Illick. Report of General Secretary. THE report of your General Secretary should naturally consider the general rather than the special events of the last year. First of all it should be noted that the entrance of the United States into the world war has brought forward, even into our modest domain, features that hitherto have had but slight significance. We, of course, regret the necessity which led the country into this terrible contest and we trust that victory over the aggressor may soon lead to a per- manent peace by which we may again be led back into our normal condition. The first change to consider is our State Forests in relation to the food supply. Shortage of food elsewhere and the reduction of farm help here, caused by development of our army, together with its food supply at the army front, have placed this entire country under re- duced rations. Not only must we guard carefully against any waste, but we must seek for sources of increased supply, which immediately raises the question : Are our State forests (a million of acres) not capable of adding to this ? The question is not new ! It has persistently come up in one form or another for several years — but it comes now with a new insistence. There are portions of the State where for years cattle have been turned loose on the ** cut over " tracts and allowed to shift for themselves from spring to autumn. In almost every instance there has been a satisfactory in- crease in the weight and condition of the animals. Beyond doubt, indiscriminate pasturage over our State forest reserves would be fatal to the for- estry plans of the State ; but there are regions, well known, where large herds of cattle could range and thrive without detriment to the forest growth, which has passed beyond the stage of possible injury from cattle. It would probably be a safe statement to make that for the coming summer season ten thousand head of cattle could be fed from June to October on the forest reserves, under proper restriction, without serious detri- ment to the forest ! Mr. Hoover has called attention to the fact that the wild game should be reckoned as an important source of meat supply. Pennsylvania has for seve- ral years furnished about one thousand deer each year to the food supply. The supply of meat de- rived from wild rabbits is probably even more im- portant. Deer farming is a possible industry for this State which has been too long retarded by legislation that is unnecessarily and unreasonably restrictive, and, therefore, unwise and harmful at such a time as the present. It has been impossible to divorce the forestry interests of the State from the increasing demand for the open air life. Never in the life of the Nation has there been such a call for stronger men and women. We not only expect, but we demand that the next generation shall be better physically than any earlier one. This has become a recog- nized feature of State and National legislation. We look to the out-of-doors as a master key in opening the way to health. It has become possi- ble for any decent, law-abiding citizen to obtain from the State a permit to pitch his tent on a for- est reserve. In this, our sister State of New York led Pennsylvania by many years. For years the General Secretary has called attention to the im- portance of the forest reserves as a nursery of rifle- men. The value of such training now needs no further consideration, for it is becoming increas- ingly apparent each day. Whilst we sincerely de- plore the necessity for such skill, we must, at the same time, reckon it fortunate that means exist for providing it when required. It is an historic fact that in every war waged by our Nation, the Ameri- can rifleman has been a conspicuous, if not a de- termining, factor, and allusion at this time can hardly be out of place in commenting upon the relation of the forest to the public good. It is also noteworthy that of those engagea in i the forest service of the State, not less than sixty per cent, of the field force either are now, or soon will be, in the military force of the Government. Further comment upon the relation between for- estry service and patriotism seems unnecessary ! The successful development of State Forestry in Pennsylvania has been very favorably considered by the most distinguished foresters of the United States. We may modestly claim that in no other 1 State is forestry more firmly rooted than in our I own. This is largely due to the fact that in no other State is it recognized as a department, im- portant as and separated from, all the other de- partments of the government, empowered to act under the initiative of its own chief, who is virtu- : ally a cabinet officer. It was, therefore, with great anxiety that the friends of forestry recognized a tendency to reduce forestry to a branch of some other department, under a plea of economy and administrative sim- plicity ! So great was the alarm that a searching analysis was made of the conditions existing in other States. It was soon clearly recognized, ist, that ours was the only State in which forestry was ranked as a distinct department ; 2nd, that in a considerable number of other States it was recog- nized as a most important branch of the great problem of conservation, but that it was subordi- nated to another head and grouped with supposed related interests; 3rd, that in almost every case P ii 92 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 93 where forestry was so subordinated it had failed to keep pace with a State in which it held an inde- pendent rank. The proposed change has, there- fore, for the present, been abandoned. Our Forestry Department commands the respect of this and of other States and is shaping itself, year by year, upon broader and more effective lines. Between it and our Association there exists the most cordial co-operation. The Forestry Academy at Mont Alto is still in successful opera- tion, and is furnishing a well trained class of men for care and restoration of our public forests. The Secretary of the Council will, no doubt, call your attention to need of larger membership, a need which your General Secretary most fully recognizes. *- • -i. Samuel Marshall. cord of well-seasoned hickory, oak, beech, birch, hard maple, ash, elm, locust, or cherry is approxi- mately equal to one ton (2,000 pounds) of anthra- cite coal. It takes a cord and a half of hemlock, red gum, sycamore or soft maple and two cords of cedar, poplar, spruce, white pine or basswood, however, to give the same amount of heat. One cord of mixed wood well seasoned equals in heating value at least one ton (2,000 pounds) of average-grade bituminous coal. The table shows the price which the consumer can afford to pay for a cord of wood as the equiva- lent of anthracite coal at various prices. Prices which the consumer can afford to pay for wood as a substitute for coal. . \ . . P Emergency Fuel from the Farm ' Woodland. ECAUSE of the heavy demand for coal, both for commercial as well as domestic use, and because of the great burden laid upon the Nation's transportation facilities and the possible shortage of coal in certain sections of the country, the demand should be relieved wherever feasible. Farmers frequently are situated so they can profit- ably supply fuel from their woodlands and thus re- lieve, to a considerable extent, the demand for coal. It is where team-hauled wood can be used in place of railroad-hauled coal that the change should be made. Farmers who own woodlands and people in villages who can purchase wood from nearby farms are the ones in the best position to reduce their consumption of coal. It is not ex- | pected substitution of wood for coal will be com- | plete or universal ; for many purposes coal is much more convenient. But for heating many kinds of buildings wood is the more convenient and cheaper fuel. This is particularly true in the case of churches, halls, summer cottages, and other build- ings for which heat is required only occasionally ; but is then wanted in large volume at short notice. Furnaces are built especially for burning wood in 3 or 4 foot lengths. Short lengths, of course, . can readily be burned in an ordinary coal furnace or in a box stove, though this is rather wasteful of fuel. Many furnace manufacturers, however, make a special wood grate for use in their furnaces. One advantage in burning wood is that on moder- ately cool days the furnace can be run at a lower ebb than when coal is used, consuming only enough fuel to remove the chill. In the matter of heating value, one standard I*rice of coal delivered. Equivalent price for wood delivered in stove lengths. Per ton. Hickory, oak, beech, hard maple, ash, elm, locust, cherry. Per cord. $5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 I I. CO 12.00 $5.00 6 00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 Per run.* Soft maple, cedar, poplar, basswood. Per cord. $1.66 $2.50 2.00 3.00 2-33 350 2.66 4.00 3.00 4.50 3.33 5.00 3.66 5.50 4.00 6.00 Per run. $0.83 1. 00 1. 16 1-33 1.50 1.66 1.83 2.00 ♦ 16" lengths. Three runs equals a cord. If the consumer can buy coal at $8 a ton, it would hardly be worth his while to burn first-class wood at $8 a cord, except in an open fireplace, because coal is a more convenient fuel. If, how- ever, coal becomes so scarce that it can not be se- cured in sufficient quantities, the consumer will, in some cases, have to burn wood at $10 or even $15 a cord. ^ Chestnut blight has already done damage in Pennsylvania estimated at from $9,000,000 to Sio,ooo,ooo. No tree attacked by it has been known to recover, although dozens of fake re- medies have been brought out. The chief difficulties in the way of a general lumber trust are the competition of wood substi- tutes and the check furnished by State and National forests. Handboards are being put up all over the State Forests showing boundary lines of State land, marking points of interest, and giving directions for travelers. Edible Fruits of Forest Trees. IT is said that Daniel Boone and some of our other early pioneers could go into the wilder- ness with only a rifle and a sack of salt and live in comfort on the game and other wild food which the woods afforded. While few people want to try that sort of thing nowadays, persons who know the food value of the fruits of native trees and shrubs are, according to foresters, able to use them to good advantage in supplementing other foods. Aside from the numerous edible mushrooms, roots, fruits of shrubs and smaller plants, the trees of the forests afford a large variety of edibles which are highly prized by woods connoisseurs. First in importance, of course, are the native nuts — beech nuts, butternuts, walnuts, chestnuts and chinquapins, hazel nuts, and several kinds of hickory nuts, including pecans. The kernels of all these are not only toothsome but highly nutri- tious and are used by vegetarians to replace meat. The oil of the beech nut is said to be little inferior to olive oil, while that of butternuts and walnuts was used by some of the Indians for various pur- poses. The Indians, it is said, also formerly mixed chestnuts with cornmeal and made a bread which was baked in corn husks, like tamales. In parts of Europe bread is made from chestnuts alone. The chestnut crop in this country is being reduced each year by the chestnut-blight disease, which in some sections is gradually killing out the tree. Acorns are commonly thought to be fit only for feeding hogs, but many kinds of them can be made edible and nourishing for people as well. The Indian custom was to pound or grind the acorns up and leach out the tannin, which makes most of them unfit for eating when raw, by treating the , pulp with hot water. The resulting flour, which contained considerable starch, was made either into a porridge or baked in small cakes of bread. As a rule, the acorns of the various white oaks having less tannin are the ones best suited for food, but Indians also used those of the black oaks, even though they contain much tannin. The acorns of the basket or cow oak, the chinquapin oak, shin or Rocky Mountain oak, live oak, and of several other species, are sweet enough to be eaten raw. Another nut which is not suited for eating raw, but from which a palatable food is said to have been prepared by the Indians is the buckeye. The kernels of these nuts were dried, powdered, and freed of the poison which they contain when raw by filtration. The resulting paste was cither eaten ^ old or baked. Several western pines have seeds which play an important part in the diet of the local Indians. Perhaps the best known of these is the fruit of the nut pine or pinon, which forms the basis for a. local industry of some size. Not only is it ex- tensively eaten by local settlers and Indians, but large quantities are shipped to the cities where the seed is roasted and sold on the street. The similar seed of the Parry pine and the large Digger pine seeds are eagerly sought by the Indians. The latter tree is said to have gained its name from its use as a food by the Digger Indians. The seeds of the longleaf pine are edible and are improved by roasting. Indeed, it may be said that most nuts are more digestible when roasted than if eaten raw. One of the best known fruits, the foresters say, is the persimmon, which is edible only after it is thoroughly ripe. As this is usually not until late in the fall, it is commonly thought that the fruit must be frostbitten. If the persimmon is eaten before it is well ripened, the tannic acid which the fruit contains has a strongly astringent effect, which justifies the story of the soldier in the Civil War who said he had eaten green persimmons so as to shrink his stomach up to fit his rations. The pawpaw, or custard apple, is also best when thor- oughly ripe. The fruit of some species of haws is eaten or preserved in different parts of the country, while those of several different kinds of wild cherries have a food value and are used for various purposes. Wild plums are abundant in certain sections and occur in particularly plentiful quanti- ties along the streams in the Eastern and Middle Western States. Several varieties of wild crab apples make de- licious jellies. Some of the largest, which attain the size of small apples, are more or less abundant, throughout eastern North Carolina. Elderberries are frequently used for pies and for sauce. Those found in the West are sweeter and have a better flavor than the eastern varieties. The berries of the hackberry, or sugar berry, as it is called in the South, are dry but have an agree- able taste. Those of the mulberry are sweet and juicy when ripe. The mulberry is valued in some sections for feeding hogs and poultry and some species are occasionally cultivated. Many people like the fruit of the shad bush, «rying upon the Strength and the Hvgroscopicity of Wood. , ,, ^ , n- . Instrument, tseful in Dry Kiln Work and Methods of lest- TemperaUires and Humidities for Drying Various Kind* of Lumber. Humidity Diagram. Closing with an Appendix on Special Woods for War Use. The numerous tables and illustrations aid in giv- ing a thorough understanding of the best methods of kiln drying woods, and thus aid in conserving our wood supply, which will be drawn upon to the limit to supply the ravages due to the present disastrous war. Wood manufacturers can obtain much of value from a perusal of this volume. FORBST IvBAVKS Published Bi-Monthly. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 7 Philadelphia, February, 1918 Whole Number 183 EDITORIAL. THE war has changed the whole current of events. We have our meatless days and our wheatless days. We buy a ton of coal at a time. A pound of sugar becomes the purchas- able limit, which we are glad to be allowed to carry home. We not only consume less but the demand that we produce more has become in- sistent. The new stringency affects our farming, our mining, our transportation. There is a jam where any two interests meet. It would be strange indeed if forestry were to to escape. It will surely be called upon to turn its dead, dying or undesirable timber into fuel as a substitute for coal. This may indeed be a bless- ing. For it is to such timber, in our forests, that much of the severity and destructiveness of forest fires is sooner or later due. Anything which promises to make a demand for it and to remove it from where it can do harm to where it could be made useful * Ms so much to the good. ' ' The State of Pennsylvania has almost unlimited quantities of just such material, but with the existing shortage of labor, will it be possible to cut, transport and reduce to desired size such material and at such price as will bring the producer together at such rates as will be a relief in the coal problem ? This is a question which awaits a solution and can best be solved by trying. Then, again, the food question forces itself into forestry. It has long been considered a closed (luestion as to whether growing timber on an in- tensive scale can be done along with cattle graz- ing. As a general proposition the forester will have none of it. But these be war times ; things are out of joint. Concession must be made to unusual demands, and it is already being asked how many thousand cattle can be grazed on the woodlands of the State from May to October, without serious injury to the growing forests dur- ing the continuance of the war? Of course dur- ing times of peace grazing on forest growing lands might and should be limited to the last degree. The farmer, who has on his farm, say a dozen head of growing cattle, could keep them from November until the following spring, and then market them after they had converted the corn- fodder and straw on the farm into fertility for the increase of crop production, provided he had a range on which they could go from May to Octo- ber the summer before. If, however, he had no such range he could only keep three or at most four. This statement is made, not at random, but as the result of a full discussion with practical farmers during a recent meeting of the National Safety Authorities in Philadelphia. It is not contemplated that indiscriminate range should be given to cattle, for that would be waste- ful. But it is possible to pasture under care and proper limitation several thousand cattle for a few years on our woodlands without serious injury to the forestry interests. The one task before us is to win the war, and to do it we must have food, and then still more food. Every possible source of food production must be utilized. The peace problems we can consider in times of peace ! J. T. R. No limit will be set this year on the number of forest tree seedlings by the Pennsylvania Depart- ment of Forestry for free distribution. Anyone who wants to plant trees this spring may have them for the asking. The only condition being that application for less than five hundred trees will not be filled ; applicants must pay for pack- ing and transportation, and the trees may not be sold, but must be actually planted in Pennsylva- nia for reforestation. No applications can be filled for ornamental trees. The State Forest nurseries have raised more trees last year than ever before ; but so many of the foresters have enlisted, and so few laborers are available, that the number to be planted on the State Forests probably will be even less than last year. Over 10,000,000 trees are ready to set out next spring, and as many more are in the nurse- ries, but are too small to plant this year. The stock available for free distribution is almost all three years old, and includes white pine, Scotch pine, red pine, pitch pine, Norway spruce, European larch, Japanese larch and red oak. I 98 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 99 The Forests of Alaska. A 1 ASKA may be divided into at least five re- /\ gions, two of which only are forested, due "^ to climatic and physical conditions. \long the southern coast, on the Alexander Archipelago and in the panhandle of the mainland separating the British possessions from the ocean, is a northward extension of the Pacific coast forest. Here the evenly tempered climate gives rise to forest-covered slopes, of which only the higher ele- vations with their covering of eternal snow, reach above timber-line. , u- i. • ^r Separated from this coast by the high sierras of the St Elias and Fairweather coast ranges and by ranges farther inland to the north and west, is the great interior basin, drained by the Yukon River, with its hills, mountains and plateaus, which, while in the main an open country, is studded with more or less frequent spots of forest growth, varying in density and development. The forest flora of this interior region is entirely different from that of the coast, being essentially the same as our north- eastern Atlantic boreal flora. , . , .- Intervening between the Pacific and Atlantic forest flora is a high triangular-shaped plateau, some 15,000 square miles in extent, a region of absolute solitude, covered with snow and ice all the year around, without a single vestige of life. Skirting the coast of Behring Sea from Kusko- kwim Bay northward and along the Arctic Ocean is the '' tundra," a belt of treeless country, though not entirely devoid of woody vegetation, varying from one hundred miles and less to several hundred miles in width. , • u r Lastly a diff'erent type is recognized in the tor- estless region of grassy slopes and snow- covered peaks which the Alaska peninsula and the Aleutian islands and others exhibit west of the 150° of longitude. v • i It is easily understood that the mechanical . barrier which the ice- and snow-bound mountain ranges interpose should effectively separate the Pacific and Atlantic forest flora. But to the west- ward no such barrier exists, hence the diff"ering flora must be accounted for according to the adaptability of the species and the variation of stand development under diff'erent conditions^ The Coast forest is an extension of the Coast forest of Washington and British Columbia, but as it pushes northward, gradually loses some of its species and deteriorates into individual develop- ment. . The Alaska forest lacks the most important timber species of the Pacific coast, Douglas Fir {Pseudotsuga faxi/olia) , whose northernmost speci- mens are found on Princess Royal Sound. It lacks the pines, with exception of the inferior Lodgepole Pine (^Pinus contorta-), which here and there occupies gravelly situations. None of the magnificent firs of the Sierras and Coast ranges are met. Dwarfed specimens of White Y\x (Abies lasiocarpa) are found in White Pa^, which location it has probably reached from the interior. ^ , ^ , r rryi The Grant Arborvitae or Red Cedar {Thuya plicata^ enters the territory, but only in small number. Its northern limit is about Wrangell. 'The Alaska or Yellow Cedar ( Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) exists only in a few isolated spots It furnishes the beautiful fine-grained yellow-tinted wood which the Indians use for their carvings, j totem-poles, and paddles. I Excepting the more or less sporadic occurrence of the species mentioned, the composition of the forest is simple, for the bulk is made up of a mixture of two species : Sitka Spruce {Picea sitch- ensis) and Coast Hemlock {Tsuga heterophylla). The latter is most prevalent, often forming 70 to 80 per cent, of the mixture. Going westward I where the timber becomes less valuable the spruce preponderates and around Cook Inlet is found in pure stands. . ' Stands of Coast Hemlock and Sitka Spruce of varying density cover the slopes of the mountainous islands and the shores of the archipelago up to timber line, which varies from 1,800 to 2,400 feet near the shore, to over 5,000 feet in protected inland passes. . The stands, as a rule, are not as dense as is de- sirable to make good clear timber. This may be accounted for by the scantiness of the soil, becom- ing more and more so towards the North. How- ever there are individual stands that develop fine timber. The trees in many instances attain a di- ameter of 6 feet and become 1 7 5 ^eet high. Lately, the U. S. Government has contracted for some of this clear spruce for aircraft material. The underbrush and lower vegetation is often dense and luxuriant, comprising species. of Vacct- nium, Rubus, Ribes, Menzusia and the spiny Echinopanax horridiim. Species of Sambucus and Viburnum, and Pyrus rivularis are found along the shores and river bottoms. The interior forests of Alaska are composed ot White Spruce (^Picea Canadensis), White Birch (Betula papyri/era), Balm of Gilead {Populus balsamifera) and Trembling Aspen {^Populus tremuioides) , ! The White Spruce attains a considerable size as far north as the 65° of latitude, forming in the valley of the Yukon river forests of no little local importance. Hemlock is also found in the Yukon Valley The Jack Pine and Balsam Fir of the Atlantic region are replaced by allied forms of the same genera. The interior is in general an open hilly plateau and mountainous country, mostly moss-covered and devoid of trees ; but with scattered more or less open groves on the lower slopes and ridges, and in the valleys. In the valleys the trees usually crowd densely together along the banks of the rivers and lakes. The trees are mostly short, poorly developed, dwarfed and standing in open position, in conse- quence of which the timber is knotty and checked by frost. The groves occasionally assume a real forest character and contain trees developed to good size. Local conditions of soil and of shelter from the winds seem to be largely influential in this difference of development. In several in- stances Balm of Gilead was found having a diame- ter of 6 feet and a height of 120 feet. In the river valleys Balm of Gilead and Aspen are the dominating species ; then follow Spruce and Birch, the Birch gradually dropping out with increasing elevation. Scattered through it all are clumps of Alder and Willows. These continue with the spruce, and slightly beyond, to the timber- line which is about 2,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level. The spruce seldom attains a greater diameter than 18 inches and a height of 60 feet. It is used locally by the Alaskan Engineering Commission for railroad ties, piling and telephone poles. It is also employed in timbering mines. Much of the interior is covered with a heavy growth of moss and lichens, which remain soggy and cold until late in the summer. Even the slopes drain off slowly. A few inches below this cover is a bed of rock or ice or frozen ground which thaws only a foot or two in summer and prevents the water from sinking. The opportunity for seeds to sprout is found only here and there. Where they do secure a foothold their roots have only a limited space through which to ramify, con- sequently the growth must be slow and the trees subject to overthrow by the wind. The lowlands skirting Behring Sea and the Arctic Ocean will ever be treeless because of the inimical soil condition. This alone is sufficient to explain the absence of tree growth : and here additional causes may be found in the absence of protection from icy winter blasts and a deficiency in summer rains : these will prohibit artificial re- clamation. Tree culture is possible on the grassy slopes of the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian and other islands as is proved by a planting of spruce made by a Russian priest in 1805. The trees are short but in good health. Because of the poor quality of the timber, the extensive distribution thereof, the difficulties to be encountered in lumbering, and poor transportation facilities, the forests of Alaska cannot be relied upon to supply the large demand for lumber, which will exist when the supply in the States is exhausted. In certain regions, however, there are fine prospects for the paper pulp industry. The forests do not appear to suffer much from natural dangers. Of insect damage there is little. The humidity of the atmosphere and soil furnish, no doubt, considerable protection against fire ; nevertheless there are evidences that it cannot be kept out entirely. Avalanches here and there and active volcanoes have caused considerable destruc- tion of forest areas. J. R. Blouse. ^=^^3^- Acetic Acid Falls Under Federal Eye. THE following clipping is from The Public Ledger of January 28th. Acetic Acid is indirectly a forest product derived from beech, birch and maple wood It can also be made from oak and hickory. There is more or less demand made upon the forestry department for the beech, birch and maple remaining in the State Forest Reserves for other purposes than manufacture of acetic acid. The government needs every ounce of acetone that acetic acid can furnish, and it would be wise if this were kept well in mind by those who have disposition of our forest products in charge. * ' Part of the reason why some laundries have advanced the price to four cents each for collars became apparent on Saturday, when it became known that the United States Government was likely to take over control of the acetic acid in- dustry on very much the same lines which have been applied in the case of ammonia. It is understood that the Government, in the interest of obtaining an adequate supply of acetone for war purposes, has undertaken to control the distribution of acetic acid throughout the country, and that word to that effect, if it has not already been circulated among the trade, will be sent out this week. Acetic acid has long been a standard chemical in the cleaning of collars and other white goods. A minor effect is likely to be seen in the produc- tion of benzoates, notably benzoate of soda ; which is largely used by some manufacturers of foods. Acetic acid is largely used in the manufacture of synthetic benzoates, and Federal control may cut down the production.'* ii 100 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 101 Twenty-two More Forest Battalions Authorized ! THE formation of a second *^ Forest regi- ment comprising twenty -two battalions and composed of lumbermen and woods- workers, who will go to France and get out of the forests materials for the use of the American French, and British armies, has been authorized by the War Department. Some battalions have already gone across and others will follow. It is expected that the remaining battalions for which 6 GOO men are still needed will be called for in a short time. ** Service'* battalions, made up of laborers who will be used in connection with the Forest regiment have also been authorized. In order to provide for future contingencies it has been decided to commission at the present time enough officers for other battalions yet to be raised. Those men not needed will now be placed on the reserve, and will be called as the other units are formed. According to the present plan, , fifty per cent, of the officers will be sawmill and | logging operators, twenty-five per cent, will be technical foresters, and twenty-five per cent, will be men with military training. A number of the graduates of the engineer camps have been selected for service with the new units. A considerable number of captains and lieuten- ants will be selected in the immediate future. The minimum age limit for commissioned officers has been set at 31. The first regiment of woodsmen numbering about 1,200 men and designated as the Tenth En- gineers (Forest) has gone abroad after being trained at American University, D. C. This regiment was raised at the request of the British government to undertake the production in France of cross ties, bridge, trench, and construction timbers, mine props, lumber, and other forms of wood required in connection with its military operations. The landing of the American expe- ditionary forces has made necessary similar pro- vision for their needs, while the French military authorities have indicated that some of the work incidental to their operations might be taken over by woodsmen from this country. Decision to raise the new and much larger force has followed a study of the field of possible usefulness to the Allied cause, made by American foresters attached to General Pershing's staff. Each of the twenty-two battalions of the second regiment, known as the 20th Engineers, will com- prise three companies of 250 men each, and will be under the command of its own major. The regiment will be made up of volunteers. Applicants must be white and between the ages of 18 and 40. Skilled lumberjacks, portable mill operators, tie cutters, logging teamsters, camp cooks, millwrights, and charcoal burners are among the classes of men desired. For the ** service" battalions both negro and white laborers will be enlisted. Forest Food Products. ry OMPLETE reports on the recent game season \^ in Pennsylvania from all but Adams County show immense gains in the number of small game and birds killed over 1916. There were fewer deer and bear killed because of the snows of the last week of the season, but because of the snow and the consequent tracks of the hunters there were also fewer violations of the game laws. There were twenty-five hunters killed during the season and seventy-four wounded as compared with thirty killed and 102 wounded in 19 16. These facts were laid before the State Game Commission at its annual session by Secretary Joseph Kalbfus who made a report which will be forwarded to the Governor. The commission de- cided to buy more small game for game reserve stocking purposes. In recent years it has been stocking the reserves with large game. It also re- commended to the sportsmen's associations that the entire State be closed to grouse hunters for a period of two years. Under the new game code 200 residents of a county may petition the com- mission to close their county for the protection of game, but the commission believes that the entire State should be closed and asked the associations to take the matter in charge. There were 3,500,000 rabbits killed, or 500,000 more than in 191 6, and at a pound and a half each these rabbits weighed 5,250,000 pounds. It is estimated that there were 300,000 hunters who took out licenses and 100,000 farmers and their sons who needed none who hunted last year. I Data prepared for the commission shows the following totals of the large and small game killed : Legal deer ^^^^ Illegal buck deer 3' Illegal doe deer 75 Bear 3^8 Rabbits 3*500.000 Squirrels I79.4CO Wild turkeys 2,950 Ringneck pheasants ^»3^2 Quail . . 26,223 Grouse '07,287 Woodcock 25,660 Wild waterfowl 32,907 Raccoons *^*a^^ Shore birds *7,045 Forestry News From France. 1VJEWS pertaining to the French forests is 1_\ beginning to arrive from the American Expeditionary Forces in France. The attractive, sanitary, productive, and organized French forests have impressed not only foresters and lumbermen, but also those engaged in other professions and businesses before entering military service. Colonel M. C. Kennedy, Deputy Director-Gen- eral of Transportation, American Expeditionary Forces, in a letter to his brother at Chambersburg, Pa., states that ** Much scientific forestry work has been done in France. Tracts of timber have been treated by trimming the branches off the larger trees up as high as the tops of the smaller trees. The timberland, as a rule, is kept clean of brush and dead limbs in order to reduce the danger of fire. Of course, here wood is so valu- able as fuel that it pays to gather up everything down to the fine twigs." ** Much has been said in America of the fine forests in France. My observation is that the ma- jority of them are of second growth timber and that they cut it out much more frequently than we do — many times when it is only the size of light telephone poles. You seldom see a thoroughly substantial telegraph pole, and the universal con- struction, where the lines are heavy, is to pi>t two poles several feet apart and brace them together.*' ** I suppose you know that it is necessary for us to bring over from the States practically all of the long piling, some ties as well as other lumber.'* A large number of foresters have enlisted in the loth and 20th Engineers, commonly known as the Forest Regiments, and among them are many well-known Pennsylvania Foresters, who gradu- ated from the State Forest Academy at Mont Alto. Ninety seven men have been graduated from this institution since its establishment in 1903. Of this number 35 have donned the khaki and are doing their bit in the active service of their country. Twenty-two are in the forest regiments and now located ** Somewhere in France." News from them is starting to arrive, and should be welcomed by all who have been compelled to remain at home. That this inter- esting news may reach a wider circle of readers, excerpts of letters recently received by Prof. J. S. Illick, Mont Alto, Pa., are subjoined. Private Harold Port, Co. A, loth Engineers (Forest), writes as follows: ** I suppose you expect to hear something about our whereabouts and the incidents connected with our travels and arrival at this destination ; but I can tell you nothing. A very strict censorship prevails, and rightly so. However, enroute by rail we passed a large number of woodlots which were really good to look upon. During our courses at the Academy you showed us many pho- tographs of the well-kept and carefully managed forests of continental Europe, but it takes a view of the real forests to convey a clear concept of intensively managed forests." ** I cannot help but think of our thousands of acres of Rock Oak and Chestnut, and what a wonderfully rich field we would have to work in if it was not for the deadly Chestnut Blight. Much of the woods I have seen so far is the cop- pice with standards. The nearest approach to these regulated French forests that I know of in Pennsylvania is that area included in the 1908 Improvement Cutting on the East Slope of Oak Knob on the Mont Alto State Forest. During my stay over here I want to collect as much data and as many pictures as I possibly can, which will be of value to our work at home." ** The Forest Academy has a number of repre- sentatives in this regiment, and I feel quite sure that we'll all benefit by our experiences, and ob- tain a first hand picture of advanced forest conditions towards which we must work in Penn- sylvania." ** We find the French people rather kind and courteous. Was rather surprised, however, last evening when * Eddie' Miller ('17) and I went to a French farmhouse to get some laundry which was washed for us, to find that the barn, chicken coop, and house are often under the same roof. While this is an unusual condition for an American, yet I was glad upon entering the house to see that it was clean and the furnishings neatly arranged." **The many small stores, each with its wine counter, showed many conditions which were new to us. At home I have never yet seen wine sold at hardware and drygoods stores." **If you have or happen to receive an extra copy of Forest Leaves, when the issue appears, I will be glad if you would send it to me. It will be passed among all of us " Horace B. Rowland, Co. F, loth Engineers (Forest), in a letter to Prof. J. S. Illick, written Thanksgiving Day, and received December 24, 191 7, states that **So far everything goes well with us. We were twenty-three days on ship- board, but part of that time we were in one of the western Atlantic ports. Our passage over was quite uneventful in so far as war goes. We had an escort of a few destroyers the last few days, 102 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 103 and finally landed safely in England. We crossed the country to a seaport ; spent two days in a rest camp ; then crossed the Channel, which was un- eventful, but very interesting, and, finally, on Sunday morning October 7, 191 7, landed in a port in France. We stayed there one day and took train across country to N , where we went into camp for about three weeks. Had a wonderful time there taking in the strangeness of the land and tongue. The people were very cor- dial to us everywhere. Siggins ('14) and I had an opportunity one day to take a bicycle trip through the country, and sure enjoyed it. The last few days in this temporary camp were spent in getting together supplies and equipment for our final move to L , where we arrived in the evening with a heavy cold rain falling. We spent the first night in the village school house and started to set up camp the next morning. ** Our camp is right in the midst of a fine spruce and fir forest, an ideal spot about 2>^ miles from the village. The first few weeks we lived in tents with more or less comfort, and with much rain, snow and mud. Now we have a fine and com- fortable camp, almost complete, and expect to have very satisfactory working conditions." | <»I am the only one of the Mont Alto boys here except Lieutenant Seltzer, who by the way has the honor, I have been informed, of getting j out the first lumber from the French forests. This honor was made possible by the fact that we work at a French mill at night. Most of the other boys are connected with other companies and went to a different part of France." ** And now what will possibly interest you most is a description of the forest in which we are op- erating. This is a communal forest of spruce and fir, of fine size up to 3)^ feet in diameter. These trees are said to be the second largest in France. It is managed mostly under a selection system, with some group selection and group clear cutting. The forest is divided in all directions by fine roads, which separate cutting series and blocks. These in turn are subdivided by cleared lines into compartments (coupes), marked with blazes and monumented with concrete posts. The compart- ments are rather regular in form and size, and in . laying them out little regard was given to natural features. They average about 75 acres in size." **VVhat forestry can really accomplish is the greatest lesson that I have yet learned. That which heretofore appeared idealistic to me, now seems very practical and attainable. Further- more, the growth of the trees, the regularity and density of the stands are all interesting and in- structive lessons in themselves." ** The French are also doing some cutting here. mostly selection. In order to save the regenera- tion, the tree fellers first climb the trees with climbing-spurs and * swamp ' the crown, /. e,, cut off the lateral branches, so that when the trees fall they do little damage to the young growth be- neath. The reproduction which has been estab- lished is not only interesting to look at but well worth saving. French logging is a slow opera- tion, being done with oxen. The sawmills are mostly the vertical gang saw, type ; the saws being placed in position for each log." * > IS I I O z < 5 oc z . < UJ > CO UJ < UJ z o UJ UJ cc l- I- D z co UJ I o UJ o < UJ > z D o o UJ cc < < -J UJ o I CO z o UJ I < UJ D H UJ cc o OD cc < < > -I > CO z z UJ cc < 3 Q. O o QC H < II o GQ UJ o cc < Hi i Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 7- ■■msmmmm o 2 o > > < O wi NTER SCENES ON THE AROOSTOOK RIVER IN MAINE, O z < 5 UJ > UJ UJ -1 Q. cc < > UJ 1- z z D O O UJ o UJ UJ cc < 1- ^ D < 1 Z UJ h- n co UJ ^ I Q. o i UJ CO O z cc ^ < o .J H UJ I cc < UJ D UJ QC o CD CC < CC UJ z < Q. < > -I > CO z z UJ Q. > Z o o ?UJ cc H < II o CQ UJ o cc < FOREST LEAVES. 105 r o c > > \^ cc < UJ z UJ LU cc H UJ cc < o s z < < o > > -1 CO > CO 1- z z z < UJ Q. o v> CO > 1- 1- "~ z T D H o o ^ UJ CO cc (T < UJ ^ 1- < cc < UJ D Q a ^ Q Q < cc X u. CO CO ID Q < t> u. < < cc ill z UJ returns established. Humphrey Marshall's, at Marshalltown ; Painter's, near Wrangletown, now Lima ; Evans' , in Radnor. The Painter arboretum is undoubtedly the most interesting and the most prominent in the county. It was established about 1820, by two brothers, Minshall and Jacob Painter, who were indeed characters ; and fine ones. Bachelors, they lived together in the midst of nature. Students, poets, literateurs, philosophers, astronomers, scientists ; they were a remarkable pair of men, of unusual all 'round knowledge. Amongst other things, they established a private old style ** Franklin" hand press (made by Aramage, the first maker of printing presses in America), which is on the premises to this day. On this they printed bro- chures and treatises upon any subject that absorbed their thought ; and these old tracts are now rare finds, to the collector. Their principal love was perhaps trees and plants, and of this I had perhaps best quote from the nephew who grew up there, cleaned the press, and knew them through and through. He has recently written : ** Minshall was a student and naturalist from a boy. From his early years he hungered for a knowledge of botany. Born in 1801, he began planting an arboretum in 1820, adjoining the ancient homestea(i. He secured specimens from every source within his sphere, rven from the Kew gardens in London. Through this source he received Asiatic specimens unknown to this climate and zone. He planted near 6ooo specimens, of which perhaps half are growing and have e-^caped so far the winds and the storms ; it being but a few years since a tornado swept across that section and levelled a few of the finest specimens. They were planted too thickly in order to save space and in their crowded condition it has also been the survival of the fittest. Kven today, it is probable ihat the collection is only exceeded by Shaw's gardens at St. Louis. Shaw planted for a park. Min- shall Painter planted for a botanical collection. It may be interesting to know that there are 45 varieties of willows, most of them living. The Spanish cork tree is luxuriating in ground well adapted to it. The Carolina cypress has grown to be a fine tree and bulwarks the junc- • tion of the streams in the garden, with its many cypress knees. The cedar of Lebanon is doing well for its age, and on the hill-top, south of the garden, on the road- side, stands a thrifty specimen of the giants of Cali- fornia— the sequoia or redwood." The continuation of the arboretum ceased upon the death of the brothers, and today the premises are a tangled mass of picturesque luxuriant foliage that is a delight. Only an expert can recognize the many varieties ; but even a layman is im- pressed by the many and varied magnolias, the maple-oaks, the many and unusual conifers, and the numerous odd looking trees that one sees around the grounds, where in springtime the odor of budding blooms and the mass of blos<;oms is rarely fine. The old moss- covered spring house is a picture, and by the resulting small stream that flows through the vines and tangled foliage, that best of all the songsters, the hermit thrush, may dependably be heard at his best, as well as the grotesque whip-poor-will, or the raucous crow ; from hour to hour. Absolute nature and all out doors, where the tree and nature lover can have complete content. In the grounds are several fine old box plants. One, against the house and some nine feet high, is said to be just one and two-thirds centuries old, having been planted in 1750, and is of interest in showing the growth of this old fashioned plant of our forefathers. Another freer growing variety, may be found in profusion, 20 or more feet in height and with trunks up to 10" diameter. The last of the Indians in the county lived on the tract, and died about one hundred years ago. There are several Indian graves there ; and a curious flat circular stone, about four feet di- ameter, with a distinct **X," formed by two grooves at right angles on the face of the stone, is called the *^ Indian Stone" It is at the base of a great poplar on the edge of a little run that tum- bles sparkling over a fine mass of boulders and makes into Dismal Run, which is one of the ' cheeriest brooks around there. If the tree lover wants a day of delight, let him take a day off and explore this section in the upper part of Middle- town township, about a mile and a half north of Lima, and east of the Middletown road. John P>ans, the maker of the arboretum in Radnor township, that bore his name, was con- temporaneous with the Painters, having been born in 1790 and having died in 1862. He too, col- lected from every source, including many foreign ones, but his taste seems to have perhaps gone more into plants and gard^^n specimens than trees. His gardens were along Ithan creek, where now Ithan road runs, from Bryn Mawr Avenue to Rob- erts road. This is a remarkably beautiful and picturesque stretch of ravine, rocks and wooded stream, but all visible evidence to the passer-by of the arboretum that at one time was there, has long since departed. Now it is a luxurious suburban estate, with expensive iron fencing and pretenti- ous entrance gates, in curious contrast to the sim- plicity of old John Evans. The one account of this arboretum of the past of which 1 know — and a fairly extended one — may be found in Smith's History of Delaware County of 1862, pages 459-61. This history was written by Dr. George Smith, a notable man of the county, and an associate af the Painters, being of their time ; and that is to my mind quite the reason why one finds, upon visiting the *' old Smith place," as now called, an f m * ! . O > c > > I INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE FOREST LEAVES. 105 returns established. Humphrey Marshall's, at Marshalltown ; Painter's, near Wrangletown, now Lima; Evans', in Radnor. The Painter arboretum is undoubtedly the most interesting and the most prominent in the county. It was established about 1820, by two brothers, Minshall and Jacob Painter, who were indeed characters ; and fine ones. Bachelors, they lived together in the midst of nature. Students, poets, literateurs, philosophers, astronomers, scientists ; they were a remarkable pair of men, of unusual all 'round knowledge. Amongst other things, they established a private old style '^Franklin" hand press (made by Aramage, the first maker of printing presses in America), which is on the premises to this day. On this they printed bro- chures and treatises upon any subject that absorbed their thought ; and these old tracts are now rare finds, to the collector. Their principal love was perhaps trees and plants, and of this I had perhaps best quote from the nephew who grew up there, cleaned the press, and knew them through and through. He has recently written : ** Minshall was a student and naturalist from a hoy. Krom his early years he hungered for a knowledge of botany. Horn in 1801, he began planting an arboretum in 1820, adjoining the ancient homestead. lie secured specimens from every source within his sphere, even from the Kew gardens in London. Through this source he received Asiatic specimens unknown to this climate and zone. He planted near 6000 specimens, of which perhaps half are growing and have e-caped so far the winds and the storms ; it being but a few years since a tornado swept across that section and levelled a few of the finest specimens. They were planted too thickly in order to save space and in their crowded condition it has also been the survival of the fittest. FAen today, it is probable that the collection is only exceeded by Shaw's gardens at St. Louis. Shaw planted for a park. Min- shall Painter planted for a botanical collection. It may be interesting to know that there are 45 varieties of willows, most of them living. The Spanish cork tree is luxuriating in ground well adapted to it. 1 he Carolina cypress has grown to be a fine tree and bulwarks the junc- tion of the streams in the garden, with its many cypress knees. The cedar of Lebanon is doing well for its age, and on the hill-top, south of the garden, on the road- side, stands a thrifty specimen of the giants of C'ali- fornia — the sequoia or redwood." The continuation of the arboretum ceased upon the death of the brothers, and today the premises are a tangled mass of picturesque luxuriant foliage that is a delight. Only an expert can recognize the many varieties ; but even a layman is im- pressed by the many and varied magnolias, the maple-oaks, the many and unusual conifers, and the numerous odd looking trees that one sees around the grounds, where in springtime the odor of budding blooms and the mass of blossoms is rarely fine. The old moss-covered spring house is a picture, and by the resulting small stream that flows through the vines and tangled foliage, that best of all the songsters, the hermit thrush, may dependably be heard at his best, as well as the grotesque whip-poor-will, or the raucous crow ; from hour to hour. Absolute nature and all out doors, where the tree and nature lover can have complete content. In the jgrounds are several fine old box plants. One, against the hotise and some nine feet high, is said to be just one and two-thirds centuries old, having been planted in 1750, and is of interest in showing the growth of this old fashioned plant of our forefathers. Another freer growing variety, may be found in profusion, 20 or more feet in height and with trunks up to 10" diameter. The last of the Indians in the county lived on the tract, and died about one hundred years ago. There are several Indian graves there ; and a curious flat circular stone, about four feet di- ameter, with a distinct **X," formed by two grooves at right angles on the face of the stone, is called the *^ Indian Stone" It is at the base of a great poplar on the edge of a little run that tum- bles sparkling over a fine mass of boulders and makes into Dismal Run, which is one of the cheeriest brooks around there. If the tree lover wants a day of delight, let him take a day off and explore this section in the upper part of Middle- town township, about a mile and a half north of Lima, and east of the Middletown road. John Kvans, the maker of the arboretum in Radnor township, that bore his name, was con- temporaneous with the Painters, having been born in 1790 and having died in 1862. He too, col- lected from every source, including many foreign ones, but his taste seems to have perhaps gone more into plants and garden specimens than trees. His gardens were along Ithan creek, where now Ithan road runs, from Bryn Mawr Avenue to Rob- erts road. This is a remarkably beautiful and picturescjue stretch of ravine, rocks and wooded stream, but all visible evidence to the passer-by of the arboretum that at one time was there, has long since departed. Now it is a luxurious suburban estate, with expensive iron fencing and pretenti- ous entrance gates, in curious contrast to the sim- plicity of old John F^vans. The one account of this arboretum of the past of which 1 know— -and a fairly extended one — may be found in Smith's History of Delaware County of 1862, pages 459-61. This history was written by Dr. George Smith, a notable man of the county, and an associate of the Painters, being of their time ; and that is to my mind quite the reason why one finds, upon visiting the ''old Smith place," as now called, an 106 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 107 fi| m interesting number of unusual trees ; tho' in no such measure as to compare with the places re- ferred to. Here too, may be found two fine cypress ; a Kentucky coffee tree and two or three fine magnolias, and evergreens more than usual around an old homestead— and there is small doubt but that the doctor— with his wide acquaint- ance with worthwhile people of that section and his love for the better things,— was probably the recipient of many trees or shoots or cuttings for his place. It also is not occupied, and, on the eastern edge of Upper Darby, but a mile or so from Llanerch and the trolley efflux from a great city, is overrun with picnicers and trespassers; de- void of respect for the place and its atmosphere, 'llie old spring house with its dated gable stone, the fine old family mansion, with its genuine smoked rafter kitchen (none of your modern architectural imitations made with a drawing board and a pot of stain), the old mantels and stairway within, and the old trees without, are awaiting the relentless fate of such, upon the edge of a great city ; early effacement by conversion into town lots. A great beech on the right of the lane, near the entrance to the house grounds, is worthy of re- mark. The trunk is some 3>^ to 4 feet thick, and the bark is covered with initials and dates of gene- rations of knife and whittling experts. While ! time heals the cuts, yet many very old ones can still be traced. There are several in the 1700's ; 1780 and 90, etc., that can be convincingly de- ciphered, and one, prefaced by **W.W.," Mr. Benj. H. Smith, a son of Dr. Smith, is strongly of the conviction, was cut by a brother of Benja- min West (the great early American artist whose place of birth still stands at Swarthmore), who lived on the adjoining farm. The Carolina or bald cypress mentioned above, is not native to the county, but grows well if transplanted, and a very good specimen may also be seen in the centre of the drive turn around, at the old George B. Lownes mansion, in the middle of Springfield township, north of the Baltimore pike and the ** Blue Church." If now, we look at the individual county trees of note, there is one that still in fallen form exist- ing, easily takes first place, and that is the great white oak of Upper Darby, that stood on the old Palmer place, now Graceland Cemetery, in Yea- don Borough. This seems to have been par ex- cellence the premier oak of the State. It was 90 feet high with spread of 115 feet in diameter, and of remarkable symmetry as well, the diverg- ing branches being very uniform and even, as to size and spacing. The trunk circumference was ground line, making it nearly 8 to 11 feet thick. Reported upon by the various Forestry Depart- ments and Schools of Harrisburg, the University of Pennsylvania, etc. ; there seems no other oak in the Commonwealth to match it. Unfortunately^ some few years ago, it went— being blown over. All that is left of this true monarch of our trees, now is a huge black and charred trunk ; which, while prone and but a remnant, still impresses as to size.* Its age has been reckoned at about 700 years. Apropos, it may be of passing interest to note that the next largest oak of which I have heard as to the State premiership, is the great oak near Kutztowp, some six feet in diameter of trunk, far short of the Delaware County tree. An ex- cellent picture of this latter appeared in Forest Leaves, Vol. VIII., No. 12, December, 1902. The County, of course, has numerous other fine specimens. A very good group of three— possibly it is four— is in front of the Baptist church a mile or so east of Chadd's Ford, on the Baltimore Pike. Their trunks are 13 feet in circumference, and under their interwoven foliage is a fine old I horse block or upping stone. In Media, opposite ' Pierson's Garage, is a good one, the **Brinton oak," while on the Clarke Thomson place, on the east side of Crum Creek, in Marple Township, is a fine specimen, about 15 feet around. ! Near Chadd's Ford, above mentioned, is the finest sycamore that I have noted in the county, and directly along side the little stone house used by Lafayette as his headquarters before the battle of Brandvwine, September 11, 1 777- ^'^is is nearly 7' thick, of fine proportions and in good condi- tion ; a fine and noble tree indeed. It is under this that some historians say Lafayette was laid, after receiving his wound in the leg, at Brandy- wine ; and, therefore, has become an historic tree. But Lafayette did not spend the night after the battle at the house under the sycamore, but in Chester. Yet it might easily have been that he was taken there or stopped there, in passing by, en route to Chester or during the day. The actu- ality is hard to say, and the story does no harm, at any rate. Ashmead, that historian of the county of i884> who is so wonderfully full of interesting detail and general accuracy, states that in Thornbury town- ship, opposite the **Cheyney shops," *;isa row of button wood trees (sycamores), which were planted by the great-great-grandfathers of the present owners on the nth of September, 1777, the day of the battle of Brandy wine." If this be so, then the size attained in our county in 140 years is interestingly and readily noted. I have 23 feet at the smallest point, and 34 feet at the * A section of this tree trunk was exhibited at the Forestry Exhibi- tion held in Philadelphia, in 1913. not measured these trees, but from a distance would judge the trunks to be some 30" to 36" in diameter. Of chestnut trees, the county has the usual number, so to speak, of very large ones. Most of these are dead ; whether from age, or blight, or poison ivy or what, I cannot say. The largest trunk that I have measured is on Earle's Lane, in Radnor township, and is 26 feet around. Of the ash, there is one in a meadow, east of Chester Creek, in Middletown, about half a mile above Glen Mills station, that is locally noted as an unusual one, and that would cut a single board from out its trunk, 5 to 6 feet wide and 25 feet long or more. Perhaps a third of a m'ile above, on the right of the road that is on the east side of the creek, is a good instance of a tree growing out of a rock ; the oddity that one points out to a child in passing. In this case there are no roots visible at all from one side, and from the other they are scant indeed, of this ten or twelve inch trunk, growing from the crevice of the great boulder, with a firm enough, but equally foodless enough hold. The sassafras is fairly common. In the old saw mills one can readily find sassafras boards, and large trees, nearby, from time to time. A very unusual group, however, is that of four, each nearly 4 feet in diameter, on the north side of the Baltimore Pike, half a mile east of Wawa station, where the lane makes in to the Wawa dairies. These were shown in Forest Leaves, Vol. II., No. 5, July, 1889. Of transplanted trees and conifers, one may re- mark a fine group of larch or tamarack, set out a few years ago below the bridge, at Sycamore Mills, in Upper Providence, by H. H. Battles of Philadelphia, then owning the property. Some three-quarters of a mile away is a group of sugar maples of curious origin. One George Miller, lived on the old and large Miller tract in Upper Providence, the present home of the writer. Born in 1711 or so. Miller sailed to the West Indies in his early life. There, according to the present tradition, he became so disgusted with the filth of sugar making and the wickedness of sla- very, that he would never eat cane sugar again. Upon his return, for years he experimented with sugar making from beets and various other sources. And in 1793, he caused to be set out thro' his son, one hundred sugar maples, transported from the vicinity of Pottstown. These were set out in two groups, one of which gave the name to ** Maple Grove," the premises at present occu- pied by J. Gordon Fetterman, on Providence Road above the Rose Tree Club. Of conifers, in the county, there are but few. Perhaps the only stand of such, enough to make a show, is on the east side of Crum Creek, in the northwest corner of Springfield ; the far side of Swarthmore and along the creek above for a mile or more. This is probably the wildest individual stretch of the many, many beautiful creek stretches in the county. Rock-studded, almost ravine in contour, and with the creek making an extraordi- nary loop, encirchng the old J. Howard Lewis mansion and paper mills, the wooded hillsides contain so much of evergreen-hemlock that there at least, one can momentarily imagine oneself in the Adirondack or Maine woods. The private road, from the '* Plush Mills," at Crum Creek on Baltimore Pike, leads directly to this pictur- esque stretch and evergreen. An interesting item in connection with the trees of the county, is the existence of an old growth of white cedar, now fallen and buried in the swamp land of Tinicum. In Smith's history of the county, of 1862, he shows, page 413, that there must have been a land subsidence at one time in the river bottom ; that in earlier times, some hundreds of years ago, this white cedar there grew, that is not found in the county; and that these fallen logs, of great longevi- ty, were and are yet in considerable numbers buried in the marsh and swamp lands of that section, as excavations from time to time reveal. The first fort, built in 1643, by the Swedes on Tinicum, where Essington village now is, as described by Swedish historians, has been translated as built of ''hemlock logs" ; but Dr. Smith had no doubt whatever but that the actuality was the white cedar logs from the adjacent swamps, that were later also used to build some of the earlier log cabins. One of these, the old '' Morris Ferry House," is still standing. It is close to Darby creek, where the road from Moore's crosses to Essington, and is accredited as of the date of 1698. F. H. Shelton. The total amount of timber cut on the National Forests in the fiscal year 191 7 was 840,612,000 board feet, as against 714,505,000 board feet in 1916. To get the contents in board feet of a sixteen foot log, measure the top diameter inside the bark in inches, subtract four, square the remainder, and add twenty per cent, for the final result. When winter's gales rattle at your windows and creep under your doors, remember that you might have planted a windbreak of pines and spruces last spring. i» 1^ \l A 108 FOREST LEAVF:S. FOREST LEAVES. 109 The Price of Land. TV T EW issues constantly arise in all public ques- \ tions if there is any vitality in the ques- "^ tions. The matter of our State Forest Reserves furnishes more than one case in point. The acquisition of land by the State began in order to protect important watersheds and to make unproductive land produce a crop of valu- able timber, of which a shortage already existed. PennsXania was then and still is far behind the neighboring State of New York in the matter of furnishing extensive forest areas mainly as outing grounds for the people. Before Pennsylvania purchased an acre of Forest Reserve, New York was in possession of nearly or ciu.te a million acres dedicated perpetually to the outing interests of its people. , We of Pennsylvania, however, are learning. Our views upon the subject of recreation ranges and breathing spaces have widened. 1 he de- mand for them has become insistent. As early as iqo6 a bill was introduced into a visionless legis- lature, asking for a modest appropriation to pro- vide camping places on the State Forest Reserves to which the public might go in quest of health required for the duties of daily life. Ihe State had with lavish liberality provided sanatorias for those who were actually ill, but the Legislature was unable to see that this new bill was intended to help solve the question whether it was tiot better, cheaper and more humane to prevent illness by a sojourn in the open air than it was to cure sick- ness in a hospital, or a sanatorium. So the Dill offered to three successive Legislatures died tor want of vision in our representatives. What was asked then has become a mere drop in the bucket compared with what will be freely granted now. The gospel of fresh air is accepted now. None of its doctrinal points are m dispute. The State Forestry reports show that each year thousands of our people betake themselves for rest , and recreation to our Forest Reserves. Our btate, with a newly-born liberality, grants for a term ol years, for a mere song, camping sites to proper seekers Hunting Clubs, Audubon Clubs, Burroughs Clubs, all come clamoring for more lands, wider privileges and for reserves nearer home, In fact, one of the wisest things our former (iovernor Stone said (in his sturdy advocacy of Forestry), was "that if it was a good thing for one county to have a forest reserve, he could not see why it would not be good for every county to have one. Of course, this demand for Forest Reserves has naturally given new value to the land of poor character. The first land purchased in this State at tax sale came at a price well under a dime an acre Not an acre can now be had in that region for less than two dollars an acre. In fact the whole country has a new found prosperity, in the fact that land has become valuable enough to have the taxes paid, and little if any is offered at tax sale. This, however, is merely incidental to the main issue that the value of "unseated land over the State has increased. Limitations were fixed by law as to what might be paid per acre for State forest reserve purposes, and five dollars was the maximum price. Land, within this limit, in abutidance was offered tq us on the eastern watersheds ; because there was but little market for land stripped of timber and devoid of either mineral or agricul- tural possibilities. , . I The case was widely different on the Ohio watershed, almost all of which was underlaid with mineral wealth of coal, oil, gas or iron. I he last legislature wisely made ten dollars instead of five the maximum limit. So far so good. It is, how- ever, a matter of grave doubt whether not it was wise to let down the bars so far as to permit for the present payment of ten dollars per acre for he surface right alone, leaving the minerals in the hands of the former owner. Experience would have shown that thousands of acres on the (-)hio watershed would come in its entirety to the State ; but for that clause. It was merely a question of waiting. As it now is the State will be offered the surface only, and that at the "^^f •'"7\P"^^- It is well at this point to correct the statement widely and persistently made that the bulk of the State reserves are nearer the eastern than ttie western portion of the Comnionwealth and therefore, in the interest of that favored half. 1 is only necessary to look at the map for an instant to show that except for the Pike county region the State Forest Reserves are as near to and a^ ac- ' cessible to Pittsburgh as to Philadelphia Which ' effectually disposes of the idea that '^nd must be ' bought for the special use of any part of the btate at the only price that the owner will sell, regardless of its inherent worth to the State, or its capacity I for producing a crop of value. The State Forest Reserve Commission earnestly desires to purchase land on the Ohio watershed to regulate and sustain the water flow there, and to furnish outing grounds for the inhabitants o ■ the region as near to their homes as may be ; Dut it is also bound to know just why the surface of any particular acre is worth five or ten dollars an acre to the State. No doubt there are such acres but it is the duty of the Forestry Commission to be assured of the fact before purchasing. The tact that the owner places that value upon it is nothing to the point. The measure of its value to the State is what it is worth to the State. Anything above that is improper, and, in most cases, un- pardonable profiteering. J. T. R. More Land for Eastern National Forests. T^ HE National Forest Reservation Commission I on December 12, 191 7, authorized the "^ purchase of 65,923 acres of land in the Southern Appalachians and White Mountains for inclusion in the Eastern National Forests. A reso- lution was adopted refusing to make further pur- chases in Georgia until after the repeal of hostile legislation passed by the State last summer. About 27,800 acres on the Savannah and Georgia Pur- chase Areas, which were recommended to the Commission, will be held up by this resolution. The Commission also refused to approve the pur- chase of a tract on the Unaka Area in Tennessee, for which a higher price than that agreed to by the owner was awarded by the jury in condemna- tion proceedings brought with the owners' s con- sent to clear the title. The largest single holding whose acquisition was authorized is one of 35,079 acres on the She- nandoah National Forest, in Bath, Augusta, and Highland counties, Virginia, for which $2.50 per acre will be paid. In Winston and Lawrence counties, Alabama, a number of small tracts, aggregating 13,435 acres were approved. Other lands ordered purchased include 1,430 acres in Carroll and (irafton counties. New Hampshire; 7,250 acres in Amherst County, Virginia; 6,801 acres in Buncombe, Mitchell, Yancey, McDowell, and Macon counties. North Carolina, and 1,428 acres in Tucker and Randolph counties. West Virginia. The greater part of the land approved in Am- herst County, Virginia, on the Natural Bridge National Forest, is owned by the city of Lynch- burg and comprises the watershed from which the city derives its municipal water supply. A con- dition of the sale to the Government is that this tract and adjoining lands shall be administered and protected so that the purity of the water sup- ply will not be endangered. No restriction, how- ever, is placed on full utilization of the resources of the tract. About 200 board feet of wood is used in the actual construction of the average airplane. To obtain this material it is ordinarily necessary to work over about 1,500 feet of select lumber, which often represents all that can be used for airplanes of 15,000 board feet of standing timber. Utilizing Wood for the War. PROF. J. W. TOUMEY, Director Yale For- est School, in the Public Ledger^ says : ** Victory is with the army whose country has the greatest iron mines and smelters, the largest area of waving grain and abundance of wood. Of all the products of the soil upon which the very life of a nati,on depends in times of war, wood is the only one that cannot be rapidly increased under necessity and by the employment of ade- quate labor. Therefore, provision for adequate national defense necessitates the maintenance of vast reserves of timber throughout the nation, re- serves from which billions of feet can be drawn in a single year if necessary to meet the needs of the army and navy. A sane and conservative development of forest resources to meet the needs of the nation in times of peace necessitates a constantly increasing in- tensity of managment of all absolute forest land and the building up and maintenance of an enor- mous forest capital. Please remember this forest capital can be drawn upon in times of war and may determine the fate of the nation. England has for centuries neglected her forests and for generations has obtained most of the wood used in her buildings and industry from beyond the sea. The stress of war found her with a meager forest capital, and New England's sons, many of them New Hampshire boys, are today felling the remnant of the forests of that proud country that the empire may live. When the somber clouds of war are lifted from Europe's battlefields and peace again rules over the earth, England's lesson, learned in this bitter strife, will be taken to heart by her people and forests will clothe her idle lands. A forest capital, far beyond that of former days, will not only add to her economic development in times of peace but be developed and maintained to better insure her against vital needs in times of possible future strife. France has been more far-seeing in her forest policy, and, next to Germany, has been the most successful nation in Europe in the economic de- velopment of her non-agricultural lands for the production of timber. When the war broke out she had a forest capital that under the necessity of strife could be drawn upon for vast supplies of wood necessary for mining, transportation and trench construction, all vital to her very exist- ence. If the French had had no forests at the outbreak of the war France would be devastated today and the nations of middle Europe feasting in the halls of Paris. i Even Russia, that great country of the North, m 1 , \\\ iv 110 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. Ill 't « awakened from her sleep of centuries, and now laboring in the throes of a new nationalism, is calling for regiments of American foresters and woodsmen to hurry wood from her forests to the front and to centres where it can be utilized for war purposes. A regiment of American foresters and woods- men is already in France. Other regiments are being formed to be sent as soon as equipped and trained Thousands of foresters trained at Yale and elsewhere, and woodsmen trained in every forest from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to the Gulf will soon be busy behind the western front, hurrying wood from the forest to the ^^The products of French forests back of the English and French lines are destined to continue a dominant force in the Allied victory which we all pray for, and which every patriot believes in and is ready to fight for, and if necessary die to attain. The reconstruction of France after peace again reigns over the earth will cry aloud for the reha- bilitation of the forests, that her forest capital, exhausted by the war, may be re-established, may again be a potent factor in her industrial develop- ment and a great, commanding asset in national defense. , ^ , , . Germany, at the outbreak of war, had a vast forest reserve, developed through generations of fostering care and careful management. Her war-time demands for timber, like that of the Allies, have been very great. Her famous Black Forest, so near the western front, is playing a prodigious part in the war drama from the Black Sea to the Swiss border. Rumors come to us that 1 much of this great forest has been cut for war pur- poses. In my opinion the products from the , Black Forest have been a dominant factor in hold- ing the German lines. It is entirely possible that it has been a controlling factor. Without them or other supplies of German wood, the invaders would have been swept from foreign soil long ago. Now we are told that the world war is straining Germany's timber resources beyond the breaking point. As I look back to those wonder- ful stretches of forests in Baden and Wurtemberg, known for centuries as the Black Forest, with their great shafts of spruce and fir, with their splendid roads, their attractive inns and wonder- ful productiveness, I wonder if all the beauty is gone. Has the Black Forest gone down before the ax and saw? I fear it has, and with the re- moval of the trees has disappeared its chief attraction for the coming generations. Our own great nation, 3000 miles from the blood-stained fields of Europe, is now calling for tremendous quantities of wood for the needs of the army and navy and for the use of our Allies. The Federal Shipping Commission alone will re- quire more than 1,000,000 M. feet of the choicest timber to be found, and the construction of bar- racks and other buildings for the use of the vast army that we are now training and equipping will require about as much more. New National Forest Created in Alabama. 7\ PROCLAMATION creating the Alabama y4X National Forest has been signed by the ^ President. About 10,500 acres of public lands in Lawrence and Winston counties, in the northern part of the State; which has been with- drawn from entry, are included in the new Na- tional Forest. In addition the Government has purchased approximately 12,000 acres, and has options on an additional 13,000 acres in the same locality. It is expected that, by further pur- chases, the Forest will eventually be enlarged to include about 150,000 acres. Much of the land in question was formerly en- tered under the homestead laws, and abandoned because the settlers were unable to make a living. Good timber is produced, however. The area is on the headwaters of the Sipsey River, an impor- tant tributary of the Warrior River, where the Government is building an extensive system of locks and dams. For this reason officials of the Forest Service say it is particularly important that the forests on the headwaters of the river be pro- tected against forest fires and indiscriminate cut- ; ting If the timber is cut clean, the light sandy soil on the steep slopes is washed down into the river, where it forms sand bars and prevents navi- ^^It is pointed out that the inclusion of the land in the National Forest does not mean that it ceases to produce revenue to the local counties. As in other National Forests, mature timber that can safely be cut will be sold, and a small charge made for stock grazing and other uses of the land. By laW, 25 per cent, of the gross receipts of the Na- tional Forests is returned to the road and school fund of the States in which they are located. An additional 10 per cent, is spent by the Forest Service in building roads and trails. It is stated that tentative applications have al- ready been received for the purchase of five or six million feet of timber and for the grazing of sev- eral hundred head of cattle. A single issue of a large city Sunday paper is said to consume the timber from 15 acres of forest. System in Fire Prevention and Extinction. THE cooperation which must be had with our citizens, and which may be obtained with some effort, is well set forth in a report submitted to the Department of Forestry by for- ester V. M. Bearer upon a protection system which he found organized in western Pennsylvania by forest fire warden Mr. E. C. Myers, of Mount Pleasant. *'The region covered included Mount Pleasant Borough and Mount Pleasant township, Westmore- land county, and Bullskin township of Fayette county. It is divided into ten districts with defi- nite limits, as follows : District No. District No. District No. District No. District No. District No. District No. Westmoreland county. I. Between County Line Road and Stone Pike. Between Stone Pike and Jacobs Creek. Between Jacobs Creek and Sny- der Road. Between Snyder Road and Clay Pike. Between Clay Pike and Bear Rock Road. Between Bear Rock Road and Johnson Road. Between Johnson Road and Catholic Church Road. 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- District No. i. District No. 2. District No. 3. Fayette county. Between County Line and Green- lick. Between Greenlick and Mounts Creek. Between Mounts Creek and Stauf- fer Road. ** Several 'fire companies' of ten to fifteen men, including a captain, are formed. Each of these companies keeps strict watch for fires in the one or two districts which are assigned to it, and im- mediately upon the discovery of a fire set out to combat it. The various companies cooperate and unite forces when necessary, as in case of a wide spreading fire with a prevailing high wind. ** Though other companies are quick to offer assistance to the one engaged in combating forest fires, usually the fire is under control when they arrive. This immediate control of fires is effected through the several companies of * minute men,' who are ever ready to respond to the call of fire. They are so distributed over the locality as to bring every danger point within easy reach of at least one company. Their locations are as follows : Co. *'A" Laurelville. Co. '*B" Acme. Co. **C" Byerly's School House. Co. '*D" Kecksburg. Co. **E" Lycippus. Co. '*F" Greenlick. Co. **G" Bear Rock. ** These companies include men whose foremost thought, when they hear of a fire, is to control and extinguish it. They act accordingly, and often the fire is under control by the time the fire warden arrives. ** Here is found that spirit which is so essential in the prevention and control of forest fires, and which must be created throughout the entire state of Pennsylvania before the fire protection system can approach perfection, before we can be really well protected from this most destructive enemy of the woods. It is the spirit of the people here, in general, to offer their assistance regardless of what the 'rate' or 'wages' may be. Compensation is a secondary consideration. The citizens realize that the fifteen cents per hour which has been paid in the past is nothing in comparison with that which they preserve and protect from the ravages of fire. They realize, too, that although the efforts to preserve the forests result to some extent in benefiting the Commonwealth, they themselves re- ceive the lion's share. *' Neither do they attribute the value of a forest entirely to the wood products it yields. lis uses and value as a hunting ground and place of recre- ation ; as a region where the fisherman may find his joy ; where the invalid may seek health and become convalescent ; as a preventive of serious floods and a source of continuous and pure water supply ; as a field for labor and a first aid to the business and prosperity of the community ; these uses and values are understood and appreciated here. ■ • **The people are always ready to volunteer. They provide fire-fighting tools, and often furnish teams and automobiles to enable the force to reach the fire quickly. In brief, they are willing to help the State help them to protect that which is theirs. ** While the services of the community are fully appreciated, special credit must be given the fire warden and his assistants for their efforts in organ- izing the fire companies and for securing the coop- eration of the citizens." The latest advice is not to char the ends of fence posts before setting them in the ground. The charcoal is said to hold water and thereby hastens rotting of the post. FOREST LEAVES. CHIPS. A eraceful tribute to a great explorer was paid when the "mountainous and finest landscape portion of Mount desert Island, on the coast of Maine?" was named ^^ Sieur de Monts National ^ThTmonument is notable not only in itself be- cause of its commanding grandeur, but because .t is a gift from citizens to the public. It is a space to be perpetually set apart for the benefit of those needing rest and recreation, and as an outing ground for those whose souls thrive on the beautiful. Hardwood distillation yields raw Pyoligneous i acid wood gas and charcoal from beech, birch and maple. From the tar of the pyrol.gneous add "ome wood tar, acetate of lime and wood alcohol. From the acetate of lime acetic acid is ""Vrom acetic acid acetone is made and used in manufacture of the high explosives known as cordite and lyddite. Just now there is an enorm- ous demand for acetone in manufacture of cordite. Wood alcohol in various degrees of purity en- ters into the production of aniline dyes, formalde- hyde, photographic films and smokeless powder. As a whole, hardwood distillation in this country has had an uncertain career. By modern methods, it implies considerable capital, abund- ance of the raw material and a steady market. New York and northern Pennsylvania were once the chief centers of the industry which now cen- ters in Michigan. The work of acquiring State forests proceeds slowly as we learn from Mr. Coolidge in the De- cember issue of \.\it Journal of Forestry. New Hampshire has 8,350 acres, \ermont 12,000 acres, Massachusetts 34,897 acres, among which are included 10,910 acres of Mountain lop reservations purchased especially for recreation purposes. Connecticut has 2,457 acres, New York has 1,814,550 acres, most of which was pur- chased years ago. This is the largest acreage held by any State, and of it 54 per cent, is heavily timbered. New Jersey has 13,699 acres, lenn- svlvania has about 1,020,000 acres, costing on the average $2.27 per acre. Eight thousand acres have been replanted. The revenue derived from the State forests is placed to the credit of the Public School Educational Fund for permanent investment ; the interest only to be used for edu- cational purposes. Already the State forests have made substantial contributions to the fund. Mary- land has about 3,000 acres, Ohio has 1,730 acres. Michigan has 525.246 acres, Wisconsin 342,91° acres, Minnesota 43,°°°. South Dakota will have 60,143 acres, Colorado has 1,600 acres, Cahfornia has a reserve of 8,300 acres. The above acreage are designated as reserves, but in addition thereto Maine holds in trust for educational purposes 60,000 acres of forest and, Minnesota owns 3,000,000 acres of forest land. Colorado also has 383.400 acres, Montana owns about 492,000 acres, Oregon owns 510,000 acres, Washington State University has control of 100,000 acres of forest land. (Note —The author obtained his facts from the forestry officials of the various States, and opinions differ as to what constitutes ?i forest reserve.^ > The blue jay does not take kindly to town life, but this unusual winter has driven a flock of them into West Chester, where they find suet placed on the trees for the birds. They are the only bird visitors that awe the English sparrows. In times of extreme suffering the crows visit the suet tree, and on one occasion a hawk came. The tracks in the snow show that the rabbits wander through built-up portions of West Chester during the night in search of food ; and they even venture up on the porches in search of it. I In these coalless times it is quite worthwhile to read about "A Community Wood-Chopping Day," in 0//MW" of Jan. 23d, page 154- The 15th annual report of the Pocono Pro- tective Fire Association, of Monroe County, for the year 191 7, shows continued progress and ac- tivity 79 new members were received, the roll now numbering 307- The receipts were $1,846. 76 and expenditures $i,439-6o. le^^'^S ^ ^f «*; tf $407. 16. $609. 19 were received from the State as refunds of one half the amount expended by he Association for forest protective work, under the CO operative agreement which exists $1,076.94 were paid out for the support of the fire patrol. Forest fires were more frequent and extensive than in 1916, due mainly to weather conditions ;— high winds prevailing for many days at a time, and drying out the grasses, the dead leaves and bnish. In the spring 83 fires were reported, burning 6464 acres ; in the autumn there were 23 «>■« and 2089 acres burned over. The fire patrol rendered ex- cellent service. They extinguished 27 f^res with- out further cost to the State and took part in fight- ing 30 other fires. A second observation tower 1 was equipped this year with telephone service for the use of the patrol, the Association building the line, half a mile long. Published Bi-Mt)NTHLY. Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. Vol. XVI.— No. 8 Philadelphia, April, 1918 Whole Number 184 EDITORIALS. THE Summer Meeting of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association will be held at Pocono Manor, June 26, 27 and 28, 191 8. An attractive program with interesting automobile trips through this beautiful, mountainous section of the State is now being arranged. Due notice will be sent to members. It is hoped that all who can, will be present. ***** Great public movements are often required to start counter-movements which are, in themselves indisputably right, though distinctly out of line with ordinary life habits. To say that every able- bodied man, or woman should be a producer and in some way add to the total of human prosperity and happiness would be to utter a truism, so plain ' as to be a mere platitude. Vet the fact is that 1 there are thousands who not only add nothing to the common good, but have a certain morbid pride in confessing it. It is a weakness which is i most apt to manifest itself in periods of long con- tinued prosperity, and its cure is usually brought j about by some dire emergency, or National ca- lamity. In such a period of need those very apa- thists may redeem themselves by heroic endeavor and by fruitful labor. | Bryn Mawr College has always been a leader of the productive sort. Its endeavor, by precept and \ example, has been to lead its pupils to a life of i service, and in nothing has it ever made an effort \ more fitting to the time than when last summer ! West Chester was invaded by a group of its pupils, who were bent upon producing the vegetable food required for their college. It was no Quixotic adventure ; on the contrary, it was a carefully considered, well-matured plan. The young women ' knew that it meant dress, more or less masculine in ( haracter, early hours, and actual, downright hard iabor. A few quotations from the business report of the Patriotic Farm will make the methods and the results plain, /;/ part — but only m part — for no one ;uay estimate that ** unknown quantity " of influ- 'uce for good which such an example may, or ought to exert upon the public. It was not an entire success financially, because it was a first educational adventure and, as stated in the report, such seldom show a clear balance sheet. With a splendid, patriotic zeal Bryn Mawr hopes to show by a second season even a financial success. Such courage commands respect. The following extracts from the official report of the Bryn Mawr Patriotic Parm, explain the spirit and the success of the enterprise. J. T. R. ** The distribution of crops was as follows; Five acres po- tatoes, seven acres sweet corn, five acres of beans, three acres of general garden truck." '* The number of workers varied from ten to twenty-si .\ at a time, averaging eighteen or twenty most of the time. In all al)out eighty persons took part in the work." '*The hving arrangements were simple in the extreme. Each worker had to pay $7.50 a week for board and lodging, and in order to earn this amount she had to work thirty-seven and a half hours a week at twenty cents an hour. Saturday night was pay time and it was highly instructive to see the line of girls with their business-like time cards waiting their turn in the manager's room. Rainy weather meant a dead loss for the farm hands as their income and expenses would not balance, but in some weeks the net profits of workers were actually as much as two dollars." ** Work began at seven and lasted until twelve. Then the truck took every one back to luncheon in West Chester, re- turning an hour later. By ^\s^ work was over for the day, and again the truck was useful in taking the hot, tired laborers to the beautiful little lake on Mr. Sharpless' estate, where a swim made them over. Even after eight hours' work with the thermometer 100 degrees in the shade — if there had been any shade — diving contests and games of 'Follow the Leader' were in order. The spirit of The Man with the Hoc never .showed its dark countenance among us. Instead it was an inspiration to see .such a daily exhibition of indefatigable youth. During those eight hours a day every kind of agri- cultural labor was practiced at one time or another. We had the services of one man and a horse plough for several hours each dav l)Ut there were few girls who did not try their hand at guidini^ the plough, and no one found it an impossible or even an exhausting task. Our rows of beans were one-third of a mile long and it took five hours to hoe down one row and back another. Many a morning was spent at that steady, unrelieved toil. Pushing a hand cultivator is also hard work, but a lot of it was done. Scattering fertilizer, transplanting in all its forms, weeding, were the gentle occupations of our afternoons. Many unforseen jobs cropped up. The mo^t formidable of these was bui-lding a cannery. This the stu- dents actually did themselves, laying a cement floor in neat squares, making cement steps and oven>, building the roof and adjustable side* of lumber, with the direction and assist- ance of Mr. Cromwell and the one man. It was a creditable piece of work and was much admired by our many visitors." "About the end of July work in the field gave place to work in the cannery. Peas, beets, beans, chard, corn, and FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 115 m or cuttin^^ corn off the cob gase ^ ^^ i ^hree or four hours have been monotonous work. Standing ^"^ee ^;, so much food for our Allies. ( )ur adventure ha. been, the.e fore, a genuinely patriotic one.' February i, 1918. Bryn Mavvr, Pennsylvania. Arbor Day Proclamation. WHEREAS, A wise people will never sacri- fice a permanent good for a temporary gain ; and Whereas, Pennsylvania today can correct the error of a former time and make her future popu- lation increasingly happy and healthy by planting trees and thus manifest a wise provision and do a worthy service, and Whereas, It is increasingly manifest that this great Commonwealth needs great reaches of forests and widely distributed areas of shade to the end that our people may not lack in the essential re- sources that are necessary to their well-being, Now, Therefore, I, Martin G. Brumbaugh, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, do hereby designate and set aside Friday, April 12, and Friday, Aprii. 26, i9i«, AS Arbor Days. Our environment has much to do with the kind of people we are. To build a home and rear chddren in a barren waste is wholly unwise. To live in the presence of trees ; to know their practical and I mystical ministrations ; to environ our homes with trees whose shade and fruits are ministrations of the greatest value ; to hear the songs of birds with the songs of our mothers, to realize that God thus speaks to us is ministry that is holy. Withoiit it life lacks much that it craves and needs. One cannot think of a treeless country as a great country. If we are to have a continuous flow of life-giving water in our streams ; if we are to avoid devasting floods and deadly droughts ; if we are to maintain our rapidly increasing population in health and happiness ; if we are to ])rovide recreation that is wholesome and healthful ; if we are to increase the necessary animal life to provide food for our people ; if we are to multiply the flocks of insect- devouring and song-lhroaled birds; if we are to restore and maintain the Pennsylvania that was once our happy heritage we must plant trees^ There is increasing demand for fruit and nut bearing trees in Pennsylvania. Our great high- ways, now happily becoming satisfactory avenues of travel for our people and of transportation for our products, should be lined with these trees and their products utilized to keep these highways always in excellent condition. Thus our many matchless miles of scenic splendor can bt: made also a source of grateful shade and enduring good for our people. 1 «. „„ It is not only a duty imposed by law but an obligation imposed by every sane consideration to encourage the humane treatment of all living things that are not harmful to human life. Our song birds are among our blessed ministries They should be protected and welcomed. We need trees for their refuge and nests. It is most im- portant that Arbor Day should include among its dominant features some reference to our feathered friends. Let Bird Day be made part of Arbor Dav Teach our children that when they plant a tree they plant a home for birds, that these birds must be our companions if we are to live arigh and that there are few songs, if any, in the heart of a people if birds are not singing at dawn irom tree top and forest fastness. A boy that harms a bird is not a good American boy. Trees should be planted about our homes our , churches, our schools ; in our public parks, along ' our streets and highways ; and on our remotes mountains. Memorial trees, in honor of great men and women and great events in our history i should have commanding place. An example of this is to be found on the campus of your btate Capitol where a row of trees, each bearing the ^ name of an honored colonial governor, is now planted. Let the love and loyalty of our people find fitting expression in a widely-ranged ob- servance of Arbor Day. t 1 .u . In home and pulpit and school assemble the citizenry of this great Commonwealth and impress the meaning and value of the day and then out in the open, under the bending sky, in God s glori- our sunshine set trees as memorials of your fixed purpose to make Pennsylvania the most life-con- serving and beautiful Commonwealth in all the ^^^ (*;ivFN under my band and the Great Seal of the State, at the City of Harrisburg, this twenty-fifth day of March, in the year ot [^^'^^'] our Lord one thousand nine hundred annces.— North American, Pennsylvania Snakes. THE outing season and the snake season coin- cide in Pennsylvania. The -red-blooded" outers, those who camp and wander in the mountain portions of the State, are in the way of making a somewhat intimate acquaintance with sL'ch' of our snakes as are in bad repute and are considered undesirable neighbors. Pennsylvania has but two species of snakes, /'. f N « ♦ * • - « . 120 FOREST LEAVES. from high-water mark. The windward slope of ' the dune is from 4 to 14 degrees, ^nd its leeward slope about 30 degrees. This dune is kept in shape by the growth of grasses upon it, stock is carefully kept off of it, and even man is not allowed to wander at will over the dunes, lest the wind following in his footsteps set the sand in motion. The French engineers hold firmly to the opinion that the Sahara itself would soon have its oases united and be largely grassed over if wandering Arabs and roaming ( amels could be fenced out of it. *' The dunes next the shore having been fixed, it was nearlv fifty years before any further effort was made to reclaim this region of marshes and ^ miasma.' M. Chambrelent, a young engineer of bridges and roads, was sent to the Gironde to study the drainage of 8,000,000 hectares of land in the districts of Gascony and The Landes. His plans were not accepted,' but he was so thoroughly satis- fied of their feasibility that he bought some land and applied to it the measures he advocated. In TS55 the results of his experiments were submitted to an international jury. ' The jury was so favor- ablv impressed that it recommended the applica- tion of Chambrelent's i)lans to the entire region, and in ia, Quercus alba x strl/nfit and Qucnu.s nihil X rriuus. Thus it appears that the father of the group is guilty of more affinity like tendencies than anv of the other si)ecics. In the second group of Red Oaks or liiennials the sjiecies that hybridizes more readily and form well known characters, at least in certain locali ties, is the Willow Oak. Hence we have Qucrcu A VIEW OF THE DUNES, GASCONY, FRANCE. La Cdte d' Argent FOREST WITH FIRE LINE, GASCONY, FRANCE. 1 Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 8. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvl, No. 8. :i A RESINER, GASCONY, FRANCE. AN OLD SHEPHERD OF THE LANDES, GASCONY, FRANCE. i ^ 4 * ■ • Bngtrs Laniaii ■ " , , • _ ', ■ ■-<■;>■ ^a^!^j^MlH^^EJaH|MBPI|B^^^^^^B^B8r* 'jMiivfl^a ^V^*v^:»-pi»rv-^ A RESINER'S HOME, LANDES, GASCONY, FRANCE. A VIEW IN THE LANDES, GASCONY, FRANCE. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvi., No. 8. Forest Leaves, Vol. xvl, No. 8. A RESINER, GASCONY, FRANCE. AN OLD SHEPHERD OF THE LANDES, GASCONY, FRANCE. A RESINER'S HOME, LANDES, GASCONY, FRANCE. A VIEW IN THE LANDES, GASCONY, FRANCE. FOREST LEAVES. 121 Forest Lkaves, Vol. xvi., No. 8. 1' HYBRID OAK. QUERCUS IMBRICARIA X PALUSTRIS. FINLAND, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. Phellos X rubra, (Quercus heterophylla or Bartram Oak) Quercus Phellos x Marilandica (Quercus Rudkini) and Quercus Phellos x ilicifolia. Some other coQimon forms in this group are Quercus Catesbaeiy Quercus Leana and Quercus tride^itata. Most of these are found in the Middle or Middle Atlantic States. Apparently one of the rarest crosses within the last named group is Quercus iinbricaria x palus- tris. It is reported in the ** Check List of the Forest Trees of the United States," prepared by Geo. B. Sudvvorth, Dendrologist of the Division of Forestry, with this note: ^* Range, — Missouri (8 miles west of St. Louis ; but tree since de- stroyed)." It is for the specific purpose of describing and making known a form of the last named hybrid recently discovered, and perhaps the only known one in existence in the United States, according to the Government Bulletin, that this article is written. The oak is growing on the west bank of what is known as Swamp Creek, at Finland, Bucks County, Pa., a small village near the Montgomery County line. It is about 8o feet tall and has a trunk about 2)0 or 3 feet in diameter from the base for distance of perhaps 30 feet without branches. At this point the large branches begin to grow from the stem, and the tree gradually tapers toward the top with a graceful contour, as- suming a stately and majestic appearance. The tree was discovered a few years ago, and if I knew the name of the one who first chanced upon this interesting oak, I would gladly give him credit for finding so rare a specimen, even though he may not have been able to determine its spe- cific identity. Since it has become known it has puzzled not a few botanists who have tried to solve the problem of its parentage and to work out its complex combination. When in the month of July of last year I learned that the tree had been determined l)y some one as Quercus Rudkini^ a cross of Quercus Phellos x Marilandica, and that this identification seemed to be generally accepted by local botanists, I had a great desire to visit Finland and learn more about this inter- esting hybrid at first hand. I reasoned that Quer- cus Rudkini might be a good guess for a hybrid in certain localities, but that Quercus Phellos and Quercus Marilandica would both be out of their known range in Finland, Bucks County, Pa. After seeing the tree and having secured good leaf specimens with embryo acorns, in July, I ven- tured to surmise that it might be Qicercus Leana, a cross of Quercus imbricaria x Quercus relutina ; since such a combination is not uncommon, and the entire leaves, especially the larger ones, clearly pointed to a parent such as the Shingle Oak ; but, of course, without fruit this was simply one of a number of probabilities. I then sent the specimens, with a description of the tree, together with my suggestion, to Prof. C. S. Sargent, Di- rector of the Arnold Arboretum, Jamacia Plain, Mass., and asked him for his opinion. I received a very prompt and courteous reply, assuring me of his interest in the tree, but arriving at no con- clusion because of insufficient evidence. He did not, however, believe it to be Quercus Leana for the following reasons, which I quote from his let- ter: **The supposed hybrid looks a good deal like Quercus Leana, although the leaves are rather narrower than the leaves of that tree, and this sta- tion is beyond its previously known range. I do not feel, therefore, like giving a definite opinion on this tree without having seen the fruit." Following the suggestion of Prof. Sargent, » I made a second visit to Finland in November and secured splendid specimens of well matured fruit and additional leaves for further investiga- tion. After a careful examination of the fruit I saw well marked parental characteristics of Quer- cus imbricaria combined with other well defined marks of Quercus palustris. I then sent the fruit- ing branches with the leaves, together with two photographs of the tree to Prof. Sargent, without telling him that I was bold enough to surmise that the tree might be Quercus imbricaria x palustris, and awaited his verdict. I received his reply within a week, and to my agreeable surprise he stated, ** For a guess I would suggest that it is a hybrid of imbricaria and palustris. We have specimens here of what we believe to be that cross, and they look very much like your tree. Thfs is evidently a very fine tree, and I am going to plant the acorns and see what the seedlings look like." I then reported the tree to the Department of Forestry at Washington, D. C, sending along with the report leaf and fruit specimens and received a fiill and complete explanation of Quercus imbri- caria, and the species with which it is most com- monly found, from C. R. Tilloston, Acting Chief of Forest Investigations. He stated how it is comi)aratively easy to arrive at a definite conclu- sion in reference to Quercus imbricaria \ palustris, and distinguish it from the other forms in which Quercus imbricaria is represented as the parent tree from the fact that the fruits in the other forms or : combinations are coarser and more scaly. From the evidence produced I am convinced that there can be no doubt about the identifica- tion of this interesting tree, which, so far as known, is unique among the hybrid oaks of the ' United States, and because of its uniqueness, should be protected, lest it too meet a fate similar to the one at St. Louis. W. A. Kline. !( 122 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 123 Blair County Game, Fish and Forestry Association. to fill in gaps and reijerve the rest for future pur- i THE Association has just issued its Third An- nual Report from which the following excerpts are taken : During the year 148 new members have joined the Association. January 13, 191 7, a charter was granted to the Association, legalizing the organization as a body to be recognized by the laws of the Commonwealth \ of Pennsylvania, and in turn to have power to assist | in enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth as far as they apply to the conservation of the natural resources in which the Association is interested. The auxiliary branch of the Association, com- posed of 211 young people under 18 years of age, , is justifying its existence. The young people are becoming much interested in all that the Associa- tioD stands for, becoming more and more familiar with the results of cultivating the idea of conserva- ^ tion of resources and the protection of wild life as part of their civic responsibility. In due time they will become active members of the Association. The exhibition of mounted specimens of wild life, at the headquarters, attracted thousands of visitors, arousing widespread interest throughout 1 the community. This interest indicated the edu- | cational value of such an exhibit, being an incen- tive for the acquirement of more information. . The increase in membership, following the ex- hibition, may be considered one of the results. ' A similar, but more extensive, exhibit at the Blair County Fair in September also attracted uni- versal attention and elicited favorable comments. The president and the Committee of Forestry united in their efforts to improve the system of forest fire wardens. An understanding was reached with Mr. Walter D. Ludwig, District Forester for Pennsylvania, and Mr. C. Webster, representing the Tipton C^ap Water Company, and Blair Gap Water Company and cooperation was secured and assured of these triple interests for the protection of our forests against fire ; the State, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the P»lair County Game, Fish and Forestry Association. As a most gratifying result of this cooperation only one forest fire was re- corded last fall, against several in the spring before this agreement went into effect. Muslin printed fire notices were bought and placed at conspicuous points of the county to serve as fire warnings. Of the 1,000 of such notices tacked up the first two years it is estimated that 800 are still intact. Twenty thousand trees were asked from the State to be planted at Kittanning Point water shed poses. , T J r These trees were received in May and 9,000 of them were planted with the help of the Boy Scouts, while 11,000 were left for the nursery, in- stalled at the Point. Trees for free distribution among the members and the public were ordered from a commercial nursery. Three thousand of these trees were re- ceived, consisting of butternut, walnut and Russian mulberry, and distributed. The City Commissioners were asked to accept the present Pennsylvania statute for creating a shade tree commission. One hundred each of bay-berry and bar-berry trees were purchased and planted at suitable places to furnish winter food for the birds. These trees are growing nicely. I Encouraging reports were also presented in ref- erence to game, fish, wild birds, song and insec- tivorous birds. Between Winter and Spring. THE vernal equinox, March 21, is about the average dividing line between the two seasons — ordinarily in Pennsylvania, win- ter's grip is not positively broken, nor is spring surely here. The Robins and the blackbirds may be with us as pledges of what is to follow, but rarely indeed have we heard the mellow, cheery piping of the little '' knee-deep " frog, whose call seldom fails to be a real sign that spring is actu- allv here. Even during the ordinary winter there are '' fits and starts " of plant life. For example, the buds of the mountain elder, otherwise known as the red-berried-elder, were just ready to burst into bloom on January 7th, and on January 23rd (19 14) I found the first snow-drop in flower. It was hav- ing a hard time, but the brave little thing was doing its best. There were more of them out on the 30th, responding to a noon temperature of 62 degrees. On February ist, the mercury rose to 45 de- grees and the horse-chestnut buds, which had been a dull brown, became bright and shining on the sunny side where the gum coating was melting ; i though on the shady side of the bud, the dull brown color remained, because the gum had not melted there. So, then, one may say that 45 degrees of Fahrenheit is the point at which the loosening of the bud scales may start a permanent growth of the bud contents of the horse-chestnut. I Each of the succeeding snow storms made us anxious about our snow drops. But when the last heavy fall of snow was melted, we looked for them. There they were. They had just bloomed on. It was fortunate that their hardy nature | transformed what was a shroud to the tender plants into a protection to them. The snows of March 6th, 7th, 9th and nth, did not in the least cool their ardor, for I noticed that on March 17th,* when our white-tailed robin made us the first call of his third year stay, that the honey \ bees were having an early feast in the snow drops that whitened the ground. They had been bloom- ing under the snow. | While the snow drop was going its way regard- less of weather conditions, the robust trees were showing evident signs of being retarded by the cold snow. The pine needles were clustered together as if to reduce their exposed surfaces and giiard against injury. For example, in the white pine five leaves spring from one point. When closed up together, they form a long cyl- inder. If you then cut them across, you will note that each of the five shows a cross section of one- fifth of a circle. The tendency to close up together is always more or less marked during in- clement weather, and especially during a snow storm, no matter whether the closed five needles are hanging down or pointing up. In the latter case, it is evident that they maintain this position by some inherent power which enables them to resist gravitation, which, of course, would tend to pull them apart. The natural tendency of pine twigs and needles is, in the main, to point up- wards and to spread apart during good growing weather. If you look at a white pine branch, you will see that but few young branchlets hang down. Most of them rise above the branch which sup- ports them. Growth is aspiring. While the cold is intense, the rhododendron leaves droop from the ends of the upright branch and curl back lengthwise, so that the lower sur- face of each leaf is inside. Probably this is because the breathing pores are on the lower sur- face and require protection. Between winter and spring the long brown buds of the copper beech are worth observing. They begin usually to lengthen, preparatory to 'leafing out as soon as we have had a few days of warm weather. Ordinarily they are among the first trees to start their buds. This year, how- ever, 1 91 4, our tree is later than the trees which it usually precedes. I know of no cause for it, though there must be a reason. The white oak trees are always making some revelations to me. Their large acorns mature in October, and often fall to the ground early March 17, 1918, again the honey bees made their first visit to snow drops. enough to begin growth before cold weather actu- ally suspends active vegetation for the season. April loth I found the acorns lying flat On the ground, with their thick seed leaves (or cotyle- dons, as botanists would call them) barely spread- ing ap^rt enough to allow the little rootlet to escape from the acorn husk and begin what seemed to be a feeble attempt to grow down into the soil. On closer examination I discovered that there was already a well-formed root, which, well provided with small lateral rootlets, had gone into the soil six inches or more. This growth must have been well advanced last autumn. Naturally one would have supposed that the root would have started from the end of the acorn which was attached to the acorn cup, and that the stem would have pointed up and out from the free end of the acorn. What happens is just the reverse, the roots come from the upper end of the acorn and the stem from out of the lower end. There may be a rea- son which is not apparent at first. The old scar, which shows where the growing acorn was attached to the cup, is much the hardest and strongest part of the acorn shell, which does not break up in the white oak acorn during process of germination. It simply hangs on until it is pushed or peeled off by the growth of the young oak. This persist- ence of the old shell keeps the cotyledons closed, and the tiny bud which is hidden away between their bases is thus housed and protected against late snow, frost or cold. The white oak tree rarely sheds its leaves wholly in the autumn. Some of them seem to retain most of their foliage, in a dead and dry condition, until spring is fully established. In fact, the fall of the leaves is followed almost at once by the coming of the next crop. Instead of speaking of the fall of the leaves, it would be more nearly true if we were to say that the trees cast off their leaves, which is almost as vital an act as when we remove our coat or our hat. A tree struck dead by lightning lacks the power to cast off" its leaves and they consequently remain on the tree, fre- (juently until torn loose by the wind. There is a method in casting off" of the white oak leaves. It proceeds from above downward and from the tips of the branches in towards the trunk of the tree. These are some of the things that any one may see. Vou may find it interesting to continue such observations for yourselves. J. T. RoTHROCK, in T/ie Amulet. Red oak is generally more successful in Europe than other American oaks. \' ^ 124 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 125 i;' mi News from France. INTERESTING and instructive letters are ar- ! riving continuously from the boys who are serving with the American Expeditionary ; Forces. Subjoined are excerpts from the letters recently received by Prof. J. S. lUick, Acting | Director of the Pennsylvania State Forest Aca- demy, from students and alumni of the school : Somewhere in France, Feb. 14, 1918. Dear Professor : I beg you to forgive me for not having written sooner. I have been promising myself to write to you for the past three months, but as that didn't accomplish anything I decided to get down to the pleasant task at once. In the first place, I want to thank you for the magazines which you sent to me. I received American Forestry and the Journal of Forestry in good shape and enjoyed both very much. All reading matter is greatly appreciated, especially forestry literature ; since it is hard to keep in touch with the latter over here. 1 know that quite a few of the boys have written to you and probably have told you a lot about for- est conditions around here. Nevertheless, I will add a few remarks about the forests with the hope . that a few things may be new. ■ As you no doubt know we are in the Maritime Pine Forests. When I first saw them they looked like pure stands of Pitch Pine grown under careful and constant attention. Maritime Pine grows like | Pitch Pine, making a rapid growth in youth and | gradually diminishing until it reaches maturity, j which is from 50 to 70 years in this region. At that time it is from 12 to 18 inches in diameter , and 60 to 80 feet high and averages 170 trees to a hectare (2.47 acres). Naturally in such a thin stand there is abundance of undergrowth, which I consists mainly of four things, viz.: grass, ferns, , French briar, and an omnipresent weed, whose i name I have not yet learned. The first two are low, while the last two grow to a height of 6 to 8 | feet, and in many cases offer an impediment to felling and logging operations. As a rule, there is a lack of regeneration on the forest floor, al- though I have seen it in other places as thick as the Scrub Oak on Sandy Ridge on the Mont Alto State Forest. The utilization of the undergrowth is almost as complete as that of the trees themselves. The grass is used for pasturing, the ferns for stable litter, and the briar is often cut and used for bak- ing bread in the outdoor bake ovens. The forests are full of sheep pens and herder's huts, so I im- agine pasturing is quite a business during summer season. By the time I return I hope to have some pict- ures that will rival that photograph of yours which shows a German peasant pushing faggots from the communal forest to his home in a baby carriage. This evening a cart passed by our camp loaded with twigs. I do not believe that there was a piece in the entire load over an inch in diameter and over three feet long. It must have been quite a task to collect such a cart-load of fuel material. The turpentine or naval store business is one of the main industries of this region. It probably gives employment to more people than any other line of work. The trees are first tapped when they are about twenty years old at which time they are approximately seven inches in diameter. The method of tapping may be .best likened to a scratch about four inches wide and three inches to six feet long and penetrating into the tree to a depth of about four annual rings. The cuttings begin in March and the pitch- is collected every four weeks until November. A mature stand will average two liters per tree per year. The present price for the run of the pitch is 72 centimes per liter. Before the war it was 58 centimes per liter. As it is gathered from the trees it is. dumped into barrels which are sunk into the ground, and later carted away to refining establishments. Some forests are privately owned while others I are under public ownership. They are divided into compartments of varying size, but usually from 10 to 30 acres. I have, however, seen some which must contain a few hundred acres. The division lines are from 30 to 40 feet wide and kept ' free from all brush, and in extreme cases the grass i is even 'cleaned from them. The property or boundary lines are marked by ditches which also I serve as drains. The foregoing are a few of the things which came readily to mind. If there are any points I you would like to know about please ask and I shall do the best I can to answer fuUyand promptly. i Morton and \ intend to make a little collection of things and send them to you. Please supply me with the addresses of the boys still in the U. S. I think it nice to keep in touch with them. (Signed) Edwin B. Millkr, Co. C, loth Engineers, A. E. F. * * * * Somewhere in France, Feb. 15, 1918. My dear Professor : You will pardon me for being so dilatory in the matter of answering your letter of December 10. We have been on the move quite ever since we landed on these shores and army life is not very conducive to letter writing. I may say that I have seen the greater part of central France. Until our last move, we have been in very unproductive country. Grape- raising and wine- making are the principal industries. The forest growth is almost entirely coniferous, mostly Black Pine and Scotch Pine. Clear cutting in strips with seeding from the side seems to be the main method of regenera- tion. The trees are cut when 10 to 12 inches in diameter indicating a low rotation. The cutting areas are very small in all cases. The soil in these pineries is very poor and sandy. The sand extends down to a depth of 12 to 18 inches, under which a hardpan of clay is located. Ground-water caused us no small amount of trouble in our engi- neering work. However, we have left the region of the pineries and are now among hardwoods. The soil here is very good and consists of a clayey loam. The valleys are all farmed and the inhabitants seem more prosperous than we had previously met. I was interested in their farming implements, and methods, and in their means of travel. Two- wheeled carts are common. Plows, resembling shovel plows, with wheels at the front end of the beams and horses hitched to them in single file are generally used. I have visited quite a few of the peasants, but in my conversation with them I have been con- siderably candicapped by my meagre knowledge of French. If we were on the other side of the front I would be in a better position because of my school training in the German language, both in the public schools and while at the Forest Academy. However, I am rapidly learning French and may soon be in a better position to talk with the inhabitants. Am very well pleased by the news that the alumni of the Forest Academy have responded so well to the call of democracy. Sorry, however, to hear of the small attendance at the school, but that might be expected at a school teaching con- servation and construction at a time when the world is engaged in wholesale destruction. Sheeler and I are still in the same company and have had little news from or about the Department of For- estry since leaving. From the late developments in Russia it looks as if we might be here for some time to come. You probably remember the Medical Unit organ- ized at Johns Hopkins. We are located near them at present. We have good quarters and have little to kick about, except the mud. Need- less to say, we are all anxious to have it over with and get back home again. Write again, and remember me to all my old friends and tell the '' boys " we are going to win. Very sincerely yours, (Signed) Sergeant Ira Lee Shenefelt, Co. C, 5o2d Engineers, A. E. F. Forestry in Hawaii. ¥R. C. S. JUDD, Superintendent of Fores- try and Chief Fire Warden of the Terri- tory of Hawaii, has issued his Biennial Report for the period ending December 31, 1916, which contains much interesting information. He stated that the native forests are more valu- able, not for the timber which they produce, but for the beneficial influence exerted on a far more valuable product — water. To insure a permanent and adequate supply of water there must be for- ests. This requirement naturally resolved the chief activities. First, forest protection — which seeks to protect from damage by stock, human beings and fire, the present forest reserves ; to extend the reserves by adding to their present areas where possible, and to place them under better administration by an enlargement of the forest ranger force ; and, second, forest extension, which seeks to reclothe with suitable forest trees bare hillsides, and other areas in water producing regions which have been denuded of their forest cover. Other activities have consisted of the encour- agement of tree planting to meet divers demands under various conditions by introducing, propa- gating and distributing seedling trees and other plant material, and of the giving of advice and suggestions on various forest problems. During 19 15 and 19 16, two new forest reserves were added to the general system, viz., the Manoa Ranger Station, 15 acres in area, in Oahu, near Honolulu, and the Round Top Forest Re- serve, of 115 acres, in Makiki Oahu. This brings the total number of reserves to 39, with a total area of 798,344 acres, of which 546,352 acres, or 68.5 per cent, is government land. In pursuance of the forest protection plan, great attention has been paid to fencing the boundaries of government lands in the forest reserves where the native forest is menaced by wandering stock. In 1915 and 1916 14.32 miles of new forest re- serve fences have been constructed, and 13.64 miles of existing fences have been repaired ; mak- ing a total of approximately 28 miles of forest reserve boundaries effectively guarded from de- structive stock. The beneficial results to the native forests from these protective fences can not but be noticeable within a very few years. There were a few grass and forest fires during ' the year 191 5, only one of which did damage to the native forest in a forest reserve. Owing to a ! rather rainy season during most of 1916, not a single forest fire occurred, and only one or two small grass fires were reported. The native Hawaiian forest, if not depleted too greatly, will come back to its own, more or less II 126 FOREST LEAVES. FOREST LEAVES. 127 m satisfactorily, according to circumstances, if af- forded adequate protection from stock and other damaging agencies. In the drier parts of the Is- lands, which are not exposed to the strong trade winds blowing off the sea, the algaroba, an exotic tree having a five-fold value, has been spread by stock which has fed on the pods until now, less than 90 years since its introduction ; there are forests of this highly esteemed tree on the different Islands covering an estimated total of about 80,000 acres. But nature must be helped out in the work of reclothing with suitable trees, the areas which have been deprived of original forest, and particularly in the regions which are water producing. The Division of Forestry aims to cover this work in four main ways : First, by the introduc- tion from other countries of trees which may be better adapted to these Islands ; second, by main- taining nurseries for propagation and distribution of tree seedlings ; third, by actual planting on government lands, and, fourth, by giving advice on the best methods of raising and caring for trees planted for various purposes. In order to encourage tree planting throughout the Territory, the Forestry Division has continued to grow and distribute free, or at cost price, the trees which are in popular demand. Besides the forest, shade and flowering trees, a quantity of flowering shrubs and vines has also been grown and given out mainly to the occupants of the Army posts, who usually desire quick results in the beautification of their quarters. The reforestation of the Upper Makiki Valleys and Sugar Loaf, on the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve, with native koa and kukui trees, begun in October, 1913, was completed .in Sep- tember, 191 5, so far as actual tree planting was concerned. On the Manoa Ranger Station, near Honolulu, the native forest on the upper portion has been supplemented by the additional planting of several hundred koa trees. On the lower slopes, eight plots, each one- quarter acre in area, were planted in December, 1916, 8 by 8 feet apart, with the 8 varieties of promising timber trees to ascertain their rate of growth and habits under close plant- ing forest conditions. Tree planting on privately owned lands, mainly by the sugar plantation and other companies, has continued at a greater rate than during the last f