Title: Forest leaves, v. 5

Place of Publication: Philadelphia

Copyright Date: 1896

Master Negative Storage Number: MNS# PSt SNPaAg059.5

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Vol. V.

Philadelphia, February, 1895.

No. I

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

as North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

1-3

Editorials

An Act to Provide for the Con-
tinuation of the Forestry Com-
mission of the Slate, etc

An Act for the Publication and Distribution of the Report of the

P'orestry Commission, etc

An Act to Establish Free Illustrated Lectures, etc

An Act to Provide Stale Forest Reservations, etc

House Bill No. 30— An Act Providing for the Preservation of the

Forestry Resolutions Passed by the Grangers

Fire and Flood °~9

Changes in Our Streams -••; • • •.••• 9 'o

Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the American Forestry Associa-

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tion • •. .; .

Report of Executive Committee of American forestry Associa-
tion "-'4

Flow of Water in Rivers *4

Forest Fiies : Causes and Prevention ^5

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5-7
7

Subscription, $i.oo per Year.

The attention of Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^Forest Leaves as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
OHN BiRKiNBiNB, Chairman, 25 North Juniper Street.
Jr. J. T. RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLER, 1820 Master Street.
James C. Haydon, Jeanesville, Pa.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Slcippack, Pa.

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The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and

National.
Annual membership fee. One dollar.

Life membership. Fifteen dollars.

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names \.oA.B. Weimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Birkinbine.

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Ur. Chas. A. Shaeffer.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.

Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.

Council-at- Large, Mrs. John R. Fell, Mrs. Brinton Coxe.

Council from Philadelphia County, J. Rodman Paul, A. B. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Lucius L. Landreth, Gen. Isaac J. Wistar, Eli Kirk
Price, Henry Budd, J. H. Redfield. „^ ^ ^^. ,

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. J. Biddle, Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery, James Monaghan.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles
G. Ogden.

Council from Montgomery County, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Dr. Alice
Bennett, Dr. J. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, Mrs. Henry J. Biddle.

Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

¥ORE freshets, more property carried away,
more lives sacrificed is the record of the
** January thaw" of 1895. ^^^ vi\wc\\
of this damage would have been prevented had a
more liberal distribution of forests over the head-
waters of streams held back the snows can only
be told after a critical and detailed investigation,
but we are confident that the denudation of our
forests is to be credited with much of the destruc-
tion. We do not claim that forests will prevent
freshets, but that they restrict their intensity and
decrease their number.

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We give space in this issue to the text of five
bills which, up to present writing, have been of-
fered in the Pennsylvania State Legislature, now
in session, so that our readers may investigate
their merits and use their influence in favor of
such as merit approbation.

These bills may be summarized as follows :

*^ An act to provide for the continuation of the
Forestry Commission of the State and for the ex-
penses thereof," the purpose of which is to con-
tinue the work and the organization of the Forestry
Commission as at present, until the next biennial
session of the Legislature and have it report not
later than March 15, 1897. Until the report of
what has been accomplished by the commission is
presented, our readers can scarcely judge of what
remains to be done; but when the commission
was at first proposed it was not expected that it
could more than point out the necessity of con-
tinued investigation in a State covering so many
square miles and with*such a diversity of soil, to-
pography, climate and business interests, and the
present commission can scarcely be expected to
more than demonstrate the necessity of further
detailed investigations.

To give the public the benefit of the researches
of the present commission a second bill has been

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introduced for " the publication and distribution of
the report of the Forestry Commission," which
covers the printing and free distribution of 20,000
copies of the commissioners' report, which is not
to exceed 800 pages of text, with maps and illus-
trations to be completed within eighteen months.
If this matter is treated generously we believe
that the report will be in great demand, and we
trust that in giving the commission authority to
publish the legislature will permit it to issue a vol-
ume creditable to the State.

Supplementing this act is another of an educa-
tional character, yiz-, *'to establish free illustrated
lectures upon disease germs and their relation to
the public health, and also upon the relations of
economic zoology and forestry to the common-
wealth." The sum of $6000 is asked to pay for
lecturers appointed by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and the Secretary of the State
Board of Agriculture to instruct teachers' insti-
tutes and farmers' institutes during the next two
years. If the proper persons are selected for this
work it should result in great good to the com-
monwealth and add materially to the interest and
value of the assemblages of farmers and school-
teachers. •

The two remaining acts propose legislation
looking to the protection of our present forest
and the propagation of new wooded areas. One,
'' an act to provide State forest reservations and
for the expenses thereof," designates three general
locations for forest reservation, each of not less
than 40,000 acres in one continuous area near
the headwaters of our important rivers, at least
one-half of each area to be over 800 feet above
sea level, and a maximum price of two dollars per
acre to be paid for land in such reservations. The
State Geological Survey is to prepare topographi-
cal and geological maps, and the State Board of
Health is to examine the reservations with a view
to benefiting the health of the commonwealth,
and the State Fishery Commission to stock the
waters and make regulations for fishing therein,
the general control of the reservations being un-
der the Forestry Commission.

The last of the bills under consideration. No. 30,
is entitled, *' An act providing for the preservation
of the forests of the commonwealth, and to this end
enlarging the powers and duties of the Forestry
Commission, designating fire-wardens and pre-
scribing their duties, regulating the prevention
and extinguishment of forest fires and providing
for the punishment of persons who set fire to or
endanger forests." This is evidently to take the
place of the present incomplete law of the State
respecting forest fires and to give the Forestry
Commission means of preventing the great de-
struction now so prevalent and of bringing to
punishment those who by carelessness or design

jeopardize our standing timber and destroy the
new growths. What Pennsylvania wants is a
rigid enforcement of the laws and what our forests
need is the same measure of protection as the
State accords other classes of property.

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We ask our readers to consider the various acts
carefully and to take such action thereon as seems
best. We would suggest that if each one acquaint
the members of the State Legislature with his or
her views concerning forest legislation a material
influence will be brought to bear upon our law-
makers in favor of wise protective measures.

It is unfair to expect the gentlemen who repre-
sent you in the Senate or House of Representa-
tives at Harrisburg to enact legislation favoring
forest preservation or protection unless they realize
that their constituents desire such action. While
there is undoubtedly a widespread interest
throughout the State concerning forestry and ac-
tion looking to the better protection of our forests
is desired by the press and by the intelligent por-
tion of the community, each individual has a
duty to perform, and the friends of forestry
throughout the State are each urged to use his or
her influence to secure from the legislature now
in session the enactment of laws which will be to
the material advancement of the State.

*****
Considerable space is given in this issue to the
proceedings of the annual meeting of the Ameri-
can Forestry Association, and our readers will
notice with gratification evidences of material
progress. Every friend of forestry will rejoice
that this organization exhibits so much activity
and join in wishing that its numbers may be aug-
mented and its revenue increased so as to extend
its usefulness. We congratulate the Association
upon the choice of a secretary so competent as
Mr. F. H. Newell, whose work upon the United
States Geological Survey has given him oppor-
tunity to know the country thoroughly and whose
researches concerning the flow of streams, irriga-
tion, underground waters, etc., have fitted him
thoroughly to grasp the value of forests as con-
servators of water supply. But in recognizing the
ability of Mr. Newell we would not forget the
efl'orts of his predecessor, Mr. J. D. W. French,
who has been an earnest friend of forestry and a
faithful Secretary of the American Forestry Asso-
ciation. J« B.

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Dr. J. T. Rothrock, at the invitation of the
Council of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
will deliver an illustrated lecture on ** Beautiful
Pennsylvania," on Monday evening, February
i8th, at the Art Club, it having been postponed
to the latter date from January i6th.

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Dr. Rothrock lectured on Forestry before the
members of the State Legislature, in the hall of
the House of Representatives at Harrisburg on
Thursday evening, January 24th, under the aus-
pices of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
and had a large and interested audience.

An Act to Provide for the Continuation of
the Forestry Commission of the State,
and for the Expenses Thereof.

Section i . That the Governor be authorized to
appoint two persons in continuation of the For-
estry Commission of the State, of which said Com-
mission one member shall be a competent engineer
and surveyor, whose duty it shall be to examine
and report upon the condition of the important
watersheds of the State and their relation to the
present and future health and industries of the
Commonwealth, and to suggest such measures as
will best control freshets and retain the rainfall in
the soil ; the other member of the Commission
shall be a botanist practically acquainted with the
trees of the Commonwealth, whose duty it shall
be to suggest such measures as will increase and
protect the coming forest growth within the limits
of the State ; and the two members aforesaid shall
jointly decide upon what lands, if any, should,
for the general good, become the property of the
Commonwealth, [)rovided that such lands are with-
out mineral value and are not fit for remunerative
agriculture, and might, with advantage, be devoted
to the growth of trees ; and this Commission shall
report to the legislature not later than March 15,
1897.

Sec. 2. The said Commission shall have power
to appoint one competent person to act as clerk,
whose duty it shall be to aid in compiling the
facts and statistics collected by the Commissioners,
under their supervision, and the salary of the
clerk aforesaid shall be one thousand dollars a
year, with necessary expenses, to be paid in the
same manner as is hereinafter provided for the
payment of the Forestry Commission.

Sec. 3. The Commission appointed hereinunder
shall be entitled to receive, by quarterly payments,
a compensation as follows : The engineer twenty-
five hundred dollars per annum, and the botanist
twenty-five hundred dollars per annum, with nec-
essary expenses for each, and the sum of seventeen
thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be
necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money
in the State treasury not otherwise appropriated,
to be paid by warrant drawn by the Auditor-
General.

An Act for the Publication and Distribu-
tion of the Report of the Forestry Com-
mission and Providing for the Expenses
thereof.

Section i. That the Forestry Commission of
Pennsylvania is hereby authorized and empowered
to have published, under supervision of said
Commission, twenty thousand copies of its Re-
port to the legislature, on the conditions of the
forests in Pennsylvania, and not to contain more
than eight hundred (800) pages of printed text,
with such maps and illustrations as in the judg-
ment of the Forestry Commission shall be re-
quired to make the subject-matter of the text
clear.

Sec. 2. The report aforesaid shall be distributed
as follows: 450 copies to the Governor of this
Commonwealth, 250 copies to the Lieutenant-
Governor, and 200 copies, respectively, to the
Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Attorney-
General, the Auditor-General, the State Treas-
urer, the Secretary of Internal Affairs, the Adju-
tant-General and the State Librarian, and 50
copies each for the use of the Insurance Com-
missioner, the Superintendent of Banking, the
Factory Inspector, the Superintendent of Public
Printing and Binding and the Superintendent
of Public Grounds and Buildings ^ 800 copies
to the Master of the Pennsylvania State Grange,
to be distributed among the Subordinate Granges
of the State ; 1000 copies for distribution among
the public schools of the State under the direction
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction ; 450
copies to the Secretary of the State Board of
Agriculture, for distribution among the farming
community ; 400 copies to the Forestry Commis-
sion, for distribution among scientists and scien-
tific associations, and 15,000 copies for distribu-
tion to the present legislature, thus, 5000 copies
to the Senate and 10,000 copies to the House of
Representatives.

Sec. 3. The said report shall be delivered to
the parties aforesaid within eighteen months after
the date of approval of this act.

Sec. 4. For necessary work in editing this report
the sum of $2500, or so much thereof as may be
necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money
in the State treasury not otherwise appropriated.

County Superintendent J. George Becht, of
Luzerne county, writes concerning the cause of
forestry and says that " interest in the matter is
certainly on the increase." He further states that
on Arbor Day (in October) nearly every one of
the 288 county schools in the county held some
special exercises and planted trees. An excellent
showing.

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An Act to Establish Free Illustrated Lec-
tures upon Disease Germs and their Re-
lation to the Public Health, and also up-
on the Relations of Economic Zoology
and of Forestry to the Commonwealth,
and for Providing for the Expenses there-
of.

Section i. Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and
it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same:
That the sum of six thousand dollars (J6000), is
hereby appropriated out of any money in the
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be used
under the direction of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and the Secretary of the State
Board of Agriculture, in paying for the delivery
of illustrated lectures, by competent persons, upon
disease germs and their relation to the public
health, and upon the relation of economic zoology
and of forestry to the Commonwealth.

Sec. 2. These lecturers shall be appointed by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the
Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture in this
State, and they shall lecture before teachers' in-
stitutes and farmers' institutes, as may be deter-
mined upon by the Superintendent of Public In-
struction and the Secretary of the State Board of
Agriculture aforesaid ; and the said lecturers shall
present their bills for lectures before the teachers'
institutes to the Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion, and for lectures before farmers' institutes to
the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture,
and when these bills are approved, by the Super-
intendent and Secretary aforesaid, they shall then
be paid by a warrant drawn by the Auditor Gene-
ral : Provided, however, that not more than three
thousand dollars ($3000) shall be paid for the said
lectures in the year ending May 31, 1896, and not
more than three thousand dollars (§3000), for the
same purpose in the year ending May 31, 1897:
And provided further^ that no charge for admission
to the lectures aforesaid shall be made.

An Act to provide State Forest Reserva-
tions, and for the Expenses thereof.

Section i. Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it
is hereby enacted by the authority of the same :
That the State Forestry Commission shall locate
and report to the Governor, or to the Legislature
if it is in session, the following State Forestry
Reservations;

1. One of not less than 40,000 acres in Pike,
Monroe, Luzerne, or Lackawanna county.

2. One of not less than 40,000 acres in Sullivan,
Lycoming, Clinton, Centre, or Potter county.

3. One of not less than 40,000 acres in Clear-
field, Elk, Cameron, McKean, or Forest county.

Provided, That each of these reservations shall
be in one continuous area that may be taken from
one or more of the counties indicated above.

Sec. 2. That the lands selected shall be of a
character better suited to the growth of trees than
to mining or agriculture, and that at least fifty per
cent, of the area of each reservation shall have an
altitude of not less than 800 feet above the level
of the sea.

Sec. 3. That the said Commission shall be au-
thorized to purchase the lands they have selected
for the purposes aforesaid, at a price not exceeding
two dollars per acre, or failing to accomplish this,
that it shall have full power to take by right of
eminent domain, and condemn said lands as State
Reservations, for the use and behoof of the Com-
monwealth, and subject to such conditions as the
legally constituted authorities may impose : And
provided further y that wherever it shall be neces-
sary to have recourse to a jury to assess the dam-
ages for any property to be taken as aforesaid, the
said jury shall consist of such number, and shall
proceed, and their award shall be reviewed and
enforced in the same manner as now provided by
law in the taking of land for the opening of roads
in said respective counties ; and all the lands ac-
quired by the State for public reservations by the
action of said Commission, shall be paid for by
the State Treasurer upon a warrant drawn by the
Auditor-General of the Commonwealth, after ap-
proval by the Governor.

Sec. 4. The Commissioners of the State Geo-
logical Survey shall make, or cause to be made, at
the expense of the State, an examination of the
lands so acquired, and report upon their value as
watersheds and reservoirs to the areas they supply
with water, and the report prepared by the said
Commissioners of the State Geological Survey shall
be illustrated by suitable geological and topograph-
ical maps.

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the State Board
of Health to make an annual examination of the
State Forestry Reservations, to report on their
value to the health of the public, and to suggest
such measures to the officers in charge of the said
reservations as will lead to the best results for the
public health. The State Board of Agriculture,
by committee, shall make annual report upon the
conditions of the Forestry Reservations of the
Commonwealth, and suggest such measures as will
increase their general utility.

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the State Fishery
Commissioners to stock the waters of the said

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Public Reservations with such species of fish as are
best adapted to each reservation, to make regula-
tions in conformity to the laws of the State for the
conduct of those who fish therein, and to enforce
the penalties for any infraction of the said regula-
tions.

Sec. 7. The general control of the said Public
Reservations so acquired for the use and behoof
of the State shall be vested in the Forestry Com-
missioners, under the Secretary of the State Board
of Agriculture, and the annual report of the said
Board shall contain a full statement of the actual
conditions of the said reservations, and their
general relation to the industries and the health
of the State.

Sec. 8. The necessary expenses of travel, and all
other necessary expenses incurred under the pro-
visions of this act in ordaining the lands for the
Public Reservations shall be paid by the State
Treasurer on the warrant of the Auditor-General
after being duly certified.

House Bill No. 30.— An Act Providing for
the Preservation of the Forests of the
Commonwealth and to this End Enlarg-
ing the Powers and Duties of the For-
estry Commission, Designating Fire-
^Vardens and Prescribing Their Duties,
Regulating the Prevention and Extin-
guishment of Forest Fires and Provid-
ing for the Punishment of Persons Who
Set Fire to or Endanger Forests.

Section i. That the Forestry Commission shall
have authority, and it shall be the duty of said
Forestry Commission under this Act :

{a) To make a report to the General Assembly,
through the State Board of Agriculture, at each
regular session, giving an account of forest fires,
their causes, extent, values destroyed, methods
recommended for preventing them, the cost of
extinguishing them and such other information
and suggestions concerning their charge as the
said Commission shall judge to be important to
the welfare of the Commonwealth.

(^) To prepare at the public charge and freely
distribute to the fire-wardens, and to citizens in-
terested in protecting the forests, who shall apply
for them, warning placards containing brief sum-
maries from the provisions of this Act for the in-
formation of lumbermen, railroad employees,
hunters, fishermen, tourists and others who might
violate the law unwittingly.

{c) To prepare at the public charge and to dis-
tribute copies of this Act, that it may be known
throughout the Commonwealth by whomsoever it
may concern.

id) To take measures at the public charge for
the free diffusion of knowledge concerning for-
estry in the form of lectures and essays commend-
ing the subject to public attention.

{e) To prepare at the public charge for the
guidance of fire-wardens a code of rules and
regulations, having reference to this Act, utilizing
the experience of other States and embodying
from time to time the results of our own experi-
ence.

(/) To appoint special fire-wardens with the
approval of the Governor of the Commonwealth
in remote and thinly peopled forest districts where
prompt action is necessary to prevent destructive
conflagrations, providing that such special fire-
wardens shall be resident citizens of the said dis-
tricts respectively and shall be removable for
cause by the Forestry Commission. They shall
have the same powers, duties and emoluments as
the district fire-wardens. The compensation of
special fire-wardens and of the persons employed
by them under the provisions of this Act shall be
paid by the Commonwealth in accordance with
such rules as shall be prescribed by the Forestry
Commission with the approval and concurrence
of the Auditor-General of the Commonwealth.

Sec. 2. That the Supervisors of Roads of the
respective townships shall, by virtue of their office,
be district fire-wardens within the limits of their
districts and in cases of emergency shall serve as
such beyond the said limits. They shall have au-
thority and it shall be their duty as fire-wardens :
{a) To go to the ground at once in case of a
forest fire within the limits of their respective
districts and take all necessary measures for its
control and extinguishment.

(^) To call upon any persons within their town-
ships or the vicinity thereof to assist them in that

service.

(r) To co-operate with the fire-wardens of any
adjoining district and in the absence of such fire-
wardens to direct the work of control and extm-
guishment of forest fires in any such district.

(^/) To attend on the ground when notified by
any person proposing to fire brush or other com-
bustible matter on or near forest land and to su-
pervise or, if necessary, to postpone such firing in
order to prevent forest fires.

{e) To arrest without warrant every person
found violating any provision of law relating to
forest fires and to forthwith take the offender be-
fore a magistrate and make complaint against
such person.

(/) To inquire into the cause of every forest
fire within their several districts and if any such
fire be traceable to the negligence or wilfulness of
any person, company, society or corporation, to
make complaint before a magistrate against such
person, company, society or corporation.

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(^) To post and to keep posted warning pla-
cards prepared by the Forestry Commission in lo-
calities where fires are likely to occur and to carry
into effect such rules and regulations as may be
prescribed, with the approval of the Governor of
the Commonwealth, by the said Forestry Com-
mission conformably to the provisions and in fur-
therance of the object of this Act.

(Ji) To open and to keep open fire lanes not less
than two rods wide and where authorized by the
Forestry Commission, as barriers against fire, pro-
vided that the said lanes need not be graded as
public highways, nor shall they be opened in any
case without the previous consent in writing of
the landowners granting free right of way and
releasing all claim for compensation therefor.

(/) To make two reports annually in duplicate
at dates to be fixed by the Forestry Commission,
giving the statistics of forest fires, including the
actual cost of suppressing them and other items,
on the forms prescribed and furnished by the said
Commission, one of the said duplicates to be sent
to the district attorney of the proper county and
the other to the Forestry Commission at Harris-
burg.

(/) To wear exposed to view while on duty
as fire-wardens a distinctive badge, which shall be
furnished by the Forestry Commission, and shall
be delivered by the respective fire-wardens to
their successors in office.

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the justice of the
peace residing nearest the place of the origin of
the forest fire to make prompt and strict inquiry
into the origin of such fire, and whenever such
fire is found to have been started wilfully or neg-
ligently by any person, company, society or corpo-
ration in violation of law to issue a warrant for the
apprehension of the offender or offenders, and
after a hearing, if sufficient cause be shown, bind
him or them over to appear at the next Court of
Quarter Sessions for the proper county, or, in de-
fault of bail, commit him or them to answer as
in other cases of misdemeanor, or he shall fine the
offender or offenders if the fire was caused by his
or their negligence.

Sec. 4. Any justice of the peace residing in any
township where there shall be a forest fire shall,
in the absence or in the case of the disability of
the district fire-warden, act as a substitute or ap-
point a substitute temporarily for him.

Sec. 5. Every person who shall neglect or re-
fuse to assist in suppressing a forest fire when
called on for such service by a fire-warden shall
be subject to a fine of five dollars for each offence,
unless excused for good cause by the said fire-
warden or declared to be justly exempt after a
hearing before a magistrate.

Sec. 6. Every person assisting to suppress a
forest fire when called on for such service by a

fire-warden, shall be entitled to payment at a daily
rate not greater than one dollar and fifty cents a
day, or proportionately for parts of a day.

Sec. 7. Every person, before firing brush or
other combustible matter on or near forest land at
hazard of injury to the property of others, shall
notify the district fire-warden of his intention, and
shall not proceed with such firing except by the
written authority or under the personal direction
of said district fire-warden or of his duly author-
ized substitute. Violation of this section shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

Sec. 8. Every person, and every company, soci-
ety or corporation shall be responsible for all in-
jury to the property of others resulting from forest
fires originated wilfully or negligently by them-
selves or their agents, and shall be liable in an
action of trespass for the actual damages, direct
and consequential, caused by such fire, and in case
such fire originated negligently, shall also be sub-
ject to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Sec. 9. Every person who shall kindle a fire on
or dangerously near to forest land, and leave it
unquenched, or who shall be a party thereto, and
every person who shall use other than incombusti-
ble wads for firearms, or who shall carry a naked
torch, firebrand or other exposed light in or dan-
gerously near to forest land at hazard of accidental
fire, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty
dollars for each offence.

Sec. 10. Every person who shall wilfully or
heedlessly deface, destroy or remove any warning
placard posted under the requirements of this
Act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-
five dollars for each offence. Every person wear-
ing a fire-warden's badge without lawful warrant
shall be liable to a fine of not more than fifty
dollars.

Sec. II. All fines imposed by this Act shall be
sued for before a Justice of the Peace in the name
of the Commonwealth, as debts of a like amount
are sued for, and the accused may be proceeded
against by complaint and warrant of arrest or by
summons as in civil actions, and in default of
payment of any fine and costs imposed by a Jus-
tice of the Peace under this Act, the defendant
shall be committed to the county jail for one day
for every dollar of fine and costs so imposed and
unpaid. No fine imposed under this Act shall be
less than five dollars. One-half of all the fines
imposed and collected under the provision of this
Act shall be paid to the informer in each case, and
the other half to the supervisors of the township
in which the offence was committed, for the use
of such township.

Sec. 12. Supervisors acting as fire-wardens shall
be paid two dollars for each day of actual service
in extinguishing forest fires or in supervising
the brush fires, or others which are in danger-

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ous proximity to other woodlands. The com-
pensation of such fire-wardens and of the per-
sons employed by them under the provisions of
this Act, shall be paid by the townships in which
the forest fires shall occur, and such townships
shall be reimbursed by the Commonwealth one-
half of the amount so paid, under such rules as
shall be prescribed by the Forestry Commission,
with the approval and concurrence of the Auditor-
General. 11,.

Sec. 13. The term forest in this Act shall in-
clude not only woods in the ordinary sense, but
also scrub brush, sprouts, briers and the like
woody growths apt to feed or spread fire on wild
land. The word district in this Act shall mean
such township subdivisions as are ordinarily made
for convenience by the supervisors of roads.

Sec. 14. The prothonotary of every county
within this Commonwealth shall, within fifteen
days after the township elections in each year are
returned into his office, make out, certify and de-
liver, under his hand and seal of office, to the
Forestry Commission, a list of the names of the
persons elected to the office of supervisor of roads,
together with their post office addresses and the
names of the townships within their respective
counties for which they were respectively elected,
and shall be allowed therefor the usual fees for
equal or similar services, to be paid out of the
county treasury.

— Referring to a paragraph in which it is ob-
served that the American oak, Quercus alba, has
a similar characteristic of the English oak in
having side branches, which occasionally assume
the dimensions of huge trunks, Howard Worces-
ter Gilbert notes that in the Quaker graveyard at
Salem, N. J., there is a white oak which would
rival any American and almost any oak in the
English parks. The spread of branches vvas over
50 paces ; some of these side branches rival the
trunk in strength. There is a tradition that the
tree was mutilated by soldiers during the Revolu-
tionary War, and that the tree as it now appears
has grown from a sprout which shot up at that
time. — Meehan's Monthly.

The Reading Eagle offers prizes to the amount
of $25 besides a prize to each school in Berks
county for the largest collection of wood, the
same to be collected by the pupils. County Su-
perintendent W. M. Zechman writes that he ex-
pects reports from at least 400 schools. One
school visited by him the second week in Novem-
ber has a collection of 93 different kinds of wood.

Forestry Resolutions Passed by the

Grangers.

THE following is a full text of preamble and
resolutions adopted by the State Grange at
the convention at Harrisburg, in Decem-
ber, 1894.

Whereas, Floods of increasing severity and
frequency, due mostly to the removal of large
bodies of timber from the high water-sheds of the
State, are, year after year, sweeping away our
bridges and fences, destroying our roads, and thus
impeding travel and traffic and washing away the
soil or covering fertile lands with sand and gravel
and imposing enormous costs upon the townships
and counties, and

Whereas, These lands are passing under con-
trol of associations (frequently composed of citi-
zens of other States), so that Pennsylvanians may be
deprived of outing grounds in their own State, and
Whereas, Forest fires, caused by ignorance,
carelessness or crime, yearly work untold damage
to our young timber, destroy the soil, endanger
buildings and even sacrifice human life, and

Whereas, The land owner has thus been de-
prived of the protection for which he has paid,
and has often lost control of his property to such
an extent that he is unable to guard it against
trespassers. Therefore, be it

Resolved, That we, patrons of husbandry, citi-
zens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, land
owners and food producers, representing the lar-
gest interests of the State, do urge upon our legis-
lators the immediate, pressing necessity of enact-
ing such laws as will restrict these calamities and
grievances, and restrain these depredators, whe-
ther in field or in forest, and we further request
that they, by legal enactment, do set apart and
ordain as public forest reservations, after due pur-
chase, such portions of the natural timber-pro-
ducing mountains as have neither agricultural nor
mineral value, to restore the timber needed by our
industries, to furnish, husband, guard and hold in
check the water needed by our valleys, and these
reservations shall remain the property of the peo-
ple forever.

— It is not generally known that in sending
trees to a distance, the tighter they can be packed,
provided they are not very wet, the better they
will travel. In old times, before the days of
steamboats, it was not uncommon to send such
plants as camelias, azaleas, heaths and other plants
on a six months' voyage to Australia with perfect
success. The plants were packed in perfectly dry
moss and pressed into the cases as tight as it was
possible for them to be pressed. They usually
reached Australia in perfect condition. — Ledger,
Philadelphia.

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8

FOREST LEAVES.

I

Fire and Flood.

TTTl

HE title is suggestive enough of twin hor-

■ rors ; horrors, unfortunately, to which our

^ own State is no stranger.

There are certain names appearing on our map
that suggest localized blights; as, for example,
Acroceraunia, or the " thunder riven cliffs " of
ancient Greece ; but the words at the head of this
brief article convey a meaning of wider desolation.
We might go further and say they suggest a cul-
pable neglect on our own part, and a correspond-
ing responsibility for the disastrous results that
have followed,, or that may appear in the future.

Such wide-spread holocausts as those of Minne-
sota and Michigan during the last season of excep-
tional drought, are impressive for the time being ;
but before the ashes are cold the great outside
public has lost its interest, and conditions remain
as they were, to mature another similar horror with
the advent of the next season, when, owing to the
small rainfall, the leaves and brush dry into tinder.
We can offer no excuse for this monumental folly.
There is none to offer. Were it not for the gravity
of the situation, the less said about it the better,
for it only proclaims the gross neglect of those who
are legally responsible.

There is, let it be understood, nothing said here
in condemnation of the apathy in the Northwest
that does not apply with equal force to Pennsyl-
vania. It is quite true that we have never had
within our limits any such wholesale loss of life
and property as the other States named. This,
however, has been largely by the grace of God,
and not because of any special precautions taken to
prevent it. It is to be hoped that we never shall
have, and a measure of comfort may be derived
from the fact that the areas on which fire could
spread are now intersected here and there by roads
and farms ; but the fact remains that we are still
in a condition to waste our substance by the riot
of fire to an extent that portends measureless loss
to the Commonwealth. Indeed, so destructive
have the fires been in some of the timber counties
that they are spoken of as the ** Red Sheriff.'*

It is impossible to overdraw the picture of deso-
lation which at this very hour reveals itself in some
of our counties. For example, along the line of rail-
road from DuBois, in Clearfield county, to Ridg-
way, in Elk county, the fire-swept hills stand out
in hideous nakedness. The vision is so unnatural
that one involuntarily thinks of it as a worn out
region ; fortunately deposits of coal confer a value
upon a part of this land. This, however, is but
an additional reason why greater care should have
been taken to exclude the fire. One of the most
important factors in coal mining is " mine props.'*
It may be briefly stated that about every three tons
of bituminous coal taken from the ground, means

one mine prop to support the roof of the mine.
If unrestricted range shall continue to be given to
the flames, it is more than probable that some of
these regions may recognize too late the import-
ance of timber on the spot, when the demand for
coal increases. It is simply incredible, but none
the less true, that one county reports the loss from
forest fires to have been during the past year $230,-
000 ; another reports ;Jl3oo,ooo ; another $40,000
to $50,000 ; another $500,000. One gentleman
in Luzerne county expended $3000 during the
past season in fighting fire. He was obliged to do
this to protect himself.

This, appalling as it is, is a mere nothing, a drop
in the bucket of our misfortune when compared
with the value of the prospective crop of timber
that the flames have destroyed. It is fair to say
that $30,000,000 a year is not too large an esti-
mate to place upon the loss to the State. Let
it be recorded, emphasized, and fully compre-
hended that the one cause, more than any other,
which prevents the restoration of flourishing, valu-
able forests on thousands of square miles in this
State now barren, desolate, and becoming poorer
each year, is forest fires !

Bad as all this is, it is but one side of the picture.
Floods follow fires as a curse does a crime. The
deluge is the natural sequence of the flames in most
instances. There is nothing wrong in the removal
of mature timber. One of the legitimate func-
tions of forestry is to see that it is done. The
blunder is when the aftermath of sprouts is left
unprotected. These, unharmed by fire, and grow-
ing from well-established, vigorous roots, would
speedily reach tree dimensions, and we should
then have, not only the moisture-holding, flood-
retaining capacity of the woody growth, but the
timber as well.

The proposition may as well be boldly stated at
once. A large proportion of these floods could
and should be either wholly prevented or at least
greatly diminished in their severity. The only
question is, will it pay to do so? An appeal to the
facts may help to answer this important question.

Mifflin county has paid for bridges since 1891
the sum of $100,000; Juniata county, $126,101,81 ;
Perry county, since 1889, $99*^33-35 5 Snyder
county, in the same period, $36,264; Union
county, $57,000; Bedford county, in 1889, lost by
flood, $33,000; Blair county, from 1889 to 1894,
paid $118,133.43 : Tioga county, in the same pe-
riod, $94,617.04.

These are only partial estimates, as some of
the expenses of the flood last spring are not
included, which means that eight counties in
the commonwealth have paid within four years
more than $664,749.63 to repair damages by flood.
This estimate does not include, for example, the
cost of the bridge at Williamsport nor the value of

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any of the numerous railroad bridges, but simply
such sums as were paid out by the county com-
missioners; nor does it include loss of fences,
crops and damage by covering the fields with
sand and rock, all of which the individual farmer
must bear, and as time is money,' the interrup-
tion to travel and to traffic must also be consid-
ered. Looked at from the standpoint of time, the
ultimate consequences of continued neglect ap-
pear to be more serious than anything we have
yet seen. No one can doubt that there is a con-
stant washing away of surface soil under all con-
ditions, whether the land be tree-clad or naked,
provided it have even the slightest slope. The
greater the slope the more rapid the removal,
other things being equal. This does not of ne-
cessity imply actual deterioration of soil. It may
be that the surface has been impoverished by
plant growth and its removal would lay bare fresh
material to- the action of the elements, whereby
rocks might be disintegrated and new soil made.
It depends in great part upon the rapidity of the
removal whether the process is helpful or harmful.
The above is a mere statement of principles. As
a matter of fact, the process of destruction on our
steeper slopes, if these be deprived of their trees,
exceeds the rapidity of repairs, and as a conse-
quence such regions constantly become poorer.
In certain hilly parts of the State the soil retains
its fertility but a short time after the trees have
been cleared away. In one valley, where the
stumps remained in the field (showing that the
trees had been recently removed) the crops were
abundant; but, on the other hand, where the
disappearance of the stumps indicated that the
soil had been longer under cultivation, the soil
was incapable of producing a paying crop. It
was already worn out. It was clear from exam-
ination that this was not due solely to farming, for
the wash in the roads and the gullied hillsides re-
vealed the true cause.

Let the friends of forestry take heart. Public
sentiment was never so aroused against these twin
monster, Fire and Flood, as now. If we are out-
spoken, the remedy will come and come speedily.
The problem is already in the hands of our legis-
lators, who simply desire, as they should, the as-
surance of popular support to act at once.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

— There is a poplar standing at the foot of Mt.
Mitchell in Yancy County, N. C, at the head
waters of the Cane river, that has a girth of 27
feet, 9 inches at the cutting height. It is appar-
ently sound and estimated to yield over 20,000
feet of lumber, the larger portion of which will be
of high grade.

Changes in Our Streams.

MENTION was made of the encroachment
of the river Delaware on the shore of

^ southern New Jersey in a late issue of

Forest Leaves. To show the great change that
has taken place in Penn's Neck Township, Salem
County, N. J., elderly citizens state that there was
once a tract of upland beyond the meadows that
now form the shore southeast of Fort Delaware.
This upland washed away at the rate of about a rod
a year ; to their knowledge some 100 yards disap-
peared in this manner, the river encroaching that
much upon the land. After the heavy equinoc-
tial storm of the year 1849, they commenced ston-
ing the bank, and since then the loss has been
less. This upland must at one time have extended
much further into the river as an elderly citizen
(James Johnson), of this township, stated that his
grandmother used to say that in her early child-
hood she visited a house situated west and a little
north of the present mouth of Baldridge*s Creek.
At that time there was an orchard between this
house and the river, while now the former location
of this dwelling is in the river about one-half mile
from the shore.

Robert T. Seagrave, of Salem, N. J., says,
** the old orchard (opposite Fort Delaware), has
lost much more than three or four rows of trees in
my day. The present tenant has lived on the
farm for the last eight years, and he showed me how
the river had encroached in that time about 100 feet.
The current runs strong against our point at pres-
ent. Directly opposite on the Delaware shore it
does not suffer loss. The channel ran on the west
side of Fort Delaware when I was a boy, but now
that passage is not used at all for outgoing or in-
coming trade. The New Jersey shore is losing
below us, along the Elsinboro front, also above us
at and below Deep Water Point." Pea Patch
Island is also increasing in size, showing that the
river is widening and becoming shallower.

About 1643, the Swedes built Fort Elsinboro on
the south side of Varchen's Kill (Salem Creek),
and the mouth of the creek at that time seems to
have been further south than at present and nearer
to Elsinboro Point, but the river has encroached
upon the shore,.and no trace of the fort is now to
be found. A late owner of land at Elsinboro Point
used to say that he lost 15 acres of ground at that
place. The point now is a marsh, but there used
to be upland beyond this, at least to the north of

it.

George Nicholson, a resident of Camden, states
that when he was a boy be used to hear the old
people speak of a graveyard that was formerly lo-
cated on the Elsinboro shore where he had himself
picked up human skulls which had evidently been
washed out by the action of the water. He thinks

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FOREST LEAVES.

this graveyard was established by settlers from
New Haven, Conn., who came there about the
year 1640, the most of whom died in about two
years with what they called pleurisy. No trace of
this graveyard is now to be found. He says :
*' Andrew Thompson built a house about 1680
near the shore at the mouth of Salem Creek and I
recollect the old bricks and foundations which I
understand are all gone." Before the building of
the Friends* meeting house in Salem, they wor-
shiped at the dwellings of the Friends, and tra-
dition states that it was held at times at Andrew
Thompson's in Elsinboro, so this must have been
the house.

It is known that Cooper's Creek, Camden
County, N. J., has been navigable in time past
as far up as Hopkins' Landing, near Haddon-
field.

Boats used to ascend to this place, about one
and a quarter miles above the late head of navi-
gation at Willits' Landing, where lumber and coal
were delivered from canal boats for many years.

Within twenty-five years barges from Williams-
port, Pa., had come to Willits' wharf large enough
to carry a load of 50,000 feet of lumber, besides
stabling the three mules needed in towing through
the canals.

The navigability of the creek has, however,
steadily lessened until even small barges could not
be induced to venture up so far. The present
head of navigation is now probably three miles
further down stream.

In reference to Great Egg Harbor river Mr.
Charles E. P. Mayhew states that there is consid-
erable change in the depth of water. Some fifty
or seventy-five years ago the river was navigable
for large draft vessels bringing merchandise from
Cuba and other places, but now a vessel of 50 to
75 tons would need an unusually high tide to come
over the bars in the river. He attributes this tQ
the fact that many streams which were tributary to
the river have dried up or become small, owing to
the cutting off of the timber, and the turning of
the swamps into cranberry bogs, as well as to the
washing of sand into the river caused by the
breaking of dams.

Mr. John Gifford, who is connected with the
State Geological Survey, makes the general state-
ment that all the rivers of southern New Jersey
ha^e their origin within that territory, and the
cutting of the cedar swamps which are natural
reservoirs of water, and the degeneration of the
forest cover due to forest fires, have seriously
affected the flow of water in our streams. Floods
and droughts are much more common than years
ago. It however should make no difference to
navigation in South Jersey, as there is no reason
for believing that the tide regions are affected.

H. B. Abbot.

Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Ameri-
can Forestry Association.

THE American Forestry Association held its
annual meeting in Washington, on Decem-
28, 1894, in the Department of Agricul-
ture. The annual meetings of the Association
are usually for the purpose of routine work and
for a discussion of the policy to be pursued by the
Association. They are attended therefore mainly
by the officers and most active members of the
Association and do not pretend to present any ex-
tensive programme. The notable feature was the
Christmas present exhibited on a Christmas tree,
the Act '* To protect Public Forest Reservations,**
known as the McRae bill, which is the substan-
tial accomplishment of the efforts of the Associa-
tion during the past year. The report of the Ex-
ecutive Committee, which appears on another
page, was read and discussed. It seems to indi-
cate a satisfactory condition of the Association
and its work and a hopeful future.

The Treasurer's statement showed that a per-
manent fund of over J2000 was on hand, the re-
ceipts for the year (nearly $1000), being mostly
expended for printing circulars and proceedings,
the Tenth Volume now going through the press.

During the session remarks were made by Mr.
Owens and Mr. John Gifford, of New Jersey, in
regard to the forest legislation of that State and an
intimation was given that a meeting of the Asso-
ciation in New Jersey similar in nature to the
successful meeting at the White Mountains would
be desirable. Mr. Moses, of New Hampshire, ex-
pressed his gratification at the result of the White
Mountain meeting in clearing up various rumors
as to the deplorable condition of the White
Mountains and in impressing upon the people of
his State the rational position which the Associa-
tion takes with reference to the forestry problem.
Dr. Jones, of Utah, referred to the forest con-
ditions of that State and the newly established
State Forestry Association, and also pointed out a
desirable location for a forest reservation in Utah.

A call was made on the President of the
United States, the Hon. J. Sterling Morton,
President of the Association, making the 'presen-
tation. The President very kindly discussed the
policy of the Government with reference to its
own timberlands and assured the delegation of his
support in any movement to secure a more rational ^
treatment of the same.

In the afternoon the committee on resolutions
presented the following report and the resolutions
were adopted .-

Resolved^ That the American Forestry Associa-
tion finds reason for encouragement in the in-
creased interest shown in the forestry question
during the past year, and pledges its continued

FOREST LEAVES.

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support to every movement tending toward the
enlightenment of the people upon this important

subject.

Resolved, That we hereby express our gratifica-
tion at the final passage of the McRae Bill in the
lower House of Congress, and tender our thanks to
our associate, the Hon. Thomas C. McRae, for his
energetic, well-directed, and successful endeavors
in behalf of the principles for which this Associa-
tion stands.

Resolved, That we urge upon the Senate Com-
mittee on Forest Reservations, to whom the
measure has been referred, to report the same at
an early date, with such amendments as may bet-
ter secure the objects of the Bill, and we urge
upon the whole body of Senators the necessity of
passing the same without delay.

Resolved, That we recommend national legisla-
tion looking coward the establishment of courses
of instruction in forestry in such institutions as are
benefited by aid from the public treasury, and
also the establishment of a National Forestry
School in some part of the National Domain.

Resolved, That the appalling results of forest
fires experienced in many States during the past
summer compel the belief that the present statu-
tory protection against forest fires in these States
is inadequate or negligently applied, and we ap-
peal, therefore, to these States, in the interest of
their own prosperity and in the name of humanity,
to enact and enforce such legislation as will pre-
vent the recurrence of such serious loss of life and

property.

A lengthy discussion as to the manner in which
forestry education should be advanced in the Uni-
ted States ensued, in which Mr. Fernow made a
statement that legislation regarding this matter
had been formulated by him to be introduced in |
the House, enjoining the agricultural colleges
which are benefited by the Morrill Act, to provide
instruction in Forestry and means of illustrating
forest management ; also providing for the estab-
lishment of a post-graduate course in Forestry at
the Department of Agriculture, and scholarships
for graduates from this school to pursue forestry
studies in Europe. He stated that the passage of
the McRae Bill, which was hoped for, would in
the future create a need of trained foresters, for
which the Government should make provision.
While it could not be expected to pass any such
legislation in a short time, it was necessary now to
make a beginning in order to secure the result in

time.

The old officers were re-elected with the excep-
tion of the Secretary, Mr. J. D.W. French, who had
held the office for the last two years, and desired
to retire on account of other pressing business pre-
venting the necessary close attention to the inter-
ests of the Association. Mr. F. H. Newell, of

Washington, was elected Secretary, and his place
on the Executive Committee was filled by the
election of Prof. R. H. Warder. In the place of
Dr. John D. Jones, Prof. Charles A. Keffer was
added to the Executive Committee.

In the evening a joint meeting with the National
Geographic Society was held at the National Mu-
seum, to listen to an addr^ess by Prof. N. S. Shaler,
of Harvard, on the " Economic Aspects of Ero-
sion.' ' The President of the Forestry Association,
Hon. J. Sterling Morton, being introduced by
the President of the National Geographic Society,
Mr. Gardiner G. Hubbard, made a few introduc-
tory remarks referring to the interest which the
Department had taken in the general question of
erosion as evidenced by a Farmers' Bulletin lately
issued, on '' Washed Soils, How to Prevent and
Reclaim Them." The lecturer brought out most
fully the important influence which forest cover
has upon the preservation of favorable soil con-
ditions, and illustrated his remarks with references
to the local experiences in Europe and on this
continent, of the effect of denudation. At the
end of the lecture Major J. W. Powell, the former
director of the United States Geological Survey,
was called upon to add his views, which corrobo-
rated the position taken by Prof. Shaler, espec-
ially with reference to the forests of the Western
mountains. B. E. F.

Report of Executive Committee of the
American Forestry Association.

THE past year has seen a considerable in-
crease of activity and progress in forestry
matters within the Association and without.

Membership and Finances.

By systematic canvass the membership of the
Association has been increased, so that it is now
nearing the 500 mark, and the character of the
membership shows a wider reach of influence.
With this increase in membership the income of
the Association, and, in consequence, its oppor-
tunities for usefulness are increased. According
to the Treasurer's report, a considerable sum stands
to the credit of the Association in the two funds,
which are intended to accumulate for special uses,
namely, the fund from life memberships, and for
a permanent secretary, the annual membership
dues being now sufficient to cover the current ex-
penditures of meetings, publications, etc.

Meetings.

During the year three special meetings have
been held, all with gratifying success as to num-
bers participating and character of proceedings.

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FOREST LEAVES.

The first, held in March, at the invitation and
under the auspices of the New York State Forest
Commission, at Albany, was a notable gathering,
with the interests of the Adirondack forest as the
central subject for discussion, the Governor of the
State and the eloquent Bishop of the Episcopal
Church taking prominent part. The position of
the Association with reference to the Adirondack
problem, as evidenced in the discussion, was, na-
turally, that the State should acquire the bulk of
the Adirondack forest, but that the timber cuttmg
should be deferred until well-considered plans of
management and a competent organization of con-
trol were matured.

The second meeting was held upon the invita-
tion of the citizens of Brooklyn, at that city, in
August, in conjunction with the American Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Science, and was
well attended by members of the latter. The more
intimate relation thus established with that Asso-
ciation of men, interested in the rational and sci-
entific treatment of economic questions, should be
kept warm in the future, and such joint meetings,
when practicable, should become a rule, as they
enable the Association to secure thereby the active
interest of influential educators in all parts of the
country.

The third meeting, closely following the second,
was held at the invitation and under the auspices
of the New Hampshire State Forest Commission.
It was unique in its conception, being of a peri-
patetic nature, the days being given up to an in-
spection of the forest conditions of the famous
White Mountain region, and the evenings to dis-
cussion of matters of interest affecting that region.
It was found that, although badly damaged and
made unsightly by fire, the mountain forest was
capable of recovering lost ground readily. A plan
for the acquisition of these mountain forests by
corporate bodies of visitors to the region was
warmly discussed, while ownership by the State of
at least the alpine region was favored by others.

Publications.

The proceedings of these three meetings, which
were briefly published as usual in the organ of the
Association, Forest Leaves, will form the subject-
matter of the Xlth volume of Proceedings.

The^Ith volume, long delayed, but going now
through the press, published in parts, two of which
have been issued, will contain all the accumulated
material from the last three annual meetings, and
the World's Fair Congress.

It is expected that in future the proceedings will
be published regularly, and with this policy in view
it was decided to number the volumes of previous
publications, although this was not done at the
time of their publication.

With the exception of a few copies of Vols. VII.

and VIII., containing the proceedings of the meet-
ings at Atlanta and Quebec, and annual meetings
in 1889 ^"^ 1^90? the issues of former volumes
are exhausted by free distribution to applicants.
It is proposed in the future to charge a uniform
price of gi.oo per volume, restricting the free list
to institutions of a public character and to ex-
changes. /

Legislation.

The most important advance which the Asso-
ciation may note as a direct outcome of its own
efl'orts, is the passage of H. R. 119, known as the
McRae Bill. It was passed by the House of Re-
presentatives on Monday, December 17th, with a
vote of 159 to 53.

The special thanks of the Association for this
result are due to our fellow-member, the Hon.
Thomas C. McRae, through whose skillful, per-
sistent, and energetic parliamentary management
the passage of the bill was secured. To be sure,
this passage could be effected only by concessions
to the wishes of representatives from the Western
States in the way of amendments. These amend-
ments consist in confining the eff'ect of the bill to
forest reservations alone, striking out provisions
which had in view a rational administration of the
rest of public timber lands ; also restricting, on the
one hand, the Secretary of the Interior in the sale
ot timber, to dead and such mature trees as must
be removed for t:ie sake of maintaining proper
forest conditions — an ambiguous provision ; and,
on the other hand, extending to the reservations
the free permit system, by which settlers and mi-
ners niay supply their needs free of charge— a most
objectionable provision.

Nevertheless, the passage of the bill is of high-
est importance, as it recognizes by legislative en-
actment the status of forest reservations, and places
them under the special protection (with the aid of
the army) and control of the Secretary of the In-
terior. It will now devolve upon the Association
to make strenuous efforts for the passage of this
bill by the Senate during the present session of
Congress, and then to secure by executive procla-
mation the further reservation of public timber
lands from sale and entry.

It may be proper in this report once more to
refute the imputations made on the floor of the
House of Representatives, that this bill was in-
spired, or its passage in any way influenced by the
lumbermen's interests of the West. These inter-
ests have been naturally against the bill, and the
restrictive amendments may be traced to that in-
fluence.

The objections to the bill proceed either from
ignorance as to the conditions which it seeks to
remedy, or from distrust in the capacity of the
Executive to carry out its provisions with due care,

FOREST LEAVES.

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or else from the personal interests of timber-land
owners, who, according to their condition, either
desire to make unpopular the reservation policy,
and avoid further withdrawals from the market of
accessible timber of merchantable quality, or else
fear the competition, if the Government should

sell stumpage.

It may also be proper to state that the Asso-
ciation does not consider the present bill as its
ideal, but only a first step towards a more rational
treatment of the public timber lands ; for its ideal
it still adheres to the bill S. 3235, 5 2d Congress,
which became known as the Paddock bill. This
provides for a fully organized forestry manage-
ment of the public timber lands and has been
abandoned only temporarily on account of the
difficulty of having such a comprehensive meas-
ure discussed or enacted at the present time.

It should be noted with satisfaction that the
President, in his message to Congress, fully and
strongly endorses the policy for which this Asso
ciation stands in the following language :

** I fully endorse the recommendations that
adequate protection be provided for our forest
reserves and that a comprehensive forestry system
be inaugurated. Such keepers and superinten-
dents as are necessary to protect the forests al-
ready reserved should be provided. I am of the
opinion that there should be an abandonment of
the policy sanctioned by present laws under which
the government, for a very small consideration, is
rapidly losing title to immense tracts of land cov-
ered with timber, which should be properly re-
served as permanent sources of timber supply.'*

Movement in the States.

Since the various phases of the forestry move-
ment in all parts of the country may be claimed
to be due, however indirectly or remotely, to the
present influence or to former labors of this Asso-
ciation, a brief statement of the progress of the
movement in the States may be here in place.

The Forest Commissioner of Maine continues
to prepare the way for an extension of his useful-
ness on the basis of the fire law which has been
so successfully applied.

The New Hampshire Forest Commission con-
tinues to popularize the idea of State interest in
forest protection on the White Mountains.

In Massachusetts the most notable step is the
one taken by the city of Boston in the establish-
ment of a series of extensive forest parks, which,
although reserved for park rather than forestry
purposes, may, in time, be managed for both pur-
poses. The excellent institution of the Board of
Trustees of Public Reservations, a few years ago
inaugurated in Massachusetts, may also in time
prove of great use in the establishment of pub-
lic forest reservations throughout the State.

An extended course of special forestry lectures
given at Amherst College may be noted as a pro-
gressive movement in the educational direction.

The State of New York voted for incorporation
into its constitution of a clause forbidding the
cutting of any timber on its State lands. This
Association expressed its disapproval of such a
provision by a resolution passed at the White
Mountain meeting, believing that forest conserva-
tion and utilization of the timber crop should go
hand in hand and that while a temporary cessa-
tion of lumbering operations until proper forestry
methods could be developed might be expedient,
it was undesirable and inimical to the develop-
ment of rational forest management to prevent
for a term of twenty years (the time when such a
constitutional provision could be changed) the
development of such management in the State
which had the best opportunity for doing so.

In Pennsylvania-, Dr. J. T. Rothrock, a member
of the State Forest Commission, has made a most
successful propaganda among the people through-
out the State, which, it is expected, will result in
the establishment of State forest reserves under a
permanent commission. The Pennsylvania For-
estry Association, in most flourishing condition,
is, of course, backing this movement, and with
Forest Leaves constantly improving in character
and regularity of issue does much to popularize

its aims. . .

In New Jersey, the State Forestry Association
and the South Jersey Woodmen's Association
have been organized and a law passed charging
the State Geological Survey to investigate the
forest conditions of the State and to make recom-
mendations for legislative action. The more local
Southern Association, organized by our fellow-
member, Mr. J. Giff*ord, proposes to unite the
woodland owners and those interested in pro-
tection of the woodlands of that section of the
State generally for the practical purposes of secur-
ing such protection. The association will also
publish a monthly journal.

In the West the terrible forest fires, which raged
more fiercely this summer and have cost more
lives than for many years past, have aroused pub-
lic attention to the necessity of measures to pre-
vent recurrences of this scourge; the Wisconsin
and the Minnesota State Forestry Associations, in
conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce of
St, Paul and others interested, are trying to pass
forest-fire legislation in the respective States.

It is hoped that the interests of the lumbermen
will presently appear to them to lie in a more con-
servative policy than they have hitherto practiced.

A movement to establish a forestry-school, as
provided by the constitution of North Dakota, is
reported from that State.

The Forestry Commission of Colorado is slill in

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

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abeyance, but with the change to Republican rule
it is expected a revival may be effected.

A Forestry Association was organized in Utah
early in the year.

In California, the management of the Forestry
Stations, established by the first State Forest
Commission, has fallen into the competent hands
of the University of California, and the signs are
hopeful of a successful revival in the organization
of the forestry interests of that State.

Finally, it may be of interest to state that plans
for an extension of educational facilities are in
progress. It is proposed to introduce presently
mto Congress legislative measures providing for
obligatory forestry courses at the agricultural
colleges, as well as courses of lectures at West
Pomt, a post-graduate course at the Department
of Agriculture and scholarships for forestry stu-
dents to be sent abroad.

It is hoped that this brief synopsis of the ac-
tivity everywhere on behalf of forestry interests
will stimulate the members of the Association to
further efforts and to such active support of its
Executive Committee as will enable us to secure
the objects in general for which wc are associated
and especially the legislation which is to provide
for a rational management of the public timber
lands. This secured, the example will be most
powerful in influencing States and private wood-
land owners to follow. The most pressing need
of the Association is a permanent secretary, who
can be in part at least compensated for his work,
and for this purpose we need an increase of mem-
bership, which, with increased financial support,
brings influence among the people.

B. E. Fernow,
Chairman Executive Commiifee,

—By a meagre outlay of $660 in prizes to the
school children of Rochester, N. Y., for caterpil-
lar cocoons, 8,500,000 of these incipient tussock
moths and potential parents of a billion caterpil-
lars were destroyed. With every cocoon destroyed
there were annihilated not only the pupa of the
moth of the hairy caterpilar, but owing to the habit
of the female tussock moth of laying her eggs on the
outside of cocoons countless eggs were destroved
at the same time. Rochester, which is beautifiillv
embowered in trees is one city free from the hairy
caterpillar nuisance because the Genessee Valley
J^orestry Association organized the school children
in a crusade for their destruction. Cannot some-
thing of the kind be done in Philadelphia whose
trees are annually robbed of their beauty and
vigor by an unopposed and steadily increasing
army of hairy caterpillars }^Press.

Flow of Water in Rivers.

TV S additional pfoof of the effects of the re-
,^p^ moval of the forests on the flow of strean-is
and supplementing the article on this sub-
ject in the preceding issue of Forest Leaves the
following has been excerpted from the Philadel-
phia Inquirer :

"- A European student of forestry has been con-
sidering the effects of the removal of forests in
southern Russia. There immense growths once
lined the banks of the Volga, the Don, the
Dneiper and other rivers, insuring a full, peren-
nial flow. But a spirit akin to the enterprise
which has destroyed wide forests and desolated
broad areas in the United States has devastated
the Russian wilderness.

''The result, as seen in the great rivers, is de-
plorable. The Mother Volga grows yearly shal-
I lower, the steamers find scarcely seven or eight
feet of water in midstream and the ferries pursue
their snakelike course from bank to bank in search
of the ever-shifting channel. The Don with its
tributaries is choked, the sources of the Dneiper
creep downward, and its chief tributary, the once
noble Norskla, with a flow of some 220 English
miles, is now dry from source to mouth.

" The exhaustion of the springs indicates that
this river will not reappear. The Bitjug, a river
in the Don region, has likewise disappeared ; val-
ley and bed are filled to the banks with sand and
earth. According to a Russian writer, a great
part of the country is threatened with the heat and
aridity of the central Asian steppes. As long
ago as 1850, shortly after a famine in Russia, the
effect of deforestation in the country about Donez
was complained of. No attention was paid to the
complaint. Deforestation went on; streams and
springs dried up; spring and summer rains began
to fail, and their cessation, says a Prussian publi-
cation, was the cause of the failure of the harvest
in Russia."

Other European countries have suffered in like
manner from deforestation. In fifty years the Elbe
and Odor rivers have fallen 17 inches, the Vistula
26 inches, the Rhine 28 inches and the Danube c-
inches. ^^

Attention was called to this diminution of the
flow of Russian rivers in the issue of May, 1892,
and the Public Ledger, in commenting on this
subject, says :

•' Things are quite as bad, if not worse, on the
American continent, and the cause is the same as
in Russia, namely, the wholesale destruction of
forests. Many of the piers and wharves on the
shores of lakes and riverside cities can no longer
be approached by the shipping, as was the case
ten years ago. The Des Moines river, in Iowa was
once navigable to the mouth of the Raccoon fork

U

the present site of the city of Des Moines while
now the water is scarcely sufficient to float a
fisherman's rowboat and steamers have disappeared
from its surface since 1878." j r n ^

Dr Prime, in the New York Journal of Com-
merce, says that -the Connecticut river given
over to the timber driver has become a canal. 1 tie
melting snows, no longer held back by the forest
and the springs, are hurried swiftly down/^J
freshets, which are utilized to drive logs and which
destroy property in the lower country ; during
the summer the water is low in the rivers which
were formerly full all the summer from the slow
drain out of the dark shades in the upper country.
In New York State the Hudson river is becoming
more shallow every year and the upper portion
thereof is almost bare of water at certain seasons.
The harbor of Toronto in Canada has well nigh
ceased to be of any use, despite the fact that it
has been dredged out to the permanent rock bot-
tom, and all the millions spent during the past
few years to deepen the harbor of New York have
failed to produce any satisfactory results. Mean-
while, the destruction of timber by the great lum-
bering companies proceeds unchecked both in
Canada and the United States.

The business men of Philadelphia are at present
writing agitating an appropriation by the city
government to supplement the expenditures by
the general government in dredging the Delaware
river Several deep-draught vessels have grounded
on bars which formerly gave no trouble, and it is
questionable how much of the changes in the
river bed are directly attributable to the immense
amount of detrital matter carried by freshets from
the denuded areas in the drainage-basins of the
Delaware and its tributaries. F. L. B.

Forest Fires: Causes and Preventions.

THE Boston Commercial Bulletin has col-
lected the following facts about forest

fires.

Of a total of 2983 forest fires recorded by the
1890 census, the causes of 115 are unaccounted
for, and the balance are ascribed to various
causes as follows : To locomotives, 508 ; to per-
sons clearing land, 1559; to hunters, 628; to
persons acting from malice, 262 ; to camp fires,
76 ; to carelessness in lighting pipes, 55.

Reference to the Chronicle Fire Tables shows
that in the entire country in 1893, there were 448
reported fires originating as forest and prairie
fires, inflicting a total property loss of about $4,-
100,000, and an insurance loss of $1,570,000. Of
these but i (loss $1000) occurred in Maine, 5 in
Massachusetts, 6 in New Hampshire, 4 m New

Jersey, s in New York, 5 in Pennsylvania, and i in
Rhode Island ; while in Minnesota there were 46
(loss, $107,750), in South Dakota 44 (loss, $467.-
100), in Wisconsin 115 (loss, $1,343, 5oo)> ^^
Michigan 20, in Nebraska 24, in Virginia 34, and

in North Carolina 27. , -, -4.

The small loss in Maine, densely wooded as it
is over a large part of its area, is significant of the
value of forest laws which are rigidly enforced.
There is no reason why >the fires of the Northwest
were not duplicated in Maine last year for drought
conditions were the same, except that the rigorous
laws for the protection of the forest from fire are
carried out in a way that inspires respect. Canada
maintains a fire patrol in her extensive preserves.
The recurrence of the terrible disasters of August
can be prevented if the people and legislature de-
sire to prevent them.— [If to the above incomplete
data we add the consequential damages the losses
I will be enormous, and were even more appalling
j and attended by more loss of lives in 1894 than
I in 1893.— Ed.]

THE following letter explains itself and so
clearly expresses the views on forestry
problems which confront the practical
business man that we are glad to give it a place
in Forest Leaves. .

My Dear Sir :-I was much interested m your
article on forest fires in The Press and I trust it
nlay find its way to every Board of County Com-
missioners outside of the cities. We never had a
reward offered by a Board in this county for the
arrest of forest incendiaries. I do not believe
any one in our present Board knows there is such
a law on our Statute Books. It is an outrage
timber should be so burned up when thousands of
the fires could be prevented. It will not be many
years until timber and lumber supplies will be in-
adequate to the demands of the country.

I own some 3100 acres of unseated and largely
mountain lands, which have been burned over so
much during the last fifteen years that I have be-
come disheartened and I have been cutting the
! timber and bark off more rapidly than I would
I have done had it not been for the fires. I propose
to continue to do so and then dispose of, or give
\ the lands away to get rid of taxes.

My experience is simply like that of other

^^Smce the railroad companies have introduced
the extension smoke box beyond the exhaust
stack, the engines fire but little of my woods.
The incendaries, however, continue their work.

I will send your article marked to all County
Commissioners. Yours truly,

SaltiUo, Penna. Calvin Greene.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

FOI^EiST LEp^

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

J

OF THE

OF

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

2,000,000 White Pine, nursery grown, from Northern
seed part 3-year seedlings, 4 to 5 and 5 to 7 inch, and

err' r. '. r^' ^ ^^ ^ ^"^ ^ to 7 inch, an ab«n.
dan y furnished with fine fibrous roots. 3000 American
White Beech 3000 Yellow Birch, 4 to 5 and 5 to 6 feet,

antVr''r " '"'"^"^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ low to close
an estate. Correspondence solicited, h. A. JACKSON
Successor to Thomas Jackson, Portland. Me.

HATCH CHICKENS ^l SJSftM f

Excelsior Incubator.

lating. Thousands In buctomI
ful operation. Guaranteed to

L' r i^? * ^'^^'^" percentage of
fertile eggs at i'e„ cost than]
anv other Hatcher. Lowe"
prfced first cla.. Hatcher

Clrculara 1
' .Send «c. for
Illns. Catalo«;ue.

made. «EO. II. mtaMi

rii.

PennsylvaBia Forestry AssociatioD,

AND THE

American Forestry Association.

The attention of the advertising public
IS called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, Pa.

RATES.

I inch, .
'A page, ,

((
(<

insertion.
$1.00

4.00

7.00

12.00

insertions.
$4.00

17.00

30.00

50.00

12
insertions.

$8.00

34-00

60.00

100.00

The Publication Committee of the Penn^
sylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertising space in Forest
Leaves. 3000 copies now reach readers
interested in tree planting and culture.

^y^Sk^Ss^i ^^^-^

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, April, 1895.

No. 2,

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

35 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials

Investment in Timber Lands....

Resolution of the National Board

of Trade

The Forestry Commission ••

In Memoriam •

Beautiful Pennsylvania .•;

Forestry at the Atlanta Exposition................-.".

Copy of Act Creating Department of AgncuUure

The Rock Oak (Quercus Prinus. L.)... ;...;.•

Meeting of the New Jersey Forestry Association

T jcpc of* 'X*eaicwoocl ••••• * •••••••••• ••••^« •••••■

Abstract of Report of Pennsylvania Forestry Commission

The Maple Sugar Industry

The Creation of Forest Preserves

Preserve the Forests

One Cause of Floods

Book Notices

17-19
19

19
20

20

21-22

23
23-24

«5

26
16
2 7-28
28
29
29

30
30

Subscription, $i.oo per Year.
77te attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the ^^^'/^""^yj'
of FoKHST Leaves as an advertising vtediuvi. Rates will t>t jur-

0/

nished on, application.

Committee on Publication.
loHN BiKKiNHiNB, Chairman, ^b North Juniper Street.
'|)R ]. v. RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
K. L'. Bitlhr, 1820 Master Street.
Jambs C. Haydon, Jeanesville, Pa.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to ^he necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and o ^^^ure the enact
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and

National.

Annual membership fee, One dollar.

I if e membership. Fifteen dollars. . . , .

N^'h^rThe membership nor the work of this Association is intended

to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become

membe^ should send their names to ^ . ^. Weiyner, Chairman Member-

ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, I'hila.

President, Tohn Birkinbine. ...,,. 1 /-

ViceFresiaents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Ur. Chas. A. Shaeffer. ,„ „ . ,
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph l- Rothrock
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.
Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.

Council-ai- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe. r^ , » i, Mr •

Council from Philadelphia Countv, J. Rodman Paid .A B. We.mer
Richard Wood. Lucius S. Landretli. (Jen. Isaac J. Wistar, Lli Kirk

I'rice. Henry Budd. ». ,1 i ujji.. Wm c: vjrU

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. L Biddle, Wm S. Kirk,

Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery James Monaghan.

Council from Dela7vare County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

^'CofnJii from Montgomery Countv, Dr. H. M Fisher, Dr Alice
Benneu. Dr. J. M. Anfers. rfon.B. >^itman Dambly. Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe, Mrs. Henry J. Biddle.
Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

ryTHE Legislature of Pennsylvania has an op-
J__ portunity to place the Commonwealth in
^ position among the advanced States by
passing such laws as will protect what still re-
mains of our once magnificent forests, and also
encourage the increase of our forest areas. We
sincerely trust that the Senators and Representa-
tives will realize how much can be gained by
prompt action and how much will be lost by post-
ponement for two years.

The gain will greatly exceed the natural accre-
tion which may be expected before the next Legis-
lature assembles, while the loss will not be confined
to the waste and destruction which will be en-
couraged by want of action.

The friends of forestry in the Legislature are
active ; already good results have been accom-
plished, and we believe that all that is required is
to demonstrate to our law-makers that public sen-
timent will sustain them in any wise measure
which will preserve and increase our forest area.

It is but fair that members of the Legislature
should be informed as to the wishes of their con-
stituents ; as representatives, they expect to voice
the sentiments of the people, and it is but proper
that these sentiments should be made known.
♦ * » * *

In our last issue (February) we gave a synopsis
of the forestry bills presented to the Legislature,
which we now supplement with a statement of the
present status of legislation, so that our readers
can judge as to what assistance can be rendered
by personal appeal to their representatives.

On Manh 13th, Governor Hastings signed the
bill, H. R., 170, to establish a Department of Ag-
riculture (which appears in another column), and
we trust that he may be as fortunate in selectmg
the chief of this department and the specialists
provided for, as his predecessor was in choosing
Forest Commissioners. Nor can bis Excellency

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FOREST LEAVES.

go amiss in tendering the appointment of Forest
Commissioner under the new law to Dr T T
Rothrock, to whom credit for the creation and
admmistration of the late Forestry Commission
was largely due.

House Bill No. 30, an Act providing for the
Reservation of the Forests, designating Fire War-
dens, etc after passing the House went to the
Senate, where it is in the hands of the Committee
and may be reported at any time. '

^ The bill to provide State Forestry Reservations
IS still before the Committee on Appropriations in
the House of Representatives.

The Act to provide for the continuation of the
l^orestry Commission of the State drops from the
calendar because the bill creating the Department
of Agriculture includes the Forestry Commissioner
When the Forestry Commissioners' report was
presented, a joint resolution was passed providing
for printing the report, and has been approved by
the Governor. ^

^ This includes all the bills mentioned in our last
issue, except that providing for free illustrated
ectures, which has been dropped, the lectures
being provided for in the Educational bill.

^ ^ * ^i -^

Rnt/ r X f "^"'t Executive Council of the
Board of rrade of the city of Philadelphia, on
March 1 8th, a motion was presented and carried
directnig the officers to prepare a memorial to the
i^egislature. advocating the forestry reservations
proposed, vz., three of not less than 40,000 acres.
Ihis bill was also endorsed by a meeting of Ger-
man citizens of Altoona. The full text of the bill
was given in the February issue of Forest Leaves.

*****
The American Forestry Association will hold a
peripatetic meeting, in conjunction with the New

fe Th7>^''°''",!'°"' ^^'y '-S'h f° '8th in.
Hen M T f P'^" .'^^'^braces a.s,sembling at Cam-

h K ; •'•' ^""^ '^^'''^ ^"y ^^'^ Pa«y will journey
by boat to Cape May, taking the railroad along
the sea-coast from that point to Atlantic City a I

city to the '-Plains; and after a jaunt which will
fh!"«, . ^'"■^"^' c°"ditions and possibilities of
Wh f f'- "'^,'"f«""g ^'" <l"se at Lakewood.
buch a trip will be pleasant, interesting and in-
structive. 'I he latest addition to the excel lei t
series of maps issued by the New Jersey Geolog -
cal Survey, showing the drainage basins of the
State, will aid the excursionists to thoroughly un-
derstand the problem. by""

*****

We are in receipt of copies of the January and

March issues of TAe New Jersey Forester ^^^ it

tial issue having been delayed by a f5re It is a

twelve-page bi-monthly publication devoted to the

development of our forests, and is the official or-
gan of the South Jersey Woodmen's Association
It is_^an excellent paper, containing short articles
on Forestry and kindred subjects.

We extend a warm welcome to the New Tetsev
Forester, ^s ih^ field to be covered at presently
arge, and the laborers few. Our sister State has

nerToZ^l '"'n^ ^ ^°°f Ij'ig'""'"*?. and the new
periodical will be a valuable aid in arousing the
people of New Jersey to the fact that it is impera-
tive that some legislation looking to the continu-
ance of wooded lands should be enacted
*****
In presenting the claims of forestry to a wealthy
and progressive citizen of Philadelphia, we were
met with an expression of willingness on his part
to purchase and protect a large acreage of forest
1 here is no sentimentalism in this proposal un-
less a love of trees and a realization of the^r be-
neficent influence is considered to be sentimental.
Ll^ f*" business proposal from a man of
wealth, who sees in the maintenance of forest
areas a safe investment, which, if judiciously made
will pay good interest. ^ '

l,»!?.l ^^° purchases partly matured timber or
healthy coppice, or who reforests waste lands, at
the prices they now command, and ^ives to these
proper care and attention, will receive a better re-
turn lor his investment than will be credited to
many of the listed stocks now in demand

About a year ago, Dr. Fernow, chief of the

Forestry Division of the Department of AgricuU

ure, delivered a series of twelve lectures^ upon

forestry before the junior class, some membe^of

Co^ZT'^"'"' ^'f '^"^ P''°'"^^^°'^ ^' Amherst
1 nr.^^ ; ^ '■'''""' '"^^ st"dents are now taking

preparatory courses, with a view of completinf
I their studies in Europe. Our American collS

f^ttT^a'd .TV T" ;° "^^'-P ^*"d-'' -
J oresters, and the faculties of those which take the

I nit.at.ve will be entitled to reap the benefits froni

such progressive action. The forestry agitation is

not temporary ; it will increase, and as interest is

awakened, there will be a demand for spedally

sented '°""^ ■"'" '° ^°'^^ '''' problems pie":
*****
General Paul A. Oliver, of Oliver's Mills in
of th? P^ 'he present condition of the Ssprmg
of the Penn Treaty elm which was transported
from Bay Ridge, N. Y., to the Wilkesbarre Moun-
tain, near Laurel Run, Pa. (described and iZs-
trated, as one of the largest 'trees transported for
100 miles, in Forest Leaves, vol. iii pn 1°
and 149), says: .<The tree 4ich has' be^en it
us present location three years has grown vigor-
ously, sending out many strong branches. Every
spring an attack is made upon it by ants and elm

S]

w

FOREST LEAVES.

^

hues I keep a lot of chickens under it inclosed
Kwire fence, and they seem to keep the tree
free from all kinds of bugs. When the elm-bug
made its appearance last year I sprayed the tree,
cleaning them out, and then put the chickens
'under it. The insects never bothered the tree
anymore." ^ ^ * *

We understand that the committee having in
charge the prize essays on ''The Pract-ca Value
of Forests to the Surface of the Country, have
received ciuite a number of papers. 1 he contest
closed April ist, and we hope to give the decision
of the committee, and publish the prize essays in

the next issue of Forest Leaves.

* » * * '^

The Governor of Pennsylvania will probably
indicate his selection of Arbor Day short ly. We
have addressed him in relation to the matter but
up to the time of going to press have not been
informed of the dates to be selected Last year
April nth and 27th were named as Arbor JJays,
aild we presume that dates close to these w.l be
chosed this year. We merely note this so that
the friends of forestry may make preparation to
recognize Arbor Day as the proclamation designat-
ing the time will probably appear in a few days.

Investment in Timber Lands.

THERE are few subjects that offer safer
sources for investment than timber lands.
Night and day, without the aid of man,
growth is adding to the capital, while the axe
thich is removing the surroundmg forest s giving
additional value to the trees which are left, since,
when one is cutting those which are growing, by
their very removal he is giving more sunlight and
air to the smaller and feebler ones and thus ena-
bles them to occupy the place of their neighbors,
increased in size and value much more quickly
than they would have been had they remained m
their former shaded and crowded position 1 here
are however, many considerations to be thought
of in the selection of timber lands, other than
those of quantity and quality of trees; consider-
ations thai are often entirely neglected and whose
neglect not unfrequently brings loss '"stead of
profit to the parties concerned. Of com e he
first consideration in the acquisition of timber
lands is to secure as much timber on a 8 '^en terri-
tory and of as good a kind as possible. But pre-
viously to doing this, the intending investor should
put the question to himself, How am I to secure
such a revenue from these lands as will '"sure me
a proper rate of interest for the capital embarked
in the venture ? This can be answered by finding

out at what cost the trees standing on the land can
be cut, hauled, and delivered at the nearest mil s
or market, if there be any such within a reasonable
distance. If a sufficient profit so as to leave a
reasonable stumpage cannot be shown in this cal-
culation, the speculation is unworthy of the atten-
tion of the capitalist, unless he can obviate the
difficulty by bringing in the aid of skilled lumber
manufacturers, who can see their way clear to lease
his property, and by the erecting of mills give
him an annual return for his money sufficient to
compensate for the risk which he has run in the
purchase; and it is just here where so many pur-
chases of really valuable timber lands become
sources of loss rather than of profit to their
owners. Having ascertained tSat there is a large
body of good timber on a piece of ground, they
secure it before asking how or by what means a
proper revenue can be derived from the same. In
this, as in many other cases, the capitalist and the
manufacturer should work together. Purchases of
timber land should be made, not on the opinion
of a mere explorer alone, however well skilled he
might be in his special subject, but that of the
practical man, whose business has been the manu-
facture and export of woods, should also be
sought ; and thus, by the combination of opinions,
the value of the investment could be ful y deter-
mined and the prospect of future returns be made
clear There are vast areas of forest land in the
north as well as the south now yielding little or
no returns which could be made to furnish a profit
to all concerned provided the proper means were
taken to discover the best and readiest means to
be adopted for the utilization of their products
and of bringing such information before lumber
manufacturers who are always on the lookout in
search of places where their knowledge and capi-
I tal could be best applied.— New York Lumber
Trade Journal.

Resolution of the National Board of Trade
in Regard to Forest Fire Laws.

THE National Board of Trade at a meeting
held in Washington, D. C, in January
passed the following resolution ;
Resolved, That the appalling results of forest
fires experienced in many States during the past
summer, compel the belief that the present statu-
tory protection against forest fires m these States
is inadequate or negligently applied; and we
appeal, therefore, to these States, in the interest
of their own prosperity and m the name of
humanity, to enact and enforce such legislation as
will prevent the recurrence of such serious loss ot
life and property hereafter.

M

%

, it

I

X}Si

FOREST LEAVES.

The Forestry Commission.

WE learn that the report of the Pennsylva-
nia Forestry Commission was handed
was dnP n -^ Legislature one day before it

was due. It consisted of about six hundred pa^es
of manuscnpt, with forty-four illustrations."^ a^nd

naps als^^Lm '"V:"i'T''"S ^"'^ ""P-'^"'
descent of ff^' "'u"=J' '''°^ '^^ '■^P'd'ty and

Sdrofthe'statT" ''"' '"" "^^ ^^'•'■°"^ ^-'-
On the creation of the new A£(riculturai De
apperV;"/.';! ^'^'^' --"""g toSheMw" h?.t
cSss on Vk'""' " '"P^'^'^^'d the Forestry

theZw ;„H ;*''''"■' ^'" '" ^"^ '''"e reach i

me publ K, and can be examined in detail We -

congratulate the Commissioners upon a faithful i

discharge of their duties, for we are cognizant o

the conscientious work done by Dr IT Roth

rock, the botanist, and Mr. Wm. F Shunk thj

engineer of the Commission. We also caU aUen

i'merU 'and' ''f K^ ^^"^""■^^•«" app Jn^^d beca se" '
°nn hT i ^ J"*!,' '^y '^^'°" Of P"'ifi^al influence

and hnn!?'"^"'' "''^" '« g''^^ 'he State valuable
and honest service, and Ex-Governor Pattison s

srone'rs"""'"''' '^^ ""'^ ^^'^'-■''°" ^^ C^m-il
We invite the attention of our readers to th<"

trl^^^ilSZ S ''' ^•^°^^' '■"^ '" the ^tfer'of
Transmittal of the report of the Commission thi.;

eTs::7!^- '? 'f p^^p^^ '^ add'rh^ra't'tt

expirat on of this fiscal year, May ^oth there will
Te^'than' f " /"u ""^P-deJ tala;ce of lo

we have tXd -''th^P^^P"^"'*^" ""^"^^ ^hich
wc nave worked. This statement reauires thf

following qualification ; on the day on Xch he
final report was rendered, and on which^he Com
s work^r'^^ ''"^ of existence, after having done
i55ls'?3. '""""'"^ ^" unexpended balfnce of

resSliiVh' k" '""' ''^ 'he report is not yet ac
of > chil;;£'"^' '" "^'^ '^^"^ -^ «'- - 'dea
This should demonstrate to our Leirislatnr^ fh^
wisdom of continuing efforts to prLerve o„ f're I'

o? the fTnV. n'rV' '°"'^"^^^ '" 'he purpo es ,
sLnt , °^ '^"'■esfy. Messrs. Rothrock and

?oX K't e^rj^Jk'S: co'^'^-^^"' ''^ ^^"^"«' '

/ u;^ uicrr work as Commissioners. 1

FOREST LEAVES.

Ski 3

'Zl'

In Memoriam.

A ^'^IN death has taken one of the active
^ members of the Council of the Penn yl!

of Mr. /orHT<S7el'3"°^*"'°"' '" '^ P^^

era^v .n'n'^H'".''^'" P^''^^ ''^^0"^ the age gen-
erally allotted to man, and was in his eitrhtv-firsf
year, although neither his physical norment^

l'Zl"t:'^tP% '; '^'4^ edTtorTaHyrh
Z 'r V. K^^''' ^^'^S^*' "■uly said .-
Mr. John H. Redfield was one of those manv

quiet modest Philadelphians whose gleat wor"h

nef.hK^''"'"^ T""^ comparatively unknown to his
neighbors, and even those who knew him bes?
scarcely realized what a loss to science hil death
would be until now it has occurred For a num

fctanv'a'nd Y ^^T't "^"'>' '^'^ whol^tin 'To

few as^'an a„?h ' /°''- '''T'"' " "^'"^ ^^"«"ed by
lew as an authority in the special branch of that

I attr c tive science known as'pteridology or study

unselfi h ba?d o7''- ^'"""^ f"^" '""^^'"o^' «f that
Sat on .nH f '^'^''"fts who give without com-

fvrrrfSrrrnc':^:fVis°oV'^^^^

wnf ^e^htr""' ^^'T^'' -^ ' 'itlnstUut o':
n^'lS'silcelr^dlt^J o^D^'US; "^ "° °^^-
ment an^'v!^ '?'"^jf '" ^°''«"-y' his" calm judg-

h"s cSgu'es. '"'""^ ^°""^^' ^'" -^^ "--d b'y

J. B.

A Forest Monarch.

D ^ I? sto id' f?o " ^'''' '' ^°S 'Tooth bend,
-^^ CO to?wlHTJ'"f. —-"-^1 a greaJ

«

PauN M,„„ , z>,y.,rf, ,„ggi„ ,t„ £ Dalle, rf

each twelve St Ion. and ihl'h".""'"" "^'^ ^^S^'
^784 feet of nrni!! *^' u", 'h^ butt cut contained

in the entireiee.-r:^rSiS' "'°°° '"'

suppi^is-^^n'^s^^^^^^^^

Si?effeT^"'^ °' -^^^^^^^^^
t^e1s"X^-,r;r " '^^ '^^^'^"^^ '°" °^ ^'^

\\

Beautiful Pennsylvania.

DR J T ROTHROCK, State Forestry Com-
missioner, gave an illustrated lecture, un-
(. der the auspices of the Council of the

Pennsylvania Forestry Association, in the gallery
of the Art Club, Philadelphia, on the evening ot
Monday, February i8th. The gathering was
something more than a mere lecture. " repre-
seS th! interest that the ladies of Philadelphia
have taken in the forestry movement Ihree
hundred and fifty friends of forestry filled the
room, and many left, being unable to find seats.

The committee having the meeting and recep-
tion in charge was: Mrs. Henry J- ^'ddle, Mrs.
John Birkinbine, Miss Balch, Mrs. Edward F.
Beale, Mrs. John Cadwalader, Miss Mary Clap.er
Coxe Mrs. George W. Carpenter, Mrs Samuel
Chew, Mrs. George W. Childs Drexel, Mrs. S. C.
T Hallowell, Mrs. John Harrison, Mrs. Edward
f' Hoffmann, Mrs. Herbert M. Howe, Mrs. Lu-
cius Scott Landreth, Miss Lu"dy'Mrs. Arthur V.
Meigs, Mrs. George McClellan, Mrs. A. K. Mc-
Clure,' Mrs. Henry M. Fisher. » , „ :„

The lecture opened with two views taken in
Arizona, which called forth the statement that no
part of the State of Pennsylvania, which has an
krea almost equal to that of England, was by na-
ture as barren as either of the scenes exhibited
Yet it might be well to remember at the outset
that we had in this State a solid area of alniost
if not quite, one thousand square miles which
was so barren that it was almost depopulated.
And of this, a sample mile in the northeastern
part of the State was shown.

There are three natural consequences to such a
condition of affairs: first, excessive rush of water
from treeless areas : second, consequent low water
(•because the water which should have remained
has gone out of the country) ; third, progressive
impoverishment of the land itself. These ten-
dencies are intensified by the riot of fire to which
the region is abandoned. The disposition of na-
ture is towards restoration, as shown by the readi-
ness with which the willows were restoring flood-
washed banks and sprouts were covering the
burned areas. The lecturer stated that this State
was losing potentially, if not actually, thirty mil-
lions of dollars annually by forest fires and that
to renew bridges which had been swept away by
floods eight counties together had paid in the last
four years a million of dollars.

The next illustrations showed the productive
parts of beautiful Pennsylvania and demonstrated
that while the State lacked the supreme grandeur
of the highest mountain ranges that it had a sur-
face which possessed an even charm of landscape
possessed by few of the other States. It did not
have the monotonous horizon-bound plain ot

Kansas and Nebraska, where, in favorable seasons .
miles of waving wheat greeted the eye ; but it did
not have to resort to irrigation to produce its
golden harvest, for the clouds poured out their
spontaneous offering upon the soil. It did not
have the gold of California or the silver of Ne-
vada: but it had the iron and coal which trans-
cended both the others in value. The product of
what we designate our waste lands had once made
Pennsylvania the second lumber-producing State
east of the Great River. New England had no
grander elms than our own State possessed, nor
did old England, whose naval power was born in
her oak forests, possess any more robust specimens
than some of the trees which beautified the mead-
ows of the Brandywine. The hedge rows of he
old world had nothing more artistic than the
graceful climbers in the fence rows of the new,
''where the bramble offers its berries to the

schoolboy's hand ! " , . o

The lecturer had recently seen the waterways
of Pennsylvania drawn on an enlarged map, trom
which every other feature of the landscape was
omitted. It was almost impossible to put a
finger tip on a spot without touching one of the
streams which were, and will be, contributory to
the prosperity of this wonderfully endowed com-
monwealth. Each stream had its own beauty.
You may not be able to analyze the picture or to
point out in positive terms the peculiarities of a
Pennsylvania stream ; but an artist feels them and
his instinct locates them. " That picture comes
from one of two streams, either the Brandywine
or the Wissahickon," said a friend who had trav-

died around the globe. " I know . ; but I can t
tell you how I recognize it." He was righ .
Then, too, our highlands along the northern half
of the State are simply a repetition of what we
go so far for and pay so much to see m the Acli-
rondacks, with this difference, that the culmina-
tL peaks are not so elevated. The same kind
of lakes glorify the landscape and the same bal-
sam and the same birch diffuse their fragrance in
the air Our waterfalls are in no wise inferior to
theirs And let the truth be told and emphasized
that we have in the high hemlock woods of Penn-
sylvania not only the same sanitary influences as
those of the Adirondacks, but that in favorable
results our own region actually gives a better per-
centage than the mountains of New York. Ihe
tracks of the glaciers are plainly marked in our
rounded hills, and the lakes which glisten in the
depressions are the lineal products of that period.
We can still read the genealogy of our common-
wealth and recognize that the Elk mountains of
Susquehanna county rose above the sheet of ice
as an. island does out of the ocean, and that infi-
nite forces planed away higher summits to pro-
duce the great plateau of Sullivan, Lycoming and

\m

"•em

n

5L1f

4d>

1 1

,il'

1 «

dollars. Hemlock for wh ' ""'°'^ "^'"'ons of
turieshad been S underJonrr.'"' ^''^ ^^'^■
the hillsides. White n.wi"'""' darkened
top and in the valley beloJT^ T "'°""'^'n
came the gorgeous foL^e oT\k "^ ^'''" ''"'"^n
^''th the yellow of the h?r k ^^l "'^P'e blended
the beechf Waterfa Is bre.? '"'^ ."'" ^^'^"'^^ of
of the declivities and amid^nr 'i'' ^'''''y ^0"'^
he cataract we ask Is thk n p "'1'' ^"^ roar of
b;ttle honored ? Paupack I'T^r'^^"'^ ^ ^"d so
Falls are names whose SUk'"" ^"'^ ^i^noga
appreciate better thtletard^n": '^'"'-'^ -'"

waterfalls, there hangs a bhVhf r °^ '^'^^'^ ^nd
,'s. >n spite of the facfthat if n • ^"^"Z"'"' " ^till
been swept away and thlt drr'^" ^""''"^ ^^'^
have marred its^ surface iJf ""^"J^ '"'g^^cies
whom it has enriched .tkas^e!"'"^ '^>' "^°>*^
often to fire and flood thafX" S'^^" o^*^"" ^o
ceased to considerTof va Le m"' ''T''' ''^^^
emphasize this fact tJt d^;.- °^ ^"°w ^e to
here were sold for taxes JnL"^ "'^ ^^^^ '«94
'«« than .,500,000 acre, o? such f!? °^ ^"""^ "°t
area twelve times asTarge as n.^""*"""^^' ''^' ^"
an area 238 square mileslarSr M '^"'f ^^""ty-
Delaware abandoned by its^n» u'^ ^^^'^ of

protected agamst fire, ^t was "o''. ^"'''''' """
holdmg. One acre out of ^ "o longer worth

commonwealth abandon'ed and^'T*^" '" "^'^
These are the facts. The sonr.? depopulated,
are unquestionable. There kn .?'^ 'nformation
accuracy of the statement ev^l "o doubt as to the
not yet been told. Yet thk '^ '^''; '^^' ^» has
thirty years been payin/t„ ?/« '^ '^"^ ^^' for
"tmg to the wage eaSsof h T'^'' ^"'^ distrib-
age, not less than «To o„/ ^'^' °" "'^ ^^^r-

the State intervene to e„A?h-^"T"^- Unless
desolation, it will cont.nue and 1' abomination of
"'orse. There is but one remf/'^'T P'-^g^ssively
"--e that our sister State of New\ ^\ 'f '^' '"^as-
adopted, tried and reported ^r ^u^^ ''^' ^'-^^ady
of establishing State fore,. '^^°''*'^'y "Pon-that
ground, protecting ft and 'l'"''"^'""^ °" this
power instead of f fester^l '"^ " ^ ^^^^ce of
of ,.the CommonweSj Ih r? "'^"" "'^ ^"^^ace
Po-t-cs. It transcends allTh, '^"*'. '"^^^''^^ of
domamofstatesmanshin I n^,^^ "«^^ '"to the
Pia.ner proposition Than' thk '""'P'-e^^rvation, no
to the intelligence of th"s elm' ''" ^"■^'"'"ed
the consideration of everv riT"""^- ^' ^'a-ms
c'ty. m hamlet or in coumrv K "^"' ^^^'^^' '"
t'°" of the high water 12' V''^ "^^ condi-
affect the power^of mrwhole Ld "^?- ^'''^ ^'"
from all this, there Ts the dn?^ P°''f'c- Aside

the duty we owe to the

FOREST LEAVES.

future. We dare not iannr^ ;. ~I ^

contempt on the services nf.^ "',1'''°"' casting
US and earning tfe maleii?.°'^ ^''".^^"^ ^eforf
come after us maledictions of those who

PeS'^An' a^LKel^d'tf^'? ''^^^ -^ -
from every mountain side from j'"^ T ^°''' ^"d
Pennsylvania's sons came' to? T'^ ^''""^ valley
be on the altar of the State ' "^"' '''''' '^ "^^d

because its march is w^hou fh^ ?"'' "? ^^'' «al
It leads to the same iTsue L'^f '"™°'' *''" ''attle.
■mpoverishment of beautif^ p ^ degradation and
"'ght I call upon you a fol^""''^'^^"'a- " To-
of this State to pLad fo /i T^ ^"^ daughters
"'ent of such mSres arwiflT"' "'^ ^"^^'-
ever-mcreasing degree th^ ^"ll transmit, in an

and the prospfrity^o7 i'ts ^le '-"^ °^ >'°- -''

Assoc^i^rMr'StBirl-'^^'^^-""^-' of the
of the Asso^iat on,1hanked' n'"1j "I''^' °" behalf
.nteresting lecture, Mr Afberfp^w'^''^^'' ^°^ ^'^
thefollowinjrnrefl^hi^ ^ ^- ^eimer offered
unanimousIy^Pp^r^.'^e'j.^"^ resolutions, which S

State'^Tv^^g' berd";td'TtP°"'°"-^ «-
"ow being sold for taxis bv.,°/''^ ''""^^'^ are
respective counties in which sad, T"'""' °'" "^'^
and whereas such land^l ave h^ """' ^""^ '°^^'^d ;
danger and a menace o fi ""'^ ^ source of
State; therefore be ?t Prosperity of the

bied.^th:tt "eVdtETht °'" ^^^'^^ "-« —
State Forestrv r"^^ . ^ ^^^ proposed bv fhL

Forestry KUrns"rs"et "''^"''' ^'^^^ ^^ e
property of the State and w "'''^r '? ''''°"'" '^'
bers of the Senate and Ho.^! ^rV'"' "^^ -"em-
of the State of Pennsvlva^i^l "^ Representatives
.met be, and hereby are r^n 1" ^'^"eral assembly
■nto a law. ^ '^' '^quested to enact the bill

^^ Resolved Thnf «

forwarded to 'the AesideTtVf th'^". '''°'"''°" ^^^
Speaker of the House of r" ^ ^^"^'^ «"d the
the Secretary of the Pen n^?''^''"'^"'^^^ 'trough
ciation." ^ "^ Pennsylvania Forestry Asso

fon".' witlfrighr^efSl*'"^'^ "^y - ■■"'•ormal recep-
the Associatfon and 1:^^;/';'"^ members o'f
for pleasant intercourse LsV,'^' "" opportunity
and profitable evenilig ''""^ "" enjoyable

-ft is said, that over half th^
field and Centre countie L^'^'^-miUs in Clear-
been permanently dosed 1 Pennsylvania, have
a falling off of ^ully ^o per"'"' ''1^'''''^ "^^^ been
operations of that ILl- P^f.cent. in the logein^
l>erman. ^' '^^"o" this winter.- r>i/S

FOREST LEAVES.

Forestry at the Atlanta Exposition.

THE Cotton States and International Exposi-
tion to be held in Atlanta, Ga., from Sep-
tember 18 to December 31, 1895, has lor
its main object to bring to notice the resources
and advantages of the Southern States.
' The Unitfd Slates government will have a spe-
cial building, but the mineral exhibit of he
Geological Survey and the forestry exhibit of he
DeDarfment of Agriculture will be placed in the
FoTestrrand Minting Building (190 feet by 300
feet), and will be made specially full and attrac-

"^Dr B E Fernow has been appointed Chief of
the Department of Forestry, and he may be de-
nended on to secure the greatest advantage bo h
{o visitors and exhibitors by a systematic display
of the southern forest resources.

His plan, as exhibited to us, is to divide the
available floor space equally between the govern-
ment exhibit and the general exhibit.

The central aisle is to be lined by a colonnade
of wooden columns highly finished and designed
so as to show to best advantage the grain of
outhern timbers. The space on both ^^Jes o^
this colonnade is to be reserved for State exhibits,
which are to consist mainly of maps showing dis-
tribution of merchantable forest areas, statistical
tables and illustrative cuts of trees, etc., to be
uppTemented by such exhibits as may be offered
bv railroad and development companies. The
space outside the posts is to be devoted to wood
manufactures and wooden-ware.

The lumber exhibit is to be placed along the
walls on both sides of the building, arranged by
species, the coniferous trees occupying one side,
the deciduous (hardwood) trees the other side

Each window (or two where necessary) is to be
devoted to one kind of timber. In the centre is
to be placed a large transparency showing the tree
as In'lling in the forest. Around th's are grouped
views illustrating the manufacture of each kind ot

lumber. - . „4.*«:„

It is intended to show the range of sizes attain-
able, the nature of the lumber as it comes from the
tree the usual defects, the grading, the varying
grain, and the adaptability to specific uses. J. B.

Copy of Act (H. R., 170), treating Depart-
r^ent of Agriculture, Passed by the Leg-
islature and Approved by the Governor
of Pennsylvania, March 13, 1895

—The organization "of land and improvement
companies, even in northern Wisconsin, to col-
onize such pine lands as have been cut over, is a
telling commentary on the alleged inexhausti-
bilitv " you so often hear about, in spite of the
fact that Wisconsin is now one of the largest soft
pine producers in the country.

Section i. Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it
is hereby enacted by the authority of the same
That there be and hereby is established a Depa t-
ment of Agriculture to be organized and adminis-
S by an officer who shall be- known as he
Secretary of Agriculture, who shall be appointed
by the Governor, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate, for a term of four years at an
annual salary of three thousand five h""dred dol-
lars, and who, before entering upon the d»t>es ol
his office, shall take and subscribe the oath pre-
scribed in Article seven of the Constitution Saul
secretary shall be ex-officio secretary of he Sta e
Board of Agriculture, and shall succeed to all the
powers and duties now conferred by law upon the

secretary of said board.

Sec 2 That it shall be the duty of the Secre-
tary of Agriculture in such ways as he may deem
fit and proper, to encourage and P-'omote the de-
velopment of agriculture, horticulture, forest y,
Ind kindred industries, to collect and publish sta-
stistics and other information >" '"egard to the
agricultural industries and interests of the S ate
to investigate the adaptability of grains, fruits,
Ira ses and other crops to the soil and climate of
?he State, together with the diseases to which they
are sev rdly'liable, and the remedies therefor to
obtain and distribute information on al jatters
relating to the raising and care of stock and poul-
try the best methods of producing wool and pre
paring the same for market, and shall diligently
Cecute all such similar in.iuiries as may be re-
quired by the agricultural "terests of he State
and as will best promote the ends for which the
Deinrtment of Agriculture is established. He
Si give special attention to such questions re-
SdiK to the valuation and taxation of farm land
to the variation and diversification in the kinds^ of
croii and methods of cultivation, and their adapta-
bility to changing markets, as may arise from time
to tinie, in consequence of a change of method ,
means and rates of transportation, or in the habits
or occupation of the people of this State and else-
wlKre, Ind shall publish as frequently - Pactica-
hle such information thereon as he shall deem
useful In the performance of the duties pre-
scribed by this a'ct, the Secretary of Agncul ur
shall as far as practicable, make use of the tacili-
Uesprov dedb?the State Agricultural Experiment
Station, the State Board of Agriculture, and he
various State and county societies and organ za-
IfoTmaintained by agriculturists and horticultur.

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FOREST LEAVES.

ists, whether with or without, the aid of the State,
and shall as far as practicable, enlist the aid of the
State Geological Survey, for the purpose of obtain-
ing and publishing useful information respecting
the economic relations of geology to agriculture,
forestry, and kindred industries. He shall make
an annual report to the Governor, and shall pub-
lish, from time to time, such bulletins of informa-
tion as he may deem useful and advisable. Said
report and bulletins shall be printed by the State
printer, in the same manner as other public docu-
ments, not exceeding five thousand copies of any
one bulletin.

Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary
to obtain and publish information respecting the
extent and condition of forest lands in this State,
to make and carry out rules and regulations for
the enforcement of all laws designed to protect
forests from fires and from all illegal depredations
and destruction, and report the same annually to
the Governor, and as far as practicable, to give in-
formation and advice respecting the best methods
of preserving wood lands and starting new plan-
tations. He shall also, as far as practicable, pro-
cure statistics of the amount of timber cut during
each year, the purposes for which it is used, and
the amount of timber land thus cleared, as com-
pared with the amount of land newly brought
under timber cultivation, and shall in general,
adopt all such measures, as in his judgment, may
be desirable and effective, for the preservation and
increase of the timber lands of this State, and
shall have direct charge and control of the man-
agement of all forest lands belonging to the Com-
monwealth, subject to the provisions of law relative
thereto. The said Secretary shall also be, and
hereby is, charged with the administration of all
laws designed to prevent fraud or adulteration in
the preparation, manufacture, or sale of articles of
food, the inspection, sale or transportation of the
agricultural products or imitations thereof, and all
laws relating to diseases of domestic animals and
to the manufacture and inspection of commercial
fertilizers.

Sec. 4. There shall be one Deputy Secretary,
who shall be appointed by the Governor for the
term of four years, at a salary of three thousand
dollars a year, who shall also be Director of
Farmer's Institutes. The other officers of the
Department shall be appointed by the Governor
for the term of four years and shall be an Econo-
mic Zoologist, a Commissioner of Forestry, a
Dairy and Food Commissioner, who shall have
practical experience in the manufacture of dairy
products, and a State Veterinarian, who shall be a
graduate of some reputable veterinary college, who
shall receive an annual salary of twenty-five hun-
dred dollars each. The Dairy and Food Com-
missioner, shall, under the direction of the Secre-

tary, perform the duties prescribed by an act
approved May twenty-sixth, one thousand eight
hundred and ninety-three. The Governor is
hereby authorized to appoint one chief clerk of
the Department at an annual salary of sixteen
hundred dollars, one stenographer, at a salary of
eight hundred dollars a year, and one messenger,
at a salary of six hundred dollars a year, and the
Dairy and Food Commissioner, the Commissioner
of Forestry, and the Economic Zoologist, shall
each have a clerk who shall be appointed by the
Governor, and who shall serve under the direction
of the respective commissioners aforesaid and re-
ceive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars a year
each.

Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of the Superin-
tendent of Institutes to arrange them in such
manner as to time and places of holding the same
as to secure the greatest economy and efficiency of
service and to this end, he shall, in each county
where such institutes are to be held, confer and
advise with the local member of the State Board
of Agriculture, together with representatives duly
appointed by each county agricultural, horticultu-
ral, and other like organizations with reference to
the appointment of speakers and other local
arrangements.

Sec. 6. That the Secretary may, at his dis-
cretion, employ experts for special examinations
or investigations, the expenses of which shall be
paid by the State Treasurer in the same manner
as like expenses are provided bylaw, but not more
than five thousand dollars shall be so expended in
any one year. In this annual report to the Gov-
ernor he may include so much of the reports of
other organizations as he shall deem proper which
shall take the place of the present agricultural re-
ports and of which thirty-one thousand six hun-
dred copies shall be published and distributed as
follows : To the Senate, nine thousand copies ; to
the House of Representatives, twenty thousand
copies; to the Secretary of Agriculture, two
thousand copies; to the State Librarian, for dis-
tribution among public libraries and for reserve
work, five hundred copies ; and to the State Ag-
ricultural Experiment Station, one hundred copies.

3ec. 7. That the Secretary of Agriculture shall
have an office at the State Capitol, and it is hereby
made the duty of the Commissioners of Public
Buildings and Grounds to provide the necessary
rooms, furniture and apparatus for the use of the
Department.

Sec. 8. That all acts, or parts of acts, incon-
sistent herewith, be and the same are hereby re-
pealed.

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The Rock Oak (Quercus Prinus, L.).

OUR illustration in this number shows a Rock
Oak tree growing by the side of a moun-
tain road. The soil is poor, stony, and
inhospitable in every sense of the word. White
oak is so far the best possible product of the place,
that one may almost say the location promises that
or nothing.

First of all, let us remember that the woodsman
always knows just w^hat he means when he desig-
nates this tree, whether it grew on a mountain
slope or on the gravel bank by the side of a river.

The botanist, on the other hand, is by no means
so sure just what opinion his brother scientist will
form when the same name is repeated in his hear-
ing ; the woodsman knows just enough ; the other
knows either too much or too little. The explana-
tion is not far off; the tree varies so greatly in its
extremes of character and the connecting links
between these extremes are so numerous, that it
puzzles the botanist who recognizes it to say where
what is rock oak ceases, and something else begins.

The rock oak is sometimes also designated as
rock chestnut oak, or as chestnut oak; this last
name expresses what is the fact, that there is a
close general resemblance between some kinds of
oak and the common chestnut. This we all re-
cognize when we come to compare the leaves
of the chestnut with the leaves of the rock oak ;
in shape, in color, and in texture they agree
closely, but when we note the teeth on the edges
of the leaf in the rock chestnut oak, they gen-
erally are found to be blunt pointed, whereas,
in the chestnut oak, though of about the same
size, they are sharp pointed. It must be remem-
bered, however, that this difference is by no means
a constant one, for there are some rock oak leaves
whose teeth are sharp pointed. To carry the
comparision a little further, it may be stated that in
some parts of the globe there are trees where the
fruit might puzzle one to determine whether the
tree producing it should be called a chestnut or
an oak. The rock oak never commends itself to
you for grace or beauty in any shape. Even in its
best condition its bark is rough, and the curves of
its branches tend to be angular. It does convey
the impression, however, of sturdy strength, able
to meet, resist, and overcome the difficulties of its
surroundings, and to mature the product, or pro-
ducts of value to men. on soil so poor that we can ,
hope for nothing else on it.

In the southern half of Pennsylvania, among the
mountains, this tree is a familiar associate of the
locust and the pitch pine. It furnishes a bark of
value to the tanner, and the wood makes strong
and enduring railroad ties, which resist long and
well the tremendous and crushing weight to which
they are exposed.

As a rule the wood is porous, checks badly in
drying, and is very easily split. It has been re-
marked by a leading botanist of our country, that
the silver grain of our trees never extends com-
pletely from the centre of the trunk out to the
bark. His observations have been too limited.
An examination of a cross section of a mature
rock oak trunk will verv often show these silver
grains, or medullary rays, extending clear from
ttentre to circumference. They sometimes are
almost as plainly and as strongly de^^eloped as in
the buttonwood.

The rock oak is originally a tree of very slow
growth. I have counted the rings on a trunk but
little over a foot in diameter, and found them to
indicate almost a century as the age of the tree.
On the other hand, I have seen rock oak trunks
qaite as large, where the tree had grown under
very favorable conditions of soil, and where the age
of the tree was but little over forty years. One such
(^se comes to mind where an entire grove of rock
daks had grown from the acorns to an average
diameter of a foot or more within the memory of
a man but little over fifty years old.

Rock oaks vary as much in their fruit as they do
in their leaves. One lot of trees on the side of
North Mountain, in Luzerne County, occasionally
produces acorns which are nearly or quite an inch
and a quarter in length, and which have so little
of the astringent taste that they might almost be
called sweet. Of these we might say, as Dr. Gray
did of the May apple, ** Fruit edible, eaten by
pigs and boys," and we may well add bears to the
list.

Michaux called attention, in his time, to this
same rock oak on the sides of North Mountain,
as valuable for the purpose of charcoal production.

The bark of an old rock oak is very thick and
much fissured. To the student of lichens no spe-
cies of our American forest trees probably offer a
richer field for investigation than the tree under
consideration. On the swelling base will be found
^eat sheets of Parmelias several inches square,
which may be readily stripped off in a continuous
mass, and which show after a shower a beautiful
yellowish-green color. Higher up the trunk, where
there is less moisture, such crustaceous lichens as
the Lecideas give a dull gray wrinkled appearance
to the surface of the bark.

Physical Properties. — Specific gravity, 0.7499;
percentage of ash, 0.77 ; relative approximate fuel
Wilue, 0.7441 ; weight in pounds of a cubic foot
of dry wood, 46.73 ; relative strength, 50 on the
list of 310 of our native United States woods.

— ^Oregon fir has been pronounced peculiarly
adaptable to the manufacture of musical instru-
ments, especially for the tops of violins, guitars,
and for sounding-boards for pianos.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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The Rock Oak (Quercus Prinus, L.).

OUR illustration in this number shows a Rock
Oak tree growing by the side of a moun-
tain road. The soil is poor, stony, and
inhospitable in every sense of the word. White
oak is so far the best possible product of the place,
that one may almost say the location promises that
or nothing.

First of all, let us remember that the woodsman
always knows just what he means when he desig-
nates this tree, whether it grew on a mountain
slope or on the gravel bank by the side of a river.

The botanist, on the other hand, is by no means
so sure just what opinion his brother scientist will
form when the same name is repeated in his hear-
ing ; the woodsman knows just enough ; the other
knows either too much or too little. The explana-
tion is not far off; the tree varies so greatly in its
extremes of character and the connecting links
between these extremes are so numerous, that it
])uzzles the botanist who recognizes it to say where
what is rock oak ceases, and something else begins.

The rock oak is sometimes also designated as
rock chestnut oak, or as chestnut oak; this last
name expresses what is the fact, that there is a
close general resemblance between some kinds of
oak and the common chestnut. This we all re-
cognize when we come to compare the leaves
of the chestnut with the leaves of the rock oak ;
in shape, in color, and in texture they agree
closely, but when we note the teeth on the edges
of the leaf in the rock chestnut oak, they gen-
erally are found to be blunt pointed, whereas,
in the chestnut oak, though of about the same
size, they are sharp pointed. It must be remem-
bered, however, that this difference is by no means
a constant one, for there are some rock oak leaves
whose teeth are sharp pointed. 'i'o carry the
comparision a little further, it may be stated tliat in
some parts of the globe there are trees where the
fruit might puzzle one to determine whether the
tree producing it should be called a ( hestnut or
an oak. The rock oak never commends itself to
you for grace or beauty in any shape. Even in its
best condition its bark is rough, and the curves of
its branches tend to be angular. It does convey
the impression, however, of sturdy strength, able
to meet, resist, and overcome the difficulties of its
surroundings, and to mature the product, or pro-
ducts of value to men. on soil so poor that we can
hope for nothing else on it.

In the southern half of Pennsylvania, among the
mountains, this tree is a familiar associate of the
locust and the pitch pine. It furnishes a bark of
value to the tanner, and the wood makes strong
and enduring railroad ties, which resist long and
well the tremendous and crushing weight to which
they are exposed.

As a rule the wood is porous, checks badly in
drying, and is very easily split. It has been re-
marked by a leading botanist of our country, that
the silver grain of our trees never extends com-
pletely from the centre of the trunk out to the
bark. His observations have been too limited.
An examination of a cross section of a mature
rock oak trunk will verv often show these silver
grains, or medullary rays, extending clear from
eentre to circumference. They sometimes are
almost as plainly and as strongly developed as in
the buttonwood.

The rock oak is originally a tree of very slow
growth. I have counted the rings on a trunk but
little over a foot in diameter, and found them to
indicate almost a century as the age of the tree.
On the other hand, I have seen rock oak trunks
quite as large, where the tree had grown under
very favorable conditions of soil, and where the age
of the tree was but little over forty years. One such
dase comes to mind where an entire grove of rock
oaks had grown from tlie acorns to an average
diameter of a foot or more within the memory of
a man but little over fifty years old.

Rock oaks vary as much in their fruit as they do
in their leaves. One lot of trees on the side of
North Mountain, in Luzerne County, occasionally
produces acorns which are nearly or (juite an inch
and a quarter in length, and which have so little
of the astringent taste that they might almost be
called sweet. Of these we might say, as Dr. Gray
did of the May apple, ** Fruit edible, eaten by
pigs and boys," and we may well add bears to the
list.

Michaux called attention, in his time, to this
same rock oak on the sides of North Mountain,
as valuable for the puri)ose of charcoal production.

The bark of an old rock oak is very thick and
much fissured. To the student of lichens no spe-
cies of our American forest trees probably offer a
richer field for investigation than the tree under
consideration. On the swelling base will be found
^eat sheets of Parmelias several inches square,
which may be readily stripped off in a continuous
mass, and which show after a shower a beautiful
yellowish-green color. Higher up the trunk, where
there is less moisture, such crustaceous lichens as
the Lecideas give a dull gray wrinkled appearance
to the surface of the bark.

Physical Properties. — Specific gravity, 0.7499;
percentage of ash, 0.77 ; relative approximate fuel
v^lue, 0.7441 ; weight in pounds of a cubic foot
of dry wood, 46.73 ; relative strength, 50 on the
list of 310 of our native United States woods.

— Oregon fir has been pronounced peculiarly
adaptable to the manufacture of musical instru-
ments, especially for the tops of violins, guitars,
and for sounding-boards for pianos.

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

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Meeting of the New Jersey Forestry

Association.

THE New Jersey Forestry Association met in
Chancery Chambers at the State House,
Trenton, N. J., on February 12th. Edward
Burrough, the President of the Association, pre-
sided at the meetings in the afternoon and evening.
A committee to arrange for a series of lectures
on forestry subjects was appointed.

About the middle of May a four-days' trip will be
made through South Jersey, to which the Ameri-
can Forestry Association was invited. The pur-
pose being to view the existing forest conditions
there.

The South Jersey Woodmen's Association was
made a branch of the State Association.

At the evening session President Burrough made
some appropriate opening remarks. He referred
to the action of the Legislature in authorizing the
Geological Survey of the State to investigate and
ascertain the extent, character and location of the
wild lands of the State which are better suited for
permanent occupation by forests than for agri-
culture, but said that unless the effort of the sur-
vey is sustained and the people demand that the
information thus acquired shall be acted on, their
labors are in vain. The creation of a sentiment
in favor of the preservation of forests was conse-
quently necessary, and was the primary object of
the Association at present.

Mrs. John C. S. Davis, of Riverton, expressed
her interest in the work of the Association.
Franklin Dye then followed with an account of
the meeting of the American Forestry Association
which he attended last summer.

Prof. J. C. Smock, the State Geologist, told of
the work done by the Geological Survey in its in-
vestigation of the forestry question. In the
northern part of the State 750 miles of forest land
was surveyed last year, and the greater j)art of the
balance would be surveyed this summer. The
forests were classified as to kind and size, and were
mostly chestnut, oak or pine. In Bergen county
are virgin forests. Many people would be sur-
prised to know that there are so many forests in
sight of New York City as there are.

He said that the work would be the basis of all
discussions in the future in regard to the preserva-
tion of water supplies, hints for parks and reserva-
tions, private and public, as well as furnishing defi-
nite data as to timber.

IVof. Gifford claimed that the lands of the south-
ern part of the State were better adapted to profit-
able forest growth than to any other branch of
agriculture, but had become much impoverished
because of forest fires. Formerly every important
industry there depended on the forests.

The forest fires used to be started by charcoal

burners, who set fire to the woods so they could
buy them cheaply. Now the principal causes are
incendiarism, carelessness, locomotives and light-
ning, the latter having caused several serious fires.
Taking up the effects of the fire, the immediate
loss was the burning of timber and other property.
Last year 197,000 acres were burned over. Put-
ting the loss at fifty cents an acre made about
;J! I GO, 000. Houses, cranberry bogs and cedar
swamps vvere also destroyed. This loss, however,
is insignificant compared with the permanent
effect. The life of the soil is cooked out by these
forest fires, and it would be a difficult process to
bring back the richness. He told how to redeem
these burned districts, and spoke of the precau-
tions which should be taken and legislation
secured.

Professor Apgar of the State Schools gave an
address, in which he made an earnest plea for the
preservation of forests.

Uses of Teakwood.

THE gathering of this timber has been an in-
dustry ever since man inhabited the
country. Teak grows only in India and
Burmah, and in old palaces and temples it has
held mdestructible place for many generations.
From the color of sandal wood it changes with age
to walnut brown. Big unpainted bungalows stand-
ing upon pillars of the wood, sided with it,
shingled with it, latticed with it, defy heat and
rain, and grow rich upon their poverty of oil and
varnish. They stand, as brown as autumn, out of
green compounds against summer itself. Vines
wrap them, flowers garnish them, years add moss
and lichen, but nothing destroys save flame. Rail-
road car wheels, spikes for laying track, pegs for
bolts, implements of all sorts are made of teak.
No one save a shipwright knows just how many
parts of a ship are built from this muscle of nature,
but every one who has walked the deck of bark or
steamer has a consciousness that no amount of
holystoning, or dragging of cargo over, or wear
and tear of feet and traffic, can in any ordinary
sense affect a teakwood floor.

The Burmese wood carver knows his art is al-
most hewn in stone when he coaxes leaf and
flower, sacred cow and festival cart, grotesque
sprites and elves, gods and Buddhas, out of rug-
ged trunks. The little prow of the sampan
shaped like a wishbone, the stern of the paddy
boat, as brown with age as the naked figure upon
It IS with the elements, the strange plinths of
stranger pillars, the embellishments of the tem-
ples, the playthings of the children— all these are
carved from teak.— C^;////r>' Magazine,

h

Abstract of Report of Pennsylvania
Forestry Commission.

THE Report to the Legislature, by the Fores ry
Commission, which was due on March 15th
was promptly presented to both Houses on
March 1 4th. It forms a volume of about 600 pages
of manuscript, with nine maps and profiles illus-
tratWeo the water-sheds of the State, and g.vmg
reSve rates of waterflow from them, as well as
he high and low water stages of the Susquehanna
Srisburg from 1874 to X894. These wuh^he
arcomnanving texts by Mr. Wm. F. Shunk, will
consUtute an original and reliable statement of
facts by one of the best authorities in the country
One of the duties with which the Commission
was soecifically charged, was to ascertain whether
or nofthe State owned any wild lands which were
suitable for reservations. It has been discovered
by the Commission that the State practically owned
no wild land. Mr. Shunk, however, brought out
clearly that the following lands, now owned by
private parties, are well adapted for reservation
urposes : for example, the Pocono tract •" Wayne
Pike, Monroe, Carbon, Luzerne, and Lackawanna
Counties, containing 97° square •^'^^''l^}^^^-
hoopany tract, in Wyoming, Luzerne, C^olumbia
and Sullivan Counties, containing 200 square
miles; the Lycoming tract, in Sullivan, Lycoming,
Tioga, Potter, and Clinton Counties, containing
about 1460 square miles ; the Sinnemahoning tract,
hav ng 2000 square miles, in Tioga, Potter CUnton,
Siefon, Elk. Clearfield, and Centre Counties ;
theTionesta tract, including parts of Forest and
parts of adjoining counties, containing 500 square
miles- the Seven Mountains tract, containing 500
square miles. Out of'these abundant ground could
be selected for the purpose desired.

A very remarkable fact has been brough out by
Mr. Shunk and this bears directly upon the high
water of the West Branch Valley, which is, that
the tributary streams there deliver their torrents
almost simultaneously into a nearly level reach oj the
West Branch Valley not more than seventeen miles
long, below the mouth of Pine Creek. This throws !
a ctear light upon the cause of the floods at and ;
about Williamsport. , ^, ,

Of the reservation grounds, Mr. Shunk seems |
to express a preference for the Pocono and the
Lycoming region as demanding most immediate ,

attention. . , . ,, ^

In the report of the botanist member of the
commission will be found gathered together all the
forest laws of the State, these giving in a readily
accessible form, all which will serve as a basis
from which to construct future legislation. I here
are also about forty-five illustrations. It appears
from his statement that Pennsylvania was oatu-
rally the best wooded State in the eastern half of

the Union. Under original conditions practi-
cally the whole of the area was timbered. Owing
to the range and elevation from sea level to Elk
Mountains in Susquehanna County, where there is
an elevation of 2700 feet, the State possesses such
a range of climate as enables it to produce valua-
ble trees which could not otherwise have been
found south of New England. Whilst the timber
area of the State is nearly 36 per cent of the
whole, there is only 25 per cent, actually pro-
ducing any timber of value. There are fifty-two
counties whose area of timber land is less than
.0 per cent, of that of the county, and out of
these there are seventeen counties whose area is
less than 20 per cent, of the entire area of the
county. Upon the other hand there are four
counties where the area remaining in timber is at
least 75 per cent, of the entire acreage of the
county. Under the head of waste areas is found
an illustration taken from Lycoming County
which shows how the soil is wasting out by bemg
repeatedly burned over until reproduction of tim-
ber is becoming impossible ; thus duplicating he
condition of affairs which Gov. Werts of New
Jersey has recently called attention to, as existing
in his State. It is amazing to think of the de-
population which is already going on in portions
of his State. One table shows how hemlock is
superseding white pine because of the increasing
scarcity of the latter. In 1875 there were 190.-

000000 feet (board measure) of pine went
through the boom at Williamsport, in the same
year there were 19,963.736 feet of hemlock. In
^893 there were 33,x97, ^67 J;* «f Pme J^"
through and in the same year 186.984.478 feet ot
hemlock. This does not indicate an inexhausti-
ble supply of hemlock, for that cannot las , at
most over fifteen years, but it shows that the lum-
ber market is glutted with hemlock wood because
the t"ees happen to be felled to obtain hemlock

' bark It is no less a surprise to learn from indis-

' putable figures that in the year '894 there were

Krtised to be sold for taxes in the different

1 counties of the Commonwealth, «« far as heard
from, not less than 1,500,000 acres of land , this
does not include 5600 smaller lots in cities and

i Towns It seems that within the tet year there
were bnds equal in acreage to twelve times he
Trea of Delaware County in this State, which had
been rendered so valueless by the removal of timber

I St the owners would rather give them up than
p'ay the taxes on them ; in other words it wpukl
be an area equal to one nineteenth of the Com-
monwealth and at present almost every acre of h,
land is liable to become a nursery of <|estruct ve
fires and to contribute its share toward the high
wTter stages. Something over 8000 '-les oMh«^
Commonwealth, including stripped timber lands
aiTimpoverished farm lands, have become un-

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FOREST LEAVES.

productive. The question has been raised as to
whether or not. timber lands could be legally ex-
empt frc-m taxation. It seems that this is impos-
s.i.le under the constitution. They can, however
be placed in a class by themselves and be subject to
a reduced rate of taxation Out of these wastelands
^Lw <^°"?"'°".^ealth the future may obtain res-

fuTne rr i^ '" •''"""'y °^ scenery; and health-
fulness as well as in area, will rival those of the
Adirondacks The Commission believes that i is
unwise to delay the purchase of these lands Of
course the plea will be urged that the demand
already made upon the State Treasury are largef^

I-Tu "^^^^ '■^'^^'■P'^' ^"d that purchase of the

and IS therefore impossible. Thefactis, however!

that this IS just the condition which has existed

for years and which may be expected to exist so

can the State wisely refuse to obtain now at a

t7e n?l'h"'K '"^■^' ■' ^'" '" '""'"^•^ be driven to
takt at a high price, or to obtain by an unpopular

and arbitrary exercise of the right of eminent do-
main, when also the lands will be further iinpov
erished and the task of restoration vastly geaTer
T he Illustrations showing lakes and water falls'
and forest scenery, enforces the statement of he
Commission as to the desirability of an early pur-
chase of these grounds. The inoney so laid 'out

New Yor"k S^^f ""?' ^' f " investment which

vieW^ lit 1 ' "^^^'^y ''^°'^" ""^y ^ made to
yield a liberal revenue.

. ^."'^■''s something is done to restore the lumber-
mg interests of the State, the Commission shows
that industries worth $30,000,000 or $.c 000 o^o

out" iL'h ^.'=°™---'^'"' will^^^'°bTo'tted

hnds o h.r ""' ""uT^"' ^'^'^ ^'fi^'"« that on
lands otherwise worthless timber worth «i coo -

veaTandT ^'r^'"""."'"^'" •""• liniits in^fiftV
tratons of vnl ?■■'"' ""' "^^ photographic illus-
trations of volunteer crops of timber on areas
from which the fire has been excluded and he
adds pointedly, that practically we are taking no

The" r'eoo« ""7T "^'^ ^^^'-^"^ -"^i'-i

notwiLrn'ding The'^effSr'of'th: '' ""°"?P'^'^'
ohnin f.iii ^ ► "1 ^"°"'* o' the commission to

were see rL^ J'- "°^''"'' ^"'"^ statements
were secured, and were presented in the art.Vl,.

entitled "Fire and Flood," on page 8 of t

February issue of Forest I.eavf/ 'I'he report

Ee wh'TP"'"r "'^ "^'^ '^"'^ «' Ontario S
Maine, which might serve as a basis for future

egislation here. Its photographic ilius rat 01 s
show extensive areas with every 'tree destmyedZ
fire and with young forests, miles in extent killed
by conflagrations during the last season The i I

ustrations als<, show some of the tor ent-swe t"

tSsid'rf ^'"' '"'- -'^ -'^ '-- '•e^a

The report also brings out the fact that, exclu-

klt seasol t T^^' ^' Williamsport, constructed
m1 °, 'i"'^'''^ *=o"nties of the commonwealth
have paid, during the last four years, $710 ooc 70 '

Ilso seems^'''^r '"^P' ^^'y The JonSn
Vallev Tt I ?' warranted that in the Juniata

Ser'thin r ' "'t ''"«?' "^ ^'^'^^ "^^^^ been
table sftnil"^"^ the early years. An elaborate
table IS furn shed, which seems to place it bevond

durt.' the'^ '"'^"^^ to di^ini^hed waterTw
durng the summer months is increased in pro-
portion as the forests have been removed! and Z
to supplement this steam is necessary to do work
once done by water-power. The facts arlso
plainly stated that this conclusion appears inevi-

and 'i^'n "/" "* """J]'^' Of papers of general interest
and importance: By Mr. Sission, on " The Value ■
and i reatment of the Sugar Maple Tree ; by Mr

on ' Th?nT' P'-.°d"'=''«" ■' " by Prof. Johnston,
Z ,u o ^^estn'ction of the Pitch Pine Forests
by the Pine Tree Beetle " (illustrated) ; by Mr

b;Lah'H' °" "^f"'"" Forestry Methods ; '•

Methods of p'^P'"' °^ ^''' ^^''"''' °" " The
the hoinn . ^'■*'Pfg'i""g «"■• Forest Trees;" by
the botanist member of the commission, on "The

sy van! " "^n/"'"''- ""' ^°^^^' ^rees of PennsyN
ZZT : • "^ ^" incomplete table giving the
forest statistics of the several counties of the

made'thT/!-'-, '''' ^°"'""-'- d-'-" ^o ', -
Te vented jf^ """'^ <-^»mp\ete, but lack of time
prevented. It appears that not less than t 120 417

StTte'Tndlh f"r'"^ ^^ '^'^ -"--di' o71i
hi r^ii ^ ''^' ^^^ '°'^' consumption of timber

nuan nti-rSir'^-Jo^f ''^^l'''- '''' ^"^
impH fn ^. • ^^ furnish the mine-props

The Maple Sugar Industry.

THE last report of the Commissioner of In-
ternal Revenue places the production of

the lastllaV^JSr 'aVlCt"'^' ^-'-' ^-'"^
New Hampshir^^?s,^S I'^jreirofTotr
S, 000,000 pounds; New York follows with the
production exceeding .,500,000 poinds Penn

thirh'.lf°"n''"'''" '"''''«": Ohio a little less'
es ( L ""r"'"" = °'^" ^'^''' ^•"a'l-r quant !
duce , c„' ^'^°°'°°° t^«es were tapped to pro-
duce 7,500,000 pounds of sugar, indicatin/an
aver^ge^production of about tw^o poun'r^tr^e

FOREST LEAVES.

The Creation of Forest Preserves.

T N the J^eview of Reviews, Robert Underwood
I Johnson has a good article on the creation
T" of national forest preserves. He says :

*' Statutes are not often enacted by Congress
until the need for thenn is formulated into some-
thing like a truism in the public mind, i here-
fore it needs to be reiterated to tediousness that
the mountain forest has a more vital service to
render than even its important /unction of fur-
nishing timber. It is a source of life and health
to the regions below. Its relations to agriculture,
commerce, climate and social life are most inti-
mate and fundamental. ' It may be considered
as established,' says Marsh, * that forests tend to
mitigate, at least within their own precincts, ex-
tremes of temperature, humidity and drought.
Speaking of the electrical influence of trees, he
observes that hailstorms, which appear to be al-
ways accompanied by electrical disturbances are
believed in all countries particularly exposed to
that scourge to have become more frequent and
destructive in proportion as the forests have been
cleared ' and he cites that one joint stock insur-
ance company in northern Italy during seven
vears (1854-61) paid six and a half millions
francs for damage b> hail. The influence of trees
as a protection against malaria and as shelter to
ground to the leeward is also considered worth men-
tion by Marsh, in whose judgment the climatic in-
fluence of their destruction has been of the greatest
importance, especially in southern Europe.'

Preserve the Forests.

i

THE important part which the forests play in
the household of nature is liable to be
overlooked by the average statesman.
The forests, especially those of coniferous trees,
modify the quality of a climate to a certain extent
by the change of atmospheric elements caused by
their instrumentality.

Since trees absorb through their roots a great
quantity of moisture, which passes through the
trunk and the branches to the leaves, where it is
partially evaporated, it follows that forests, by the
foliage, act in a threefold manner upon the. climate.
Ky the shelter which they offer, their evaporation
and their reverberatory action towards the celes-
tial spaces, they cause the dew so beneficial to
plant life after hot summer days.

The gaseous atmosphere which surrounds our
globe to an approximate height of sixty miles,
performs a most important service for plant and
animal life ; it is the great reservoir to which
animals return the carbon which they exhale, and

from which the plants draw this element to be
assimilated by them and return oxygen to be con-
sumed anew bv animals. mi.

The atmosphere is, therefore, the ** tie be-
tween the two great classes. Animal and vegeta-
ble life are subordinate to each other in a per-
petual rotation of material exchange, always the
same and always new. To destroy the forests
disturbs the equilibrium between these two fac-

tors. , p

Remove the forests and we become the prey ot
tempests and floods caused by the heavy rains and
melting of snow (which the woods partially held
back), and of droughts in summer, which cause
wells and springs to fail. In this way fertile
countries are transformed into deserts, as may be
learned from the history of many barren lands
which were once fertile, before man achieved the
destruction of their forests.

In the United States, blessed by nature, are
many fertile valleys which can be cultivated but
the forests on our mountain crests should be kept
intact as they are not only an adornment but will
become a source of wealth to the future genera-

|^i(3j-jg . M. SCHEYDECKEK.

—It is hardly worth while to attempt to prove
what the friends of Forestry will all admit, that
the illustrated lecture campaign has had an impor-
tant share in leading up to the present popu-
larity of the Forestry movement in this btate.
Yet it may be well worth while to call attention
to the fact that but for the skill and zeal of Mr.
Charles S. Bradford, of West Chester who has
thrown these striking illustrations//^// all parts ot
the State, on the screen, in all parts of the btate,
that such progress as the last three years have wit-
nessed would have been an impossibility He
never has been compensated for his work of love
He never can be ! It is therefore the more fair that
suitable acknowledgment of his services be made
here, and that the importance of his share in the
advancing wave of forestry reform should be fully

• ij T T ROTHROCK.

recognized. J* ^' ^

—One thousand bushels of chestnuts have been
marketed thus far this year from Somerset county
Pa and there are more to come. They have sold
for'about a cent and a half a pound, a price which
shows the wisdom of the advice that Governor
Beaver so repeatedly gave in his public addresses
to the public of the mountain portions ot lenn-
svlvania, when he told them that chestnuts would
pay better than wheat. At present prices they do.
The chestnut crop brought to Somerset county, in
1894, $100,000.

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FOREST LEAVES.

II

One Cause of Floods.

¥R. CHARLES B. GOING, in an article
on the "Causes of Floods in Western
Kivers, in the March number of the
• ^^ngmeenng Magazine, in describing the causes of
floods says, <. It .nay be ti,at the oldest inhabitant
IS right in asserting that the seasons used to be
more equable ; it maybe that man is partly re-
Sv hf. '^■''./"'^■■^^^^d irregularity/ but^cer-
tainly he IS wholly accountable for a remaining
cause of floods-the artificial element which em
phasues and heightens all others. This is two-

the i;;; K '■^''^"°" ^"'^ drainage. Not only has
the mnberman's axe stripped the hillsides of the
fores_t whose cover retarded the rapid thaws, but
the farmer has felled acre after acre of timber
which once afforded a deep absorbent bed of
leaves and myriad tiny pockets for the retention
of the rain, and even where some wood pasture

ctared'of K"''' ," ""'' '^^'^" thinneKid
r^ J K , i '^^ undergrowth whose interlacing
roots checked the rapid surface rush of the rain^
1 housands of square miles, once covered bv
the vast natural sponge of the forest, now spread
to the sky a bare surface of hard <:lay, shedding
water almost like the roof of a housef'and eve !
l.tt e boggy spot, every hollow where the water

dSed and h'''°';'""^'/'^^ ^P""^' has beei
ditched and drained in the frantic effort to gain a

ky^ more rods for the growing of wheat Mils
upon m.les of tiling irnderlie%he land ' ditc e I
ival canals in extent and magnitude, rushing the ^
rainfall into the streams, getting rid of watef as if '
It were a curse-and this in a country where a r^os
every summer the wells run dry, and for weeks the
farmer hauls water for his house and his stock
while his corn burns in the field, and he cr Is to
heaven to break the drouth.

' marsh*^"!'!" K ^T' ''V °^ 'ecently-reclaimed
marsh, which, almost bordering upon the great
akes, yet are drained into the head-waters of Ohio

ettd in he southern hills, everywhere with gxp

£ ?etri:;t;f"'"' "^'^ ^^^"'^ '" '^'eTaluirs'
oeen feverishly busy exaggerat ng topograDhical

to Td' :},r '^"'"i 'K "'■•'« too'grelt fJnffi k; '
he season.^ ' "j.^'-Shtening the evil effects of

the seasons mequalities until, in a region where

watersunn vThf " " "'^^° '"^'^'-'■^' ^^ -"^-l- «
water-supply the year round is hard to obtain -and

stre"t^ Tn e ,"" '''' ''"'' ^'«""e ^"^^"'^h ''
s reets in ear y spring cannot find in the sime

ream a sufficient volume of flow to secure a sim!
s'lmer" -° """' "''^'- ^°' "^ ^"'-"« - 'hcTafe
.h J»'' ^''u '■''! '' Pi-ofusely illustrated with views

Book Notices.

iV^rM American Fauna, No. 8. 8vo 2<;6
pages% Issued by the Division of Ornithology
and Mammalogy, U. S. Department of Agricul-
ure Washington, D. C. Illustrated.-This
book, prepared by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, is a mon-
ographic revision of the Pocket Gophei^s, Family
Geomyidaj (exclusive of the .species of Thomo-
mys), embellished with numerous plates, texts fig.
ures, and maps. It gives the status and geographic

f„' the"l'r-, H «'"°"' ^"'■"'^ ""' P^*-"^^' gophers
fnllL^ -1 'i ^'^'f ' 'h« various species being
fully described, and forms another of the exhaust
tive treatises for which scholars and others inter-
ested in mammalogy are indebted to Dr Mer-
riam. ■

: .x^T^"-^ "" /V <^<""»"'s-^ioner of Maine,
j i«94. Prepared by Charles E. Oak, Fores
Commissioner, Augusta, Me. 8vo., 102 pages
b°"»d >n <^loth.-This is the second annual epor
jssued by Mr. Oak, and contains a monograph bv
Mr. Austin Gary on the growth of sprucl which
controverts some mistaken ideas as to the rapid
growth of the forest spruce trees, including a table
showing the results of the data obtained from care-
ful measurements of 1050 spruce trees, giving
the total yield in wood and the ages of the trees
whK h were also recorded. Mr. Oak also mention;

rre'ga' -d o?h' 'T '" ^""f' ^"*^ ^"'^ ''-^
in regard to the forest growth in burnt lands A

chapter on Forest Management and Reforesting
hfre°Fr''rr*^' being taken from the New Ham;^
shire I-orest (commissioner's Report for 188? It
closes uMth an explanation of the system employed
by the Forestry Division of the u's. Depa tment
of Agriculture in collecting information in regard
to the surroundings and growth, etc., of trees

Ilisiory of Education in Maryland. U S
Bernard C ^i^'^^"' ^^hington, D. C. ' By
trattci.— Ihis IS an exhaust ve account com
mencing with the educational histo y of the"
colony, then the province, and finally [he State
of Maryland, u,) to late years, and including ac

exiS. a " 'i^-^, -"'«-■' orthose„o?o'„ger
existing, as well as those now active.

W/^ Zcaf Charts. No. i. Cut-leaved and
Willow Oaks. By MissGrace Anna Lewi'Media
If 1 M • 5° "^ents-This is the first of a ser e^
of valuable charts illustrating in black and wl Ue
(natural size) the leaf and fruit forms of the vari!
ous shade, nut, and timber trees adapted to the
JlTed toV" r'"'''^'!"'^'"' ^hich hav'e been pr"
t'he n, hJ ^ ^^'■' if 'he pupils of our schools and

leav/s a nd frnif f ' ""'"^ '^^ appearance of the
leaves and fruit of our trees. In the first sheet

FOREST LEAVES.

there are 14 leaf and 11 acorn illustrations; in
on e instances different phases in the develop-
ment of the leaf being shown . We certainly hope
hat Miss Lewis, who is a warm fViend of forestry
Ind h1^ devoted many years to the study of trees
and shrubs, will be as successful in subsequent
sheets as in the one now at hand, and that her
efforts to interest the general public in the differ-
ences of the foliage of our various trees will meet
with its merited reward.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

OF

^^"IS*^

'■'"^st'»^o"ED IN HIGHEST Jjrolf'"

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

HATCH CHICKENS tTm §7SS»eI
HAib!LW»y?!^Yiicelsior Incubator.

SimvU, I'trfect, Sel/Regu-
lating, Thou.^ands in Buccess-
fill operation. Guaranteed to
hatch a lar!?er percentage of

L fertile crrb at less cost than
any other Hatcher. Lowest
price'l first clans Hatcher
mad.'. UFA*. H. HTAIIL,
1 1 4 to 1 a•^ S. tithSt.i»ii nrT,lll.

FOREST LEAVER

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

J

OF THE

PeniisilMia Forestry Association,

AND THE

Afflericai Forestrj Associatioii.

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

Hi

7

,1!

Mi

I inch,

I

RATES

■

I

6

la

insertion. i

nsertions.

insertions.

$1.00

$4.00

$8.00

4.00

17.00

34.00

7.00

30.00

60.00

12.00

50.00

100.00

m

The Publication Committee of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertising space in Forest
! Leaves. 3000 copies now reach readers
interested in tree planting and culture.

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FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure tlie best tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter wc have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

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PLANE TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

»

Three years ago, while in Europe for horticultural research, we found that for a number
of years, in London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tn^e had been used
with most successful results. It was found to be the only tree which would grow satis-
factorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames River, London.

The parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a number of our leading landscape
gardeners have recently been using the Orientid Plane very extensively for avenue planting.
Can furnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.
Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

It will pay you to send for our new Catalogue, which tells of Hardy Trees, Shrubs,
Plants, Roses, Fruit, and our special stock of Rhododendrons. It will interest all who
are interested in such matters.

w

"• ""Tn'ocr""' ANDORRA NURSERIES, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa.

i^^-'fe'

Philadelphia, June, 1895.

No. 3.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION^

as North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

EUITORIALS

Prize Essays

OV>itiiaries • •••'

Arbor Days in Pennsylvania.

irrB:rExerc!Ltrv.;iousKV.io„sorP^^

Meeting of Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

The Beech (Fagus ferrugmea, Ail.)

:!;;,?Si:"!f"flV;,rc'i:fTo;;«;yonVhrs;;rS

try. (One of the Prize Essays)

[te;!l;^nrNc''wJer;eV-HndA;ncrVc;:nKr«
New Books

••••••■••

••••••••••

••••••••••••••■

33-34

34

35

36-37

37-38

38

39

39

39
40-41

41

41-44
44

44-47
47

Subscription, $1.00 per Year.

yytc attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is ^''^^^'i^^^' ^f J^,^n'^^%r'
0/ Forest Leaves as an advertising medium. Kates will Ot Jur

nished on application.

Committee on Publication.

loHN BiRKiNBiNE, Chairman, 25 North Juniper Street.
Dk J. T, RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLER, 1820 Master Street.
Jambs C. Haydon, Jeanesville Pa.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Lahors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and

National.

Annual membership fee. One dollar.

Life membership. Fifteen dollars. ,

NdtherThe member^ nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
men^b^s should send their names to^. i^. Weimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President. lohn Birkinbine. ..,,,. r r>

Vice Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Ur. Chas. A. ShaeflFer.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph I Rothrock
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John 1 . Lundy.
7V^aj«r^r, Charles E. Pancoast. »,r jr r-i

Council-at-Large, Mr?. Brinton Coxe Rev Alfrc-d L Fl^vyn
Council from Philadelphia Countv, J. Rodman Paul. A I^- W»='"»P''.
Richard Wood, Lucius S. I^ndretfi. Gen. Isaac J. Wislar, Lli Kirk

Price, Henry Budd, Henry Howson. t,.jji^ Wm <; M\rV

Council from Chester Countv, Mrs. H. T. Biddle, Wm. S. Kirk,

Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery James Monaghan

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

^'Cofndlfrom Montgomery Countv, Dr. H. M Fisher, Dr Alice
Bennett, Dr. T. M. Anders, rfon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.
Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

T N one of his instructive and interesting lectures,
I 1 )r. Rothrock made two impressive assertions,
"^ backed by official data, first, that the forest
products of the State of Pennsylvania represent a
revenue of $37,000,000 annually ; second, that
seven counties in the State had, in the past four
years, paid out about $1,000,000 for roads and
bridges damaged or destroyed by freshets.

A delegation from the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association appeared before the Committee on
Appropriations at Harrisburg lately, urging favor-
able action upon the bill to establish forest reser-
vations at a maximum cost of $300,000. While
the delegation was given a courteous hearing, it
was informed that, unless the endorsement of the
Governor was first received, the subject could not
be favorably considered. It was impossible to gain
this indorsement, by reason of the limited re-
sources of the State treasury, and Pennsylvania
must wait, at least two years more, before any au-
thority for forest reservations can be expected. In
other words, no official encouragement could be
given to a project which would have provided
reservations of 120,000 acres of forests, of con-
stantly increasing value, and which would extend
the limit of our lumber industry, although the
maximum cost of such reservations represented
but three days' earnings of our forests, and the
whole expenditure was less than seven counties
paid for flood damages in four years.

We are not among those who believe in con-
dL-mning the Governor and legislators, although
we believe that they failed to realize the value of
our forests. We rather lay the blame upon the
i)eople of the State for neglecting to emphasize to
the State officers the necessity of forest protec-
tion and preservation, by the creation of a public
sentiment which would have demonstrated that
! such reservations are recognized as a necessity.
We must no\^ face two years more of improvi-

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FOREST LEAVES.

'IM

II

dence ; two years more of unrestricted devasta-
tion by fires, with a protective law on our statute
books which is not enforced ; two years more of
floods and drought, encouraged by depleted forest

areas.

Had the bill for the forest reservations received
fiivorable consideration, and become a law, a great
advance would have resulted, for the State would
have shown to owners of woodland that they have
a prospective value, and that when properly cared
for they will pay good interest on the capital in-
vested in holding them.

The delegation from the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association asked favorable consideration of the
project solely from a business point of view, not
from sentiment, and this will ultimately be recog-
nized ; but, had the reservations been authorized
this year, a gain of more than ten years would

have resulted. J. B.

*****

While school children were planting trees on
Arbor Day, hundreds of acres of standing timber
were being damaged or destroyed by forest fires
in Pennsylvania and adjoining States. The daily
papers of April 27th showed the failure to popu-
larly recognize the value of our fast disappearing
forests on the one hand, and the efforts of a com-
paratively small number to propagate new growths
on the other, by alternate dispatches which chron-
icled destructive forest fires and Arbor Day cele-
brations. It seems almost farcical to have the
children attempt to add to our forest growth by
I)lanting a few trees, while thousand are at the same
time being sacrificed by their seniors to careless-
ness, cupidity, or vandalism ; and so it would be
were it not that each of these school children is
cultivating a love for and an appreciation of for-
ests. When these juniors become the moulders of
public opinion, they may be exi)ected to show
more wisdom than their fathers, and, in fact, they,
as future citizens, are already protesting against
the recklessness which has, and which continues

to devastate our Commonwealth.

*****

During our late war it was often necessary for
troops to cover ground quickly and go beyond the
reach of subsistence trains. In such cases several
days' rations were issued to each soldier, and only
those who have carried subsistence realize the
weight of what we eat. The temptation to waste-
fulness was therefore great, but after one or two ex-
periences of gnawing hunger the soldiers profited
thereby.

A quarter of a century ago a young man came
into possession of a farm in northwestern Penn-
sylvania. It was not an extraordinary farm, but
the petroleum craze came and " Coal-oil Johnny,"
as he was called, found himself burdened with
wealth. He soon lightened his load, and after a

year or two of wild extravagance, was glad to ac-
cept a position where his annual pay was less than
he had wasted in a single day.

William Penn, but little more than two centuries
ago, established a colony in what is now Pennsylva-
nia, />., Penn's Forests. It was essential that
clearings should be made to cultivate crops. But
the people have kept on clearing where crops
could not be raised until rocky places and steep
hillsides unfit for agriculture have been denuded,
and now we see the limit of our forest resources
approaching. The people of the State are becom-
ing aroused ; may they act before the soldier and
the coal-oil bankrupt did. Our resources are rap-
idly disappearing.

* * * * ♦

A citizen of Chester County offered a prize of
twenty-five dollars for the best essay on **The
Practical Value of Forests to the Surface of the
Country," the contribution to be presented at one
of the Teacher's Institutes, all the competitors to
be residents of Chester County. Miss Susan C.
Lodge, first assistant in the West Chester High
School, was the winner of the prize.

Prize Essays.

A YEAR ago the Council of the Pennsylva-
nia Forestry Association decided to offer
seventy-five dollars in prizes for essays
upon *' The Practical Value of Forests to the Sur-
face of the Country," written by teachers engaged
in the public schools of the State. These essays,
after being presented at Teachers' Institutes or
other organized assemblage of teachers, were
passed upon, and the most meritorious were for-
warded to the Association. Under this arrange-
ment twenty-one essays from teachers in fifteen
different counties were submitted to the independ-
ent criticism of three professional gentlemen, who
reported their criticisms by marking the essays ac-
cording to a system based upon 100 as perfection.
The contributions were criticized from the stand-
point of research, originality, mode of presentation
and general character, rather than as technical
treatises which would not be expected from the
average teacher of our graded schools.

These three independent reports gave first place
to different essays, and the average of the judges'
marks on three papers made but an inappreciable
difference in 100. The original intention was to
award a first prize of fifty dollars, and a second
prize of twenty-five dollars, but in view of the
above facts it was deemed advisable to divide the
award into three equal portions, giving twenty-five
dollars each for the three essays which had the
highest average. The prizes were, therefore,
awarded to : Mr. F. H. Hain, Wernersville ; Mr.

FOREST LEAVES.

Walter Lefferts, North Wales; Miss "Mary F.
Weber Jeffersonville.

In addition, honorable mention is made of the
following, who contributed essays, all of which
were marked by the judges 70 or over :

Mr W E. Blair, Tioga ; Mr. Thomas 1 . Chros-

twaite, Ashley ; Mr. J. ^- ^^^^^'^V^ "^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Mr Geo. B. Hite, Fagundus; Mr. Chas. B. Kern,
Pleasant View School, Mifflin County ; Miss Emma
D Lippincott,West Chester ; Miss Susan C. Lodge,
West Chester ; Mr. Wm. H. Losch, Jersey Shore ;
Mr lohn McCormick,Wilmore; Miss Clara Edyth
Parry Higbee; Mr. J. H. Peachey, Belleville:
Mrs Carrie T. Snyder, Kingston; Mr. G. C.
Souder Allentown ; Miss M. Effie Starrett, Potts-
town ; Mr. S S. Thomas, Lynn; Mr. A. G.
Thompson, McAlvey's Fort; Mr. W. Partello
Wright, Alum Bank. Also one containing no
name or post-office address.

We congratulate the teachers of the public
schools of Pennsylvania upon the ability displayed
by the contestants, and our only regret is that the
exchequer of the Association forbids more of a
recompense than a subscription to Forest Leaves
for a year, which has been assumed by the Coun-
cil for each contestant.

We also congratulate the friends of forestry upon
having such earnest assistants in those who are
educating the coming citizen in his duties to the
State, the nation and his fellow-man. Our criti-
cism is that each of the selected essays have greater
prolixity than is generally acceptable for the
average reader. .

The prize essays will be printed in Forest
Leaves, the first appearing in this number.

Obituaries.

THE editors of Forest Leaves have the sad
duty of recording the deatlVof three promi-
nent supporters and advocates of forestry,
the Hon. Eckley B. Coxe, of Drifton, Pa., Colonel
James Young, of Middletown, Pa., and Mr. Edward
Burroughs, of Merchantville, N. J.

Of the first, we write with sorrow due to the
loss of a personal friend : one with whom we have
been associated in technical organizations for niore
than a score of years, and in whom we recognized
the highest type of manhood. Eckley B. Coxe
was one of God's noblemen ; in friendly inter-
course a mature boy, full of spirit and genial,
bringing sunshine with him and announcing his
presence by a laugh whose heartiness was conta-
gious. In business and politics he was uncompro-
misingly honest and conscientious ; in science he
had few peers, and the recognition given him by
two of our national engineering societies but

partly exhibits the esteem and honor in which his
colleagues held him. His humanity exhibited
itself on every occasion, and few men of as great
wealth as he possessed were so modest or helpful
to his fellow-men.

His former friends— his mourners now— are not
confined to Drifton, where buildings for the in-
struction and amusement of the strong, and hos-
pitals for the sick of those who were on his coal-
mine pay-roll, showed his interest in their welfare.
Nor are they limited to the many in his native
city of Philadelphia, who knew him to love him,
or to the State officials of Pennsylvania with whom
he had been associated. Not even this broad
country bounds the homes of his mourners, but as
cable or letter carries the news of his departure to
foreign lands, there are many who will be shocked
and pained to hear that Eckley B. Coxe is dead.

Mr. Coxe after an illness of about two weeks
passed away on Monday, May 13th, at his home
in Drifton, Pa., in the 56th year of his age.

He was much interested in forestry, and gave
the cause substantial aid in many ways, and his
friendly counsel and active help will be missed.

Col. James Young, of Middletown, Pa., died on
Saturday, May 4th, from the efl'ects of a fall re-
ceived the previous day, having been thrown
from his carriage. He was in the 75th year of
his age, at the time of his death owned thirteen
farms, and was also interested in a number of in-
dustrial enterprises. He was regarded as a man
of sound judgment and probity, and always took
a kindly interest in young men, willingly extend-
ing a helping hand in their struggle for indepen-
dence. At the time of his death, and for many
years previously, he was a member of the State
Board of Agriculture, where his voice was always
heard on the side of forestry.

This has been a year in which the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association has lost a number of its
prominent members through death, but other as-
sociations are not exempt, and the New Jersey
Forestry Association will miss its late President,
Mr. lOdward Burroughs, of Merchantville, N. J.,
who suddenly passed away from an attack of heart
disease after making a speech at the re-union of the
2^d Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, at Edge-
water Park, N. J., on Friday, May 3d. He was an
earnest worker in the cause of forestry, and our
sister organization will miss one of its most ardent
advocates.

At Boston, Mass., on April 26th, Arbor Day
was fittingly celebrated by Mayor Curtis and Chief
Justice Field, who planted six elm trees in front
of the Court House, and it is hoped that this
action by the officials will renew the interest in
Arbor Day tree and shrub planting.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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Arbor Days in Pennsylvania in 1895.

THE time between the announcement of the
appointment of Arbor Day by the Governor
of Pennsylvania, and the first of the two
days designated April nth, one week, was too
short to permit of arranging for any formal ob-
servance of the day, and the second day was
rather late for successful i)lanting of trees in the
vicinity of Philadelphia. Nevertheless, the Coun-
cil of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, de-
siring to lend what aid it could to the cause,
issued the following circular of instructions as
soon as it had knowledge of the days selected :

Arbor Day Work.

** In selecting trees for planting, it is well to
take those which are not too large. For example,
a tree ten feet high stands a better chance of suc-
cessful removal than one twenty or thirty feet in
height. This is certainly so under ordinary
methods of planting, and with the neglect which
so often follows the process. Another point to
bear in mind is that a tree which has had its roots
well bunched by frequent earlier removals, stands
a better chance than one which has been removed
for the first time.

'* There are two facts to be remembered in
planting : First, that the tree absorbs its food, not
by the larger roots, but by those small rootlets or
root hairs which go unnoticed. The larger roots
can hardly be considered as anything more than
anchors to hold the young tree in place. The
larger the root the fewer of these root hairs one is
apt to find, and this is a partial explanation why
the chances of success are greater in a small than
in a large tree. The second fact to remember is
that constant evaporation goes on from the leaves
on all plants during the growing season. This is
especially so when the leaves are young and soft,
and when the atmosphere is not saturated with
moisture. Of course, the application of these
principles is obvious. When a tree has had its
root-absorbing surface diminished by removal
from the ground, and by destruction of the root
hairs, then its evaporating surface must be cor-
respondingly diminished in order to maintain the
proper relation between absorption and evapora-
tion. This is the philosophy of pruning trees
when replanted.

** Trees should not be planted deeper (as a
rule) than they were before being removed.

** What to plant depends wholly on where you
are planting, and what you are planting for. For
a city tree, plant one which will stand dust and
drought, and which does not require pruning {^)
such as is usually done — to the bare poles. The
oriental plane is approved for crowded thorough-
fares, and the sugar maple is better than the silver

maple. The American ash is likewise a good tree
for towns.

*^ In the country, there is no better tree for the
road-side than our American white oak. It is
truly a tree of slow growth, but, when grown and
allowed a chance to spread, nothing is more
worthy of the room. Ash, elm, black walnut,
shellbark, and hickory nut commend themselves
to our attention for Arbor Day. The black wal-
nut is not an easy tree to transplant. It depends
so much on its long tap root, which is apt to
be injured in the removal from the ground.

** It is well to select a specimen of this species
from which the tap root has been removed in an
earlier transplanting, and the growth of the lat-
eral roots been thereby correspondingly increased.
Or, it is better still, if you can so arrange, to
plant the walnut [fruit] in the autumn and allow
it to stand where it starts.

** There is probably no tree which promises
more immediate commercial results than the chest-
nut. Its wide range of usefulness is acknowl-
edged ; there are probably several important new
uses to which it will be put in the near future. It
grows rapidly, and, when cut, promptly restores
itself in a larger crop of sprouts. Then, it should
be remembered that there are already in the
market choice American varieties of chestnut
which may be grafted on our wild stock. It is
probably true that the future will show a vastly
increased demand for American chestnuts as an
article of food. With this will come special selec-
tion of the better (qualities. It is well worth while
for the farmer, who has on his land a tree which
produces chestnuts of large size, and of a marked
flavor, or of unusual sweetness, to perpetuate it
by grafting.

'* There is one lesson of Arbor Day which has
seldom been insisted on, but which should be
plainly stated. It is this: If you plant a tree, take
care of it ; otherwise, you reduce, instead of in-
crease, the forest timber or fruit wealth of the
community in which you live, and so subvert the
very purpose for which this day has been set
apart.'*

Many of the schools in the city and State cele-
brated April 26th, the second of the two days
named, as Arbor Day, one school choosing Friday,
the 19th.

It was also decided that Arbor Day should be
recognized at the Academy of Natural Sciences,
Philadelphia, on the evening of April 26th, in
connection with a lecture of Dr. J. T. Rothrock's
before the Academy on ** Forest Influences."

On the evening named, an audience composed
of members of the Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation and of the Academy of Natural Sciences,
was called to order by Mr. John Birkinbine, who
who briefly detailed the history of Arbor Day,

FOREST LEAVES.

87

and contrasted the former treeless areas of Nebraska
(where the day was first observed), and the present
abundant forests which were entirely the result of
proper forest cultivation. He also narrated the
spread of Arbor Day movement in the various
States in some of which it is a legal holiday.
After 'a brief synopsis of the work, and thanking
the Academy for its courtesy, Dr. J. T. Rothrock,
the lecturer of the evening, was introduced.

The latter also prefaced his talk with some re-
marks on the subject of Arbor Day, and then in-
vited the attention of the audience to the screen,
on which had been thrown a view of the western
shore of Delaware Bay at Cape Henlopen, instanc-
ing the destruction caused there by the sand dunes,
which obliterated all evidences of vegetation as
they advance. The pitch pine forests which cen-
turies ago extended to the water's edge, were cut
off" and not reforested, this denudation marking
the commencement of what is now mountains of
sand, one to two miles in length, a half a mile in
width, and 100 to 150 feet in height, slowly mov-
ing onward, burying the forests, and leaving in its
y)ath nothing but a barren sandy waste. Even the
lighthouse at Cape Henlopen was forced to be in-
creased in height several times in order to be seen
over the mountain of sand.

In rapid succession came views of streams m
Mifflin and Clinton counties which, at times mere
threads, and again, through the deforesting of the
slopes of their water-sheds, becoming at the time of
spring freshets raging torrents, carrying away dams,
roads,and bridges,destroying life,and leaving rocks
and debris in former fertile fields, while on an in-
termediate stream, where the timber was left un-
touched on a similar water-shed, no such destruc-
tion could be found. Several views of flooded
towns were shown, and Major Raymond's state-
ment (pioted, in which he avers that timbered areas
retain four-fifths of the rain falling on them, while
in denuded districts but one-fifth remains, the re-
mainder dashing off" the surface which it often
removes, and forming violent torrents rushing
down ravines, and if in the spring, aiding in the
formation of the floods illustrated.

Dr. Rothrock stated that the hemlock, which
yielded a revenue of $15,000,000 a year to the
State, was being so rapidly denuded, that its coni-
mercial importance would practically vanish in
from twelve to fifteen years, and as no attempts
are made to reforest, this source of revenue will
soon be lost. The total yearly income from all
varieties •of timber in Pennsylvania is, in round
numbers, $37,000,000. Such a crop as this should
certainly be carefully tended.

The efl'ects of repeated forest fires upon the
young sprouts and more mature timber were illus-
trated, and it is asserted that in this State which
once was practically entirely covered with timber,

one-quarter is actually bare and worthless, pro-
ducing no crop of any kind, not even the young
trees being allowed to grow on account of frequent

forest fires.

The use of trees in breaking up the rocks and
producing soil, of forming land in shallow water, as
is the case with the mangrove and bald cypress,
were instanced.

Several views of the beautiful lakes and water-
falls which abound in the northern section of the
State followed, and the statement made that there
are many places in Pennsylvania where the climate
is even better for those troubled with pulmonary
diseases than in the Adirondack and Catskill
regions of New York.

The lecture closed with some slides containing
copies of but little known and much neglected
State laws in regard to the duties of county com-
missioners in preventing and extinguishing forest
fires as well as seeking out and punishing the origi-
nators, also the penalties for cutting of shade trees
for telegraph, telephone and electric light wires,
etc. F- L- ^-

Arbor Day in Philadelphia.

7\ T the Girls' Normal School opening buds of

j4\ beech, balsam, poplar, chestnut, hickory,

^ maple, tulip poplar, horse chestnut, and

walnut trees, and a collection of Brendel models

of tree flowers were displayed.

In addition to these a collection of beautiful
woods, including mahogany, sandalwood, rose-
wood, ebony, hickory, oak, cedar, and the very rare
quebracho, of which there exists only a single for-
est— that in Argentine Republic. All stages of
caoutchouc, from a tube of the milky juice to the
finished rubber garment, were a part of this loan
exhibit, as was also a similar series in coffee, cocoa
and bamboo.

Besides these, another series showed the cocoa-
nut, with the soap, oil, and matting made from it,
while still another series gave a clear idea of the
usefulness of the palm, with the oil, the Panama
hats, the betel nuts, the vegetable ivory nuts, from
which buttons are made, as example of its value
to men. There was a variety of dye-woods, rosins,
gums, drugs, cloths woven from pine needles,
wood paper, jute, and other wood fibres.

The kola nut comes from a tree growing in the
West Indies, where it has long been used by the
natives, who find that, when chewed, it not only
satisfies hunger, but enables them to perform long
and arduous labor without fatigue. It is said that
when powdered, this nut will render pure and
palatable even very stagnant water.

The speaker was Mrs. Lucy S. Williams Wilson.
-After pointing out the important features of the

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w9Jr*r> -^i-nriMrth .

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FOREST LEAVES.

display made upon the stage, and alluding to the
pagans, who looked upon trees as the origin of life,
and consequent objects of worship, Mrs. Wilson
traced the history of the causes which led to the
destruction of forests in this country, referring
briefly to the days of the early settlers, when every
tree meant to the pioneer a hiding place for his
inveterate enemy, the Indian. Then, too, where
the woods were, the plough could not go, and it
was little to be wondered at that the hero of those
days was the man who lifted the axe among thick
trees.

**But the forest no longer tlireatens us," said
the speaker. ** We threaten the forest. Ignorance
and greed are doing their perfect work. Not only
have we, in our reckless American way, wasted the
actual timber, but we have brought down upon
us, in so doing, a host of misfortunes. Now, the
rain-water rushes down our mountain streams in a
perfect torrent, and then, all too quickly, the
stream is dry. Once the trees, by breaking the
force of the storm, by furnishing a loose soil into
which the water gradually soaked, gave, by thus
protecting it from evaporation, a steady and con-
stant water supply.

^' The sudden blizzard in winter, and the hot
torrid days and nights in summer, may be attri-
buted, in a great measure, to the destruction of the
forests. Once the kindly trees tempered the strong
winds, and saved the people from the glare of the
sun. Now there are long seasons of drought, where
in other days the trees took from the winds their
store of moisture, thus giving a more equitable
climate.

*' Philadelphia was once a fair, green country
town, with its streets shaded with long rows of
walnuts, locusts, spruces, ])i!ies, and chestnuts.
Now, the newer portions of the city are made of
miles and miles of asphalt, with no other shade
than that suggested by the multiplicity of over-
head wires.

** In lands where real power is more centralized
than here, the governments undertake preservation
of old forests and the j)lanting of new. In the
United States something has been done in this
direction ; Nebraska, especially, having given
great attention to the subject. It might, once,
have richly deserved its soubriquet of * the tree-
less State.' To-day, however, it is fairly well
wooded ; and this has been accomplished in a
comparatively few years by persistent work on the
part of patriotic and enthusiastic people."

In conclusion, the speaker briefly outlined the
method of collecting branches and buds for study
by children, so that the pupils of the school may
be made lovers of trees. The teacher should, if
possible, plant a tree on Arbor Day, and should
try to make the children love the school-house
tree.

Superintendent Brooks said he had issued no
general orders concerning the day, but had left
it to the principals of the different schools to say
whether or not they should plant trees or vines, in
accordance with the purpose for which Arbor Day
was created. «

^rO'C:

Arbor Day Exercises in Various Portions

of Pennsylvania.

Harrisburg, April 26th. — Governor Hastings
planted a tree in front of the new Executive Build-
ing. His intention became known, and at noon
quite a crowd of legislators and others gathered
in front of the building to witness the planting.

It was a North Carolina poplar, and should be-
come a fine tree.

Lancaster, April 26th. — The pupils of the
Boys' High School to-day celebrated Arbor Day.

The school has planted trees each spring and
fall Arbor Day aggregating more than 2500 on the
twenty days thus far observed.

This year Arbor Day was made a memorial of
roses in honor of the late State Superintendent
Higbee. The school planted over 400 roses at
the homes of the pupils and teachers.

PoTTSViLLE, April 26th. — High School pupils
planted a number of trees on the proposed new
hospital site. Trees were planted by other schools
in different parts of the city, and christened after
prominent residents. '

Bethlehem, April 26th. — Arbor Day was cele-
brated with appropriate exercises in the public
schools of the Bethlehems to-day. Shade trees
and shrubbery were planted in honor of the day
in various parts of the town.

Mechanicsbtjrg, April 26th. — Arbor Day ex- »
ercises were held in two of our public schools this
afternoon. At the close of the exercises an ever-
green tree was planted on the lawn of the High
School, which was named General Garfield.

West Chestb:r, April 26th. — Arbor Day was
appropriately observed in West Chester, hundreds
of trees having been planted during the morning
hours. The occasion was never so generally ob-
served among the citizens by tree planting. In
all the schools, exercises, having a direct bearing
on Arbor Day, were given. The class of '95 at
the High School planted an oak tree on the cam-
pus this afternoon with elaborate ceremonies.

Kennett Square, April 26th. — Arbor Day was
observed more generally than usual in Kennett
Square. In the public schools programmes had
been arranged, all having a special dealing with
trees, their growth, importance, and benefits.
Many citizens set out trees, shade and fruit,
making the day one to be remembered.

Greenville, April 19th. — The pupils of the

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FOREST LEAVES.

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Columbia School celebrated Arbor Day by plan t-
inff trees, which were called respectively ' Bry-
In^ '' -Lincoln,'' -Liberty," -William Penn,"
^* Holmes," and - Garfield." As each tree was
planted, an essay on -Why We So Name Our
Tree" was read. In addition, there was music,
reading, orations, etc., making an enjoyable occa-

Collegeville, April 26th.— Ursinus College
carried out a beautiful sentiment in its observance
of Arbor Day. The current year closes the twenty-
fifth year of the life of the institution, and the first
public exercises to mark the event consisted of the
planting of twenty-five trees in honor of former
members of the board of directors and of the
faculty on Arbor Day. Twenty additional trees
were planted by persons at present connected with
the board and faculty.

The tree-planting exercises were preceded by
addresses in the college chapel. Hon. I. 1.
Wanger, of Norristown, congressman from the
ninth district, spoke upon the importance of at-
tention to forestry and the significance of observ-
ing Arbor Day. . , ,

The Rev Dr. Eli Keller emphasized the neces-
sity of connecting the past with the present and
perpetuating it for the future. Letters of con-
gratulation were read from the Rev. Dr. Van
Home, Tiffin, O. ; James Brownback, Pottstown,
and H. J. Myers, Hanover, Pa. Hon. B. Witman
Dambly, who presented twenty-five of the trees that
were planted, and Mr. John Birkinbine, President
of the State Forestry Association, were prevent-
ed from being present, and sent telegrams of en-
couragement. ,

The celebration had its climax in one ot the
finest musical attractions at Ursinus College during
^ the year, the Cantata of Jephthahand his Daughter
being rendered in the chapel of Bomberger Me-
morial Hall on Friday evening, 26th, by a chorus
of thirty voices.

Arbor Day in Camden.

7\ RBOR DAY was generally observed in the
XA Camden public schools. Essay reading,
^ singing, recitations and tree planting were
features of the celebration. At the Linden School,
Tenth and Linden streets, three linden trees were
planted, and at the Lincoln School three trees,
one of which was named Abraham Lincoln, were
also set. At all the schools flags were hoisted.

On April 25th there was a tree planting in
Weccacoe Square, Philadelphia, the trees being
generously furnished by Mrs. J. P. Lundy and Mrs.
Brinton Goxe.

Resolutions of the Tree Culture Asso-
ciation in West Chester, Pa.

T^ ESOLVED, That the year of our gradua-
rV tion from the public school of West
^ Chester, we will plant within the grounds
of the school one native forest tree, which shall
be designated as the Class Tree of '95 ; and that
we will appoint a committee to care for this tree
for the five ensuing years ; and that we will en-
deavor, by correspondence and otherwise, to have
a similar measure adopted by every publfc school
within the limits of this Normal School District,
which is composed of the counties of Chester,
Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks.

Resolved, Further, that as we are to be the future
citizens of this State, and that as our prosperity
and that of the State are indissolubly connected,
we will use every effort in our power to have the
undivided influence of the public school system
of the Commonwealth expressed to the next legis-
lature in favor of such measures as will protect the
State against those destructive forest fires which
consume its resources ; and in favor also of State
forest reservations, which shall remain the prop-
erty of the people forever, and at the same time
will produce the timber and hoard the water
which are essential to the life of the State and to
the happiness of all its citizens.

Resolved, That we request the newspapers of
the counties above named to print these resolu-
tions. . 1 «. u

[The tree which they promised to plant has
been set out ; at its base a marble post was placed
bearing the name of the class of '95 ; and a com-
mittee appointed to care for the tree for five years.
—Ed.]

Meeting of Pennsylvania Horticultural

Society.

ON April 1 2th a meeting of the Pennsylvania
Horticultural Society was held at the New
Century Drawing Room, Philadelphia, to
which members of the Pennsylvania Forestry As-
sociation were invited and recpiested to partici-
pate in the discussion. , ^ 1, • u
Papers were presented on the following sub-

^^^^'^The Orchard and Its Care," by Prof E. B.
Voorhees, Rutgers College, N. J. ; '\ The Culture
of Nut Bearing Trees," by Mr. Franklin Bartram,
Cornell University, N. Y. ; -Trees ^or^ Country

Place," by Mr. George F. ^^r^^^" v^^ Yj^^^J^^^^;
Pa and -Trees for City Streets," by Mr. Burnet
Landreth, Philadelphia, Pa., and those present
gained much information on the themes mentioned.

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FOREST LEAVES.

The Beech (Fagus ferruginea, Ait.).

THE beech, oak and chestnut, a trio of forest
nobility, are closely related and have, as
every one knows, constituted important
factors in the world's history. All are hardy,
strong of limb and trunk, and all range over vast
areas. In the ages of evolution all have not been
equally successful in developing new forms from
the original one ; for as a parent of species the
oak has outstripped the others, until its forms have
become many.

Our American beech loves best of all the rich
low lands, where it may send its roots down into
the moist, nutriment-laden soil, produce quickly
a massive, smooth trunk, and then over-shadow
it with a spreading head of clean, graceful,
taper-pointed twigs. An eye accustomed to it
can recognize the tree at a great distance, by its
twiggy appearance. In fact there is no part of the
tree which is not distinctive. Gray, a pure, ashen
gray, is its color throughout, when the leaves are
off, — except for the shining, brown, long buds.
The trunk is a study, it is smooth, seldom, even in
the oldest trees, much cracked ; with a tendency
to take on rounded, vertical flutings which give
character to an otherwise symmetrical boll. Near
the ground these irregularities become so marked
as they spread out toward the larger roots, that
they absolutely distinguish the beech from any and
all other trees. Study the surface of the smooth
bark closely, and you will soon detect minute dark
lines, which are suggestive, by their grouping, of
a primitive alphal)et, and this resemblance has not
escaped the notice of those who delight in nam-
ing even the smallest forms of plant life — as these
are. The dark lines are clefts filled with a host of
spores, threads, and green, round, single-celled
plants, which together constitute the assemblage
of things making up a lichen. When it is stated
that the cleft is seldom more than an eighth of an
inch in length, and but a tenth part as wide, it
will be readily understood that its component
l)arts are microscopic in size. In dry weather
there is no suggestion of life about the neutral-
tinted trunk; but when a rain has moistened the
surface, a vivid, living green is imparted to it.
The bark becomes absolutely slimy from the
abundance of life existing where, in the dry con-
dition, its presence was not even suspected. It is
not too much to say that the trunk of a single
beech tree would afford a cryptogamic botanist
and microscopist, a field for the study of a life-
time.

In branching, the beech follows the common
law in manner, for in the woods it sends up a tall
trunk, limbless to a great height, then produces a
head of very moderate width, with a marked up-
ward tendency to the larger branches. In the open,

the tendency to shorten in height and spread hori-
zontally is exceedingly developed, as our illustra-
tions show. It is the broadest tree of our fields,
and the lower branches often elongate until from
sheer weight the ends sweep the ground. This ten-
dency is evidently checked by the browsing habits
of the cattle which seek the shelter and the shade
the tree affords.

Beech buds are a study. As soon as the warmth
of spring starts their growth the axis begins to
lengthen ; the leaves push out beyond the tips of
the buds and one sees the down, which aided in
protecting them during the winter, and notices
also that they (the leaves) were folded somewhat
fan-like, in lines parallel to the veins which diverge
from the midrib. Thus a great economy of space
and a strikingly orderly arrangement of the parts
are revealed. We commend beech buds to the
teacher as furnishing admirable lessons to stimu-
late observing habits in the pupils.

From their earliest growth on, through the
summer, into autumn, — even in winter when they
lie in a mat on the forest floor, — the leaves of the
beech indicate nothing but beauty and cleanliness.
Whilst they suggest 'in size, structure, and shape
those of the chestnut, to which they are closely
related, they are less firm, or coarse in texture.
The fruit, too, impresses you with the fact that it is
a close relative of the chestnut, though it is much
reduced in size.

There is usually a pair of three-angled nuts in
the soft, but somewhat prickly case, which, when
mature, opens by four clefts. In parts of Penn-
sylvania, twenty or twenty-five years ago, the
beech forests, in good fruiting seasons, were visited
by such hosts of wild pigeons that the limbs were
literally broken from the trees by the number and
weight of the birds which sometimes settled upon
them. This is now a thing of the past, and our
State will never again witness such a phenomenal
flight of wild pigeons.

The names of trees seem occasionally to have
had some remarkable changes. Thus, Miiller tells
us that our word fir may be traced to the Latin
(piercus, which meant an oak ; and that the
word fagus comes from the Greek phegos, the
food tree — an allusion to the edible nuts. We
use the term for the beech, but the name first
was applied to the oak, the acorns of which are
more or less edible. To complete this idea, we
may well add that Miiller further (juotes Lyell
in saying that in the peat bogs of Denmark, at
the lowest depths, one finds the fir, which is fol-
lowed up by the oak, and this later still by the
beech. It is so strange that fir became quercus
(the oak), and that fagus, meaning oak first, came
later on to mean beech, that Muller suggests it
really indicates the order in which these trees ac-
tually changed and followed each other. It is a

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FOREST LEAVES.

bit of information readily obtained from a stand-
ard dictionary, that our common term beech
comes to us thus : Boc was the Anglo-Saxon for
beech The same word (boc) was also given to
book because the wood and bark of the beech
were used to write upon. The successive changes
to beech are readily followed.

By the rapid disappearance of the important
cone-bearing trees in Pennsylvania, the hard woods
are becoming more important, and among these
the beech will, before long, become valuable In-
deed one may in an hour pass from parts of Wayne
county, where the beech is being cut, to where in
Luzerne it is being burned, because the remaining
hemlock is more valuable. It furnishes, also, a
measure of the short interval between waste and

want. 1 ^ J 4.

Our American beech is very closely related to

the European species, and, like it, also furnishes a
good fuel. With us the beech tree extends from
Nova Scotia to Florida, and from the Atlantic sea-
board to Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. All in
all it is among our commonest forest trees. Its
wood is not durable in exposed situations, though
it is strong and heavy. It polishes well, and the
silver grain imparts a peculiar beauty to it in the
manufactured state. It is valuable for making shoe-
lasts, plane stocks, and also is being largely con-
sumed for the so-called ^* chemical" or ^' wood
vinegar." Its physical properties are, specific
gravity, 0.6883; percentage of ash, 0.51 ; relative
approximate fuel value, 0.6848; weight in pounds
of a cubic foot of dry wood, 42.89. On our list
of woods in the United States, it stands for strength
as 24, which would place it among the strongest

species.

Just here it should be added, that as a vigorous,
long-lived, symmetrical tree, the beech commands
our attention for a place on the lawn, and if there
be room for two representatives, let one be a pur-
ple beech. J. T. RoTHROCK.

Tree Planting and Patriotism.

THE children of the Lincoln School, Phila-
delphia, commemorated the thirtieth anni-
versary of Lincoln*s assassination, on April
15th. A tree was planted, symbolical of liberty,
and for the nourishment of the tree, soil from every
State and Territory in the Union, and from the
tombs of Washington and Lincoln, was gathered
and placed around the roots.

We also understand a request was received by
the Mavor of Philadelphia from Oakland, Cal.,
asking for some earth from the basement of Inde-
pendence Hall, which it was desired to mix with
similar contributions from other historic places
and used in planting a liberty tree by the public

school children of Oakland, on April 15th, the
anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's death.

It is pleasing to note the growing favor of tree
planting as commemorative of our illustrious
dead, or of great events, and the future genera-
tions will no doubt appreciate the aptness of a
tree which acts not only as a memorial, but also
as a source of health and shade.

The Practical Influence of Forestry on
the Surface of Our Country.

(One of the Prize Essays.)

THE '' forest primeval " is our most valuable
inheritance. It is the ready cash of na-
ture's bountiful provision for our future.
Of all the natural resources reserved for our use it
is the most directly useful, for in the forest we find
ready to hand, without further exertion than the
mere gleaning, the greatest variety of material ap-
plicable to the needs of man, the means to satisfy
every direct want of life.

It is only within a century or so that the value
of a forest cover as a protection against destruc-
tive natural forces, and as a regulator of favorable
cultural conditions, by its influence upon chmatic
conditions, and upon the flow of water, has been
recognized and proved.

The indirect profit or benefit to a country from
forests is to be measured (i) by the broad influence
exercised by woods and forests over the warmth
or temperature of the air ; (2) the mighty power
they exert in breaking the force of strong, and
many times destructive, winds ; (3) in the mani-
fold blessings derived from their mfluence m in-
creasing the moisture of the air, and thereby in-
creased amount of rain to help cultivation ; (4)
the principal profit is to be found in the influence
wielded by woods and forests in increasing the
fruitfulness of a country. The woods and forests
draw from the air millions of tons of carbonic
acid In the mysterious laboratories of nature,
acids, valuable to all animal life, are prepared and
scattered abroad with a bounteous hand; their
sweet exhalations purify and sweeten the air, mak-
ing it healthy and strengthening for man.

The forest is a trust handed down to us from
past ages. Its importance is not merely a question
of the present day or of the present ownership,
but it is also a matter which concerns the future
welfare of the people. .

The forest, with its decaying vegetation, has
furnished the fertility of our fields and waters, f()r
the mineral soil without the humus or vegetable
mold would never have produced food enough for

mankind. <. , ^

Another incalculable benefit of the forest cover

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FOREST LEAVES.

has impressed itself upon the minds of the observ-
ing and thinking portion of mankind only com-
paratively recently, namely, the part which the
forest plays in the great economy of nature, the
recognition of which led the most eminent natur-
alist and philosopher, A. Von Humboldt, to ex-
claim : ** How foolish do men appear, destroying
the forest cover without regard to consequences,
for thereby they rob themselves of wood and
water ! ' '

The favorable influence which the. forest growth
exerts in preventing the washing of the soil and in
hindering the torrential flow of water, and also in
checking the winds and thereby reducing rapid
evaporation, further in facilitating subterranean
drainage and influencing climatic conditions, on
account of which it is desirable to preserve certain
parts of the natural forest growth and extend it
elsewhere — this favorable influence is due mainly
to the dense cover of foliage, and to the mechan-
ical obstruction which the trunks and the litter of
the forest floor offer. There is a peculiar and in-
timate connection between vegetation and climatic
conditions. Most naturalists will tell you that
vegetation depends upon climate. So it does ;
but there is also a reaction of vegetation upon
climatic conditions, and this truth is strikingly
expressed by the poet, who speaks of *' Africa's
arid sands, where nothing grows because it does
not rain, and where it does not rain because there
nothing grows." So we can truthfully say, "the
forest creates its own favorable conditions for
growth."

If we compare the rainfall during the season of
vegetation in eastern and western stations, it ap-
pears that there is not much deficiency, if any,
during that season on our western plains, and
quite sufficient if evaporation was not such a
rapacious robber. This enormous amount of
evaporation is not alone due to heat and direct
insolation, but mainly to the constant movement
of the air, the incessant winds which take up and
disperse the moisture.

From the annals of the Weather Bureau we glean
the fact that with a wind at 15 miles per hour ve-
locity, evaporation will be 4.9 times the rate of
evaporation in calm air, the relative humidity be-
ing at 50 per cent., and with a wind at 25 miles
velocity, the rate of evaporation will be 6.1 times
as great as in calm air. As the average velocity
of the wind on the plains may be set down as 12
miles an hour, there is probably at least four times
as much water evaporated and dissipated as where
the winds are checked. Hence, the value of for-
ests as a windbreak, which reduces both the evapo-
ration from the soil, and the transpiration from
the plant, for transpiration is also hurried by the
motion of the plant under the influence of the
wmd.

The influence of forest cover upon the flow of
springs is due to reduced evaporation as well as to
the fact that by the protecting forest cover the soil
is kept granular, and allows more water to pene-
trate and percolate than would otherwise. In this
connection, however, it is the condition of the
forest floor that is of the greatest importance.
Should the litter and humus mold be burned up
or removed, this favorable influence would be
largely destroyed.

Snow is held longer in the forest and its melting
is retarded, giving longer time for filtration into
the ground, which also being frozen to lesser
depth, is more apt to be open for subterranean
drainage. Forest conditions favor in general
larger subterranean and, less surface drainage. Of
copious rains and large amounts of snow water,
quantities, greater or less, penetrate the soil, ac-
cording to its nature into lower strata and to
springs. This drainage is facilitated not only by
the numerous channels furnished by dead and
living roots, but also by the influence of the forest
cover in preserving the loose and porous structure
of the soil.

The surface drainage is retarded by the uneven
forest floor more than by any other kind of soil
cover. In case of heavy rainfalls this mechanical
retardation in connection with greater subterra-
nean drainage may reduce the danger from
freshets by preventing the rapid collection into
runs.

The well-kept forest floor, better than even the
close sod of a meadow, prevents erosion and abra-
sion of the soil and the washing of soil and de-
tritus into brooks and rivers.

This erosion is especially hurtful to agricultural
interests as well as water flow in regions with im-
penetrable subsoils, and where rains are apt to be
explosive in their occurrence, as in the west and
south. The best soil of the farms is often washed
into the rivers, and the water stages of the latter,
by the heaping up of this soil, are influenced un-
favorably.

The keeping back of large volumes of water by
the forests, the lengthening in the time of flow,
and especially the prevention of the accumulation
and carrying of soil which is deposited in the
river and changes its bed, would at least tend to
alleviate the dangers from abnormal floods, and
would reduce the number and strength of ordinary
floods.

The falling of raindrops tends to compact the
soil ; but, by the protection of forests, the soil is
kept porous, permits ready percolation, and there-
fore less water remains at the surface to fall a prey
to evaporation. It is then, the protection against
evaporation alone, due to greater relative hu-
midity in the forest air, to the shade, to the break-
ing of the winds, and especially to the protective

FOREST LEAVES.

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soil cover, which makes the forest a conservator
of moisture everywhere. , ^ r

Trees also act as condensers, as gatherers ot
dew hoarfrost, and ice ; and in the latter phe-
nomenon ice storms frequently occur when great
limbs and branches are broken by the weight ot
the accumulated ice. Prof. Cleveland Abbe states
that on the Island of Ascension, m 1890, the
principal water supply for the garrison of this
naval station was gathered several miles away, at
the summit of Green Mountain, the upper part of
which had always been green with verdure since
the island was discovered. Almost all of this
water comes from slight showers and steady drip-
ping of trees enveloped in cloud-fog on the wind-
ward side of the mountain. Every exposed ob-
ject contributes its drip. These do not condense
the water ; they simply collect it after it has been
condensed in the uprising, cooling air of the
forest circulation. As the interior air of the
forest is generally cooler, in the warm season, than
the air outside, it must be heavier, and the diff"er-
ence of temperature must :>e often so great that
the heavier air will overcome the obstacles to its
flow and pour out near the ground. The air above
will settle, and thus there is a forest circulation.
In central France, where forests abound, hail-
storms are of rare occurrence, as such storms
seem to avoid forests.

The air strata above forests are moister and
cooler than above fields, so we infer that the ten-
dency to condensation over wooded areas might
be greater than over open fields. Experience and
measurements sustain this reasoning.

As one of the most striking examples of an in-
crease of precipitation, due to forest planting, the
experience of Lintzel on the Liineburg heath niay
be recalled, where over an area of 25 square miles
a regular, definite increase in rainfall beyond that
of neighboring stations, to the extent of 22 per
cent, in six years, was observed.

A farmer in Illinois makes this observation:
'' My experience is that now, in cold and stormy
winters, wheat protected by timber belts yields
full crops, while fields not protected yield only
one-third of a crop. Twenty-five or thirty years
ago we never had any wheat killed by winter frost,
and every year a full crop of peaches, which is now
very rare. At that time we had plenty of timber
around our fields and orchards, now cleared away."
The damage done to crops by the cold, dry
winter winds is mainly due to evaporation, and
plants are liable to sufl"er as much by winter as by
summer drought. This is certain, that since sum-
mer and winter drought, that is, rapid evapora-
tion, due to the continuous dry winds, is the bane
of the farmer on the plains, timber belts alone
will do much to increase available water supply by
reducing evaporation.

A word on the value of larger parks in cities.
Trees certainly establish air currents that bring
fresher air to the ground ; but their hygienic func-
tion consists mainly in reducing the temperature
by their shade, in furnishing better drainage con-
ditions of the soil and purifying the same by
absorbing the results of decomposition from ani-
mal matter, and lastly by preventing or reducing
dust, and with it bacteria, in the air, keep. ng it
purer than it otherwise would be.

The destruction of forests is followed by evils
innumerable. Reports from Germany tell us that
the land gets more sterile ; besides that, the useful
birds, losing their shelter and places for nests, de-
crease; insects multiply, and, consequently, the
grain fields are seriously damaged thereby. The
less forest, the less rainfall and long-continued
drouths. Springs dry up, and if rains do come,
they come with a rush, so that floods and great
destruction of property, accompanied with loss of
life, occur. The climate becomes poisoned for
both man and beast ; vegetation suff'ers terribly, if
it does not disappear entirely. People grow poor
in pocket ; lose much of their cesthetic feeling ;
their mental, spiritual, and bodily life suffer; dis-
ease, even pestilence, follow ; and where once
were green fields, purling streams, grazing cattle,
happy, busy, prosperous, contented people, under
the shadows of health-exhaling pines, grand old
oaks or fruitful beeches, one sees ruin, death and

desolation.

In Italy, since the disappearance of the wood-
land, landslides have become more frequent, high-
ways imperilled and water-courses damaged. Many
attribute to the same cause the unusually cold
weather of late years, the late springs, winds, hail,
and the lack of water in the streams.

In Switzerland, the dreaded avalanche warns
the people repeatedly that *' an ounce of preven-
tion is worth a pound of cure," and streams
whose beginnings, by aid of slight constructions,
might have been kept within bounds, as brooks or
rivulets all uncontrolled, swell to torrents, rush
madly down the valley, sweeping everything be-
fore them. . 1 r 11
The one and only sovereign remedy for all
these evils is the re-establishing of forests.

Authorities in New York refer to the effect ot
the removal of the forests in the Adirondack
water-sheds upon the navigation of the canals of
the State and the whole system of inland com-
merce They say : With the clearing away of the
forests, and the burning of the forest floor, came
a failure of canal supply that necessitated the
building of costly dams and reservoirs to replace
the natural ones which the fire and axe had de-
stroyed. The Mohawk River, which for years
had fed the Erie Canal at Rome, failed to yield
any longer a sufficient supply, whereupon the

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FOREST LEAVES.

Black River was tapped at Forestport, and its
whole volume at that point diverted southward to
assist the Mohawk in its work. Should the re-
moval of forests continue, the result on the canals
would be disastrous.

For the interest of the community, the State,
and the nation, forestry forms, directly and indi-
rectly, an indispensable basis of material pros-
perity. Forest management, therefore, a proper
maintenance of forest cover where desirable, is an
irnportant factor of public economy, and the ap-
plication of ])roper forestry principles is hence a
matter of public interest.

Mary F. Weber.

The three essays for which prizes were given
will appear in separate issues of Forest Leaves,
but no precedence is intimated by giving priority
to one essay over the other.

The statements contained in the essays are given
over the author's name, and for these the editors
of Forest Leaves assume no responsibility, the
object being to carry out the contract to publish
the essays for which prizes were awarded, and this
publication is verbatim et literatim. — Ed.]

Peculiar Economy.

UNDER the above caption the Pittsburg
Dispatch says in relation to the lack of
legislation to control forest fires :

Reports are being received daily of the disastrous
forest fires that are raging in various sections of
the State. Even the telegrai)h comi)anies find it
difficult to maintain their lines. Meanwhile the
bill prepared by Dr. Rothrock, and which passed
the House early in the session after a bitter strug-
gle, is held up by the Senate Committee on Agri-
culture.

The farmers in the cultivated regions claim the
provisions of the measure are too severe. Each
supervisor is made fire warden of his district with
authority to hire men to put out fires. It was
argued that dishonest people would set brush and
woods on fire to draw the pay per day to put them
out.

Another requirement which some of the grangers
did not like was that they secure the permis-
sion of the warden before they burn brush in close
proximity to forests. The power of the adminis-
tration was invoked to push the bill through the
House, but for some strange reason it has made no
progress in the Senate. That economic spirit
which keeps the school term down to six months
and prevents the passage of road legislation is
largely responsible.

Meeting of the New Jersey and American
Forestry Associations.

UNPROPITIOUS weather interfered with the
success of the joint meeting of the New
Jersey and American Forestry Associa-
tions, and a want of faith in promised sunshine
unfortunately lost an excellent opportunity for a
presentation of the claims of forestry to a large
and intelligent audience at the closing meeting.

If we admit that this enterprise was not as suc-
cessful in all respects as the White Mountains
meeting in August of last year, no blame is meant
to Mr. John Gifford, its projector and indefatigable
conductor, who, single-handed and in spite of
many disappointments, had made the arrangements
satisfactory in all respects to those who partici-
pated.

On Wednesday evening. May 15, the New Jersey
Forestry Association held its annual meeting at the
Court House,Camden, N. J., and elected the follow-
ing officers to serve for the ensuing year. President,
Franklin Dye ; Vice-Presidents, Prof. J. C. Smock,
C. H. Hendrickson, Gen. Elias Wright, Wm. A.
Stiles and A. M. Bradshaw ; Secretary, D. H.
Wright, and Treasurer, Mr. J. Madison Watson.
Mayor Westcott was introduced by President Dye,
and welcomed this association and its guest, the
American Forestry Association, to Camden, Hie
response being made by Mr. Dye.

The opening of the joint meeting of the two
associations was an illustrated lecture by Prof. H.
E. Fernow entitled **The Battle of the Forest."
He instanced that when vegetation first started no
trees were found, the advance guard being grass
and shrubs which were followed by the earlier
forms of trees, they in turn being succeeded by
other varieties, usurping the places of the first
comers. He gave views showing how the man-
grove and bald cypress, whose growth commenced
in shallow water, gradually by means of decaying
leaves, and collecting drift and sediment which
descended the streams, formed solid ground, and
were then succeeded by other trees.

The effect of temperature upon tree life was ex-
hibited. The luxurious growth of vegetation in
the tropics where moisture is plentiful, being con-
trasted with the dry, arid plains, which while hav-
ing the requisite warmth are almost devoid of
nioisture, but even here what might be called tree
life is found in the shape of giant cacti and prickly
pear. Proceeding northward, the to us, more
cornmon trees such as the oak, poplar, pine, etc.,
thrive and flourish, while still further onward we
find the spruce, which gradually decreasing in
size forms with a stunted willow the tree life of the
colder and more elevated region, beyond which
trees cease to exist and a waste of barren rock,
snow and ice are found.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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The difference between trees grown in the open,
thick and full of branches, and others from the
forest, tall and for a considerable height devoid of
branches was graphically depicted.

Two maps, one showing by means of a sectional
elevation of the United States the manner in
which the moisture in the form of clouds must
travel from the ocean to the mountains and oyer
them causing more abundant rains in one portion
of the country than another and consequently
better tree life, and another illustrating the por-
tions of the United States now forested, that which
is not now so covered but is supposed at one time
to have supported tree life, and the comparatively
speaking small portion which was always devoid

of timber. r .u r f

While this battle among the trees of the torest
is going on for the survival of the fittest, another
foe appeared in the shape of man who commenced
utilizing the vast stores of wood, doing this in
such manner that not only did he remove the '
valuable timber, but in place of it, by cutting the
best timber first and allowing the second class to
remain, he destroyed all chances of obtaining a
second' crop of the most valuable kind, whereas if
the inferior wood had been first cut and later on
the more important timber removed, a second
crop of this latter kind might have been obtained
had the fire been kept out.

Not only does man by his method of cutting
cause wasteful destruction of the timber, but the
debris, etc., are left to rot on the ground acting as
fuel for the flames which not only destroy the re-
maining trees, but in addition if this occurs often,
take away the nutriment from the soil, and ulti-
mately causing barren wastes and hillsides which
can only be re-timbered at enormous expense.
The eff*ects of this ruthless destruction was seen in
views taken from European countries and the
method now pursued in reclaiming these nurseries
of floods at great outlays of time and money was
graphically depicted. Some views of the destruc-
tion caused in New Jersey by the moving sands,
etc., which were to be visited by the party were

shown. r 11 i. i.*

The lecture closed with a number of illustrations
of lumbering methods pursued in our forests and
the enormous piles of timber which are awaiting
shipment at some of our large saw mills.

After a vote of thanks to Dr. Fernow and some
informal remarks the meeting adjourned.

The next morning, despite threatening weather,
the party reduced in numbers started for Cape
May by train, as owing to an accident the excur-
sion by boat had to be abandoned.

l^he first observation of interest was, that on
both sides of the railroad, about two rods away
from the road-bed, there was roughly plowed a
strip of land about a rod in width— a ' safety

strip"— to protect the forest growth against the
spread of fire from the railroad. This precaution,
which has been quite eff'ectual, is a result of the
intelligence of the adjoining property-holders,
who insisted on holding the railroad company re-
sponsible for damage in case of fire, and the com-
pany found it cheaper to prevent than to pay

damages. , .^t ^r 1

Colonel Fox, Superintendent of the New York
State Forests, who was of the party, related that
on the much-talked-of Webb road, in the Adiron-
dacks, another system had been successfully pur-
sued during last summer— a hund-car, with a crew
and all necessary appliances to put out fires, fol-
lowing each train to quench the incipient fires.

If only the owners of forest land had a proper
conception of the value of their property, and of
the great damage which these fires inflict to the
soil more than to the timber, they would soon be
able to g€t rid at least of this one source of con-
flagrations, combining their eff'orts to force the
railroad companies to such precautions.

The forest growth of this part of New Jersey,
as a rule, is not of immediate economic value, the
heavy timber of the original growth which once
covered these alluvial sands having been entirely
removed from most parts long ago. A second
growth has taken its place, mainly of various oaks
and yellow pine (P rigida), and occasionally red
cedar and holly, supplanted by white cedar in the
wetter portions, repeatedly injured by fires, yet
bound to maintain itself, and sometimes in quite
thrifty condition. With the fires kept out, by a
judicious use of the axe, gradually culling out the
inferior kinds and giving advantage to the better
classes of timber, these abused areas would, with
hardly an outlay, in twenty-five or thirty years
become a valuable property, paying good interest

on the investment. a \

A basket factory using sweet gum, and a sash,
door and blind factory using white cedar, gave
evidence that even now, at some distance from
the road, virgin forest supplies are not entirely
exhausted ; while the thrifty surroundings of Vine-
land and of the Russian colony, established by
that philanthropist. Baron von Hirsch, show the
capabilities of the soil under careful cultivation.

At Cape May the rain curtailed the enjoyment
of the visitors, but an informal discussion and
interchange of ideas in the parlor of the Hotel
Windsor made the day one of profit. In the even-
iniT Mr. Edw. A. Bowers, Assistant Commissioner
of the General Land Office, addressed a large
audience on the progress of forest interests in the
United States, the condition of government timber
reservations and the necessity of national interest

in the cause.

After commenting upon the acts passed from
time to time regarding the timber of the United

"HI

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MBI^aaOZIiaJliiUC.

x%^

FOREST LEAVES.

States, the wasteful methods that have prevailed,
and the insufficient and meagre efforts made by
Congress during the past twenty years, he said :
Under the law of 1891, seventeen reservations,
embracing over 17,500,000 acres of land, have
been permanently set aside for the purpose of con-
tinually supplying timber and for the protection
of the main sources of the water supply of arid
regions. Although the law authorizes the creation
of these reservations, no specific power has been
granted by Congress, and not a dollar has been
set aside for their protection or development.
Several bills with this in view have been intro-
duced, but, owing to the hostility of certain in-
terests, all have been lost.

Mr. Bowers took the position that every citizen
was a part owner of this property, and should in-
sist that their representatives take an active in-
terest in furthering proper legislation to this end.
The only [)rotective agencies for government tim-
ber at this time are the thirty special agents of the
general land office, whose duty it is to investigate
and report timber trespasses for the district attor-
neys to prosecute. The magnitude of the work
may be understood when, in the last nine years,
trespasses have amounted to over $6,500,000, but
of which, owing to inadecpiate appropriations, only
10 per cent, has been collected.

The lecturer hoped that all the useless laws
would be wiped out and a simple business method
substituted ; the lands surveyed and the property
upon them classified; the timber sold and cut
under proper restrictions; the money being paid
for it to the United States treasury before it is
renioved, to be a fund for the preservation and
maintenance of these reservations.

On Friday morning the party proceeded north-
ward along the coast to Avalon, on Seven Mile
Beach, where the sand dunes, ** moving moun-
tains " of sand were inspected. The visitors saw
the protruding trunks of trees which had been
smothered, living trees being slowly but surely
killed, and bewailed the inevitable fate of healthy
specimens patiently awaiting their destruction.

A small strip of forest growth, two hundred
yards or so from the shore, is now impeding the
progress, yet the dune is said still to advance at
the rate of one foot per year, covering this pro-
tective belt. 'J'he sand wall is some twenty-five
feet high, with a slope of about forty on the
leeward side encroaching on the timber, which
consists of old white holly (Ilex opaca), over one
hundred and fifty years old, and red cedar, with
occasionally a sassafras or an oak or wild cherry
intermixed. The timber is only thirty-five feet
high ; the sharp sand particles driven by the wind
cut off and shear like a hedge the tops of the
trees, which are hardly ten feet above the highest
level of the dune. It is interesting to note how

long some of the submerged trees can retain their
vitality, cedars and hollies, covered up within ten
feet of their tops, still showing life, while the oaks
and sassafras are dead and crumbling, and the
cherries have shed their seed, giving rise to a new
generation on the dune itself. Where the forest
has been removed, the action of the wind reaches
farther inland, but where the forest barrier is in-
tact, the dune seems to have become quiet enough
to allow a natural cover of sand grasses to estab-
lish itself which may in time stop its further
shifting.

Even the bathing beach, which in such places
is usually the only attraction, has in many places
been spoiled, the sand being blown off and a
muddy bottom remaining.

The folly of practically denuding the sea coast
of timber of sufficient volume to act as a protection
was made apparent. The party then proceeded to
Atlantic City.

More rain at Atlantic City decreased the size of
the audience which assembled in the evening at
the armory of the Morris Guards and listened to
the illustrated lecture of Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Sec-
retary of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
on the '* Forests of the Eastern United States,"
but those in attendance were delighted with the
subject-matter presented and charmed by the mag-
nificent lantern slides.

Of the forestry cjuestion Dr. Rothrock said:
"We may fairly assume that the period of agi-
tation is over for this country. The most substan-
tial gains will now be made by assuming that the
public has recognized the vast importance of the
forestry question and is ready to stand by and act
favorably upon any plans for forest preservation
and restoration which rest upon a business basis
Instead of insisting that trees shall be planted, it
IS in order now to point out the specific values of
each kind for this or that soil and to inculcate
correct methods of work.

"To-day we stand on the verge of such a scarcity
of timber as to seriously impede our i)rogress as a
nation.

" It is often stated that about one-fourth of a
commonwealth should be in timber of a mer-
chantable character, or which promises to become
such.

" The safest rule is to consider timber as a crop,
and to regard its production as a form of agricul-
ture. When we come to this, as we shall, we will
plant forests where they will pay better than any
other crop. This idea alone will solve the prob-
lem as to how our important watersheds shall be
kept as they should be in timber ; being for the
greater part rough and poor, no other crop can be
raised there to advantage. Further than this, our
ideas will undergo a further change, and the State
will see that the same protection is given to timber

mm.

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FOREST LEAVES.

X3f

land that is now given to other property. This is
not done now. We will value our timber by what
it costs to produce it in the near future.

" Pennsylvania by its surface conditions would
nrobably from natural fitness maintain in the fu-
ture about one-fourth of its area in forests, New
York less, while New Jersey and Delaware might
be considered as uncertain, because population
would determine more than physical conditions
the proportions of timbered to cleared land.'*

The lecturer then took up the subject of the
proper kind of trees to plant in this region, illus-
trating them and specifying the uses to which the
wood from white pine, red cedar, spruce, black
walnut, oak, hickory, etc., are put; the peculiar
adaptability of each variety for different grounds,
the rate of growth, demand for the timber, etc.,
being all in turn considered.

The lecture closed with a reference to forest
fires and the statement that the friends of forestry
can congratulate themselves that the cause is now
so well advanced that they can devote their en-
ergies to the actual work of forest restoration.

Saturday was to be devoted to a railroad excur-
sion to Chatsworth, and a drive through the plains
to note the dwarfed tree growths springing from
the white sand ; but a heavy down-pour discour-
aged the party, and an instructive journey was thus
missed. The most serious disappointment, how-
ever, was at Lake wood, where, under the direction
of Messrs. A. M. Bradshaw and David B. Plumer,
arrangements had been perfected for a large audi-
ence of residents and hotel guests to give a fitting
climax to the meeting on Saturday evening. Lake-
wood, the widely known winter resort in the pine-
belt of New Jersey, is 60 miles south of New York,
70 miles distant from Philadelphia and 9 miles
from the ocean. The village is surrounded by pine
forests, of which 19,000 acres are owned by the
company controlling the Laurel House, where the
meeting was to have been held. The day proved
to be cloudy, but free from rain, and those who
had planned this visit missed a sojourn at a pleas-
ant hostelry, an opportunity to see a New Jersey
pine woods well protected, and to sow the seeds
of forestry among an intelligent audience from
various portions of the country.

We think our friends erred in not attempting to
carry out the programme that was laid out, even if
the number of participants was small, for in such
peripatetic meetings both guests and hosts make
arrangements in advance, and any departure from
the schedule causes inconvenience. We know
from personal knowledge that serious disappoint-
ment was felt at Lakewood, and if the welcome
given the few who were so hospitably treated
is an index of what was in store for the larger
party, we can surely assert that a rare treat was
missed.

New Books.

The Pocket Gophers of the United States. Di-
vision of Ornithology and Mammology, Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, 8vo., 48
pages. Pamphlet. This is Bulletin No. 5, being
prepared by Mr. Vernon Bailey, under the direc-
tion of Dr. C. Hart Merriam. This paper, which
is complemental to the technical work on this
group, gives a popular account of the Pocket
Gophers of the United States, their habits, eco-
nomic status, etc., and contains several illustra-
tions and maps. It is especially valuable for those
who desire a short account of these gophers, but
would not wish to study the more detailed and
technical works which the Division has published
on this subject.

Report of the Commissioner of Education, i8gi-
j8g2 Department of the Interior, Washington,
D. C, 2 vols., 8vo., 1 271 pages, bound in cloth.
These books, which have just been issued, were
prepared by Dr. Wm. T. Harris, Commissioner,
and give statistics and data in regard to our State
and city common school systems, the various
universities and colleges, together with accounts
of the systems of education pursued in various
foreign countries, forming a valuable and compre-
hensive report on the whole subject of education.

m

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAl-ER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

OF

'If

iii

M

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

It

UM^

48

FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure tlie best tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

\i

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I

PLANE TREtS ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

Three years ago, while in Europe for horticultural research, we found that for a number
of years, in L(jndon, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tree had been used
with most successful results. It was found to Ije the only tree which would grow satis-
factorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Tliames River, I^ndon.

The parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a number of our leading landscape
gardeners have recently been using the Oriental Plane very extensively for avenue planting.
Can furnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.
Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

It will pay you U) send for our new Cataloj^iie, which tells of Hardy Trees, Shrubs,
Plants, Roses, Fruit, and our special stock of Rhododendrons. It will interest all who
are interested in such matters.

WM. WARNER HARPER,
MANAOCR.

ANDORRA NURSERIES, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa.

Ai-i

%^t^<^ ^^fi^tr

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, August, 1895.

No. 4.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

25 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Kiilcred at the Pliiladclphia Pust-Ofilce as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

EuiroKiALS 49-50

In Mcinor^ini 50

Observations on the Relative
(irowtli of Virgin P'orest 'Pini-

berand Second (Irowths 51-53

Shade Trees and Improved Roads 53

I'he City Parks Association 54

Forestry in North Carolina 54" 55

Forest Reserves on the Rideaii Lakes 55

Deforestation as a Cause of Mortality 55

Tbe Sugar Maple. Acer Saccliarinuni, Wang 5^*-5S

'i'he Practical Linutnce of Fotestiy on the Surface of Our Coun-
try. (Oneoftlie Prize Essays) 5S-<^2

Forest Parasites ''^

Correspondence ^3

New Books ^3

Subscription, $1.00 per Year.
The attention 0/ Nurseryuun ami others is calleti to the advantages
^y P'oHHST LkaviiS as an advertising ntediitin. Kates will be Jur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
John liiRKiNUiNK, Chairman, ^^^y North Juniper Street.
Dk J. '\\ RoTHKOCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. HlTLiiK, \'6■^o Master Street.
Jamhs C. Hayuon, Jeanesville, I'a.
li. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
FouNOliu IN Junk, 1886,

Labors to disseminate information in rcK^rd to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both Stale and

National.

Annual wemhership/ee. One dollar.

I.i/e niemhership, Fifteen dollars.

Neither the membership nor the work of this Assocfath^n is intended
to be limited to the State of l»ennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names toW. />. ^rt7>//i-r, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Hirkinbine.

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Dr. Ch.Ts. A. Shaeflfer.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.

Preasurer, Cnarlcs K. Pancoast.

Coiincil-at- Large, Mrs l^rinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. KIwyn.

Council from Philadelphia County, J. Rodman Paul, A. P. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Lucius S. Landrelh, Oen. Isaac J. Wistar, Kli Kirk
Price, Henry Pudd, Henry Howson.

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. 1. PiddK', Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery, James Monaghan.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

Council from Monti^omery County, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Dr. Alice
Bennett. Dr. ). M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Officb of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

FEW opportunities exist for maintaining for-
est reserves in the eastern portion of the
** United States more favorable than are

offered in the mountainous section of North
Carolina, and during a late visit to that section
we were gratified to notice a growing appreciation
of the value of forest protection. Such appreci-
ation, however, is not general ; for we witnessed
areas where many magnificent trees had been
girdled, to assist in preparing tillal)le soil, and
learned of offers made for timbered tracts which
were to be sacrificed for the tan bark they would
produce.

On the other side may be mentioned the favor
in which the mountains of western North Caro-
lina are held as health resorts, the realization that
a liberal forest growth is essential for this purpose,
and the methods followed by some of the lumber
companies. We traversed lands from which the
mature and serviceable trees had been cut, ( are
having been taken to protect, as far as possible,
the younger growths, and the condition of the
forests indicate that a lumber company can main-
tain a [)ermanent supply of timber by judicious
cutting.

The climatic conditions are, undoubtedly, fa-
vorable to rapid tree growth, the rainfall being
copious and well distributed, while the tempera-
ture changes are less severe than in States farther
north. 'Hiat such is the case is attested by the
variegated flora which abounds — a flora affected
by the above conditions and by the altitudes,
which range from 2000 to 6000 feet above tide

level.

The rarefied atmosphere and superb vistas of-
fered from many localities exceeding an elevation
of 2500 feet, have invited the erection of numer-
ous hotels and cottages, which encourage the pre-
servation of forest areas particularly upon the
slopes and crests of mountain ridges, while the

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FOREST LEAVES.

i

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valleys or coves offer the best encouragement for
agriculture.

The advantages of an extensive system of moun-
tain ranges of altitudes superior to others east of
the Rockies, clad with a generous timber growth,
should command attention and secure adequate
protection. That this can be done without sacri-
ficing any commercial value for a lumber industry
is evident from what has been accomplished by
existing companies, and we look for much to be
gained from an appreciation of the work under-
taken at the reserves of Mr. George W. Vanderbilt.

* ♦ * * :|c

Through the courtesy of Mr. Pinchot, we had
a glani c into the Biltmore forest scheme, but the
demands upon our time prevented such an inves-
tigation as would have permitted a thorough appre-
ciation of the efforts being made to demonstrate
what can be accomplished by proper attention to
forest growth, and what can be gained by a pro-
per utilization of forest products.

Understanding that Mr. Vanderbilt is averse to
public discussion of his enterprise in its present
imperfect development, we have no desire to in-
trude our opinions, contenting ourselves with the
statement that, as far as observation indicated, the
original condition of the Biltmore forest was but
mediocre, and whatever shall be accomplished
there could be duplicated at hundreds of other
locations equally favorable. In fact, if satisfac-
tory results follow the efforts to improve and
make profitable the Biltmore forests, it will be an
object lesson which many may profit by.

One feature of the Biltmore estate promises to
be most enjoyable and instructive, viz., the '* Ar-
boretum Drive," which for miles will be bordered
with all varieties of trees which can be grown
under the climatic conditions prevailing at Ashe-
ville, North Carolina.

4( * 3|C ♦ }|£

As we read in the July Century Mr. Ferguson's
note upon reforesting Michigan lands, while the
train sped across the lower Michigan peninsula
through an atmosphere laden with smoke from
forest fires, the gulf between precept and practice
was made apparent. After referring to the inves-
tigations of Mr. Gary of the Department of Agri-
culture, and quoting his conclusions that by plant-
ing and protection white and Norway pine can
readily be grown on lands from which they have
been cut, Mr. Ferguson suggests the establishment
of a department of forestry and experimental
planting in connection with the Agricultural Col-
lege at Lansing. A most commendable sugges-
tion, and one which we sincerely hope may re-
sult in some action by the people of Michigan.
But the damage now resulting from forest fires
will require many years of active study and work
to neutralize.

In Memoriam.

THE last issue of Forest Leaves contained
brief mention of the late Honorable Eck-
ley B. Coxe and of the late Colonel James
Young. Both of these gentlemen had been promi-
nently before the public, and, wherever known,
were respected and loved. They were, from the
first, active supporters of the forestry cause. Their
well-known business character and keen discern-
ment gave great weight to any movement with
which they were known to be in active sympathy.

The Council of the Pennsylvania Forestry As-
sociation, desiring to place on record an official
expression of the high esteem in which the lives,
characters, and services of these gentlemen were
held, appointed a committee to prepare suitable
resolutions for publication in Forest Leaves.
The committee offers the following :

Whereas, The Honorable Eckley B. Coxe and
Colonel James Young have recently been removed
by death from the duties and associations of this
life, wherein they furnished examples of honesty,
active practical benevolence, and broad public
spirit ; therefore be it

Resolved, The Pennsylvania Forestry Associa-
tion gratefully remembers the important aid given
by these gentlemen to the forestry cause from its
infancy. Their moral support, wise advice, and
financial assistance contributed largely to the
rapid development of the forestry sentiment in
this State.

Resolved, That the noblest efforts we can make
in furtherance of what they have already done,
will be but an imitation of the examples they have
furnished.

Resolved, That many members of the Forestry
Association keenly feel they have lost personal
friends whose presence was always a source of
pleasure and an inspiration to better efforts; and
that we desire to tender our most sincere and re-
spectful sympathy to the surviving relatives.

The same committee also desires to express to
the New Jersey Forestry Association the sympathy
which the Pennsylvania Forestry Association feels
for them in the loss of their President, the late
Edward Burroughs, of Merchantville, N. J.

J. T. Roth rock,
Alfred B. Elwyn,
Samuel Marshall,

Committee.

— American Gardening says, if you insert a
branch of the common pine into the middle of a
currant or gooseberry bush, the currant worm will
not get into it, or, if they are already there, they
will leave at once.

5.^:3

FOREST LEAVES.

Observations on the Relative Growth of
Virgin Forest Timber and Second

Growths.

WE depart from our custom by inserting a
graphic reproduction of tree measure-
ments and tabulation of results because
in no other way can the conclusions of Mr. Meyer
be so well emphasized. The writer has evidently
given the subject serious study, and may be fliirly
considered as having established one phase of dam-
age done by forest fires; this diagram and tables de-
monstrate this more plainly than mere words, and
we offer it to our readers as a suggestion to make
similar observations, for the more numerous the
records and wider the territory which is covered,
the stronger will the proof be. The tables would
have been of greater value had there been a larger
number of records of trees of the same kind. — Ed.

Having observed in cutting various timber-
trees, the irregularity of growth at different pe-
riods of tree life, and being interested in the
striking coincidence of these irregularities, \yith
the occurrence of certain forest fires, an examina-
tion was made. On counting back the rings to
where these irregularities occur, it was found that
these checks, scars and decreased growth of rings

denoted an interference with the regular healthy
life of the tree, the result of forest fires occurring
at these periods. In the diagram and table No. i,
specimen No. ii is a white pine tree of 2q\ inches
diameter and counting back 40 rings, the gro\yth
has been only tj\ of an inch per annum on one side
of the heart, thus requiring 20 years to make a
growth of I inch, while in the 8th inch from the
heart, there are 15 rings to the inch or a growth of
J^ of an inch per annum, making 55 rings for an
iricrease of 3 inches. The 7th inch is composed of
7 ringsshowingagrowthof f of an inch per annum.
The 6th inch is composed of 62 rings, the 5th
inch, 42 rings, or an average growth of about \
of an inch per annum for the 3 inches. In the
4th and 3d inches 5 rings each are found, de-
noting that the growth had been \ of an inch
per annum, the 2d inch has 6 rings and at the
heart or ist inch of growth there are 11 rings.
Now the period of the last 3 inches of the tree's
growth covered by the 55 rings or 55 years of
growth, corresponds exactly with the time that for-
est fires were first started, about the years 1839-
40 and for the 15 years ensuing, 1840 to 1855,
there were only occasional conflagrations.

Shingle shavers frequented this locality, and
after making the shingles wanted, would fire the

Graphic Representations of Tree Growth.

WHITE BEECH
SUCHf^ Mfli^LE

2 L<Ci LI

"TR YW

II R

ZV2 'VJ %'- S^aOtn'^E raff
SUMUCH

6R '

TJ7T

k

6

iR aW

d£.

CHESTNUT

TTr i^ 7/? '

14//L/7 CHEF^RY

6R

9n

Ir 6/2^ ^Wr

WHITE ^SH
M 2^ > ^ W - 4 W/6 Of /J ME re R

WHITE BinCH

7R

7 ,A\ /•' . /•' . '" \ ^^^^^ f- 3^//d'- S^ "Of/IME TER

3R 6'/4.'R IWr ''" '

QUAKING /fSPEN

WILD CHETfT^y

9 I Yf ■

iR

5R

4fi

:>R

y/?

J-

7R

5^^." i-7y2''^f3'/^' V/^MEr£R

ROF=^L^R

10 sJC.

f/? 9H

X

/"

sn

OH

/OR

lOR HR

II £.

WHITE PINE

i/f ZOJ^

2L

±

r

/'

:0R

I5'R

7R

6'/2R ^'/2R

5R

22R '

^ fO'/a ■' /- /^ ' = 2/)y8 " O/RM.

Ji__. ^_»

5R

6R

II R

!'!'

iH-i

FOREST LEAVES.

Table No. i.

2

3
4

5
6

7
8

9
lo

II

Name of Tree.

White beech ^

Sugar maple

Sumach

Chestnut

Wild cherry

White ash ,

White birch

Quaking aspen

Wild cherry ,

Poplar ,

White pine

Average

growth

per annum

on one side

of heart.

Inch.

1

h

4
1

ft

I
I

1

Number
of rings.

25
22
22

39

24

i8

22
21
29
92
104

Average

total
growth.

Inch.

h

n
15

i

The numbers and arrangement of this table correspond with the
numbers and figures, and are placed in the same order as the trees in
the graphic representation.

debris, the flames running up the side hill among
the oak, chestnut and Jack pine (the latter had
presumably received their origin by some fire
about 100 years ago.) Later on these forest fires
increased in frequency and violence till the growth
decreased fully 50 per cent, in the last 55 years of
its life. This is a true record, that between the
years 1854-55 and 1894, or the past 40 years there
has been the greatest decrease in comparative
growths, which was the time when the greater
number of forest fires occurred, sometimes two in
one season, and the injury was thus indelibly
stamped upon the tree. The same fact was fully
sustained when working among the white oak
timber along the bench under this side hill, for
after the tree .selected was cut down, upon peeling
off the bark, and seeing a fair exterior, our hope
of making a good day's work was doomed to dis-
appointment, as after laying ouPour cut into bolts,
quarters, eights, etc., on riving our bolts serious
impairment was found, often spoiling the larger
part of a quarter or half cut, and sometimes this
would continue up the body of the tree for two or
three cuts. This evidence points to a positive
conclusion that in many cases the forest fires have
inflicted serious injury to the virgin forest not out-
wardly visible, besides the vast desolation and
wanton waste in many instances, of large areas of
the forest growths, proving that now the time has
come for exercising the utmost vigilance in taking
proper care of the many thousand acres in wood-
lands ; that every precaution be taken to preserve
intact the full commercial value of the entire
growth till fully ripe to cut, reserving such por-
tions as shall be deemed advisable for the further
problem of the economical care of the annual
rainfalls.

Considering the many years and even centuries
that were required to produce and mature the
various grades of timber in the virgin forests,
which will soon be only a memory of the past, it

behooves us to move with the utmost discretion
and caution, taking care of present resources to
replace, to some extent, and sustain the great
drain that is being made annually by the lumber
industry, besides the large amount wasted by the
present system of cutting. It required 100 to 125
years to produce a white pine tree 20 to 24 inches
in diameter; from 125 to 650 years for those from
20 inches to 3 feet 6 inches in diameter; and
from 650 years up to 1000 years to form those
noble pines from 3 feet 6 inches to 5 feet in di-
ameter. Hemlock growth, as shown in Table No.
2, gives a general average of about ^^ of an inch
per annum on one side of the heart. Specimen
No. 2 is an exceptional case, which, owing to its
environments, started under the crowded larger
hemlock and hardwoods, requiring 90 years to
make its first inch of growth ; while the average
of hardwood timber specimens, Nos. 8 to 15, in-
clusive, was about .j\ of an inch per annum. The
greatest maximum growth observed was ^,j of an
inch in the hemlocks and | of an inch in the
hardwoods; while the minimum growth in the

Table No. 2. — 0/t/ Timber.

I

2

3

4
5

6

7
8

9
10
II
12
13
14
15
16

17
18

19

Variety of Tree.

c

White pine

Hemlock

<<

<<

Yellow pine...^

Red beech

((

(<

White beech...,
White birch.,..
Black birch

Sugar maple ..

White pine

White ash ,

Poplar ,

Iron wood

3

J*

bo
o

972

206
III

238

3*3
366
118
263

245
89
81

137

95

91
190

100

85
92
69

X. n

V 1)

> c

< °

bfi V

Inch.

1

30

if

26

2»

1

23

28

2V

I

Ttf

2*2
1
17

iV

I
19

1
12

23

e

3

e

Inch.

1

12

1
1/

h

fi
1

20

1

20

I

fJI
1

1
1 r

2V

1

N. B.— All the calculations in
growth on one side of the heart
minimum growths observed.

X.

^•t

■s .

0 is

u n

W^

Total

Bv

Diameter

3 c
S 0

of Tree.

c.H

^H

^

Inch.

Feet.

Inch.

2^5

4

6

b\)

7i
75

2TI

^i

I

^0

2

9

A

2

I

^T

I

6

b'«

I

2^

2V

I

3I

3i

^i

1

2*3

I

3 ■

2V
1

40

lOi

I

'>

I

««

^«

I

3

^

I

a

2*5

6

this table are made of the average
of the tree, with the maximum and

hemlock was ^^ of an inch per annum, and ^\ of
an inch in the hardwoods. The white pine No.
16 has an average annual growth of j\j the inch,
a maximum increase of 4 inch and a minimum of
^\ inch per annum. It should be stated that
these measurements are not considered perfectly
satisfactory to the observer, who has made them
under great disadvantages, but are intended to
show that the subject should receive the most
close and critical examination to determine the

i

FOREST LEAVES.

relative value of the annual growths of the young
timber of second growths, of which Table No. 3
gives a few illustrations, taken from a small area
of 25 acres, through which a fire passed about the
year 1870; not receiving any care or culture, but
simply keeping the fire out. The white beech
shows the minimum growth, averaging only tj^^ of
an inch per annum ; while the maximum growth,
3 of an inch per annum, is found in a sugar
maple growing in a field below the body of second
growth ; and No. 11, the yellow birch, the latter
being in the lot proper. The best average growths
were No. 13, sugar maple, ^ of an inch ; No. 11,
yellow birch, and No. 12, wild cherry, \ of an
inch; and Nos. 8, 9, and 14, wild cherry, quak-
ing aspen, and white birch, being } of an inch
each. The full detail of annual growths will be
found in Table No. i. Such encouraging measure-
ments (which are facts) are the result of keeping
fire out. What may be expected with proper care
and culture of a selection of those varieties which
promise the best results? With fostering care it

Table No. T^.Second Growths ( Where Fire has
Passed Over the Ground^.

I
2
3
4
5

6

7
8

9
10

II

12

13

Variety of Tree.

01)

c

a

3

o {«
qX

White beech...,
<«

Sumach

White ash

Sugar maple...
White birch....
Wild cherry....

Quaking aspen
Sugar maple...
Yellow birch..,
Wild cherry....
Sugar maple...
White birch....

24

25
22
18
22
22

24

29

21
28

25
24
28

23

Inch.
2^r

h

\

\

\
1

H
1
6

U)«

g

3
§

\

Inch,

1

7

3

4
7

le
1

7

IB

o b

i- ™
W)*i

d ^

3 C

6 °

•a.s

Inch.

2^l
1^0

4>
g

•5

♦^
o

H

1

\

X

H
i

h
1«

Inches.

3ft

4

4i^«

4||
i3i

8ft*
II

7

i5i*
9

* Old field. , ^ ^

N. B.— All the calculations in this table are made of the average

growth on one side of the heart of tree, with the maximum and

minimum growths observed.

will render possible the successful reforesting of
the many thousand acres of what is now a waste
of briars, Canada thistles, and wild brush of no
commercial value, but furnishing a bed of com-
bustible material to make reclamation more diffi-
cult with each recurring forest fire. These notes
are made in the hope that they may prove an in-
centive to a more earnest and active interest in
taking such measures as will lead to the greater
care and fostering of available bodies of second
growth timber throughout the State.

Abraham Meyer.

Shade Trees and Improved Roads.

IN a circular letter detailing progress in im-
proving roads, made in Massachusetts under
the direction of the Highway Commission,
Mr. Albert A. Pope, who has been the champion
of this reform, says :

** Careful consideration has been given to the
plan of planting shade trees along the highways.
With this end in view, experts have been con-
sulted concerning the best varieties for the pur-
pose ; and the wayside trees have been examined
so as to determine the species well adapted to the
climate and soil of Massachusetts.

'' As the estimated expense of procuring and
planting these trees is not less than one-half a
million of dollars, the Commission has rightly
made this question secondary to road-building ;
but, in the meantime, they are collecting such
data as will enable them to work with profit on
the adornment of the roads after the construction
is well in hand. The American and English elms
have the advantage of fairly rapid growth, with
shade high above ground, and the leaves falling
from them give but little obstruction to the gut-
ters. They have the disadvantage of being sub-
ject to the attacks of insects, so that the cost of
protecting them from these pests would be con-
siderable. Maples grow well, and are beautiful,
though they often shade the road too much. It
is the custom in parts of Europe to plant the
roadside with trees which yield profitable crops.
In France and Germany, for example, cherry trees
abound. In these countries the yield of the way-
side trees belongs to the neighboring landowners,
but in some cases to the community, and their
product is well guarded by law. There will be
more or less experimenting on the part of the
Commission before they decide upon the species
to be planted. The law provides for the begin-
ning of this work in the spring of 1895, ^"^ ^'"^"^
that time it will be carried on slowly, so as to give
us the benefit of experience."

—The California walnut groves are becoming
quite a success. After five or six years the tree
commences to bring returns. It requires from
twelve to fourteen years to become full-bearing.
N. V. Lumber Trade Journal.

—The annual report of the New York State
Forest Commission for 1894 says that not a tree
or any timber (live timber) has been cut on the
State land, with their consent, since the organiza-
tion.

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FOREST LEAVES.

The City Parks Association.

THE annual report of the City Parks Associa-
tion of Philadelphia says: **The realiza-
tion of a system of small parks in Phila-
delphia since the organization of our Association
in 1888 is a striking instance of the responsiveness
of public sentiment when appealed to at the right
time and in the furtherance of a definite object.

*'The objects of the Association, as named in
its constitution, were : (i) The diffusion of knowl-
edge in regard to the sanitary advantages of open
spaces, and of their salutary influences on society
generally. (2) The exertion of a moral influence
in aiding City Councils in the good work they
have entered on in providing open spaces for the
people. (3) The collection of information as to
where and what plots may be readily obtained
and co-operation with the city ofticials or depart-
ments charged with locating them. (4) To aid
the city, so far as it may be in their power as a so-
ciety, to procure the means of securing the lots
after they have been placed upon the city plan.

** The first and, until its means are increased,
the principal object to which its energies were di-
rected was agitation. It also aimed to encourage
private benevolence, so that the establishment of
parks and kindred municipal improvements will
become recognized charitable uses as deserving as
hospitals, homes and asylums, and even more im-
portant, because heretofore so much the more neg-
lected.

'* The preparing of plans and securing funds for
the improvement of those parks which have been
taken and the proper planting of the wide streets
which have been or are about to be opened in the
various parts of the city, also comes within the
scope of the Association.

''The names and location, and when obtain-
able, the areas of plots of ground purchased or re-
ceived as gifts by the city, or designated by ordi-
nances of Councils, for park purposes since the
formation of the City Parks association are :

In 1888 Hartram's Garden n.o acres.

WeccacoL- Square, 76

Juniata Park, ^o q

Stenton Park, i^ q

North wood Park, 8 6

In 1890 Pleasant Hill Park, * * 2I4.

Vernon Park, 7 q

VVaterview Park, 4 q

E. C. Knight Park, 3*6

Girard Park, 27.0

Wharton Square, 3 g

McPherson Square, e.7

In 1 89 1 Wistar Morris Park, ........ io!o

In 1892 John Dickinson Square, 2.7

Mifflin Square, -^ 5

Womrath Park, . i r

Stephen E. F'otterall Square, .... 4.5
Penn Treaty Park, 2.5

Ontario Park

Harrowgate Park,

In 1894 Westmoreland Park,

Allegheny Square,

Susan Gorgas Park,

Clarence li. Clark Park,

Disston Park, 3. i acres.

League Island Park,

Starr Garden,

"The Association suggests enlarging Bartram's
Garden by extending it along the river front to-
ward the south, thus securing the high bluff on the
west bank of the Schuylkill river as a permanent
possession. The proposed enlargement would
give the city a well-wooded park of about thirty-
five acres, commanding a view of the river, and
attractive from its historical associations, its valu-
able botanical collection and its natural beauty."

[The work accomplished by this association thus
far is certainly very gratifying, and we trust that
in the future their efforts wiil continue to meet
with the rewards they merit. — Ed.]

Forestry in North Carolina.

WE had occasion to comment most favor-
ably on the showing made by North
Carolina in the Forestry Building of
the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. On the
editorial table we find abundant reason for the
belief that the same wise and liberal policy still
exists in the same State. Bulletin Number 5 from
the State Geological Survey deals with '*The
Forests, Forest Lands, and Forest Products of
Eastern North Carolina." The investigation was
in charge of W. W. Ashe ; and was conscientiously
done. State Geologist, Holmes, in a prefatory
page estimates the sum total of the forest products
as having an annual value of twelve million dollars
''for this region." Then wisely adds: '* Cer-
tainly this is an industry the future maintenance
of which deserves the earnest consideration of the
the State and her individual citizens," from which
we may infer that the legislators are already ad-
vanced to the point of recognizing the value of
forest protection and restoration. Happy State I
The forest product of Eastern North Carolina
for the year reported upon was about ecjual to the
cotton crop for the entire State. (See page 121.)
In comparing the advantages of the ** French over
the American system " of collecting turpentine it
seems that the former '* protects the trees and
prolongs their activity " and also ''gives a larger
yield, raises the grade of the resinous products and
lessens the cost of producing." Certainly most
cogent reasons for adopting it in North Carolina,
where the trees weakened by the destruction of

FOREST LEAVES.

Mil

tissue from axe and fire fall easy victims to severe
wind storms. The whole pamphlet is a practical
statement of the actual conditions existing in the
part of the State to which it is devoted.

Bulletin Number 7 is devoted to '' Forest Fires :
Their Destructive Work, Causes and Prevention."

In this bulletin it appears that for all North
Carolina the annual value of the forest product is
about '' from $20,000,000 to $25,000,000."

Geologist Holmes in no uncertam way shows
that the interest of the State and the principal
also,' are both being expended.

Forest fires do not seem to be so destructive in
the State as in some more settled ones further
north. Of course, there, as elsewhere, the visible
damage is by no means the most serious. The
prospective or potential wealth obliterated is
many times greater. Still ''in southeastern
counties of North Carolina— the original forests
of long-leaf pine have gradually been consumed.
More it can be safely said, has been burnt than
converted into lumber." (See page 12.)

*' The exhaustion of the long-leaf pine forests of
this State may be looked for now at no distant
date. The waning turpentine industry will hold
its own, as an industry of some importance, possi-
bly for ten years longer, though there will cer-
tainly be a steady decrease in its yield each year."

(See page 21.)

''All the trees which are especially worthy of pro-
tection, on account of their economic value are
greatly injured by fires. But some of the most
valuable hard woods, such as the white oak, hick-
ories, chestnut and locust, succeed in securing a
stand after light fires." (See page 25.)

We regret that we cannot give this valuable
paper the space its importance demands.

Forest Reserves on the Rideau Lakes.

by fire, and the uncontrolled cutting down of even
the smaller sizes of timber there by lumbermen.

What is needed is a forest reserve around the
systems of lakes which form the feeders of the
Rideau Lakes. By protecting the reserve from
bush fires and absolutely withdrawing it from set-
tlement, the trees will be allowed to grow again,
and the accumulations from the melted snows and
from the summer rains which presently are quickly
drained off, will be held back within the forests
and only gradually find their way to the lakes. As
in other sections of both Ontario and Quebec, the
country here is now reaping the results of a past
unwise government policy, under which no prac-
tical effort was made to protect the forests from
fires or to punish those who carelessly or wantonly
were the causes of these fires, and under which the
right of cutting timber on the Crown lands has
been freely sold with the object of securing for
the government a present cash return, and without
the slightest effort at conserving the forests in
order to make them a continuous source of revenue
in coming years. Though somewhat late, and
only after so many of its townships had been
largely burned over, an effort has been made during
recent years by the Ontario government, in con-
junction with the lumbermen, to limit forest fires,
but more or less apathy still prevails in Quebec,
and the general criminal law of the Dominion
still fails to grapple practically with the subject.
Nearly all forest fires are the result of criminal
carelessness or of wanton destructiveness, and are
therefore preventable. When will our govern-
ments learn that by year after year showing apathy
over the burning of the country's forests, they are
wasting not only the country*s present revenues,
but the revenues which would continue to be de-
rived from timber for scores of years to come.

¥R. A. J. DRUMMOND contributes to the
Canadian Record of Science an interest-
ing sketch of the Rideau Lakes in Can-
ada. In it he says : On what is officially, but, by
a misnomer, known as the Rideau Canal, there is
for fifty miles a succession of lake scenery more
beautiful and more varied than that of the Thou-
sand Islands. The whole one hundred and twenty-
six miles of water route between Ottawa and
Kingston now comprise merely two rivers and a
chain of lakes. The long continued drought dur-
ing August, 1894, led to the waters falling so low
that it became a question whether navigation for
the larger vessels would not have, in consequence,
to cease over the entire system. This is a diffi-
culty likely to occur more frequently in the future
in the Rideau Lakes on account of the gradual re-
moval of large sections of the surrounding forests

Deforestation as a Cause of Mortality.

DESCOURTIS claims {Revue d' Hygiejie)

I ) that deforestation of a given region in-

creases the death-rate. His argument is
founded on the investigations of Dr. Jeaunel, who
reports that the mortality in the woodless depart-
ments of France is 1.64 per 100, while in those
with forests the mortality is only .18 per 100. The
proportional loss then is nine times greater in the
thirty treeless departments than in the fitty-seven
wooded departments. If deforestation is really
the cause of the disproportionate death-rate and
of the diminished population in many parts of
France, it must be regarded with as much solici-
tude as the contamination of water-supplies, un-
healthy dwellings or the contagion of zymotic d\^'
Qd^QS.— Journal of American Medical Association^
Illinois,

i

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-^6--

FOREST LEAVES.

The Sugar Maple. Acer saccharinum,

Wang.

THE world over, there are about fifty different
kinds, f)r species, of maples. Of these
about ten grow naturally within our terri-
torial limits— in the United States. So it will be
noted that, in the maple distribution, we have
received our share.

National vanity, until within a few years, was
comfortably complacent, in thinking that what-
ever glory the autumn derived from the colors of
the maple was wholly our own; but this notion
received a very sudden shock when the bright
foliage of the Japanese maples was recognized
upon our lawns.

The sugar maple, with which we are now most
immediately concerned, is probably the common-
est tree of our Pennsylvania forests. It ranges
from the northern to the southern border of the
State, and appears to be equally at home on either
the eastern or western half. It is quite true that
it seems to be more abundant in the rougher
parts of the central third, where it extends, in
large bodies and in splendid individual size, from
New York to Maryland.

Some trees are associated with particular classes
of men, but this tree lends itself to so many pur-
poses that there is hardly an art, or an artisan, to
which, or to whom, it does not offer some help.
Then again such trees, as some of the hickories,
appeal to every age of man, from m fancy to
toothless old age because of the fruit, but the wood
(hickory) lacks the durability, in exposed loca-
tions, which we find associated with the sugar
maple, whose syrup and sugar are among the match-
less products of our woods, and etjually dear to
chijdhood, or to mature years. In the expressive
-language of the day, the sugar maple '' is an all
around tree."

Most trees are largely moulded in their shape by
their surroundings. Thk is a safe general state-
ment to make. The beech tree illustrations in the
last number of Forest Leaves showed this, but
the sugar maple is probably as little influenced as
to shape by its surroundings as any tree of our
woods or fields.

The trunk of the sugar maple, under ahnost all
circumstances, carries its thickness well. In other
words, a slender tree of this species is by no means
common. Some of our forest trees, when grown
in the open ground, develop short thick trunks, but
in the woods tower up, tall and slender; this is
notably the case with the chestnut and the tubp
poplar. The bark is a light ashen gray ; some-
times It is of a darker color; especially when,
dampened by a. continued rain, the more or less
crustaceous lichens show their increase of vitality
by becoming a deep green. Seldom is there much

in the bark of the sugar maple to suggest a rugged
strength. Though moderately roughened in the
oldest trees, it is not deeply cleft. The trunk may
well enough command respect from size alone,
but its exterior covering might almost be desig-
nated as characterless. The well-seasoned heart-
wood is of a warm brown, and the silver grain, or
medullary rays are conspicuous enough to give a
distinct figure to the surface, if the wood is quar-
tered, or better still, sawed at right angles to the
annual rings. The sap wood is lighter in color,
and less valuable. There are two ** accidental
forms,'* as Professor Sargent has designated them,
in which round, somewhat lighter, slightly irides-
cent figures appear upon the polished wood. One
is popularly known as '* birds eye" maple. The
fibres are contorted in the canibium layer, and
tend to project outwardly in the form of little
nodules. Cut them across, parallel to the bark,
and one may recognize a central part, with one or
more rings of fibres outside of it. This is quite
conspicuous in the "birds eye poplar." In the
dressed stick the lighter color and the slight iri-
descence, or possibly better named, satiny lustre,
will be found associated with the roughening of
the fibres where the plane passed over the ends at
an angle to them. Wood of this kind was once in
great demand for manufacture of rifle-stocks.
Curly mai)le is the other form, and may be re-
garded as essentially the same condition, only
the fibres run a tortuous, instead of a nodulated
course. Indeed, a birds eye stick seen on another
surface, may show the condition designated as
** curly maple."

The uses of the wood are, as already intimated,
manifold. Saddlery, turnery, flooring, house fin-
ishing, ^'shoe lasts and pegs," fuel, keels and
keelsons for ship building, and gun stocks, are
some of the purposes to which it is applied.
Furniture of almost any grade is made from it.
It is among our strongest woods, and is also /av'r/y
durable in exposed plac es, and very durable when
protected against the weather.

It would be fair to say that a sugar maple three
feet in diameter and eighty feet high would be a
large representative of this si)ecies for Pennsylva-
nia, though larger specimens are reported else-
where, and doubtless could be found here.

The leaves are from three to five inches long,
and somewhat wider than long, the base being
square, or a little heart-shaped. The conspicuous
three or five lobes to the leaves have rounded
spaces between them. The typical leaf of this
species may be regarded as fairly constant in shape,
but variations are not unusual. No tree of our
woods has a more gorgeous autumn coloring, and
it is hard to deal fairly with it without seeming to
be indulging in extravagant statements as to its
beauty. When the leaf has done its work, and is

'*i$

[

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 4.

M

4

SUGAR, OR ROCK MAPLE; ACER SACCHARINUM, WANG.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 4.

It

Hiii

■1"

'. »

TRUNK OF ACER SACCHARINUM; SUGAR OR ROCK MAPLE.

^;

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 4.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 4.

)\

TRUNK OF ACER SACCHARINUM ; SUGAR OR ROCK MAPLE.

SUGAR, OR ROCK MAPLE; ACER SACCHARINUM, WANG.

I ^

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INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

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FOREST LEAVES.

M7

-frr

no longer fully nourished, it begins to color. This
is usually before a frost has come; indeed, one
may often in mid-summer find a leaf, whose con-
dition shows that it is not healthy, becoming red
or yellow; more frequently the former color.
Nevertheless, it is true that though the frost is not
essential to the appearance of the autumn colors,
it does seem to intensify them ; mere lapse of time
without the cold, does not bring out the brightest
hues which, at their best, are vividly scarlet and
orange. The same tree may reveal both colors,
and as the sugar maple is social, and often forms
a large proportion of the forest growth over wide
areas, it is at once clear what the appearance of a
maple wood is when winter approaches.

The sugar maple matures its fruit in September.
No native forest tree is of easier cultivation ; there
is nothing to do but sow the seeds in rich, soft
soil, when they are ripe, and cover them with a
thin layer of leaves. In spring they will speedily
appear and begin their growth, of course, requir-
ing the usual care subsequently. Maple trees
which have grown in a dense woods, and were well
protected by undergrowth, usually have many of
their roots just beneath the surface of the soil. The
leafy mulch maintains constantly sufficient mois-
ture to attract the young rootlets. The conse-
sequence of removing the leaf mould and the
undergrowth is obvious ; the roots simply dry out,
while the trees, if they do not die outright, often
linger for years in an unhealthy condition. On
the other hand, it is not hard to start maple trees
in the open ground. The trouble comes when
one attempts to make an open ground maple out
of a tree which has, for half a century, been a
member of a forest community. Habits of life
count for something even amongst trees, and are
' changed with increasing difficulty as the subject
becomes older. There are several instances in
this State of serious injury to maple forests, simply
from unwise thinning. But one might as well
add, it is a common observation, that for other
kinds of trees, as well as the maple, excessive
thinning is often destructive to the remaining

trees. . ,

Maple sugar and syrup hold places in our do-
' mestic economy which are peculiarly their own.
The flavor of each is unapproachable ; while it is
characteristic in even the commonest grade of
product from the '' sugar cam])," there are never-
theless degrees of delicacy. The flavor of the
sugar and syrup, made in the old way in an open,
iron kettle, after a tedious process of boiling the
sap which had previously attracted hosts of insects,
has been designated as that of 'Mnaple sap, in-
sects, oxygen and iron rust." The best product
made now is from sap collected in a closed vessel,
delivered in a closed tank, run promptly over an
evaporator and hermetically sealed, while hot, in

a clean, new tin can. This is as much superior to
that made in the old way as the best refined cane
sugar is to the cheapest output of the southern

plantation.

It appears strange that in the general business
depression, when our farmers have been casting
about for lucrative lines of activity, more atten-
tion has not been given to the *' sugar camp " by
those who have the trees. A first class product
always commands a high price, and there is as
much chance for making a reputation and secur-
ing special prices in maple syrup and sugar as
there has been in butter. One of my friends, Mr.
A. C. Sisson, of Factory ville, Pa., sells every gal-
lon of syrup he can make at more than a dollar a
gallon ; and to secure it from him, even at this
price, one must engage it a year before it is made.
This shows the possibilities of our sugar tree, and
in portions of New England there are large, active
maple sugar associations, devoted to this interest.
Then besides the wood, syrup and sugar, there
is a considerable demand for the ashes, which are
utilized in production of potash.

As a shade tree, the sugar maple is one of the
very best, especially so for rural homes, and for
towns and villages where there exists no necessity
for closely crowded buildings or for narrow streets.
It is in every respect superior to the silver maple,
which is so generally chosen, except that the lat-
ter makes a more rapid growth. But the wood of
the latter is so soft and weak that it is unable to
support its enormous growth.

We are apt to think that our sugar maple stands
alone in our forests as a source of sugar produc-
tion. The fact is, however, that both the silver
maple and the box elder have yielded sugar. The
yellow birch has a sweet sap which flows so abund-
antly until the late spring, that a probable utility
of the same kind is suggested. Woodmen cut
small troughs in the spreading roots of the yellow
birch, collect the sap and use it to slake their
thirst. The physical properties of the sugar maple
may be thus (luoted : Specific gravity, 0.6912.
Percentage of ash, 0.54. Relative approximate
fuel value, 0.6875. Weight in pounds of a cubic
foot of dry wood, 43.08. Relative strength, 21,
on the list of 310 American species of forest trees.
It is worth while here to call attention to the
fact, that the black variety of the sugar maple
which diff'ersfrom the sugar maple proper, mainly
by so small a diff'erence as having leaves with
broader and shorter lobes and having the under
surface of the leaves almost as green as the upper,
should have so much weaker wood. It stands as
No. 71 on the list. This is all the more strange
when a comparison of the other physical proper-
ties shows how close it is to the genuine sugar
maple. Thus, specific gravity, 0.6915. Percent-
'age of ash, 0.7 1 . Relative approximate fuel value,

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FOREST LEAVES.

0.6866. Weight in pounds of a cubic foot of dry
wood, 43.09.

The sugar maple is a tree of wide geographical
range in our country, being found from New-
foundland west along the northern shores of the
great lakes and along the Alleghanies south to Ala-
bama and Florida, westward to Minnesota, and
thence south along the plains to eastern Texas.
The range of the black variety is somewhat more
restricted. It does not seem to reach so far north
or west. J. T. Rothrock.

The Practical Value of Forests to the
Surface of the Country.

(One of the Prize Essays.)

WHEN the country was discovered by
civilized man, thick forest, estimated
^t 3,500,000 square miles in area, cov-
ered much of the land. In the four centuries which
have since passed nearly three-fourths of this terri-
tory has been deforested, leaving scarcely 1,000,-
000 square miles of even nominally timbered sur-
face. This has changed the aspect of the land very
considerably; tracts aggregating many thousand
miles in extent, once screened from the heaven
above by a thick, leafy canopy, now lie open to
the full influence of sun, rain and wind, and the
area still left wooded is steadily diminishing.

This naturally suggests several questions : Has
this alteration any effect in changing agricultural
conditions? for it is agriculture only which can
be most affected by any such change j Do forests
perform any important functions in nature's econ-
omy, or will their removal have no evil conse-
quences to the prosperity and inhabitableness of
a country?

It has long been believed that they have some
effect upon agricultural conditions, and if so, the
farmer should know the nature and extent of their
influence, in order that, if necessary, he may take
steps to prevent their rapid disappearance.

In other lands these questions have also become
prominent, and men of noted learning and intel-
lect have devoted much time and labor to their
solution. The historical method, which was not
always trustworthy, although still used, has largely
given place to the scientific method of regular and
reliable experiments and observations, by which
many new facts have been discovered, and the
purpose of this essay is not to promulgate new
theories or to propose new methods, but to give a
careful digest of the evidence on the question
named in the title, and to prove by well confirmed
and logical statements the great value of our
woodland.

The productivity of the soil of a country de-

pends upon the climate of that region. The two
great factors of climate are heat and moisture.
If either of these is insufficient, the land is deso-
late. First, let us consider the influence of forests
upon temperature.

When sunshine falls on forests, the heat is more
thoroughly absorbed than when it falls on an un-
covered surface. This is due to three causes : the
greater extent of surface presented by the forest,
the porous and absorbent character of the forest
soil, and the presence of moister air in the forest.
It is evident that the amount of surface pre-
sented to the influence of heat by a forest area
must be far greater than that of any open surface.
Therefore the sun's heat, when permitted to fall'
on a forest region, is more thoroughly absorbed,
is spread over a greater surface, and penetrates the
ground to a greater depth than it would if thrown
on bare ground. For when the rays fall on a bare,
dry surface, they cannot penetrate so deeply, and
heating a smaller amount of matter, must neces-
sarily produce a higher temperature.

Since the forests absorb heat slowly, they do
not become excessively hot in summer, and since
they radiate heat slowly, they moderate the se-
verity of cold in winter. The cooling eff*ect of
forests upon their soil in summer amounts to 2j^°
F. Forest litter is even more effective than the
living foliage, retaining heat to be used in evapo-
rative processes instead of radiating it into the
atmosphere. The forest soil cools the air in con-
tact with it, and this air, flowing off, makes the
coolness felt in the vicinity.

The ability of air to become heated depends
upon the amount of water vapor which it con-
tains. The air over a forest district absorbs a
much larger percentage of the radiated heat than
does the drier air over a barren district. Conse-
quently, in winter, when the ground is radiating
Its heat, the moist air of the forest tends to re-
main warmer than the air over a dry tract.

At certain times in the year plants are pecu-
liarly exposed to the dangers of early frosts, and
one such occurrence may cause a loss of many
thousands of dollars. Bare ground, from its ready
loss of heat, reaches such a danger-point much
sooner than if a part of the section were wooded.
The difference of a few degrees, or even part of a
degree, may make the difference between the es-
cape and the injury of crops.

Forests also moderate the extremes of tempera-
ture, because of the longer retention of moisture
in the forest floor, which moisture must be evapo-
rated before the ground can be warmed. Conse-
quently, the extremes of high and low tempera-
tures within the forests occur much later than in
the open, and both extremes are reduced— more,
however, in the summer, when most needed, than
in the winter.

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FOREST LEAVES.

Dr Woeikof has collected observations in
northern India, where the temperatures are com-
pared for the hot months, over a territory that
includes the three different characters of treeless,
transition and wooded. In the treeless region the
maximum temperature ranges from 109'' to 116°
F • in the intermediate it falls to 105°, and in the
forest territory is only 99°. Space will not per-
mit the giving of the tabular statement, but the
fall of the temperatures, as the forest is reached, is
very noticeable. The cooling in the forest region
even appears to surpass that due to proximity to

the sea.

The river basin of the Amazon is the most ex-
tensive forest region in the world. The middle
and upper portions of its course are over 1000
miles distant from the Atlantic Ocean, while it
is separated by mountains from the Pacific. At
four stations in its basin observations are made,
and were it not for the forests, we ought to ex-
pect, at such a distance from the sea and so near
the equator, very high temperatures and great
dryness. Tabular figures, however, show that,
owing to the vast primeval forests, the tempera-
ture of the hottest month and the extreme maxi-
mum are not greater than at the seacoast, and
the extreme maximum is far from reaching the
heights sometimes observed in middle latitudes.
Remember, also, that these observation stations
are not under the. shade of the trees, but that the
temperatures are taken under perfectly fair condi-
tions for comparison with other observations.

Now let us ascertain the effect of forests upon
rainfall. ** The claim that forests in any way in-
fluence the volume of our annual rainfall is not
supported by any tangible evidence or record,"
says the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture.
In Ohio statistics of the rainfall have long been
kept, and though not more than five per cent, of
the area of that State is woodland to-day, the
records at Marietta show no perceptible diminu-
tion in the amount of precipitation. Neither in
England nor in Ireland has any marked difference
due to this cause been observed.

Records of rainfall appear to show conclusively
that there have been periodic variations in the
annual amount, but they fail to show any regular-
ity in this variation, and prove that a falling off at
any given time is balanced by an increased amount
at some other period. This is a general rule, how-
ever, and applies to the cosmic or general climate.
As Professor Fernow very truly and forcibly says :
" There are two classes of climate always to be
considered separately, namely, the general climate
and the local climate. The latter is of most im-
portance to us, and alone can be modified by small

causes We are not so much concerned as

to whether the total rainfall over the continent is
increased, but whether the distribution of precipi-

tation in time and quantity over and near a forest
area is influenced by its existence ; whether we or
our crops feel its absence or presence in our im-
mediate neighborhood ; whether the protection it
seems to afford and the changes it seems to pro-
duce in the meteorological phenomena are, or are
not, real and of sufficient magnitude to influence
our forest policy.' ' No influence upon the general
climate, which depends on cosmic causes, can in
reason be expected from a forest cover. Only local
modifications of climatic conditions may be an-
ticipated ; but these modifications, if they exist,
are of great practical value, for upon them rest
success or failure in agricultural pursuits, and com-
fort or discomfort of life within the given cosmic

climate.

Finding the air strata above forest stations
moister and cooler than over field stations, we in-
fer that the tendency to condensation over woods
is greater than over fields. From observations in
France the annual precipitation over forests was
seven inches greater than over open fields. In
Germany, also, the forest stations show more rain-
fall.

Lintzel furnishes a valuable case in point. Ihis
station, at first situated in the open Luneburg
heath, has, by reforestation, during the last ten or
twelve years, become surrounded at a small dis-
tance with a young forest twenty-five square miles
in extent. Ten years ago, at the beginning of
observations, the rainfall at Lintzel was less than
at any of the neighboring stations, and it has sub-
sequently increased from year to year, until it is
in excess of all the other stations except Hamburg.
This constant increase, going hand in hand with
the increase of forest cover in extent and height,
leaves hardly any doubt as to the close relation of
these conditions. VVe may feel assured that forest
has some effect on local rainfall, though the pre-
cise amount of this effect has not been very con-
clusively ascertained.

Whether or not climate is favorable to plant
growth depends, however, quite as much upon the
distribution of moisture as upon its total amount.
One year may be much more favorable to agricul-
ture than that succeeding it, although both years
have the same amount of rainfall, simply because
the first rainfall is more evenly distributed through
the seasons, while the other has long alternate
periods of drought and excessive rain. In the
West, equalization of moisture is secured by irri-
gation, and this method has been recommended
for the Eastern States ; but there is another means
which acts automatically, and which is of un-
doubted efficacy ; this means is the preservation
of the forests. However much scientists have dif-
fered as to the influence of forests on climate, they
have never questioned the value of forests in regu-
lating the disposal of water supplies or drainage.

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FOREST LEAVES.

t lif

FOREST LEAVES.

-4t

The manner m which most of the moisture of
the atmosphere becomes available for our use
namely, that of rain, is not, strange to say the
most satisfactory. It is irregular in time and
quantity, and in its fall it compacts the ground
impeding percolation. By this compacting of the
soil, capillary action is increased, and evaporation
thereby accelerated. Much of the water which
otherwise would be carried off underground, can-
not sink into the ground, and rushes off at once
upon the surface, carrying with it rocks and soil
to lower evels, thus increasing the danger of

floods, and unfavorably affecting cultural condi-
tions. ^"HUl

The soil in a forest is generally more porous and
friable than other soil, owing partly to decom-
posed vegetable matter and partly to the protect-
ing forest cover. On account of the shelter of
foliage, ram cannot fall in such amount as to com-
pact this, and, upon precipitation, is quicklv
absorbed. The tree roots also form' conducting
channels in the earth. Biihler of Switzerland esti-
mates that snow is held in the forest from eight to
fourteen days longer than in the open, thus living
longer time in a thaw for filtration into the ground
which also, beiiig frozen to lesser depth, fs mor^
apt to be open for subterranean drainage.

1 he condition of the forest floor is important
and must always be taken into account. If the

of the7r J"""' '" ''"v"'*^ °^' ^°''^'' •««« """eh
of their value in equalizing drainage. Although

an appreciable amount of the precipitation is re-
amed in the forest floor, and does not join the
percolating water, this is not a loss, for this moist-
tan tnffl^^ >n the upper strata fulfils an impor
ev"apottTon" '^''^""^ "" •""*^'' '''''" '«- ^^^ »«
After the water from the atmosphere reaches

tion. Ihese are, (i) the heat of the atmosphere
caused by the sun rays, and (2) the wind. ^
1 he shade of the forest greatly diminishes the

hns rl^ '• ^""^ ""^""'^ '^' temperature of the air,
thus reducing its cai>acity to evaporate the water
Ihe forest has a great wind-breaking power'
which we will notice more hereafter, and this must
be considered as among the most importan
factors of water preservation. Especially is this
the case on the Western plains and thinly wooded
mountain ranges. Evaporation under the influ-
ence of wind depends not only on its dryness
but also on its velocity. If this is decreased the
rate of evaporation is reduced. Hot, dry winds can
cause 'mmense evaporation in a short time. ' The

foelm of Switzerland has been known to cause the
disappearance of two and one-half feet of snow in
twelve hours In Denver a "chinook" has caused
the relative humidity to sink from 100 to 21 ner
cent, in twenty-four hours. We have not far to

seek for the cause of the aridity of our Western
plains Here the benefit of tree plantation is felt :
these break Hie force of the wind for a consider-
able distance and height beyond their shelter
and so prevent such rapid evaporation. '

It IS, then, the protection against evaporation,
due to greater relative humidity of the forest air
to the shade to the breaking of the wind, and
especially to the protective soil cover, which makes
ttie lorest a conservator of moisture everywhere
even when it does not by its peculiar location in-
crease the amount of precipitation

The forest saves most of its ground-water from
evaporation, and also a great deal of the water
above the surface. It differs from other forms of
surface covering in drawing its water from a
greater depth. It therefore does not dry out the
surface so much, and it is also less sensible to
emporary droughts. Although less effective on
the average in adding vapor to the air than are
many less herbaceous forms of vegetation it is
more steady in its action, and therefore adds its
moisture when most needed. During continued
dry weather the roots of the grasses dry out the
surface soil and exhaust the water. They then
cease pouring moisture into the air. At such

InT/.i ^"'""^^.^^y continue its transpiration,
and at the same time by its preservative action the
soil IS kept moist and may continue to feed trilbu-
*ry springs. Springs, then, may be influenced in
the amount of their discharge by a removal of the
torest, not because the forest supplies them directly
with more water, but because by its removal the
rate of evaporation is increased

r. Ti*"^ '2'" "'^' '"^"' ''" ^^^ ^^«h' either runs di-
rectly off or sinks below the surface. The part that
runs off forms srnall streams, and finally discharges
into the river. That which sinks into the ground
collects in reservoirs, escaping from these as
springs.

The flow of water in a river is mostly sustained

two Hn?'' ^Z!,*"" ""^'^ 'P""g^- '^"^u^. there are
two kinds of drainage: i. Surface. 2. Under-
ground.

Surface drainage takes place rapidly, and gen-
erally continues but a short time after the cassa-
tion of the rain.

Underground drainage takes place slowly and
may continue for many weeks after the cesition
ot the rain.

When more water is discharged into a river
Uian Its channel can hold, a flood is produced
1 his IS a common occurrence, and. often causes
loss of property and life.

A heavy rainfall does not necessarily produce
an inundation. If the character of the river ba-
sin IS such that but a small part of the rainfall
runs directly off the surface, and much of it sinks
into the ground, collecting in the reservoirs of

I

sorings, and passing off slowly into the rivers,
even a large rainfall may do no damage. If most
of the water flows directly off the surface, then an
inundation must attend every considerable rain.
The water which runs off deprives the springs of
their supply, and if a long interval elapses between
rains, the springs will dry up and the water in the
rivers will become very low.

As we have seen, the forests tend to decrease
the amount of rainfall that drains directly from
the earth's surface. This insures the filling of the
subterranean reservoirs which discharge their wa-
ters into the rivers during the intervals between

rainfalls. ,

If then, the forests are removed, the natural
and proper drainage of the earth will be disturbed
and damage of two kinds will result.

Damage from the overflowing of the rivers,

due to an excessive supply of water at times.

2. Damage due to the drying up or becoming
too low of the rivers in the intervals between rains.

In France, the torrent beds have been to a large
extent reforested. . M. Mathieu has recorded the
examples of the basins of Faucon and Bourget.
Their topographical positions were alike, but the
torrent of Faucon was devastated and deforested,
while that of Bourget had been reforested. These
two basins were visited by a terrible deluge of
rain, lasting twenty-five minutes. The torrent of
Faucon was at once filled with water, which car-
ried down an estimated volume of more than
180000 cubic metres (over 200,000 cubic yards)
of rock material and detritus. In the torrent of
Bourget, however, a simple flow of water was ob-
served, which, at the overflow, only reached the
height of eighteen inches, lasting about three
hours. The rainfall, which in the one basin had
such a great effect, in the other passed off quietly
and caused no damage whatever.

Reports of the Savannah river at Augusta, in
1775- represent it as a clear, rapid stream, full of
excellent fish, and subject to no sudden or marked
changes of height. This was previous to the de-
struction of the forest, and the opening of large
tracts of land to the plow. Now, the stream has
become turbid ; the fish have nearly deserted the
lower waters, and sudden and great changes of

level are the rule.

From all sections of the eastern States comes
the same report ; and volumes full of instances
could be presented. The Mohawk, the Schuylkill,
the Susquehanna, the Delaware, the Connecticut,
the Hudson, streams in every quarter of the At-
lantic States, have felt the evil influence of forest
removal. Factories and mills, which formerly
used and required water-power alone, have, since
the deforestation in their vicinity, been compelled
to use steam, as no reliable water supply could be
obtained.

Let us hear the testimony of a successful and
thoughtful farmer of Ulster County, New York.

He says :

'' I had cut an acre or two of trees on an ele-
vated portion of my farm. My first loss was the
drying up of a beautiful brook which had its
source in my grove, and which ran through a num-
ber of fields, furnishing water for cattle while
grazing. Five times the value of the wood I sold
would have been refused for this stream. In the
vicinity of the place where the timber had stood,
the ground became dry during the summer. When
rain fell it did not seem to be absorbed ; the water
ran down the hillsides, making great gullies, and
doing much damage, while the fields through
which the brook flowed did not yield as good
crops. I am now a strong believer in the value of
woodlands on a farm." .

But, there is no necessity of multiplying in-
stance's. Everywhere the same holds good ; the
water and the woods disappear together. *

Yet the loss of a continued supply of water is
not the only evil caused by the destruction of
forests. Another, and a great loss, is that of the
soil itself, the reserve wealth of the farm. Mr.
Kinney, who has a large farm in California, gives
this description of the effect of the removal of
forest protection from soil :

'' One of my fields was cleared of a dense
brush growth or chapparal, about fifteen feet in
height When first cleared, the land was quite
dark in color and full of vegetable detritus. For
two years no special care was required to prevent
gullies forming from rain. The rain-holding power
of the field has constantly diminished ; cross-fur-
rows have now to be carefully prepared and main-
tained during the rainy season. Every sharp rain
now runs off, cutting and removing the ground
and forming wash-outs and gullies. Ihe dark
color of the soil has entirely disappeared, and
where the shovel could easily be used at first, a
pickaxe is now required."

Thus we see that the erosive action of water is
of no small importance, and must be restrained as
much as possible. Where the soil is left unpro-
tected by vegetation, the humus or mould which
may have been forming for hundreds of years,
and which is really the best portion of the ground,
disappears in great part, or entirely, and the un-
derlying unproductive clay or rock is exposed.

In our own country the gullies and washouts af-
ter a heavy rain and the streams of turbid water
show the progress of this denuding process. It is
not necessary to allude to the bare, rock-strewn
and desolate slopes of Seven Mountain m this
State which formerly were green with trees and
covered with soil ; we have examples, if we chose
to see them, at our very doors.

This is going on in other States and countries.

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FOREST LEAVES.

The South has suffered greatly, and suffers still.
The desertion, after the war, of many farms which
had taken the place of woodland, left the surface
open to erosion. '* Each streamlet reached a
hundred arms into the hills; each arm grasped
with a hundred fingers a hundred shreds of soil ;
and as each shred was torn away the slope was
steepened and the theft of the next storm made
easier."

Now glaring sand wastes lie where once were
fruitful fields. Here the traveller's road winds
through a gorge so deep that the sunlight scarcely
enters; there it traverses a narrow crest of earth
between profound chasms, where the slightest
misstep is attended with danger. When the
shower comes one may see the roadway rendered
impassable, even obliterated, within a few min-
utes, always sees the falling waters accumulate as
viscid mud-torrents of brown or red, while the
myriad miniature pinnacles and defiles before him
are transformed so completely by the beating rain-
drops and rushing rills, that when the sun shines
again one may not recognize the nearer landscape.

M. Blanqui says concerning the Alps of Prov-
ence: **One can form no conception of those
parched mountain gorges where not even a bush
can be found to shelter a bird, where all the
springs are dried up, and where a dead silence
prevails. If a storm bursts forth, masses of water
suddenly shoot from the mountain heights into
the shattered gulfs, waste without irrigating, deluge
without refreshing the soil they overflow in their
swift descent, and leave it even more seared than
before. Man retires from the fearful desert, and I
have, the present season, found not a living soul
in districts where I enjoyed bounteous hospitality
thirty years ago."

The eroded material is carried into the river-
beds, making shoals and sand-bars, which impede
navigation and cause much trouble and expense
in their removal.

The forests, if retained or restored, would pre-
vent much, if not all, of this useless devastation
and surely the cost of reforestation is far below
the loss sustained by permitting this damage to
continue.

We shall speak of but one more office of the
forest— the protection which they afford against
wind and hail-storms. It is estimated by all au-
thorities that a hedge or row of trees protects the
vegetation from the effects of wind in the propor-
tion of one to eleven— that is, a hedge six feet
high will shelter the plants for seventy feet behind
It. How much more wind-breaking power, then,
must a forest have ! It does not only diminish
the velocity, but often calms it entirely. Every
one has known the protection which a forest gives
to growing crops.

Hail-storms, also, need not be greatly dreaded

by those agriculturists who have much woodland
in the immediate vicinity. The hail seems not to
fall near woods. Dr. Lempach drew, from obser-
vations, maps on which were marked the paths of
destructive hail-storms and the patches of forest.
The storm-tracks in almost every case avoided the
woodland and reached their maximum of detri-
ment in the open country. Prof. Fernow gives
the account of one of his relatives in Germany,
whose estate is nearly surrounded by forest. Hail
has never caused any important injury to crops
upon that estate, though the neighbors reap the
benefit of their insurance every year.

Thus we see that forests perform important and
varied functions in nature. To induce local rain-
fall, to moderate temperature, to equalize water
supplies and so prevent floods or drought, to pre-
vent erosion, to protect against storms, surely may
be called important roles. Without the forests
our country would, indeed, be a desolate, unin-
habitable waste. Let us hope that the time is not
far distant when all will co-operate in the preser-
vation of our forests and realize in their fullest
sense the words spoken so long ago that *'the
tree is the life of man."

Walter Lefferts.

[The second of the three essays for which prizes
were given appears in this issue of Forest Leaves,
but no precedence is intimated by giving priority
to one essay over the other.

The statements contained in the essays are given
over the author's name, and for these the editors
of Forest Leaves assume no responsibility, the
object being to carry out the contract to publish
the essays for which prizes were awarded, and this
publication is verbatim et literatim. — Ed.]

Forest Parasites.

THERE are some bad bugs and worms in the
Southern forests, but there are certainly
none that are quite equal in endurance and
toughness to the worm that developed himself
from the great forest fires of the northwest.
Scarcely had the fires cooled sufficiently for the
owners to make inspection of losses when they
found that this new worm had got there first, and
was already completing the destruction of what the
flames had spared. Both standing and cut timber
was attacked, and the most vigorous measures have
been resorted to and with only partial success.
This worm seems to have evolved from the heat,
and, so far, the cold and snows of the winter do
not appear to have affected his health or lessened
his voracity. He certainly is a new and unpleas-
ant feature in the timber question and a nut that
scientists have not yet cracked.— Z)i^ Tradesman

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FOREST LEAVES.

Correspondence.

THERE is some question as to the exact dis-
tribution of the common Pignut {^Carya
porcina or Hicoria glabra^ and the related
Carya or Hicoria microcarpa, and the undersigned
will be grateful for herbarium specimens, and espe-
cially nuts with their husks, representing both. In
the recently published seventh volume of Professor
Sargent's Silva, the range of glabra is given as
southern Maine to southern Ontario; through
southern Michigan to southeastern Nebraska;
southward to the shores of the Indian River and
Peace Creek in Florida, and to southern Alabama
and Mississippi ; through Missouri and Arkansas
to eastern Kansas and the Indian Territory ; and
to the valley of the Nueces River in Texas. H
microcarpa (treated in the Silva as a variety of
dabra, under the varietal name odorata) is said to
occur in eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut, east-
ern and central New York, eastern Pennsylvania,
Delaware, the District of Columbia, central Mich-
igan, southern Indiai\a and Illinois, and Missouri.
^ William Trelease.

St. Louis, Mo.

—We regret to chronicle the passing away of
Mr. James Henry, of Nazareth, Pa., who was iden-
tified with the Pennsylvania Forestry Association
since its inception, being a warm advocate and
friend of the cause. His varied attainments, high
character, and sound judgment made him a valued
adherent, and his loss will be keenly felt. He ope-
rated the Henry Gun Works, and after a hfe of
usefulness was called away on June i4tb, in the
eighty-sixth year of his age.

of his biological investigations on ''The Growth
of Spruce.*' The report is accompanied by five
maps, showing the relative distribution of the
forest cover of New Hampshire ; the relative area
and character of forest cover of Grafton, Coos,
and Carroll Counties, with a detailed map of the
White Mountain Region.

Report on the Use of Metal Railroad Ties,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of
Forestry, Washington, D. C. 8vo., 363 pages.
This valuable report was prepared by E. E. Rus-
sell Tratman, under the direction of B. E. Fer-
now, and treats not only of the use of metal rail-
road ties, but also of preservative processes and
metal tie plates for wooden ties, being a supple-
ment to a " Bulletin " on the same subject which
was prepared in 1890. It contains articles not
only on the use of metal ties in the United States,
but also in various foreign countries, illustrations
of the more prominent metal ties being shown.

Park Commissioners' Report, i8g4> Springfield,
Mass., Svo., 68 pages. Pamphlet. This paper,
which is excellently illustrated, describes Forest
Park, Springfield, Mass., giving, in addition a
list of the birds to be found there, as well as the
common and botanical names of the trees, shrubs,
wild flowers, ferns, etc., which grow within its
limits. It is a complete and instructive hand-book
of the Park.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

New Books.

Second Annual Report of the New Hampshire
Forestry Commission, 1894. Vol. I., Part II.
Concord, N. H. Pamphlet, 143 Pag^^. i;his ex-
cellent report contains the results of the investi-
gations of the Commission in 1894, and gives
statistics of the area of New Hampshire's forests
by counties, data in relation to the character of
the cover, the forest product, the lumber and pulp
industries, with methods of lumbering ; mention-
ing how the principles of forestry will help the
lumberman ; together with the efforts made to
secure the protection cf forest areas against fire.
There are five appendices, giving a list of trees
composing New Hampshire's forests ; statistics of
the Eleventh Census of the lumber industry of the
State ; addresses by Mr. Joseph B. Walker on the
** White Mountain Region," and Mr. George B.
James on »^ Forest Preservation Through Co-oper-
ation-" closing with Mr. Austin Gary's summary

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

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FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure the best tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

PLANt TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

Three years ago, while in Europe for horticultural research, we found that for a number
fof years, in London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tree had been used
with most successful result.s. It was found to l>e the only tree which would grow satis-
faxjtorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames River, London

The parks and cemet<jries in many of our cities and a number of our leading landscape
gardeners have recently been using the Oriental Plane very extensively for avenue planting.
Can furnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.
Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates In quantity.

It will pay you to send for our new Catalogue, wliicth tells of Hardy Trees, Shrubs,
Plants, Roses, Fruit, and our special st^K-k of Rhododendrons. It will interest all who
are interested in such matters.

WM. WARNER HARPER,
MANAOCR.

ANDORRA NURSERIES, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa.

^£7

%^:^af^ ^^-^

Philadelphia, October, 1895.

No. 5.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

15 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials • •• 65-66

Willows along the Banks of our

Rivers •••. •••••

Preventing Forest Fires on the

67
67
68
68
68
69

Boudinot Estate V •;••;" j*""li;

The Pennsylvania Hemlock Industry

Deforestation and Rainfall....... ••"••

An Aid in Preventing Forest H res

Trees in the City of London..

Practical Forestry in Pennsylv.^nia "'.".'.!!!'.".*.'.!." 69

Mattawana Island 70

The Lesson of the Stumps... ^q

The School Board and the Trees ' ^j

Australian Hardwood Timbers. -• ^j

Tne Forests of Susquehanna ^o^^^y-r'-V-V ;;'. 72-73

The Locust Tree (Robin.a i'^^"*^^ f.^'^l^Jribe' oTOur^(^^^

The Practical Value of Forests to the burlace 01 uur ^ y ^^_^^

(One of the Prize Essays) 'Z *.'.'.' *.".'.' 78

The Locust Borer •;;;; 79

Insect Wood Carvers 79

Fall Arbor Day 1111'' r

Subscription, $1.00 per Year.

The attention 0/ I^ursery^uen -f other sis ca^^^^^^
of FoKEST Leaves as an advertising medium, tiates wiu j
nished on application. ^ -

Committee on Publication

w BiRKiNBiNB, Chairman 25 North Juniper Street.
T T RoTHKOCK, Westchester, Pa.

John

Dr J. - . .,' C-.

F L BiTLBK, 1820 Master Street.
James C. Haydon. Jeanesville Pa.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in .>'<=g^«^d ^^ *^! """.^TJ'Lact.

National. . . ^ .» j n .

Annual membership fee. One dollar.

to

members should send

ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

fe:.';Jl»'5:,''He;S.';rWd.h. Howard M. Jenkins, Jamc C.
Haydon, Ur. Chas. A. Shaeffer. . .

3e..ral S,cr.tar,, Dr. i-^P^^ j„ ^'jl^XS'^ay.

Richard Wood, Lucius

Price. Henry Budd Henry Howson ^^ g ^.^^

Hunsbcrger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe. p„ti adrlphia

Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

PENNSYLVANIA is to be congratulated upon
having in its roster of public officers, a forest
commissioner so ably equipped as Dr. J. 1 .
Rothrock whose appointment is just announced.
Dr. Rothrock needs no introduction to the readers
of Forest Leaves, nor in fact to the citizens of the
Keystone State. As a skilled botanist his work m
the University of Pennsylvania and his lectures,
have given him a world wide reputation. As a
representative of the Michaux fund, he has, from
the rostrum, instructed thousands in Pennsylvania,
concerning tree life and forestral subjects. As a
member of the late Forestry Commission of the
State he has studied its resources and written a
most complete report, which is now m the prmt-
er's hands. As a contributor to Forest Leaves
his illustrated articles have attracted wide-spread
attention and have brought credit to the writer
and prominence to our publication. We trust that
his duties will permit of continuing these valuable

contributions. . , ...

The State administration is entitled to credit
for selecting such specialists as Dr. Rothrock for
forest commissioner, and Dr. Warren for ornitholo-
cist Such positions have no place in party or
fact onal politics, and the appointment of men of
acknowledged ability will redound to th« credit of
?he adminiiration and to the benefit of the com-

monwealth. . ^u „«■ tv,o at

Forestry is now recognized as worthy ot the at-
tention of a special State Commissioner and we
know that Dr. Rothrock will so conduct the bureau
as to increase interest in this most important sub-
iect and that he will be able to demonstrate how
much can be done to protect existing and propa-
gate new forest growths. J- "•
*****

The attention of two great countries, and to a
large extent the interest of the civilized world,
has been centered upon the merits of two yachts

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

which represent the result of the mature study
of rival designers and which were presumably
handled with the greatest skill obtainable in Eng-
land and America. National pride was awakened,
and patriotic enthusiasm created through the me-
dium of the press, until all over the United States
and Great Britain the outcome of the contest be-
tween the Defender and the Valkyrie was watched
with absorbing interest.

We rejoice to chronicle another victory for
America, even if such victory was practically in a
sport. But while we noticed column after column
of editorials and contributions devoted to discuss-
ing supposed points of merit in construction or in
handling rival yachts, we realized the necessity of
some similar awakening of interest in forestry in
the United States and in Europe. We know full
well that any comparison of forest protection in
some European countries and in our own land
would at the present be unfavorable to ourselves.
But if public interest could be directed to our de-
ficiency in this particular a change would speedily
be effected, and we would gain an advantage not
measurable by a year or two, but one which would
continue for generations.

The press of the country has done well by the
forestry cause, and we have repeatedly recognized
the assistance which it has given and continues
to give. But appreciating the vital importance
of the protection and preservation of forests
to our nation, we crave an awakening of public
interest which will spread through the entire land
and cause the American people to strive for pre-
eminence in the care of forests.

We desire our country to stand first in all arts,
sciences, manufactures, industries and sports, and
ask a place in the interest of all patriots for our
forests. J. B.

* ♦ :K :ic ^

A protracted drought has again brought to the
attention of many who spend their vacation at the
seashore the ravages of forest fires, and their
senses were appealed to in behalf of more strin-
gent laws to prevent this destruction. New Jer-
sey, and Pennsylvania also, have suffered from the
fire fiend, and more dwarfed tree growth will re-
sult. But the telegraph has supplemented the
home news by records of great destruction among
the magnificent forests of the Pacific coast, and
the lake region has also suffered, although to a
much smaller extent than a year ago, when towns
were wiped from the face of the earth and hun-
dreds of human beings were offered as a sacrifice
to the carelessness of their fellow-men. Pages of
each issue of Forest Leaves could be filled with
records of forest destruction. When will we
awaken to a realization of the necessity of pro-
tecting and preserving our forests? J. B.

Willows Along the Banks of our Rivers.

TV TTENTION was called in a recent issue of
jM^ Forest Leaves to the effect of willows in

^ protecting the stream banks, or even in re-
newing them when already wasted by the flood.
The lesson was taken from the Juniata, near
McVeytown. Recent observations enable us to
add another chapter to that statement and to
emphasize still more positively the restorative
effects of such a growth.

The winter just passed will long be remembered
as one of exceptional severity. Ice was formed
early and remained long, becoming much thicker
than seemed to be normal for this region. When
'' it broke up," between high water and gorges, it
was deposited in large masses on the banks, crush-
ing under its weight all small shrubs upon which
it might lie during the period of melting. Or if
it did not do this, while in motion, during the
period of high water, it barked the larger trees
which were able to withstand the enormous pres-
sure brought to bear against them, or it simply
crushed beneath it the smaller ones, and stripped
off bark and limbs until, as seen to-day, their res-
toration seems to be impossible to those who are
not aware of the wonderful recuperative capacity
of these small shrubs.

I have watched one special point for years, and
am able to speak with some certainty of what has
taken place there. My first remembrance of the
location is that year after year each successive
spring wore away a little more of the bank. The
stones along shore were bare and marked a point
over which, at an earlier period still, the water
had flowed. I then remember to have noticed a
change in the order of events. The destruction
of land was arrested. I did not at the time know
why. Later on, as the willows grew, and as my
observation was sharpened, the cause became clear
enough.

For fifteen years or more the willows have re-
mained and increased in size, in spite of flood and
successive ice invasions, until last autumn they
were, on the average, about twenty feet high.
Seen this spring they are a picture of hopeless-
ness. The naked trunks stripped of everything
are still strongly bent as the ice left them. I can-
not help observing, however, that there has been
an enormous increase in the quantity of earth
about their roots. Not only has the general level
of the ground there been raised several feet since
the process of repair was started by the advent
of the willows, but apparently the destruction of
the higher bank towards the fences has been almost
wholly stopped. The number of floods which can
reach and undermine these high banks has been
vastly diminished by the newly-made land among
the willows; for the water must rise above this

\

before it can do damage further inland. It is not
hard, however, to tell what the result of that ice
inundation will be. Long before this season is
over, from the still living roots, if the trunks are
killed, there will be a host of sprouts start up to
begin'the struggle again. Every trunk that stood
last year will become the parent of several others.
The consequence will be that a thicket still more
dense than ever covered the spot will be there to
arrest all sediment in its miniature eddies, to fur-
nish an annual deposit of leaves whose decay will
enrich the sandy loam and add to the rapidity
with which each flood builds up the bank to
its original level. A few years more and one may
expect to find mingled with the willows an occa-
sional buttonwood. It may be premature, and go
down before the next mass of ice, but it is merely
a question of time. Sooner or later the trees will
again appear on that bank unless the order of
nature is in some way changed by human interfer-
ence. Now be it observed, this willow bank lesson
is simply one of many. We need not go abroad
for material to illustrate the evil consequences of
forest denudation or to observe natural methods of
restoration. The facts are plainly before us, and
there is nothing we so much need as to simply
look and learn.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

Preventing Forest Fires on the
Boudinot Estate.

WE respectfully commend the following
extract from the Twenty-fifth Annual
Report of Board of Directors of City
Trusts of the City of Philadelphia to the attention
of the members of our legislature :

'^n May, 1894, a destructive forest fire swept
over the country adjacent to the lands of the Bou-
dinot Estate in Centre County, destroying, with
rare exceptions, all the young growing timber. It
was then three years since the last serious fire had
occurred, and a thrifty growth had sprung up, and
was rapidly effacing the traces of the last conflagra-
tion. This was destroyed, and the work of re-
forestration forced to begin anew. On the Bou-
dinot Estate, however, fire roads had been made
on the sides of the property from which the
danger threatened. These proved an efficient bar-
rier, and saved our young timber from destruction.
The fire roads referred to are strips of lands, one,
hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in width
on which everything capable of carrying a forest
fire has been destroyed. They are constructed by
cutting with a brush scythe two paths, one on each
side of the strip of land designed to be used as a
fire road, and when an opportunity occurs, setting

fire to the brush between these paths. The diffi-
cult part of this work lies in keeping the fire thus
set out, from crossing the cut paths. This work
is very arduous, has to be done during the night,
and if carelessly attended to may bring about the
destruction of the property it is designed to pro-
tect. A force of experienced woodsmen can open
one of these roads at a cost of forty dollars per
mile. Our success in stopping this fire was very
encouraging, and the results of the few years of
protection which we have given to this property
are now becoming quite apparent. A vigorous
growth of chestnut, oak, and locust is springing
up on all parts of the tract. As a game preserve,
the Boudinot Estate is improving. The trout in
the streams are increasing rapidly, both in size
and numbers, and there are many evidences of in-
crease in the larger game."

The Pennsylvania Hemlock Industry.

?ERHAPS nowhere in the lumber field are
changes more rapidly taking place than in
the magnificent hemlock field situated in
western Pennsylvania and New York. These
changes are due both to the wiping out of the
hemlock forests, and to the changes in ownership
which have been going on rapidly during the last

few years. r i. u

For five or six years past the bulk of the heni-
lock business has been confined to four counties in
northwestern Pennsylvania; and when it is re-
membered that the annual output has been 800,-
000,000 to 1,300,000,000 feet, the fact will be
recognized that, no matter how heavy the growth,
the denudation must be very rapid. Thriving
towns and villages which, but a short time ago,
were supported by the hemlock industry, are now
being deserted, or their inhabitants are turning
their attention to other occupations. While new
sections have recently been opened up, old ones
have been abandoned, so that one needs to be a
frequent visitor to that hemlock district to keep
in touch with all the changes that are taking

place. ,

The other factor which has great bearing upon
the industry is the ownership by tanning com-
panies of either the timber or the bark. Probably
four-fifths of all the hemlock in Pennsylvania is
now directly or indirectly controlled by the tan-
ners; but of late years the tanners have more
generally owned timber than formerly. This con-
nection used to be a demoralizing one as far as
lumber was concerned, for the barkmen regulated
their operations merely, or mainly, by the trend
of the leather market, and thus logs were put in
and cut by the mills utterly regardless of the con-
dition of the lumber market.

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FOREST LEAVES.

However, with a more complete control by the
tanners, they have come to occupy a different
attitude toward the industry, and have assisted to
realize full values from not only the bark but the
logs. It is said, however, that during 1894 this
influence was relaxed somewhat, owing to the very
low prices on logs, while the bark had to be gotten
out, and multitudes of logs were, it is said, left in
the woods. — TAe Ti7nb€rman.

P

Deforestation and Rainfall.

ARADOXICAL as it may sound, there is
some ground for the belief that deforesta-
tion by the axe is largely responsible for
the annually recurring deforestation by fire.

The yearly precipitation of the lake region, in-
cluding the great timber areas of Michigan, Wis-
consin and Minnesota, has diminished since /886
to a marked degree. For the Chicago region the
yearly mean precipitation since 1871 has been
35.6 inches ; but for the past eight years the mean
is only 29.32 inches, as against a mean of 37.8
inches for the preceding fifteen years.

An examination of the records of the United
States Signal Service for the last twenty-three years
discloses a grouping of about seven-year periods of
plus and minus precipitation. Thus during the
years 1871-77, the yearly mean was 35.04 inches
— a slight deficiency as compared with the yearly
mean of the entire period; in 1878-84 the mean
was 39.43 inches — a marked excess; in 1885-91
the mean was 32.18 inches — a marked deficiency.
Frorn this alternation it has been argued that the
precipitation is governed by some law not yet re-
cognized and an increased precipitation was pre-
dicted for the period beginning with 1891 ; but
thus far this has not been realized, and the in-
creasing denudation of the timber lands is again
being considered as a possible cause of the deficient
precipitation and the prolonged droughts.

Of the regulative effects of forests on tempera-
ture and rainfall there can be no question ; and,
aside from these disastrous forest fires and their
destruction of life and property, the conser-
vancy of our timber lands in the interests o'f public
health is yearly becoming more important.

Meanwhile, the necessity for more thorough
governmental control of our remaining timber
lands has become imperative — a necessity which is
atrociously emphasized by the colorable suggestion
that forest fires, with their appalling destruction
of life are often the work of " timber pirates " to
conceal their depredsitions.—/ourna/ 0/ American
Medical Association,

— The next annual meeting of the New Jersey
Forestry Association will be held at Lakewood,
N. J., early in November.

An Aid in Preventing Forest Fires.

¥ISS Katharine Parsons, of Cambridge,
Mass., sends a letter from which the fol-
lowing is excerpted, making a plea for
cleaning up the ground after cutting timber.

''I was speaking with a scientific botanist, and
he made a statement with regard to German for-
estry which suggested something which might be
done in that direction with us. When the wood
is cut, everything in the nature of debris is re-
moved which in our method of working is suffered
to remain. This leaves a perfectly clean forest,
which is not only beautiful to the sight but re-
duces the devastation caused by forest fires to a
minimum. All the dry twigs and branches are
eagerly bought by the poor for a small sum, and
the fallen trunks and boughs are used for other
purposes. In Russia, where these precautions are
not taken, forest fires cause as great devastation as
with us. If we could bring to the notice of our
government the fact that a forest floor strewn with
dead wood, branches, logs, trunks and roots, af-
fords food to the devouring flame, and therefore
hastens and extends it, whereas a clean floor would
materially lessen its ravages, perhaps we could be
granted a law compelling lumbermen and our vil-
lage improvement (!) societies to clean up after
their axe or scythe has done its work. I do not
know about the Western forests, but here in the
East this state of things is very noticeable. If the
lumbermen will not take the time to clean up, I
think that some parties might be licensed to col-
lect the old wood and sell it for their own benefit.
If not used for fuel, wood can be reduced to pulp
and used for many purposes.

*' Another suggestion of this professor was, that
hard wood should be planted among the soft ;
such a method might certainly delay the progress
of a fire."

Trees in the City of London.

WITHIN the memory of many persons,
London was once, like many American
cities, absolutely treeless — nothing but
brick, stone, and mortar to be seen anywhere. Of
late years, intelligent horticulture has been drawn
into service, and trees and shrubs are being planted
everywhere, and not merely planted but well cared
for afterwards. Experts are employed especially
for this purpose. A census has recently been
taken by order of the London City Council — a
census easily taken by reason of the expert tree
men, who are regularly employed to look after
them. The number of trees growing in the pub-
lic highways of the city of London is found to be
14,700- These are on the public highways alone,
and not in the parks. This shows progress in a
sensible direction. — Meehan' s Monthly.

FOREST LEAVES.

Practical Forestry in Pennsylvania.

THE following brief but important statement
of results is taken from the Twenty-fifth
Annual Report of Directors of City Trusts
of the City of Philadelphia.

Sixteen thousand young trees were set out on
the water shed of the reservoirs of the Girard Wa-
ter Company this year, as follows: 6000 European
larch, 2500 catalpa speciosa, 2500 wild black
cherry, 2500 Scotch pine, 2500 white pine.

Twenty thousand young trees have been ordered
for planting in the Spring of 1895, viz., 10,000
European larch, 8000 Scotch pine, 1000 catalpa
speciosa, 1000 wild black cherry.

The whole number of trees planted to this date
is 169,150, as follows:

In 1881
« 1882
1885
1887

«

(I

Seedlings.

850

2,300

1,000

2,000

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1888 io»ooo

1889

1890

I89I

1892

1893 • • • •

1894

22,000
20,000
30,000

45,000

20,000
16.000

Total 169,150

A recent examination of the 153,150 Planted
from 1881 to 1893, and estimate of their present
number, shows about 65,260, or 42tttV P^y cent.,
now growing, from an average of half an inch in
diameter and 2 feet high, planted in 1893, to an
average of 6 inches in diameter and 32 feet high,
planted in 188 1. The largest of the larches planted
in 1881 are 10 inches in diameter and 35 feet
high. The largest catalpas planted in 1881 are 8
inches in diameter and 30 feet high. When
planted in 1881 these trees were seedlings about 3
inches in length. The largest Austrian pines
planted in 1882 are 7* inches in diameter and 19 J

feet high.

Forest fires, the chief enemy of forestry, have
been started several times during the past year by
ignorant tresspassers in the areas inclosed for for-
est culture, but were discovered in time and ex-
tinguished before doing serious damage. Avenues
h4ve been cleared around and across the ground
devoted to forest culture by cutting on both edges
a fifty feet wide avenue, throwing the cut brush
inwards and burning it over at a convenient time
and with proper precautions to prevent the spread
of the fire. The personal presence of forestry in-
spectors, who will watch and patrol the lands set
apart for this purpose, and the measures they can
adopt to prevent and extinguish fires, seem to be
absolutely necessary to successful forestry, and

more particularly in a new country, where there
is in the minds of foreigners a disposition to dis-
regard all forestry laws as well as other good
laws in the natural rebound from the irksome re-
straints of laws sometimes good, and sometimes
unreasonably severe, to which they have been ac-
customed in the old countries of Europe. Our
present forestry experiment is too small to afford
this personal presence and patrol, but when the es-
tate enters upon the work of forestry in a large .
way, which it must and will before many years,
having thirteen thousand acres of farm and moun-
tain land barren of coal, which, under the terms
of Mr. Girard's will, cannot be sold and is adap-
ted onlv for forest culture, the work will warrant
the permanent employment of men specially
trained in forestry."

• Mattawana Island.

7\ FERTILE little bit of alluvial soil is Mat-
j^ tawana Island in the Juniata river at
^ McVeytown. Stepping the bridge, across
the Western arm of the river, I found that from
water's edge to water's edge was about 91 good
paces, or as many yards. Of this, twenty steps,
or sixty feet, is approximately the recent increase
in the width of the river bed, made by washing
away the Western bank of Mattawana Island.
Ttiis erosion has taken place within my remem-
brance of, say, forty years.

It was clear that the island was undergoing a
gradual extinction. No one realized this better
than the owner, for he found his acreage there be-
coming smaller year by year.

His fertile mind soon solved the problem ot
island restoration. A few years ago, say three or
four, he planted willows between the remaining
Western bank and the water's edge. In the
fall of 1894 a friend called my attention to
the result ! The willows, as might have been an-
ticipated, made a rapid growth, and extended
rapidly. Over the entire width, where they are
planted there has been an increase in the soil. In
some places sand to a depth of several feet has
been detained out of the freshets since the willows
were planted, and the process of restoration has

commenced.

In a small way this is an object-lesson, whicti
shows not only how rapidly distinctive changes
may occur in the surface of the country as a con-
sequence of human occupation, but also what
power intelligent skill has in preventing, or rem-
edying them. J- ^- ^'

—It is said that our birds are growing fewer,
because so many trees are being cut down. Birds
like the shade of a home tree as well as sunshine.

M

FOREST LEAVES.

The Lesson of the Stumps.

ON the banks of the Loyalsock Creek, in
Lycoming County, I found a stump of a
red oak, on whose cut surface the rings
were temptingly plain. Counting them, I found
one hundred and seventy-two. The stump at
three feet above the ground was almost exactly
four feet across. A ripe old age, to be sure, but
what is it in comparison with that of the hemlock
recently measured at Ganoga Lake, where, in a
diameter of four feet and ten inches, five hundred
and forty-two rings were counted !

The interest of the comparison lies in the prac-
tical lesson. In from fifteen to twenty years
Pennsylvania will have about exhausted its stock
of this slow-growing hemlock. Besides which,
too, in exhausting the crop we will be changing
the conditions under which it grew to such an
extent as to render the reproduction of hemlock,
on a large scale, almost impossible. It is safe to
say that there is less young hemlock now coming
in than there is of any other kind of important
forest tree. The red oak will long survive the
hemlock on our hillsides, in spite of the fact that
it is vastly less useful. One other point in con-
nection with the red oak is well worth comment.
In the last fifty years of its life the red oak had
made as much wood as in the previous one hun-
dred and twenty-two years. Its wide rings of
annual growth only appeared after the tree was
more than a century old. Bear in mind, also,
that a quarter of an inch of new wood each year
around a stump three feet across means twice as
much wood as if the stump were but a foot and a
half across. Hence, he who cuts a half-grown
tree, is cutting it just when it is yielding its largest
return. Let this be remembered in connection
with the fact that in a thriving village of Lycom-
ing County, white-pine logs, but one foot across
the larger end, are regularly sawed into such lum-
ber as they will make. J. T. R.

s-Sr^i

The School Board and the Trees.

THERE is no more earnest or powerful frien-d
of forestry in Pennsylvania than the
Scran ton Truths from which we take the
following:

'*The action of the Board of School Con-
trollers in passing the before-tabled resolution to
purchase one hundred trees for planting in school-
yards is one that must meet with universal com-
mendation.

" In a city like this, where asphalt pavements
and flagstones laid within a few inches of the
trunks of noble trees, are doing so much to de-

stroy the trees that add more even to the summer
healthfulness of Scranton than they do to its
beauty, there is a thousand-fold need for planting
them in abundance and cherishing them in every
open space that can be made available. And the
doing so in every school-house ground, larger or
smaller, will help so to press home upon youthful
minds the value of trees, their absolute necessity
in the city no less than on the hillsides, that we may
presently have among us a generation of young
men and women who will undo some of the mis-
chief that the present generation has been doing
in tree-killing. That will be a gain indeed.

** It is another evidence that the awakening on
the matters of forestry and tree value are also
reaching the present generation to a hopeful de-
gree that Scranton's School Controllers have
taken action. It is earnestly to be hoped that
this means the dawning of a better day for Scran-
ton in increasing its health, its summer comfort,
and its beauty. There are many hundreds of its
citizens who draw the breath of thankfulness that
the elms around the City Buildings were saved
when threatened by the ruthless destroyer. The
school-yard planting of trees is in the same line.
Let them be carefully tended.

**Then, with Nay Aug Park made secure and
laid out by some landscape artist, who will spare
all the noble trees in making vistas where such
should be and will provide for planting many
more, making it a noble arboretum, increasing its
loveliness and uses for all time to come, there
will be hope for a long line of noble tree-lined
avenues in the city also.

— New Haven is having an illustration of the
difficulty other cities have met in preserving its
shade trees. That place has been known as the
'* Elm City " on account of the beauty and great
number of the elms that shade its streets and
squares. But proofs of decay in many of the
finest trees are becoming evident, and unless ar-
rested the city will soon be denuded of one of its
greatest ornaments. It is not encouraging to
know that this decay is almost wholly due to care-
lessness, one form of which is the neglect to pro-
tect the raw scar left when a limb is cut off. As
this can be easily covered up with a little paint
and the strength of the tree saved, the wonder is
that it is not done. Philadelphia has not so many
shade trees as New Haven, and the number is
growing smaller instead of larger every year. The
treatment given the few that are left, the careless-
ness shown in trimming them, the refusal to give
them proper sustenance and room for air and
moisture, shows that Philadelphia has much to
learn yet about shade trees. — Press,

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FOREST LEAVES.

-Vl

Australian Hardwood Timbers.

IN New South Wales, hardwood timbers are
found in abundance and great variety, con-
sisting for the most part of species of euca-
lyptus and some other rayrtaceous trees. The
average height attained by these trees is about loo
feet with a stem of from 2 to 4 feet in diameter.
In tlie thick bush forests, they have been known
to have reached a height of 200 feet, and in the
open forests, 150 feet is not an uncommon height
for more than one species to attain. These hard-
wood timbers are used very extensively in the
colony for a number of purposes, such as for road
and railway bridges, culverts, sleepers, paving of
streets, fencing, etc., as well as in ordinary build-
ing construction. Among the more valuabk va-
rieties of eucalyptus are the ironbarks. These
yield very good timbers, some of them being un-
rivalled for strength, elasticity, and durability
combined. Sleepers made from the narrow-leaved
ironbark have been taken up perfectly sound after
twenty-four years' continual use. The tallow-
wood, so called from the greasy nature of the tim-
ber when freshly cut, is one of the best for use in
bridge construction, also for decks of ships, and
'is readily worked with saw or plane. The black-
butt, when properly selected and seasoned, is in-
valuable for piles, sleepers, decks of ships, bridges,
carriage work, etc. The spotted gum, when the
sapwood is removed, is often equal in industrial
importance to the ironbarks. The red or flooded
gum is largely used for street paving ; also, when
free from gum veins, for railway sleepers, retaining
its soundness for many years. The gray, or white
box, a common variety of eucalyptus, possessing
considerable strength and elasticity, is largely used
for telegraph poles, wheel spokes, shafts, and rail-
way sleepers. The forest mahogany, not being
readily attacked by the teredo, and lasting well
when underground, is much preferred for piles ;
also for rafters in buildings, being found in ex-
cellent condition after fifty years' use. The swamp
mahogany, which derives its name from thriving
most readily in swampy ground, is useful for ship-
building purposes ; also for railway sleepers. 1 he
blood-wood, which resists both white ant and
damp, is used principally for piles and sleepers.
There are other kinds of eucalyptus of a similar
serviceable character. Most of the timbers above-
mentioned possess all the requisites for the con-
struction of sound and durable roads and pave-
ments Among other hardwoods is the blackwood,
which'has been found suitable for the construction
of railway carriages ; also for a variety of purposes,
such as the interior fittings of buildings, furniture,
and engineering and architectural construction.
The turpentine tree resembles the tallow-wood in
some of its properties, and furnishes an excellent

timber for wharf construction and fencing. It is
difficult to burn. The rosewood is much used for
cabinet work turnery, and ship-building. The
white beech, which resists the white ant, is one
of the best outdoor flooring woods known, and is
largely employed for verandahs and ships' decks.
The negro-head beech is utilized for furniture
making window sashes, doors, and joinery work.
It takes a beautiful polish. The red cedar is one
of the most valuable of the New South Wales,
timbers ; its combination of lightness and dura-
bility causing it to be largely in request for fittings
in buildings, furniture, etc. It is identical with
the moulmein cedar of India. In some of the
oldest buildings in Sydney, dating from the earlier
days of the colony, the cedar woodwork is often
found in almost perfect condition.

John Plummer.

Sydney, New South Wales.

The Forests of Susquehanna County.

rr TOCKER, in his Centennial History of Sus-
7t^ quehanna County^ says that it was origi-
nally covered with a dense growth of forest
trees, principally beech, birch, maple, cherry, ash,
chestnut, basswood, hemlock and pine, with some
hickory and oak. The pioneer settlers were reck-
less in their use of the pine, as in this dense wilder-
ness they looked upon a good pine tree as free
plunder It is not uncommon to find in the old
wooden ceiled houses wide pine boards entirely
free from knots; in fact they would have nothing
else but panel pine in. their houses. It has been
cut and burnt, and very few pine trees can now be
found The hemlocks have been destroyed largely
for their bark and lumber, the primeval forests
having nearly all been burnt by fires or fallen be-
fore the woodman's axe. Some hills in different
parts of the county were once covered with chest-
nut but its value as lumber was then unknown.
Thousands of rails were split and only the best
trees were used. Others, that might have made
excellent lumber, but which could not readily
be utilized, were cut into lengths, rolled up m log
heaps and burned. The main object was to get
rid of the timber in order to cultivate the ground.
Since the railroads have been built, most of the
young and thrifty chestnuts have been cut for ties.
As a timber it is now comparatively scarce. A
large quantity of wood was required for the loco-
motives, and there is now little valuable timber
land left in the county. A. L. Elwyn.

—The old elm tree (said to be 125 years old) in
Somerville. Conn., which was on the line of march
when the British soldiers retreated from Lexington,
has been cut down.

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72

FOREST LEAVES.

The Locust Tree (Robinia Pseud-
acacia, L.).

THE locust tree, or the black locust as it is
sometimes called, is indigenous to the
mountains of this State, though at the same
time it might with equal propriety be said that it
is native to the Alleghany Mountains generally as
far north as central Pennsylvania. Most persons
would think of it as standing alone among our
native trees, but there are three other species within
the limits of the United States which are so much
inferior that they should hardly be mentioned in
connection with the one now under consideration.
In all the world there are probably not more than
half a dozen species of true locust ; yet there are
many trees which are more or less closely related
to it, and some of these the untrained observer
would recognize, even though the botanist would
call the close relationship in question. For ex-
ample, in the mesquit tree of our distant south-
west, this affinity is expressed in the common name
of honey locust. So far as I can now remember
there is no soil on which the locust will not flour-
ish, at least within the limits of this State. From
choice, it grows on the rocky slopes of our moun-
tains, or perhaps it would be better to say that it
holds such spots against other comers, except the
chestnut and the rock oak, if, indeed, the others
have any disposition or capacity for invading the
dominion occupied by the hardy trio already
named. It thus may be regarded as a tree of
special value to this commonwealth, because so
much of our area is of the character on which the
locust grows so readily, and most other species so
poorly. It is unusual to find in this State a locust
tree which is more than seventy feet high and two
feet in diameter. The explanation of which is by
no means difficult ; because in the rockier forests,
where it might possibly be more secure against the
axe, it seldom attains its largest size, and in the
more fertile ground adjacent to farms or villages
its value has been the cause of its early taking
off. Then, too, the locust borer, of which
another page in this number will give a reliable
statement, is very partial to the tree, and sooner
or later, before a tree is very old, it would most
likely have been attacked by this uncontrolled
pest. I am of the opinion that danger from this
source is yearly becoming less in Pennsylvania.
It appears to me that I see fewer signs of such
depredations than formerly, and locality seems to
have much to do with it. Thus, I know of places
in the central part of the State where almost every
locust tree has suffered from the borer. On the
other hand, I have in mind groves in the eastern
portion of the commonwealth in which every tree
appears to be entirely sound. Or, one may be
more explicit and say that in the same immediate

region one grove will be attacked and another one
will wholly escape. It has been alleged that those
trees which are on the outside of a locust grove
are the only ones attacked by the borer, which
does not like the shade, and that the way to guard
against it is to plant the trees thickly enough to
produce the requisite shade.

On the mountain side, where the trees are grow-
ing in natural, though hard conditions, it is sel-
dom that one sees a considerable sized trunk which
is straight throughout. A most common form of
trunk is one which has a distinct lean, and then an
almost S-like curve, up to where the crooked and
thorny branches come off. The heart wood is a
reddish yellow. It is compact, hard, splits and
polishes well. In point of strength the locust
heads the list of our Pennsylvania woods. Bark
is gray, much furrowed longitudinally, the inside
(bark) having a distinct layer of yellow fibrous
material, which may be readily stripped off as a
sheet. Crystals of calcium oxalate abound in the
old bark.

The compound leaves are from six inches to a
foot long, and made up of from three to nine pairs of
oval or oblong leaflets, with a single leaflet on the
tip of the leaf. At the base of the leaves is a pair-
of prickles. The base of the common foot stalk
of the leaves is enlarged, and covers a bud for the
ensuing year, as an extinguisher does a candle.

The fragrant white, or cream-colored flowers,
which appear in May, hang in clusters about six
inches long. Each flower resembles that of the
pea or bean in its irregular shape. They are fra-
grant, as well as beautiful. To some persons the
odor is heavy, and to others almost sickening ; but
it is on the whole by most persons considered a
pleasant addition to the evening air.

The fruit, maturing in September, is a black, flat
pod, about three or four inches long, and contains
several black, hard seeds, which, after being dried,
require a prolonged soaking in hot water in order
to ensure their prompt germination.

The locust tree is readily reproduced from cut-
tinp:s, or from the stump by means of sprouts.
Its growth is so rapid that one man of my acquaint-
ance, after planting the young trees, has cut a crop
of good sized timber from them, and subsequently
two crops of timber large enough to make into
fence posts.

The locust was introduced into Europe early in
the seventeenth century, and has since come to be
commonly recognized in Germany under the com-
mon name of acacia. Indeed, some enthusiastic
persons from beyond the Atlantic have asserted
that owing to the depredations of the borer here,
and its absence abroad, the time may come when
we shall have to go there for our supply. This
contingency appears to be rather remote at pres-
ent.

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Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 5.

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LOCUST TREE; ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA, L.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 5.

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Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 5.

TRUNK OF LOCUST TREE; ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA, L,

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LOCUST TREE; ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA, L.

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INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

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FOREST LEAVES.

73

il

The locust holds a well-deserved place on our
lawns as an ornamental tree. It might well enough
be added, however, that no one who desires to
have it should be satisfied with anything less
than the possession of a perfectly symmetrical
one. It is too easily and too rapidly grown to
tolerate anything short of a perfect specimen. A
diseased or deformed locust is the very picture of
raggedness, and is a reproach to any ornamental
ground on which it is allowed to stand. So long
as it promises to mature, as lumber or fence mate-
rial, into something better than it actually is, it
may be given room on a mountain side unless it
interferes with something more promising.

The one distinguishing feature which, above all
others, gives character and value to the locust, is
its durability. Two posts were recently taken
from the ground, where they stood on the edge of
a gutter and were exposed particularly to alter-
nating wet and dry conditions. This is, of all
others, the most severe test for durability to which
wood can be exposed. It was not less than forty-
five years since they had been planted ; yet they
were practically absolutely sound. Not a sign of de-
cay had extended deeper into the wood than half an
inch. Then, beside this, the wood has an extraor-
dinary capacity for resisting crushing weight, which
some other durable kinds of wood do not possess.
It was my fortune, a few years ago, to see the
planking taken off of a yacht which had passed^ its
prime. The timbers originally used in the con-
struction of the vessel were alternately white oak
and locust. The oak timbers were almost wholly
decayed, and the locust ones seemed as if they
might have lasted for twenty years more. The
wooden pins, technically known to the shipwright
as " trunnels,*' and to the lexicographer as ** tree-
nails,'* are made of locust, and, after long ser-
vice, become very hard ; indeed, one might almost
say, indestructible by any immersion in salt-water.
Their function is to reinforce the iron, or other
metal bolts, by which the ship's planking is held
to the timbers. In the central parts of this State,
where wagon-hubs of large size and great dura-
bility are required, the local wheelwright has
learned to select the locust rather than either gum
or elm. He asserts that his choice of wood rests
on experience. One might well enough suppose
that, as compared with either of the other woods
named, the ease with which locust splits would
render it less desirable than they.

The chief objection to the tree is the numerous
prickles with which the young branches are cov-
ered. But it should be said that there are varieties
of the tree without these objectionable append-
ages. The statement made that from the fibrous
inner bark a cordage may be spun seems to be
reasonable enough, though I am not aware of its
being so used in this State.

Writers are often given to magnifying the virtues
and utilities of a favorite subject. Thus it has
been alleged that the flowers of locust are '' aro-
matic and emollient;" that ** an antispasmodic
syrup is prepared from them." It is also alleged
to be narcotic ; that the leaves, besides producmg
a dye, are also, in either the fresh or dry condi-
tion, good forage for cattle. Merat says the
flowers furnish a palatable dish when fried. It is
also claimed that from the acrid seeds a large quan-
tity of oil may be expressed, and that they contam
a large quantity of farina, and become mild when
infused in water. If the half of all this is true, it
is remarkable that we have seen so little use of
these good qualities. The United States Dispen-
satory places locust among ** drugs and medicines
not officinal," and quotes ^'that the bark of the
root is tonic, and in large doses purgative and
emetic." It also refers to the production of nar-
cotic symptoms in children who had eaten the

root.

Leaving the domain of possible merits, we may
say on the authority of Sharpless that its specific
gravity is 0.7333; its percentage of ash, 0.51 ; its
relative fuel value, 0.7296; its weight to the cubic
foot of dried wood, 45.70 pounds; and in relative
strength it stands, as before stated, first on the list
of Pennsylvania woods.

Surely, with its known merits, we may well
value and cultivate the locust.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

—At the Atlanta Exposition, which opened aus-
piciously on September i8th, one-half of one of
the prominent buildings has been devoted to
Forestry and its products, as has been previously
described in these columns. A list of some forty
persons who have been invited to act as members
of the Jury of Awards, show that six of them are
interested in Forestry, viz.. Professor C. S. Sar-
gent, Director of the Arnold Arboritum, Cam-
bridge, Mass ; Mr. John Birkinbine, President of
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, Philadel-
phia Pa.; Messrs. W. M. Canby, Wilmington,
Del.'; Giff'ord Pinchot, Biltmore, N. C. ; Henry
Trimble, Y.d\iox oi Journal 0/ Pharmacy, Philadel-
phia, Pa., and Dr. Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala.
There is no doubt but that these gentlemen, to-
gether with Professor B. E. Fernow, of Washing-
ton, D. C, who has charge of the Forestry ex-
hibits will see that the forestry problems receive
their share of attention.

—In selecting young trees for transplanting, it
is better to reject those having large masses of
fibrous roots, because a good portion of them die,
being injured in removal.

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XL 7

2A^

FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

The Practical Value of Forests to the
Surface of the Country.

(One of the Prize Essays by Public School Teachers.)

Results of the Removal of Forests.

IT is only recently that we have learned that
the removal of the forests involves anything
more than the loss of the forests themselves.
Their connection with climate, with the precipi-
tation of moisture, with the flow of streams, with
the atmospheric currents, with the temperature of
the atmosphere, and, consequently, with the great
interests of civilized life, with agriculture and
commerce, was not known. The forests were
valued for fuel, for the production of timber for
constructive purposes and for certain uses in the
arts, and as the supply for these purposes seemed
sufficient, no restraint was placed upon their con-
sumption. But at length it has been discovered
that the forests have meteorological connections
of the highest importance. It has been discov-
ered that their extensive removal is the occasion
of droughts and floods, of tornadoes and destruc-
tive torrents. The change in the condition of
the Old World — so that from once being gardens
of fertility, they have become little better than
desert wastes — has been clearly traced as to its
cause — to the destruction of their forests, at once
their adornment and their defence. The owners
of the forests, for the most part, look upon them
simply from the pecuniary point of view. The
lumberman sees in the trees only the source of so
much money, and hastens to secure it. Lumber
brings so many dollars a thousand feet, and he
hastens to convert the monarchs of the wood into
available merchandise. He cares nothing, knows
nothing of meteorological effects. He will not
learn that in cutting down the forests which bor-
der the streams, he is destroying those streams,
until he finds they will no longer float his logs to
the saw-mills, probably not even then.

Trees as Electric Agents.

While we treat of the beauty of trees and their
capacity to aff*ord shelter, shade and salubrity, it
is pleasant to find no end to the advantages that
flow from them. We discover in them an infinite
number of lightning-rods, presenting millions of
points both for the discharge and the absorption
of electricity. Trees diff'er from other plants in
this respect only by presenting their points at a
greater elevation, where they can act more inde-
pendently upon clouds.

Trees, especially in dense assemblages, may
therefore frequently be the immediate occasion of
showers by conducting to the earth the electric
fluid of the clouds, and inducing the non-electric

state which precedes the discharge of rain. This
seems to be affected by electric disorganization.
An organized cloud is an aggregation of vaporous
particles, which are suspended in the atmosphere
and held in a state of union without contact.
Being in a similarly electrified condition, they are
kept separate by that law of electricity which
causes two pith-balls, suspended by threads, when
similarly electrified, to repel each other at certain
distances. All those clouds that show a definite
and organized arrangement, and resemble feathers
or lace, are charged with electricity. As they ac-
cumulate they lose their symmetrical arrangement,
but do not mix until some object charged with
opposite electricity comes near them and draws
from the mass its electric fluid, when the vaporous
particles losing their mutual repulsion, immedi-
ately coalesce and descend in rain.

To illustrate the action of trees in producing
showers, we will suppose a dense electric cloud to
be passing over a dry plain containing only a few
trees. Not meeting with any conducting objects
of appreciable force on its journey, it remains sus-
pended in the heavens until it reaches either a
large body of water or encounters a forest, over
which, as over a lake, there rests always in calm
weather a stratum of invisible moisture, which is
a powerful conducting agent. The trees, with
their numerous vegetable points, and the vapor
that overspreads them, combine their force in
drawing down the electric fluid from the cloud
passing over, causing the whole mass to descend
in showers.

Occasionally a cloud, after rising in the west,
will be turned from its direct course, and repelled
by the dry, heated atmosphere resting on the
plain, and, attracted by the invisible cloud of
moisture that hovers over the river valley, is seen
to take the course of the river in its journey to-
wards the sea. Hence it is noticeable that in a
very dry season the rivers obtain more showers
than the plains, and the wooded mountainous re-
gions more than the open level country. We
should regard it a happy incident in the economy
of nature that trees should be the most serviceable
in nearly all other respects — hardly less than as
electric agents— upon those situations which are
of the least value for the purposes of agriculture.
Their branches, on lofty ridges and elevations,
extending near the level of the lower clouds, are
like so many lightning-rods on the buildings of
an elevated city, and exert a powerful influence in
conducting the electric fluid from an overcharged
atmospheric stratum, and preventing in some de-
gree those accumulations that produce thunder-
storms. Nature employs this grand vegetable ap-
paratus as one of the means of preserving that
equilibrium, both of moisture and electricity,
which cannot be greatly disturbed without dan-

gerous commotions. There are those who believe
that trees are a protection from lightning. '[ When
a thunder-storm threatened," as Suetonius re-
lates *' Tiberias never failed to wear a crown of
laurel leaves, impressed with the belief that light-
ning never touched the leaves of this tree." The
general opinion that certain trees are exempt from
the stroke of lightning is very ancient. Captain
Dibbin remarks, in a letter to Alexander Wilson,
that in the forests of Virginia the pines, though
taller than the oaks, were less frequently injured
by lightning.

Trees are generally believed to protect a house
adjoining them from lightning. On the contrary,
it is known that men and animals seeking refuge
under a tree in an open plain are in greater danger
than outside of it.

It was the opinion of M. Arago that trees over-
topping houses at small distances cannot be re-
garded as aff"ording sure protection, like a properly
adjusted lightning-rod ; but he admitted that when
a storm passes over a forest, it is decidedly enfee-
bled. The forest certainly diminishes the power
of a thunderbolt. The security derived from
trees attaches itself principally to large assem-
blages. Though a house may receive but little
protection from a few tall trees standing near it,
it is not to be denied that a village or hamlet is
rendered more secure by adjoining woods.

Trees in Relation to the Atmosphere.

Plants growing in an aquarium keep the water
supplied with atmospheric air— not with simple
oxygen, but with oxygen chemically combined
with nitrogen — by some vital process that takes
place in the leaves of plants. As the lungs of
animals decompose the air, which they inspire,
and breathe out carbonic acid gas, plants in their
turn decompose this deleterious gas, and breathe
out pure atmospheric air. The theory is that the
atmosphere is entirely the product of vegetation,
and that nature has no means of composing it;
that it is not simply a chemical but a vital pro-
duct ; and that its production, like its preserva-
tion, depends entirely on plants, and would be
impossible without their agency. But as all plants
united are not equal in bulk to the trees, it may
be truly averred that any series of operations or
accidents that should deprive the earth entirely of
its forests, would leave the atmosphere without a
source for its regeneration.

The use of the foliage of trees in renovating
the atmosphere is not denied by any man of sci-
ence. This theory has been proved to be true by
experiments in vital chemistry. The same chemi-
cal appropriation of gases and transpiration of
oxygen is performed by all classes of vegetables ;
but any work in the economy of nature assigned
to vegetation is the most eff'ectually accomplished

by trees. The property of foliage that requires
carlonic acid gas for its breathing purposes, and
gives out oxygen, is of vital importance, and it
is hardly to be doubted that a close room, well
lighted by the sun, would sustain its healthful at-
mosphere a longer time if it were filled with
plants in leaf, but not in bloom, than if occupied
without plants.

But there is another function performed by the
foliage of trees and herbs in which no chemical
process is involved— that of exhaling moisture into
the atmosphere after it has been absorbed by the
roots. Hence, the humidity of this element is
greatly dependent on foliage. A few simple ex-
periments will show how much more rapidly and
abundantly this evaporation takes place when the
soil is covered with growing plants than when it
is bare. Take two teacups of equal size and fill
them with water. Place them on a table, and in-
i sert into one of them cuttings of growing plants
with their leaves, and let the other stand with water
only. In a few hours the water will disappear from
the cup containing the plants, while that in the
other cup will not be sensibly diminished. There
is reason to believe that gallons of water might be
evaporated into the air by keeping the cup con-
taining the cuttings always full before a single gill
contained in the other cup would disappear. If a
few cuttings will evaporate a half-pint of water in
twelve hours, we can imagine the vast quantity
constantly exhaled into the atmosphere by a single
tree. The largest steam-boiler in use, kept con-
stantly boiling, would not probably evaporate more
water than one large elm in the same time. We
may judge from this experiment with the cuttings
that a vastly greater proportion of moisture would
be exhaled into the atmosphere from any given sur-
face of ground, if covered with vegetation, than
from the same amount of uncovered surface, or
even of standing water. Plants are, indeed, the
most important existing agents of nature for con-
veying the moisture of the earth into the air. The
quantity of transpiring foliage from a dense assem-
blage of trees must be immense. The evaporation
of water from the vast ocean itself is probably
small compared with that from the land which it
surrounds. And there is reason to believe that the
water evaporated from the ocean would not pro-
duce rain enough to sustain vegetation if by any
accident every continent and island were deprived
of its trees. Trees pump up from great depths the
waters as they ooze into the soil from millions of
subterranean ducts, ramifying in all directions
from the bed of the ocean.

Relations of Forests to Birds and Insects.

The birds that feed upon the destructive insects
that infest our grounds are raised in that temple of
the gods which is watered by numerous little

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FOREST LEAVES.

springs that ooze from the crevices of the rocks.
While they are rearing their young, all species,
even if they live exclusively upon seeds after they
have left their nest, feed their offspring upon larvae,
which they collect from the nearest ground that
affords them a supply. Hence, we may consider
the bare rocks, with their trees and shrubbery, the
most profitable divisions of our farms, from the
shelter they afford the birds, which are, in an im-
portant sense, our most profitable stock.

When we are traversing a wood, if we discover
an apple-tree growing in a little clearing or open
space, we find it invariably exempt from the rav-
ages of the common apple-borer. The same ex-
emption is observed in those fruit trees that stand
near any wild-wood or any wood of spontaneous
undergrowth. The explanation of this fact is that
the wood affords a harbor to the birds that destroy
these insects in all their forms. Orchards and
gardens, on the contrary, which are located at any
considerable distance from a wood have not this
security. An orchard that is nearly surrounded
by a wildwood of much extent is not badly infested
by borers and other injurious insects.

All species of insects multiply in cultivated
grounds, while the birds, with few exceptions, that
feed upon them can find a nursery and protection
only in the woods. **The locust," says George
P. Marsh, ** which ravages the east with its vora-
cious armies is bred in vast open plains, which
admit the full heat of the sun to hasten the hatch-
ing of the eggs, gather no moisture to destroy
them and harbor no bird to feed their larvae. It
is only since the felling of the forests of Asia
Minor and Gyrene that the locust has become so
fearfully destructive in those parts (countries).
And the grasshopper, which now threatens to be
almost as great a pest to the agriculture of North
American soils, breeds in seriously injurious num-
bers only where a wide extent of surface is bare of
woods."

All inventions and appliances used to rid the
trees and grounds of these pests never destroyed
more than one in a million of their whole number.
It is not in the power of man, with all his science,
unassisted by birds to prevent the multiplication
of insects from being the cause of his own anni-
hilation. But the farmer, when he destroys the
border of shubbery in his fields and the coppice
and wood on his hills, exterminates the birds by
hosts, while the mischievous boy, with his gun,
destroys only a few individuals.

The forest border is the birds' nursery and their
shelter ; but their best feeding places are the cul-
tivated grounds. There is not a single species
whose means of subsistence is not increased by
the clearing of the forest and the cultivation of
the land ; but they require a certain proportion
of wildwood for their habitation.

Forests with Reference to the Soil.

The trees, by means of their foliage, are direct
fertilizers of the ground they cover, causing it to
increase in bulk as long as they stand upon it.
But the leaves of trees are not the only source of
this increase in bulk and fertility. The lichens
and mosses, and various incrustations upon their
bark, and the offal of birds, insects and quadru-
peds, all contribute to the same end. Hence the
most barren situations will produce crops for sev-
eral years after the removal of thin wood, and
from these facts we may learn why a forest is still
vigorous, though it has remained for centuries
upon the same ground. If it were fertilized only
by the decayed foliage of the trees, it would
gradually lose its fitness to promote the health and
growth of timber. But the foreign matters I have
enumerated, the decayed cryptogamus plants and
the relics and deposits of animals which have
lived and died there, supply the soil with nitro-
genous ingredients in which decomposed leaves
are wanting.

But what are the sources of all the matters fur-
nished by the trees alone ? They are chiefly the
atmosphere and the deeper strata of the soil. The
roots of the trees, penetrating to a considerable
depth, draw up from the subsoil certain nutritive
salts that enter the substance of all parts of the
tree. This is restored to the surface by every tree
or branch that falls and moulders upon it, and the
leaves increase its bulk still more by their annual
decay. According to Vaupell, *' the carbonic acid
given out by water serves to dissolve the mineral
constituents of the soil, and it is particularly active
in disintegrating feldspar and the clay derived
from its decomposition."

If a wood be situated in a valley or on a level
plain, it retains all these substances for its own
benefit. But if it stand upon a declivity, a part
of the debris will be washed down by floods into
the fields below. Hence, by preserving a growth
of wood upon all barren slopes and elevations,
the former derives benefit from it, both as a fer-
tilizer and as a source of irrigation to the lower
part of the slopes or the base of the hill. For
some days after a rain, thousands of little rills are
constantly oozing from the spongy bed of the
wood, that cannot immediately become dry like
an open surface. Hills, when either very barren
or steep, are unprofitable alike for tillage or pas-
ture. They require more manure than other
grounds and more labor in its distribution. If
divested of wood they are almost useless ; while, if
densely wooded, they fertilize and irrigate the lands
below, and afford a certain annual amount of fuel.

Forests' Relation to the Temperature.
A traveller rambling in Essex Gounty, Mass., en-
tered a little valley near the sea, comprising about

FOREST LEAVES.

fifty acres of well-cultivated land, surrounded by
a sort of amphitheatre of hills, which are covered
by a dense forest of pines and firs. It was occu-
pied by an intelligent farmer. He remarked that
his seed time and harvest were several days earlier
than on the farms in the open country, and that
he had crocuses and tulips in his garden on the
south side of his surrounding wood, so early as to
astonish' his neighbors in the outer world. The
temperature of the woods and the open plain
varies according to the time of day or night. The
woods are cooler than the open country from about
nine o'clock in the morning until near noonday ;
after this time, the heat in the woods is increased
more rapidly than in the open country, and, at
the time of' dew-fall, it is greater in the woods,
and continues so during the early part of the
night. If the sky is cloudy, not much difference
can be perceived at any hour in the temperature
of the two situations. In cold and windy weather,
the woods afford a comfortable shelter, and this
shelter makes them apparently warmer, even when
the thermometer indicates no difference.

The coldness of the atmosphere over grassy
meadows when the sky is clear, after the decline
of the sun in summer, is a matter of common
observation. As this phenomenon is most evi-
dent on the clearest nights, it has given rise to the
notion that the moon cools the night air. In our
rambles after sunset we have all felt these constant
changes of temperature, which are remarkable
when walking over an uneven road, the degree of
heat corresponding with the altitude. When we
occupy high ground the air is warm and dry ; as
soon as we descend into a valley we feel a sudden
chill. The differences are not observed on a cloudy
night, or when a clear, brisk wind is blowing. But
in a calm state of the atmosphere, as the lowest
stratum of air contains the greatest amount of
moisture, its capacity for retaining heat is propor-
tionally diminished. Consequently the heat from
the ground is radiated through this damp stratum
of air, while the higher strata remain unchanged
in their temperature. It has been found by ex-
periment that while the greatest heat at noonday
in calm summer weather is very near the surface
of the ground, yet, after dew-fall, the highest tem-
perature is several feet above the surface, increas-
ing for some hours after sunset.

The action of wood checks this radiation in
the early part of the night. Like clouds in the
evening, the trees form a canopy of foliage over
the ground, and thereby retain the heat many
hours after it has escaped by radiation in the open
plain. According to these laws of the radiation
of heat, a longer lime would be required to cool
a tract of forest, than an equal area of open space,
down to a given point. But, on the other hand,
a proportionally longer time is required to raise

the temperature in the woods to a given point.
Hence, it is still a question among meteorologists
whether the mean annual temperature of a large
tract of country is higher or lower when covered
with forest than when generally open and cleared.
The sun acts with greater force upon an open
country, but the radiation of heat is greater in the
same ratio during the sun's absence.

In considering the effects of clearing, travellers,
have often overlooked the important advantages
of protection afforded by woods to agricultural
crops. Even if the mean annual temperature of a
country be the same after it is cleared as when it
was covered, it may, at the same time, be too cold
for certain plants which were formerly its common
productions, because there are no woods to protect
them from the winds by day or from the cold
caused by excessive radiation at night.

Palestine two thousand years ago was a well-
wooded country, and all the fruits of the sub-
tropical climates were raised there by its ancient
inhabitants. The date-palm, the olive and the
fig-tree grew there and bore fruit abundantly.
Palestine is now a treeless country, and the same
fruits are incapable of enduring its climate ; yet
recent observations have demonstrated that its cli-
mate is not colder than it was in the days of the
kings of Israel. But as the country has been
despoiled of its forests, these sub-tropical fruits
are deprived of their natural conservatories and
cannot be produced without great labor and ex-
pense in preparing artificial protection for them.
Let the forests be restored to the hills and moun-
tains of Palestine, and though the temperature of
its summers was not increased, the fields would
be protected by these forests from the winds, and
the tender fruits, thriving under their protection,
would aerain become abundant.

F. H. Hahn.

(To be continued.)

[The above is a portion of the last of the prize
essays, and we regret that lack of space pre-
ventsgiving it in full at present. No precedence
is indicated by giving priority to the two other

essays.

The statements contained in the essays are given
over the author's name, and for these the editors
of Forest Leaves assume no responsibility, the
object being to carry out the contract to publish
the essays for which prizes were awarded, and this
publication is verbatim et literatim. — Ed.]

—Belgium has a new process of making artifi-
cial cotton. The basis is wood pulp, which, by a
course of treatment, is changed into cellulose, and
spun into thread, then woven into cloth. It re-
sembles ordinary cotton.— A^^w Vork Lumber
Trade Journal,

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

X7l

The Locust Borer,

THERE are few trees that have as many ene-
mies as the locust. Packard records forty-
one species as feeding upon it. The most
destructive of these is the borer, Cyllene robinicB
(Forster). The beetles are usually found in large
numbers on the flowers of the golden rod. The
best account of the life history of this insect is
that given by Harris: *'In the month of Septem-
ber these beetles gather on the locust trees, where
they may be seen glittering in the sunbeams, with
their gorgeous livery of black velvet and gold,
coursing up and down the trunks in pursuit of
their mates, or to drive away their rivals, and stop-
ping every now and then to salute those they meet
with a rapid bowing of the shoulders, accompanied
by a creaking sound indicative of recognition or
defiance. Having paired, the female, attended by
her partner, creeps over the bark, searching the
crevices with her antennae, and dropping therein
her snow-white eggs in clusters of seven or eight
together, and at intervals of ^\^ or six minutes,
till her whole stock is safely stored. The eggs are
soon hatched, and the grubs immediately burrow
into the bark, devouring the soft inner substance
that suffices for their nourishment till the approach
of winter, during which time they remain at rest
in a torpid state. In the spring they bore through
the sap-wood more or less deeply into the trunk,
the general course of their winding and irregular
passages being in an upward direction from the ^

place of their entrance The seat of their j

operations is known by the oozing of the sap [
and the dropping of the sawdust from the holes.
The bark around the part attacked begins to swell,
and in a few years the trunk and limbs will be-
come disfigured and weakened by large porous
tumors, caused by the effort of the trees to repair

the injuries they have suffered The grubs

attain their full size by the 20th of July, soon be-
come pupae, and change into beetles, leaving the
trees early in September."

This beetle closely resemble the hickory borer
{Cyllene picta), but the latter makes its appearance
in June.

Locust Borer.
a, larva ; h, pupa. (After Packard.)

The larvae is about three-fifths of an inch in
length ; of a whitish color ; somewhat flattened
above and below ; club-shaped ; the thoracic seg-

ments being much broader than the abdominal
ones; head brownish, almost circular, and much
narrower than the adjoining segments ; covered,
especially on the sides and below, with a short
golden pubescence. All of the segments are beset
with short golden hair on the sides. There are no
feet.

The beetle is about three-fourths of an inch in
length, velvet black, and ornamented with yellow
transverse bands, of which there are three on the
head, four on the thorax, and six on the wing-
covers, the tips of which are also edged with yel-
low. The first and second bands on each wing-
cover are nearly straight ; the third band forms a
V or, united with opposite one, a W ; the fourth
is also angled ; the fifth is broken or interrupted
by a longitudinal elevated line; and the sixth is
arched and consists of three small spots. The
antennae are dark brown and the legs are red-
dish.

Prof. Packard {Fifth Report of the Entomologi-
cal Commission, page 357) gives a brief history of
this species as follows :

** About a hundred years ago this insect was
well known to Forster to inhabit the locust in the
State of New York. Twenty years ago, although
the best Illinois botanists agree that the locust
grows wild in the southern part of Illinois, it was
still unknown in that State. Shortly afterwards
it commenced attacking the locusts in the neigh-
borhood of Chicago, and thence spread gradually
in a south-southwest and west direction through
the State. In i860 it had pretty well destroyed
all these trees in central Illinois. Rock Island lies
on the Mississippi river, one hundred and eighty
miles south of west from Chicago. In 1862 it had
reached a point twenty miles east of Rock Island.
In 1863 it burst forth suddenly in great swarms
from all the locusts in Rock Island, and the two
following years completed their destruction. In
1865 it crossed the river into Iowa and no doubt
will continue its travels westward as long as it finds
any locust trees to prey on. The beetle was first
observed in Montreal in 1855. In 1862 it was
very destructive to locust trees around Toronto.
The following remedies to check the ravages of
this beetle have been suggested: Thoroughly
soap the trunk late in August, so as to prevent
the beetle from laying its eggs early in September.
All insects breathe through holes (eighteen or
twenty in all, nine or ten on each side). Now, if
a film of soap or grease or oil of any kind closes
the openings of the breathing pores the air can-
not enter the respiratory tubes which ramify
throughout the interior of the body and the in-
sect dies by asphyxiation, i.e,, drowns. Harris
states that whitewashing and covering the trunks
of the trees with grafting composition may pre-
vent the female from depositing her eggs upon

isolated trees. Also, young trees might be headed
down to the ground, so as to destroy the grubs
boring in them and also to promote a more vig-
orous growth. An excellent preventive remedy
is to collect these beetles early in September when
engaged in eating the pollen of the golden rod or
when running over the trunks of the locust trees
and then, destroy them. Children could perform
this work. C. W. J.

Insect Wood Carvers.

THE Wilkes-Barre Record recently published
(from the pen of its senior editor. Dr.
Johnson), a very full and most interesting
history of the rise and fall of Stoddartsville on the
head waters of the Lehigh. The place impressed
me a year ago as one intended by nature for some
important purpose. Its vast water-power must be
utilized for one of the many applications to which
the electrical motor of the future will be harnessed.
It would be a most important chapter in our for-
estry history if one could follow year by year the
changes in waterflow which have occurred since
the original forest was removed. Dr. Johnson has
wisely called attention to the annual fires which
sweep out of the country the only coming crop it j
possesses — the young timber. j

It gives us great pleasure to clip the followmg I
from his excellent paper. J. T. R.

" A writer in the Forest and Stream relates in
interesting fashion how he discovered while fish- i
ing in the Pocono region that the branches of the
fallen pine tree are alive with a curious insect
which burrows beneath the bark and carves in the
soft wood underneath the most beautiful tracery,
resembling hand carving. The carved branches
much resemble a fine piece of buck horn. Not
only the pine but the spruce, hemlock, tamarack,
fir, etc., are thus carved, though in less degree
than the white pine. The discoverer described
these tiny little burrowers as 'Miature's jDioneer
grave diggers, opening the way and assisting ^he
elements in bringing down the mighty tree to the
dust of the earth." He thought no one had pre-
ceded him in possessing the knowledge of the in-
sect wood carvers, but one day, while back in the
mountains he came upon a rival to his claims, a
retired merchant of Philadelphia, sufl'ering from a
peculiar paralysis and who was spending the sum-
mers in this deserted village. The old gentle-
man had discovered this curious wood while
rambling through the woods and had taken it
home to his cabin and spent many hours in mak-
ing it into as beautiful paper knives, match boxes,
tobacco cases, etc., as one would wish to see. He
was doing this as a means of passing the time
pleasantly. There is nothing new under the sun,

but natural carved wood is new to most people.
Though the Forest and Stream writer does not
tell who the gentlemen was whom he had found
in the woods, it was Joseph Stoddart, whose
pleasant and romantically situated summer home
at Stoddartsville was recently described in the
Record.

Summer Meeting of the American
Forestry Association.

TTTHE Summer meeting of the American For-
I estry Association was held at Springfield,
"^ Mass., commencing Tuesday, September
3d, at the same time as the meeting of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of Science.
Space was reserved in this issue for an official
report of the proceedings which had been solicited,
but we regret that up to the time of going to press
such has not been received.

Fall Arbor Day.

JUST as we go to press a telegram announces
that Friday, October i8th, has been desig-
nated by Dr. Schaefl'er, Superintendent of
Public Instruction, as Autumn Arbor Day. He
urges '* those connected with our schools to observe
the day with appropriate exercises. The trees may
be planted out of school hours, but a part of the
time usually devoted to public readings or nature
study can be profitably spent in exercises calculated
to subserve the purpose of Arbor Day." We trust
that all the friends of forestry will endeavor to suit-
ably observe the day, and that the movement m
favor of the suitable care and propagation of trees
will thereby receive an additional impetus.

New Books.

Preliminary Report on the Food and Tongues of
Woodpeckers. Division of Ornithology and Mam-^
malogy, Department of Agriculture, Washington,

D. C. 8vo., 45 pages, illustrated. This pam-
phlet, which is Bulletin No. 7, contains a report
on the food of woodpeckers, prepared by Prof. J.

E. H. Beal, and is accompanied by a short article
on the *' Tongues of Woodpeckers," written by
Mr. F. A. Lucas, and does much to dispel the be-
lief that woodpeckers, as a class, are detrimental
in injuring trees or destroying grain.

! Ninth Annual Report of the Botanist of the
\ Nebraska State Board of Agriculture. Lincoln,
' Neb. 8vo., 26 pages. This pamphlet has been
prepared by Prof. Charles E. Bessey, and contains
interesting papers on the reforesting of the sand
hills, the former and present state of the forests
of Nebraska, and also one descriptive of the
grasses of that State.

7_7 tk

FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OP

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

OF

RM

-^iz^^^^ HIGHEST aU'af.ioH

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

The Publication Committee of the Penn-
aylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertising space in Forest
Leaves, 2400 copies now reach readers
interested in tree planting and culture.

FOI(E^T LEp^

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

J

OF THE

PenDsjlvania Forestry Association,

AND THE

African Forestry Association.

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

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i72

^^f^-^'^^A&f

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, December, 1895.

No. 6.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

25 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Officc as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials 81-83

Peculiar Tree Growth 83

Narrative of the Tenth Annual
Meeting of the Pennsylvania

Forestry Association 83

Address of Mr. John Birkinbinc, President 84-86

Report of the General Secretary |°

Report of Council gZ

Prizes for School Children •••—••• °°

The Bitter Nut Hickory. (Carya amaraNutt )..... 09

Some Errors of the Early Tree Planters of the Northwest 89

Present La ws^V Executed may Protea Forests from Fire 9^-92

Autumn Meeting of the New Jersey Forestry Association 9-^-93

Deforestation and Rainfall

Practical Work

Correspondence

Suit for Loss of a Shade Tree

New liooks

93
94
95
95
95

Subscription, $1.00 per Year.

The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
0/ Forest Lbavhs as an advertising medium. Rates %viU be Jur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
loHN BiRKiNBiNE, Chairman. 25 North Juniper Street.
Dr J. T. RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLKR, 1820 Master Street.
Iambs C. Haydon, Jeanesville, Pa.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and

National.

Annual membership fee. One dollar,

Li/e membership, Fifteen dollars. , , . . . . • • » j j

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names toA.B. Weimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Birkinbine. r „.„. r-

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Prof. Wm. P. Wilson.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph I Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John 1 . Lundy.

rrt-tfjttr^r, Charles E. Pancoast. ,,r j t lm w c

Council-at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. Llwyn, W. S.

^^"^Councilfrom Philadelphia Countv, J. Rodman Paul. A. B. Weimer
Richard Wood, Lucius S. L.indreth. Gen. Isaac J Wistar, Eh Kirk
Price, Henry Budd, Henry Howson Miss Sarah FCorli«.

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. T. Biddlc, Wm. S.
Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Nlontgomery^ James Monaghan

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

^^'Coll^'ii/rom Montgomery Countv, Dr. H. M Fisher, Dr Alice
Bennett, Dr. J, M. AnSers, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.
Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadhlihia.

Kirk,

EDITORIALS.

Forestry at the Atlanta Exposition.

rTTHE forest exhibit at the Cotton States and In-
I ternational Exposition, now open at At-
"^ lanta,Ga., excels the magnificent display
made at the World's Columbian Exposition two
years ago at Chicago. The quantity of material
and the number of exhibits were greater at Chi-
cago, but for completeness and systematic arrange-
ment, Atlanta may claim pre-eminence.

We refer especially to the forestry exhibit in-
stalled under the direction of Mr. B. E. Fernow,
in the Forestry and Mining Building, for here it
is that a carefully planned and admirably executed
object lession is presented in a manner both in-
structive and attractive. This can be truly said
without disparaging other displays, for the forestry
exhibit is not confined to one building; unfor-
tunately the extent of the display is not api)reci-
ated because it is scattered.

Among the notable displays were those made by
the Geological Survey of North Carolina, by the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad and by the Savannah

Board of Trade. , ., . •

In the special building devoted to exhibiting
Georgia's resources a large number of specimens
of native wood are so placed as to indicate their
characteristics and are explained by suitable labels.
In the Agricultural Building Florida and South
Carolina display indigenous woods; while the
separate buildings of the Southern and Plant sys-
tems of railways make similar exhibits.

The republics of Mexico and Venezuela offer
for inspection in the Transportation Building in-
structive collections of woods used for construc-
' live purposes, for ornamentation, for dyeing, tan-
ning, etc., and Mexico has a unique collection of
over two hundred medicinal plants, systematically

labelled and arranged. , • i i.c

' To return to the forestry exhibits, for which Mr.
i Fernow deserves credit, mention may be made of

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

a varied assortment of woods, and also of medici-
nal plants from the Argentine Republic.

But to do justice to the display in this building
would be to discuss individually each exhibit ; this
is impracticable, and without prejudice to those
unmentioned, the following may be considered as
among the most interesting features.

Maps of each of the Southern States showing
where different types of forest growth are found
and the areas covered.

A statistical column showing by a large cube the
quantity of timber cut each second of the year, is
surmounted by one of smaller size illustrating
the quantity cut for lumber in the same time. The
difference between these cubes shows how much
wood is felled for other purposes than lumber.

Surmounting this second cube are representa-
tions of the relative amounts of different kinds of
woods cut in the Southern States.

A chronological record of the historical events
embraced within the life of a tree of which a sec-
tion is shown impresses the visitor with the insig-
nificance of man as compared with the forest
giants.

A model demonstrates how a farm may be ruin-
ed by reckless cutting of forests, how it may be pro-
tected by tree planting and contour plowing, and
how it may be maintained, and by judicious tree
cutting continue as a source of wood supply.

Excellent illustrations of the utilization of the
long and short leaf pines, cypress, oak, red cedar,
hickory, palmetto, sugar maple, cottonwood, sweet
gum, persimmon, dogwood, birch, birds eye maple
and yellow poplar are shown.

Applications of wood to various uses, and the
employment of some woods hitherto not consid-
ered as ornamental for finished work attract atten-
tion, while the centre aisle is flanked on either
side by impressive rows of highly polished columns
of various woods.

An improvement in tapping turpentine from
pine trees is exhibited, which promises less injury
than the boxing process. Various household arti-
cles made from palm fibres, pine trees, tree moss,
etc., indicate the wealth which our forests offer,
and samples of cork grown in the United States
invite attention to possibilities in this direction.

Then comes the valuable, but more prosaic,
records of timber tests, each specimen having its
record preserved. A study for days within a small
area, in which a testing machine exhibits the mo-
dus operandi. Full sized bents for railway trestles
indicating how equal strength and greater life may
be secured, demonstrate the practical value of the
timber tests.

Mention may also be made of the utilization of
wood as shown in a great variety of wooden ware.

We dare not enter upon a discussion of the
beautiful woods exhibited in furniture, veneers.

or columns for this would tire our readers, and
we could not do justice to the subject.

We congrattilate Mr. Fernow upon the success
which has crowned his efforts and are gratified to
have had a voice in recommending that his work
receive such commendation from the exposition
authorities as will show him that his devotion to
forestry is appreciated. J. B.

«^ ^^ \^ ^^ %^

^^ *^ ^^ ^^ ^^

In presenting the report recommending awards
to various parties who contributed to the forestry
exhibit at the Cotton States and International Ex-
position, at Atlanta, Ga., the Jury in Forestry
gives expression to the following plea for forest
protection.

** Maps and statistics forming parts of exhibits
submitted to the Jury in Forestry, furnish inde-
pendent evidence of the exceptionally rapid and
improvident destruction of the magnificent decid-
uous and coniferous forests of the South. To this
evidence, substantiated as it is by the personal
knowledge of the Jury, we desire to call special
attention, as well as to the remedy for the condi-
tion it discloses. An analogous condition in nearly
all other parts of the country is within the ex-
perience of the members of this Jury, which has
extended to an examination of the forests of every
state and territory in the Union. In view of the
serious and peculiar dangers which, in our judg-
ment, threaten agriculture and commerce from the
destruction of forests throughout the country, and
the immediate need for the application of the
remedies, we are impelled to lay the following
brief statement of the latter before you.

A fundamental cure for these evils lies in a gen-
eral knowledge of the nature of forestry, and a
recognition by the people of the fact that it offers
a practical, efificient and available means in the
United States of harvesting a forest crop without
injury to the forest. But the formation of public
opinion is necessarily slow, and in this instance
action is required at once. The first step, there-
fore, should consist of legislation to favor the pro-
tection of forests throughout the United States,
and more especially for the permanent preserva-
tion and protection of forest lands about the head
waters of streams, much of which, in the western
mountain ranges, still remains, and should forever
continue, in the possession of the Government."

sic 3)e ^ ^ :ic

This issue of Forest Leaves has been held in
order to insert the narrative of the annual meeting
and the reports there presented, and it has also
been necessary owing to lack of space to defer
printing the conclusion of the last of the prize
essays in this number as had been intended.
*****

As an evidence of the popular hold forestry has
upon the people of the United States, we may

instance the fact that at the World's Columbian,
and Cotton States and International Expositions
special buildings were devoted to forestry. Now
comes an announcement from Nashville, Tenn.,
where it is proposed to hold an exposition during
the months of September, October and Novem-
ber, 1896, to celebrate the Centennial of the ad-
mission of Tennessee to statehood, that a special
building will be prepared for the reception of ex-
hibits which relate to forest growth and utilization.

"it
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*

That the work of disseminating information in
regard to forestry is being vigorously pushed is
emphasized by the fact that from October 30 to
date. Dr. J. T. Rothrock has delivered twelve
lectures on this subject ; two each in York and
Lackawanna, one each in Cameron, Chester, Cum-
berland, Fulton, and Juniata Counties, German-
town and Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and one at
Lakewood, N. J., and is billed for three more in
the near future.

Narrative of the Tenth Annual Meeting

of the Pennsylvania Forestry

Association.

THE Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association was held in the room
of the Society at 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, on December 9th, at 3.30 p.m.

After brief opening remarks by the President,
Mr. John Birkinbine, the report of Council, which
will be found on a subsequent page, was read.

The report of the Treasurer, Mr. Charles E.
Pancoast, was then presented, as follows :

Peculiar Tree Growth.

DURING a recent visit to Utica, N. Y., I was
shown what to me seemed incredible ; a
^ grove consisting of several acres of pignut

hickory trees, very thick, and from two to six
inches in diameter.

An occasional elm was the only other kind of

tree in the grove.

The tract was cleared (not ploughed) about
twenty-five years ago and was covered with mixed
timber at the time, although there were no hicko-
ries, nor was there a wood lot in the vicinity.
Had nuts been sown under the most favorable con-
ditions they could not have developed more per-
fectly.

I have often heard that where a pnie tract was
cleared oak invariably followed, but my observa-
tion has not confirmed the correctness of the story,
nor has it proved its incorrectness.

Another curiosity in Utica has been often noticed
by newspaper correspondents and possibly you
may have seen it. The Universalist Church m
that city has two towers with battlement finish.
On the top of one of them is a mountain ash in
vigorous condition, having now a fair crop of ber-
ries. It has been growing there twenty or more
years and I should think is fully twelve feet high.
Viewing it from the ground I could not conceive
it possible that there could be an accumulation of
soil nor did it appear that the roots had displaced
the stones. It would seem that whatever moisture
would be deposited during a rain would be evap-
orated by an hour of sunshine. E. L. Hall.

Trkasurer's Report.

Dr.

To balance on hand, November 13,
1894, •

To cash, donations and subscrip-
tions, $1374 00

To cash, annual dues to November

11,1895, 66500

To cash, from county branches for

dues 46 50

To cash, life memberships, . . 135 ^^

To cash, sale FoRKST Leaves and

advertisements, . . . . 262 75

To rent and office expenses paid by

City Park Association, . . 167 90

$235 61

52651 15
|2886 76

Cr.

By cash, sun«lries, postage, office

rent, etc., ^387 ^5

By publication of Forest Leaves, 998 92
By Assistant Secretary's salary (in-
cluding one month of previous

year), 625 00

By lectures, hall rent, etc., . . 260 37

15y J. T. Rothrock clerk hire, . . 150 00

By i)rizes for essays, . . . 75 ^^

Balance on hand November 11,
1895,

$2496 94
$389 82

Accounts audited and found correct,

Albert B. Weimer,

Auditor.

Dr. J. T. Rothrock then read his report as Gen-
eral Secretary, which will be found in full in this

issue.

Messrs. B. Witman Dambly and Samuel Mar-
shall were elected tellers, and after a ballot was
taken they reported the following persons elected :

President, John Birkinbine.

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M.
Jenkins, James C. Haydon, Prof. William P.

Wilson.

Secretary, Dr. J. T. Rothrock.
Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. J. P. Lundy.
Treasurer^ Charles E. Pancoast.

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

Council-at- Large ^ Dr. A. L. Elwyn, Mrs. Brinton
Coxe, W. S. Harvey.

Council from Philadelphia County, J. Rodman
Paul, Eli Kirk Price, Richard Wood, Gen. Isaac J.
Wistar, Henry Budd, Lucius S. Landreth, A. B.
Weimer, Miss Sarah F. Corlies, Henry Howson.

The President's Address, which also appears in
this issue, was then presented.

Rev. Alfred L. Elwyn spoke of the obstacles
placed in the way of practical forestry in the
Adirondack reserve, instancing the fact that the
commission were allowed to cut but not to sell
trees on the reserve, thus practically destroying
the revenue obtainable from the forests. He also
spoke of the spread of the gypsy moth in New
England.

Dr. J. T. Rothrock said that the efforts to keep
forestry before the public should not be relaxed.
The members of the Legislature, if the proper
pressure was brought to bear on them by their
constituents, would then unquestionably grant the
needed laws in regard to forestal questions.

President Birkinbine stated that there was evi-
dently a strong sentiment in favor of forestry by
numbers of persons not connected with the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association, and recommended
that efforts be made to bring such into the organi-
zation.

The business meeting then adjourned, and in
the evening at 8 o'clock an illustrated public lecture
was given in the hall of the Young Men's Christian
Association at Germantown by Dr. J. T. Rothrock
on ** Beautiful Pennsylvania," before a good-sized
audience.

Attention was first called to the desolate appear-
ance of certain sections of Arizona, or '* arid
zone," where the soil and rocks were washed out,
leaving great gulches, little or no vegetation exist-
ing, and its forlorn landscapes contrasted with the
fertile, well watered, and picturesque fields of the
State of Pennsylvania.

Beautiful scenes on the Brandywine and Wissa-
hickon, about which artists say there is an inde-
scribable something not possessed by any other
section of our country, and pictures of some fine
specimens of various varieties of Pennsylvania
trees followed.

The function of trees in springing up along the
banks of rivers from seed, gradually gathering
strength, and although often overthrown by ice
floes, throwing up fresh sprouts and finally making
a solid bank, was instanced. The lecturer spoke
of the use of forests in conserving the water falling
on them in the shape of rain, four-fifths of which
was retained in wooded areas, whilst on those
deprived of timber cover but one-fifth remained,
the balance rushing off as torrents, often inundat-
ing the country. The value of forests in spread-
ing moisture in the atmosphere, and in this way

influencing the temperature, a difference of a few
degrees often making either a success or failure of
crops, also the function of the forest in making
soil, disintegrating rocks, which with the decaying
leaves formed a rich mold, valuable to man, were
touched upon.

The effects of forest fires were also illustrated by
views of the virgin forest contrasted with areas of
young sprouts through which the fire had swept
(in some instances merely started for the sake of
obtaining a good crop of huckleberries), destroy-
ing the young trees, and with them forming fresh
fuel for the next fire, which if continued would
soon destroy the nutritive power of the soil.

The statement was made that one-quarter of the
entire area of Pennsylvania was suitable only for
woodlands and should be kept in timber. A
square mile (one of 400 square miles in that sec-
tion of the State) which had been cut over was
shown.

The devastation by floods caused by the removal
of the forests which are natural reservoirs for rain
was also shown.

Attention was directed to the vast water power
obtainable from numbers of our streams, which at
present are undeveloped, but which will, without
doubt, be utilized in the future if this flow is main-
tained by preserving the forests.

The value of the forests of northern Pennsylva-
nia as a sanitarium for consumptives was also dwelt
upon, the lecturer closing with illustrations of the
beautiful lakes and falls which extend across the
State from Pike to Forest County.

F. L. B.

Address of Mr. John Birkinbine, Presi-
dent.

(Tenth Annual Meeting, Pennsylvania Forestry

Association.)

THE Pennsylvania Forestry Association hav-
ing completed its first ten years of exist-
ence, it may be well to glance over the
decade to note what has been accomplished.
Naturally, the first thought would be to compare
the growth of the Association in membership,
but if we were to gauge the work of the organi-
zation solely from this standpoint the conclusions
would be somewhat disappointing. While appre-
ciating fully the number of the members enrolled
the Association's growth cannot be said to be
such as is commensurate with the importance of
the work which has been undertaken. The per-
sonnel rather than the number of members is the
standard by which the Association must be
judged.

Fortunately, the interest in forestry in the State

of Pennsylvania is not restricted by the number
of members upon our Association roll, for there
are thousands who have shown by their friend-
ship that the State is not without a strong senti-
ment favoring forest protection and propagation.
Had this sentiment not been in existence the leg-
islation which was secured at the last session of
the General Assembly could not have been passed,
and for the creation of the sentiment, a part, at
least, of the credit may, with propriety, be
claimed as belonging to the Forestry Association
and its publication, Forest Leaves. Let us
recall some of the work accomplished.

When the organization was suggested it com-
manded little notice, and had it not been for the
persistent efforts of enthusiastic women, it is
questionable if an association could have then
been perfected. The early days of co-operation
were not without discouragement, in fact, as in
nature, the rays of sunshine were the more notice-
able, because of the numerous clouds which ob-
scured the prospect. Discouragements still come
and will continue, but many of the active workers
whose faith has been the firmest, remain as ad-
visers and new help has appeared, ready to take
places made vacant by death.

In the ten years which make the record of the As-
sociation's work, we have seen forestry organiza-
tions founded in many States, and the national
society greatly increased. The general govern-
ment has recognized the necessity of forest pro-
tection by establishing reserves and by following
up those who despoil government lands. The
Forestry division of the Agricultural Department
has, by researches and experiments, done much
to show how forest utilization can be carried on
without the great waste which has characterized
the general practice, and has made this knowledge
of benefit to the public by widespread publication.
The daily press and special trade or technical
publications have taken up the subject of forest
protection, enlisting the public interest, and the
superintendents and teachers of our schools have
rendered most potent aid by instilling in the rising
generation an appreciation of and love for trees.
Ten years ago a newspaper endorsement of for-
estry would have been passed around as a rarity
among the comparatively few pronounced advo-
cates of reform in this specialty. Now almost
daily strong editorial notices appear, but they
are none the less welcome because of their fre-
quency.

Not only has forestry been discussed by news-
papers and magazines, but several successful publi-
cations are devoted especially to forestry or give
to it regularly an important part of their space.
In addition some of the more prominent newspa-
pers have special contributors engaged to write
upon the subject of forestry.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association's publi-
cation, Forest Leaves, which has been issued
since July, 1886, makes to-day a volume of 724
quarto pages, and its regular edition is 2400
copies.

The celebration of Arbor day is a fixed feature
in nearly all our States, and men and women of
the highest ability lend their talents to make it
one of the red letter days of the year.

The forestry agitation has attracted the interest
of those who make the heaviest inroads in our
wooded lands, and increasing numbers of lumber
men are realizing that it may pay to cut only
what is mature and reserve growing timber for the
future, a policy which will surely increase as the
forests are denuded.

The most populous State in the Union has set
a noble example by establishing in the Adiron-
dack Mountain region an extensive forest preserve
to be added to from time to time. Corporations
have been formed which hold and care for forest
lands so as to preserve them, and individuals also
established reservations where tree-growth is
studied and forestry practically applied. It is
true that instances of this kind are sufficiently un-
usual to attract widespread attention, but one
such successful enterprise suggests similar methods
to others. It is a source of sincere regret that the
effort to secure forest preserves in Pennsylvania
failed at the last legislature, but it is hoped that
when another assembly meets there will be such a
public demand as will secure these.

We have, however, special cause for congratu-
lation in the establishment of a Forestry Bureau
as a permanent feature of our State administra-
tion, and that one so well equipped for the work
as Dr. J. T. Rothrock has been chosen as Fores-
try Commissioner. The work of this bureau is
so lately organized that no results can be an-
nounced, but the work of the special Forestry
Commission, appointed two years ago, is now
ready for the printer, and when issued this report
will aid in familiarizing the people of the State
with the condition of our forest areas and the
possibilities of their protection.

Other reports upon flood damage in the State
have also appeared which, although not written
as forestry papers, place the responsibility for this
great destruction by floods upon the denudation
of forest areas.

Since this Association has been formed hun-
dreds of lectures (many liberally illustrated) have
been delivered upon the subject of forestry, and
by this means probably more than any other has
come an appreciation of the enormous damage
done by forest fires, and a realization of the
forestal'possibilities of our State and country.

This summary, imperfect as it is, is sufficient to
indicate in how many ways the cause of forestry

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

has progressed, and surely there is ground for con-
gratulation in the record and encouragement to
continue in a work whose results will benefit com-
ing generations more than the present. Follow-
ing the unselfish principle which the true friends
of the forest have taken, there is every reason for
faith in the future. Public sentiment will continue
to be fostered by the special publications devoted
to forestry, and by the daily press, and demands
will be made upon legislators to enact and office-
holders to execute laws which will propagate new
growths, preserve the remnants of our forests, and
punish those who destroy without using them.
The leaven is at work and will in time leaven the
whole loaf. Are we not like the old deacon who
stated that he never knew how much he had to be
thankful for until he attempted to make an inven-
tory of the good things he had received ?

Report of the General Secretary.

THE year which has passed since our last an-
nual meeting has been an eventful one for
the forestry cause in this State.
Many hopes have been blighted, though not
wholly destroyed, for the expectations upon which
they were based will, in the march of events, come
to be realized. However worthy or much needed
State measures may be in themselves, they
are usually conditioned, in some sense, by the
funds available in the public treasury. Thus the
value of extensive State forest reservations, to the
Commonwealth itself, was unquestioned by our
legislators; but owing to the lack of money and
to the increased demand made upon the public
purse because of the hard times, it was deemed
unwise to appropriate money for the purchase of
sufficient and suitable lands.

We have no desire to call into question the
wisdom of our legislators, nor their interest in
this new question of State forestry ; but it does
appear as if there was a failure to clearly recog-
nize that money spent in providing State forest
reservations was more in the nature of an invest-
ment than in thai of an appropriation. New
York, whose conditions of soil and climate are
so much like our own, has not only recognized
this truth, but her authorized agents have most
positively so stated in their official report. And
it is well worth calling attention to the fact that
when recent constitutional amendments were be-
fore the people of that State for ratification, the
only one which received the unqualified sanction
of the voters was the one that pledged the State
to a perpetual forest policy, and to holding the
Adirondack region as a State forest preserve.
We think it unfortunate that opportunity was

not given to have this fact more fully understood
by our own legislators. The fact is there never
will come a time when the demands upon the
public purse will be less than the expected in-
come. Each succeeding legislature must, by its
appropriation committee, reject many urgent
claims. It would seem, however, as if those
which concerned the preservation, in a produc-
tive condition, of the State's own surface should
not be set aside to make way for claims in which
the Commonwealth has a much more remote in-
terest. It is further to be remembered that in
proportion as the forestry problem becomes better
understood the value of hitherto waste areas will
increase and the cost to the Commonwealth will
be greater each year we delay establishing reser-
vations. It is true that the State can always take
by right of eminent domain what land it requires
for public good ; but it must do so on the basis
of a fair compensation at the time.

This, however, we can but consider an error of
judgment, such as must, unfortunately, be asso-
ciated with all new movements, however import-
ant they maybe. We turn, however, to the more
important fact — that of placing forestry in the
new Department of Agriculture by the last Legis-
lature. It is no longer a question of State recog-
nition for this branch of public policy, for that is
now perpetually assured ; but it is simply a ques-
tion as to how much importance shall be accorded
to it, and what direction it shall assume.

By joint resolution the Senate and House of
Representatives authorized the publication of the
report of the Forestry Commission, provided it
was deemed worthy by the Secretary of Agricul-
ture. The resolution was promptly signed by
Governor Hastings, and in due course the report
will go to the public printer.

It is clear that increased interest in our wood
land areas exists. The demand for lectures upon
the subject of forestry exceeds the lecturing ca-
pacity of your General Secretary. Before this win-
ter ends he will have lectured, once or more, in
almost every county of the Commonwealth. Usu-
ally his audiences have been large, intelligent and
appreciative.

The bill designed to afford a more efficient pro-
tection against forest fires which was presented to
the last legislature, passed the House by a good
majority, but failed in the Senate. It is unfortu-
nate that such should have been the case ; but it
is a cause for genuine congratulation that the sen-
timent, so far as developed, in both branches of
the State Legislature was overwhelmingly in favor
of placing the burden of restraining the annual
forest fires upon the whole State, instead of upon
the counties within whose limits the conflagrations
occurred. The justice of this is obvious when
one remembers that the most severe fires are, as a

rule, in the poorer counties, and that it is from
those barren mountain slopes and tops that the
water comes which is so large a factor in the pros-
perity or injury of the entire Commonwealth.
The State has, therefore, aside from abstract right,
a double incentive to protective measures. It is,
however, a vast advance over the sentiment of
earlier years that these truths should be so clearly
recognized now.

So far as the relation of the Commonwealth to
the forestry cause is concerned *^ the outlook is
hopeful all along the line."

As an association, however, we have our own
part to do. There have been hours of despondr
ency, but, on the other hand, it must be remem-
bered that our trials have not been peculiar.
There has been the same slow acceptance of ra-
tional forestry doctrines in other States. It has,
indeed, even been more pronounced elsewhere
than it'has been in Pennsylvania, for if we may
accept the verdict of competent observers it seems
that Pennsylvania stands to-day well in the ad-
vance of the forestry movement. It is especially
gratifying to note that in our neighboring States,
New Jersey and Delaware, substantial gain has

been made.

It rests upon us, however, to relax no effort.
On the contrary, we should remember that our
work is but half done ; that by leading public
sentiment thus far we have assumed a public trust,
and that failure to continue in an advance now
would be as discreditable to ourselves as it would
be unfortunate to the State.

Forest Leaves merits a wider circulation.
Your General Secretary is of the opinion that its
usefulness would be more than doubled if instead
of appearing once in two months it were to be
made a monthly journal and furnished with an at-
tractive cover.

We have reason for congratulation that the roll
of membership has been lengthened since the last

annual meeting.

There remains the pleasant duty of thanking
the press of the State for its generous assistance.
As true leaders of public sentiment our newspa-
pers have made the forestry cause their own in
behalf of the present and future generations.

It is a prophecy which can be made without
risk, that those of our legislators whose active aid
enabled the forestry cause to come to the front as
it has, have earned and will receive the approval
of future citizens.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

—The ash trees planted by General Washington
at Mt. Vernon, form a beautiful row of large trees,
which are the admiration of all who visit the home
of the ** Father of his Country."

Report of Council.

1\ T the last annual meeting there were on the

j^A roll 730 members, since then 79 new

^ names have been added, and 36 have died,

resigned or been dropped from the roll, showing

a net gain of 43, or 6 per cent.

This too slight advance in numerical strength is
not proportionate to the importance of the work
we have to perform. Forestry has a place in the
interests of thousands of Pennsylvanians who
should be recognized as its friends by association
in our organization. It should be our aim to so
augment the membership of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association as to command the recogni-
tion to which the number and influence of the
friends of forestry in Pennsylvania are entitled.

Our loss by death numbers 11 members, among
whom were John H. Redfield, Esq., a member of
Council, the Hon. Eckley B. Coxe, and Col.
James Young, three prominent and ardent friends
of forestry, whose wise counsel and advice will be
missed by the association.

The principal work of the association during
the past year has been in securing such legislation
as would give the problem of the necessity of our
forests for the welfare of the State its true position
in the policy of State government. While all
that was desired has not been obtained, forestry
has been recognized by the creation of a bureau
in the State Department of Agriculture. With
the aid of the efficient Forestry Commissioner,
and by disseminating additional data showing
the absolute necessity of such action, it is ex-
pected to secure from the next Legislature the
enactment of salutary laws for the purchase and
maintenance of wooded areas at the head-waters
of our principal streams, for the prevention and
extinguishment of forest fires, etc.

The increasing interest in the observance of
both Spring and Fall Arbor Days, especially by
the schools of our State is gratifying, as the child-
ren are being so educated as to thoroughly under-
stand the principles of forestry, and when they
reach manhood and womanhood as our future
citizens and law makers, may be expected to give
serious thought, attention, and hard work to the
forestral conditions confronting them.

The prizes offered by the association for the best
essays on '' The Practical Value of Forests to the
Surface of the Country,'* by the public school
teachers of Pennsylvania was so well received,
that after a preliminary reading before Teachers'
Institutes, where only the best off'ered were se-
lected, twenty-one contributions were submitted
to the committee appointed by the association.
All of the competing essays received averages of
70 or over. So close was the contest that it was
deemed advisable to divide the two prizes of ^50

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FOREST LEAVES.

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and J25 into three equal parts of J25 each to
three essayists.

This contest, which was widely advertised by
the press, resulted in much good to the cause.

The association had an enjoyable and well-at-
tended meeting at the Art Club, Philadelphia, on
February i8th, at which Dr. J. T. Rothrock de-
livered, for the first time, his lecture on " Beauti-
ful Pennsylvania," which was followed by an in-
formal reception, light refreshments being served,
a fitting closing to a pleasant evening.

Taken as a whole, the work of the association
has been fairly successful, forestry has become a
part of our State government, our membership
has been increased, the schools representing the
coming generation are actively at work, and two
years hence we hope to be able to state that addi-
tional legislation concerning forest preservation
and propagation, which was frustrated this year,
has been accomplished.

Prizes for School Children.

IF the rising generation in Pennsylvania fail to
recognize the value of forests, and to exhibit
^ a love for trees, the friends of forestry will
not be to blame. Over a year ago the Council
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association offered
|>75 in prizes for essays written by school teachers,
the object being to encourage the study of forestry
and thereby excite an interest which would be
transmitted to the scholars. Special prizes were
also offered by Dr. J. T. Rothrock for competition
among Chester County teachers, and Mr. B. Wit-
man Dambly made similar provision for Mont-
gomery County.

We are gratified to announce two efforts which
were made to encourage a study on the part of
scholars of our schools of the character and uses
of trees.

At the Berks County Teachers' Institute the
prizes offered by the Reading Eagle, for the best
collection by any public school of Berks County
outside of Reading, for the largest collection of
specimens of wood grown in Berks County and
the largest number of varieties were awarded.
These specimens consisted of two pieces, one
showing the bark, the other the grain, together
with a leaf of the tree, the whole being suit-
ably mounted and labeled. The Snyders' school
in Penn township received the first prize, the
Forge school. North Heidelberg, the second ; and
De Turk's school, Maxatawny, the third ; while
three other schools had honorable mention.

The same paper offered prizes to pupils of pub-
lic schools in Berks County, outside of Reading,
writing the best essay, correctly describing and

naming the largest variety of woods grown in
Berks County, and the economic adaptability of
the different kinds in arts and manufactures under
varying conditions, unexposed, in the ground,
partial or entire exposure, in heat and cold, wet
and dry. The prizes, as in the first instance, con-
sisted of books and were awarded to Amandus
A. De Long, Rupert's school, and Win field L.
Hartman, Epler's school, in the order named.

Other counties might well follow the example
of Berks, and familiarize their children with the
value and utility of the various native woods — a
knowledge which would be of great benefit in
l^ter years.

At the annual meeting of the Delaware County
Forestry Association held October 12th, 1895, ^^
following resolutions were passed and directed to
be printed in such of the newspapers of the county
as may desire them.

Resolved, That for the sake of encouraging the
study of Forestry by the youth of our county, this
Association offers as a prize, a hand-painted branch
of Autumn Foliage, for an original paper, show-
ing the most accurate knowledge, and giving evi-
dence of the most careful observation of the de-
ciduous forest, timber, and nut trees of our
county, whether native or foreign — such prize to
be competed for by the pupils of any school in
the county.

Resolved, That a prize of a full set of Lewis's
Leaf Charts be offered for the best and most com-
plete collection of leaves similar to those exhibited
on the Lewis Leaf Charts, accompanied by draw-
ings in India ink, of each leaf so preserved — this
prize to be competed for as above, by pupils of
any school in our connty, whether public or pri-
vate.

Resolved, That this Association appoint a com-
mittee of five persons to act as judges of awards —
and that the prizes be awarded not later than
December of 1896, leaving a full year for study
and preparation.

Resolved, That this committee consist of Charles
Potts, President ; Charles G. Ogden, Linnaeus
Fussell, M.D., Lewis Kirk, members of Executive
Committee, and Grace Anna Lewis, Secretary,
Delaware County Forestry Association.

— The Germans living in rural districts have a
habit of each member of the family planting a tree
at ** Whitsuntide " (which comes forty days after
Easter). At early dawn on this day their singing
societies, from the top of the nearest hill or moun-
tain, hail the rising sun with songs of praise for
the glory of its warmth and blessing to Ceres and
Flora. The Aztecs used to plant a tree every time
a child was born, naming it after the child.

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Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 6.

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BITTER NUT HICKORY; CARYA AMARA, NUTT.
CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 6.

TRUNK OF BITTER NUT HICKORY; CARYA AMARA, NUTT.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 6.

BITTER NUT HICKORY; CARYA AMARA, NUTT.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

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INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

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TRUNK OF BITTER NUT HICKORY; CARYA AMARA, NUTT.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

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FOREST LEAVES.

89

The Bitter Nut Hickory. (Carya amara,

Nutt.)

THIS tree is sometimes called the swamp
hickory. It has a wide range, extending
from Maine to the Saint Lawrence Valley,
west to Nebraska and south to Texas. It also ap-
pears in Florida. The name swamp hickory, so
far as we are concerned, is rather misleading. It
is true that it grows in swamps ; but it is also true
that it flourishes luxuriantly on land which is
wholly dry. The bark of the tree is of^a close,
compact pattern. It shows nothing of tlie rough-
ness of the shellbark and is smoother even than
that of the common hickory nut. The tree is
best distinguished by yellow buds and its small,
narrow, pointed leaflets, which are from seven to
eleven (more commonly the latter) in number.
The fruit, at first sweet, is more or less bitter, or
one might say, astringent and bitter. The shell
proper is thin and smooth, and the outer husk is
also thin, having six narrow ridges, usually clearly

marked.

More than most of our trees it shows a tendency
to produce several shoots from the same root. Of
course, one might readily understand this if they
were a second growth, coming as sprouts from a
stump. But in many instances where this occurs
there is no reason to think that it is anything else
than an original growth.

Taken as a whole, the hickories are a very vari-
able group. It is sometimes hard to say just what
a given specimen should be called. The bitter
nut is, however, in Pennsylvania probably as dis-
tinctly marked as any species except the genuine
shellbark.

As a wood for mechanical purposes it does not
appear to be in so great demand as the shellbark
and the pignut, or even as the white-heart hickory.
It is the lightest of all our Pennsylvania hickories,
and taking all those of the United States, the
** pecan*' and the '* bitter pecan ** (both of which
are southern forms), alone are lighter than our
'* bitter nut." The specific gravity of the species
under consideration is 0.7552 ; percentage of ash,
1.03; relative approximate fuel value, 0.7474;
weight in pounds of a cubic foot of dry wood,
47.06 ; relative strength, 32.

Like all other hickories, this one decays speed-
ily when in exposed situations.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

— Ten years ago the logs in Wisconsin ran four
or five to 1000 feet of lumber. Now, twelve, fif-
teen and even twenty logs are required to furnish
as much. In five years the decrease in diameter of
the pine trees cut for lumber has been 35 per
cent. — Public Ledger.

Some Errors of the Early Tree Planters
of the Northwest.

THE forest problem in the United States pre-
sents peculiarities of its own. No other
country at present interested in the ques-
tions of forest management has any treeless area
comparable to our great Northwest. Where not
many years ago a plowman might have guided his
'* breaker " in a northerly direction for a hundred
miles, or even more, without finding an obstruc-
tion, not a stump or a stone to cause a deviation
to the right or to the left, the condition has been
greatly modified by settlement. Yet there is no
portion of our commonwealth that to-day feels the
need of a complete and systematic system of re-
forestation more than does this great agricultural
region. Eighteen years ago when this country
was first being occupied, active measures were in
vogue both under United States and State juris-
diction to encourage tree planting; and thousands
of acres of trees were set ; the results, however,
are, at present, a hindrance to any effort to extend
the limits of the tree area of the country. There
are obvious reasons for this ; in the first place a
mistake was made in the trees selected for these
plantations. These were indiscriminately planted
over the prairie, and if any distinction was made
it was in favor of the high ground. Every one
familiar with the habits of growth of the cotton-
wood, will see the error committed, for it is a tree
loving an abundance of room and moisture. It
will not tolerate crowding. But the grove plant-
ers forgot this and set their young trees four feet
apart each way, and did not thin them as they
began to require more space. The results are
too apparent, and the whitened trunks and branch-
es of trees that had attained a heighth of thirty
feet are a more impressive lesson to the tree plant-
er of to-day than anything that can be said or
written. They say to every passer-by—'* No use
planting trees here."

The White Willow (Salix alba), which was a
companion of the cotton wood, telk the same sad
story, the dry site too often selected for it together
with the defoliation by the Willow Saw-fly (^Sym-
bex Americana ) has placed it in the whitened row
with its fellow the cottonwood. With such facts
as these confronting us our progress is necessarily
slow and up a very hard road.

These failures beside calling a halt in the work
of tree planting teach this lesson, — Do not repeat
the error in other new countries, as the reaction
from such widespread failures is very slow, and it
would be better to have had no trees at all than
to have the conviction wide spread that trees will
not grow in any given locality.

Cottonwoods are not long lived, they will not
tolerate close planting for any considerable length

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FOREST LEAVES.

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of time, and they cannot endure the extra drain-
age and drying of the high ground. In low places,
along streams and rivers, the cottonwood finds its
proper environment, it is a native common to the
river banks of the prairie region, but will not en-
dure the conditions mentioned.

It seems strange that of all the native trees of
the Northwest the cottonwood alone should have
been selected for general plantations, when it is
the only one of the long list that could have
brought such a strong reverse to the tree planting
interests of the region. Its only recommendations
are its rapid growth and cheapness.

The experience of those planting cottonwoods
cost them dearly, but the later planters have profi-
ted by this and the thriving plantations of to-day
are composed of ash, elm, cherry, and walnut with
box elder as a nurse tree.

It is not advisable to plant even the hardier
sorts such as the ash and elm in plats by them-
selves, they should be interspersed with some con-
genial, rapid growing, dense foliaged trees in order
that they may be stimulated to a more rapid up-
right growth. So far nothing has come before tree
planters equaling the box elder for a nurse tree.
The poplars are of rapid growth and short lived,
two advantages for a nurse tree, but they are pyra-
midal in form and have scanty foliage as compared
with box elder. They are, therefore, not well
suited to give the shade and protection needed
by young trees of slower growth. Many fine
groves composed of various combinations of the
hardy, slow growing species are to be found scat-
tered here and there over the prairie, and as soon
as the whitened monuments of early mistakes have
been cleared away, the Northwest will have a
firm foundation upon which to build its future
system of forest management.

L. C. CoRBETT.

South Dakota Experimknt Station,
Brookinos, S. D.

Miss Grace Anna Lewis deserves the thanks and
the patronage of every lover of trees. The first
one of her beautiful leaf charts is known to and
appreciated by many of the readers of this journal.
She now announces that number three of the se-
ries is in preparation. Within a year the entire
series is expected to be complete. Each chart
costs but half a dollar. The school district must
be poor indeed if it is unable to purchase and place
before the pupils an entire set. They will not only
enable teacher and scholar to recognize the native
trees, but they will cultivate the taste, and be the
best of copies for drawing lessons.

J. T. R,

Fall Arbor Day,

THE Spring Arbor Day proclamation was is-
sued by the Governor of Pennsylvania,
but the date of the Fall Arbor Day (Oc-
tober 1 8th) was announced by Dr. N. C. Schaeffer,
State Superintendent of Instruction. While the
celebration of the former day was taken part in
by many schools and private individuals, the ob-
servance of the Fall Arbor Day was confined
more strictly to the schools. In the Philadelphia
schools no general action was taken, but through-
out the State the day was celebrated, in some in-
stances elaborate programmes being prepared.
The details of the Arbor Day celebrations at the
Lancaster, Pa., and Wilmington, Del. (where the
same day was observed), High Schools will serve
as examples of what was done.

The pupils of the High Schools on West
Orange Street, Lancaster, planted one hundred
and fifty trees, had stirring songs, music by their
orchestra, readings and a formal address by Dr.
J. P. McCaskey, the principal of the school, on
the '* Dr. Burrowes Memorial Elms.*' Dr. Mc-
Caskey spoke of the American elms growing on
one side of the school which were planted by Dr.
Thomas H. Burrowes, this being his favorite tree.
He planted many others during his life in places
widely separated, many of the fine trees on the
Pennsylvania State College campus being placed
there by him.

He little dreamed when, with unselfish labor, he
did the planting in Lancaster upon the public
school grounds and on the street, that these same
trees would, nearly a half century later, come to
be spoken of and regarded as the ** Dr. Burrowes
Memorial Elms" — a memorial that needs only to
be named to be at once recognized as most fitting
and beautiful.

And yet these are but a passing type and shadow
of the grander trees with whose planting, in
like unselfish spirit and with like generous enthus-
iasm, this man had so much to do here in Penn-
sylvania.

The following suggestive words from the late
George William Curtis, were written perhaps with-
in sight and sound of the trees about his beautiful
country home on Staten Island :

*' So, trained by Arbor Day, as the children
cease to be children, they will feel the spiritual
and refining influence, the symbolical beauty of
the trees. Like men, they begin tenderly and
grow larger and larger, in greater strength, more
deeply rooted, more widely spreading, stretching
leafy boughs for birds to build in, shading the
cattle that chew the cud and graze in peace, deck-
ing themselves in blossoms and ever-changing
foliage, and murmuring with rustling music by
day and night. The thoughtful youth will see a

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FOREST LEAVES.

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noble image of the strong man struggling with
obstacles that he overcomes, in a tree wrestling
mightily with the wintry gales, and extorting a
glorious music from the storms which it triumph-
antly defies.

'*Arbor Day will make the country visibly
more beautiful every year. Every little commun-
ity, every school district, will contribute to the
good work. The school house will gradually be-
come an ornament, as it is already the great bene-
fit of the locality, and the children will be put in
the way of living upon more friendly and intelli-
gent terms with the beautiful nature which is so
friendly to us."

The Wilmington, Del., Every Evening says:
The first Arbor Day celebration in Wilmington
will long be remembered by the teachers and
scholars in the public schools, as well as by thous-
ands of parents and friends of the educational in-
stitutions. As soon as it became known that there
was to be an Arbor Day celebration, the teachers
and scholars and members of the Board of Edu-
cation began to make preparations, the child-
ren quickly grasped the idea and co-operated to
make the occasion a decided success, and the
gentlemen who conceived the idea are extremely

gratified.

One of the hardest workers in making the pre-
parations was Dr. J. W. Crumbaugh, who labored
diligently and soon had his fellow-members in the
board as enthusiastic as he.

At each school there was speaking by one or
more prominent persons, who familiarized them-
selves with the subject, and who evidently found
great pleasure in eulogizing the day and advising
the boys and girls. With many of the speakers
the occasion appeared like a holiday, and some of
them, in fact most of them, were patriotic in their
addresses. The speeches had an excellent effect
on the pupils, and implanted in many of them
patriotism such as they had never felt before.

Most of the schools had musical and literary
programmes, and in some instances the exercises
occupied the greater part of the afternoon.
Several schools celebrated in the morning.

As would naturally be expected, the High School
led in the celebration. The feature of the occa-
sion was the masterly address by Dr. Rothrock,
Forestry Commissioner of Pennsylvania. There
was a good attendance and his remarks were
highly appreciated. After the speaking, a pleas-
ing programme was given by the scholars, the fea-
ture of which was the planting of ivy vines on
the Eighth and Adams streets side of the building.
In the evening Dr. Rothrock delivered an interest-
ing lecture at the school.

Present Laws if Enforced May Protect
Forests from Fires.

TV LTHOUGH friends of the forests were dis-
j^A appointed that the Pennsylvania Legisla-

^ ture failed to enact stringent fire laws, it
seems possible to secure the enforcement of exist-
ing laws through the co-operation of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture. In the following letter which
will explain itself we have taken the liberty to
emphasize passages by italics. •

Office of the Attorney General,

Harrisburg, Pa., Oct. 25, 1895*

Hon. Thomas J. Edge,

Secretary of Agriculture.

Sir: Your favor of the 24th inst., addressed to
the Attorney General, has just been received.
You ask to be advised upon the question of your
duties in reference to the protection of timber
lands against forest fires.

The Act creating your Department, approved
March 13, A.D., 1895, requires you " to make and
carry out rules and regulations for the enforcement
of all laws designed* to protect forests from fires,
and from all illegal depredations and destruction,
and report the same annually to the Governor."
What rules and regulations you make to effectuate
this purpose are largely within your own discre-
tion, so far as the same are confined within the
limits of the law. It would seem as if there should
be some additional legislation upon this question.
The Act of June 2, 1870 (P. L. 1356), makes it
the duty of the County Commissioners of the several
counties to appoint persons under oath, who shall
be required to ferret out and bring to punishment
all persons who willfully or otherwise cause the
burning of timber lands , and to take measures to
have such fires extinguished where it can be done,
the expense thereof to be paid out of the County
Treasury, This act is still in force, and I am of
the opinion that, under the authority conferred
upon you by the act creating your Department,
above referred to, you would be justified in call-
ing the attention of the County Commissioners
to the provisions thereof, and asking them to co-
operate with you in this matter of preventing for-
est fires, so far as possible, and of apprehending
and punishing persons who start such fires wilfully

or negligently.

Very respectfully yours,

Jno. p. Elkin,
Deputy Attorney General,

The state therefore has it in its Forestry Com-
missioner an officer who has authority to notify
County Commissioners of their duty in reference
to forest fires, and who through the Secretary of

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FOREST LEAVES,

Agriculture can report dereliction to the Gov-
ernor.

The Department of Agriculture has already
taken steps to have County Commissioners and
others know what existing laws demand in the
following circular ;

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Department of Agriculture.

Division of Forestry.

Harrisburg,

1895.

Dear Sir : Your attention is hereby called to
the accompanying opinion from the office of the
Attorney General of the Commonwealth. The
prolonged drought, and the consequent dry con-
dition of the forests, would seem to justify some
special effort this season to avert an unusual and
alarming destruction of property.

It can now be stated with some certainty that
the annual direct loss to this Commonwealth by
forest fires exceeds a million of dolLrs. Most of
these fires owe their origin to ignorance, careless-
ness or maliciousness. Neither of these causes
can be considered as sufficient to screen the offen-
der from punishment. Yet, so far as we are
aware, in few instances, if indeed in any, has the
offender been brought to justice.

It is proper to call your attention to the fact
that the consequences of these fires fall with pecu-
liar severity upon thousands of farmers whose
holdings are surrounded by woods. In some in-
stances, almost the whole of their fences are de-
stroyed, and there are regions where a year seldom
passes without some such destructive visitation.
Besides the loss of property, the work upon the
farms is suspended, and often additional hands
hired to guard property. Such an instance has
recently been furnished in Logan township, Hunt-
ingdon county, where almost the entire community
was engaged in fightmg fire day and night for
nearly an entire week, and where, in spite of this,
the loss to the individual farmers has in some
cases been very heavy.

Very Respectfully,
Thomas J. Edge,
Secretary of Agriculture.

J. T. ROTHROCK,

Forestry Commissioner ,

In addition Dr. Rothrock has prepared and is-
sued a series of queries which will permit him to
present the cost of forest fires in the State from
actual data collected. We reprint these queries
to show what is being done, and in hopes that
they may thus be brought to the attention of some
who may not receive the circular, but who can
supply information. We are confident Dr. Roth-
rock will welcome any data which any reader of
Forest Leaves may offer.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Department of Agriculture,

Division of Forestry.

Harrisburg, 1895.

Dear Sir : We beg permission to direct your
personal attention to the accompanying documents.
In view of the peculiar severity with which these
frequent forest fires very often fall upon the farmer,
it is thought that you will co-operate with the
Commissioner of Forestry in his efforts to ascer-
tain what the actual losses are, that we may have
a basis upon which to ask for such legislation as
will diminish the frequency of these fires, by
bringing the offenders to justice.

Thanking you in advance for such assistance, I
would ask you to inform me upon the following
points.

1. Are forest fires frequent in your county?

2. At what season are they most frequent ?

3. How are they caused ?

Please specify under the following heads, so far
as you can, the form and amount of loss ;

a. How many acres can you discover have been
burned over?

b. Was much valuable timber destroyed?

c. Were many fences destroyed ?

d. How many men were engaged in fighting
fires ?

e. How long were they so engaged ?

/. Do you know of any loss of buildings, of
human life or domestic animals from forest fires?

Sign your name

Post Office

County

Very Respectfully,
J. T. Rothrock,
Commissioner of Forestry.

Autumn Meeting of the New Jersey
Forestry Association.

ON the 8th and 9th of November a meeting
of the New Jersey Forestry Association
was held in Lakewood, Ocean County, N.
J. Several prominent foresters were present from
neighboring states. Col. W. F. Fox, Supt. State
Forests of New York, B. E. Fernow, Chief of the
Division of Forestry, Washington, D. C, Dr.
Joseph T. Rothrock, Forestry Commissioner for
Pennsylvania and Mr. Gifford Pinchot of New
York City. Others present were the Hon. Aug.
W. Cutter, H. I. Budd, State Road Commissioner,
Hon. Franklin Dye, Secretary State Board of Ag-
riculture, Judge Geo. Wheeler, Mrs. A. B. S.
Pond, Mrs. E. D. McCarthy, Dr. T. Price, Mr.
H. L. Sabsovich and several owners of large tracts
of land near Lakewood.

FOREST LEAVES.

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Those who arrived on the morning train inspec-
ted the woods in the vicinity of Lakewood where
large sums of money have been spent for their
protection and improvement. All agreed that
although living underbrush increases the danger
from fires it is generally essential to the growth of
trees, at least during a part of their life, especially
in soils which are naturally poor. While the
woods in the region consist mainly of Finus rigida
and Finus echinita with here and there a clump
of Finus Virgiana, all were suprised to find such a
variety of oaks in the neighborhood. At that
time the leaves were brightly colored, especially
those of Quercus coccinea^ which together with
the dark green of the hollies, pines, cedars and
other evergreens, formed a great variety of color-
ing but which unfortunately did not show off to
good advantage owing to the flatness of the country.
At the Laurel House from 7 to 8 p.m. a business
meeting was held. A new constitution was pre-
sented and adopted and the following officers for
the ensuing year were elected :

Fresident, Hon. Aug. Cutter. Vice Fresidents,
W. A. Stiles, Capt. A. M. Bradshaw, Mrs. John C.
S. Davis. Secretary and Treasurer, ]o\in Gifford.
Executive Committee, Franklin Dye, John Hall,
L. B. Ward, Miss Susan Lippincott.

The business meeting was followed by a beau- |
tifully illustrated, instructive and interesting lec-
ture by Dr. Jos. T. Rothrock on the ** Relation of
Forests to the Surface of the Earth." He spoke
of the effects of drifting sand, of the ravages of
flood and fire, in short of the great service of the'
forest to mankind, not only in supplying many
useful products but by lessening in many ways the
destructive forces of nature.

The speaker was followed by Mr. B. E. Fernow,
who spoke of forest fire and its prevention. He
was the originator of the New York Fire Law
which in a modified form is in operation in several
other states. He remarked that fire could be re-
duced to a minimum the same as crime by constant
vigilance and the construction of the proper kind
of fire lanes. He emphasized the fact that the
perfect organization of a force of State wardens
knowing and exercising their powers and duties
is the only practical way to prevent and extinguish

fire.

Hon. Aug. Cutter spoke of the work in forestry
already done in the state of New Jersey, and as-
sured the association of his interest and support.
Mr. Cutter is an active leader of forest reform in
the State of New Jersey. For many years he has
been patiently working for the betterment of the
farm and forest lands of the state and in increas-
ing the number and improving the condition of
our common schools. The New Jersey association
has reason to congratulate itself in being able to
secure such an able and distinguished president.

The following morning the party went by train
to Chatsworth in the heart of the pines. Teams
were in waiting to convey the participants through
the pine woods over an extremely sandy road to
the "Plains,** a remarkable region in South Jer-
sey. The woods along the road consist mainly
of pitch pine much damaged by fire. Soon a re-
gion 15,000 acres in extent is reached, where the
growth, seldom higher than one*s waist, consists
mainly of laurel and second growth pitch pine.
The region is hilly and not unlike the sage brush
country of the west. There was considerable
discussion as to the cause of this condition of af-
fairs. The prevailing opinion being that the
Plains are due to repeated forest fires in combina-
tion with an obstinate, gravelly soil and dryness
due to the nature of the soil and the hilliness of

the region.

After partaking of lunch the party returned by
another road passing through pine, savanna and
cranberry lands with here and there a swamp of
white cedar, a valuable soft wood which in the
peculiar soil and climate of South Jersey finds
suitable environment. The party stopped here
and there to gather pitcher plants and other un-
usual flora for which the region is famous. A group
of white pines planted in white sand, tweijity-
four years ago was also inspected. After visiting
a group of Jersey scrub pines {Finus Virgiana) the
party returned to the station and dispersed after

an unusually pleasant excursion.

John Gifford.

Deforestation and Rainfall.

SCRANTON Truth has the following, from
the vigorous pen of Miss Dickinson. We
commend it to the careful consideration of
our law makers. Forests would have mitigated this
condition bv conserving the rainfall:

The prolonged summer and autumn drought con-
tinues. What rain has fallen in some places during
the last month (October) has given to certain neigh-
borhoods partial temporary relief. But the streams
continue in most places at a fearfully low ebb,
crops have suffered far and near, reservoirs are
running so low that town after town, community
upon community, is suffering intensely for lack of
drinking water, while the supply for other purposes
is almost wholly cut off. Railroads are moving
none but perishable freight over many routes be-
cause of total lack of water for their engines. Nor

is this all.

A partial summary of the situation over the
greater portion of Pennsylvania has been supplied
by an observer from Pittsburg who has been inves-
tigating. Some bits from his report are :

** There is little prospect of a coal stage in the

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

rivers until the winter rise. Every coal miner in
the Monongahela is idle. All the boats and barges
are loaded, and fifteen million bushels of coal have
been waiting three months for higher water on
which to go south. Cincinnati, Louisville, Mem-
phis, and all other river cities are beginning to ex-
l)erience higher coal prices owing to the inability
of dealers to lay in stock. Along the Monongahela
River the rainfall during September was but half
an inch. At many points railroads are being
forced to haul water for their engines. Water is
being hauled daily from HoUidaysburg to supply
the Pennsylvania Railroad shops at Altoona. In
the mountains east of Johnstown the water famine
is at its height. Nine-tenths of the small towns
have strictly limited the consumption of water by
police regulations. A large number of towns have
cut off shops and mills, forcing them to resort to
artesian wells. The southern portion of the State,
from Altoona down, has felt the drought worse
than any other part, owing to the decrease of rain-
fall which keeps pace with decrease of forest
land northward. In Lawrence, Mercer and ad-
joining counties farmers are selling their stock be-
cause of the difficulty of keeping cattle watered.
Herds are driven for miles daily to such streams
as have not dried up, while water for domestic
purposes must be hauled, as springs and cisterns
are empty. Portions of the great swamps in North-
western Pennsylvania, which are expected to fur-
nish some of the water for the projected Ohio River
and Lake Erie ship canals are reported dried up.
Sandy Lake in Mercer County has fallen several
feet, and other lakes are in the same condition.
Fish have died by the hundreds in water courses
that are dry in places for miles. Owing to the
large amount of timber land in West Virginia af-
fairs there are not as bad as farther north."

And still deforestation goes recklessly on, while
reforestration where attended to at all is done by
planting trees in scores where they should be set
out in thousands. That has been done in some
places in the far West ; as one report recently said :
*' Thousands of trees have been set out in a day by
the aid of machinery adapted to the purpose."

It is time for the people of Pennsylvania to in-
sist that the State shall take the hundreds of thou-
sands of acres made useless by deforestration and
replant them and guard them. The people's
money, the money in the treasury, can be used for
no more vital purpose than keeping the State fit
for the habitation of man instead pf being turned
into a desolation within the next century.

Practical Work,

PELIEVING that Forest Leaves would be in-
terested to learn of any practical work, hav-
ing for its object the careful preservation
and improvement of our forest and wood lands, has
prompted the sending of an item along this line,
as an encouragement and exhortation for others to
follow.

On what is known as the Frazer Branch of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, about two miles north of
West Chester, at Green Hill Station, a tract of
land, embracing several hundred acres, overlook-
ing the country for miles around, has been pur-
chased by a company of Philadelphia business
men and capitalists, known as the Chester County
Land Company, and greatly beautified and im-
proved by the planting of shade and ornamental
trees on the various building sites and the making
of broad, winding avenues.

About one-third of the property is covered
with beautiful wood land, and it occurred to the
minds of the gentlemen composing the Board of
Directors, that not only should the various build-
ing sites be prettily planted and ornamented, but
the wood land should also be attended to in the
same intelligent and thorough manner. The aim
being to preserve, perpetuate, and improve rather
than to clear off indiscriminately with a thought
only of the present. With this end in view, the
company secured the services of Mr. F. R. Meier,
a professional forester, to view the grounds, mark
and designate those trees that should properly be
removed.

This work was carefully and thoroughly carried
out under the supervision of Mr. Meier and Sam-
uel Wagner, Esq., President of the Wagner Free
Institute of Science, of Philadelphia, and an offi-
cer of the Company, whose beautiful country seat
is on the property.

This is a new departure for even intelligent
Chester County.

The idea that any particular experience or in-
telligence being required to cut off wood land
other than to have practical knowledge of the quick-
est and best way of cutting down trees, never seems
to have occurred to the average farmer and land
owner hereabouts. The example thus set in this
community, it is hoped, will be followed not only
here but throughout the State.

Any one interested who may care to investigate,
may view the property of the Company at any
time and see for themselves just what can be ac-
complished by intelligent effort, rather than to go
blindly forward with the entire destruction of our
beautiful wood lands without thought for the future.

Such work for the preservation and improve-
ment of our forests is deserving of the highest
commendation.

Here in Chester County it has been the custom
in the past, and is still being followed to-day, to
clear wood land by cutting Away everything, old
trees and young growth, without even a thought
of the future. Having in mind only the matter
of immediate profit and convenience in cutting,
and in this thoughtless way thousands of trees are
destroyed that should remain for future genera-
tions. If in this way, by example, by positive
proof on the ground, by being brought face to
face with the stubborn fact, that in the end it is
not only better, but positively more profitable, to
intelligently preserve than to totally destroy our
trees, great good will be accomplished in the line
of forest preservation. Joseph Kift, Jr.

West Chester, Pa.

i^_>^:^

Correspondence.

Editor of Forest Leaves :

In the October number, page 73, Dr. Rothrock,
in his article on the ** Locust" i^Robinia Pseuda-
cacid) speaks in a rather skeptical manner of the
value of its leaves as forage for cattle. There is,
however, good ground for the statement which he
quotes. I know from observation, the avidity and
apparent relish with which the succulent foliage of
this tree is eaten by sheep and goats. This was a
very common article of diet of a sheep and goat
which were pets of the children of our family.
These animals would eat the foliage of the locust,
apparently preferring it to other succulent food.
I do not remember ever noticing either of them
eating the dead leaves of the tree, />., leaves
which, having completed their usefulness as organs
of the plant, had fallen in consequence, but the
leaves taken from the tree while in an active vege-
tating condition, were eaten with as much relish,
seemingly, when dry as when green.

L. C. CORBETT.

A FRIEND of ours was recently passing along
an important railroad line. There sat
behind him a gentleman who had once
been a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature.
*^The river is low," remarked a third party.
*^ Yes," said the law maker ; ^* but it is not as low
as it was in August. You see when the air gets
colder it gets lighter and then the water comes up
out of the ground."

The legislator may be right ; but if he is all
philosophy is wrong.

E

Suit for Loss of a Shade Tree.

LECTRIC AL circles are interested in a novel
I suit just decided in the Common Pleas
Court, of Pittsburg. It was that of James
vs. City of Allegheny for $2500 damages for the
loss of a shade tree said to have been killed by an
electric light wire. Experts testified that direct
currents might injure the tree, but in this case an
alternating current was used. The plaintiff tried
to show that the wire had worn into the woody
fibres and sap. These material facts of contact
were not made plain, and the jury found for the
defendant. The case has stirred up much interest in
electrical circles, and as a result the Pittsburg Elec-
trical Bureau proposes to make a series of experi-
ments with the alternating and direct currents to
ascertain the effects they will have no vegetation.

New Books.

Report on Forestry, 18^4. Geological Survey
of New Jersey, Trenton, N. J. Pamphlet, 64
pages, 8vo. This monograph forms a part of the
Annual Report of the State Geologist, and is
composed of two parts, one prepared by Mr. C.
C. Vermeule, treating of forestry in the northern
portion of the State, and the second compiled by
Mr. John Gifford is a preliminary report on the
forest conditions of South Jersey. It is also ac-
companied by a map, showing by differently col-
ored areas, the percentage of the State which may
be considered as forests. The statement is made
that over two million acres are in forest in differ-
ent portions of the State, of which 46 per cent,
is found in the upland sections of the state. The
report is a valuable one setting forth the extent,
location and character of the forest lands, the
causes of the forest fires which annually destroy
about a million dollars worth of timber, also
methods of prevention, etc., closing with chapters
on forest influences and economics.

Hough's American Woods, evidently, has met
with the appreciation which the publication de-
serves, Part VI. having opportunely appeared as a
suggestive Christmas gift.

This part is the first instalment of sections of
the remarkable woods of the Pacific coast, the
five parts which preceded being devoted to the
woods of the Eastern United States.

When examining these unique and beautiful
sections of wood, we were impressed anew with
the wonderland which lies hidden within tree-
trunks. Especially was this true when a section
displayed the minute structure of a part of the
giant sequoias of California. In fact, each of
Mr. Hough's admirable suite of sections is a
revelation, and they are of material aid in the
study of wood structure, while the sections, when
examined in connection with the text, are a
treatise upon American woods. To those in-
terested Mr. Hough's announcement in our
advertising columns will supply the desired in-
formation.

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FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

OF

rw ^ PHUfADBIiEHtt

.JCH^S^'p^^li-^O'N HIGHEST aigiTlOH

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

i^ Del SuR Ranch Co.

(Incorporated.) Owners of 1440 acres of the best foot-hill

ALMOND LAND OLIVE

in Southern California, will plant for themselves, this winter'
from three to four hundred acres to Almonds and Olives. They
will sell some of tbelr land, plant and care for it until
in bearing, on very liberal co-operative terms.

ALMOND EIGHT AND OlIVE TEN SEMI-ANNUAL PAYMENTS.

This makes it easy to acquire a valuable income-producinp: proj*-
erty. An income sure to increase ruith age. The whole plan is fully
explained in a circular to be had free on application to the office
of the RASrCH CO.^ 1227 Trenton St., liOS ANGE-
liES, CAIi., or (one of the owners)

030 Chestnut Street.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.

New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles References.

GEO. EAKINS

OpTAL PLANE,

Tlie Best Tree tor Street anJ Avenue PlaEting.

Trees of good size, 75 cents, $1.00,

and $1.50 each. Special Rates

in Quantity.

It will pay you to send for our new Catalogue,

which tells of Hardy Trees, Shrubs,

Plants, Roses, Fruit, and our special
stock of Rhododendrons. It will interest
all who are interested in such matters.

ANDORRA NURSERIES,

Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa.

WM. WARNER HARPER, Manager.

The Puhlication Committee of the Penn-
aylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertising space in Forest
Leaves. 2400 copies now reach readet*s
interested in tree planting and culture.

H

OUCH'S "AMERICAN WOODS" - - -

A publication in b(x)k form illustrated by Actual Spkcimfns of our native woods. Send for information
and inclose 10 cents for specimens before making Holiday purchases.

l^liat Critics Say of '* American l^oodH.**

This is a unique and beautiful publication for which the lovers of nature owe a great debt to Mr. Hough.— School Journal. New York.
You must be working more in the interest of mankind generally than for yourself to furnish so much for so small a compensation.—

C. H. Baker, C. E.. Seattle, Wash.
1 know of nothing so well calculated to make young i)eople fall in love with trees, etc.— E. H. Russell, Esq., Principal, Normal School,

Worcester, Mass.

SXERHOPTICOB^ SI.IDHS OF l^OODS

Thest; render possible the perfect projection, from nature itself, of characteristic wood structures.

HIICROSCOPH SI.IDHS OF ^WOOD^S

Revealing beautifully minute stnicture, three different sections of each wood being mounted together under one cover-glass.

l^OODH^ CROSS- SBCTIOl^ CARDS, blank or printed to order

Of ivory-like smoothness and perfectly adapted to printing (with type or steel pla:^), painting, ink-work, etc.

Send Stamp for Samples.

R.^B. HOUOH, I^owTille, ]N. V.

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Philadelphia, February, 1896.

No. 7

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

25 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

'^/c^Am iwi/r- " CONTENTS.

Editorials 97-99

Redwood for Pencils 99

American Forestry Associa-
tion — Fourteenth Aiuiual

Meeting 100-102

The Forestry Commissioner's Report on Forest Fires 102-103

The Swamp White Oak. (Quercus bicolor.) 104

Report of the Executive Committee of the American forestry

Association for 1895 •• k--" 105-107

The Destruction and Repair of our Natural Resources 107-109

New Books ^°9

Subscription, $1.00 per Year.

The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
0/ FoKEST Leaves as an advertising medium. Kates will be fur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
John Birkinbine, Chairman, 25 North Juniper Stre*et.
Dr. J. T, RoTHKOCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLER, 1820 Master Street.
Prof. VVm. P. Wilson, 640 N. 32d Street.
B. WiTMAN Damblv, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,

' Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and

National.

Annual membership fee. One dollar.

Life membership. Fifteen dollars. . .

Neither the memben.hip nor the work of this Association is intended
to be Umited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names toA.B. IVeimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee 512 Walnut street, Phila.

yV^jzV/^«/, John Birkinbine. ..,,,. i r-

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Prof. Wm. P. Wilson.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.

rr<raj«r^r, Charles E. Pancoast. *.r ji tM w c

Council-at- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. hlwyn, W. S.

'council from Philadelphia County, J. Rodman Paul, A B. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Eli Kirk Price, Henry Budd, Henry Howson, Miss

Sarah F. Corlies. r.- j n mir e v 1

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. T. Biddle, Wm. b. Kirk,

Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery, James Monagh.-in.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna lx:wis, Charles

'C^ndi from Montgomery Countv, Dr. H. M. FisJier, Dr Alice
Bennett, Dr. J. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Office of the Assoclation, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

1THE annual meeting of the American Forestry
Association, of which through the courtesy
of Mr. F. H. Newell, Corresponding Secre-
tary, we are able to give a record in another col-
umn, was of a most encouraging character. There
was no large attendance to produce this encour-
agement, for a mere handful of earnest workers
were present at the business sessions, but the eve-
ning meeting was a decided step in advance, and
evidenced the efforts of Mr. B. E. Fernow, chief
of the Forestry Division.

The National Geographic Society, by acting
conjointly with the American Forestry Associa-
tion, endorsed the efforts for forest reform in an
emphatic manner, and an audience of probably
five hundred of the most intelligent citizens of
Washington, by their presence and attention in
the heighth of the social season at the capital,
showed their interest in the efforts to preserve and
propagate forest growth. But, without depreciat-
ing the value of such support, we feel that the
friends of forestry can be especially congratulated
upon the fact that the men who must pass upon
any legislation proposed for forest protection, and
some of those who may be expected to execute
such laws, if enacted, placed themselves squarely
on the platform of forest reform. When the
chairmen of the Committees on Public Lands, in
both the United States Senate and in the House
of Representatives, and a member and former
chairman of the latter committee, stand before
an audience of the character which faced them,
and plead for forest reserves or protection against
forest devastation ; and when a member of the
Cabinet, the Secretary of Agriculture, presides at
such a meeting, and' is supported by such men
as the Director of the United States Geological
Survey, the chief of the Forestry Division, and
by other government officials, we claim that there
is great reason for encouragement.

It was our privilege to be present at this meet-

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FOREST LEAVES.

ing, and we regret that our limited space, and
the impossibility of securing the copy in time for
issue, prevents giving the speeches in full, for the
arguments used by the various speakers were such
as to indicate a knowledge of existing conditions
and an appreciation of the necessity of prompt,
decisive action. Excerpts from Mr. Lacey's ad-
dress appear on another i)age.

From the pronounced position taken, we feel
justified in asserting that Senator F. T. Dubois, of
Idaho, and Congressman J. F. Lacey, of Iowa,
chairmen of the Committees on Public Lands, may
be considered as among the pronounced friends
of forest reform, taking position with Congress-
man Thomas C. McRae, of Arkansas, the author
of the McRae bill, and Secretary J. Sterling
Morton, whose personal letter carries the legend,
'^ plant trees." J. B.

>j* #|« *7* ^l*

The retirement of Dr. N. H. Egleston from the
office of Recording Secretary of the American
Forestry Association withdraws from a prominent
position one who has for years been an active
advocate of forest reform. That Dr. Egleston 's
retirement does not indicate a decrease of interest
in the movement is evident from the fact that he
Drepared the copy of the report of the Executive
Committee, at considerable personal inconveni-
ence, so as to be in time for this issue of Forest
Leaves, a courtesy which our readers will appre-
ciate. While we regret Dr. Egleston*s withdrawal
from the office of Recording Secretary, we recog-
nize the value of his services in the past, and feel
confident that his efforts to advance the cause we

represent will not be abated.
9K ^ 3|e

J. B.

While the effort made to secure forest preserves
in Pennsylvania through legislation failed to pro-
duce any tangible result, interest in such reserva-
tions was enlisted, and we hoi)e that the Legislature
which meets a year hence, will place the Keystone
State in line with the Empire State in this spirit of
progress. Legislators cannot be expected to grasp
the details or to judge of the merits of each measure
presented for their consideration without the as-
sistance of those who have special knowledge, nor
can they be fairly asked to voice the opinions of
their constituents until they are advised of such
opinions.

Iklieving that in no other way can Forest
Leaves so well advance the cause of forestry and
benefit the State of Pennsylvania as well as other
commonwealths, we purpose keeping before our
readers the question of establishing forest reserves
upon the head-waters of our prominent streams.
Our hope is that we will be able to present such
facts, backed by opinions, which will be respected,
thus strengthening the faith of each one now
favorable to such reservations, and enlisting the in-

terest of those who are careless upon a subject
which has such an intimate influence on the pre-
sent wealth of the State and which will benefit
coming generations.

Our efforts will be directed towards demonstrat-
ing the possible climatic influences which may
be expected to follow the foresting of lands now
bare of timber, the protection which forest cover
will give to lands which now unprotected, are
eroded and wasted. The conservation of water
supply, much of which now passes off in floods,
and the addition which water powers of constant
volume will bring to the wealth of the State, the
revenue which will result from the proper care and
cutting of forests, and the sanitary influences of
wooded areas will also receive attention. We wish
the readers of Forest Leaves to have the data
ready for use, and through their influence it is
hoped that the movement favoring forest reserva-
tions on the headwaters of our prominent streams
will receive fresh impetus and volume. J. B.

*1^ «1# ^u ^ ^U

^^ ^* ^f* *j* ^f*

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association has en-
tered on another year and we hope another decade
of work which should produce results in advance
of what has heretofore followed its efforts. We
are not discouraged by what has been achieved,
but as shown in former articles, we have reason to
be greatly encouraged. This is not, however, time
for self satisfaction ; the work before us is pressing
and needs all the time and attention each friend
of forestry can give. Each day trees are falling
before the axe, not only in the proper utilization
of our matured wooded areas, but trees too young
to be thus sacrificed are hewn down, the debris
being left to feed forest fires which destroy the for-
est floor. Before the Legislature of Pennsylvania
meets on January r, 1897, many acres, possibly
square miles of land which should be productive
will be given up to fire and erosion.

We believe that under the active direction of
the Forestry Commission, some effort towards
checking forest fires and punishing those who are
responsible will characterize the year 1896, but
even the application of our existing laws will re-
quire the co-operation of all friends of forestry.
We can look for no new legislation for a year or
more, but we can each render efficient aid by
creating public sentiment and by having this senti-
ment in effective condition for immediate use by
concentrating it in the Pennsylvania Forestry As-
sociation. This organization should go-before the
next Legislature with its members numbered by
thousands, and this is possible if each friend of
forestry is enrolled in it. J. B.

3|c He 3|( He H(

In a lengthy editorial upon sub-soil plowing, the
Western Plowman presents some facts and opin-

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FOREST LEAVES.

oa.

ions which are equally applicable to the treatment
of agricultural and forest lands.

The statement is made that the physical condi-
tions of heat and moisture have more to do in the
production of crops than the application of artifi-
cial fertilizers, and Prof. Milton Whitney is quoted
as saying, '* I find that it is an undoubted fact that
climatic conditions have a very important part to
play in the general distribution of crops and that
deserts are barren, as a rule, because of the lack of
a proper water supply, and that where moisture is
supplied, either in the oasis or artificially by irri-
gation, even the most extensive deserts may pro-
duce abundant crops.*'

Prof. Shaler is given as authority for the declar-
ation that he is justified in estimating an annual
loss of two hundred and fifty square miles by
erosion of soil in the United States. That is to
say, each year by erosion two hundred and fifty
square miles of cultivated land are rendered use-
less and infertile.

In discussing the circulation of water in the soil
the editor remarks: ** Crop production is not
directly limited by the amount of rainfall, but by
the moisture in the soil. Six inches of rainfall in
a month may mean a good season, or, with this
same amount differently distributed throughout
the month, the crop may be injured by excessive
wet or by prolonged drouth. Changing seasons
of wet or dry, hot or cold, have far more effect on
the crops than any combination of manures."

About fifty per cent, of the soil contains no solid
matter, but only air and water. This empty space
is divided up by an infinite number of soil grains,
so that the space between the grains is very small.
The grains in a cubic foot of soil have an average
of about 50,000 square feet of surface area. When
rain falls on a dry soil the exposed surface area
of the soil is diminished and the greater extent of
water surface below contracts and acts with gravity
to pull the water down.

When the soil is only slightly moistened there
will be a larger amount of exposed surface, the
surface tension will be very great, and it is this
which enables the soil to draw up the large amount
of water needed by the crop.

It is important, then, not only to study the cli-
matic conditions of a locality, but to extend this
study to conditions in the soil and to find out what
becomes of the rain after it falls to the ground, for
it does the crop no good till it enters the soil so
that the immediate water supply is dependent upon
the power 0/ the soil to conserve this water and to
supply it to plants as required,

*' The whole art of cultivation has no other end
than to control the water supply in the soil."
Applying the above to wooded lands we recog-
nize the value of the forest floor as a sponge to
hold the water and permit it to maintain a con-

tinuous flow. We can conceive of much of the
enormous erosion estimated by Prof. Shaler to be
due to deundation of wooded areas. 1 60,000 acres
of fertile soil washed away in one year means an
acre eroded every three minutes. Surely in the
wholesale clearing of timber tracts, wasting much
which could be saved, and causing the washing
away of soil to the extent estimated, we are *' burn-
ing the candle at both ends." Especially is this
the case on lands which are steep and rugged, ex-
pensive to cultivate, but ably fitted for forest pre-
serves and for storing the water distributed by a
beneficent Creator with a uniformity which man
aims to destroy.

The Associated Health Boards of this State at
their Annual Meeting in Harrisburg on January
23d, most strongly and cordially endorsed the
forestry reservation bill which was presented to the
Legislature last winter. This bill failed to be re-
ported from the Committee on Appropriations
because of alleged want of funds to meet its pro-
visions. It was clearly the sentiment of the meet-
ing that the measure should be presented to the

next Legislature.

* ^ * * *

Dr. J. T. Rothrock has given a number of for-
estry lectures since our last issue, a complete list
of which is not at hand, but among others may be
mentioned two each in Northumberland and Dau-
phin counties, and one each in Parkesburg, Wil-
liamsport and Trenton, N. J.

Redwood for Pencils.

A CARLOAD of redwood for use in making
j^A lead pencils was shipped from Sangor, Cal.,

^ for Nuremberg, Germany. Some time ago
experts from Germany investigated the timber re-
sources of the Pacific Coast in an effort to find a
substitute for cedar, the forests in Europe from
which the supply of that wood for lead pencils
has hitherto been obtained having become almost
exhausted. It is said that the redwood from the
east slope of the Sierras is the only wood besides
cedar with a sufficiently straight grain to make it
suitable for pencils. — American Paper Trade,

— Last November a magnolia tree was planted
on the grounds of the Belmont College, Nashville,
Tenn., in honor of the late James W. Scott of the
Chicago Herald^ in the presence of a large audi-
ence, many of whom came from Chicago. Mes-
sages and packages of earth were sent from widely
scattered places. Numerous eulogistic speeches
were made, and interspersed with music. It is
pleasing to note that the planting of trees as me-
morials is increasing.

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American Forestry Association — Four-
teenth Annual Meeting.

THE Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the
American Forestry Association was held at
Washington, D. C, on Friday, January
24, 1896, the first session being called to order at
10 A.M., in the hall of the Cosmos Club. In
the absence of the President and of the Vice-Presi-
dents, Mr. 15. E. Fernowwas chosen as Chairman.
After the minutes of the Thirteenth Annual Meet-
ing were read and approved, the report of the
Corresponding Secretary was presented and
adopted with the recommendation that a state-
ment of the members be prepared showing their
geographic distribution. The Treasurer's report
was read by the Secretary and referred to an Audit-
ing Committee.

The report of the Executive Committee read by
Mr. Edward A. Bowers was accepted (this is given
in full on page 105), the various recommendations
being discussed by Messrs. French, Moses, Smock
and others, and cpiestions asked concerning a cir-
cular relating to fire legislation in various States.
The matter of affiliation with local forestry organi-
zations was presented by Mr. Bowers in the form
of a special report and resolution, and later the
subject of associate membership was discussed. A
general discussion ensued and the whole matter was
referred to the Committee on Resolutions to report
later in the day. A Committee on Nominations
for Officers for the ensuing year was ai)pointed by
the Chairman, this consisting of Messrs. Edward
A. Bovvers, George W. McLanahan and F. H.
Newell, and also a Committee on Resolutions con-
sisting of Messrs. J. D. W. French, John C. Smock,
George H. Moses, Edward A. Bowers, Charles
C. Binney, Charles A. Keff'er, and L. W. Ledyard.
Before adjournment Dr. N. H. Egleston expressed
his appreciation of the honor of having been
Recording Secretary for many years, and asked
to be relieved from the further duties of the office.

Afternoon Session.

At 3 P.M. the Association convened to receive
the reports of the committees appointed at the
morning session. The following resolutions were
presented and adopted :

Atnendment to Constitution.

The members of any local forestry association
which shall vote to affiliate itself with the Ameri-
can Forestry Association under such rules as the
Executive Committee may adopt, shall become
by virtue of their membership in the local associa-
tion, associate members of the American Forestry
Association, and be entitled to all of the privileges
of regular members, except the right to vote and
hold office in the American Forestry Association.

Resolved, That the subject of the publication of
a forestry journal be referred to the Executive
Committee with full powers. The Executive
Committee, however, are requested before coming
to any final decision to correspond with the mana-
gers of Forest Leaves, The Forester of New
Jersey, Garden and Forest, and other papers pub-
lished in the interest of forestry, to see if any
measures can be adopted for the publication of a
forestry paper representing the interests of all con-
cerned.

Resolved^ That we recognize in House Bill No.
119 introduced into the present Congress, the
principles of genuine forestry for which we have
long contended, and urge upon Congress the
speedy passage of a bill to accomplish the object
contemplated therein.

Resolved^ That we note with satisfaction the
enactment of laws in the States of Minnesota and
Wisconsin for the prevention of forest fires, and
we express the hope that similar legislation adopted
especially to local needs, may soon be enacted in
other States where the interests of the forests de-
mand it.

Resolved, That the American Forestry Associa-
tion desires to express its appreciation of the excel-
lent display of forest interests at the Atlanta
Exposition by the United States Department of
Agriculture.

Resolved^ That the Executive Committee is re-
quested to send circulars to all the vice-presidents
and pronnnent members of the American Forestry
Association in each State and Territory where
there is no local association, asking that a meeting
be called annually for all the members residing in
such respective State or Territory, for the purpose
of forming a section or branch of the American
Forestry Association, to promote closer relation-
ship with the National Association by advocating
such measures as are set forth in its constitution
or may be adopted at any time by vote, and also
to increase the membership of our society.

After discussion of the resolutions, the report
of the Nominating Conmiittee was received, and
officers for the ensuing year elected in accordance
with its recommendations. The greater part of
the officers for 1895 ^^re re-elected. The prin-
cipal changes consisted in the substitution of Mr.
George R. Whittlesey as Recording Secretary in
the place of Dr. ♦Egleston, and the addition of
Mr. William H. Phillips and Mr. Gifford Pinchot
to the Executive Committee.

Upon motion, it was resolved that the Associa-
tion express its hearty appreciation of the long
services of Dr. N. H. Egleston as Recording Sec-
retary.

The Auditing Committee reported that after
examination they found the report of the Treasu-
rer correct.

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An invitation was received from Hon. George
T. Talbot to hold the summer meeting of the As-
sociation at Portland, Maine. This was received
with thanks and referred to the Executive Com-
mittee for further consideration.

Evening Session.

A joint evening session was held with the Na-
tional Geographic Society at Metzerott Hall, which
was well filled by an intelligent audience. The
President of the Forestry Association, Hon. J.
Sterling Morton, and the President of the National
Geographic Society, Hon. Gardiner Hubbard,
were both on the platform. The former presided,
and read an address upon the rapid destruction of
the forests, the great exports of lumber and the
loss of fertility of the soil due to unrestricted and
reckless cutting of the valuable timber resources.
He called attention to the estimates of Prof. N. S.
Shaler on the rapid defertilization and to the an-
nual loss of farming lands by erosion of the soil.

Mr. Morton stated that in twenty years, 1875-
1894, agriculture furnished exports valued at nearly
$12,000,000,000, or more than three-fourths of all
the exports in that interval of time. In the same
time the lumber and timber export approximated
$500,000,000 in value. In 1890 the exportation
of forest products aggregated $29,000,000, and in
the past five years the yearly average has exceeded
$28,000,000. In twenty years Mr. Morton stated
that an area has been denuded for fhe purpose of
exportation probably equal to the entire remain-
ing forest area of the country. After reference to
the spoliation of great areas by erosion following
deforestation, the speaker closed, quoting Irving's
sentiment that '* There is something noble, simple
and pure in a taste for the cultivation of forest

trees.**

Hon. Fred T. Dubois, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Public Lands, delivered a care-
fully-prepared address on the timber-lands and
water-supply, referring especially to the State of
Idaho, which he represents. He expressed his
appreciation of the efforts and sympathy with the
objects of the Association, but stated that he was
'not prepared to offer any immediate solution of
the difficulties. He spoke of the rapid disposal
of the timber, and called attention to the fact that
although the East was still rich in woodlands, the
West— especially the arid regions, originally poor
in timber resources— was rapidly becoming poorer
by the reckless destruction of forests on the moun-
tains. The first settlers, being from the East,
brought with them the belief that the forests were
indestructible, and had set fire to vast areas, in
order to clear the ground for grazing or for min-
ing purposes (the demands of the present being in
their eyes far more imperative than considerations
for the future), and gave a description of the de-

vastation by fire of the forests of Idaho — the fire
smouldering for months in the deep humus, and
utterly destroying all trees and soil. As a result,
the growing industries of the West were liable to
be seriously crippled by the difficulty and expense
of importing lumber, and the price of building
material is higher than it would be had the wood-
lands been properly protected from waste. Worse
than this, in the minds of the farmers, is the in-
jury to the water-supply, upon which depend all
agricultural land values. The difficulties of im-
proving the conditions arise mainly from the jeal-
ousy of interference with personal rights and the
feeling that injury is done to present gains to the
individual by insistance upon observation of pro-
prietary rights of the government. He called at-
tention to the bill introduced into the Senate by
Mr. Teller, this appearing to offer a solution of
many of the difficulties.

Hon. John F. Lacey, of Iowa, Chairman of the
Committee on Public Lands of the House of Rep-
resentatives, delivered an entertaining address
upon the waste of the natural resources. (Ex-
cerpts from the address appear in this issue on
page 107.)

The next speaker was Hon. Thomas C. McRae,
of Arkansas, formerly Chairman of the House
Committee on Public Lands. He spoke of the bills
formerly introduced and those passed last year in
the House and in the Senate, and described the
growth of his interest in the matter of forestry.
He stated that the greater part of his life was
spent in a heavily-wooded State, and that, at first,
he could form no conception of what a country
without trees could be. He did not think forests
could ever be destroyed, until in middle life he
had gone to other States, and had seen the ster-
ility and experienced the disadvantages arising
from the wanton destruction or lack of forest vege-
tation. He now urged that the nation do not re-
peat the follies of other lands in allowing the
timber resources to be destroyed, and later, being
forced, at enormous expense, to attempt refores-
tation of otherwise worthless lands.

The last speaker of the evening was Mr. William
E. Smythe, of Chicago, formerly President of the
International Irrigation Association, and now
President of the Colonial Club, a prominent writer
upon the West. He called attention to the fact
that fully one-half of the United States was arid
or semi-arid, and pointed out the immediate con-
nection between forests and water-supply, and the
dependence of all life and value upon the waters.
In spite of the apparent disadvantages of this arid
region, he claimed that many of the drawbacks
emphasized a capability for a higher industrial and
social condition. That small farms, neighborhood
colonial life, and diversified occupations, resulted
in bringing about a higher type of individual char-

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acter and of citizenship. He called especial at-
tention to the incongruities of the present land
laws, and to the frauds which naturally arise from
their lack of applicability to the existing condi-
tions, and stated that, in the majority of cases,
the Homestead law was a farce, and the Desert
Land Law resulted only in fraud. He said that
the West needed an entire revision of the land
laws, withholding all lands from entry until
suitable provision could be made, a more com-
plete survey and examination of the water re-
sources of the country, and the direct donation of
the million acres allotted to each arid State by the
so-called Carey Act. He closed by paying a
tribute to the President of the Forestry Associa-
tion, with whom, although he could not agree
upon irrigation matters, he was in hearty sympa-
thy in the efforts to promote the rational treatment
of the forests.

The Forestry Commissioner's Report on

Forest Fires.

PR. J. T. ROTHROCK, State Forestry Com-
missioner, in his report to Secretary Edge,
of the Department of Agriculture, on for-
est fires in Pennsylvania, says :

The most obvious consequences of forest fires,
loss of logs, of bark, of standing timber, young
and old, of fences, and occasionally of buildings,
is not less than a million dollars annually to this
Commonwealth. This might well enough be
termed direct loss to the State. The indirect or
consequential damage is many times greater. In
fact, it is so great that it appears incredible until
after a careful study of the whole subject. It is
fairly within bounds to assert that if all the unpro-
ductive lands not vacant and uncared for, which
exist within the limits of the State, were protected
from forest fires, say, 40 years, the timber then
growing would be worth not less that ;J 1,200, 000,-
000. It is quite certain that if this growth were
destroyed by fire when but a year old, the loss to
the Commonwealth directly would be absolutely
unimportant. The same might be said if we were
to see it destroyed at two, three, four or even five
years of age. But when we remember that in
burning these seedlings which are but a year old
we destroy a crop which, in point of time, is one-
fortieth of its way on to a money value of $1,200, -
000,000, the damages are consequential, and, if
expressed in figures, must equal not less than $30,-
000,000 as the loss of the Commonwealth.

It should be furthermore stated that in this prob-
lem the element of interest can hardly be con-
sidered as a large factor, because what grows is an
absolute free gift from nature. We have neither
planted the seed nor tilled the soil. Interest im-

plies capital invested, and under such circum-
stances the only thing which could stand for prin-
cipal would be, not the soil, for that is almost
without money yalue, but the taxes and the pro-
tection from fire. Nor in this estimate have we
reached the limits of the indirect or consequential
damages to the State and to its citizens wrought
by forest fires. I think I may affirm that, in such
regions as suffer most frequently from these forest
fires, even the timber which survives is more
gnarled and crooked in growth, smaller in size,
and of less value commercially than timber grown
where fires are less frequent. To this the reply
may be made that the fires occur most frequently
on the poor, rocky soil of remoter regions, and
that the inferior quality of the timber is due to the
soil rather than to the fires. Information, appar-
ently reliable, shows that on the same soil the dif-
ference in the timber is shown favorably if the fire
is kept off.

Upon the soil itself the effect of a serious forest
fire is disastrous. For our purpose we may fairly
consider that upon which the plant fixes itself for
growth as both organic and inorganic in character.
The richness of a soil is largely determined by the
quantity of decaying organic matter present.
There is no stage of decay of the vegetable matter
which naturally covers the forest floor, short of
absolute decomposition, in which it is not more or
less destroyed by fire. Some time after a period
of prolonged drought the vegetable matter is
burned down absolutely to the inorganic soil, and
the result is not hard to comprehend. First. There
is so much fertility actually gone. Second. The
ground is deprived of a coating which, if present,
would, on steep hillsides, have prevented washing
and have served to absorb the water from snow and
rain, and then to aid in its being absorbed by the
earth and carried to a depth beyond reach of evap-
oration. To this extent the air of the general surface
is drier and makes heavier demands upon the water
flowing in our smaller streams. In the western
part of our country the dry condition of the air
leads to the complete evaporation of small streams
very soon after they emerge from the mountains.

Carelessness on the part of hunters and others,
who make camp fires in the woods, is given as one
of the causes of forest fires. Persons who care-
lessly burn brush to prepare lands for seeding are
also charged with some of the responsibility for
them. Ignorance of the serious consequences of
them is also mentioned as a factor in the matter,
as it is safe to assume that the average farmer or
hunter would be more guarded if he were better
informed upon the resultant loss. Another cause
assigned for forest fires is the '* unmitigated mali-
ciousness " of some persons. ''This is not con-
fined to any one portion of the Commonwealth,
but occurs to a greater or less degree in almost

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every county which has any considerable quantity

of woodland. ^ ^ v.- v

** There are two causes assigned for this mali-
ciousness—the one to annoy those who have pur-
chased lands at tax sales, and to redress some
punishment for or hindrance to trespass on private
property. A third class of causes appears in fires
created to clear away underbrush and so to en-
courage large berry crops in years immediately
ensuing The disparity between the good gained
and the damage done would be ludicrous if it were
less serious in the consequences to the growing
timber and to the soil."

Locomotives cause a fourth class of forest tires.
The railroads in 1895 have caused a smaller pro-
portion of the fires than usual, and, as the pro-
longed drought created special dangers along their
rights of way, it must be assumed that they were
on the alert and endeavored to do their work with
as little injury to property as possible. In the
lumbering regions a small proportion of fires are
caused by saw-mills. " In some of the counties
which but recently were the scenes of extensive
lumbering preparations but where increased atten-
tion is given to agriculture, the preparation of the
new fallow ground for the production of a grass
crop is largely by means of fire. The danger is
not only recognized by those who adopt this
method, but that they are so accustomed to the
risk that it is assumed in most of these localities
that no specific law exists against it, and it can be
done with absolute freedom from legal responsi-
bility " Attention is called to laws providing
that no one creating a fire which is liable to dam-
age his neighbor can be held guiltless if he fail to
use all possible care to prevent it from spreading.
After referring to the statement made a few
years ago that the disastrous fires in Michigan and
Minnesota had been created in order that timber
thieves might burn the evidence of their depreda-
tions, Commissioner Rothrock says : '' There is a
suspicion that to a limited degree, such things
occur in our own State. It is openly asserted that
in some portions of the Commonwealth that wood-
lands, whose owners refuse to sell their timber hold-
ings, have suff'ered from forest fires, which killed the
timber, and so forced it into the market, and that
the fires were designedly started."

An emphatic protest is entered against the con-
clusion prevailing in many portions of the State
that forest fires are a necessary evil, to be
tolerated simply because of the absence of a rem-
edy *' Analyze the causes as we may, they all
reduce themselves to three— ignorance, carelessness
or crime. It is folly to assert that over these we
have no control. The one fault lies in this, that
there never has been in this Commonwealth a de-
termined, persistent effort to enforce laws existing
upon the subject. The other fault is that no offi-

cial has been charged with the duty of suppressing
forest fires, and of summoning force sufficient to
accomplish his work. Extinguishing fires has, in
most instances, been subordinated to the desire of
changing their direction, so that those who were
fighting fires might keep them off* the lands in
which they were immediately interested."

In the opinion of the Forestry Commissioner no
system could be devised to secure absolute immu-
nity from fires in our woodlands, but, *'So long as
they are started by either or all of the three causes
already mentioned, the number can be decreased
as certainly as we decrease the number of other
criminal acts, by punishing the off'enders. When
started they can be extinguished and their ravages
reduced to a minimum by the same method that
we guard our towns and cities— that is, by making
it the business of some officer or officers to attend
to and direct the work. This was clearly shown
in the case of the destructive forest fires which
swept over Southern New Jersey during the past

season . "

After offering a number of suggestions as to how
to fight fires most effectually, he states that it cost
one man in the State $15,000 to protect his moun-
tain property from fires last year, and another

jj 1 0,000.

Accompanying the report is a statement pre-
pared by his clerk, Robert S. Conklin, who says :
'* An approximate estimate from reports at hand
establish the fact that in the year 1895 there were
about 225,000 acres of woodland burned over, oc-
casioning a great loss of valuable timber, aggre-
gating fully $1,000,000. Many fences were de-
stroyed, and about 5000 men were engaged a total
of 250 days in extinguishing the fires, representing
a wage account to the farming community of
about $45,000. Twenty buildings were destroyed,
among which were saw-mills. Two men and five
horses and cattle lost their lives in the fires. Much
cut and sawed timber was also burned.

Reports have been received from every county
in the State except Adams, Greene, Cameron,
McKean and Monroe. The only counties that
report not having had forest fires within their
limits during the year were Delaware, Lawrence
and Philadelphia. The counties in whicn the
most extensive fires occurred are Centre, Forest,
Pike and Potter. Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon
and Warren counties, however, sufl'ered great
losses.'*

The conclusion of the last of the Prize Essays on
** The Practical Value of Forests to the Surfac e of
the Country" was in type for insertion in this
issue, but the publication of the account of the
American Forestry Association meeting, has ne-
cessitated its postponement to a future number.

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The Swamp White Oak. (Quercus

bicolor.)

T

HE oaks, especially those of the white oak
group, are full of surprises. If we were
asked what trees in our northern forests
were the type of strength and sturdy, long-
enduring vigor, we should, without much doubt,
say the white oaks. By this term I mean not sim-
ply what we call the white oak, but its associates,
the swamp white oak, the overcup oak, the basket
oak, chestnut oak, yellow oak and the live oak, for
this last named species grows naturally as far north
as Mobjack Bay in the Southern Chesapeake. The
live oak especially, has come from its early rela-
tion to the strongshipsof our old wooden navy, to
be thought the very best of all.

As a matter of fact, however, there are several of
our familiar trees which in the simple point of
strength, are better than our white oaks. Thus
taking them as they come in order, the locust and
the yellow birch are both stronger than any repre-
sentative which we have of the group.

The white oaks, as contrasted with the black
oaks (the sense in which I use the term white oaks
here, includes both the white oak and chestnut
oak), all mature their fruit in a single year, whereas
the black oaks require two years. In other
words, you find the small fruit of the first year on
the tree in autumn, with the large, mature fruit
which has passed its second season before it is cast
off. So far as my observation goes one is apt to
find that some years the white oaks proper have
almost no fruit, but it is seldom that you fail to
find a black oak which does not have, in any given
year, both the young and old acorns in its branches.
The past season has, in Eastern Pennsylvania, been
a year of great scarcity of white oak ( Quercus albii)
fruit, though the chestnut oak fruited abundantly.
The minute distinctions given by botanists be-
tween white and chestnut oaks, are so shadowy,
and dissolve one into the other so that it seems al-
most like folly to attempt to observe them. We can-
not here go into details. The laity have expressed
their opinion, and done it judiciously, in naming
the tree, of which we shall now speak more di-
rectly,—the swamp white oak. Its whole general
appearance proclaims it to be a white oak rather
than one of the chestnut oaks with which it is
associated in our best manual of botany.

Its bark has been described as flaky. This charac-
terizes it well when the tree is seen in its most typi-
cal form. But then it often happens that the bark on
the trunk of a typical white oak, above the lower
limbs and on the limbs, is no less flaky. So, too,
one might say that the bark on the white oak is
lighter in color than that on the swamp white oak.
'*That depends.'* Very often it is not. I have
observed that the white oak grown in dense woods

almost always is tall and sparingly branched ; but
the swamp white oak is in this respect, a law unto
itself. I know a group of these trees that grew
where the shade was dense from the surrounding
forest growth, yet the swamp white oaks branched
as if they had *^all out of doors*' to themselves.
A friend called my attention to these trees by
asking "• what trees those were which looked like
elms but were not elms.*' The blunt lobing of
the leaves is tolerably characteristic in the swamp
white oak. It makes a sinuate margin. But as it
(the margin) is very variable in the type of the
chestnut oaks, and as the teeth may be quite acute
in them, it is hardly good logic to make such char-
acters of more value in the swamp white oak than
they are in the type. Then, too, in the swamp
white oak, the acorns are raised on stalks of varia-
ble lengths, just as they are in one form of the
English oak, but in a genuine white oak we occa-
sionally find the fruit on the same kind of a stalk.
The degree of hairiness on the leaves is a fairly
good character in the swamp white oak, but it
fails us also very frequently.

The object of this general discussion is not to
awaken doubts as to whether, after all, there is any
such thing as a swamp white oak. It is a real,
genuine kind of tree, or as botanists would say, " it
is a good species." In general, it might be said
that its own characters are tolerably well fixed and
constant. Its botanical neighbors alluded to do
most of the varying, and when they produce their
"sports " in the direction of the swamp white oak,
it is then that we are inclined to question the value
of this or that character in limiting a species. The
real object in the discussion has been to show just
how much inclined to errant habits the whole fra-
ternity of oaks is.

Thus far I have rather told what the swamp
white oak is not, than what it is. To remedy this
let it be said that it is one of our largest trees,
growing here often ninety-five feet high, and
attaining a diameter sometimes of nearly or quite
three feet. The particular specimen whose picture
illustrates this article, was eighty-six feet high and
two feet eleven inches through at four feet above
the ground. It is, when grown in the woods,
generally tall and but moderately branched. In
the open grounds it branches and spreads even more
than the white oak, and, as already intimated, it
does this in the depths of the woods occasionally.
The illustration shows thecharacterof the gray bark
better than any description could. The leaves of
the swamp white oak are four to eight inches long
and about half as wide, the wider end being away
from the short leaf stalk, which is about half or
three-fourths of an inch long. The margin is so
deeply and bluntly toothed that it is wavy in out-
line. The under surface of the leaf is usually
covered with short soft gray or brown hairs among

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Forest Leaves, Vol. v. No. 7.

H

Forest Leaves, Vol. v. No. 7.

SWAMP WHITE OAK; QUERCUS BICOLOR, WILLD.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRUNK OF SWAMP WHITE OAK;
QUERCUS BICOLOR, WILLD.
CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRUNK OF WHITE OAK;
QUERCUS ALBA, L.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

^H

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ny

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 7,

Forest Leaves, Vol. v. No. 7.

SWAMP WHITE OAK; QUERCUS BICOLOR, WILLD.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

i

TRUNK OF SWAMP WHITE OAK;
QUERCUS BICOLOR, WILLD.
CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRUNK OF WHITE OAK;
QUERCUS ALBA, L.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

TENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

21-?

FOREST LEAVES.

165^

which some distinctly longer ones are intermixed.
The upper surface is generally without these hairs,
and it is bright green while the lower side is light
gray or brown in color. Hence the distinct shades
on these surfaces suggested the botanical name of
<* bicolor '* for the species. As for the acorns, they
often grow in pairs on the end of a stalk, which is
one, two or even three inches long. Their indi-
vidual peculiarities are not so marked as to attract
special notice from any other than a botanist. He
would usually recognize them by the pointed
tips to the upper scales of the cup, which is hoary
in color, almost hemispherical, and half as long as
the acorn, which seldom exceeds an inch in length.

The swamp white oak delights in damp soil, and
prefers to have it of fertile character.

It is so often mistaken for a white oak by those
who should know better, that we have illustrated
the trunks of each.

It will be observed that the bark of the white
oak, besides being less flaky than that of the swamp
white oak, has a smaller figure, and owing to its
cross-lines, has more of a net-work or mesh-like

appearance.

In geographical limit the subject of this sketch
wanders over a wide area. It stretches across from
Maine, west to the Upper St. Lawrence and Iowa
and Michigan. It reaches to the Southern Missis-
sippi in Kentucky and Arkansas, and ranges south
along the mountains to Georgia.

The wood in physical properties, and, therefore,
in its uses, is very much like that of the white oak,
except that it is both stronger and heavier than the
wood of the latter. Like that of the white oak, it
is much inclined to check or split in seasoning.

To specify : its physical properties are given as,
specific gravity, 0.7662 ; percentage of ash, 0.58 ;
relative approximate full value, 0.7618 ; weight in
pounds of a cubic foot of dry wood, 47-75 y »"
relative strength it stands as 85 on our list of 310
kinds of American woods.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

Report of the Executive Committee of
the American Forestry Association

for 1895.

THE year has witnessed a very considerable
increase of interest in the forestry move-
ment, which is reflected not only by a
large increase in the membership of our Associa-
tion and by a more general appreciation of our
efforts in the press, but also by definite progress in
the establishment of forestry principles in various

parts of the country.

Of more interest to us directly is the progress
in the establishment of a rational policy with ref-
erence to the public timber lands.

At the last annual meeting, occurring during
the Christmas holidays, it was a pleasant duty to
announce the passage by the House of Represen-
tatives of the McRae bill, which provides for an
administration of the Forest Reservations. The
passage had been secured through the efforts of
our fellow-member, the Hon. Thos. C. McRae,
after accepting various compromises with the
wishes of western representatives, which, while
somewhat weakening the efficiency of the legisla-
tion, left the principle underlying it clear and un-
disguised.

The same bill essentially was passed in the
Senate with various additional amendments, some
desirable and some objectionable. Unfortunately,
however, the form in which the amendments were
made, namely, by striking out from the bill passed
by the House all after the enacting clause, and
substituting the same reading with additions,
made it appear like a new bill. Hence, in the
unfortunate absence of the chairman of the House
Committee, who would have recognized the dis-
guise, the Senate bill was sent back to the Public
Lands Committee instead of going to conference,
where the differences could have been adjusted
and the enactment as a law made possible. Fur-
ther action was precluded by the adjournment of

Congress.

In the present Congress the same bills, slightly
modified, have been introduced into each house,
namely, S. 914, by Senator Teller, and H. R. 119,
by Mr. McRae, securing the same number which
it had in the last Congress.

It is hoped that the fact that these bills were
passed in the two houses of the former Congress
will naturally aid in securing their enactment as a
law in the pre.sent. The consent of the Chairman
of the Public Lands Committee, both of the
Senate and of the House, to address the present
meeting with reference to this legislation, lends
additional hope to this long desired action.
Meanwhile, not much activity has been exercised
in securing an extension of the forest reservations,
since, without proper administration, sought
through the legislation referred to, such an exten-
sion did not seem esijecially desirable to the ex-
ecutive officers of the Department of the Interior.
There are, however, a number of proposals for
reservations prepared, to be brought forward when
the administration feature has been provided. The
discovery of valuable ore-deposits on some of the
reservations, and the consequent attempt to have
them returned to the public lands for entry under
the laws relating to mineral lands, makes the pas-
sage of a law regulating the use and occupancy of
all reservations the more urgent.

While, then, in national matters, a slow but sure
advance has been made, several States have also
progressed towards a more rational forest policy.

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FOREST LEAVES,

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In Pennsylvania, the splendid campaign of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association has resulted
in the permanent establishment of the office of
Forestry Commissioner in connection with the De-
partment of Agriculture, and the appointment of
Dr. Rothrock to the position has placed the
movement upon a business basis as far as the State
is concerned. From New Jersey comes encourag-
ing news regarding the growth of the State For-
estry Association, which is accentuated by the
establishment on a permanent basis of a journal,
T/ie Forester, appearing in bi-monthly issues and
promising in interest and general character.

The two States of Minnesota and Wisconsin,
alarmed by the disastrous fires of the preceding
year, were induced to pass forest fire legislation,
proposed by the Forestry Associations of the re-
spective States, one the oldest, the other the
youngest of such associations. In Minnesota, a
special forest fire warden, one of our charter
members, is active in organizing the fire service,
while in Wisconsin the function is unfortunately
assigned to an officer already charged with other
duties.

The Forest Commission of New Hampshire
continues its laudable effi^rts to lay the basis for a
permanent forest policy of the State. The Forest
Commission of Maine, in addition to exercising
the functions of a fire warden, issues a valuable
report, with studies of the mercantile side of for-
est growth in that State. New York has increased
the area of the Adirondack Reserve by the pur-
chase of 75,000 acres.

For the Southern States an opportunity was had
at the Cotton States and International Exposition
to present not only the wealth and varied charac-
ter of their forest resources, but also their condi-
tion, their reckless exploitation, and the evil con-
sequences of irrational deforestation, in a specially
constructed forestry building, awakening the in-
terest of her own people, as well as of Northern
visitors.

This exhibit, at which the American Forestry
Association was properly represented, has been
pronounced the most instructive and attractive of
its kind ever seen in this country.

From the far West we hear of a growing appre-
ciation of a needed change in the national forest
policy, and although in California and Colorado
no return to the official recognition of the aban-
doned State policy can be noted, the interest seems
more generally diffused among the people. Utah
has entered among the States having forestry asso-
ciations, and from Montana indications come of
the possibility of establishing one.

Two special meetings were held during the year,
the one a peripatetic meeting in May, in connec-
tion with and at the invitation of the New Jersey
Forestry Association, was designed to inspect

the encroachment of the sand dunes, as a result
of the destruction of the protecting forest cover,
which damage many of the sea-side resorts of the
lower coast ; and also to give an impetus to the
efforts of securing protection against forest fires
which ravage the plains of that State.

The other meeting was held at the invitation of
citizens of Springfield, Mass., in connection with
the meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, advantage being taken
of the presence of many scientific and influential
men. At this meeting the Executive Committee
was instructed to exert itself in securing the ap-
pointment of a Commission to investigate and re-
port on the condition of public timberlands, as a
basis for further legislation. It was, however, de-
cided by the Executive Committee that such a move
would prove prejudicial to the passage of the defi-
nite legislation now before Congress.

The Secretary of the Interior, however, who
again in his annual report refers in strong language
to the need of a change in policy with regard to
the public timberlands, has proposed to submit the
question to the National Academy of Science, the
legally constituted adviser of the government on
matters scientific, asking for an expression of opin-
ion on the need and manner of such change.

With all this quiet but persistent growth of the
forestry movement, the Executive Committee feel
that greater responsibility comes to the Association
and its officers.

The work of the Secretary is growing more and
more burdensome, and it hardly may be expected
that it can be much longer carried on by a busy
man in leisure hours. The need for a paid
secretary, urged again and again, becomes more
apparent as we grow, but so far the Executive Com-
mittee has not felt justified in making an appro-
priation for the purpose. If, however, the mem-
bership, by the exertions of the present members
increases at the rate of the past year, it is expected
that the current income of the Association will
presently permit this most desirable departure.

It has also been the subject of consideration in
the Executive Committee and at the Springfield
meeting, whether, in addition to, or instead of the
volume of the annual proceedings, the publication
of a regular monthly or bi-monthly journal would
not be a desirable, nay, a necessary policy, in order
to keep the membership informed and interested
in the progress of the movement.

At j)resent the members are supplied with For-
est Leaves, under contract with the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association, but as the movement grows
in Pennsylvania, that journal by necessity must
give more and more space to local conditions and
questions, losing thereby partially in interest to
our members in other sections.

The appearance of The Forester in the neigh-

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FOREST LEAVES.

•40X

boring State of New Jersey would make it appear
that the field of journalism in forestry is by 110
means exhausted, but while these journals may
readily satisfy a local constituency, it is thought
that a publication from the National Association
should have a different character.

Garden and Forest, while an admirable journal,
devotes a preponderant space to the first subject
of its title and cannot be expected to fill the ob-
ject of the contemplated publication.

Diffidence in our ability to sustain without a
paid editor a high-class journal, which should sat-
isfy the needs both of intercourse with our mem-
bership and with the general public regarding the
forestry movement and give instruction on techni-
cal matters that would be welcome to those who
desire to apply forestry principles in practice, has
deterred the committee from launching such an
enterprise. It is, however, proposed to begin with
the present year the issue of a series of bulletins
appearing more or less regularly, which shall test
the practicability and desirability of a more regu-
lar publication.

Another matter of important internal organiza-
tion has come before the Committee, namely, the
need of a plan for affiliation with the various State
organizations.

From the inception of the National Forestry
Congress, and the organization of the American
Forestry Association in 1882, it has been the pol-
icy of the Association to encourage the formation
of State Forestry Associations ; and the meetings
of this Association have been held again and again
with this object in view. While in this way local
interest could be best secured, no definite plan of
co-operation or relationship between the mother
and daughter associations was developed. The
absence of such a plan of affiliation has become
more noticeable of late and a committee has been
appointed to formulate a plan, which it is proposed
to bring before the present meeting.

The difficulties that originally surrounded the
incorporation of the Association under the
national law, namely lack of sufficient members
resident within the District of Columbia, has been
happily overcome and the articles of incorporation
are now drawn up, and only await the formalities
attendant on filing to make the Association a
body corporate.

In submitting this report your Executive Com-
mittee feels that the Association and the public
are to be congratulated upon the progress within
the year, and the rich promise of the immediate
- future. Increased efforts on our part are demanded
with the growth of the forestry movement ; the
membership should be doubled within the next
year, a watchful interest should be sustained in
matters relating to State and national legislation,
and above all the Association should further in

every possible way all efforts to disseminate infor-
mation of what constitutes rational forestry.
For the Executive Committee,

B. E. Fernow,

Chairman,

The Destruction and Repair of Our Natu-
ral Resources.

(Excerpts from Address of Hon. John F. Lacey, of Iowa,
Chairman House Committee on Public Lands, at
the Fourteenth Annual Meeting, Ameri-
can Forestry Association.)

TREES have their poetic as well as their prac-
tical side. While sensible to their beauty,
we are now deeply concerned in their
utility. All they have asked heretofore has been
standing room. Give them but place, and they
have patiently done their work. Their long arms
reached out for ages and gathered from the air
the elements of growth which they have added to
the soil. As one poet has expressed it :

« Cedars stretch their palms like holy men at prayer/*
and another speaks of them in winter:
"With their bare arms stretched in prayer for the snows."

They gather the sunshine year by year and store it
away for future use. They fertilize the soil ;

they beautify it

We are beginning to realize the wastefulness
with which we have treated the gifts of nature.
We found this continent a storehouse of energy
and wealth. The climate was salubrious. The
soil was fertile. The forests si)read on every
hand. The rivers teemed with fish. The earth
and air alike furnished supplies of game. Great
coal deposits were found in almost every State.
Coal oil and natural gas arose to the explorer from
the bowels of the earth

We have not been content with improving on
nature; but we have acted the spendthrift part in
wasting our stores. The coal has been preserved
in spite of man by vast strata of earth and stone,
and there has been less wasteful extravagance in
the use of this valuable mineral than perhaps any
other of nature's gifts, and yet we are beginning
to compute the time when the anthracite will only
be found in the collections of museums. The coal
oil has been wasted and wells have been opened
and fields destroyed as though the supply was in-
exhaustible. Natural gas deposits have been
tapped and the wasting gas set on fire, lightnig
the country for miles around. These vast stores
of nature's forces are being rapidly exhausted.
It has not been so very long ago that terrapin

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

3dl

were so plentiful in Maryland that it was found
necessary to enact a law preventing masters from
feeding their slaves more than a given number of
times each week upon that toothsome viand.
Terrapin three times a day, three hundred and
sixty-five days in a year, was found to be mo-
notonous. No such law would be necessary now.
In Connecticut the law forbade that an appren-
tice should be required to eat salmon more than
twice a week for the same reason that the slave
was protected against too much terrapin. Now
the Connecticut salmon is a delicacy for the rich
alone.

The extermination of the buffalo is too recent
and too shameful to speak of excepting in the
highest terms of indignation. Instead of taking
these vast herds and after giving them proper marks
of identity, dividing them up and assuming proprie-
tary rights over them, they have been slaughtered
by the hundred thousand for the sheer pleasure of
kilhng, until now a little handful of two or three
hundred is all that is left of the millions which
roamed the plains forty years ago ; and this was
called sport

The northern Pacific coast to-day has perhaps
the grandest forest now remaining on the face of
the earth, but it can no longer be described as

*' the conlinuous woods
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound
Save his own dashings,"

for the hand of man is busily engaged in building
up new States in that splendid country.

Splendid trees, five and six feet in diameter
and hundreds of years of age, are being de-
stroyed. Auger holes were bored in the tree near
the ground, coal oil poured in the holes, a match
applied, and the tree burned down. Other holes
were bored in the body of the tree, and with the
assistance of more coal oil a splendid tree was
reduced to ashes. During the dry season these
fires were permitted to escape and pass through
the forests, covering and concealing the whole
earth with a cloud of smoke and rapidly working
in this new field the same useless destruction which
has followed in man's footsteps in every part of the
continent.

This sin on the Pacific coast is only greater
than that which was committed on the Atlantic
shore because the forests are finer, and the mis-
takes made in the wanton destruction of the tim-
ber in the east ought to have been a warning in
the west. They have an awful example to shun
and not to follow

I believe it was in 1842 that Dr. English asked
his old schoolmate to remember,

"The shaded nook by the running brook
Where the children went to swim.
Grass grows on the master's grave, Ben Bolt,
And the spring of the brook is dry."

This wail touches the heart in every part of the
settled portions of the country

Nothing is so beautiful as a running stream in a
state of nature. It is a living thing, always spark-
ling, never growing old. The brook where the
forests still protect it from destruction in its course
to the sea is a symbol of eternity. To the poet it
says,

" Men may come, and men may go,
But I go on forever."

But in the land of the Holy Writ, where the
forests were but few, the brook was no such type
of constancy. In Job the brook is described as an
emblem of deceit, frozen up in winter and dried
up in the summer. '' My brethren have dealt
deceitfully as a brook, and as a stream of brooks

they pass away The paths of their way are

turned aside; they come to nothing and per-
ish.*' ....

The practical question of to-day is how, as fiir
as possible, to undo the mistakes of the past; how
to prevent them in the future. Agitation and dis-
cussion are necessary to call the attention of the
people to the importance of maintaining, and to
at least partially restoring, the primitive forests of
this country. The recent policy of withdrawing
from settlement or sale large regions upon the
head waters of streams, and creating forest reserva-
tions, is the greatest step in the right direction

that has thus far been taken

Groves and small wood lots upon each farm will
in some measure repair the loss of the more exten-
sive woods, but there must be considerable areas
of country in which the forest must take control
if we would preserve the climate, the springs, the

streams, the soil, the birds, and the fishes

Private owners cannot perform the duty of
forestry in America. We have no rich old fami-
lies who from generation to generation have been
able to set apart large tracts of land for the growth

of trees

Only the government lives long enough to plant
trees extensively. The private individual is too
constantly reminded of the fleeting character of
life to lay out a forest for succeeding generations.
The government alone can hold tracts either long
enough or large enough to effect the great climatic
purposes involved in the preservation of our for-
ests. A great step in this direction was taken in
the laws providing for timber reservations. These
reservations should be kept for use and growth. A
thorough system of cutting of this timber ought to
be provided for at some time in the future, when
the wants of the people require that the ripened
or dead trees should be utilized. But this should
be done with such system as to preserve them as a
whole.

The people should be taught the value of these
reservations by thorough education upon the sub-

ject Arbor Day celebration and the planting of
fruit and timber trees will lead a new generation
to realize that the forest is not the enemy of man,
but his fast friend— a friend without whom nations
cannot expect to prosper

—Mr. Frank N. Moore, Special Agent of the
State Department of Agriculture, and a firm
friend of forestry, when at Pittsburg, Pa., recently
made the following pertinent remark in ref-
erence to the relation of the agriculturist to
the forestry movement: **The farmers are in
flivor of the Forestry Bill to a man. It does
the cities more good than the country districts,
and for this reason should be supported by
Pittsburgers. If steps are taken to preserve the
forests, the crops are materially benefited, long
droughts are greatly diminished and the city water
supply more assured and more uniform. The bill
to be introduced will provide for the appointment
of fire wardens, whose duty it will be to extin-
guish the conflagrations, and more stringent legis-
lation against hunters and the careless use of
inflammable materials."

*?3tZ?!-

New Books.

Window and Parlor Gardening, By N. Jons-
son Rose, 8vo., 164 pages, illustrated, bound in
cloth, $1.25. Published by Charles Scribner s
Sons, New York, N. Y.— This book is a guide in
the propagation, care and selection of house plants,
and aims to enable persons to beautify their homes
by cultivating plants in windows and apartments,
which has not as yet received in this country the
attention which it deserves. Rules for raising
and short descriptions of various plants, palms,
ferns etc., suitable for house use are given, direc-
tions'in regard to their potting, forcing, watering,
cleaning, light, temperature and moisture neces-
sary proper treatment for various insects and
diseases, etc.. are all in turn taken up and de-
scribed, making it a valuable hand-book for the
amateur house gardener.

Forestry for Farmers. By B. E. Fernow, 8vo. 42
pages, illustrated. U.S Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D. C— The title of this booklet is
rather misleading. It is valuable to farmers, as
we might suppose from the title ; but it is equally
valuable to any one who loves a tree or desires to
plant and rear one. It is no less valuable to the
large land owner who contemplates turning thou-
sands of denuded acres back to timber and to
profit again. The chief lines of thought m the
pamphlet are :

1. How plants grow.

2. How to plant a forest.

3. How to treat the wood lot.

4. How to cultivate the wood crop.

Fifteen illustrations add to the value of the text.

It is entirely fair and just to say that this con-
tribution is the nearest approach yet published on
this side of the ocean to what the practical man
desires to know in either creating or recreating a
forest. The only criticism we have to off'er is
that in our judgment the space and eff'ort devoted
to the relations of light and shade in our species
are given more space (relatively) than their im-
portance demands. Nor do we think that all the
conclusions under that head will be found wholly
reliable in American forestry.

Timber, By Filibert Roth. Forestry Division,
U S. Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C, 8vo. 88 pages, illustrated.— This mono-
graph which was prepared by Mr. Roth, under the
direction of Mr. B. E. Fernow, is an elementary
discussion of the characteristics and properties of
wood The clear statement of facts found m this
pamphlet might lead to the idea that the work of
preparing it was essentially simple and easy. On
the contrary, every page shows signs of most care-
ful and laborious investigation. The illustrations
render the text so plain that there can be no ex-
cuse for failing to comprehend it. ^ . , ,, ,
The subject is intensely practical and is handled
in such a manner, we think, as to suit the most
practical man. The detailed explanation certainly
should be of vast service to our wood workers, and
we commend this book to their most careful study.
The statement in the letter of transmittal, while
true, is rather misleading, and might lead to the
conclusion that but a small part of the admirable
instruction in this pamphlet had ever been pub-
lished in English before. On the contrary, quite
a large portion has been briefly but clearly stated
in earlier publications in our own country ; though
never with such clearness and detail as here. We
regret that we can do no more than call attention
to the table of contents : Structure and Appear-
ance of Wood, Weight of Wood, Moisture of
Wood, Shrinkage of Wood, Mechanical Proper-
ties of Wood, Chemical Properties of Wood,
Durability and Decay, Key to More Important
Woods of North America, including Non-porous
woods, Ring-porous woods, Diff*use-porous woods
The distinction between coniferous woods, and
broad-leaved woods are very satisfactorily stated.
The language of the pamphlet is generally so well
chosen that we call attention again to it.

We note with great pleasure that year by year
the standard of the publications in the Depart-
ment of Agriculture becomes higher. Its present
eff'ective condition reflects great praise upon Sec-
retary Morton and those whom he has called as
his assistants. J- ^- ^'

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FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

m\ip LEp^

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

J

OF THE

OF

3

.,^ , ^ . HIIfADBIlEHtt

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

Forestry Association,

AND THE

The Publication Committee of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertining space in Foresf
Leaves, 2500 copies now reach readers
interested in tree planting and culture.

American Forestry Association.

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, ioi2 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

RATES.

I inch, .
'A page, .

insertion.

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OUGH'S "AMERICAN WOODS" - - -

_^, , , , , llVhat Critics Say of " American IVoodo."

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C. H. Baker. (;. K , Seattle vviih ma'ikind generally than for yourself to furni«h so much for m> small a comiK-Misatlon.-

' ""ww'lerl'K """ •=»'«"'"'*'« I" """'e young people fall In love with tr^es, etc.-E. H. Ku«8ell, E»q.. Prlnelpal, Normal School,

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These render p.».sible the perfect projection, from nature itself, of characteristic wood structures

miCROSCOPE SLIDES OF IJVOODS

Revealing beautlfnlly minute stn.cture, three ,iiffere«t sections of each wood being mounted together under one cover-glass

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FOREST LEAVES.

The First and Only Dwarf Sweet Pea,

Burpee's "CUPID"

'^w^'- -w*--^

^

CillOWS
ONLY
FIVE

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HTOH !

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THE

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WONDEK

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A POT-PLANT OF CUPID.— /•>(>"* " l'hi)Ut[fmph.

CUPID i« the sroatot novelty ever know., i.. flowers, and has won the highest P08"We ^»°°"
in Europe. We had ,lants grow., i.. pots exhibited at the ...ecti,.g of The Roya Horticultural
Society, in I....don, En«la..d, where, /,-/ "»'mm«». mU: of tke CmnnlU., .t rece.ved An Award of
Merit-the highest honor that can be co.iferred u,.o.. a ..ew variety. We also exh.b. ed ... -- '«- J^^an ^.
o.. July 11, 1895, at the Societe National d'Horticulture. where .t rece.ved a First-Class Certificate.

at a dktinct novelty of sitrt»mng merit. ,„.„,„,.,ll,.,l „„1,.

DESCRIPTION.-The foliage is very dark green; blosso.ns pure waxy-wh.te ot unequalcd sub
sta,.ee, and full size. The phtnt doe. ru>t grow ova- five iMugh. and ..ever more than twelve to fifteen
inches i.. dian.eter. The st*ms are abo,.t four i..ches lo.ig, bcar.ng two or three blosso...s, all very near
the e..d of the ste.n. It is a wonderfully free bloomer, a..d begins to flower as early as May and eo..-

tinues until Nove.i.ber. > ^ nc x . «„» „v+. fnr *1 00 •

In regular-size packets (cad. co..tai.ii..g twenty seeds), per pkt. 25 cts. ; five pkts. tor «i.uu ,

twelve pkts. for $2.00, postpaid, by ...ail, to any address. ,,,„-, ,„„ „tf. fnr $1 00

In half-size packets (tc. seeds each), per pkt. 15 cts. ; two pkts. for 25 cts. ; ten pkts. for $1.00.
OEDER TO-DAY from the Introducers a.id ask for

BURPEE'S Farm Annual for 1896

THE LEADING AMERICAN SEED CATALOGUE.

More complete than ever before. A handsome BOOK of 184 pages, written fron. >^nowledge gained at
the famous Fonn.iooK Farm. It co..tai..s h.,ndred« of true illustrat.o..s an.i bcaut.f.. colored p ates
I:"/,.,.. „...re. U describes RARE NOVELTIES for 1896 -t to be had f -here -d ^eU^^^
.ilK.utTHE BEST SEEDS THAT GROW, choice su.n.uer-flowenng BULBS, and beaut. Jul I'1'A«1&,
i„cludi.>g the celebrated SCOTT ROSES. The price is 10 cts. (less tha.. cost in 'l"'*;'^;';'"^'." ''^SdS
but a copy will be MAILED FREE to every one who expects to purchase BURPEE S SEEDS.

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Seed Growers, Philadelphia.

r

•f.K.^svNU.j.j'.',--- ' .-■-'^':^

MMV%'^

:i^i

4X^

FOREST LEAVES,

.' 'J

ii )

1}

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure the best tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that tlie Oriental J?lane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a ra]^)id grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

PLANE TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

Five years ago, while in Euroi)e for horticultural research, we found that for a num-
ber of years, in London, Varis, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tree had been
used with most successful results. It was found to l)e the only tree wliich would grow
satisfactorily on the Victoria End)ankment of the Thames River,' London.

The parks and cemeteries in many ot our cities and a number of our leading land-
scape gardeners have recently been using the Oriental Plane very extensively for ^avenue
phuiting. Can furnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.

Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

ANDORRA NURSERIES,

WILLIAM WARNER HARPER, Manager, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA., PA.

SPECIALTIES:

Large ^ Specimen Ornamental Trees,

I Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

3bs

Philadelphia, April, 1896.

No. 8.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

as North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials 113-116

Care of Wood Land 117

Forest Preservation and Pub-
lic Water Supply 117-118

Arbor Day Proclamation 119

Resolutions of the State Grange... "9

Two Historic Trees 120-121

Gutta-Percha from Dried Leaves 121

A Middle Allegheny Mountain Reservation

A National Forestry Commission

Forestry in New Jersey ;••••••"•.•••••;*;;•; ;

Relation of Trees to Light and Shade the Basis of bylvaculture

Arbor Day— Of What Benefit is it to the Country?

Books Received

122

123
123
124

125
126

Subscription, $1.00 per Year.

The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
^Forest Leaves as an advertising medium. Rates will 6e fur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.

John Birkinbine, Chairman. 25 North Juniper Street.

Dr J. T. RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.

F. L. BiTLER, 1820 Master Street.

Prof. Wm. P, Wilson, 640 N. 32d Street.

B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.

Annual membership fee, One dollar.

Life membership, I'xhc^n AuWdiXs.

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names 10 A. B. Weimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila,

President, John Birkinbine. , , , . , ^

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Prof. Wm. P. Wilson.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.

7>MJ«r/r, Charles E. Pancoast. A,r j i in w c

Council at- Large, Mrs Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. Elwyn, W. b.

'coun'cil/rom Philadelphia County, J. Rodman Paul, A. B. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Eli Kirk Price, Henry Budd, Henry Howson, Miss

Sarah F. Corlies. t^.j.i «r c v 1

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. T. Biddle, Wm. S. Kirk,

Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery, James Monaghan.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

Council from Montgomery County, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Dr Alice
Bennett. Dr. J. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Office of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

THE Spring Meeting of the Pennsylvania
Forestry Association will be held on
Friday, April loth, the first of the Arbor
days designated by the Governor of Pennsylvania.
In the afternoon a memorial tree will be planted
on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania,
by Governor Hastings. The tree to be planted
(a scion of the original *' treaty elm,'*) will be
supplied by Gen'l Paul A. Oliver, and is a shoot
from the descendant of the original ** treaty
elm," which was moved by Gen'l Oliver to the
Wilkesbarre Mountain, the transplanting and
transportation of which is described on page 120.
The Association is indebted to Provost Harrison
and the faculty of the University for cordial co-
operation in the effort to plant this memorial to
William Penn, and also for the proffered use of
the Library building for the addresses, etc.

In the evening, through the courtesy of the
trustees of the Drexel Institute, the auditorium,
lobby and the museum will be thrown open to the
association and its guests for a public meeting
of the organization, and a reception to Governor
Hastings and other distinguished guests. This
meeting will take the form of a symposium, with
illustrated addresses by Prof. B. E. Fernow, Chief
of the Forestry Division, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, and Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Forestry
Commissioner of Pennsylvania followed by re-
marks by the Governor of Pennsylvania and others.
Cards of invitation will be sent to the members of
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and other
readers of Forest Leaves can secure cards by
applying to the office of the Association, 1012

Walnut Street.

* * ♦ * *

The Northwestern Lumberman states that Dr.
J. M. Stone, of Bridgeton, Mich., lost $10,000
worth of lumber in a forest fire accidentally
started by a neighbor, and has begun suit for
damages.

^14

FOREST LEAVES.

^1

::^i

Much as we may enjoy forests from the stand-
point of beauty, or appreciate the sentimental love
for trees, our endorsement of forest reserves is based
on broader grounds. We recognize in the reser-
vation of areas to be kept in forests, a future for
our rapidly disappearing lumber industry, we see
in a judicious distribution of forests on or near
the headwaters of our streams the maintenance of
a more equable flow of water, a condition which
while reducing the damage resulting from freshets,
makes available a larger percentage of rainfall
for power or supplies to our cities and towns.

Forest reserves judiciously established and main-
tained on the drainage areas of prominent streams
will benefit the entire district tributary to these
streams. If located near the watershed, they
will render service by holding back the excess of
rainfall in the spongy humus which forms the
forest floor, and by retarding the too rapid melt-
ing of the winter snows, will increase the volume
discharged in times of drought, making water
powers and water supplies more constant and
valuable, also decreasing the risk from freshets.
Hence, a forest reserve is not of merely local ad-
vantage, but its influence is traceable throughout
the valleys of streams which start from, or pass
through it, and thence to the greater streams, to
which the smaller are tributary. Every resident
along the shores of streams which are subject to
destructive freshets, every stockholder in railroads
or industries whose property is liable to damage
from swollen streams, every owner of water power
privileges and every citizen who depends on pub-
lic water supplies is directly interested in securing
forest reservations in Pennsylvania.

The investigation of the Susquehanna floods
has demonstrated that nothing will do so much
towards reducing the damage from this cause as
the reforesting of certain waste areas on its head-
waters, and the same applies to all of our streams.

In the eastern part of the State of Pennsylvania
the average rainfall is from 42 to 45 inches per
annum. Reduced to gross tons this means that
from 2,700,000 to 2,900,000 tons of water fall on
each square mile, or that from 97^^ to 104^
million cubic feet are annually precipitated on
each square mile. If this quantity of water could
all be collected and controlled so as to be dis-
charged continuously and the discharge distributed
over the entire year, it would equal a flow of from
3iV to 3j^ cubic feet per second per square mile.
If we take the entire area of Pennsylvania, about
46,000 square miles, and compute the weight and
volume of the possible flow-off, we would have
figures which would be startling.

Man, however, by denuding forest areas has
disturbed these reserves and much of what could
be made useful for power or navigation passes ofi* in
freshets, causing great destruction and serious loss.

The precipitation of the rain is, however,
neither continuous nor uniform ; much of it comes
in storms, and even if all which fell on a given
area could be collected there are losses from
absorption, infiltration, evaporation, etc.; but a
large percentage of the flow-off* from any district
is controllable if there is a liberal distribution of
forests on the drainage area. Therefore in esti-
mating what volume of water can be obtained
either for water supply or for power from a given
drainage basin, it is essential that the engineer
may know how much of the watershed is or may
be expected to remain in forest, for the quantity
must be based upon the minimum rainfall supple-
mented by the amount of storage which can be
economically or conveniently provided.

Hence a stream whose watershed sustains a
liberal amount of forest, may in its natural state
supply power in excess of another stream of larger
drainage area from which the forests have been
denuded.

If instead of taking the figures above given,
estimates are based on a rainfall which would give
as collectable, 3 cubic feet per second per square
mile, and if for very well timbered areas it is
assumed that two-thirds of this is available for
the generation of power with proper storage, we
would then have an equivalent of one horse-
power exerted continuously throughout the year
for each 6 square miles of drainage area per foot
of available fall. If but one-third of the rainfall
can be controlled as flow-off, then 12 square miles
of drainage area would be required to produce one
horse-power per foot of available fall, and in an
area as great as that of the Schuylkill River basin,
from which most of the forests have been de-
nuded, it is probable that it would be necessary to
allow 40 square miles of watershed to produce
one horse-power per foot of available fall. The
possibilities of any improvement of water powers,
however, will be dependent upon the selection of
a suitable drainage basin, its geology, topography,
and stratigraphical conditions, the judicious loca-
tion and construction of impounding dams and
reservoirs and the proportion of forest growth.

It is not our desire to see good, arable land
converted into forests; there are to-day in the
State of Pennsylvania fully a million acres of land
which once bore a good forest growth, but are now
not only bare of timber, but unfit for any other use-
ful purpose, their condition being a direct menace
to other property which is subject to the damage
resulting from rushing waters and debris carried
down the streams after every heavy storm. J. B.

3)6 ^ 3)* *|C

*

Forest Leaves has contended that if the laws
now on the statute books of the State of Pennsyl-
vania were honestly enforced, many forest fires
would be averted and numerous splendid trees

FOREST LEAVES.

3o?

preserved. The law makes it "the duty*' of
County Commissioners to see that forest fires are
extinguished and the causes of such fires deter-
mined ; but we need not inform the readers of
Forest Leaves that this " duty " is almost uni-
versally neglected. We, however, hope for good
results following the efforts of Forestry Commis-
sioner Rothrock, to bring this law to the attention
of every County Commissioner in an official com-
munication, so that none can neglect this duty
without knowing that he does so wilfully.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association has also
scattered throughout the State copies of the law
which gives to property owners redress against
damage to shade and ornamental trees, which has
lately been sustained in the Court of Berks County
under circumstances which are epitomized in the
following editorial from the Philadelphia Public
Ledger :

" A case of interest to owners of sidewalk shade
trees has just been decided in the courts at Reading.
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company,
in stringing wires near Douglasville, mutilated a
number of shade trees belonging to Dr. John Mar-
shall, of this city. The latter brought suit against
the company, and a verdict was given in his favor.
In overruling a motion for a new trial Judge End-
lich held that the act of 1891 cannot be regarded
as conferring upon telegraph, etc., companies any
right to do wanton injury to a property owner's
trees, such as the act of 1881 makes criminal,
and, therefore, gives no protection to their em-
ployees doing such injury at their instance.

In the suburban portions of this city property
owners have suffered severely from ruthless hack-
ing and destruction of their street shade trees, and
this decision will afford them some satisfaction,
since it shows they will, in future, have a means of
redress which they had come to think was de-
nied them.

As the season for out-of-door work is approach-
ing we reprint for the information of our readers
this law which shows what rights a tree owner has
if he or she will assert them as Mr. Marshall
did."

Trees and Telegraph Poles — Pamphlet Laws of
Pennsylvania^ 1891 — Page 170.

Section i. Be it enacted, etc., That from and
after the passage of this act, it shall be lawful,
whenever any telegraph, telephone or electric
light company shall have erected its poles and
lines along any turnpike, public road, street, lane,
alley or highway in this Commonwealth, for the
owner or owners of land adjoining said turnpike
or public road, who may claim to be damaged by
the erection or maintenance of said lines by reason
of the cutting of trees, whether planted in the
said turnpike, public road, street, lane, alley or

highway, or on enclosed or unenclosed land ad-
joining the same, to petition the Court of Com-
mon Pleas of the county in which said damage
shall be alleged to have been committed, where-
upon the said court shall appoint three impartial
men, citizens of the county in which said damages
shall be alleged, as viewers, who shall, after being
duly sworn or affirmed to the faithful performance
of their duties, assess the damages done, if any, to
the petitioner, and shall report the same to the
said court at the first week of the regular term
thereof, after the said appointment, which report
shall, upon its presentation as aforesaid, be con-
firmed nisi ; and if no appeal be entered to the
same on or before ten days from Saturday of the
week in which the same is presented, it shall then
be confirmed absolutely, and judgment entered by
the prothonotary of said court upon the same
against the said company.

Sec. 2. The compensation of the viewers pro-
vided for by the first section of this act shall be
the same as is now provided for road viewers, and
shall be paid by the defendant company where
damages are awarded, otherwise by the petitioner ;
Provided, That the provisions of this act shall not
apply to the police, patrol or fire department tele-
graph lines.

Sec. 3. All laws, in so far as they conflict with
this act, are hereby repealed.

jjc 5JC 5}C 3|C 5jC

One of the most helpful efforts on behalf of for-
estry which we have had reason to chronicle was
brought to public notice by the lecture of Dr. J.
T. Rothrock, State Forestry Commissioner, at the
New Century Drawing-Room, on the evening of
March 9th. A joint invitation from the trustees
of the University of Pennsylvania, the Civic Club
of Philadelphia and the Council of the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association filled this beautiful
auditorium with a representative audience, who
gave close attention to the exposition of the value
of forest reserves to all classes of citizens of the
State. Special stress was laid upon the influence
which these reserves would exert upon municipal
water supplies and upon navigation. One of the
most prolific sources of value to the cause was the
liberal notice given by the Philadelphia press,
every paper making reference to the lecture and

in some cases giving editorial comment.

*****

We commend the following facts to the atten-
tion of our legislators who were unable to see the
wisdom of expending $300,000 toward securing
120,000 acres of land, which were to be State
reservations and the property of the people.

These quotations come from the Report of the
Metropolitan Park Commission (Mass.) for 1896;
"In conclusion, we may, perhaps, point out that
the various public open spaces now or soon to be

\m

^j^^:tt — ^*-* -,,

I I .A| i»A»^*Wnf-

^116 -

FOREST LEAVES.

controlled by the Metropolitan Park Commission
include more numerous large public pleasure-
grounds than are governed by any other public
authority in Northern America, except the gov-
ernments of the United States and Canada. Blue
Hills Reservation is five miles long; Middlesex
Fells Reservation, two miles square ; Stony Brook
Reservation, two miles long ; Charles River Res-
ervation (including semi-public river banks), five
miles long ; Mystic Valley Parkway, two miles
long ; the Fells and Blue Hills Parkways, each
three miles long, and Revere Beach Reservation,
three miles long. The legislation of 1893, by
which the cities and towns surrounding Boston
were enabled to co-operate with Boston in obtain-
ing suitable public open spaces, has certainly
proved effective." — Page 52.

** The amount of money thus far appropriated
by all the park acts for the acquirement and care
of these reservations, exclusive of the amount
appropriated under the boulevard act ($500,000),
has been ^2,300,000." — Page 8.

''These acquisitions bring the total holdings of
the commonwealth under these acts, exclusive of
the West Roxbury Parkway, to 6671 acres." —
Page 6.

To obtain funds to meet the expenses incident
to the acquisition and management of these parks,
^* scrip or certificates of debt in the name and
behalf of the commonwealth and under its seal,
are issued." It is also ^' provided that once in
every five years a special commission should be
appointed by the Supreme Court of the Common-
wealth to determine the amount which each city
and town within the metropolitan parks district
should annually pay into the treasury of the Com-
monwealth to provide for the interest, sinking-fund
and expenses of this commission." — Page 24.

In addition to all this, it appears that the city of
Boston has expended the vast sum of ** J 1 1 ,000,000
in developing a system of parks at its own cost,
which are free to the whole metropolitan dis-
trict."— Page loi.

" As the whole work in charge of this com-
mission now stands, the metropolitan park dis-
trict of Boston, composed of thirty-six cities and
towns within a radius of twelve miles, has ac-
quired park lands which make it unique among
the cities of the world." — Page 12.

This seems to be the place to add that the area
of Massachusetts is 7800 square miles. And her
population in 1890 was 2,238,943. The area of
Pennsylvania is 46,000 square miles, and the popu-
iation in 1890 was 5,258,014. Our own State has
coal, iron, petroleum, natural gas, some remaining
timber and a soil which produces much more than
that of Massachusetts. The latter State exports
granite, ice and fish. Of the valuable products
enumerated as belonging to Pennsylvania she

practically has none. A standard book which is
found in almost every school-room in our State
affirms that '* the inhabitants of Massachusetts
have always been distinguished for their devotion
to public education.'' It may be just possible that
they have learned that there is a parsimony which
lacks every element of sound political economy.
If Massachusetts has discovered that she can afford
to spend in all Ji 3,300,000 for parks, health-
grounds and forests for her 2,238,943 vigorous
citizens, to keep them vigorous and to cultivate
content, and to make them proud of their little
commonwealth, it is worth very serious inquiry,
whether Pennsylvania could not afford to do at
least one-thirteenth as much for 5,258,014 citi-
zens. One is led to reflection, on inspecting the
rocky soil and shore of the Bay State, noting how
faint their suggestions of fertility as compared
with Pennsylvania, and then recognizing after-
ward that very much of the wealth produced here
finally settles down in or near Boston. Is there
any possible connection between these facts and
that devotion to public education which was noted
above? J. T. R.

:}: H< He :ic :fi

The tree butcher is going his rounds, ruining
the shape, symmetry and proportions of trees
along the city streets, under the delusion that he
is ** trimming." None but men who understand
what will help or what will injure tree growth
should be permitted to trim trees, and we hope
that the late appointment of a City Forester in
Philadelphia may work a reform in this particular.
Tree trimming is neccessary in many instances,
but tree butchery is neither necessary or excusable.

— The American Forestry Association has pub-
lished in circular form the interesting address of
the Hon. Fred J. Dubois, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Public Lands, on '* The Need of
a Forest Policy for the Western States," which
was delivered before that organization and the
National Geographic Society, on January 27, 1896,
a brief resume being published in the last issue of
Forest Leaves.

— California has a State forestry system, con-
ducted by the College of Agriculture of the Uni-
versity of California, which is said to be doing a
great deal of profitable work on a very small ap-
propriation. Experimental stations are now being
conducted at Chico and Santa Monica, and the
legislature has established another on the slopes of
Mount Hamilton in order to discover what hard-
woods will grow best on the rough lands of the
Coast range. — Northwestern Lumberman,

FOREST LEAVES.

Care of Wood Land.

Notes from the Pennsylvania Experiment Station,

THERE were several severe wind storms during
the summer and early fall of 1895, and an
unusual number of trees have been blown
down. Even a casual observer must have noticed
two things about these trees : first, that they were
almost entirely our red and black oaks, and second,
that they were more or less rotten at the heart.

Closely examined, many of them show along
their trunks defective spots which indicate the de-
cay within. But it is often quite a surprise that
trees that appear as though they would keep on
growing for many years longer should so easily
topple over in a storm. The red and black oaks
are much more subject to disease, and hence to
early failure and destruction than are any others,
but, in large measure, the difficulty arises from the
fact that, in our valley woodlands especially, the
oaks are almost all from sprout growth. Very few
are from seed. Sprouts are of deceptive value be-
cause they grow very rapidly for a few years and
overtop or crowd out everything else. But they
soon change in growth rate and will never make
trees of full size. They not only fail to develop a
strong independent root system, but are peculiarly
liable to become diseased. This comes primarily
from the old stump, and naturally is exerted along
and up the centre of the trunk, slowly destroying
the heart wood. Owing to the greater ease and
quickness of the early growth of the red and black
oaks, and the frequent culling out of the white
oaks for various purposes, our valley woodlands are,
unconsciously, undergoing a marked change in
varieties of trees ; the poorer kinds being left in
very large proportions.

There are many places where, for various rea-
sons, it seems desirable to keep up a bit of wood-
land. To have the best and most productive it is
necessary to exercise some care in the varieties of
trees, and this can scarcely be done without some
labor. Some kinds like the pines, make fair head-
way by natural seeding, where conditions are
favorable ; but the white oaks do not, as a rule.
Their acorns are too easily destroyed, and the
seedlings require some protection.

It is possible, however, to secure them by plant-
ing acorns directly in the woodland wherever the
trees are not too thick. The fall and early winter
is the best time to do this, using some heavy tool
to make an opening in the ground or among the
rocks sufficient to allow covering the acorn and
thus prevent— not freezing, but the rapid thawing
after freezing, as well as the drying out, which are so
fatal to those which germinate on the surface. The
spring will answer for this very well provided the
acorns have been kept slightly moist by burying

them in the ground. A few days of exposure to a
dry atmosphere, no matter how cool, is sufficient
to destroy their vitality.

A reasonable amount of care in planting and of
subsequent protection will enable any one to slowly
restore oak woodlands and make them much more
productive than they now are.

W. A. BUCKHOUT.

Forest Reservation and Public Water

Supply.

ON Monday evening, March 9th, Dr. J, T.
Rothrock delivered an illustrated lecture
on *' Forest Reservations as Affecting the
Water Supply of Philadelphia," under the auspices
of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania,
the Civic Club of Philadelphia and the Pennsyl-
vania Forestry Association.

Following some general remarks in regard to
the progress in forestry. Provost C. C. Harrison
introduced Dr. Rothrock as a professor of the
Universitv of Pennsylvania and the lecturer pro-
ceeded to' call attention to the early history of the
country when the eastern portion of the United
States was covered with forests. The first picture
thrown on the canvas represented the expedition
which went to Manhegan Island in 1605, the ob-
ject being to obtain cargoes of wood, cedar and
sassafras being the varieties which were sought.
The first settlers found it necessary to cut down
the trees to obtain cleared fields, and as there was
no market for lumber, the logs were rolled into
large heaps and burned. In latter years the trees
were cut for timber, the logs being rolled into
nearby streams and ^'driven" to some central
point where large mills capable of producing 200,-
000 feet of sawed lumber per day of fourteen
hours were located. As the areas convenient to
streams were cut over there came a third stage,
where small mills erected in the woods, manu-
factured the lumber on the spot, leaving the saw-
dust, and refuse matter to form food for forest
fires' which not only destroyed the second growth
(which if protected would have reforested the cut
lands) but impoverished the soil itself, leaving it
without any protection from the elements, the rain
rushing down the hillsides in torrents, forming
great gullies and filling up the streams below.

A series of views showed in a well-timbered
country the purling brook running among stones
and boulders forming small pools, later on it be-
came of greater size, nature constructed natural
reservoirs from fallen logs which blocked up the
stream, aerating the water, making the head
waters the store house, and leaving the main rivers
into which the tributary streams enter free of bar-
riers. Illustrations showing the stream tributary

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FOREST LEAVES.

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to lands from which the timber had been felled ;
here all the obstructions in the channel of the
stream were removed and the logs piled in its bed
to be carried down by the spring thaw ; tearing
away the banks, which were in turn deposited in
the larger streams reducing their depths, and to
catch the logs large booms and dams were thrown
across the rivers, reversing the plan of nature. The
lecturer stated that he should not be understood as
condemning the lumber industry, but desired that
forest lands should be systematically cut over, and
allowed to again grow up, the trees being pro-
tected from fire, unless this ground is suited for
agricultural purposes. He stated that over one-
fourth of the whole area of Pennsylvania was unfit
for farming.

One of the most important problems we have
confronting us is a pure, reliable water supply.
There was no desire to deny that a filter plant was
needed in Philadelphia for immediate use, but the
question was whether the city should continue to
rely on a water supply which required filtering,
when it could be obtained from pure sources. No
water which comes to us from fields, barnyards,
etc., flowing past towns, and which must necessa-
rily contain objectionable matter, even if filtered,
is as wholesome as that which comes from a tim-
bered area. Let us have the filter plants, if neces-
sary, but rely upon a pure source of supply.

It is a necessity that the State should with as
little delay as possible assume the control of its
watersheds, which have neither agricultural nor
mineral value, and any delay will involve greater
expense, for while the State can of course take
what it desires by right of eminent domain, it
must pay for the land it takes and the longer it is
put off the more it will cost in the end.

Last season was one of low water, in many in-
stances streams died up and cattle had to be driven
miles for water, which in turn was hauled home.
It has been stated by Major Raymond that four-
fifths of the water which falls on timbered lands is
retained while one-fifth runs off, the reverse being
the case if the area is denuded of timber. If our
high water sheds had been utilized this extreme
lack of water would have been lessened. Mr.
John Birkinbine gives the area of the Schuylkill
River as 1940 square miles and states that for an
average year the total rainfall if it were collectable
would represent a daily flow of 4,000,000,000 gal-
lons : but last year during the drought only about
200,000,000 gallons came daily to Philadelphia.
These figures are not given to show how the danger
line was approached, but to call attention to the
need of husbanding the water supply, by means
which forestry teaches, as John Mair puts it, *' which
can harm no one, which will help every one, and
which will please God.'* What is true of the
Schuylkill is true of every other watershed in the

State, with minor modifications. Our national
government is withdrawing large areas from entry
for forest reserves. New York already has the
Adirondack reserve, Massachusetts has numerous
parks, West Virginia is endeavoring to secure a
middle Allegheny reserve. Why should not Penn-
sylvania have them ?

The use of trees in cities as related to health and
morals was referred to, and examples of some na-
tive trees adaptable for this purpose were shown
and contrasted with the unsightly, badly pruned
specimens (usually silver maples) which are found
along some of the streets. Dr. Rothrock predic-
ted that in the future more attention would be paid
to this subject, closing with a view of a street in
West Chester lined with fine trees.

Mrs. Stephenson, President of the Civic Club
of Philadelphia, after thanking Dr. Rothrock,
presented the following resolutions which were
unanimously adopted.

** Whereas, in the State large areas once cov-
ered with timber have been practically abandoned
by their owners after being rendered unproduc-
ductive, and

^' Whereas, These areas have almost no agricul-
tural or mineral value, and will, if allowed to
remain in their present condition, become a
menace to the rest of the State ; therefore be it

" Resolved) That the Trustees of the University
of Pennsylvania, the Civic Club of Philadelphia
and the Pennsylvania Forestry Association earn-
estly urge upon our next legislators the immediate
necessity of placing so much of the said area
under the control of the State as will be needed
to furnish the water required for our comfort,
health and industries ; to protect the fertility of
the soil ; to produce necessary timber, and to hold
in check the floods which so often devastate our
most fertile valleys.

" Resolved also, That we ask for the enactment
of such laws as will restrain the forest fires, which
burn the fertility out of the soil, destroy growing
timber, and render ineffectual all attempts at the
restoration of our forests." F. L. B.

— The following resolution, unanimously passed
by the Minnesota State Forestry Association,
holding its annual session in the parlors of the
Minneapolis Club, January 15, 1896, shows that
interest in and appreciation of the subject of forest
reservations is spreading.

** That the Minnesota State Forestry Association
urges upon our Senators and Representatives in
Congress the importance of maintaining and in-
creasing the government forest reserves in the
various States, and the further extension of the
reservoir system at the head-waters of our rivers."

J. O. Barrett,

Secretary,

FOREST LEAVES.

3/r

Arbor Day Proclamation.

IN the Name and by the Authority of the Com-
•monwealth of Pennsylvania. Executive De-
partment. Proclamation : The General As-
sembly by Joint Resolution approved March 17,
1885, and again by Resolution approved March
30, 1887, requested the Governor of this Com-
monwealth to appoint annually a day to be desig-
nated as ^* Arbor Day," and to recommend by
Proclamation to the people on the day named the
planting of trees and shrubbery in the public
school grounds and along the public highways
throughout the State.

Although Pennsylvania was once wholly covered
with a dense growth of valuable timber, to-day
scarcely one-fourth of that area remains, and the
supply has fallen off to such an extent that the
Commonwealth is unable to produce the timber
required for its own inhabitants.

Of the regions which when timbered were a
source of wealth to their owners and to the State,
not less than two million five hundred thousand
acres are unfit for agricultural purposes. Most of
this vast area has little or no mineral wealth and
is now an unsightly and practically abandoned
territory. Fires sweep over it year after year de-
stroying the younger growth and burning out the
fertility of the soil, and this vast territory is pass-
ing into the condition of a desert, becoming
poorer each successive year. It is not only possi-
ble but practicable to restore the forests upon these
desert wastes, which would be producing a crop of
great value to our State, and would also restore to
our rivers and streams the beneficial influences of
the forests.

As it was once a necessity to remove trees in
order to obtain ground to plant grain, and for
other purposes of civilization, it appears that this
necessity produced a tree destroying habit which
should be counteracted as speedily as possible.

This is the first generation in the Commonwealth
ever brought face to face with the dangers and
disasters of a timberless country. To change the
current of national thought from the tree destroy-
ing to the tree protecting policy, to add to the
beauty of our mountains and valleys, to ornament
the grounds of our free schools and other public
institutions, to add comfort to the traveler upon
our public highways, to preserve the shores and
banks of our rivers and smaller streams are objects
worthy of the intelligent attention of our citizens.
Now Therefore, I, Daniel H. Hastings, Gover-
nor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in
accordance with law, do hereby designate and pro-
claim Friday, the Tenth day of April and Friday,
the Twenty-fourth day of April, A.D., 1896, to be
observed as Arbor Days throughout the Common-
wealth.

The selection of either of the above designated
days is left to the choice of the people in the vari-
ous sections of the Commonwealth to the end that
that day may be selected which is deemed the
most favorable on account of climatic conditions.

Given under my Hand and the Great Seal of
the State this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the
year of Our Lord, One thousand eight hundred
and ninety-six, and of the Commonwealth, One

hundred and twentieth.

Daniel H. Hastings.

By the Governor ,

Frank Reeder,

Secretary of the Commonwealth,

Resolutions of the State Grange.

AT the annual meeting of the State Grange,
held at Williamsport, the following reso-
lutions were adopted :
Whereas, The farming community is placed un-
der disadvantage in the competition for business
prosperity, therefore we the Patrons of Husbandry
in the State of Pennsylvania, in our Annual Meet-
ing, do

Resolved, That we will ask that our Farm Timber
Lands be placed, for the purpose of taxation, in a
class by themselves, and subjected to a minimum
rate of taxation, so long as they remain uncut. It
is unfair that we should be charged with the en-
tire cost and labor of maintaining them for the
benefit of the community without some corres-
ponding advantage to ourselves.

Resolved, Further, that we ask for more efficient
trespass laws which will protect our forests and
our fences from fires and our farm products from
depredations, as citizens of our towns are now
protected.

Resolved, Also, that we ask for the children of
the rural districts, educational advantages equal
to or approaching those now accorded to the chil-
dren who dwell in our towns.

Resolved, That as these demands are just and
reasonable, we pledge the whole weight of our
State organization toward securing them.

The Executive Committee of the American
Forestry Association has forwarded a letter to
Secretary Smith protesting against the contem-
plated opening of the Cascade range forest re-
serve in Oregon. This reserve contains 4,492,800
acres and is situated on the crest of the high
Sierras.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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Two Historic Trees.

WE offer to the readers of Forest Leaves
illustrations of two historic trees as ap-
propriate to the proposed Arbor Day
celebration.

One of these trees, the bald cypress, now stand-
ing in Bartram's Garden, is well described by our
colleague, Prof. W. P. Wilson, director of the
Philadelphia Museums. In addressing the Alumni
Association of the Philadelphia College of Phar-
macy, Dr. A. W. Miller said : *' We are fortunate
in having that which is, without doubt, the oldest
of all the botanical gardens in America. It was
started about 1727 or 1730 by John Bar tram, a
distinguished botanist, whom Linnaeus pronounced
to be the greatest natural botanist in the world.
Comparatively few men who had to provide the
necessities of life for themselves and their families
ever did more. He was able, by close economy,
to reserve 12 acres of his farm entirely for the
careful rearing of specimens, and he devoted a
considerable portion of his life to selecting rare
and valuable specimens for this garden. These 12
acres, known as Bartram's Garden, have been ac-
quired by the city of Philadelphia, and they are
now part of the municipal domain. A movement
is now being made to have them restored, to have
them beautified, and to make them worthy of the
name of Bartram. The other illustration, which is
not new to many of our readers, as we published it
in May, 1892, shows how Gen'l Paul A. Oliver
moved a scion of the Penn Treaty Elm from Bay
Ridge, in New York Bay, to the mountains near
Wilkesbarre, Penna. As the memorial tree to be
planted by the Governor of Pennsylvania on the
University campus on Arbor Day is a sprout
from this tree, we repeat briefly from our edi-
torials of May and October, 1892 :

The original Penn Treaty tree was a remark-
able one, aside from its historic interest, on ac-
count of its immense size. It measured 24 feet
around the base, and one branch extending
towards the Delaware was 150 feet long. It was
blown down in 1810.

Gen'l Oliver's ancestors owned the ground on
the Delaware river shore on which the Penn
Treaty elm stood, and a shoot from one of the
roots which showed life after the old tree had
blown down, was carried to and planted on tne
Oliver estate at Bay Ridge, N. Y., where it grew
for more than fifty years until its removal was
decided on. This was a difficult undertaking re-
quiring heavy hoisting apparatus to lift the tree
out of the ground on to the truck. Ten stout
horses were necessary to pull the truck and tree
on a level road, and where any slight elevation
had to be overcome the horses were hitched to a
rope rove through a block and fall attached to a

standing tree. In this way the heavy truck was
hauled to the dock at Fort Hamilton.

In going down the steep hill to the dock the
block and fall was attached to the rear of the
truck and to a heavy iron stake, 2}4 inches in
diameter, driven into the ground. Two horses
hitched to the rope prevented the truck sliding
down hill too rapidly. A lighter carried the tree
to the New Jersey Central dock at Jersey City
where it was placed on two flat cars, but the
weight was so great that the axle of one car broke
and the tree was transferred to another car. The
tree was 70 feet long and 30 inches in diameter
at the butt.

When the tree arrived at its destination (Oliver's
Mills on the mountain near Wilkesbarre, Pa.) the
roads were so soft that it could not be hauled on
a truck, hence the platform seen in the cut was
made, the tree placed on it and moved along by
rollers, skids being placed for these to move on.
When necessary to haul it up hill a block and
tackle were used.

A hole which had been dug the previous fall to
receive the tree was filled with rich earth mixed
with water, making a paste, and the roots (which
were protected in their journey by coverings) set-
tled down into it.

After the tree was planted great care was exer-
cised to prevent any severe motion in the trunk
and roots, so that after the small rootlets began to
shoot into the earth and cling to it for nourish-
ment they should not be disturbed or moved by
the swaying of the tree. For this purpose guys
were attached to the tree and fastened to strong
posts in the ground, any slack being taken up by
turnbuckles. The surfaces exposed where the
limbs had been cut were carefully coated with wax
and rosin to keep in the sap.

The elm was dug up at Fort Hamilton on the
2 2d of February (Washington's birthday) and
placed in front of the Log Chapel at Laurel Run
on March i, 1892.

The sap, of which there was plenty, commenced
running in the spring, and a picture taken in
August, 1892, which was reproduced in the
October number of Forest Leaves, showed that
the tree was in a flourishing condition.

The project of moving a tree of such large size
over so great a distance, requiring transportation
by horses at the initial and terminal points, and
by boat and rail for a distance of fully 175 miles
was certainly a bold one, and the sentiment which
encouraged the large outlay necessary fcr the re-
moval of the tree is commendable, indicating not
only Gen'l Oliver's loyalty to his ancestors, but
also a love of forestry.

There are also other descendants of the Penn
Treaty elm, one of which is on the grounds of the
Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The

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THE BALD CYPRESS TREE IN BARTRAM'S GARDEN.

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THE BALD CYPRESS TREE IN BARTRAM'S GARDEN.

INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

FOREST LEAVES.

3/ 1

-42L

Evening Bulletin quotes from the minutes of the
hospital, dated 3 mo., 26, 1810 ; *' A scion from
a tree called the Great Elm of Kensington, said to
have been the same tree under which William
Penn, the proprietor of Pennsylvania, held the first
treaty with the Indians, was presented by Mat-
thew Vanduzen and planted by Peter Brown, Esq.,
near the westernmost lot belonging to the hos-
pital, for which Peter Brown is requested to re-
turn to Matthew Vanduzen the thanks of the
managers, and to procure a box to defend it from
injury. The parent tree was blown down in a late
storm.'*

The late William G. Malin, who for sixty years
was connected with the hospital, stated that when
the '* westernmost lot " was about to be built upon
a cutting was taken by the late Charles Roberts,
long a manager of the hospital, and planted near
the hospital building. This is now the beautiful
tree a short distance west of the north house with-
in the hospital enclosure.

Another grandchild of the treaty elm is re-
ported to be in the yard surrounding the Friends'
Meeting House, Twelfth and Girard Streets. The
branches of this fine tree spread themselves out to
the roof of the Meeting House. In this house
some years ago a meeting was held in which rep-
resentatives of the Sioux, Arapahoe, Comanche
and other Western Indians had a loving council
with Friends, descendants of those who were with
Penn two hundred years ago under the old elm at
Shackamaxon.

Another descendant of the Penn Treaty elm is
said to be growing on the grounds of the Cooper
estate in Camden, N. J., and there may be others
of which no authentic record has been preserved.

THE BALD CYPRESS — Taxodium disfichuniy R,

The bald cypress is one of the most remarkable
native trees of the United States. It ranges from
Florida all through our Southern States, followmg
up the water courses north to the southern boun-
dary of Indiana. When planted out it grows with
perfect luxuriance through all the Middle States
and southern New England.

Its ancient history is a remarkable one, for while
at the present time it grows only in swamps and
where at least for a part of the season the soil is
flooded with water, yet in its earlier forest develop-
ment it was evidently a dry land tree. This is in-
dicated by its fossil remains in the Arctic regions
alongside of oaks, maples and other upland trees.
In this early stage of its growth, now past and
gone, its form was sharp and conical, like other
cone-bearing trees. As it at present grows in great
luxuriance in Virginia, the Carolinas, Alabama,
Georgia, Florida and other Southern States, the
top becomes much flattened and the branches
make a greater angle with the main trunk.

In this change of base from its dry land form
to the swamps of these Southern States, in order
that it might live under these watery conditions,
the so-called knees were developed. These knees
grow from wart-like protuberances and extend on
the upper part of the horizontal roots, or they are
formed from roots which grow vertically upward
in the air, finally becoming the large knees which
are seen in some of our southern swamps.

The cypress, then, from a dry land tree has be-
come amphibious. Whether or not there were dif-
ferent species in early times we do not know.
Certain it is that its near relatives are found in
Japan.

This tree forms one of the handsomest shade
trees which can be planted in this vicinity. Its
foliage of light green is delicate and spray-like;
its branches are reasonably close and dense, and
its general form is sharp and cone-like. It is gen-
erally free from the attack of insects. Altogether,
when planted, it forms a striking feature in any
landscape.

Here and there they are sparsely scattered in
the public squares and in the parks of Philadel-
phia. The finest in this vicinity are growing in
the old Fairmount Park, a little north of Lincoln
Monument. Much the oldest tree in Philadelphia
is the one here pictured, now growing in Bar-
tram's Garden. The great interest of this tree in
Bartram's Garden is its historical associations. In
1 771 as John Bartram was returning from one of
his extended trips through Florida and the other
Southern States, he pulled up and brought with
him a small cypress twig. Upon arriving home it
was planted out in his garden on the Schuylkill
river. The tree is 19^^ feet in circumference 3
feet above the ground.

Gutta-Percha from Dried Leaves.

7i NEW addition to the rubber industry,
j^A which it is claimed will largely increase

<• the output of gutta-percha, is the collec-
tion and export of the dried leaves of the gutta-
percha tree. The extraction has proved to be
very profitable, giving an excellent quality of pure
gutta-percha, the leaves yielding from seven to
ten per cent, of their weight of the manufactured
article. The natives formerly cut down a tree to
obtain the sap, and from this, if it were an adult
tree 25 years old, there was obtained one catty
of pure dry gutta-percha. Fully as much can be
obtained from two pluckings of the leaves of the
same tree without injuring it, for it will continue
to put out fresh foliage, and will live to seed and
reproduce its species. This is important, as the
best gutta-percha trees do not bear fruit until 30
"years of age. — India Rubber World,

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FOREST LEAVES.

A Middle Allegheny Mountain Reserva-
tion.

TV MEETING to promote forest reservations
J^ in the Middle Allegheny region was held

^ at the West Virginia Academy of Science,
Morgantown, W. Va., on February nth, when a
large audience was addressed by Dr. A. D. Hop-
kins, President of the Academy, on " A Movement
in the Interest of Forest Preservation in the Mid-
dle Alleghenies, and the Need of Preliminary In-
vestigation ;" and Prof. L. C. Corbett spoke of
the " Importance of Forests for the Protection of
Water Supply."

Dr. Hopkins narrated the early history of the
agitation for government reservations in the Mid-
dle Allegheny Mountain region of Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. This
project was indorsed by the leading newspapers in
the States mentioned, as well as Ohio, and numer-
ous commendatory letters were received from
prominent business and political men, prompt ac-
tion by Congress being urged. He suggested that
preliminary investigations be made in the several
States, embracing portions of the region under
consideration, to ascertain in a general way the
location of the more important watersheds and
forest areas, portions available for purchase, etc.
This might possibly be done by a co-operative
committee from the different States. A bill to
reserve these areas should be presented at the
present session of Congress. The forestry reser-
vations, or steps taken towards this end, in New
York, Pennsylvania and the New England States
were cited. West Virginia has a region of great
importance in its primitive forest areas, forming
the sources of various rivers, and the present ac-
tion is the first which has been taken in the inter-
ests of its forests and watershed preservation.

As the region mentioned exerts a decided influ-
ence on a large portion of the eastern, southern
and middle sections of the United States, it would
seem as if action should be taken by national leg-
islation, aided by special act of the several State
legislatures.

The area thus purchased would really be an in-
vestment and not an expenditure of public funds,
as if properly managed a considerable revenue
could be derived from matured forest products.
Trees would not have to be planted in this region,
a large percentage of the timber covering it being
primitive.

Prof. Corbett spoke of the early days of this
country, when all manufacturing was done by nat-
ural power, the streams being numerous and the
latent power easily developed. Later, expensive
steam-plants concentrated the population and in-
dustries. As all commodities adjust themselves
according to lower and more stable standards, the

rnanager must seek to reduce the cost of produc-
tion by cheaper power and more improved meth-
ods than by reducing wages. If now the manu-
facturer should go to some of these once produc-
tive water-powers, he would find nothing but the
ruins of the old mill and a filled-up and usually
dry dam. In Watkins, N. Y., there were, fifty
years ago, eighteen saw, flour and woollen mills
propelled exclusively by water ; now there are but
two. On Big Stream, in Yates County, N. Y.,
before the forests were cleared, there was sufficient
power for fifteen saw-mills, four flour-mills, two
woollen-mills and five grist-mills. Now there are
but two grist- or flour-mills and two saw-mills on
the stream, and these are not entirely dependant
on water; for in the summer, especially in dry
times, the volume in Big Stream would be insuffi-
cient to run a small saw-mill. The owners of
these properties did not give them up willingly.
New dams were constructed, and in some instances
a multiple system for storing the weak and de-
pleted supply of their streams were provided.
This entailed additional expense, but after a hard
struggle the powers were abandoned, because of
the inadequate and unreliable water supply, the
drying up of streams in summer and increasing
floods in spring and winter. This is the history of
hundreds of streams in New York and New Eng-
land. The people of New England see the error,
and as all fuel must be brought from other States,
the restoration of the perennial streams will hold
for it its many industries when developing power
is needed.

Upon these streams large municipalities are de-
pendent for water for domestic purposes, and the
supply, if constantly maintained by well forested
areas, will aid the navigation in the larger streams
into which they empty.

In a similar way, but to a less extent, the natu-
ral prairie covering acts like the forest in keeping
up the flow in water-courses, and since the break-
ing up and cultivation of these vast plains many
streams have become intermittent. Rivers, like
the upper Missouri, that were once navigable,
have become clogged with mud and silt, and are
no longer profitable highways.

Prof. Corbett favored governmental control of
forest reservations.

The following resolution was adopted, to be
presented to Congress :

''Resolved^ That we, the members of the West
Virginia Academy of Science, all of the Common-
wealth of West Virginia, do urge upon our repre-
sentatives in Congress the immediate and pressing
necessity of establishing by law, forestry preserva-
tion and a forest policy that will successfully pre-
vent the evil efl'ects of forest destruction in the
Middle Allegheny region of West Virginia and
adjoining States."

^^S

FOREST LEAVES.

-423

Pennsylvania is interested in this Middle Alle-
gheny Mountain reservation, as in that region
many of the principal tributaries of the Susque-
hanna and the Ohio rise, and, after the experience
, with low water last fall, should certainly urge her
representatives in Congress to unite with those
from West Virginia in the endeavor to obtain
such a reservation. F. L. B.

A National Forestry Commission.

SOME time ago, Hon. Hoke Smith, Secretary
of the Interior, invited the National Acad-
emy of Science to recommend a feasible
and comprehensive forestry policy, asking an
official expression upon the following points :

1. *'Is it desirable and practicable to preserve
from fire and to maintain permanently as forested
lands those portions of the public domain now
bearing wood growth for the supply of tim-
ber?*'

2. ** How far does the influence of forest upon
climatic, soil and water conditions make desirable
a policy of forest conservation in regions where
the public domain is principally situated?'*

3. ** What specific legislation should be en-
acted to remedy the evils now confessedly exist-
ing?**

In a reply, Mr. Wolcott Gibbs, president of the
academy, said the inquiry should consider these
points :

** First, the question of the ultimate ownership
of the forests now belonging to the government ;
that is, what portions of the forest on the public
domain shall be allowed to pass, either in part
or entirely, from government control into private
hands ?

** Second, how shall the government forests be
administered so that the inhabitants of adjacent
regions may draw their necessary forest supplies
from them without affecting their permanency?

** Third, what provision is possible and neces-
sary to secure for the government a continuous,
intelligent and honest management of the forests
of the public domain, including those in the reser-
vations already made or which may be made in
the future?"

The public press informs us that the National
Academy had selected the following persons to
make the investigation and report : Charles S.
Sargent, Professor of Arboriculture at Harvard
University and Director of the Arnold Arbor-
etum ; Alexander Agassiz ; General Henry L.
Abbott, late Chief Engineer United States Army ;
Prof. William H. Brewer, of Yale University, a
prominent botanist ; Arnold Hague, of the United
States Geological Survey; and Gifford Pinchot,
Consulting Forester. The personnel of this Com

mission is of unusual excellence, and Secretary
Smith, who will render all the assistance in his
power, has recommended to Congress an ap-
propriation of ^25,000 to cover actual expenses.

The problem will be discussed by men whose
wide experience will permit them to grasp its
relation to the government, both present and
prospective ; and the conclusions which the Com-
mission will reach will at least show why our
nation should foster the maintenance of liberal
areas in forests, and the extent to which such
can be exerted.

Forestry in New Jersey.

¥R. JOHN GIFFORD, Forester for the
New Jersey Geological Survey, delivered
an illustrated lecture at the Franklin In-
stitute, Philadelphia, on March 6th, in which he
made the following statement :

** Just as the horticulturist improves the quality
and quantity of the yield of an orchard, the for-
ester increases the productivity of a forest. In
order to be successful, the system must be per-
petual, and an amount equivalent to the incre-
ment is the annual harvest. The principal must
remain the same to descend as an heirloom from
generation to generation.'*

After speaking of the losses by forest fires and
their causes, Professor Giff'ord urged his hearers to
aid in preventing this great cause of the loss of so
many trees.

** It should need no argument,*' he said, ''to
convince every sane individual that the reckless
destruction of useful property is wasteful. Where
were once fine forests yielding ship timbers are
now barren wastes."

A series of views were shown illustrating the
forest conditions of the coastal plain of New Jer-
sey, which are similar in many respects to those
of the coastal plain of the south.

Another series of views illustrated the destruc-
tive work of moving sand along the coast. He
explained how the fine sand from the ocean is
moving inland, slowly but surely, killing the
forest before it. At the same time the beach is
being destroyed, since in several instances the
sand has moved completely over on the marshes,
exposing the mud on the ocean side, which spoils
the bathing and the beauty of the beach. He ex-
plained how, by the application of a little engi-
neering skill, this can be prevented at slight ex-
I pense.

— The carving of wood by machinery is now
claimed to be a practicable process both mechani-
cally and artistically. An English apparatus for
the purpose has been successfully introduced.

3/ jo
-124

FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

3;?

Relation of Trees to Light and Shade
the Basis of Sylvaculture.

Editor of Forest Leaves:

Sir : Although it is, perhaps, not good form to
review your reviewer, I am willing to accept the
reproach for the benefit of your readers, and for
the sake of emphasizing one of the most import-
ant principles of sylvaculture.

Your reviewer of '' Forestry for Farmers," in
the last number of Forest Leaves, uses the fol-
lowing language : " The only criticism we have
to offer is, that in our judgment, the space and
effort devoted to the relations of light and shade
in our species are given more space (relatively)
than their importance demands."
/ This statement must be surprising to any prac-
tical sylvaculturist, for it is now so well understood
that the entire art of sylvaculture is based, first
and foremost, upon a knowledge of this relation-
ship ; that it must be considered the most im-
portant, nay, the essential chapter of sylvaculture,
and hence, too much prominence can hardly be
given to it in any treatise on sylvaculture. It was
the recognition of the importance of this relation-
ship of tree-plant to light-conditions which placed
sylvaculture on a scientific basis, just about one
hundred years ago, when the father of modern
forestry, G. L. Hartig, in 1791, enunciated the
principles upon which a rational regeneration, a
satisfactory young crop, must be secured, revolu-
tionizing the crude methods in vogue up to that
time ; and it is nearly fifty years ago, that G.
Heyer, the grand master of modern forestry sci-
ence, wrote his classic little treatise on " the re-
lation of forest trees to light and shade," which
placed this knowledge as the keynote of the en-
tire structure of sylvacultural teaching, and es-
pecially of its most important chapter, that on
;; thinning."

So much does this knowledge mean to the prac-
tical forester, that I have been tempted to define
sylvaculture — which is that part of forestry that
concerns itself with the actual production and
cuhivation of a wood-crop— as '* the art of man-
aging light-conditions in the forest." And, if
any one should ask me what he should do to ac-
quire the first practical knowledge of sylvaculture,
I would answer : " Go into the woods, and observe
the behavior of the trees with regard to the light-
conditions under which they grow. Find out what
degree of shade each one can endure under the
same soil and climatic conditions, and you will
have the first necessary knowledge to become a
practical forester. You will then find that some
kinds, like the sugar-maple, the beech, and the
spruce, thrive well under the shade of oaks and
pines, and even sustain themselves under the dense
shade of their own kind, and answer, therefore.

//

as an excellent soil-cover and nurse trees. You
will learn that it is foolish to plant oaks or birch,
or any other light-foliaged tree, like the European
larch, or even pine, by itself, in the expectation of
growing valuable timber. You will learn, if you
observe long enough and deep enough, how many
trees per acre of the various kinds are required
to produce the best timber, and hence the best
money result. You will find out that the amount
of good-quality timber produced per acre is almost
exclusively dependent on the number of individ-
uals that are allowed to grow up, on the light con-
ditions under which the crop develops, the only
conditions almost that it is in your power to in-
fluence and modify in your endeavor to accom-
plish the result, the object of sylvaculture, viz., the
largest amount of the most useful material that
can be grown per acre."

The careful reader of '* Forestry for Farmers"
will find that it treats almost of nothing else than
this one all important subject, the relation of for-
est growth to light, which is the basic principle
of sylvaculture. If he*be thoroughly familiar with
this principle in all its bearings, he will be fitted
to practice sylvaculture in any country, after a
brief period of observation of the behavior of the
species with which he has to deal, for this prin-
ciple does not apply to German and French con-
ditions only, where it was first worked out, but to
Anierican, Australian, or Indian conditions as well
— in fact, it applies in all parts of the world where
trees grow, for it is simply the interpretation of
the laws of nature.

If we have not observed our native species suf-
ficiently to mdicate their behavior and relative
position with reference to light and shade endu-
rance, it would be a most useful task for the re-
viewer to discuss the errors, and to add his obser-
vations, for the basis of American forestry-prac-
tice can be laid only by an accumulation of such
observations.

Very truly yours,

B. E. Fernow.

Editor Forest Leaves :

Sir: The reviewer of Tifnber, in your last issue,
states that ** quite a large portion of the informa-
tion contained in it has been briefly but clearly
stated in earlier publications in our own country."

For the benefit of those readers of Timber who
are interested in the subjects treated, and of the
undersigned, who confesses himself in ignorance,
he would ask the reviewer to state in what Ameri-
can publications the same information is to be
found. With the exception of the chapters on
structure contained in the text-books of botany,
and a meagre collection of stray papers on some
of the points touched, the writer knows of no at-
tempt to discuss the physics of wood in anything

like a comprehensive or even discursive manner.
In fact, the only book in the English language,
with which he is acquainted, is one by Thomas
, Laslett, an Englishman, Ti?nber a?id Timber Trees,
which, while very useful in certain directions,
namely, as a reference book to the useful timbers
of the world, does not satisfy the inquirer after
the nature and behavior of wood in general, that
in that direction its usefulness is much impaired.

Truly yours, B. E. Fernow.

— c::-

Arbor Day— Of What Benefit is it to the

Country ?

"f ITTLE, probably, if judged only from the
I ^ number of trees planted ; much if it is

"^^^ remembered that in Canada, for two
centuries, the only thought has been to remove
the forest trees, at any cost, as enemies, which
recklessly encumber the ground. A celebration,
therefore, of a day in their honor, is a great point
gained. Those who reflect least, must be struck
in seeing, on this day, the representatives of the
Queen, and our most eminent men, planting trees
with their own hands. Arbor Day is looked for
with impatience by our school children, and is a
holiday for them ; but what is still more impor-
tant, more than one child who is shown how to
plant a tree on that day, becomes attached to it,
takes care of it from year to year, and thus learns
insensibly the secret of success in life; to plant
with care, to cultivate with perseverance.

I think I do not exaggerate in saying that to-
day the majority of the people of the province
(Quebec) suff'er, more or less, from the scarcity of
wood for building and even for fuel. Arbor Day
comes apropos to remind them that it is not im-
possible to repair the evil, and at the same time,
it serves as a warning to those who still have wood
on their property, teaching them the value and
necessity of using it with judgment and economy.
I now address myself particularly, not to those
who desire to plant ornamental trees,— although I
sympathize with them, with all my heart ; they
can easily find the small number of trees they
need,— but to those who suff'er seriously from the
scarcity of wood, and who can only obtain relief
by planting extensively, that is, several thousand

trees.

At first sight, the task seems impossible to the
large majority of growers. Where will they go to
look for this large number of trees ? When could
they ever find time to select them, one by one, in
the forest, to dig them up with the necessary care
and carry them to their homes ? One usually goes
to the forest to get trees, sometimes at a great
distance. All those who have tried it know how
difficult it is to find what they want, how much

time and trouble is required to dig them up, and
how many of the roots are injured in spite of their
precautions. They know also, how often all this
work is an entire loss. Trees dug up in the woods
and transplanted, so often perish, that those who
plant them are discouraged and consider the task
too difficult to repeat. However, wheii the season
is propitious and the ground is favorable for the
kind of tree you wish to plant, if the tree is in
good condition, you will, with care, succeed.
Trees which are found in the woods are rarely in
good condition, and cost too much in time lost,
if not in money. If you wish to have good trees
in large numbers, which will easily take root,
without trouble and without expense, take them
from a nursery, and let that nursery be your own.
Every farmer can establish, in a corner of his gar-
den, a nursery of forest trees, by sowing the seeds
of the trees he wishes to have. With a little atten-
tion, it is easy to tell when the seeds are ripe.
Thus toward the end of June and early in July, the
seeds of the elm and those of the plane are ripe ;
if you sow them at once, they will shoot up nearly
a foot that same summer. The seeds of the maple,
ash, oak, wild cherry, and walnut mature in the
autumn ; it is better to sow them immediately than
to keep them in the house all winter. Sow, let us
say, maple seeds, half an inch deep, and others
! in proportion to their size, two or three inches
for nuts. Sow thickly and after the first year you
' can thin them by transplanting some. At the end
' of four or five years (more or less, for there are
I some kinds of trees which grow more rapidly than
' others) you can plant your young trees where they
: are to remain. You should select cloudy or rainy
weather in the si)ring, and without going from
' home, without trouble, without breaking the roots,
you dig up and replant immediately, without giv-
ing them time to dry, a hundred young trees,
wh ch will certainly take root again, and you will
have spent less time than it would have required
to get five trees in the woods which may or may
not live. The trees will cost nothing, your chil-
dren will soon learn to weed them, and to take
care of them with pleasure, if you encourage them
a little by your example. At home the young
children amuse themselves of their own accord, in
planting acorns and in seeing the little oaks grow.
By means of seeds you can procure without ex-
pense, an unlimited number of trees, and plant,
little by little, all your land which is unfit for cul-
tivation, and which should have been left in wood.
But do not forget to protect your nursery and your
young trees, when planted, against the ravages of
cattle, by means of a good fence. Do not plant
without a fence. There are enough causes for an-
noyance in life, without creating new ones, and
nothing is more vexatious than the sight of a lot
of cows in the act of destroying a beautiful planta-

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FOREST LEAVES.

tion of young trees. In many cases you can even
spare yourself the trouble of sowing. Where the
ground is favorable, in July or August, along the
ditches, the woods, the fences, in the moss, in
damp places, in the neighborhood of the elms and
the planes, you will find hundreds of little shoots,
which have sprung from the seeds fallen from the
trees ; plant ihem in your nursery. Try it this
summer. The seeds of the elm are so small and
delicate that it is much better to use this means
than to try to sow seed yourself. Among the ma-
ples, the soil is covered with young shoots, as with
a thick carpet. One can easily pull them up with
the hand, in the autumn or early in the spring,
when the ground is still damp, without breaking
any of the little roots. Plant them in your nur-
sery immediately. The seed of the pine is very
difficult to gather. Early in the spring, in the
pastures near the pines, you can pull up, when the
soil is damp, as many little trees as you will wish
to plant ; for this kind it will be better to take the
precaution to shelter them from the sun until they
have taken root. All those who have gardens
must have noticed that if there are maple or ash
trees in the neighborhood, the ground of their
garden, if it has been spaded in the autumn, is
covered, in the spring, with young shoots grown
from the seeds fallen from these trees. Little time
is required to transplant hundreds of them, and all
will take root again without exception. They
must be taken up carefully, so that the small roots
may not be broken ; if the ground is too hard use
a trowel. It is well, as much as possible, to secure
them when they yet have only the first two leaves,
which can be easily recognized ; they are an inch
and a half to two inches long, and about a quarter
of an inch wide. For several years I have sought
the least expensive, and at the same time the
surest means of renewing the woods where they
have been destroyed, and what I now recom-
mend IS the result of personal experience. I ap-
peal to those who suffer from the lack of wood,
and who have the courage and patience to try to
remedy the evil. The trial will cost them nothing,
and It will give me pleasure to answer all those
who need advice ; but let them try next summer ;
let them sacrifice a half or a quarter of a day ; it
will be time well spent. .

,, . ^, H. G. JOLV DE LOTBINIERE.

Fointe Platon, Province of Quebec.

Books Received.

New York Forest Commission Annual Report,
1894. Forest Commission, Albany, NY 189 s
8vo. 264 pages. Bound in cloth. Illustrated.—
I his valuable report opens with the financial
statement of the New York Forest Commission.

The next chapter is devoted to forest fires, giving
the rules adopted by the Commission in reference
to fires started in the woods, these notices being
conspicuously posted throughout the forest region
of New York, which, with the work of the fire
wardens, has been quite successful in preventing
and keeping down forest fires. According to the
summary there were 62 fires, of which 16 were
started from clearing land, 12 from locomotive
sparks, 6 each from fishermen and incendiaries,
and the balance from unknown or miscellaneous
causes. The total number of acres burned over
was 22,962, and the damages resulting were but
$56,716, certainly a very commendable showing.
A resume of the forest fires in some other States
is also given. The history, aims and officers of
the three forestry associations in New York are
also set forth. Mr. William F. Fox, Superinten-
i dent of State Forests, contributes a most interest-
I ing and exhaustive report on **The Adirondack
Black Spruce." The report includes numerous
tables showing the size of trees, number of rings,
height, etc., and is embellished with fine illustra-
tions. The subject of the proper utilization of
the black spruce is also considered, and tables of
log measures inserted. The forestry movement in
other States during 1894 and the early part of
1895, together with some of the forestry legisla-
tion, is also detailed. The book forms a pleasing
and instructive addition to the reports previously
published.

Report of the Commissioner of Education for
1892-93. Vol. II. 8vo. 936 pages. Bound in
cloth. Washington, 1895.— This volume is a
continuation of the preceding one, containing
interesting chapters on Documents Illustrative of
American Educational History, Report of Ten on
Secondary School Studies, a Description of the
National Educational Association, Treatise on the
Education of the Negro, Pecuniary Aid for Stu-
dents in Universities and Colleges, Medical Edu-
cation, Education in Some of the States, and
closing with statistical tables.

Forest-Tree Planters' Manual. Eleventh edi-
tion. i2mo. 96 pages. 1895. Minnesota For-
estry Association, J. O. Barrett, Secretary, Minne-
apolis, Minn.— This is a new and revised edition
of a work with which many of our readers are no
doubt familiar. The value of plant life, its or-
gans and functions, the management of forest
seeds and trees, adaptation to climatic environ-
ment, trees as wind-breaks in horticulture, forest
gardening, the promotion of precipitation by for-
ests, insect enemies of shade trees, the history of
rivers, forestry in our public schools, are all in turn
described, making it a useful handbook for per-
sons interested in forestry.

FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

m^%\ LEAVER

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

J

OF THE

OF

. HllfADBUEHiA

'•''»^st'»^»" ED IN HIGHEST MzX'^'f^^
SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

PemisjhaEia lorestry AssociatioB,

AND THE

Afflerican Forestry Association.

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

\

W^.

The Publication Committee of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertising space in Foresf
Leaves. 3200 copies now reach readers
interested in tree planting and culture. \

ON'T BUY

The Win.H. MOON Compann,

MORRI8VIL.I^Ef PA.

/ Fortheir new desorip- Evaa
tive Catalogue for 1896— ■■••■

RATES

■

insertion. insertions.

13

insertions.

I inch, .

$I.OO

$4.00

$8.00

17.00
30.00

34.00
60.00

I " .

I2.00

50.00

100.00

I ^(1

i i

WANTED.— Volumes I. to IV. inclusive,
of Forest Leaves, Parties wishing to dis-
pose of same will plea.se communicate with

Mr. RICHARD H. LAWRENCE,

31 Broad Street, New York.

J:- _^L.~..^-J£rGEii._ .'SiVaLuw^.^. _

J'iS

I

FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure the best tree for plant-
ing on iha avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

PLANE TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER. LONDON.

Five years ago, while in Euro,.e for horticultural research, we found that for a num-
ber of years, in London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tree had been
used with most successful results. It was found to be the only tree which would grow
satisfactorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames River," London.

The parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a num1)er of our leadinif land-
scape gardeners have recently been using the Oriental Plane very extensively for avenne
planting. Can turnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.

Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

ANDORRA NURSERIES,

WILLIAM WARNER HARPER. Manager. CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA., PA.

SPECIALTIES:

Large | Specimen Ornamental Trees,

I Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

r

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, June, 1896.

No. 9.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

as North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials

Arbor Day Celebrations

Our Pennsylvania Forests

Potter County's Fire Procla-
mation

Forest Products • ; ;••:

The American Linden (Tilia Americana, L.)

Forest Restoration •

Getting Rid of Stump

Our Forest Resources

The Future of Black Walnut

TheVracttcaV Value orFoVests^ Surface of the Country.
(One of the Prize Essays.)

AnJla^ fe'eetingof Vhe NcwT^^^^^^^

Forestry Practice at Mahwah, N. J

Books Received

129-X31
132-134

134
135
136

136
X37
137
138
X38

139-140
140

141
142
142

Subscription, $i.oo per Year.
The attention of Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
of Forest Lbavbs as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
John Birkinbinb, Chairman, 25 North Juniper Street.
Dr J. T. RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLBR, 1820 Master Street.
Prof. Wm. P. Wilson, 640 N. 32d Street.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and

National.
Annual membership fee, One dollar.

Life membership. Fifteen dollars. , . . » . • • . j j

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to ^ . ^. IVeimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Birkinbine. . », t 1 • t r-

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.

Haydon, Prof. Wm. P, Wilson. ^ ^ ^ . ,
General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock
Corresponding^ Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.
7V^aj«r*r, Charles E. Pancoast. .,, .. t t7i \\t c

Council-at-Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. Elwyn, W. S.

^^clVncilfrom Philadelphia County, J. Rodman Paul, A. B. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Eli Kirk Price. Henry Budd, Henry Ho wson

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. T. Biddle, Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery^ James Monaghan.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

^'C^^ifrom Montgomery Countv Dr. H. M Fisher, Dr Alice
Ben^tt Dr. J. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Oppicb of THE Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

THE terrible visitation of two years ago, when
millions of money in timber and buildings,
and over five hundred lives were sacrificed
in forest fires, has awakened the authorities of the
State of Minnesota to a realization of what its for-
ests are, and an appreciation of the protection
which they demand. At all railroad stations and
in other prominent points there are conspicuously
posted the penalties which are provided by these
laws, and if we may judge from what we saw in a
lat^ visit to northern Minnesota, the State Forest
Commissioner there is endeavoring to prevent a
repetition of such holocausts as wiped Hvnckley
from the face of the earth.

We passed over the track of this great fire,
which is plainly marked by blackened tree trunks,
bare of leaves, where nature is struggling to hide
the scars by covering the soil with undergrowth,
and fresh sawn boards or new paint show how
rapidly man is reinstating himself. But the memo-
ries of the awful catastrophy will live, and more
years must elapse before the waste places are made

green.

We were an interested auditor of a sermon upon
**Why our forests should be protected," by the
Rev. Cornelius H. Patton, of Duluth, and appre-
ciated the interest in a subject which would en-
courage a minister of the gospel to thus take
advanced ground, favoring forest protection as a
means of preserving one of Minnesota's greatest
industries, as the best conserver of water, and as
a benefit to the commonwealth in general. While
Minnesota is much better suppU^ with forests
I than Pennsylvania, its protectiveMegislation is
I more advanced than ours. We haveNiot had sin-
I gle fires as terrible in their apparen\results as
Minnesota, although the number and Htent of
; our local forest fires probably aggregated as^great
i a loss. But Minnesota has not sacrificed treashi;e
^1 and life to floods to the extent that Pennsylvanii
has, and the Keystone State has surely had disaster

hft

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JL20—

FOREST LEAVES,

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equally as severe as Minnesota as a lesson in forest
protection.

He :)< :ic a|c :^

Pennsylvania has been fortunate in having gov-
ernors whose interest in the future of the Com-
monwealth and insight into the possibilities of
State advancement have placed them among the
acknowledged friends of forest protection.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association found in
General James A. Beaver, a chief executive of the
State ever anxious and always willing to advance
the purposes of the organization. To Ex-Gov-
ernor Robert E. Pattison is due the credit of the
creation of a Forestry Commission whose investi-
gations have done much to awaken in the State
appreciation of existing conditions and a desire
for forest protection. The address of his Excel-
lency, Daniel H. Hastings, at the Drexel Institute,
Philadelphia, on Arbor Day, shows that our pres-
ent Governor is as firm an advocate of forestry as
were his predecessors. His address, which is
printed on another page with some emandations,
is as strong an argument for forestry reform as we
could desire, and we trust that the pamphlet
edition of this address will have a wide circulation.
One does not need to ** read between the lines "
to understand what Governor Hastings' sentiments
are, and the stand which he has taken leaves no
ground for doubt that he will approve any proper
measures for the protection and propagation of
forests in Pennsylvania which are presented to him
by the Legislature.

It is for the friends of forestry throughout the
State to formulate such legislation, and to demon-
strate to those chosen as senators or representa-
tives, that the people of the State want the forests
protected and forest growth encouraged.

The Law Committee of the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association which is now considering the
legislation required, will confer with Foresty Com-
missioner Rothrock concerning this, and will wel-
come suggestions from any one interested in for-
estry. But each reader of Forest Leaves can aid
m the good work by seeing that the thousands of
friends of forestry throughout the State are en-
rolled as members of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association in advance of the next meeting of the
Legislature. While we recognize the influence
which a membership of one thousand of the best
citizens of Pennsylvania can exert, we know that
five or ten thousand members will be secured if the
organization is personally presented. The small
annual subscription of one dollar, which places
Forest Leaves in the hands of each member of
the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, will be
cheerfully paid by many when the subject of for-
est protection and the work of the Association are
understood. Personal and prompt effort on the
part of those now enrolled will place the organiza-

tion in position to show to the members of the
Legislature what the citizens of the State require at
their hands.

Carefully digested bills, presented without de-
sire for political advancement or personal gain,
must command attention from the legislators when
backed by an organization powerful on account of
the number and personnel of its members, and
we can rest assured that any legislation looking
towards the improvement of the forests of Penn- '
sylvania will command the sympathy of Governor
Hastings.

* * * * 5JC

The idea of forest reservations is not based upon
sentimentalism, although we may well honor those
whose love for trees causes them to favor forest
propagation The scheme is truly a practical one,
which will benefit directly a large proportion of
the inhabitants of the State.

The setting aside of liberal areas, and their
maintenance as forest reserves on the headwaters
of streams, will preserve from erosion soil which
would otherwise be carried away and wasted, and
will hold in store the excess rain of storms to main-
tain a regular stream-flow in seasons when but little
water falls. These reforested areas will, by annual
accretion, constantly add to the prospective wealth
of the State in lumber; they will, under proper
restrictions, encourage the increase in game ani-
mals and fish, they will exert a beneficent influ-
ence upon the climate of contiguous territory, and
they will beautify the landscape. To these, other
reasons could be added, but surely those named
are sufficient to enlist on behalf of forest reserva-
tions the influence of every thinking citizen of the
Commonwealth.

* * * * jf:

Our brief summary of the Arbor Day celebra-
tion in Philadelphia on April loth is far from
doing justice to the occasion. Never before has
the interest of the citizens of Philadelphia been
so emphatically expressed in favor of forest re-
form, and we are pleased to acknowledge that this
was largely due to the cordial endorsement of the
newspaper press. But while expressing the thanks
of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association to the
newspapers of Philadelphia and throughout the
State, we would not omit to acknowledge the cor-
dial co-operation of many distinguished men and
women, a list of whose names we would gladly
msert if we could do justice to all. We can, how-
ever, properly mention the interest evidenced by
Governor Hastings, Secretary Beitler, Lieutenant
Paxton, Superintendent Schaefler, Mr. Fernow,
and Dr. Rothrock, who each traveled from two to
three hundred miles, and gave parts of two days to
make the celebration a success. Thanks are due
to President MacAlister and his associates of the
Drexel Institute, and to Provost Harrison, Prof.

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FOREST LEAVES.

MacFarlane, Mr. Ellicott and Mr. Merrick of the
University of Pennsylvania, for earnest co-opera-
tion and assistance, and to General Oliver for the
scion of the Penn Treaty tree which was planted
with such eclat, and which we are gratified to re-
port is showing signs of a vigorous life in its new
home on the campus of the University of Penn-
sylvania.

Notwithstanding the satisfactory evidences of a
rapidly increasing interest in forestry, and the very
general endorsement of the work of forestry asso-
ciations by the newspapers throughout the coun-
try we have the annual records of forest fires in
our own and in other States. As we write these
lines we read of help being forwarded to protect
some of the Pennsylvania mountain villages from
impending destruction, forest fires having ap-
proached dangerously near these settlements. We
have no details at hand, but in all probability the
sequence of events is '' the same old story." Fire
started by carelessness or design is allowed to
spread, because it is considered nobody's business
to stay the flames until their proximity to indi-
vidual property calls for action, and such action
is usually confined to back-firing, which, while
protecting the individual, often sends the fire with
increased intensity towards the lands of others.
While great areas are being burned over, young
growth killed, mature trees damaged or destroyed,
lands laid waste, and the atmosphere made heavy
with smoke, the county commissioners, with some
few exceptions, such as Potter County, sit idly by,
although the laws of Pennsylvania make it their
duty to suppress these fires.

Whether such inaction is due to ignorance or to
fear of losing political influence by adding to the
county taxes, is no palliation. The commissioners
accepted office under the law, and they should
not fail to carry out its provisions. If the law is
unjust or insufficient the friends of forestry will
gladly use their influence to have it improved ;
but while it stands upon the statute books of the
State we have a right to demand its enforcement.
A few instances of impeachment or suits for dam-
ages against commissioners who fail in their duty,
would be apt to work a reformation. J. B.

Arbor Day Celebrations.

THE Council of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association having decided to observe the
first of the two Arbor Days appointed by
the Governor, viz., April lo, 1896, combined its
celebration with the regular Spring meeting of the

Association.

In the afternoon, at 3 p.m., an audience of about
a thousand gathered in the Chapel of the Uni-

versity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where, after
the reading of the Arbor Day proclamation, ap-
propriate addresses were made by Provost C. C.
Harrison of the University of Pennsylvania, Presi-
dent John Birkinbine of the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association, Governor Daniel H. Hastings, Mayor
Charles F. Warwick, Forestry Commissioner Dr.
J T. Rothrock, Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion Dr. N. C. Schaeff'er, Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief
Forestry Division, Washington, D. C, and Prof.
J. M. MacFarlane of the University of Pennsyl-
vania.

After the addresses the audience adjourned to
the campus, where Governor Hastings, assisted by
Mayor Warwick, planted a lineal descendant of
the Penn Treaty Elm (kindly furnished by Gen-
eral Paul A. Oliver, of Oliver's Mills, Pa.), in
memory of William Penn, first Governor of Penn-
sylvania, thus closing a most enthusiastic, well
attended and encouraging occasion.

In the evening there was a good attendance at
the Drexel Institute. After the organ recital, a
few opening remarks and the reading of the Arbor
Day proclamation. Governor Daniel H. Hastings
delivered an interesting address on forestry, the
abridged text of which will be found in this issue.
Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Forestry Division
of the Department of Agriculture, gave an illus-
trated talk on reforesting waste lands in France,
and Dr. Rothrock, in another illustrated address
described the need of forestry in Pennsylvania.
The pleasant informal reception tendered to Gov-
ernor Hastings, marked the close of the Arbor
Day observance.

In the morning suitable exercises were held at
the U. S. Grant School, Philadelphia, numerous
trees were planted, there being appropriate music

and addresses.

The public schools throughout the city, how-
ever, generally celebrated the last of the Arbor
Days, April 24th, and where the grounds per-
mitted, trees were planted, but when this was not
possible, exercises commemorating the day were
held in the school buildings. The Girls' Normal
School, and Central Manual Training School,
made special eff^orts on this day, the addjess ^t
the first-mentioned school being delivered by Mrs.
Lucy L. W. Wilson, while Mr. John Giff^ord,
Secretary of the New Jersey Forestry Association,
spoke at the latter. The schools throughout Penn-
sylvania also united to make the day one to be re-
membered. Dr. N. C. Schaeff'er, Superintendent
i of Public Instruction, and Dr. Edward Brooks,
1 Superintendent of Schools of Philadelphia, are to
! be congratulated on the success of their eff"orts for
' the observance of the day by the schools.
- Throughout other States Arbor Day was uni-
versally celebrated, the day or days selected vary-
ing according to the climatological conditions.

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

Our Pennsylvania Forests.

(Abstracts of an address delivered by His Excellency,
Daniel H. Hastings, Governor of Pennsylvania, at the
Arbor Day Celebration of the Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation at the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, April lo
1896.)

Ladies and Gentlemen :

In Pennsylvania, Arbor Day was first officially
recognized by a joint resolution of the General
Assembly approved the 30th of March, 1887, fol-
lowed by the Governor's proclamation fixing the
dates for the celebration of the day throughout
the State. The aim and purpose of the movement
are two-fold, tree preservation and tree planting.

The necessity for the preservation and reinforce-
ment of our forests is no longer open to argument.
Our national existence, being in its youth, we have
not gathered all the experience of the passing
generations at home. Most of it came from other
countries. At the time when our land was covered
with unbroken forests, the older civilizations of
Europe were studying a different lesson. We were
developing a tree-destroying instinct, while Frange,
Germany, Spain and Switzerland were realizing
that there were in each country certain exposed
areas from which, if the forests were removed,
those and adjacent regions would cease to be pro-
ductive, and consequent famine would compel the
populations to seek homes elsewhere. The de-
struction of forests produces arid soil. Arid soil
is the father of desolation ; desolation is the fore-
runner of depopulation.

France simply formulated her experience, when
by her laws she declared tl^at trees were more
necessary to the State than to the individual, and
therefore the latter should not be allowed to
destroy them at will.

The inhabitants of Persia, Egypt and Mesopo-
tamia perished, in a national sense, with their for-
ests; and both, in the ruins of their former glory,
were a warning to after generations.

Oswald, a reliable authority, states that since
the beginning of the sixteenth century, the popu-
lation of the four Mediterranean peninsulas has
decreased more than fifty-five millions and the
value of their agricultural products by at least 60
per cent., and that the rate of the decline from year
to year bears an exact proportion to the decrease
of forest areas of every district.

The same authority states that Afghanistan,
Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece,
Macedonia and Northern Africa, from Cairo to
the western shores of Morocco — all countries
which were once blessed with abundant forests
and a glorious climate— are now either absolute
sand wastes or the abodes of perennial droughts,
hunger and wretchedness. Wherever statistical
records have been preserved, it is proved beyond

a doubt, that misfortune commenced with the dis-
appearance of the forest.

All the civilizations of Europe have long since
enacted laws for the preservation of trees and for
the re-establishment, in part, of the original
forests.

In a commercial point of view the forests of
this country present the most valuable crop raised
in American soil. I have the authority of the
National Department of Agriculture for saying that
if you stripped the American forests of their
natural beauty ; if you take from the American
home the shelter, the shade, the beauty of form,
of blossom, leaf and fruit, the harmonious rela-
tion with sky, sunshine and cloud, and estimate
the value of American forests, and then compare
with other sources of wealth, the strength of the
comparison will be all on the side of the forest's
valuation. The same authority asserts that the
value of all mineral products for the year 1894
was only about one-half of the value of our forest
products for the same year.

In Pennsylvania the average annual value of the
timber crop for the last ten years has been $22,-
000,000.

So profitable has been the timber crop of the
State, that fully three-fourths of it have been
brought to market, and but little now remains of
the grand timber product of a century ago. The
railroads have invaded the forests where the
streams were not large enough to float the timber,
and the portable saw-mill has made havoc with the
smaller timber growth, as well as with the fish in
the mountain streams.

There cannot be much objection to the removal
of a tree after it gets its full growth, if the removal
be for a lawful purpose. Nor is it reasonable to
expect the farmer or the landowner to give up his
land to the raising of a timber crop that must take
fifty years or more to mature. This is not what is
asked for by the friends of the Pennsylvania for-
ests. Their desire is to see that all the land of the
State which is absolutely good for nothing else
be utilized in growing timber. Commissioner
Rothrock estimates that there are in the State a
little over nine million acres of woodland at the
present time. He also estimates that at the
present rate of marketing it will not be more than
from twenty to twenty-five years until the market-
able timber will be practically exhausted. He
asserts that if the woodland of the State, that is,
land unfit for agricultural purposes and not worth
more than an average of one dollar per acre, were
protected from further destruction by the hand of
man, and from forest fires, the timber value of the
crop produced at the end of fifty years would be
worth, at present values, a billion and a half dol-
lars, or an average of thirty million dollars per year.
This is perhaps the first generation in this

:

State which has been brought face to face with
the dangers and disasters of a timberless coun-
try. The removal of the marketable timber
from our forests, thus cutting off one of the
great industries of the State, and the contempla-
tion of the fact that Pennsylvania is no longer able
to supply her own inhabitants with the wood
which they require, are, of themselves, at least dis-
couraging. But, when coupled with the appre-
hension that further destruction of the forests will
work perpetual harm to our boasted agricultural
interests, the situation truly becomes alarming. It
is a recognized fact that, of the waters which fall
upon cleared areas, four-fifths are lost because it
runs immediately out of the country ; while four-
fifths of the waters which fall on forest areas are
saved, thus proving that if the vast volumes of
water which so frequently deluge the State, could
be retained long enough to soak into the ground,
destructive floods would be prevented and the con-
sequent loss of property and life averted. Two
floods within the past eight years have occurred
of unequaled proportions and destructiveness.
Large areas of alluvial soil once tilled, have been
abandoned along the Juniata river, because the re-
peated floods made it impossible to maintain
fences or to mature the crops. This is true also
of other river bottoms in the State. During the
past eight years the valleys of the Juniata and the
West Branch of the Susquehanna have lost more
than a million dollars in the bridges which were
swept away. The recurring floods, overflowing
the banks of nearly all our rivers, and the conse-
quent loss of property, the personal danger, ap-
prehension and fear, are quite enough to excite
the most serious solicitude.

Pennsylvania, as I have said, possesses vast areas
of mountainous territory which are of no value
whatever as agricultural or mineral lands. They
are, however, of untold value to the State at large
because they contain the sources of many of our
rivers. When the owners have removed the tim-
ber, the land is generally deserted, no attempt is
made to restore a growth of timber because it in-
volves a period of time too long for private enter-
prise. Forest fires generally complete the work of
destruction.

The sequel to the deluge is generally a low
stage of water in our streams. In other words,
low water most frequently occurs because what
should have been hoarded in the ground has rushed
out of the country in destructive freshets. The
rainfall during the past season has been exception-
ally small. There would possibly have been low
water if every acre of the State had been clad with
timber, but there could not have been such gene-
ral and total suppression of springs and drying up
of small streams if the water sheds of the State had
been properly covered with forests.

The great interests involved, in my judgment,
make it essential that our forests be restored and
protected wherever possible. The waste area
should come under proper guardianship. No in-
terests so important should be left in private
hands. The State should feel the necessity and it
has the power to protect and restore. Let the
State, first of all, provide adequate protection
against forest fires. Let the care, preservation and
rehabiliment of the vast forest wastes be espoused
by the State, carefully guarding by compensation
the rights of the private owner. * *

The National Government has already set apart
large areas of timber land as forestry reservations.
New Jersey has ceded her portion of the Palisades
to the Government as a public reservation. New
York maintains large forestry reservations in the
Adirondacks, and the legislation needed to accom-
plish the same has met general, I may say almost,
unanimous approval.

The question of pure water supply for large
centres of populations has become of absorbing
importance. There is no guarantee of public
health so effective as a pure water supply. The
water from our mountain streams is almost pure.
It contains neither filth nor other germs of disease.
Whatever good may come from filter plants for
the waters of our cities, it is much wiser and better
to provide in the first instance water that is un- •
contaminated. This can be done by securing con-
trol of the headwaters of our larger streams, and
for most every city in the State at reasonable cost,
all things considered. * *

Educate the public sentiment to the point where
no man will be disposed to cut down a tree that
has not reached its mature growth, without making
provision to plant one in its stead. * *

A tree is a great boon to man. It is an educa-
tor. Its beauty of form, limb, bud, leaf and fruit ;
its never ceasing grace in motion ; its grateful
shade ; its silent companionship and its struggle
from the tender plant to the mature and sturdy
monarch of the forest-— these have an educating,
a refining influence upon all who come within their

shadow.

Trees are conservators of the public health.
They are the great laboratories of nature. Their
leaves absorb the carbonic acid and give out the
compensating oxygen. They are the best and
most eff'ective sanitary agents. No man can live
among them without absorbing their health-giving
and inspiring influence.

Felix Oswald declares that upon one point Dar-
win and Moses agree, that man was not created in
a desert or a city, but in a forest. The best place
for him to-day to find rest, recreation and inspira-
tion is in the health-giving atmosphere of the for-
est, where the music of the song birds, or the elo-
quent silence of its lights and shadows, brings

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FOREST LEAVES.

him in closer communion with nature and nature's
Creator.

In the State which we fondly call Penn*s
Woods, in the city of his founding, to-day has
been planted a scion which is a direct descendant
of that historic tree under which our peace-loving
Founder extended the hand of friendship to the
aborigines. Let the people of the State draw in-
spiration from this example. Let us become a
tree-protecting rather than a tree-destroying peo-
ple. Let us teach our children that the forests are
nature's play-ground. Let us appreciate the pres-
ent necessity and the duty we owe to succeeding
generations to preserve and re-establish the forests
of Pennsvlvania.

[A pamphlet giving the full text of the address
can be obtained by applying to the Forestry Com-
missioner, Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg,
Pa.].

Potter County's Fire Proclamation

TAKE NOTICE. FIRING OF WOODS.

I . Persons who Set Fire to Woods to be Respon-
sible for Damage Caused, — Whereas it has been
represented that numbers of persons are in the
custom of setting fire to woods for different pur-
poses, thereby producing an extensive conflagra-
tion, injurious to the soil, destructive to timber,
and the infant improvements within the State.
Therefore, Where any person or persons so off*end-
ing as thereby to occasion any loss, damage or
injury to any other person or persons, every such
person or persons so offending shall be, and hereby
are declared liable, to make satisfaction for the
same, in any action or actions on the case, to be
brought by the party or parties grieved, in the
Court of Common Pleas of the county in which
the offence was committed. 1794, April 18; 3
Sm. L. 139, Sec. 2.

4. Punishment for Setting Fire to Woodlands,

Any person or persons who shall wantonly and wil-
fully kindle any fire on the lands of another, so
as to set on fire any woodlands, barrens or moors,
within the limits of this Commonwealth, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction
thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not ex-
ceeding three hundred dollars, and undergo an
imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or
either or both, at the discretion of the court ; and
prosecutions for such offences may be commenced
at any time within two years from the commission
thereof. 1879, June 11 ; P. L. 162, Sec. i.

5. Reward for Apprehension and Conviction of
Offenders.— Upon the conviction of any person or
persons for any of the off'ences aforesaid, the com-
missioners of the county in which such conviction
is had, shall pay to the prosecutor in every such

case the sum of fifty dollars out of the county
treasury, as a reward for the apprehension and con-
viction of the offender, and the defendant or de-
fendants shall pay the same, with the costs as in
other cases, into the hands of the sheriff for the
use of the county, and nothing herein contained
shall prevent the prosecutor from being a com-
petent witness in the prosecution aforesaid. 1879,
June II ; P. L. 162, Sec. 2.

R. M. Fessenden,
Geo. W. Stevens,
Fred. Woelfel,

County Commissioners,
Commissioners' Office, Coudersport, Pa., May 11, 1896.

THAT the value of forests as a me^ns of con-
serving water supplies is becoming appre-
ciated, is evident from the inquiry made
by the Board of Water Commissioners of Bradford,
Pa., of Forestry Commissioner Rothrock. as fol-
lows :

*'The City of Bradford owns several thousand
acres of timber lands for protection to its water
supply. A considerable portion is hemlock slash-
ings; some has been burned over. The land is
divided in a general way by two principal streams
and their tributaries, so that we have a great deal
of side-hill land and ridges. The creek bottoms
are very narrow. The original timber was beech,
birch, maple, some fine large quantities of hem-
lock, and quite a grove of chestnut on the ridges.
What we would like to know, is, if there has been
a practical plan adopted as yet to retimber the
burned districts, especially of our cheap forest
lands? Also, what kinds of timber you would
reconimend for the various places mentioned?''

This speaks for itself, and is a most fit example
for other towns to follow. J. T. R.

THERE are some persons so constituted that
the time required by a tree to grow to re-
spectable size really deters them from
planting. Of course, such a mental make-up is
more or less unfortunate, but that it exists there
is no doubt.

On the other hand, I am astonished by the rapid
growth of a splendid purple beech in the yard of
my West Chester home. The tree was planted by
the late Addison May, the then owner of the prop-
erty, and a thorough admirer of beauty in tree
form. It is about thirty-six years old. It now
has a diameter, at five feet above the ground, of
two feet and almost an inch. It is forty-four feet
high, and its branches spread over a circle of about
thirty-six feet. It is probably one of the most
beautiful trees in West Chester.

J. T. Rothrock.

FOREST LEAVES.

^X7

Forest Products.

(Extract from the annual report of E. M. Willard, Secre-
tary of the Lumbermen*s Exchange, at the meeting of
April 9, 1896.)

THE Philadelphia fioard of Trade in its sixty-
first annual report, 1894, recites the pre-
ambles and resolution transmitted to the

legislature of the State, petitioning for the passage
of an "Act Relative to a Forest Commission/*
which bill passed, was approved by the Governor,
and the commission was appointed.

In the preamble occurred the following sen-
tence :

*' The timber crop of the country annually ex-
ceeds in value the coal, iron, wheat, gold and
silver combined by nearly $100,000,000.''

The attention of your Secretary having been
drawn to this statement, he sought to verify it by an
examination of the Census Reports of 1890, upon
which the statement was based. As a matter of
curiosity, and also a matter of information to the
members of the Exchange, many of whom are
ignorant of the vast aggregate of the forest in-
dustries, your Secretary presents the results of that
examination. Bear in mind these figures were
culled from the Census Reports of the year 1890.
Allow me to quote the following from the report
of Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Division of
Forestry, United States Department of Agriculture
for the year 1893.

'*The Eleventh Census Statistics of lumber
production, ably and conscientiously gathered by
Mr. George A. Priest, agent of the Census, have
not yet been published. Like all statistics of this
kind the figures given must be incomplete, always
remaining somewhat short of the truth, and requir-
ing estimated additions.'* This merely as evi-
dence that the figures are not exaggerated.

The number of mills reporting in the Eleventh
Census is 23,287.

Value.

Sawn lumber 5446,034,761

Lath, pickets, palings, shingles, staves and

headings 34,289,807

Railroad ties, bridging, telegraph poles 40,000,000

Exported logs 5,000,000

Turpentine and tar 8,077,379

Wood alcohol

Tanning material

Wood pulp

Charcoal

Maple sugar and syrup

Wood for all other purposes, such as fire-
wood, fencing, etc 450,000,000

Total 51,038,616,947

The foregoing without any allowance for under-
estimates, which are claimed to amount to at least
10 per cent, of the total. The sawn lumber for

the year 1890 is claimed to have amounted to
30,523,000,000 feet distributed as follows:

Feet.

White pine 11,300,000,000

Spruce and fir 4,483,000,000

Hemlock 3,390,000,000

Hard pine, cypress, etc 5,5i6,ooo,ooo

Redwood 317,000,000

Hardwoods and others 5»5i7»ooo,ooo

Total 30,523,000,000

From the same authority, census returns for
1890, we gather the following :

Value,

Products of iron and steel M78,687,5I9

" gold mined 32,800,000

« silver ' 64,646,000

" coal, bituminous 94,346,8o9

" " anthracite 65,879,514

" wheat raised 334»773»678

Total i ;^i,o7i, 133,520

Following our inquiries into cereal products, we
find the value of the three main products to be :

Value.

Wheat ^4,773,678

Corn 754,433,451

Oats 222,048,486

Total.... ;J5i,3ii,255,6i5

Pursuing our inquiries into " Textile Products,'*
we set down the values :

Value.

Cotton products $267,981,724

Wool.... 337,768,524

Silk 69,154,599

Total ;S5674,904,847

8,000,000

10,400,000

24,315,000

7,000,000

5,500,000

The Board of Trade was nearly correct, and was
strictly so, when we state that their calculations
were based upon advanced sheets and such returns
as were furnished them when the original state-
ment was made. The cotton crop of the United
States for the years 1889 and 1890 was exception-
ally large. It was estimated at 10,270,000 bales
of 400 pounds net each, running up to the enor-
mous amount of 4,108,000,000 pounds. The
highest value reported that year was ten cents per
pound. Giving this advantage to the crop (a
large over-estimate of real value) the crop was
worth that year $410,800,000 (less than the value
of sawn lumber alone produced that year). You,
gentlemen, can understand from the foregoing
comparisons, the immense value and the great
importance of the industry, to a certain division
of which you are devoting your business careers.

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FOREST LEAVES.

The American Linden (Tilia Ameri-
cana, L.).

THIS tree is also known as basswood and lin.
The term basswood is more common in
the mountainous parts of the State, where
a closely related species (Tilia heterophylla) is
quite common ; and the name of linden is most
generally applied to our tree in the eastern por-
tion of Pennsylvania. It would be well, therefore,
if linden could be made the common name every-
where for it, and basswood be applied only to the
Tilia heterophylla. This distinction, however, is
probably one which cannot be made general.

The lin tree, as the European species is named,
IS said to have given the family name to Linnaeus.
This suggests a further idea. There is a belief
among some who delve after the origin of words
that our word linen is but a derivation from the
Latin linea, a line or thread, and that the plant
received its name from its thready bast fibres. It
would seem to be something more than a coin-
cidence that the lin tree is quite as conspicuous as
the flax for its thread-like bast fibres.

It should be said, in passing, that the European
linden, which is quite commonly grown with us
as a shade tree, is, in general, here a somewhat
smaller, smoother-barked and more symmetrical
tree than either of our native species. Examine
Its flowers and you will find that there are no
scale, or petal-like bodies, inside the circle formed
by the true petals, as occurs in our American
species.

Our own linden is by no means wanting in
beauty or in size. It prefers damp situations,
and, with us, is usually found by some stream, and
often so close to it that the current has under-
mined Its support on that side until the trunk in-
clines more or less over the water. Our illustra-
tion shows this tendency slightly. It came from
a fair-sized tree of 76 feet in height, the main
trunk having a diameter at 4 feet from the ground
of 3 feet. *

There is a marked tendency in the linden to
sprout, as there is in most fast-growing species.
1 he bark is rather smooth. Certainly seldom, at
least, decidedly rough. On its inner surface are
several layers of fibrous bast tissue. From the
bast fibres of the European linden, the Russia
matting is made, and a cordage may readily be
supplied by the inner bark of the same tree The
wood is soft. Hence it is easily worked, and
considering its weight, more than usually difficult
to split. The flowers are very attractive to the
be^, and appear to yield an abundance of honey

The chief uses of the wood are for manufacture
of paper pulp, carriage boxes, ''wooden ware,
cheap furniture, and soles of shoes.*' In some
portions of the State, shoes of the sa^o/ pattern

were once hollowed from the solid block of lin-
wood.

Physical properties of the tree are: specific
gravity, 0.4552; percentage of ash, 0.55 ; relative
approximate fuel value, 0.4500. Weight in pounds
of a cubic foot of dry wood, 28.20; relative
strength, 249. J. T. Rothrock.

Forest Restoration.

MINNESOTA, one of the most important of
the lumbering States, long since realized
that forest destruction was a serious mat-
ter, but for many reasons this destruction was not
stopped until recently. In the meantime great tracts
of forest land had been entirely denuded of their
trees. It has therefore been found necessary not
only to protect what remains, but to restore what has
been destroyed. At a recent meeting of the Minne-
sota State Forestry Association a plan was submitted
to enable the State to acquire and protect forest
lands at trifling expense. The plan has so many
good features and is so practical that it will proba-
bly be adopted not only in Minnesota, but also in
other States. It provides that State, county and
town forestry boards may be constituted by the
Legislature, to serve without pay. Owners of pine
lands that have been cut over and of other lands,
especially rough, rocky or sandy lands, which are
not likely to be utilized for agricultural purposes
for years to come, and which to-day are practically
valueless, are invited to deed this property to the
State for forestry purposes.

All lands so deeded are to be exempt from
taxes and are to be under the control of the for-
estry boards. The State Board is to have general
supervision, but the country and town boards are
to have the immediate charge of planting and cul-
tivating the lands. Lumbering will be carried on
in these lands under proper forestry restrictions
and the income received from this industry will
be divided. One-third will go to the State, coun-
ties and towns, one-third to the persons deeding
the lands and one-third to educational institutions.
There seems to be nothing in this plan that is not
thoroughly practicable. In every State in the
Union there is a large acreage of waste land, upon
which the owners are compelled to pay taxes, with-
out receiving any return for their money. This
land, if properly planted with trees and protected
against depredation, could be made valuable.
The expense of planting would probably be large
for individual owners, but if systematically carried
out by the State it could be greatly reduced. Even
if the public failed to receive one cent of income,
the mere fact that the forests which were once the
pride of the nation would be restored and pre-
served, would amply compensate for any expense
attached to the plan.— Tr^Ty Times.

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Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 9.

AMERICAN LINDEN. TILIA AMERICANA, L.
CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 9.

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TRUNK OF THE AMERICAN LINDEN. TILIA AMERICANA, L.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 9.

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AMERICAN LINDEN. TILIA AMERICANA, L.
CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 9.

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TRUNK OF THE AMERICAN LINDEN. TILIA AMERICANA, L.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

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FOREST LEAVES.

Getting Rid of Stumps.

WE clip the following from Hardwood:
**It often occurs in logging opera-
tions and in laying out lumber yards
that troublesome stumps have to be removed, often
at the expense of a good deal of time and money.
To dig and chop them out is a tedious process,
and to use a stump puller not always practicable,
and in any event costly besides leaving large holes
to fill and grade over. The English and French
have commenced using a method not only cheap
but exceedingly simple and effective.

The only appliances necessary are a shovel, a
little dry kindling and a sheet-iron cylinder large
enough to slip down over the larger stumps, the
top cone-shaped and terminating in a collar on
which one or more lengths of six or eight-inch
common stovepipe may be fitted. A hole is dug
between the roots on one side of the stump and
partially under it, large enough to start a fire with
the kindlings. After the fire is once fairly started
the iron cylinder is slipped over the stump, the
stovepipe is added and the whole arrangement
acts as a stove, burning the stump out completely.
It IS said that if the stumps are old and anyways
dry, and the weather is dry, they will burn easily
without the cone-shaped top and stovepipe. It is
also claimed that where the stumps are green, a
half gallon of kerosene or crude petroleum poured
over the stump an hour or so before lighting the
fire will facilitate matters greatly ; but in this case
the top and pipe do vastly more, making, as they
will, a strong draught that will burn well down into
the roots. It is claimed that one man with three
or four cylinders, large and medium to fit over dif-
ferent sized stumps, can do more and better work
in a day than a dozen men with axes alone."

Our Forest Resources.

THE Division of Forestry of the United States
Department of Agriculture, has issued a
pamphlet entitled, '' Facts and Figures
Regarding our Forest Resources, Briefly Stated,"
from which the following is excerpted :

" The forest area of the United States (exclu-
sive of Alaska), may be placed at somewhat less
than 500,000,000 acres J of this seven-tenths are
found on the Atlantic side of the continent, one-
tenth on the Pacific coast, another tenth on the
Rocky Mountains, the balance being scattered
over the interior of the Western States.

" Both the New England and Southern States have
still 50 per cent, of their area more or less under
forest cover, but in the former the merchantable
timber has been largely removed.

" The prairie States, with an area in round num-
bers of 400,000 square miles, contain hardly 4
per cent, of forest growths, and the 1,330,000
square miles — more than one-third of the whole
country — of arid or semi-arid character in the in-
terior contain practically no forest growth, econo-
mically speaking.

^* A very rough and probably very liberal esti-
mate of the amounts of timber standing in the
various regions ready for the axe would give the
following figures :

Feet, B. M.

Southern States 700,000,000,000

Northern States 500.000,000,000

Pacific Coast 1,000,000,000,000

Rocky Mountains, • 100,000,000,000

Total 2,300,000,000,000

^' The total annual cut^ including all material re-
quiring bolt or log size, is estimated at 40,000,-
000,000 feet, B. M.

** In this cut the various regions participate in
the following proportions :

Feet, B. M.

New England and North Atlantic States . 6,000,000,000

Central States 5,000,000,000

Lake Region 13,000,000,000

Southern States 10,000,000,000

Pacific States 4,000,000,000

Miscellaneous 2,000,000,000

^*The consumption of fuel to the extent of
probably 180,000,000 cords, of fence material, etc.,
the waste in the woods and at the mills, and loss
by fire, bring the total annual wood consumption
of the United States easily to 25,000,000,000 cubic
feet or 50 cubic feet per acre, a figure nearly cor-
responding to the yield per acre realized in the
well-kept forests of Prussia, where reproduction is
secured by skilful management.

** The consumption increases from decade to
decade in greater proportion than the population ;
and new industries, like the wood pulp industry,
add constantly to the demand.

*' The value of forest products used in the census
year 1890 was estimated to exceed $1,000,000,-

000.

'-' The imports of wood and other forest mate-
rials amount to between twenty and thirty million
dollars annually, about 25 per cent, of which con-
sists of materials which do not grow on this con-
tinent. The balance comes mainly from Canada.

**The exports of forest products and partly
manufactured wood materials varies between
twenty-five and thirty million dollars, with twelve
to fifteen millions more of manufactures in which
wood plays an important part.

*' According to census statistics of 1890, agri-
culture ranked first in capital, persons employed,
and value of products, the industries relying upon

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FOREST LEAVES.

forest products stand easily second, exceeding in
the value of products the mining industries by
more than 50 per cent. The industries relying
directly or indirectly on forest products employ
readily more than one million workers (enumera-
tion being imperfect), producing nearly two bil-
lion dollars of value. The manufactures relying
on wood wholly, or in part, more than double the
value of the lumber or wood used, giving employ-
ment to more than half a million men and about
equaling the combined manufactures of all woolen,
cotton, and leather goods, in persons employed,
wages paid, and values produced.

The Future of Black Walnut.

7^ RECENT recent issue of Hardwood raises
.b\. the above question, and closes the inquiry

^*^ thus; '*The fashion of walnut was the
result of the combined efforts of the lumbermen
and furniture makers, and it would require a simi-
lar combination to bring it again into vogue.
There are no producers of walnut to start such a
movement now, and the furniture manufacturers
are not likely to undertake it alone. They are,
indeed, most unlikely to undertake any movement
to make fashionable a wood of which it would
trouble them to get even a meagre supply.'*

There is a deal of sound sense in the above. To
make a wood fashionable, at least a moderate
quantity is required out of which to build up the
example and the subsequent demand. This is ab-
solutely true unless the wood have some unusual
intrinsic merit in ease of working, lasting qualities
or special beauty. The walnut, however, possesses
neither of these qualities in any marked degree.
We are not quite sure, however, that the demand
for black walnut in this country was not caused by
the fact that the so-called '' English walnut'' had
created a sentiment in advance for it as a furniture
wood. But be this as it may, its value depends in
the main upon fashion, which must die out with
the supply of the wood. This is an element for
the tree planter to consider. There are trees, how-
ever, whose intrinsic merits will always command
a ready price, such as white pine. Whatever else
may happen, this country will never again see the
day in which there will be a surplus of this species
of wood. It possesses, besides^ two essential
merits,— it is of quick growth and will thrive on
poor soil. Why cannot some of our " land poor "
owners of poor land see that even if such a crop is
long coming, as measured by wheat or corn, it
nevertheless is vastly better than nothing, which
they now reap !

J. T. R.

Only a Tree.

THE following poem by Mr. John E. Barrett,
editor of the Scranton Truths an earnest
advocate of the forestry cause, will no
doubt interest our readers.

[Suggested by Arbor Day.]

Out of the valley's depths I rise

To greet the blue of heaven's dome,
And kiss the over-arching skies

Where cloud and thunder have their home ;
I love the magic of the stars,

The meteor's erratic flight.
The ruddy glow of glorious Mars

And all the jewels of the night.

What am I ? Just a simple tree ;

I've lived four hundred years, or more ;
I was a sapling fair to see

When first Columbus touched this shore ;
But dew and snow and rain baptized

My spreading arms, from year to year.
And, though he once my form despised,

I long outlast the pioneer !

Man's friend am I, though he's not mine,

I build his home, I build his ships,
I shelter him in storm and shine,

And when he wars my bark he strips ;
I give him fruit, tho' oft with scorn

He draws on me for his supplies ;
I am his cradle when he's born.

And I am his. coffin when he dies.

I furnish most of all his needs,

By me his life is amply blest,
I am his paper when he reads,

His couch when he lies down to rest ;
And when his festive hearth is gay

With music's loftiest accord
And his fair daughters deign to play.

My heart becomes their sounding-board.

I make, I shade his dwelling place —

But why prolong this list of facts
To show my kindness for hi^ race.

Since he repays me with an axe ?
He smites and spares not, tho' he knows

Some day the friend he now destroys
Will be no more to bear his blows.

Or make his happy children's toys.

But I am just a simple tree,

Let axe and torch achieve their worst
And let me go ; no tears for me

Till all this earth shall parch accurst !
Then let man's genius, if it will,

His chemistry my kind replace.
And let the vandals who would kill

The Forest, serve the human race.

John E. Barrett.
Scranton, Pa.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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The Practical Value of Forests to the
Surface of the Country.

(Continuation of one of the Prize Essays by Public School

Teachers.)

Forest^ with Reference to Water.

The clearing of wood from the plains, while it
has rendered the climate more unstable, has not
been the cause of inundations or the diminution
of streams. This evil has been produced by clear-
ing the mountains and lesser elevations having
steep or rocky sides, and if this destructive work
is not checked by legislation or by the wisdom of
the people, plains and valleys now green and fer-
tile will become profitless for tillage and pasture,
and the advantages we shall have sacrificed will
be irretrievable in the lifetime of a single genera-
tion. The same indiscriminate felling of woods
has rendered many a once fertile region in Europe
barren and uninhabitable.

Our climate suffers more than formerly from
summer droughts. Many ancient streams have
entirely disappeared, and a still greater number
are dry in summer. Bossingault mentions a fact
that clearly illustrates the conditions to which we
may be exposed in thousands of locations on this
continent. In the island of Ascension there was
a beautiful spring situated at the foot of a moun-
tain, which was covered with wood. By degrees
the spring became less copious, and at length
failed. While its waters were annually diminish-
ing in bulk, the mountain had been gradually
cleared of its forest; the disappearance of the
spring was attributed to the clearing. The moun-
tain was again planted, and as the new growth of
wood increased, the spring reappeared, and finally
attained its original fulness. More to be dreaded
than drought, and produced by the same cause —
the clearing of steep declivities of their wood —
are the excessive inundations to which all parts of
the country are subject.

If it were in the power of man to dispose his
woods and tillage in the most advantageous man-
ner, he might not only produce an important
amelioration of the general climate, but he might
diminish the frequency and severity both of
droughts and inundations, and preserve the gen-
eral fulness of the streams. If every man were
to pursue that course which would protect his own
grounds from these evils, it would be sufficient to
bring about these beneficent results. If each owner
of land would keep all his hills and declivities and
all slopes that contain only a thin deposit of soil,
or a quarry, covered with forest, he would lessen
his local inundations from vernal thaws and sum-
mer rains. Such a covering of wood tends to
equalize the moisture that is distributed over the

land, causing it, when showered upon the hills, to
be retained by the mechanical action of the trees
and their imdergrowth of shrubs and herbaceous
plants, and by the spongy surface of the soil un-
derneath them, made porous by mosses, decayed
leaves and other debris, so that the plains and
valleys have a moderate oozing supply of moisture
for a long time after every shower. Without this
covering, the water, when precipitated upon the
slopes, would immediately rush down an unpro-
tected surface in torrents upon the space below.
Every one has witnessed the effects of clearing
the woods and other vegetation from moderate
declivities in his own neighborhood. He has
observed how rapidly a valley is inundated by
heavy showers, if the rising ground that forms its
basin is bare of trees and planted with the farmer's
crops. Even grass alone serves to check the rapid-
ity with which the water finds its way to the bot-
tom of the slope. Let it be covered with bushes
and vines, and the water flows with the speed still
more diminished. Let this shrubbery grow into a
forest, and the valley would never be inundated
except by a long-continued and flooding rain.
Woods and their undergrowth are, indeed, the
only barriers against frequent and sudden inunda-
tions, and the only means in the economy of
nature for preserving an equal fulness of streams
during all seasons of the year.

At first thought, it may seem strange that the
clearing of forests should be equally the cause of
both drought and inundations, but these appar-
ently incompatible facts are easily explained by
considering the different eff'ects produced by
woods standing in different situations. An excess
of moisture in the valleys comes from the drainage
of the hills, and the same conditions that will cause
them to be dried up at certain times will cause
them to be flooded at others. Nature's design
seems to be to preserve a constant moderate ful-
ness of streams and standing water. This purpose,
she accomplishes by clothing the general surface of
the country with wood. When man disturbs this
arrangement, he may produce evil consequences
which he had never^anticipated.

Forests Prevent Evils.

Among the evils which forests prevent are the
following! Washing the soil from the hillsides;
depositing this material where it does great and
lasting mischief; floods in spring and droughts in
summer; harm done by drying, chilling, or mal-
arious winds. The shifting of wind-driven sands,
which, when not held in place by forests or vege-
tation, often cover and ruin fertile land and even
bury fences and buildings. The multiplication of
insects harmful to vegetation and crops.

If the water of the melting snows, and of the

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FOREST LEAVES.

F. H. Hain.

(To be continued.)

falling rain is held back by the forest leaves,
grasses, mosses, and other ground vegetation, if it
is protected by the forest shade from the hot sun
and the drying breezes, if it is stored up as in a
sponge by the mass of thread-like roots, dead
leaves, decayed wood, etc., until it can soak down
into the ground, and supply the sources of the
underground streams, the yearly supply of water
will not be wasted, but be made to last through
the whole summer. *' The old oaken bucket *' will
not drop into an empty well ; springs will bubble
forth from the hillsides, and send their steady
streams down through the meadows to feed the
ever flowing currents of the rivers.

The forests themselves will offer great cooling
areas, condensing surfaces, which will invite the
passing shower, and cause the clouds to drop their
moisture upon the waiting crops around ; and
desolate regions will become the homes of happi-
ness, security, and plenty.

Protection of Rivers by Forests.

It has been ascertained that the flow of streams
is dependent* upon the extent of forests in their
vicinity. Where these abound, the flow is com-
paratively uniform as to the supply of water. This
is of great importance, both to agriculture, com-
merce, and manufactures. In the absence of forests
the streams are subject to great variations in their
volume. Now they flow along their course in great
and disastrous floods, and now again shrink away
in their channels or almost disappear. The differ-
ence of a few feet in the depth of water in a river
may make the difference between a stream under
control and one that has become a source of wide-
spread disaster. It is only a few feet in depth
which converts the Mississippi from a great and
beneficent artery of commerce to a sea of water,
carrying destruction to crops and producing suf-
fering which requires millions for its relief. That
difference may easily be produced by the presence
or absence of forests, especially on the headwaters
of that stream and of its tributaries. The govern-
ment is called upon from time to time to contri-
bute liberally for the relief of those who are suffer-
ing from the overflow of the great river of the
West, and to expend millions in building embank-
ments for the purpose of restraining the angry
waters which come pouring down from the Rocky
Mountains on the one hand and from the Alle-
ghanies on the other. It is only with great diffi-
culty that these embankments are maintained,
and from time to time they are burst asunder by
the flood and have to be rebuilt.

In Reply.

IN the February issue of Forest Leaves I pre-
pared what was meant to be an appreciative
notice of *' Forestry for Farmers," by Mr.
Fernow, and also of " Timber*' prepared by Mr.
Roth under the direction of Mr. Fernow.

In the April number of this journal the gentle-
man last named objects to some of my statements.

I considered the pamphlet in question so much
more nourishing than the reviews mentioned, that
I brought the former with me into the field. The
latter remained at my home. I trust, however, in
replying from memory that I shall do no injustice
either to Mr. Fernow or to myself.

In regard to ^'Forestry for Farmers," Mr.
Fernow objects to my statement that he has given
the relations of light and shade more space than
their relative importance merits.

His suggestion that this will be a surprise to
those who are informed in regard to practical
forestry, is entirely true from the standpoint of a
country whose very meagre list of tree species has
been most exhaustively studied in relation to light
and shade.

In this country, with its phenomenally large list
of tree species, every one of which needs careful
study, all generalizations are premature as rules
of practice. No tree is to be counted either
*Might needing" or **shade enduring" simply
because it is a member of a particular group, but
because it is a specific representative of that group,
and because we know experimentally what it likes
and what it tolerates. Even then its treatment
may depend upon previous and present conditions.
For example, the proper rejuvenation of an old
forest of sugar maples might involve diff*erent
treatment from the creation of a new one. To be
explicit, allowing light to strike the roots freely in
an old forest of this character by removal of litter
and underbrush frequently means premature decay
of the maple trees. Mr. Fernow, I think, would
admit that. I find his terms faulty in such a case,
for such a forest is neither *' shade enduring " nor
*' light needing," but is actually shade requiring.
On the other hand, sugar maples may be started
in the open, and throughout a long life may thrive
in the full sunlight. The roots of the forest sugar
maple found safety near the surface under shade
and moisture of litter, while those grown in the
open had gone to greater depths. Mr. Fernow
will probably reply that those of the forest will
produce more lumber and of better quality. That
depends. There are purposes for which the mas-
sive stick of the open ground will be a better pro-
duct than the spindling one of the forest. Then,
beside, the maple tree with us has a double value.
Production of sugar does not remove the tree from
the list of those requiring a forester's care. It

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FOREST LEAVES.

merely introduces an additional element of value.
As a sugar producer the maple, I think, requires
additional study. Now it is simple justice to Mr.
Fernow to add that he recognized these facts, and
in part called attention to them, as may be seen
from his foot-note to page 466.

Furthermore, I take issue with Mr. Fernow in
his assertion that light and shade are not only the
most important factors in the problem, but almost
the whole problem. (These are not his words, 1
think, but I trust I express his idea.)

That also depends upon just where one starts in
forest creation, I receive scores of letters annually
asking for a practical method of covering waste
ground with a forest. The great majority of the
inquirers ask when to collect seed, how to collect
it and care for it ; when and how to plant it. I
would greatly like comparison of experiences my-
self upon that subject. I find, I think (elsewhere),
more elaborate directions upon care of seed over
winter, than I do upon immediate autumn plant-
ing. It would have been vastly helpful to the
farmer if there had been a brief statement or dis-
cussion of these points, even if some of the light
and shade had been left out. Because production
of seedlings is anterior to light and shade required
for production of matured timber. This is almost
as true of seeds planted where they are to remain
as of those started in nurseries. I do not count
myself a novice in seed planting, I certainly prefer
to plant acorns, hickory nuts,and walnuts in the late
autumn. There are those who differ with me. I
am by no means sure that under certain conditions J
I should not include the chestnut in the same list.
Again, I object to Mr. Fernow's limitation of
the term forestry by stating that its idea is to pro-
duce wood. That also depends. I am reliably
informed that some of our best wooden ships have
been built of oak timber grown in the open. I
should at least widen the definition to say that the
object of forestry is to produce the largest quan-
tity of wood, of any desired quality, at least ex-
pense, in a given area. His exclusive treatment
. of trees in masses might render this, in part, im-
possible.

But there is still another way of considering
forestry, and to meet which Mr. Fernow's defi-
nition is quite too narrow. That is, to produce
forest trees for any practical purpose, and not
necessarily for wood. I wholly object to placing
an old science in a new land without adapting it
. to produce the largest results in that region.
Let me take this case in point. I have a field
' which, for special reasons, I desire to cover as
speedily as possible with a growth of forest
species. It is a matter of no consequence what-
ever whether the product is to be cut as hoop-
poles, ship-spars or coppice, the initial steps are
those of the forester. In this particular instance

my object is to restore fertility to a piece of ground
which should have been restored to timber long
ago. I desire to reap the fertility of decaying
leaves, and to accumulate nitrogen in the soil from
the action of mycelium. There are thousands of
such acres in this country, and the agriculturist of
this region is wrestling with this very problem.

Since forestry is for farmers, it would have been
a most welcome bit of information if Mr. Fernow
had given the space of some of his light and shade
paragraphs to this aspect of agricultural forestry.
It would have been better still if he had allowed
his light and shade to remain as they are, and
added some pages to discuss the matter above

mentioned.

In other words, the weight of my objection is,
that it is a pity so good a book had not discussed
the whole subject more fully.

^ '

Taking up the ** timber'* question, Mr. Fer-
now objects to my statement that a considerable
portion of it had been published before in our

language. .

The words used in his letter of transmittal are
these: '' Although much of the information con-
tained in this bulletin exists in the experience of
practical wood-workers and in books in other lan-
guages, it has never been published in English in
systematic and accessible form, and with special
application to American timbers y

My criticism was that this statement, though
strictly true, was misleading. My notice of '' Tim-
ber" was written under great pressure of accumu-
lated work, and I failed to properly measure the
full value of the portion / have italicized in the
above quotation.

In this respect Mr. Fernow was wholly right
and I was wholly wrong. It gives me pleasure to
confer upon him and Mr. Roth the full benefit of
my most honest apology.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

Annual Meeting of the New Jersey
Forestry Association.

THE annual meeting of this association was
held in the Casino of the Union County
Country Club, at Plainfield, N. J., on
May 2ist. Mr. Giff'ord, the Secretary, reported
a membership of 225, which was a very large in-
crease. In the afternoon a resolution was adopted
to have ten lectures on the saving of trees deliv-
ered in various parts of the State next year. A
lecture on the diseases of trees was delivered by
Prof. Byron Halstead, of Rutgers College. In the
evening Mr. B. E. Fernow gave a lecture on for-
estry, which was well attended. On May 22d a
trip was made to the Palisades.

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Forestry Practice at Mahwah, N. J.

THE woodlands of Mountain-Side Farm, at
Mahwah, N. J., the property of Mr. Theo.
A. Havemeyer, were placed under a regular
system of forest management on June i, 1895.

It should be said that the owner considers the
forestry work pursued on his estate strictly from
a business point of view.

The forest, some 1900 acres, is composed prin-
cipally of deciduous trees, as oak (white, black,
red, pin, chestnut and scarlet oaks) hickory (shell-
bark, bitternut and mockernut), maple, beech,
occasionally white ash, tulip tree, elm, button-
wood, common locust, sour and sweet gum, white
birch and red cedar.

Some eight or ten years ago the woodlands were
bought from small farmers, and when the writer
was placed in charge, the forest condition was
deplorable.

At present thinnings and improvement cuttings
are in full operation, performed by carefully trained
woodmen and under the personal supervision of
the forester.

The material taken out is sold as railroad ties
and posts, at good prices, to a nearby railroad com-
pany, and cord-wood will be shipped to New
York, Paterson and Hackensack.

A nursery has been established to raise desirable
and valuable trees, and plantations on a larger
scale are planned. Ground, unfit for agriculture,
is prepared for cultivation of willows, especially
the valuable French and German kinds.

F. R. Meier.

-<g>Cj»

—Forest Commissioner Oak, of Maine, in speak-
mg of the drought in the fall of 1895, said that it
is remarkable that there should have been so few
forest fires. Mr. Oak attributes this to the recent
changes in the law governing the appointment of
the fire wardens, making game wardens also fire
wardens. As the game wardens are constantly
ranging the woods, they find and extinguish many
small fires which if left to themselves might cause
the destruction of much valuable property. —
Boothbay, Me., Register,

Books Received.

The White Fine. By Gifford Pinchot and
Henry S. Graves. i2mo. 102 pages. Bound in
cloth. Published by the Century Company New
York. *

This interesting little volume was compiled from
sylvicultural notes made by Mr. Graves principally
in the lumbering regions of central Pennsylvania,
with some few measurements from New York, the

general plan of work and forming of conclusions
being done by Mr. Pinchot.

It contains chapters on the growth, situation
and occurrence, the trees found growing with the
pine, its natural enemies, fire and wind, together
with yield tables of volume, etc., illustrated by
curves for average height and diameter, volume
and yield of merchantable timber, closing with a
table of diameters and areas of circles. These
tables and curves were made from a large number
of trees which were cut in lumbering operations.
This shows that on land of the first quality the
largest mean annual increment per year in mer-
chantable timber, per scale board feet, was, in awhite
pine tree, from 130 to 140 years old, the age neces-
sary to secure the best results increasing as the
ground becomes poorer ; in third quality soil being
found at an age of about 210 years. This illustrates

, the folly of cutting young white pine timber, as is

I often done, at a time when it is really only com-
mencing to give the best returns, and should be

j of value to those persons who are interested in

i the growing or cutting of white pine.

I Economical Designing of Timber Trestle Bridges,
\ By A. L. Johnson, C.E., Forestry Division De-
\ partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 8vo.
! 57 pages.— This report forms Bulletin No. 12, and
was prepared under the direction of Mr. B. E.
Fernow, Chief Division of Forestry. The present
practice in trestle construction and methods of de-
signing, accompanied with tables and diagrams,
are given, together with recommended practice.
Appendices contain a review of the paper by Mr.
G. Lindenthal, C.E., notes by Mr. Walter G. Berg,*
and the report of the Committee of tjie American
International Association of Railway Superintend-
ents on ** Strength of Bridge and Trestle Timbers.' *
If the deductions of the paper, which are endorsed
by the two well-known bridge engineers men-
tioned, are carried out, the change from the present
practice would result in a large saving in money,
and at the same time lead to greater economy in
the use of some of our valuable timber species.

The Division of Forestry, Department of Agri-
culture, Washington, D. C, has just issued Circu-
lar No. 12, entitled, *' Southern Pine— Mechanical
and Physical Properties.*' It gives in a con-
densed form, data taken from some 20,000 tests
which will appear later in bulletin form. This is a
continuation of Timber Physics, and gives compar-
ative results of the tests of strength in the long leaf,
loblolly and short leaf pine trees, as well as the
Cuban pine. The subject of shrinkage is dis-
cussed, together with the effects of kiln drying,
immersion, boxing, and bleeding. It forms
another valuable addition to the statistics already
published giving the reliable values of the strength
of Southern pines.

FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

• IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

FOHEpT LEME^

J

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

OF

HUcADEIilini

, jMGBAVlSiCf'

OF THE

: 1

Peisjlvaiiia Forestry AssociatioD,

AND THE

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

Afflericaii Forestry Association.

The Publication Committee of the Penn-
sylvania Forestry Association invite the
attention of nurserymen and others to the
value of the advertising space in Forest
Leaves. 2800 copies now reach readers
interested in tree planting and culture.

ON'T BUY

The Wm.H. MOON Compan).

MORRIBVIL.L.K* PA.

> For their new descrip- CpAA.
tive CaUlogue for 18J»- II ••■

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

h

4

RATES

■

I inch, . .

X

insertion. i
$1.00

6
nsertions.

$4.00

IS

insertions.
$8.00

I • •

4.00

7.00

12.00

17.00
30.00
50.00

34.00

60.00

100.00

^'^h

FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure the best tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

PLANE TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

Five years ago, while in Europe for horticultural research, we tound that for a num-
ber of years, in London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tree had been
used with most successful results. It was found to be the only tree which would grow
satisfactorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames River, London.

The parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a number of our leading land-
scape gardeners have recently been uskig the Oriental Plane very extensively for avenue
planting. Can furnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.

Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

ANDORRA NURSERIES,

WILLIAM WARNER HARPER, Manager,

SPECIALTIES :

CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA., PA.

Large I

Specimen Ornamental Trees,
Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

4^^r--&^, ^^^

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, August, 1896.

No. 10.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

35 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

the

Editorials ^...

Forestry Legislation in
Fifty-fourth Congress

Present Status of New Hamp
shire's Forests

A Plea for Forest Protection

An Object Lesson

Forest Fire Legislation of Minnesota

Reclaiming the Waste Lands of Denmark

Red Pine. Norway Pine (Pinus resinosa, Ait.)

Amount of Cleared and Timber Land in Pennsylvania

Product of Timber Per Acre

?uantity or Quality y'V""A'
he Practical Value of Forests to the Surface of the Country.

(One of the Prize Essays.)

State Forest Reservations— The Minnesota Plan

A Walnut Tree Farm •

Tree Planting in France

Books Received

145-147

147

147
148
148

149

xsa
15a

154

154
»57
157
158
158

Subscription, $i.oo per Year.

The attention o/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
of Forest Lbaves as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.

iOHN BiRKiNBiNE, Chairman, 25 North Juniper Street.
)r J. T. Rothrock, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. Bitlek, 1820 Master Street.
Prof. Wm. P. Wilson, 640 N. 32d Street.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both State and
National.

Annual member ship fee , One dollar.

Life membership. Fifteen dollars.

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names ioA.B. IVeimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee. 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Birkinbine.

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Prof. Wm. P. Wilson.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.

Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast. ^ ^, „r o

Council-ai- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. Elwyn, W. S.

Harvey

Council from Philadelphia County, J.Rodman Paul, A. B. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Eli Kirk Price. Henry Budd, Henry Howson.

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. f. Biddle, Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery, James Monaghan.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles

Council from Montgomery County, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Dr. Alice
Bennett, Dr. J. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Officb of the Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadelphia.

EDITORIALS.

WE would direct the attention of every
friend of forestry in Pennsylvania to
the fact that the Legislature of the
State will meet on January i, 1897; and unless
some material improvement in forestry legis-
lation can be presented early in the session, an-
other two years may pass before any progress can
be made in forest protection.

Whatever laws are to be asked for should be pre-
pared well in advance of the meeting of the General
Assembly ; and in a short time the community will
be engrossed with the excitement which precedes
a presidential election. When the campaign has
passed less than two months remain before the
Legislature will assemble ; therefore now is the time
for the preparation of our claims.

If the friends of forestry desire more stringent
fire laws or a more rigid enforcement of those now
on the statute books they must say so.

If forest reserves are desired to protect present
timber and to regulate our stream flow, these must
be asked for.

If the great areas of waste land are to be re-
claimed and reforested in part or entirely, the ad-
vantages of such procedure need to be well pre-
sented.

If it is desirable to encourage forest growth by
the equation of taxation, the subject will demand
championship.

We cannot expect the members of the Legisla-
ture to enter into all of the details of special sub-
jects. It is for those who feel particular interest
in the forestry cause to prepare the outline of
desired legislation. Such outlines should not be
crude, but thoroughly digested, and the laws
whicfi are asked for should command respect for
the common sense they embody, for their freedom
from partisanship or jobbery, and for the possi-
bility of enforcing them.

If we, as friends of forestry, desire to show that
we have the courage of our convictions and that

I !
1 I

I I

FOREST LEAVES.

we are in earnest, we should go before the Legis-
lature on January i, 1897, with requests for leg is-
lation which will command the support of the
thinking people of the Commonwealth, and all
should unite in constantly pressmg the bills upon
individual members of the Legislature. J- ^.
*****

A late visit to some of the timbered areas of
the South Mountain, bordering the Cumberland
Valley, impressed us with the value of these as
nuclei for an extensive forest reserve, and evi-
denced the neglect of our existing forest fire laws.

There is a magnificent stretch of timber,
which if cared for will become in a few years a
source of wealth to the State. But the rich green
of the mountain side is defaced by bare or
scorched areas where forest fires have done dam-
age. Seen from a distance, the mountains re-
semble a great green cloth badly cut and dam-
aged by the corrupting moth. J- B.

The extract which we print from the report of
the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the State of
Pennsylvania for 1895 is an evidence of how
slightly the importance of our timbered areas is

appreciated.

The Secretary calls attention to the disparity in
the statements of the amounts of cleared and forest
lands, made by the Commissioners of the different
counties, and while his criticism on the method
employed is just, we cannot but recognize that the
Commissioners have merely followed the practice
of others higher in authority. We do not make
this as an apology for a dereliction of duty, but to
point to the returns as an evidence of the careless
appreciation of the importance and value of forest
lands, which unfortunately has prevailed too gen-
erally throughout the State.

The trouble seems to arise from the conditions
which make an owner of timber land consider it
of value and subject to care, only when it has such
advanced growth as to make it immediately valu-
able, but when the wood has been cut from a tract
unsuitable for cultivation the owner looks upon it
as an encumbrance upon which taxes must be
paid. The cessation of work at most of the char-
coal iron industries has also left the sprouts and
younger growths upon large areas, with no one to
care for or feel an interest in them, while forest
fires check their return to forest lands, and they
are not considered as cleared lands. Such condi-
tions are to a certain extent explanatory of the
action of some County Commissioners, but we
hope that during the coming year legislative
action will be taken to encourage the reforestation
of areas which are now rated neither as timber or
cleared land, and that the value of such lands as
producers of a prospective profitable crop will be
appreciated. J- B.

Messrs. Pinchot and Graves have done a good
service in the publication of their little book on
the White Pine. We might, however, offer the
criticism that it is really more in the interest of
the lumberman than of the forester. Or to put
the proposition in another form, it touches
mainly upon the rate of growth and lumber pro-
duction, and gives little or no attention to restor-
ation of white pine by the cultivator. The au-
thors, it is fair to say, lay stress upon the design pf
placing capital, current expenses, interest, etc., in
plain contrast with production, so that forestry
may be viewed from a business standpoint. In
this respect they doubtless have done good ser-
vice and we should thank them for it.

Still there remains just now room for some
good, wholesome, popular instruction to the peo-
ple, for the people, and especiaHy for the farmer,
upon the methods by which his pine lot may be
started, protected and grown to the lumber con-
dition. ^ J- ^- ^•
*****

The following dispatch is clipped from the
Philadelphia Press :

**The taxpayers of Warren County are consid-
erably agitated over the action of the Board of
Freeholders in appropriating the sum of $80,000
for county expenses for the current year. This is
more than double any previous appropriation for
the same purpose and means a very heavy county

tax

**The increase in the county expense is occa-
sioned by the severe freshets of the early spring,
when dozens of bridges were swept away and a
great amount of other property destroyed. There
is a great uneasiness among the farmers over the
heavy expenditure and the outlook for increased

taxes

What better argument could be given for a re-
bate of taxes on timbered lands, now often cut
over, devastated by fires, forming the nursery for
these floods, which with lighter taxation might
again be put in timber, or else they should be pur-
chased by the State and form part of forest re-

3^7

serves.

PR. ROTHROCK, our efficient Forest Com-
missioner, is endeavoring to obtain data
in regard to forest fires, and for this pur-
pose has prepared the following circular letter,
which has been mailed to persons throughout the

State *

My Dear Sir: The unusual severity of the
forest fires this spring has made it clear to every
thinking person that the time has come for end-
ing, if possible, such annual losses to our citizens
and to the Commonwealth.

It is our wish in this office to obtain as exact

FOREST LEAVES.

and as detailed information upon this topic as

possible.

Will you, therefore, assist us by enclosing in
our stamped return envelope the names and post
office addresses of those whom you know to have
suffered loss of property (or to have been in any
way injured) by forest fires during the present

year.

Thanking you in advance, I am.

Very respectfully yours,

J. T. ROTHROCK,

Commissioner of Forestry,
We trust that any of our readers who are in
position to do so will forward to Dr. Rothrock at
Harrisburg the names of persons whom they know
have suffered loss in this way.

Forestry Legislation in the Fifty-fourth

Congress.

TrHE first session of the Fifty- fourth Congress
was notable for the interest taken in fores-
try legislation. Early in the session Mr.
McRae, of Arkansas, introduced his bill for the
protection of the public forest reservations, which
had failed in conference during the closing hours
of the Fifty-third Congress. The bill was care-
fully considered in committee, and at the sugges-
tion of the Commissioner of Public Lands was
amended in a few minor details, none of which
affected its salient features. The bill passed the
House June 10th and is now before the Senate
Committee on Forest Reservations.

In the Senate bills for the protection of the pub-
lic forest reservations, covering practically the
same ground as the McRae bill, have been intro-
duced by Senators Teller, Allen and DuBois. The
DuBois bill is essentially the same as the McRae
bill, except that it extends the protection afforded
to all the forests of the public domain, whether
included in reservations or not. The Teller and
Allen bills differ from the McRae and DuBois
bills principally in that they permit the herding of
cattle in the forest reservations, and provide for
the payment of appraised valuation of improve-
ments by settlers who may choose to select lands
outside the reservations in lieu of lands held there-
in. With such minor differences there is little
room for doubt that the Senate will take action,
and the first step toward systematic forest manage-
ment in the United States seems thus assured.

The House also passed Representative Shafroth's
bill for the protection of the forests of the public
domain from fire. The bill provides a fine of
$5000, or imprisonment for two years, or both, as
the maximum penalty for maliciously setting fire
to the forests on the public domain, or for care-

lessly permitting fire to spread beyond control.
For failure to extinguish a camp fire before leav-
ing it, a fine of $1000, or imprisonment for one
year, or both, is provided. K.

Present Status of New Hampshire's

Forests.

y\ N observant and enthusiastic lady member
j^A of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association

^ has written to the editor of Forest Leaves
a personal letter which we give in part to our
readers. It shows how the denudation of the for-
ests of New Hampshire affect one whose yearly
visits have made her familiar with what these for-
ests were, while her knowledge of results which
are sure to follow prognosticates the future reckon-
ing:

'•The fate of New Hampshire seems settled.
The forests are mostly gone, all the good timber
cut, or soon will be, and the mountains are green
only with the young growth of hardwood trees of
inferior quality and no size, unfit for much use.
When the lands can again be sold at their old
prices, before the lumberman bought them at a
high figure for the ready money in their forests,
the State can afford to buy them to make good
driving roads, and convert the whole State practi-
cally into a summer resort. Judicious cutting
would have kept the lumber interest a source of
revenue for all time, but alas! present needs are
paramount, and the forests gone. The Pemige-
wasset, once a river, is now scarcely a brook, and
the smaller streams and brooks are absolutely dry.
The scenery here is very lovely, although we con-
stantly see the inevitable saw mill and mourn the
destruction of all the fine trees so familiar in by-
gone years.'

> >

PROFESSOR ROBERTS, of Cornell Uni-
versity, makes the following suggestion
for the removal of one cause of our agri-
cultural depression :

** Withdraw the lands from cultivation which
are now farmed at heavy loss. The stony side-hills
and the depleted light soils would better be re-
turned to forest growth, even if it takes a thou-
sand years to reclothe them with timber as valu-
able as that which they formerly produced. These
lands have never given a clear dollar's profit since
the farmer burned the last brush heap upon them.
The products of these many acres are raised under
such adverse conditions that the owners of them
receive but meagre rewards, and all that is pro-
duced goes to lower the prices of those products
raised on better lands, which, but for this surplus
product raised at a loss, would sell at a profit. It
is a case of, the more we have the less we*ve got."

!

41S

l^O

FOREST LEAVES.

A Plea for Forest Protection.

THE Commissioner of Forestry forwards the
following to Forest Leaves, with the
comment that if the facts are as stated they
cannot be too widely known by our people. The
writer is a well-known, responsible gentleman, and
the region of which he writes is located in North-
eastern Pennsylvania:

" This territory, vast as it is, has been com-
pletely stripped of its original timber, and the de-
mands of the mines and the mining and other in-
dustries are so great as to induce the removal of
the young timber as fast as it grows. The result
is, that this entire region has been denuded of
trees, and there is hardly a day in the year when
some parts of it are not being devastated by forest
fires.

" The needs of the State of Pennsylvania require
that this region should have some protection from
the authorities, or it will soon become a desolate
wilderness.

"There are several classes of people whose in-
terests induce them to continue this work of de-
struction. They are: i. Timber speculators and
stealers, who make money by procuring, for the
mines especially, all kinds of timber that will help
to sustain the workings in the coal mines. These
people have no interest in the country and no re-
gard for its future ; 2. Owners of cattle who seek
pasturage for their animals during the summer
months. In the early spring they set fire to the
dead herbage in order to stimulate the growth of
young grass on which their stock live during the
summer ; 3. Hunters and fishermen who camp in
the woods in search of the few poor birds and
fishes which remain, and their camp-fires always
spread over a large extent of country beyond their
control.

*' To put a stop to these destructive influences
greater powers should be conferred upon the Com-
missioner of Forestry for the protection of that
country. He ought to be authorized to appoint
inspectors, whose duty it should be to procure evi-
dence against the violators of law so far as forest
fires and other outrages are concerned. These in-
spectors should be paid liberally out of the fines
collected.

" Hunting and fishing should be prohibited un-
der heavy penalties of fine and imprisonment, ex-
cept where the owner of the land gives his consent,
and in that case, the owner should be jointly held
responsible for damages with the transgressor.

*' It would be possible to organize an associa-
tion for the improvement of a large tract of forest
land. I would be glad to go among proper men
and enlist them in this project, but for the fact
that there is no protection to their interests and
property in your State, although they would be

taxed for this purpose. In this State (New York)
and in New Jersey better conditions exist — mur-
derers, fire-bugs, thieves and trespassers are sim-
ply annihilated by the authorities elected for that
purpose. Only a few days since a land owner
found three or four men fishing in his stream in
Luzerne county. Pa., and he ordered them off,
whereupon one of them drew a revolver on him
and compelled him to leave, while they continued
fishing. As showing the difference in Pennsylva-
nia and New York, an Italian laborer merely used
threats towards a citizen of this Tammany-ruled
city, and in twenty-four hours he was arrested and
properly punished. In Pennsylvania attempted
murder passes unnoticed.'*

An Object Lesson.

ON April I, 1896, the Susquehanna river at
Harrisburg was greatly swollen by the
rain, and by the melting snow on the
grounds about its headwaters. It was, of course,
muddy and very unpleasant to think of as a drink-
ing water for the thousands who depended upon
it. It was, however, quite noticeable that the
smaller streams which flowed in, as laterals, to the
North and West branches, and which drained
areas more or less covered by a forest, or even by
a '* scrub*' growth of timber, were much less
muddy than the main channel, which received even
a scanty contribution of water from the surface of
cleared ground.

On April 3d this contrast was striking. The
tributary mountain streams on the left bank of the
river near Renovo were absolutely clear, while the
water in the main stream had apparently not im-
proved in the least degree. In fact where the cur-
rents joined, it was impossible to conceive of a more
striking contrast in flowing water, so far as the color
was concerned. It may well be added that the color
was one criterion by which its desirability as drink-
ing water was determined. To a certain extent its
fitness for domestic use in point of healthfulness
was also determined by the same standard. It is,
of course, not inevitable that muddy water should
be positively unwholesome, though it often is.

This turbid condition was a measure of the ero-
sion which cleared surfaces were suffering from the
rush of water over them. It also implied drainage
from barn yards, very frequently also from sinks,
privies and other unwelcome sources. But with
this unusual volume of water was associated the
other fact that much of the water, which under
forest conditions would have remained in the
country to have maintained an even flow of the
streams and springs throughout the year, was go-
ing out of the country. The result of this must be

clear on a moment's reflection. The water during
the low stages, being smaller in volume than nor-
mal, would be less diluted in relation to the disease
germs which each successive summer produces.
In other words, there would be more of them,
probably, in a given volume of water than if the
stream were at a normal height. It would proba-
bly be safe to draw the conclusion then, that to
ensure the best character of water for drinking it
would be well if a constant flow, as nearly normal
in quantity as possible, could be secured through-
out the year.

The relation of this to our larger towns and
cities is quite plain, for they of necessity must
abandon wells and trust to a common source of
water for the entire population. The natural so-
lution is, first of all, endeavor to obtain a supply
from uncontaminated and clear sources. The ob-
jection that large supplies are needed, is very often
more apparent than real. A large drainage sur-
face is not often required. For example, Mr. John
Birkinbine has shown, that under the ordinary
average conditions of rainfall in Eastern Pennsyl-
vania, a city so large as Philadelphia could be sup-
plied from a properly wooded and properly situa-
ted area of one hundred square miles ; that is
from an area ten miles square, if all the water fall-
ing could be collected and stored.

When one remembers this, it seems preposter-
ous to be satisfied with, or even to tolerate, unclean
and unwholesome water in the smaller towns and
cities, which are located near hills or mountain
regions.

Nazareth, in this State, has near it a body of
forest land, which the owners have refused to allow
to be cut off under any inducement, because to do
so would be to impair a fine water supply. We
are informed also that the town of Bradford, in
McKean county, is wisely thinking of reforesting
the region from which its water supply comes.
This indicates a possible plan, which may in
future be judiciously followed by other towns.
It is worthy of note that in many German towns
there are communal forests which belong to, and
are managed by, the towns in their own interests.
A supply of pure water is thus assured, and in ad-
dition to this the citizens are supplied with fuel
and lumber, leaving a surplus to sell, and so reduce
the tax levied upon the community.

The lesson of this is obvious enough to all who
care to recognize it. We have in this State, in
many instances, towns which could cheaply secure
land of poor quality, unfit for agriculture and hav-
ing no mineral value. These could be managed
as the communal forests of the German towns are,
and would under rational care secure the same
beneficent results. It is not at all complimentary
to our business habits that the plan has not been
adopted already here.

Harrisburg is not a sinner above all the other
towns of similar size in the State. Yet its water
supply is often bad enough to point a moral. It
frequently happens that in a glass of the drinking
water furnished, the sediment deposited after
standing over night may be roughly estimated at
about one-seventieth of the whole volume. This
is not much, but is it necessary?

Have we net reached a time when it is fair to
ask whether any water which offends a sense of
purity should be tolerated ? The ideal water of
the future will come from a pure source, and
this will be filtered on any suspicion that it does
not come up to the highest standard. Even then
it will be none too good. The world moves so
fast that some of us may live to see this care taken
throughout the Commonwealth. The issues of life
and death are often in the water we drink. Short
life may be unavoidable to many who live now,
but it may be a crime in those who follow us if
they fail to utilize the knowledge which sanitary
science will then supply.

The more this forestry question is considered,
the more it seems to touch upon every feature of
an advanced civilization.

Forest Fire Legislation of Minnesota.

IN the last issue of Forest Leaves attention was
called to the Minnesota forest fire law which
has been recommended by the Forestry Divi-
sion of the U. S. Department of Agriculture as the
most complete State law yet enacted for the pre-
vention of forest destruction by fire.

This act makes the State Auditor the Forest
Commissioner, and the supervisors of towns,
mayors of cities and presidents of village councils
are constituted fire wardens. The forest com-
missioner shall appoint a Chief Fire Warden, who
shall receive a salary of $1200 per annum and
act as his representative. The Chief Fire Warden
shall have general charge of the fire warden force
of the State and can appoint wardens in unorgan-
ized territory. He shall divide the State into fire
districts, investigate the extent of the forests in
the State, together with the amount and variety of
timber thereon, the damage done by forest fires
and the cause of such fires, etc., which data are
to be incorporated in an annual report.

The Forest Commissioner is also to provide and
officially sign an abstract of the penal laws of the
act, which the fire wardens are to post in conspic-
uous places in their district. The following notice
which is conspicuously posted in railroad stations
and other public places in that State gives the
salient features of the penal section of the act :

1

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FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

151^

Beware of Setting Forest and Prairie Fires !

Office of State Forest Commissioner,
St. Paul, Minn., May, 1896.

Under the Act of the Legislature of Minnesota
for the preservation of forests and for the preven-
tion and suppression of forest and prairie fires,
approved April 18, 1895,

The following are liable to a penalty not ex-
ceeding J 1 00 or imprisonment not exceeding three
months :

Any person refusing, without cause, to assist lire
wardens in extinguishing forest or prairie fires.

Any fire warden who neglects to perform his
duties.

Any person who wilfully, negligently or care-
lessly sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any
woods, prairies or other combustible material,
thereby causing injury to another.

Any person who shall kindle a fire on or dan-
gerously near to forest or prairie land and leave
it unquenched, or who shall be a party thereto.

Any person who shall use other than incom-
bustible firewads for firearms or carry a naked
torch, firebrand or other exposed light in or
dangerously near to forest land.

Any person who shall wilfully or heedlessly de-
face, destroy or remove this or any other warning
placard posted under the requirements of the
above mentioned Act.

Any railroad company wilfully neglecting to
provide efficient spark arresters on its engines ; or
to keep its right of way to the width of 100 feet
cleared of combustible material ; or which shall
fail to comply with other provisions of Section
1 2 of the above mentioned Act.

The following are liable to a penalty of not less
than $5 nor more than ;j;5o :

Any railroad employee who wilfully violates the
provisions of Section 12 of the above mentioned
Act.

Any ovyner of threshing or other portable
steam engine who neglects to have efficient spark
arresters, or who shall deposit live coals or hot
ashes without extinguishing the same.

The following are liable to a penalty not ex-
ceeding $500 or imprisonment in the State prison
not over ten years, or both :

Any person who maliciously sets or causes to
be set on fire any woods, prairie or other combus-
tible material whereby the property of another is
destroyed and life is sacrificed.

R. C. DUNN (State Auditor),

Forest Commissioner.
C. C. Andrews, Chief Fire Warden.

The Chief Fire Warden is empowered to use
such means as he may deem necessary to prevent
or suppress forest or prairie fires, but the expendi-
ture in any one year is not to exceed ^5000^

Each fire warden is to receive J 2.00 per day and
employee $1.50 per day for his services, two-
thirds of which is to be paid by the county where
service is performed, and one-third by the State.
It is, however, provided that no fire warden shall
be paid in any one year for more than ten days*
service in the extinguishment or prevention of
forest fires, nor for more than five days' services in
posting notices and making reports, nor shall any
one person employed by fire wardens be paid for
more than five days' service in any one year. No
county shall expend more than $500 of public
money in any one year. It would seem that
these sections in regard to the expenditures in
suppressing forest fires are the weak portions of
the act, as in the case of severe and long contin-
ued fires it might not be possible to subdue them
without violating the provisions set forth.

Each fire warden is to take precautions to pre-
vent fires, and when his district is suffering or
threatened by fire, to go to the place of danger and
take control, being empowered to call persons to
his assistance. The Chief Fire Warden and the
other fire wardens are also to co-operate with the
fire warden of an adjoining district, and to arrest
every person found violating any provision of the
act. The chairman of boards of township super-
visors, presidents of villages and fire wardens shall
inquire into the cause of each forest or prairie fire
within their districts and shall report the same to
the Chief Fire Warden.

It is made the duty of the railroad companies not
only to use efficient spark arresters on their loco-
motives, but they must keep the right of way to
the width of fifty feet on each side of the centre
of the main track cleared of all combustible ma-
terial between April 15th and December ist. No
railroad company shall allow its employees to
leave live coals or hot ashes in the immediate
vicinity of land liable to be overrun by fire, and
where fences or other material along the line are
discovered on fire employees are required to re-
port the same promptly at the next telegraph sta-
tion. In seasons of drought the companies must
give particular instruction to the trainmen and
others for the prevention of fires, and when a fire
breaks out along the road the companies shall
concentrate help and adopt available measures to
extinguish it.

The Forest Commissioner is also to make an
annual report to the Governor, together with an
itemized account of expenses incurred, etc.

.

— On the Girard tract of 13,000 acres in
Schuylkill County, Pa., over 200,000 trees have
been planted.

Reclaiming the \A/'aste Lands of

Denmark.

¥R VAN DER HYDE, Belgian consul at
Copenhagen, states that the surprising
labors done in the waste lands of the
downs, and other lands situated in western Jut-
land, deserve to attract special attention.

In 1885 this province comprised about 9000
square kilometers of waste land, turf pit and
downs. The country presented the aspect of a
vast desert, where cultivation was rendered impos-
sible, not only on account of the natural infertility
of the soil, but also in consequence of the ravages
of the west winds, which prevail almost constantly.
The Danish government, desirous of remedying a
situation so deplorable, decided to protect the
country by raising plantations of trees, but the
population, who had no faith in this project, re-
fused all co-operation. In spite of this incompre-
hensible opposition, and while the forest associa-
tion continued its work along the coasts, Lieut.
Col. Van Dalgas, a clever and distinguished officer
of the army, founded a philanthropic society for
the purpose of encouraging the inhabitants of the
waste sections to surround their lands and dwell-
ings with plantations of coniferous trees. Thanks
to the persevering efforts of this agricultural so-
ciety, there only remains to-day of the 9000 square
kilometers of waste government lands, 3977 square
kilometers of heath, turf-pit and downs unculti-
vated, or less than one-half, and the plantations of
Tversted are firm and vigorous, although situated
upon the most exposed side of Jutland.

In Belgium, where the winds, however violent,
are less destructive and persistent than in Den-
mark, it is to be presumed that plantations of this
kind may reach at least the same development.

It is evident that now the different species are
known that can be planted in the downs, and
which will resist the sea breezes, it is easy to create
shelter or protection for plantations of other trees
of a greater value that might need it, or even for
kitchen gardens.

There are in France striking examples in the en-
virons of Boulogne-upon-the-sea, but especially in
the department of the Manchs, where the untilled
wastes of a few years ago, now sheltered by Vir-
ginia poplars, have become by productive culture,
a compact soil, and resistant to the winds. To-
day one may cite ten commons where the earliest
cultivated of these wastes are now selling for from
5000 to 6000 fr. the hectare, and producing, ac-
cording to location, 150 to 200 fr. annually.

The lands are protected against the sands by an
infinity of wood hedge, the principal species of
which are the willow and poplar. This gigantic
work, which has converted into arable lands the
wastes of more than thirty commons of the de-

partment of Manchs, is the labor of everybody
Each inhabitant does his best to protect his portion
of land, otherwise it might pass from his control
and fall under the general direction.

It is in these commons, and adjoining marine
soil, called tangues, that the farmers obtain the
greatest net proceeds from the production of cere-
als, as the stems or stocks of the grain are stiffer,
and the ears better filled than in any other soil.
The same results follow the kitchen-garden culture,
which has done grandly, and of which the pro-
ducts are sent even to Havre and Caen.

With a little perseverance, and under the en-
lightened influence of the Danish government,
there is no doubt that in a few years the desolate
plains of Jutland will be transformed into fertile
cultivated fields. — Translated for Hardwood from
L' Echo Fores tier,

THOSE who are advocates of the forestry
movement, and who have at the same time
the disposition and the chance to furnish
practical illustrations of the faith that is in them
are not common enough. It gives us great pleas-
ure to call attention to the active efforts of the
Hon. B. Witman Dambly in productive directions.
Mr. Dambly has not only been a pillar of strength
to the forestry cause in the House of Representa-
tives, and an advocate of all straight legislation,
but he has already planted, or caused to be planted,
more than 100 trees on or about the school
grounds of his district. It is well that his effective
energy should be placed on record. J. T. R.

THE third sheet of Lewis's Leaf Charts is on
our table. It illustrates five of our native
oaks, four of the foreign species, grown
here, and nine of the extinct species.

These charts are designed for the public schools.
The skill with which they are produced, and the
low price at which they are sold, should be a suffi-
cient inducement to hang them in every school
house in this State. Miss Lewis has given years
of conscientious, painstaking labor to the work,
and she richly deserves the patronage of those for
whom she has wrought.

— Spain is waking up to the necessity of refor-
esting her mountains. The little king recently
went to a village a few miles east of Madrid and
planted a pine sapling, after which 2000 children
selected from the Madrid schools each planted a
tree. Medals were distributed among them, with
the inscription, '* First Arbor Day Instituted in the
Reign of Alfonzo XIII., 1896.'' Similar festivals
are to be held yearly in different places, and the
children are to be taken out to see how their trees
grow, in the hope that they will foster tree plant-
ing in their districts.

I

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3^H

FOREST LEAVES.

Red Pine. Norway Pine. (Pinus resi-

nosa, Ait.)

THIS tree, though by no means conimon
enough in this State to give any decided
character to the woodland, is still not very
rare in the cooler parts of the Commonwealth.

The finest specimens I have seen in Pennsylva-
nia were on the ridges about the headwaters of
Hyner's Run, in Clinton county. It is there, over
a limited area, quite conspicuous. I unfortunately
was not provided with means of making an exact
measurement when in that place and can only say
that trees which in my judgment had a diameter
of at least two feet and a half and a height of
nearly or quite loo feet were frequently seen. The
red color of the bark at once indicated the pro-
priety of the name which heads this brief descrip-
tion. This, however, was by no means the only,
or even the most distinctive, feature of the bark
when compared with either form of the adja-
cent, Pinus rigida (pitch, yellow or jack pine).
That of the latter tree, even where it grew most
luxuriantly and under the most favorable circum-
stances, was always rougher, its fractures were
more ragged, and the surface pattern, made by
the thin exterior flakes, suggested nothing of the
neatness which characterizes a healthy, mature red
pine. Then when one comes to note the charac-
ter of the trunk, it will be found straight enough
and tall enough to drop the tree out of all associa-
tion with the pitch pine, and to join it in our
minds with the white pine. Among our Pennsyl-
vania cone-bearing trees, if we regard the white
pine as our noblest tree, I am of the opinion that
the second place might easily be accorded to the
red pine. I am now speaking simply of appear-
ance, not of utility. Judged by the latter stand-
ard, the hemlock would rank among cone-bear-
ers higher than the red pine, but it is almost
always a more or less unsightly tree as soon as it
has passed its prime. The wood of the red pine
is of a fairly good quality. In this respect it stands
as much above hemlock as it does below hemlock
when one considers the abundance of the latter
and the value of its bark in the tanning industry.
Coming from the North, and inhabiting our poor,
steep, sandy hillsides, we can hardly think that the
red pine lacks hardiness when it is established.
Yet, as a matter of fact, out of the many places
where it might grow, apparently, it is found in but
few. To my mind, one reasonable explanation of
this is that its foes are neither poverty of soil nor
inclemency of weather, but the other plants with
which it must contest for the ground. In other
words, it has failed to become common because
other plants were better colonizers than it was.

The leaves of the red pine are in pairs, about
four to six inches long, quite dark green and form

distinct " tufts *' at the ends of the branches. The
cones are about two inches long, and when ma-
ture, but before opening, they taper from the
rounded base to the tip, one side, however, being
somewhat larger than the other. The scales of
the cone are somewhat thickened on their outer
ends, which are destitute of prickles or points.

The red pine is a fairly heavy wood (for a cone-
bearer) and it is by no means a poor substitute for
the white pine on the one hand, or the long-
leaved southern pine on the other. The chief ob-
jection made to it is the resin it contains and the
width of the belt of sap wood on the outside of
the log.

It is not a tree of unusually wide range. It
grows in Newfoundland, Winnipeg Valley, Massa-
chusetts, Michigan and Minnesota, New York and
as far south as Clinton county in Pennsylvania.

Its physical properties are: Specific gravity,
0-4855 ; percentage of ash, 0.27; weight in pounds
of a cubic foot of dry wood, 30.26.

In its best estate it impresses you as a worthy
associate of our towering white pine.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

Amount of Cleared and Timber Land in

Pennsylvania.

IN the annual report of the Secretary of Internal
Aff'airsof Pennsylvania for 1895 he states that
* * the blanks furnished to the County Commis-
sioners call for a return of the number of acres of
cleared and timber land in each assessment district.
The data received on this subject varies so from
year to year that it is hardly worth while to make
comment on the returns. A few years ago in
some of the interior counties, whose acreage was
largely timber land, there would be but a slight
return of cleared land, but twenty years of lum-
bering and tanning have resulted in removing
most of the timber from these counties, and yet
the land is not cleared, at least so far as may be
necessary for farming purposes. Nor can it be
classified properly as timber land, because all the
merchantable timber has been cut away and taken
to market. In one assessment district an assessor
may consider a tract of land, from which the tim-
ber has been cut, as cleared land, although cleared
only so far as may be necessary to cut away the
timber, while in another district an assessor may
treat such a tract as timber land, notwithstanding
the timber has been cut and removed. In still
another district an assessor may assume that
such a tract is neither cleared nor timbered,
and make no return of the acreage. This would,
perhaps, be more consistent with the facts. The
suggestion made on this subject indicates that the

I

,1

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. io.

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NORWAY PINE. PINUS RESINOSA, AIT.

HYNER'S RUN, CLINTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

pss*-" ■ f*

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 10.

Hill*

I'i

TRUNK OF NORWAY PINE. PINUS RESINOSA, AIT.

HYNER'S RUN, CLINTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. io.

NORWAY PINE. PINUS RESINOSA, AIT.
HYNER'S RUN, CLINTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

,

WS^if" !^

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. io.

TRUNK OF NORWAY PINE. PINUS RESINOSA, AIT.

HYNER'S RUN. CLINTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

i!

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»!i

INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

FOREST LEAVES.

-153

A

\k

law of 1874 ought to be amended in such a man-
ner that there will be a further classification of
real estate with reference to its being cleared or
timber land. It was evidently the intention of
the Legislature to ascertain from year to year the
amount of original forest still standing and what
portion of the territory of the State had been
made into farms. It is certain that a great portion
of the acreage of the interior counties is not now
either cleared or timber land, but is growing up
with a second growth and is not being used in
any way.

** The number of acres of timber land was re-
ported in 1891 at 7,662,549; in 1892, 8,369,142; ^
in 1893, 8,296,112; in 1894, 8,417,327; i" 1895,
9,085,318. It will be seen from these figures that
there has been a marked increase in the number
of acres of timber land since 1891 ; but the truth
of this statement will not be borne out by the
facts, for it is certain that there has been no in-
crease in the acreage of timber land, but, on the
contrary, a marked decrease. The hewing down
of the native forests, which has been going on so
rapidly for the last two decades, has taken from
the Commonwealth a very large percentage of its
timber growth. These figures representing the
number of acres of timber land are a commentary
of not a very complimentary nature on the method
employed by the assessors in different sections of
the Commonwealth in making their returns to the
Boards of Commissioners.'*

Product of Timber Per Acre.

¥R. EDWARD HERSEY, Superintendent
of the Bussey farm, near Boston, says :
** Careful measurements and estimates
of the product of many acres of pine timber in
Plymouth county, Mass., have led me to the con-
clusion that where there is no other timber mixed
with the pine, on a warm, loamy soil, in a growth
of from thirty to thirty-five years, 100,000 feet of
box boards may be obtained ; but on an average
soil the usual thirty years' growth has been found
to be about 50,000 feet, when but little other wood
is mixed with it. The expense of cutting, draw-
ing, sawing and drying is from $5 to $6 per 1000
feet, which at the present price of box boards,
would leave the owner of the land about $2.50 per
1000 on the stump, or ^^125 per acre. This sum
would pay a good interest on the investment if the
land had cost not more than J15 per acre when the
pines first started to grow.*'

Hardwood takes exception to this statement and
says : " It is probable he (Hersey) means surface
measurement of " box ' boards only ^ or J^ inch
in thickness, which would reduce his 100,000 feet

to 50,000 feet inch-board measure if he means J^
inch."

The latter gentleman tells of many single acres
producing from 30,000 to 50,000 feet board meas-
ure in from thirty to thirty-five years, from seed, in
the old, worn-out soil of New England.

There are plenty of men living who can remem-
ber the days when there were virgin forests of large
extent in New England ; forests of great density
and centuries old ; forests that had had every
opportunity by nature to grow rapidly on the best
of soil. And yet no one can recall any such for-
est that yielded the amount of merchantable tim-
ber which Mr. Hersey claims was cut from an acre
after from thirty to thirty-five years* growth from
seed. Such acres have been found on the Pacific
coast, and they exist there to-day, but nowhere
else on the continent.

Probably the most typical and heaviest pine
forests east of the Rocky mountains were once
found in the three States of Michigan, Wis-
consin and Minnesota. Large areas in those
States produced nothing else but pine, 75 to 80
per cent., and even higher, white pine^ and the
balance Norway, with scarcely one tree to the acre
of any size of any other species. The very best
and densest of these great forests, the like of
which will never be seen again, produced from
1,000,000 to 1,500,000 feet to the forty acres, or
from 16,000,000 to 24,000,000 feet to the square
mile. But the rectangular square miles which have
cut over 20,000,000 feet are rare. These mighty
forests were from 300 to 500 years old, and perhaps
older, and were still in prime condition, the sec-
tions of greatest merchantable yield having but few
decaying trees, while other large areas had fully
matured in great part, the trees rapidly falling into
decay.

These exceptional sections produced from 25,000
feet to 37,000 feet peracre, but the greatest average
yield of pine in the three States named was never
over one-half the lesser amount, and probably not
more than about 10,000 feet per acre.

The best friends of rational forestry have never
claimed that it would pay, at present, to plant to
timber other than worn-out or otherwise useless
lands. This is the only sensible conclusion to
come to, for land costing %\^ per acre is too valua-
ble to plant to forest trees, for anything except
nursery purposes, unless in an entirely treeless
country, where the timber might have an excep-
tionally high value for fuel.

The pine will grow and flourish on land com-
paratively worthless for any other purpose, and
there is an abundance of such, and it should be
utilized for that purpose, and to do so would be
for the present generation to leave a splendid
legacy to its grandchildren, with, perhaps, a small
share to its youngest children in their old age.

SF

:^^^

164

FOREST LEAVES.

Quantity or Quality.

¥ERE tree planting is not forestry. Street
planting always, and park planting usu-
ally, is done with some other object in
view than the production of timber. In fact,
both of the above conditions must of necessity
fail in any very great interest for the forester. It
is only exceptionally that he has any use for the
park-grown tree — though he sometimes does.

Neither does forestry contemplate protection of
every tree from the axe. In fact, there are times
when the warmest advocate of trees, if he were
judicious, would cut down ruthlessly many a tree
that the public clamor for ; but he does it for the
same reason that the surgeon applies the knife — to
encourage a healthier remaining product. It is
worth while to apply these facts to the trees about
our homes.

Day after day I see lawns on which no expense
has been spared, crowded with misshapen trees.
To talk of removing them sounds like heresy.
Each specimen may have some sacred association.
Such grounds were started without proper appre-
ciation of the fact that trees will grow. There
was no clear looking ahead. As a consequence
the plan, or lack of plan, presented nothing de-
sirable, and prevented size, symmetry and vigorous
maturity in every specimen.

This concerns so many homes that it is well to
suggest that no ground of any size or pretension
should ever be planted in trees without first mak-
ing a map of it. The owner, or some competent
one for him, should study the ultimate effect de-
sired just as carefully as an architect studies the
outward lines and proportions of the house. Then
having clearly worked out what is wanted next
comes the problem : how shall we realize the
ideal? Those trees which are to remain, and
around which the traditions of the place are to
cluster, the home trees, if you will, should be
marked as such, and located on the map or plan.
Put in what you like for mere temporary, passing
effect ; but do it with the understanding that when
this secondary growth in any way interferes with
the development of the more important trees it is
to be removed.

I know lines of trees, which are not yet half
grown, along some streets, but they have seen
their best days. Public sentiment almost rebels
at the thought of removing any of them, and to
allow them room to reach mature proportions
this must be done.

It has been my privilege to see and study many
of the largest trees in our country. It is an inter-
esting fact that while few people have any real
lively interest in a half-grown tree (unless it is
their own), that the great heart of humanity throbs
with love, admiration and respect for such an oak

as that in the Friends* burying ground at Salem,
N. J. Its great strength and its venerable age
seem in some way to recall the traditions that
joined the trees to the early history of our race.

A few perfectly-formed, vigorous, large trees
may give an air of grandeur to even a small area,
but a multitude of misshapen, diseased, dwarfed
specimens cannot fail to produce disgust in the
observer, if he is properly constructed and even
half trained.

One function of our public parks is educational.
If, instead of inculcating the " true and the beau-
tiful,*' they teach even toleration of diseased trees,
Jhey have in so far failed to accomplish their work.
If they establish a false standard, which finds
anything picturesque or attractive in a tree that
is deformed and prematurely old and rotten, then
such parks have gone beyond the stage of simple
failure in educational function and become the
opponents of whatever elevating tendency a per-
fect tree may possess.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

The Practical Value of Forests to the
Surface of the Country.

(One of the Prize Essays.)
(Conclusion.)

Forests Better Than Dikes.

IF the forests along the Mississippi and its afflu-
ents had not been removed the floods would sel-
^ dom have reached a dangerous point, and the
true remedy for them now is the establishment of
forests along the upper water-courses, rather than
the building of dikes on the lower portions of the
stream. These are but a temporary and ineffec-
tive remedy at the best, and attended with great
and constant expense. The former, once estab-
lished, would be an abiding protection, and also
a lasting source of revenue. With the aid of the
forests, our navigable waters, not less than the
smaller streams, are completely within our control.
Observation and experience in European countries,
reaching through a long course of years, have
shown this to be so. Large masses of forest in the
vicinity of rivers perform, to a great extent, the
office of reservoirs or reserve basins, in which the
waters are stored up when over-abundant, and
from which they are discharged when needed, thus
preserving an equable flow. In a region destitute
of forests, the falling rains or the rapidly melting
snows find their way at once to the nearest river
channels and fill them often beyond their capacity,
causing, it may be, a disastrous overflow. But
where masses of wood are present the waters make
their way slowly into the river channels, and con-
sequently pass away gradually without overtasking
those channels or causing harmful floods. This

FOREST LEAVES.

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effect of forests has been strongly shown in France
in the case of two streams whose basins are situated
very near each other, one of which is well wooded,
while from the other the forest-covering has been
removed.

Washing the Soil.

During the last two thousand years, there has
been washed away from that portion of Italy which
is drained by the river Po, enough soil to raise
the entire surface forty-five feet. Much of this
soil has been deposited into the channel pf the
river, raising little by little the bottom of the Po
itself. Dikes have been built, and made higher
and higher, to keep the river from flooding the
plains through which it flows in the lower part of
its course. These dikes and embankments are now
so high that the river Po runs along far above the
surrounding country in a sort of aqueduct. The
same thing has occurred in the lower course of
the Mississippi. From the deck of a steamboat,
for a long distance above New Orleans, the trav-
eller looks down on the plantations. This eleva-
tion makes the pressure of the water, and the cost
of keeping up the dikes, or levees, greater every
year. Where a break occurs in time of high water,
of course it is more destructive, because the waters
pour down from a higher level.

Now, were all the steep land in the Mississippi
valley, and around the upper sources of the river
Po, kept covered with trees, as they should be,
this enormous amount of sediment would not be
carried down to raise the bottoms of the rivers,
to compel the building of dikes, and to do so
much harm in other ways.

If the forests of the Adirondacks are destroyed,
the vast mass of vegetable mold, ashes, etc., which
will be washed down into the Hudson, will, quite
possibly, ruin the navigation of that river, and the
harbor of New York, not to speak of the destruc-
tion of farms, factories and towns, lying where the
floods can reach them.

Forests Protection against Injurious

Winds.

All through the region between the eastern
boundary of Indian Territory, Kansas, and Ne-
braska, and 105° west longitude, there are dry
winds from the south and west which are very
hurtful to both vegetable and animal life.

If any species of trees can be made to grow
there, forming great belts of timber across the
track of these injurious winds, it is very probable
that other trees and many crops might thrive
which cannot now be raised. Thus, by planting
trees and caring for them for a number of years,
a comparatively barren region might be converted
into a fertile and productive one. A grove or

woodland that breaks the force of the cold wind
from the north and west adds greatly to the value
of a farm. This fact is everywhere recognized in
the northern prairie States, and much tree planting
has already been done in those States.

A Preventive Against Malaria and Disease.

As a protection against malaria and disease, cer-
tain trees, in fact all trees, have a recognized
value. The great swamps of Virginia and the
Carolinas, in climates nearly similar to that of un-
healthy Italy, are healthful even to the white man,
so long as the forests in and around them remain,
but they become very insalubrious when the woods
are felled.

The flat and marshy district of the Salogne, in
France, was salubrious until its woods were felled.
It then became pestilential, but within the last
few years its healthfulness has been restored by
forest plantations. In Germany and in India,
belts of trees have been found beneficial in ward-
ing off" cholera.

A lumber journal recently asserted that cholera
has never prevailed in pine-producing districts.
A pine forest lying to the south of the city of
Rome was infested by brigands. The authorities
found it so difficult to catch these robbers in their
secure hiding-place that they finally ordered the
forest to be cut down. The robbers disappeared,
but Rome was infested with disease and pestilence.
The abbey of "Three Fountains," near Rome,
was considered one of the worst places for fever.
Its condition was much improved in three years
by plantations of the eucalyptus tree. This tree
has been used with the same good effect in the
French settlements of Algeria.

Prevent the Shifting of Wind-Driven

Sands.

The most remarkable instance of this is afforded
by the once dreary region in the extreme south-
western part of France. Here, plantations of the
maritime pine have, in a few years, transformed
over four thousand square miles of poverty-stricken
country into populous hives of an intelligent and
thrifty population. In the lower part of the val-
ley of the Wisconsin River much loss is experi-
enced by the drifting of the sand. Driven by the
prevailing west winds, the sand covers and ruins
fields and gardens, and in many cases even fences.
A few belts of timber running across the valley
would be worth many times their cost in prevent-'
ing this condition of things.

Prevent the Increase of Noxious Insects.

They do this in two ways : They shelter birds,
nature's great insect police. Second, they stop
the progress of many species of insects, such as

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FOREST LEAVES.

grasshoppers and locusts, which scourge some of
the Western States. It is said that the chinch-
bug, so much dreaded by wheat growers, never
traverses a belt of thick trees as much as seven or
eight rods in width. So, too, it is affirmed that
winds carrying the fungus called wheat rust, de-
posit their baleful load if they find a forest in
their track.

Insecurity of Our Forests.

The American continent is so vast, and so large
a part of it is still covered with wood, that men
are not ready to believe there is any danger of ex-
terminating its forests. Supposing them to be
inexhaustible, they are entirely indiscriminate in
their method of clearing them, and treat them as
if they were of no importance, further than they
subserve the present wants of the community.
They are either reckless or ignorant of their indis-
pensable uses in the economy of nature, and seem
purposely to shut their eyes to facts and principles
in relation to them which are well known to men
of science. Our people look upon the forests as
valuable only so far as they supply material for
the arts and for fuel ; for the construction of ships
and public works ; and as there is not much danger
of immediately exhausting the supplies for these
purposes, the public mind remains quiet, while
certain operations are going forward which, if not
soon checked by some powerful restraint, will
before the lapse of another century, reduce half
this wide continent to a desert. The science of
vegetable meteorology deserves more considera-
tion than it has yet received from our professors
of learning. This, if fully explained, would teach
men some of the fearful consequences that would
ensue if a country were entirely disrobed of its
forests, and their relation to birds, insects and
quadrupeds would explain the impossibility of ever
restoring them. Man has the power, which, if
exercised without regard to the laws of nature,
may at no very distant period, render this earth
uninhabitable by man. In his eagerness to improve
his present condition, and his senseless grasp for
immediate advantages, he may disqualify the earth
for a human abode. This matter has been strangely
overlooked by legislators in the several States,
though frequently discussed by naturalists and
philosophical writers. In spite of the warnings
the people have received from learned men, very
little thought has been given the subject. How
few persons suspect that in less than a century the
greatest affliction this country is doomed to suffer
may be caused by the destruction of its forests !
Springs once full all the year will be dry every
summer and autumn ; small privileges will cease
to be of any value ; every shower will produce in-
undations ; every summer will be subject to per-
nicious droughts. The preservation of the forests

in a certain ratio over our whole territory ought
to be the subject of immediate legislation in all
States.

Why the Government Should Engage in

Forestry.

It deserves encouragement on every hand, and
from the private citizen as well as from the govern-
ment. It is especially a fit work to be fostered
and undertaken by the State and general govern-
ment. The work of forestry is one of such a pro-
tracted nature, demanding the lapse of so many
years Often for the accomplishment of some of its
objects, that individuals shrink from the under-
taking through the apprehension that they may
not live to see the expected or promised results.
But the life of a State is unlimited. A State is not
discouraged, because its work needs a long time
for its completion and the full accomplishment
aimed at. While there are reasons sufficient to
warrant individuals to engage in the work of
forestry, it is a work peculiarly appropriate to
governments. Every consideration of national
welfare urges them to engage in it. As a source
of revenue it is one of the surest and most con-
stant. There is none less fluctuating. As an ele-
ment of general prosperity there is none more
important. It is closely connected with the
manifold industries of life. History shows us that
nations have declined in power and prosperity
with the decline of its forests. It will be our wis-
dom to profit by the lessons of history and to
spare ourselves the sufferings with which other
nations have been afflicted, by arresting the de-
struction of our forests, before it has reached a
point beyond remedy.

F. H. Hain.

[The above is the conclusion of the last of the
prize essays. No precedence is indicated by giv-
ing priority to the other two essays. The state-
ments contained in the essays are given over the
author's name, and for these the editors of Forest
Leaves assume no responsibility, the object being
to carry out the contract to publish the essays for
which prizes were awarded. — Ed.]

— When William Penn bought the lands along
the west bank of the Delaware, one of the laws he
made was that but five out of every six acres
should be cleared, the remaining acre being kept
in timber. He also ordered that all oak and mul-
berry trees should be preserved*, presumably that
the first named might be utilized in the building
of ships, while the latter would serve to feed the
silk worms and aid in establishing the manufacture
of silk.

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FOREST LEAVES.

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State Forest Reservations — The Minne-
sota Plan.

WE have received from Mr. Charles A.
Keffer, acting Chief of the Forestry
Division, United States Department of
Agriculture-, an interesting analysis of the plan
for reforesting Minnesota lands as proposed by
Mr. Cross. Although Forest Leaves published a
sketch of the plan, we give Mr. Keffer' s presen-
tation of the subject in the hope that it may offer
a suggestion to the friends of forestry in Pennsyl-
vania.

** Briefly, Mr. Cross outlines his scheme as fol-
lows :

** First, Any person may deed to the State cut-
over pine lands unsuited to tillage, or other lands
for the purpose of growing forests, when such lands
have been examined and recommended to be re-
ceived by the State as a part of its " Reserved For-
est Area.*' Such examination to be made by the
town or county forestry commissioners, as may be
provided by the legislature.

** Second, Such lands, becoming the lands of
the State for public benefit, of course, would be
exempt from taxation.

" Third, It could not be expected that private
persons would donate large estates without com-
pensation. The State could not undertake to pay
a direct price, but could undertake to make com-
pensation in the following manner, greatly to the
advantage of the State and its people, including its
future finances, as well as to many of its struggling
colleges and schools, and finally greatly to the in-
terest of the grantor ; that is, in the future vast
revenues would accrue from the public forest lands.
These revenues I would have divided something
as follows :

** ist. One-third to go to the State, to be divided
between county, town and State treasuries.

'* 2. One-third to go to the grantor or his heirs
or devisees for the first one hundred years, and
after that to the school or college which he may
name to receive the third one-third,

** 3d. The remaining third to go to such school,
academy, or college denominational, private or
otherwise, as the grantor may designate. In case
of the failure of such institution to exist, or of the
grantor's failing to name such school, then two-
thirds of this pdrtion to go to the public-school
fund and the remaining third to the State univer-
sity."

Ex-Governor J. S. Pillsbury, one of the largest
timber-land owners in Minnesota, addressed the
State Forestry Association, strongly favoring the
proposition.

Many other speeches were made, and resolutions
of approval were adopted.

The Minnesota plan, for such it must be here-

after considered, is worthy the careful examination
of every State in the forest area. Of course there are
details to be filled in, and there may be practical
difficulties to be overcome, but careful legislation
will find a solution of the difficulties as they
appear.

Throughout the Eastern States, and in the
Pacific forests as well, are rhillions of acres of
waste land, whose value to the owner passes with
the cutting of the merchantable timber.

The Minnesota plan provides for the protection
and care of these lands, too sterile for agricultural
use, and yet capable of producing in time a second
growth that shall be the timber of the future.

"I

A Walnut Tree Farm.

N Loudon county, Virginia, I found a tract
of 1200 acres, partly wooded, that could
be bought for $1 an acre. It was near a
railway, and the payments could be made to cover
a term of years, and before returning to Boston I
had closed a deal for its purchase.

**Sold the standing timber on it for enough to
hire a man for five years to live on the place and
look after it. What was left of my savings after
making the first payment bought black walnuts. I
sent them to Virginia and had the whole tract
literally sown with the nuts. The next summer,
the place was covered with young shoots of what
would be, in the future, black walnut trees. My
man attended to business, and kept the ground
covered by planting wherever, from natural or ac-
cidental causes, the shoots had failed to appear or
had been destroyed.

*' It was not until three years had passed that I
began to feel at all certain of the success of my ex-
periment. Then, when I saw the forest of the
black walnut saplings and realized that they were
all mine, and would some day bring me in returns
by the hundred-fold, I began to feel independent.

** To cut a long story short, things went well
with me, and six years ago my first trees were cut
for sale. They were not very large, measuring on
an average 12 inches in diameter under the bark.
Only the largest ones were selected, but enough
standing timber was sold that year to pay me back
all the principal of my investment, with liberal in-
terest added. Since then timber has been cut
every fall. Living in Richmond, my summers are
spent with my family among the trees on my Lou-
don county estate, and in the fall I stay person-
ally by and superintend the felling of the timber.
So great is the demand for black walnut that to-
day it is worth $100 a thousand feet, after it is
sawed into boards ; and sold standing, it brings
double what the dressed lumber was worth when
the experiment began. I am thinking of putting

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FOREST LEAVES.

in a saw mill, and ray visit to Buffalo is partly in
connection with that idea. There is a consider-
able stream running through my property that
would give me abundant power, and it will pay
me to manufacture my own lumber. It is more
readily shipped and commands a higher price.

** By my system of only cutting the largest trees
each season and imrtiediately replacing them with
saplings, my tree farm is a permanent source of in-
come. By the time that the trees that are to-day
only saplings have been cut down these new ones
will be large enough to saw up into boards.

** The credit for the scheme is all due to the sug-
gestion of an old Boston lumber dealer, who lived
long enough to see me reap the first fruits of the
idea. Nothing has been done but what any young
man similarly situated could have done. In fact,
any young man with patience and a little money
can duplicate my success to-day. All through
Virginia are large tracts that can be bought for
from $1.25 to $5 an acre, depending on the proxi-
mity to railroads ; and if I had any suggestion to
make to a young man about his future I would ad-
vise him to do exactly what I have done. It is
only by such means that the rapidly decreasing
timber areas of the United States can ever be re-
placed, and there is little likelihood that competi-
tion in this particular line will ever be so strong
as to make the profits of such a venture at all un-
certain. ' ' — Public Ledger,

Tree-Planting in France.

THE French thoroughly appreciate the ad-
vantages to be derived from systematic
tree-planting. Tracts of sand have been
covered with pine forests, and the word ** lande,"
borrowed, as it is thought, from the German, is
losing its meaning of '*■ waste." Till a century
ago a large portion of the forest of the Fontain-
bleau consisted of bare sand-hills, but the plant-
ing of pines was begun, a variety capable of stand-
ing the severest winters was eventually found, and
millions of trees now diffuse healthy and agreeable
odors, besides furnishing timber and fuel. The
decomposed fir needles, moreover, gradually form
a crust of vegetable mold, permitting the growth
of trees and shrubs less able than pine to live on
air. The department of the Landes, once a bar-
ren region, with sand so loose that people had to
walk on stilts, is covered with pines, and the prob-
lem of draining the subsoil has been solved, as
described in Edmund About's story of " Maitre
Pierre." The losses by fire and anxiety to pro-
duce something more remunerative than pine are
now, however, inducing artificial fertilization. In
many French watering places dunes have been
transformed into woods, thus holding out to sea-
side visitors the attraction of agreeable shade and

a change from a monotonous beach. Shifting
sands have been prevented from extending inland.
In some cases dunes have been acquired by com-
panies, which, after planting them, have cut them
up into building lots, and have seen them dotted
with villas. Elsewhere municipalities have taken
up the matter, and in large operations the district
or department provides funds. — London Times,

— There are two kinds of Teak wood, the In-
dian and African. This wood is very valuable in
shipbuilding. The Indian Teak (Teclonagrandis)
is a tree of the natural order Verbenaceae, is slow
of growth, a beautiful tree, and attains a height
sometimes of 200 feet. Its white flowers are used
medicinally. The leaves are used for coloring
purple. The timber is strong and resembles ma-
hogany. The most extensive forests are in Pegu.
The trees grow in clumps forming their own
forests. Elephants are used in the Teak districts
to carry the timber and for piling it up. — New
York Lumber Trade JoiirnaL

Books Received.

TAe First Annual Report of the Chief Fire
Warden of Minnesota^ which comes to us as an
unusually well-printed volume of 192 pages, de-
monstrates that prevention is better than cure,
for 18,000 copies of warning placards (the full
text of which will be found on another page) were
posted through the Commonwealth, which dis-
tinctly stated the penalties attached to each sin
of omission or of a commission that might result in
a forest fire.

The same placards were required to be printed
by the County Commissioners in at least three
issues of their " official papers*' during the *^ fire-
dangerous season,*' from 15th of April to the ist
of November.

The limitation that no county is allowed to
'* spend more than ^\q hundred dollars in any one
year'* was recognized as unfortunate, but it was
not possible to secure a larger appropriation for a
law which was generally regarded as an experi-
ment. The law in its working and economy
seems to be a triumphant success, but it must be
remembered that it is so largely by contrast with
the appalling season of 1894. Furthermore, by
fire destroying the underbrush and the lumbering
debris that season, a large area was rendered tem-
porarily secure against a second invasion of sim-
ilar nature. The Minnesota law is a step in the
right direction. But we are by no means sure that
it will continue to satisfy the citizens of that pro-
gressive State. As an experiment it has worked
so well that it now merits more careful considera-
tion, a full elimination of all weak points, and a
provision for all possible contingencies. J. T. R.

FOREST LEAVES.

251

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

FOREST LEAVER.

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

OF

'HUcADEIdWH

^^^"^STN^'^^CES 2^ CREATE.ST EXP.tPHiA

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

LEl^IS' LEAF CHART.

PART 1, NOW BEADY,

-o-

No. 1. Biennial-fruited Oaks : Black Oak and allies. Price 50 c.
No. 2. Annual-fruited Oaks : White Oak and allies. Price 50 c.
No. 3. Southern, Pacific, Hardy Foreign and some extinct oaks.

Price 50 c.
Accompanying illustrated Booklet, relating to the Oaks. Price

50 c. Sent on receipt of cash price, in tubes, or boxed

when ordered In large quantities. In the latter case,

send for wholesale prices.

Price of whole series of Charts, illustrating one hundred species
of our best trees, $6.00. Please subscribe for the series.

GRACEANNA LEWIS,
121 "West Washington Street, Media, Pennsylvania

OF THE

Mvi\m\i Forestry Association,

AND THE

Americaii Forestry Association.

ON'T BUY

TheWin.H.||||OONCoinpanii.

DIORRIBVIIiL.K, PA.

f For their new descrip- Bma^
tive Catalogue for Vm— llVVi

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

I

RATES.

I inch,
'A page,

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insertion.
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i

k J»T.-- ■* 1.1^ i/j_.i,*'-'JT.v--'

BOB

■

FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING,

At the present time tree-loving people are endeavoring to secure the best tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of our cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

PLANE TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

Five years ago, while in Europe for horticultural research, we bund that for a num-
ber of years, in London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other cities, this tree had been
used with most successful results. It was found to be the only tree which would grow
satisfactorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames River, London.

The parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a number of our leading land-
scape gardeners have recently been using the Oriental Plane very extensively for avenue
planting. Can furnish many testimonials concerning the merits of this tree.

Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

ANDORRA NURSERIES,

WILLIAM WARNER HARPER, Manager, CHESTNUT HILL. PHILA., PA.

SPECIAIiTIES :

Large | Specimen Ornamental Trees,

\ Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

Vol. V.

Philadelphia, October, 1896.

No. II.

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

35 North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials

The Forests in the Vicinity
of Crater Lake, Oregon

Autumn Arbor Day

Forest Protection in Canada...

Among the Trees

Forestry Legislation in Congress

Silver Maple. White Maple. Soft Maple

The Importance of the Woodland Areas of the State as a

Source of Pure Water Supply

Missouri's Big Red Oak Tree

Old Apple Trees

Doom of White Pine

What Kind of Trees to Plant in the Middle and New England

States

Is Protection against Forest Fires Practicable? «

New Books

161-162

163
164
164-165
166
167
168

169
170
170
171

172

173
174

Subscription, $i.oo per Year.

The attention of Nurserymen and others is called to the adi^antages
0/ FoRHST Lbavbs as an advertising medium. Rates will be fur-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
John Birkinbine, Chairman^ 25 North Juniper Street.
Dr J. T, RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLKR, 1820 Master Street.
Prof. Wm. P. Wilson, 640 N. 32d Street.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Skippack, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,
FouNDHD IN Junk, 1886,

Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper fore^t protective laws, both State and
National.

Annual membership /ee, Ope dollar.

Li/e membership^ Fifteen dollars.

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to A. B. Weimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Birkinbine.

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C.
Haydon, Prof. Wm. P. Wilson.

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. John P. Lundy.

Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.

Council-ai- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. Elwyn, W. S.
Harvey.

Council from Philadelphia County, J. Rodman Paul, A. B. Weimer,
Richard Wood, Eli Kirk Price, Henry Budd, Henry Howson.

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. \. Biddle, Wm. S. Kirk,
Samuel Marshall, Thomas H. Montgomery, James Monaghan.

Council from Delanvare County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles
G. Ogden.

Council from Montgomery County, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Dr. Alice
Bennett, Dr. J. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Officb of thb Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadblphia.

EDITORIALS.

THIS issue of Forest Leaves will reach its
readers in the midst of a heated national
political campaign, when party managers
are doing their utmost to enlist the enthusiasm
and secure the support of citizens for the candi-
dates to whom they are pledged, and the interest
of the people in general is exhibited by discussion
on every side. Some of the issues of the cam-
paign are practically new, and few would have
believed a year ago that these w^ould have re-
ceived the widespread attention which has been
given to them.

The friends of forestry who earnestly desire
that our existing forests should receive careful
attention, and new growths be encouraged, may
find in the exhibition of interest in political issues
a lesson pointing to the possibility of awakening
greater attention to the needs of our forests.
Surely the maintenance of a regular flow of
springs and streams, the decrease in the frequency
and destructive character of freshets and the pre-
servation of the timber supply are of sufficient
importance to encourage as hearty and enthusias-
tic support as the planks of a partisan platform.

Next January the Legislature of Pennsylvania
will assemble, and if the friends of forestry in the
State will see that the importance of the subject
is brought to the attention of their neighbors and
friends, we may have an awakening of interest
which will encourage the Legislature and the
Governor to place the Keystone State well in
advance in the matter of forest reform.

As we write this appeal we are travelling through
a portion of Iowa where trees are so highly es-
teemed as to be planted in large numbers — in fact,
few that we see have not received the fostering
care of the farmers. In Pennsylvania we have
wasted trees faster than our Western friends could
plant. We say wasted so as not to include the
trees which properly were used^ for true forestry
does not condemn the use of trees which have

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FOREST LEAVES.

reached maturity or which should be removed to
give light and air to others. Let us see to' it that
we renew forests at least as rapidly as they are
destroyed, and have all proper legislative protec-
tion thrown about such as we now have. J. B.

* ♦ * ♦ ♦

Fall Arbor Day in Pennsylvania is designated
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr.
Nathan C. Schaeffer, and will this year be observed
on Friday^ October 23^, the full text of the an-
nouncement being given in this issue. The schools
throughout the State will celebrate the day, and
we trust that all the friends of forestry will en-
deavor to in some way advance the cause on that
occasion.

* * :|e * 9|e

A forestry meeting will be held under the aus-
pices of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association at
the Drexel Institute, Thirty-second and Chestnut
Streets, Philadelphia, on Thursday, October 22d,
at 8 P.M.

An address will be made by Dr. Nathan C.
Schaeffer, Superintendent of Public Instruction,
followed by an illustrated talk by Dr. J. T. Roth-
rock, Forestry Commissioner of Pennsylvania.
All persons interested in forestry are cordially in-
vited to be present.

* * * ♦ *

We are glad to note the active interest in forestry
matter taken by our contemporary, The Chambers-
burg Repository. Thus its issue of August 19th
has the following :

" At this season of the year when cyclones and
droughts with all their attendant evils are com-
mon occurrences, it is timely to call attention to
the primeval cause— the devastation of our forests.
People are becoming aroused upon this subject,
but we want something more than mere discussion,
we want a regular course of instruction by the
newspapers. And we most of all want legislation
and government protection before the inroads are
irremediable. All about us we see beautiful wood-
lands sacrificed to the relentless steam saw-mill.
The oak woods near town where Gen. Lee encamped
are no more. * Siberia,' with its trailing arbutus,
IS fast disappearing. When questioned about the
sacrifice owners will tell you the timber is valuable
and taxes are heavy. This suggests one way the
forests may be saved— rebate the tax on timbered
land, and it does indeed seem strange that advo-
cates of the cause have not aimed at this telling
measure long ago. Another plan is to make and
enforce more stringent fire laws."

It is proper the editors of Forest Leaves should
say that for years the advocates of forestry reform
have been writing and speaking upon this very
topic. In fact, for at least two years, the Secre-
tary of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association
made it one of the most important features of his

illustrated lectures. He ceased later to make it so
pronounced, because it was awakening opposition
to the cause in certain quarters. It is unfortunate
that any measure so wise as the tax rebate should
be turned against the forestry movement by the
parties who were most interested, and who should
have shown a more intelligent appreciation of the
subject.

In fact, this question of tax rebate and reduction
in forest land will receive a very considerable con-
sideration in the forthcoming report of the Forestry
Commissioner.

The paper also quotes Prof. Roberts, of Cornell
University, giving the extract printed in the last
issue of Forest Leaves, in which he states that one
cause of our agricultural depression is due to the
cultivation of lands which are now farmed at heavy
loss, asserting that these stony side-hills and de-
pleted light soils should be returned to forest
growth.

This too is undoubtedly correct, and much
more full of meaning than appears on the surface.
The Secretary of the Pennsylvania Forestry Asso-
ciation has not only called attention to these facts,
but he has even illustrated the actual conditions
by lantern views taken from photographs of just
such places.

Working a reform is slow work, and that of
forestry is no exception. There is, however, a
vast comfort in thinking that success is in sight.
We are indebted to the public press for the power
it has so freely and so wisely used, and we thank
The Chambersburg Repository for the help it has so
often rendered.

♦ ♦ * * ♦

Our readers will be interested in the communica-
tion of Mr. Frederick V. Coville, Botanist of the
United States Department of Agriculture, describ-
ing the forests in the vicinity of Crater Lake,
Oregon, which was prepared for Forest Leaves
at the suggestion of Mr. Charles A. Keffer, acting
Chief of the Division of Forestry.

We regret that Mr. Coville did not extend his
article to include a detailed description of the most
interesting curiosity of this region, Crater Lake,
but to supplement his sketch we give the following
from the chart issued by the United States Geo-
logical Survey :

^* Crater Lake lies on the summit of the Cascade
Range about midway between Mount Shasta and
Mount Hood, 75 miles east of the Rogue River
valley in Oregon. It is remarkable for its position
and size, but more especially on account of its
beauty, its depth, the grandeur of its encir-
cling cliffs and its history. The lake is approxi-
mately circular, averaging a little over 5 miles in
diameter, and is said to be the deepest fresh water
in the United States, attaining a depth of 1996
feet. Beautiful as it is, it serves but to conceal in

1

fc.. ;

FOREST LEAVES.

463

large part the greater wonder, the stupendous pit
or basin in which it is contained, and from which
the lake takes its name. The average diameter of
the top of the pit is 5.7 miles, and its depth 4000
feet. The rim of the lake is the base of a truncated
conical mountain, hollow to a shell, upon the out-
side it slopes away at a small angle in all direc-
tions, but inside the descent towards the lake is
precipitous. The lake being girdled by a bold
escarpment from 500 to 2200 feet in height.
Wizard Island near the western border of the lake
is an excellent example of a small volcano. It is
possible that the whole of the great pile of lava
which renders the western portion of the lake
shallower than the eastern has escaped from this
smaller volcano. This enormous pit was probably
formed by the escape of its molten interior through
a lower outlet. The lake has apparently no out-
let, but there is probably a subterranean escape
for some of the water."

The Forests in the Vicinity of Crater

Lake, Oregon.

7f T the close of a trip from east to west across
/^ the plains of southeastern Oregon during

^* the present season, the writer visited Crater
Lake in the southern portion of the Cascade
Mountains, and was enabled to see something of
the magnificent forest surroundings of that strange
and beautiful body of water. At the eastern base
of the Cascade Mountains lie the arid, and for the
most part, treeless plains, standing here at an ele-
vation of about 4500 feet. The mountains then
rise abruptly in a solid body to an altitude of 2000
to 3000 feet higher, with individual peaks reaching
far above the main range, Mt. Scott to 9122 feet,
Mt. Thielson 9250 feet, and Mt. Pitt 9760. Iji
the heart of the main ridge, within a great cir-
cular depression, a pit of volcanic origin, lies
Crater Lake, its surface more than a thousand feet
below the rim. Its water, which has a depth of
nearly 2000 feet, is of a deep brilliant blue color,
with a narrow fringe of green along its shallow
margins. Solid forests occupy the mountain slopes
from the plains to the summit, except at high
altitudes where the rocks are too steep, or where
the deep snow drifts lying on the ground nearly
all summer prevent the growth of trees, and leave
open, dry stretches of pumice sand brilliant with
flowers, or where on some plateau a little further
down the mountain the constant supply of ice-cold
water from springs or streams brings forth a cool
grassy mountain meadow.

The forests about the rim of the lake are made
up chiefly of Patton's hemlock, Tsuga Pattoniana,
and the noble fir, Abies nobilis, with a slight ad-

mixture of the white-barked pine, Pinus albican-
lis, the subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa, the western
white pine, Pinus monticola^ and the tamarack
pine, Pinus murrayana. At lower altitudes from
about 5200 feet downward grow the yellow pine,
Pinus ponderosa, the white fir, Abies grandis, the
sugar pine, Pinus lanibertiana^ and the Douglas
spruce, Pseudotsuga taxifolia. In the upper forests
there is almost no underbrush, merely a few trail-
ing shrubs a foot or less in height. In the lower
forest the underbrush is as high as a man, and
while not so dense as the chaparral of the Cali-
fornia mountains it is sufficiently thick to present
considerable difficulty to a horse and rider.

Crater Lake and the adjoining forests lie in the
southern part of the Cascade forest reservation,
and therefore possess an additional interest to the
readers of your journal. There are no settlements,
saw-mills or human habitations, either at Crater
Lake or within many miles of it, so that the forests
would now be in their aboriginal condition were
it not for one difficulty. It has been the custom
for many years for wool growers to herd their
sheep in these mountains, and even during the
present season, in spite of repeated warnings,
several bands of sheep have been grazed within
the limits of the reservation. The objection to
this would not be so great, so far as the preserva-
tion of the forest is concerned, if the herders con-
fined their depredations to grazing, but this is not
the case with most if not all the herders. As one
of them ingenuously remarked to the writer : *^ We
usually burn over this year enough land to graze
our sheep next year." The result of this practice
was manifest all through the mountains. Not two
miles southwest of Crater Lake were various
patches of hundreds, and probably in some cases
of even thousands, of acres of dead tree* trunks,
either standing or fallen, with thick grass and
abundant browse (that is, brush and saplings) tes-
tifying to the success of the practice from the
sheep-herders' standpoint.

Crater Lake itself is a remarkable natural phe-
nomenon of wonderful beauty and grandeur, and
seems to demand recognition and protection as
such. Situated as it is within a forest reservation,
it is manifestly the duty of the authorities to pro-
tect the surrounding forests from further depreda-
tions. It is a pleasure to say that notice of these
depredations has already been sent to the Interior
Department, and it is understood that injunctions
will be issued restraining the guilty parties from
further forest destruction.

Frederick V. Coville.

\\\

— Ozone is said to be produced in nature by
balsam trees — the pine, fir, larch and eucalyptus.

1

55>

FOREST LEAVES.

Autumn Arbor Day.

Department of Public Instruction,
IIarrisburg, Septeml)er 15, 1896.

To the Directors, Superintendents^ Teachers and
Pupils of the Schools of Pennsylvania :

It is characteristic of civilized man to prepare
for the remote future. This is one of the most
striking differences between him and the barbarian,
who lives only for the present. In the struggle for
supremacy civilization has won because it antici-
pated the future and met its events as they ap-
peared.

It is a function of our public schools to train
pupils to lead in such movements as will best per-
petuate the State. For this reason, each succeed-
ing autumn, you, the pupils, are enjoined by public
proclamation to turn aside for one day and con-
sider the relations which the woodlands of the
Commonwealth will have to your prosperity when
you are the citizens and rulers of the State. For
this you are asked to encourage, by your example,
the planting of trees, which will grow into a source
of wealth and power. Thus you may transmit
influences for good, not only to the next genera-
tion, but to those which succeed it.

A waste acre which produces nothing is a re-
proach to any country, as much as a wasted life is
a disgrace to him who has led it. Therefore, lend
the weight of your character and example to the
public duty of covering the barren hills and moun-
tain tops of the State with trees, whose leaves will
distil moisture into the air, whose trunks and bark
will furnish material for our industries and whose
roots will aid in producing fresh soil to replace
that which is washed from our fields, down the
streams and rivers into the ocean.

If you, in your day and generation, fail to do
this the order of nature will be violated and a
penalty will inevitably be invited upon the land
for whose prosperity you will be responsible.

The abundance, in future, of the matured fruit
of orchards, forests and fields will be in propor-
tion to your individual activity in tree planting
and in forest restoration.

Trees may be planted both in the spring and
m the fall of the year. In accordance with a
time-honored custom I appoint Friday, October
23, 1896, as Autumn Arbor Day, and earnestly
urge directors, superintendents, teachers and pupils
to observe the day with appropriate exercises, both I
by the planting of trees and by the dissemination
of information on the growth and care of trees
and their value to present and future genera-
tions. °

Nathan C. Schaeffer,
Superintendent Public Instruction.

Forest Protection in Canada.

MR. THOMAS SOUTHWORTH, Clerk of
Forestry for Ontario, has made his First
Annual Report upon the Forests of that
Province to Hon. A. S. Hardy, Commissioner of
Crown Lands.

As a public document, it is a credit to Ontario.
We do not remember to have read a state paper
on forestry which is more lucid, readable, and
which tells so much that is really helpful to the
average citizen. It is impossible to review such a
paper in the space at our disposal. The general
relations of forestry to the public, and the present
status of forestry in our own country, are fully and
intelligently discussed. We may remark in pass-
ing that Mr. Southworth has a very kind word
for the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.

The portions in which we are most interested
are :

1. State Forestry Reservations.

2. Effect of Clearing Forests upon the Water
Supply.

3. Fire Protection in Crown Forests.
Apropos of the first, we find the following:

*' Owing to the timber policy of Ontario— which
in Its more important features coincides with that
generally adopted throughout Canada— the ques-
tion of future forestry operations in this province
is rendered comimratively simple. It has been in
marked contrast with the course pursued in the
United States, where the government, in dealing
with large timbered tracts of land, has, in selling
the timber, disposed of the fee simple of the soil
to capitalists and speculators. This renders the
difficulty of adopting a policy of forest preserva-
tion much greater than if the public had retained
the ownership of the land, as large corporate and
private interests stand in the way of any change
of system, and the right to deal with tracts of land,
originally parted with for comparatively trifling
considerations, must now be bought back at enor-
mous expense. Ontario, keeping in view the fun-
damental principle of * the land for the settler,*
has wisely avoided this mistake."

To the above statement we may well add, that
to obtain possession of the timber-stripped and
fire-swept areas will cost the State more than it re-
ceived for them when they were densely covered
with valuable timber, and that each year of delay
but adds to the cost of these forestry reservations
which the State, in self-preservation, must ulti-
mately possess.

Under the second head to which we have al-
luded, namely, the ** Effect of Clearing Forests
upon the Water Su|)ply," Mr. Southworth remarks:
''The general tenor of these replies, most of
which are very positive, fully bears out the con-
clusion that in most of the longer-settled portions

FOREST LEAVES,

of the province, as well as in many parts where
forest clearance has been by no means so general
the cutting down of the timber about the head-
waters and along the 'banks of water-courses has
resulted in a growing scarcity of water during the
summer months. This change in the climatic
conditions has attained such proportions as to be
a serious cause of loss and inconvenience in most
seasons. The injury to crops from the protracted
droughts which of late years have become of fre-
quent occurrence has been very great, and farmers
in many localities, formerly sure of a never-failing
supply of water, often find themselves compelled
to go miles during the dry season to obtain a suf-
ficient supply for their stock. Testimony is gen-
eral and emphatic as to the operation of these
causes in altering the climate of Ontario for the
worse."

The above quotation seems to be a very strong
statement of the general belief that there is a re-
lation between the removal of our forests and the
decreased volume of water carried during the
growing season by our streams. The advocates of
the so-called scientific method state the acknowl-
edged fact when they say **our meteorological
records are yet too limited to base a certain opinion
upon." But it exhibits a woeful want of ordinary
common sense for these gentlemen to advocate the
belief that such decrease of flowing water is due to
a secular change in climate through which our
earth occasionally passes. That is placing a mere
hypothesis before the facts which every ordinary
region can furnish. For example, we recently
stood on a hillside where so long as the wood re-
mained there were three good, never-failing
springs. Within a year from the date of the re-
moval of the trees the springs ceased to flow, and
the water has practically never reappeared. Little
as we know accurately of the relations between
forests and water flow, it may be positively af-
firmed that we know infinitely less about the secu-
lar changes that are invoked to explain the dimin-
ished volume of water in our streams during the
summer months. We accept the popular belief
simply because of the two it is better supported
by such facts as we have now. To be sure, there
are cases where artificial drainage may conduce to
lower stages of water in our streams. We think,
iiowever, that such cases do not often explain why
our springs dry up.

We may now briefly consider the third point in
which we are especially interested, namely, ** Fire
Protec tion in Crown Forests." In a rec ent issue
of Meehan's Monthly the senior editor of that ex-
cellent journal speaks very discouragingly of the
benefits to be derived from fire wardens who
spend their time reading dime novels in sentry
boxes. Of course, if that is the senior editor's
idea of the functions of fire wardens, one cannot

wonder at the low estimate he places upon their
services ; but as no one else accepts this as a state-
ment of their duties, his opinion will hardly pre-
vail in the face of such testimony as comes to us
from Maine, Minnesota and, latest, from Ontario.
We quote from Mr. Southworth's paper upon this
subject : '' A number of men are placed upon the
Crown Lands durfng the dangerous season, which
lasts from May until about the close of September
in localities specially exposed to fire by reason of
settlement, railway constructing, lumbering or
any other cause.'' '' The good efl'ects of the sys-
tem were specially manifested last year. Though
the summer of 1895 was the dryest for many
years, the temperature being unusually high in ad-
dition to the light rainfall, the destruction of tim-
ber by fire was remarkably small. In consequence
of the danger, the staff* was strengthened in
specially exposed places and closer vigilance main-
tained.

" Reports from forty nine timber limits where
the system was in operation in 1895 show that, as
closely as can be estimated, the quantity of timber
damaged by fire amounted to 57,556,000 feet,
valued at $41,600. The number of fires specifi-
cally reported was ninety-three, in addition to
which there were many others, principally small
ones not enumerated. Any one at all familiar
with backwoods life and conversant with the con-
ditions which prevailed prior to the introduction
of the system can readily realize the enormous
saving which has been effected by providing this
safeguard against forest devastation. When the
dry character of the season and the number of
fires actually started, but suppressed before they
had made headway, is taken into account, it can
readily be seen that but for the presence of the
fire rangers at the most exposed points, areas
amounting to hundreds of square miles would
probably have been ravaged and the losses to
timber licensees and the public would have been
immense. This saving has been effected by the
employment of 114 men for a few months in the
year, at a total cost of $26,253, shared between
the public treasury and limit-owners."

It thus appears that the loss of timber in On-
tario was less by $3400 than the farmers of this
State (so far as heard from) paid for labor to put
out forest fires, and the cost to Ontario was but
little over half what the farmers alone paid for a
similar service. This estimate of ours does not
include the loss which came to the lumbermen of
Pennsylvania, and which was many times greater
than that sustained by the agriculturists.

We wish here to do Mr. Meehan the justice of
saying that the remedy which he urges, and which
we all urge, is to clear out the underbrush and the
lumbering debris. This should be in addition, we
think, to the work of the fire wardens. It should

JMi

FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

—467 -

be stated that among the strongest advocates of
this are some of the leading lumbermen of the
northwest, and also of our own State. There is
a delusion in the idea that the fire does not spread
extensively in green woods. This is only a gen-
eral rule, which we have good reasons to know is
utterly fallacious in dry seasons. If a forest is so
open and clear as to allow grass to grow it is a
sign, accepted by those who have the largest prac-
tical forestry experience, that the crop of timber
will not only be small relatively, but most likely
of inferior quality. J. T. Rothrock.

Among the Trees.

THIS is the caption of a charming article in
the September Harper's Monthly Maga-
zinehy Anna C. Brackett, who presents the
claims of practical forestry upon women. The
writer, besides detailing the muscular development
which results from tree trimming, discusses the true
principles of forestry, viz., thinning out of surplus
growth, and offers in an attactive form interesting
data concerning the ravages of various insects.

The entire article is well worthy of repetition,
and we offer to our readers as a sample the intro-
ductory— a beautiful tribute to the trees.

/^In these days of indiscriminate forest-felling
and ruthless destruction of the beautiful growths
along country roadsides it is a great pleasure to
own a tree. Delightful is it to sit at my door and
look at my tallest elm, the beautiful creature, lift-
ing on high its sweeping arms drooping on every
side, shooting its clouds of feathery foliage higher
and higher to the topmost tiny twigs, on which
the robin loves to perch and swing, and to know
that from the firm-set roots below to that tiniest
spray it is all mine and in my power ; to be sure
that no one can destroy its life, and 'that it may
grow on in safety, more beautiful each year. To
be conscious of the power to protect anything en-
larges the mind, and when that thing is a live and
breathing tree, one grows fast in tenderness and
breadth of sympathy. Life must be a strange
thing to those who do not know and love trees.
I cannot conceive what pleasure there can be in
the country to any one who does not recognize
and mentally call them by name as he passes ; I
cannot recall the time when I did not know all the
common trees by name, and greet them when seen
in a new locality as old and delightful friends. I
supposed that all people did so ; and yet I met not
long ago a man and a woman who had none of this
knowledge, and who asked languidly, when I took
them out to one of my prides, * Oh, is that a
chestnut ?' ' Doubtless the Lord might have made '
a more beautiful thing than a chestnut leaf but

doubtless He never did ; and they did not know
it ? I feel ashamed that blindfold I am not able
to tell any kind of tree when standing under it by
the sound of the wind in its branches. I ought to
be able to do this without the least hesitation ; it
is not the fault of the tree that I do not in every
instance, and these people did not know a chestnut
when they saw it ! There seems to me no great
use either in living or dying without a knowledge
of and friendship for the forest-makers.

'^The next greatest pleasure to owning a tree is
cutting one down ; and a little thinking will make
it plain that my two statements are not contradic-
tory. So the great requisite for happiness is to own
a wood-lot ; for of course one tree could not satisfy
both desires. 'Woodman, spare that tree!' was
all very well if the tree was not in the way of others
more deserving, but there is mistaken sensibility as
to tree-cutting as much as about other things, and
it is not worth while to leave a wood-lot unmolested
till its occupants have killed each other, or till the
few that remain are worth nothing, either to them-
selves or any one else. One differeth from another
in glory and in the right to live, and there is much
food for r-eflection on the doctrine of evolution in
a wood full of trees. A man will tell you that it
is a cruel doctrine, and that it represents the Deity
as hard, mechanical and implacable, but, for all
that, next day he will weed his corn, and cut out
one tree for the sake of another, not reflecting that
thus he only practices the doctrines which he con-
demns, and uses his best human wisdom in the
same line with that of the Creator; he also desires
the fittest to survive, and if only one of two or three
can do so in this world of strictly limited time and
space, it must be the fittest that he will spare. Is
it more cruel to kill the old horse that has borne
you many a pleasant mile than it is to leave him
to die of starvation in the midst of plenty when
his teeth fail him ? Is it hard-hearted to choose
between growths that are stifling and mutilating
each other, and to save many, rather than to leave
all to perish ? The forester must learn the wisdom
ofsome of the theories connected with the doctrine
of evolution for the sake of his favorites, as well
as for his own sake. It comes to pass that the
practice of forestry is by no means a simple amuse-
ment, but more like a game of chess, where you
cannot move one piece without taking account of
every other, even the most insignificant. For
when you handle hatchet or saw it is to be asked,
Is this tree to be cut for itself or for others ! If
for the sake of others — i.e., for the greatest good
of the greatest number— then are you cutting with
a view to timber for future money value, or to
niake a wood in which one may take his ease and
his fill of pleasure? Then, again, are you working
for the creation of a screen, or caring for trees as
individuals ? Upon the answers to ail these ques-

I

tions depends the use of the tool with which long
years of human ingenuity have supplied you against
the defenceless tree. A large degree of restraint
is necessary, lest the demon of destruction for
destruction's sake should get hold of your ardor,
and irreparable harm be done. I know people
who never should be allowed to own any vegetable
growth but asparagus and rhubarb."

Forestry Legislation in Congress.

WE are indebted to Mr. E. W. Hammond,
of Wimer, Ore., for an article on the
above subject, from which we extract
the following :

*' Above all, the present apathy of the great busi-
ness classes and other intelligent and thinking
men as to this matter of forest reform must be over-
come. These people are eminently practical in
the view they ordinarily take of matters, and since
forestry, despite the halo of sentiment which many
well-meaning people would throw around it, is, in
its most important aspects, an eminently practical
business, it will, it is believed, recommend itself
when presented to them in that light.

** It is only as to its economic aspects that for-
estry can have any serious claim upon the atten-
tion of the people. At least they would rule out
(and rightly) anything like mere sentiment as a
necessary factor in compelling a new and wide
departure from existing policies. It is only be-
cause of its importance from an economic point
of view, the necessity of it, that forestry has, so
far, forced itself upon the attention of the govern-
ments of most civilized nations, and must in time
demand the attention of all. Hence it is that for-
estry, from an economic point of view, is a science
which comes to a people only as it is needed ;
moreover, its benefits inure to the community
rather than to the individual. In the presence of
abundant natural resources, and with a thinly
scattered and shifting population, it is no unusual
thing to fail to perceive our duty with respect to
the proper utilization and conservation of those
resources upon the permanence and proper use of
which the future welfare of the State depends, and
were it not for the lessons of history we might
be excused for our neglect. It is usually only
when by the increasing density and settled charac-
ter of a resident population, by which the necessity
for a more careful use of all natural resources has
been made plainly apparent, that we begin to dis-
cern our duty in this respect. It is the recogni-
tion of this duty to our forest resources that is now
coming upon us, but is yet far from being general.
Therefore we should not be discouraged at the
failure thus far to secure from Congress proper
forest legislation.

*^ It is the recognition of this duty in regard to
our depleted forest resources on the part of the
great body of our more intelligent and practical
minded fellow-citizens that those interested in for-
estry, who are already alive to the situation, want
to urge. The class of people here referred to, the
business classes and others of like industrious habits
and intelligence, are usually endowed with a gener-
ous share of good, hard, sound, practical common
sense, and their judgment is therefore the best. A
statesman is careful to learn the opinion of this
class of people as most likely to be in line with
sound policy.

'' Appeals must be made to the good sense and
common judgment of the people, not less than to
their patriotism and public spirit. Any scheme
of forestry, therefore, that is proposed must be
shown to be both practical and practicable ; suited
as well to the peculiar social and political con-
ditions prevailing here, and to the habits of our
people, as to the great diversity in the physical
features of the country.

"Legislators wait to see whether the country
at large really wishes a thing or not. If assured
that the great body of the people have taken the
forestry matter up and become earnest in its sup-
port, they will quickly find time to pass the nec-
essary laws. It might be added, the laws them-
selves would be of little use unless backed by a
strong and earnest public sentiment in its favor.
' The people must be taught to appreciate the close
connection between the forests of the country and
its general health and prosperity.' They will then
insist upon the enactment of wise forestry laws
for the general good."

*:i-jC1-*

7\ FRIEND of the forestry movement sends
_^\ us the following: '* Antonio Surrat and

^ Francisco Antonio were taken into cus-
tody by Deputy Game Warden P. H. Johnson and
Constable Foster, of Bloomfield (N. J.), yesterday.
Before Justice Post they were charged with violat-
ing the game laws in carrying game through the
fields on Sunday and shooting robins. Surrat
was fined $40 and his companion ;j2o."

He adds: " It shows the New Jersey method
of dealing with such cases, and is worthy of imi-
tation here. The birds are essential to the farmer
and the forester and to the fruit grower as well."

— The mosque of Cordova is thought to be the
finest of the relics of the Moors in Spain. As one
steps through a Moorish gate he finds himself in
the fine old courtyard, containing cedars, cypresses,
orange trees, three centuries old, and palm trees
of unknown antiquity.

• 'I

FOREST LEAVES.

Silver Maple. White Maple. Soft

Maple.

THIS tree is known to botanists as Acer dasy-
carpum or as Acer saccharinum. It is un-
fortunate that so much time must be lost
by each generation of botanists in merely memo-
rizing names which could be devoted to purposes
which are vastly more important.

The idea that we can by any set of rules formu-
late a system of nomenclature which will be more
binding on those who follow than were the names
we are supplanting, is one of the absurdities which
come to the surface when we forget that a dispo-
sition to change is one of the inherent characters
of living, and especially of intelligent, beings.
Nothing short of a change in human nature seems
likely to give permanency to any system of botani-
cal nomenclature.

The silver maple as seen in the woods and on
our sidewalks awakens our admiration for its
capacity to adapt itself to its surroundings. Seen,
as the illustration shows, in its mountain home
and surrounded by those competing trees with
which it has maintained a life struggle for sunlight,
it is a tall, slender tree with a narrow spread of
branches. On the other hand, in the open, along
our sidewalks it spreads out until the street be-
comes too small for it. Or better still, note how
luxuriantly it grows in the open of a i)ark. The
spindling trunk has been replaced by a massive
stem, and the wonder is how the tree manages to
support the branches. Indeed, if the most luxu-
riant specimens are examined, it will be discovered
that the soft, rather weak wood is often unequal to
the task, and that the tree has broken down in
part under its own weight.

The scars and large open places where the tis-
sue of the wood is exposed, invite the attacks of
fungi, which soon invade the wood, and especially
the young cambium layer between the bark and
the wood. Thus an hour's observation among
our trees, and especially among the trees of the
towns and cities, will show many trees which
should be in their prime, but which are rotten at
heart, or show signs of the same trouble by large
areas of loose bark where fungi have destroyed the
living bond between bark and wood. As for the
silver maple, when seen in the denser forests
(which it loves to frequent, in the colder parts of
the State), in spite of its slender trunk, it does not
appear to break during heavy storms more fre-
quently than the other trees with which it is asso-
ciated. This IS doubtless due in part to the pro-
tection it receives from being one member of a
lorest community, and also to the small head which
It carries in such situations.

It is safe to say that of the multitudes of people
who see the silver maple every day of their lives

not one out of a thousand has ever formed any
correct idea of the natural shape of the tree.

The bark of the silver maple is usually smoother
than that of the sugar maple. One might say, possi-
bly, that the latter inclines to form its bark fractures
in plates, while the former tends to produce some-
what elongated, rather wavy ridges. Though, of
course, every observer knows how much the rough-
ness of the bark in any tree depends on situation
For example, take two chestnut trees, each two
feet through. One of them grows, we will sup-
pose, on a rich alluvial soil and the other on a
sterile hillside. The latter, though of equal size
with the former, will be much older, and, there-
fore, probably will have much the rougher bark
of the two. The same general statement is true of
the maples. I have seen some sugar maples on
our higher mountains whose bark was so rough
and so much inclined to shell off that it resembled
the shag-bark hickory. It was probably due to
location, as I never saw this condition on lower
altitudes and in warm, rich soil. Professor Tre-
lease says that on old trunks of the silver ma|)le
the bark falls away in large flakes, so as to expose
the brown inner layers. I have occasionally seen
this condition of affairs here.

In color the bark of the silver maple is a light
gray.

The term soft maple, often applied to this spe-
cies, indicates the general physical character of
the white wood, at least before it is fully seasoned.

The leaves, probably, have suggested the name,
silver maple, by which the tree is most commonly
known here. The under surface of the fully grown
leaf is almost white (not hairy, but smooth). The
upper surface is a rich, rather dark green color.
In its outline the leaf of the silver maple is more
deeply lobed than any other kind of maple we
have here. It is divided more than half-way to
the base into three lobes. Of these the lateral
lobes tend to produce a smaller lobe near the base.
The angle between the central and lateral lobe is
acute. All of the lobes are sharply and doubly
toothed or cut. Seen on their upper surfaces, the
white veins of the leaves are quite conspicuous on
their dark green field. The leaf footstalks are
from half to twice as long as the leaf, and are
usually tinged red on the upper side.

The ** greenish-yellow" flowers come earlier
than the leaves, and have no petals. Each one is
on a short stalk, and together they form clusters
on the sides of the branches.

The fruit is hairy while young, becoming
smooth as it matures its large spreading wings.

There is but little to be said in favor of the sil-
ver maple as an ornamental tree for streets or
parks, except that it produces shade quickly. It
grows naturally from New Brunswick to Florida,
and is found as far west as Nebraska and the In-

'

. UWlf Wl**i1 ^V^'™

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. ii.

SILVER MAPLE.
CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. •

KSh.-. .■^,-^ ■^^-^-'- ' ' "in— itML— LI

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. ii

TRUNK OF SILVER MAPLE.

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

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mi— II m —

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FORKST LkAVKS, \\)L. V, No. II,

SILVER MAPLE.

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. ii.

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TRUNK OF SILVER MAPLE.

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

FOREST LEAVES.

dian Territory. The wood is utilized in the manu-
facture of excelsior and furniture. It is not so
good for flooring as the hard or sugar maple,
though it is used to a certain extent. The sweet
sap will produce sugar.

Professor Sargeant states its physical properties
thus: Specific gravity, 0.5269; percentage of
ash, 0.33 ; relative approximate fuel value, 0.5252 ;
weight in pounds of cubic foot of dry wood,
32.84 ; relative strength, 56.

J. T. ROTHROCK.

The Importance of the Woodland Areas
of the State as a Source of Pure Water

Supply.

THE report of the State Board of Health of
Pennsylvania for the year 1894, the issue
of which has been delayed by a fire at the
State printer's, has just been received. Among
other matters of interest was a paper by Benjamin
Lee, M.D., bearing the above caption, from which
the following excerpts have been taken :

" In an immense territory like that of our own
State, larger than that of most of the nations of
Europe, with its great diversity of surface, its lofty
mountain ranges, and its vast forests, wonderful
opportunities exist for sanitary engineering on a
grand scale. Determining in what direction water
sheds shall be encouraged, and in what diverted ;
to what extent private corporations are to be al-
lowed to jeopardize the health of large sections of
the country by obstructing natural water courses
for purposes either of manufacture or of naviga-
tion; deciding how far certain forests act as
natural barriers against devastating winds, and
should, therefore, be left untouched by the axe,
in order to maintain a permanent average rainfall,
and thus avert droughts, cyclones and floods, and
how far others interfere with the circulation of
healthful breezes, and may therefore with benefit
be removed.

" Now, the first point that I wish to make is that
floods are inimical to the purity of water supplies.
All of the impurities lying upon the surface, whether
decaying vegetation or putrefying animal deposit,
are swept directly into the large water courses and
carried immense distances by the fury of the tor-
rent, to be slowly deposited in the quieter waters
from which the water supplies of our towns are
taken. As a means of preventing floods, therefore,
our wooded areas are of essential importance for
the protection of the purity of our potable waters.
Closely associated with this question is that of per-
manence or constancy of supply. The comple-
ment of the flood is the drought. They are found
in the same districts and are due to a great extent
to the same causes.

*' As illustrating the effect of rapid
of large areas in Canada on thecoostaiacyof .„
fall, Dr. Bryce states that statistics ma.de W luL.,
at the Toronto observatory show a grddutil ukdiiie
from 216.57 inches of rain and snow^ m 11:^40^-4410
152.62 inches in 1870-74, a total decreajste ©ilf^^..^^
inches, or a yearly difference of 12.79 tncte^ In
comparing individual quarters, he toan>J tdnOt
March remained much the same^ April laad at de-
crease of more than one-half iach,. ^ dccmsse
which increases each month until September. Far-
ther, the average temperature of the trwo larwutlrr
of germination, March and April, is Lower Itoii it
was forty years ago.

'* This undoubted fact causes vliailt k> tte««Nd a
late spring, the period for growth askd
of the plant being shorter than fomierfy^
temperature of May, the first month of ^edllg^owtl^
is now warmer than formerly, by am awen^ of
nearly two degrees. The growth is thus .ipt i^ieody
forced unnaturally to make up for loss la A|xii,
but the attempt is rendered futile bj aoa i2iiad»e
dryness.

*' Large snow-falls are more common tm tfie hUbt
spring. The sun beats down more direvrdym ttlie
wide snow fields than it could formerly 10 Ibresis.
The rapidly melting snow flows quwrkljroi' Ofw
the impervious surface and spring So^oa^ are tlie
necessary consequence. The reservoiis Ciller ^vc
way under the unusual stress, or iiiutieose qvuitti-
ties of water run to waste. Then follows; ai loi^
period of diminished rainfall, when tlie SitreuK
shrink away to mere threads and the s«B|ip|y' be-
comes scanty and uncertain and loaded witli coo-
centrated impurities. In what way wv^oldai^H^
ration of woodlands to their original cooi
tend to bring about greater uniformitf aod
stancy of rainfall ? In this manner. THe atHns-
phere over a heated waste becomes inteosefiy li«iod
during the long days of summer. Me«tii^ with
colder currents at a great elevation^ viofeot
teorological disturbances accompanied hyr c
cal perturbations result, in the shape (oi eye
cloud-bursts and deluges of rain. Now,, if
of these arid plains or hillsides, we Of>poj>e
covered areas to the sun*s rays^ the te
notably diminished by the flow of tlie

the twigs and leaves, and consequeot

from the immense expanse of leaf sof^ice^ Tlie
large quantities of watery va|.>or thus tnam^wtlcd
to the air soon saturate it and are agaiio S|it«dify
precipitated in the form of gentle irgui^ whkii
slowly soak into the protected earth. TW waters
easily descend through the loose mold^ Mkmm^
the roots and rootlets, which often peoetnfee to
a very considerable depth, and thus>. uetcad of
rushing violently down a steep place imto tlie
they gradually accumulate below the simtitKe;
ing those great bodies and streams oi

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FOREST LEAVES.

water, which should perennially supply our springs
wells and deep water courses. Nor must we forget
the purifying effect of this process on the water
itself. Gradually percolating through beds of
sand, gravel and disintegrated rock, little bv little
the impurities which it gathered in its descent
through the atmosphere and on the surface of the
earth, are filtered out, until it becomes almost, if
not absolutely, free from all organic contamina-
tion, a wholesome beverage for the thirsty soul
the nearest approach that earth can afford to an
elixir of life.

" Many complaints are annually received by the

State Board of Health from farmers, who state that

the streams flowing through or by their farms are

so polluted that their cattle refuse to drink from

them, or drinking are made sick. Pure water is

essential to the making of pure and wholesome

dairy products. Equally important is it to the

fishery commission that our streams should be kept

in their pristine purity. Many of our most valued

food fishes will not live in filthy water, nor should

those be eaten which have fed on filth, least of all

on human excrement. Apart therefore from the

mere selfish interest which each individual has in

the maintenance of his own health, there is not

one of those present who in his official capacity

has not a duty devolving upon him to do all in his

power to prevent the continued pollution of the

streams of this Commonwealth."

Missouri's Big Red Oak Tree.

THE citizens of Pemiscot county claim that one
of the largest oak trees in the world stands in
one of the forests in their county. Colonel
George B. Bowles, of AfTton, St. Louis county has
given the dimensions of this giant of the forest
Ihe body of the tree, a -red oak," is straight'
with a * swell" the first eight feet above ^t he
ground. It is claimed by woodsmen that *' swells ''
on trees are caused by injuries near the ground
when the trees are small. The injured portion is
grown over and the growth continues. Colonel
bowles and his engineer measured the body of the
tree, and found that it is 60 feet to the first limb,
which IS arger than any of the trees in the fores

™r"^8^;et''i' '^1^ ^' ^'^ ''''' ^^-^ s

di.liL %l ^^^^' ^^^ ^'°""^' ^'^ 76 inches in
T.Zll l^u ^ ^^'^r^^^e^ce near the ground is
27 feet. The branches of the tree are numerous

niZ7' ^/Tl^^V'l^ ^ top-heavy appearance.

Srst Hrlr ll '^V^' ^^^y ^^ '^' tree, below the
first limb, Will produce 11,000 feet of lumber be-
sides slabs and trimmings.-^/. Louis Republic

Old Apple Trees.

THE theory is quite prevalent among many
farmers that apple trees should be cut down
when they cea^e to be productive in con-
sequence of the decay of the branches. Often-
times and in most cases such trees can be restored
to a vigorous growth and healthy bearing condi
tion by cutting away the old decayed portion and
allowing new branches to take their places This
will nearly always follow when the trees are well
cared for and a liberal supply of potash be given
them. °

I saw an apple tree recently on Orchard Hill in
he town of Kensington, in this State, that was
the last remaining tree of an orchard set out ninety
years ago. All of the other trees were cut down
thirty-five years ago. This one, bearing a favorite
apple, by the pleadings of a large family of chil-
dren, was allowed to remain. Of late years the
ground around it has been cultivated, and it is a
constant bearer. It is now covered with a dense
green foliage and the limbs have made a growth
this year of over a foot. Its condition to-day
shows the folly of cutting down trees as soon as
they cease to grow and bear fruit.

Plow around them, or where th/s cannot be done
use a spring tooth harrow. Mulch them well and

Pk ' °?/ f""^ -^"PP'y °f '"""ate of potash, cut off
the old decaying, moss-covered branches, grow
out a new top of smooth wood and you will soon
have the p easure of seeing large smooth fruit
growing, where once were only small inferior"
apples. .

Age has but little to do with causing a tree to
decay. One of the apple trees set out by the
Arcadians more than 150 years ago is still stand-
ing near their old home at Grand Pre, Nova Sco-
tia, and in 1894 was loaded with fruit.— E M
Shaw, Nashua, N. H., in the New England Farmer

. —A wonderful maple tree growing in Germany
IS said to be one of the most remarkable works of

cut, until It has become more like a house than a
ree. It is a hundred years old. A flight of steps
eads to the first level, where the branches have

been woven together so as to become a floor.

Above his IS a second floor which is smaller than
he first. Around each floor the branches have

ronl''''''^"K'"V° '?"'• ^^"'' "'^"^'"g two circular
rooms, each of these rooms has eight windows
cut through the wall of branches and foliage. The

Ire ,1h f ""^f ^'■^"'' naturally. The tree rooms
are used for sleeping rooms in summer. The old

tLT r" * ''/^"''y condition.-A^. Y. Lumber
^rade Journal.

FOREST LEAVES.

Doom of White Pine.

THE days of the white pine forests in Min-
nesota are numbered ; and, as this State is
the last of the great central northwestern
States in which white pine grows, the day of their
extinction marks the end of white pine as a factor
in the trade of the country. There is no other tree
so valuable for general building purposes; nothing
has been found to take its place. The yellow pine
of the south, the fir, cedar, or redwood of the far
west, the spruce of Maine, and other woods, are
being gradually introduced to take the place of
white pine; but none is equal to it in the ease
with which it adapts itself to the tool of the work-
man, to the shapes forced on it by the wood-work-
ing machine, or in strength, lightness and beauty.
It has been used as if the lumbermen believed its
supply to be absolutely inexhaustible.

Estimates just compiled by the State forestry
warden of Minnesota, show that there are in that
State 10,890,000 acres of forest land, and that
on this there stand, in addition to other woods,
^95500,000,000 feet of live white and Norway
pine and spruce, of which the white pine aggre-
gates 14,424,000,000 feet. This is a vast total, but
it is being cut down at the rate of about 1,500,000,-
000 feet a year, besides fearful losses by fires, and
the supply will hardly last more than a dozen years.

There is, too, a constant growth of the green
timber, estimated at not far from y]/^ per cent,
annually, which will have some effect in warding
off the final axe-cuts. But in from ten to fifteen
years, the white pine forests of the United States
will have disappeared, for pine does not succeed
as second-growth timber, or at least has not done
so with all the experiments carried on in the old
pineries of Michigan and other States.

Michigan is now nearly denuded. Its mills have
gradually been burned or torn down, or are cut-
ting on timber imported from the Canadian
shores of the Georgian Bay. In Wisconsin, where
the destruction of the forests began at an earlier
day than in Minnesota, the end is approaching,
and will come long before the date set for the
North Star State.

The pine area of Minnesota is almost wholly in
the counties of St. Louis (the largest of them all),
Lake, Cook, Itasca, Cass, Beltrami, Carlton'
Hubbard, and a few others to the south of them
which cut but little figure in the totals. The forest
region is 330 miles east and west, and its greatest
breadth is 204 miles. Its outlines are very irregular,
and in this limit are contained all the woods found
in the State. These include, beside the pine, some
4,500,000,000 feet of the hard woods common to
New England, with the exception of hemlock
and beech, no specimens of which are to be found
in the State.

The saw-mills of Minneapolis and Duluth each
cut about 500,000,000 feet every year, running
during the summer and fall. The Minneapolis cut
all comes from the forests about the head of the
Mississippi river, and in a few years will convert
the headwaters of the stream into a roaring gully
or an almost dried chasm. The cut of the Duluth
mills comes from the shores of Lake Superior,
and is about half supplied from Wisconsin. The
effect of the cut about the great lake is already
seen in its constant lowering, in the conversion of
its mountain streams to torrents during the wet
season and mere fishways in the dry, and in the
prevalence of fires for months in the year. Mills
at other points in the State, west of the vast Red
Lake reservation, and on the lower Mississippi
river saw the remainder of the annual cut. This
cut is growing year by year, and was never so
large as in 1895. Timber that in the old days
was thought far beyond the possibility of reach,
is now being taken out by thousands of feet daily
by the logging steam-roads that have superseded
the water courses as indispensable adjuncts of for-
est destruction. These roads now reach the fur-
thest points in the forests, and are built at little
more expense than was formerly put on the haul-
ing-roads over which the logs were pulled by
horses to the landing places on the streams which
floated them to the mills.

There are vast forests of pine whose extent is
unknown, and whose existence is almost unbelieved,
in the far away regions of northern Canada. The
forests of Labrador are becoming known by rea-
son of recent explorations there; but those to the
east of Hudson Bay are merely hinted at by the
hardy explorers who have penetrated a few leagues
into that region. West of these, and running
from the northeasterly end of Lake Superior to the
south of Hudson Bay, are as great forests as have
ever delighted the eye of the woodsman. These
were discovered a few years ago by railway sur-
veyors and explorers from Detroit and Duluth,
who were looking for a possible line to the bay
and to Europe. Immense stretches of country in
western Ontario and Manitoba have been richly
timbered, but in the last two years forest fires have
there ruined millions of acres of wooded land.

Still further to the west, in the route to the
Mackenzie river, and on the east side of the nor-
thern Rockies, there are forests stretching for a
thousand miles. In all of these vast woods the
sound of the axe has never been heard. But they
are far away, and in a country which will take
millions of money for railroads before it can be
opened up for traffic, and the pine is not of such
a quality as that now being so ruthlessly hacked
down in the forests of the three northwestern pine
States. There will be no scarcity of timber, such
as it is, so long as the present generation, at least,

st^

FOREST LEAVES.

remains, but the magnificent pine timber of the !
woods of Michigan and Minnesota will soon be '
a thing of the \^3ist.— -Detroit Ji/urnal

FOREST LEAVES.

2CS

What Kind of Trees to Plant in the Mid-
dle and New England States.

ONE of the most important questions for the
forester to answer is : What kinds of trees
will yield the hirgest results in the least
Ume and over the least area? For the cone-bear-
ing trees one may safely, so far as we are con-
cerned, put down the white pine as undoubtedly
heading the list. The reasons are obvious. For
one. It will grow over a wide area, its natural ranee
being from Newfoundland to Northern Georgia
Of course, its extreme limitsare given in the above
statement, which, however, shows its great adai>-
tability. The second reason is that the only soil
limitation is that the land shall not be too rich In
the third place it will grow quicklv. For example
one may expect to find lumber of this s|)ecies good
enough for almost any purix>se, grown in half acen-
tury. It is true that it will not at this age be
* cork pme," or even be fuUv matured, but it will
be as good as the most that now finds its way to
the market.

For some very rocky hillsides, or serpentine
ridges, the red cedar will be a much better crop
than nothing, even if it will produce but three or
four posts in an ordinary lifetime. It is a tree whose
goodness has been its bane. It must be remem-
bered that both red cedar and white pine are pe-
culiar woods, each having utilities which no other
wood can fully meet. Then, again, there is that
variable tree which the lumberman 'reco,niizes as
yellow pine pitch pine, jack pine, but which the
botanist calls Pinus ri^iJa. It lingers out a

"^'T^f^ '^'^ ^^ *'^^ »" ^he sands of Cape Cod
and Nantucket, attains a lustier growth on the
Jersey coast, and off in the interior of the State of
lennsylvania, on the sandiest ridges, it sometimes
sends up a shaft 80 feet tall. Its gmwth is verv
slow and Its wood is none of the bSst, ordinarily^
though one does hear of special sticks whose
strength rivals that of the Georgia pine but tl?en
his same rather despised tree is^pecially adapted
.K f " ^''T'^''^ ^"^1 it does not yield readily
to the forest fire after it is once past the saplinfi^
nod. Indeed one man rather bluntly stKhat
an occasional burning helped the jack pine There
IS no good reason why we should not get much
good, short-length lumber for panels and wains-
coting from this tree. Some of the most beSl
finish in natural wood comes from the pitch pine

Bald cypress and white cedar are valuable^and
will become more so, but of the central Stat^

may be said that they are suited only to New Jer-
sey and Delaware. ''

Spruce is, commercially, one of the most im-
portant cone-bearing trees for northern New
York, and may be regarded as the most prolific
cause of trouble in determining the forest policy of
he Adirondack region. It was supposed, when
the white pme was removed from Maine that the
largest source of forest wealth would be gone
I he statement has recently been made, however"
that Maine has or would realize more from her
spruce than she had from her white pine This
may be partially explained by the fact that the
spruce has been largely marketed since the pine
became scarce enough to command higher prices.
New Jersey and Delaware have practically no
red spruce. There have been several consider-
able bodies ot it in Pennsylvania. Bear Meadows,
in Centre county, contained an area of several
hundred acres, which, in size and quality, was
unsurpassed by the product of any State Pike
county still contains some black spruce. The
largest body of red spruce remaining in Pennsyl-

""T^t VA ^^'^ '^^^"^^ adjacent to the headwaters
of the Mehoopany creek. From some cause not
fully understood as yet, many of the trees are
dying.

Considering the white pine in Pennsylvania as
practically done, the most important forest crop
remaining is hemlock, and its destruction at an
early day is absolutely assured. There is no tree
ol our forests whose growth is slower or more pre-
carious than the hemlock. When a forest of it is
removed the conditions which contributed to its
growth are also to a large extent removed A
drying up of the forest floor follows. A hemlock
five feet across the stump showed 542 years
growth. A red oak of similar size showed that it
had completed its growth in about 160 years
I he value of the hemlock crop to Pennsylvania is
about ;? 1 5, 000,000 a year.

Taking up the so-called hard woods, the white
oak, chestnut, hickory and black oak are the most
im|)ortant.

(^n the secondary list, but still of great value
are the locust, rock oak, sugar maple, beech, birch
and cherry. The advent of the iron age has to a
certain extent changed the relative values of our
hard wood trees. For example, 25 years ago
white oak was probably our most important hard
wood because of its relation to ship building; but
iron has largely taken the place of oak for naval
construction.

In the meanwhile the increasing scarcity of
hemlock has given a new value to chestnut, be-
cause m the young wood of that tree there is
round a considerable (juantity of tannin. Add to
this the rapid growth of the chestnut, its enor-
mous rate of reproduction as coppice, from the

stump, and not least, the increasing value placed
upon the fruit, and one may well question whether
to-day the most important hard wood tree of our
forests is not the chestnut. To the land owner,
bent on timber restoration there is no doubt that
the claims of this tree outrank all others under ex-
isting conditions.

On the other hand, for State forestry, the slower
growing oak should be encouraged, where the
conditions of soil suit.

The black walnut is one of the species of great
present value, but, in planting it, one must bear in
mind that the very scarcity of the wood may
make it cease to be a fashionable material for fur-
niture, and so destroy the market for the wood.
This is always a danger with any commodity
whose appreciation rests upon whim, caprice, or,
if you please, fashion.

Nothing can be easier than to start black wal-
nuts. Allow them to remain out over winter,
under a scanty covering, with their outer husks
bruised. Then plant early in the spring, or,
much better still, in the autumn ; bruise the husks
and plant them as the nursery men do, in furrows,
and cover with two or three inches of earth. It
should be remembered, however, that if walnut
trees are allowed to become several years old, they
are very difficult to successfully transplant.

The hickories have in one respect an excep-
tional value — they are exclusively an American
product. Indeed, the United States may be said
to have the monopoly of them. The supply is
becoming exceedingly scarce, and it were well to
set them in on all the vacant spaces about the
farm, where the soil is suitable. The hickories
and the walnuts are closely related, and it should
be remembered that what is good for the one can-
not be bad for the other.

Is Protection against Forest Fires

Practicable ?

THE United States Department of Agricul-
ture, Division of Forestry, has issued Cir-
cular No. 14, treating of this subject, and
says :

*' It has been ( laimed by many lumbermen and
others, that the burning of the tops, s/as/iini;^s, or
(Mri's thus resulting from their operations would
be a "hardship," "too expensive," '* impractica-
ble," and that it is impossible to avoid or decrease
the forest fires which we have to endure every year
like a natural phenomenon.

" There is now actual experience at hand show-
ing that none of these claims can be sustained ;
that it is possible, practicable, simple, and cheap
to protect large areas against fire; that it is possi-

ble, practicable, simple, and cheap to burn the
debris in a lumberman's choppings.

" In support of the first proposition, we need
only to quote from the Report of the Commis-
sioner of Crown Lands of the Province of On-
tario for 1895.

"In explanation it should be stated, that in
Canada the forest growth is mostly owned by the
Crown, the timber alone is sold in so-called limits ;
the cut from which equals now over 800,000,000
feet, B.M., bringing a net revenue to the govern-
ment of over $700,000.

" The report states that :

" ' The past summer was one of the driest for
years, particularly in the country lying east of
Sault Ste. Marie, and the experiences of the ran-
gers in this respect are borne out by the reports
of the various meteorological stations. As a con-
sequence of the very dry and hot character
of the summer, there had to be a closer watch
maintained everywhere, and in certain specially
dangerous and exposed regions the staff had to be
strengthened beyond what has been customary in
an ordinary year, and in one or two instances,
where large fires occurred in outlying districts, a
staff had to be sent to the spot to fight the fire. I
am glad, however, to be able to say that, owing
no doubt in a great measure to the close super-
vision and systematic organization which existed,
no large destruction of timber took place. The
only fire of any consequence which occurred on
unlicensed territory was in the township of Grant,
where a considerable quantity of pine was so badly
damaged as to render a sale of it advisable, so that
it might be cut and not go to waste. The chief
causes of the fires seem to be the clearing of land
by settlers, and the carelessness of camping and
hunting parties. It is customary to ask the licen-
sees each year to point out any defect in the sys-
tem, and to make any suggestions by which they
think it could be improved, but, with the excep-
tion of a desire to make the keeping of fire-ran-
gers on limits in the summer time obligatory in-
stead of optional, there is no suggestion of amend-
ment. They all seem to think that the service is
admirably adapted to accomplish the object for
which it was established.*

" As to the practicability of burning the debris
of lumber operations, the following letter of H.
M. Loud <!^ Sons Lumber Company, located at
Au Sable, Mich., will be convincing:

" * We have always made it a practice in our
lumbering, whenever possible, to burn the debris
in the fall or in the spring when the ground is
somewhat damp, so that fires will not spread, and
when the wind is in the right direction. This has
been a very successful method with us, as we have
escaped in all the years that we have lumbered here
from any destructive forest fires, and we believe

( <

3Uc

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FOREST LEAVES.

had we not taken the precautions that our losses
would have been enormous. The open chopping
dries out much more quickly in the spring than
the neighboring timbered land, consequently, the
fire will burn in the open and stop as soon as it
comes to the timber, and we have never yet had
any difficulty in confining the fire to the desired
limits. It only requires common sense or good
judgment to know when the proper time is to
burn the choppings, and so cover this menace to
our uncut timber.

' The method pursued was to send out men
with torches nearly like those used for campaign
purposes, holding about a quart of kerosene oil,
with ordinary candle wicking, and with these
torches they can go rapidly from pile to pile of
debris, setting fire very rapidly and covering a
large territory. The piles were dry enough to
burn very freely, but the ground was somewhat
damp, and fires would die down as soon as they
reached the limits of the chopping. For the
ground covered, the expense would not exceed ten
dollars, burning over probably two square miles.

* Michelson Hanson Lumber Company, of Lew-
iston, our neighbors in that locality, follow the
same method with the same results. This burn-
ing over is a very good insurance, and, as you can
ree, the small amount it costs is money well ex-
pended ; and, in fact, we consider it wou/^ be
criminal carelessness on our part if by this watch-
fulness we did not guard against the losses in the
mterests of our neighbors.*

" It may be added, that it is the practice in
well-conducted lumber camps to pile together as
much as possible of the brush and tops remaining
from the operations of the log-cutter, so that a
number of small heaps of brush are scattered
through the woods. These dry out faster than the
litter on the ground, and can be burned at the
proper time with little danger of spreading the
fire. It would be impracticable and expensive
to move these brush heaps, as has been suggested,
but as shown above they can be burned where they
he with a minimum of damage and least expense.
In Ontario the cost of the protective service
was equal \o i% cents per thousand feet harvested,
while for the lumber companies' burning of the
debris $5 per square mile is estimated, which may
be calculated to represent a tax of one-tenth of a
cent per thousand feet of chopping. Even if we
increase this figure to one-fourth of a cent per
thousand feet B.M., placing the cut of the three
great lumber States-Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota— at round 13,000,000 thousand feet it
would appear that an expenditure of less than
$35,000 would obviate a large amount of the ter-
rible loss which counts up into millions of dollars
annually. And if to this precaution be added a
service similar, and at the same expense as that so
successfully carried on in Ontario, the cost to the

three States would be less than $450,060. Com-
pared with the annual fire loss, even this extrava-
gant sum would be a small matter; we are in-
clined to believe that much less than $100,000 for
each State, properly spent with a well-organized
service ol specially employed forest guards, would
obviate nearly all the forest fires.

'' Organization, based on political lines, is at-
tempted by the recent legislation in several States
notably Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota. While
this IS an advance upon the conditions hitherto
existing, the apparent attempt of cheapening the
service, of getting something for nothing, or nearly
so. It IS to be feared will largely depreciate the
effectiveness of the legislation.

'*To be sure, forest fires can probably not be
altogether prevented by any system, but they can
be reduced to a minimum."

New Books.

An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United
• States, Canada and the British Possessions, Vol
I By Nathaniel Lord Britton, Ph.D., and the
Hon. Addison Brown. Quarto. 612 pages. Il-
lustrated. Bound in cloth. $3.00. New York
City : Charles Scribner*s Sons.

This is the first of three volumes treating of the
flora of Northern North America, compiled and
edited by Nathaniel Lord Britton, Ph.D., Profes-
sor of Botany in Columbia University, Director-
in-chief of the New York Botanical Garden, and
Hon. Addison Brown, President of the Torrey
Botanical Club. Part I. contains descriptions of
various trees and plants from Ophioglassaceje to
Aizoaceae (Ferns to Carpet-weed). The aim of
this work, which has been carried on for six years,
IS to illustrate and define each of the 4000 recog-
nized species, from the ferns upward, which are
found growing wild in the above-mentioned area,
making it an independent hand-book of our
Northern Flora, which can be secured at a moder-
ate cost and serve as a work of general reference.
The description of each plant is accompanied by
a cut showing the leaf, fruit and principal charac-
teristic parts prepared from life or herbarium
specimens, and usually y^ to % of medium size.
It contains two lists of flora, one giving the Latin
and the other the common English name.

To botanical students and others such a com-
plete, reliable, illustrated manual will always be of
service, and sometimes indispensable. As show-
ing the comprehensive character of the work, it
IS stated that scarcely one-fourth of the species' il-
lustrated in this work have ever been figured before.
The remaining two volumes will be issued as soon
as they can be printed, and, with the one men
tioned, will form a valuable guide to those inter-
ested in a study of our native flora.

5X7

FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

OP

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&URERS

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SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

I.EWIS' LEAF CHART.

PART 1, NOW HEADY,

No 1. Biennial-fruited Oaks : Black Oak and allies. Price 50 c.
No. 2. Annual-fruited Oaks : White Oak and allies. Price 50 c.
iNo. .s. Southern, Pacific, Hardy Foreign and some extinct oaks.

Price 50 c.
Accompanying illustrated Booklet, relating to the Oaks. Price

50 c. Sent on receipt of cash price, in tubes, or boxed

when ordered in large quantities. In the latter case,

send for wholesale prices.

Price of whole series of Charts, Illustrating one hundred species
ofour best trees, »6.00. Please subscribe for the series.

GRACEANNA LEWIS,
121 West Washington Street, Media. Pennsylvania.

ON'T BUY

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f For their new (i«8orip- C—^^
tiye Catalogue for 189&- llVVi

I

FOREST LEi^VE^.

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

OF THE

PeDDsylvanla Forestry AssociatioD,

AND THE

AErican Forestry Association.

The attention of the advertising pubhc
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

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FOREST LEAVES,

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At the present time tree-lovi ng people ure eiuleavorin^ir to m-«rw tW Wst tiw for plant
ing on the avenues unci streets of our cities, and atter a ean'tul ^^odv of ti.e matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental Plane i. in everv r.^.jHHV the ,u«st satkfectory
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is nevt^r tnmbUHl with worms or injects

PLANE THCIS ON VICTORIA tMBANKMCNT or THl THAMCS RI»CI|, (.QM

Five J ears ago, while in Europe for horticultural researeh, we foo,ul that for a num-
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used with most successful results. It was found to W the onlv ,r..^ which wo Kl 'row
satisfactorily on the Victoria Embankment of the Thanu^ RiverJ I.>ndo«. ''^""V-"^*"^

Ihe parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a numWr of our leadin.^ lan<l-

planting. Can furnish many testimonials concerning the n>erits of thi^ tr.v.

Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

ANDORRA NURSERIES.

CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA., PA

WILLIAM WARNER HARPER, Manager,

SPECIALTIES

Large [ Specimen Ornamental Trees,

I Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

^t%

Vol. V. Philadelphia, December, 1896. No. 12,

~ " ■ ■ > . ■ . I ■ _ . _ . .

" " * "" ' ' ." ' ' ■ ■ -

Published Bi-Monthly by the

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION,

as North Juniper St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Entered at the Philadelphia Post-Office as second class matter.

CONTENTS.

Editorials

Fall Arbor Day

The Arizona Forests

Address of Dr. Nathan

Schaeifer

Western Interest in Forestry

Kentucky Coffee Tree

The Oak-Pruner (Stenocorus Putator)

Succes.sion of Tree Growth ,

Have Tree Owners any Rights?

Forestry and the New York Constitution

Poorest Destruction and Now a Forest Reserve.
Effect of Forest Fires on Birds and Animals....
VVhy Does the Ground Dry Out so Rapidly....,

Forests and Factories

Improvement in Wood Fibre

New Books

C.

••••••• •••••• ••••••

177-179
179
x8o

181-183

183

184

X84

185

185
z86

187
187
188
188

o '^

189-190

Subscription, $x.oo per Year.

The attention 0/ Nurserymen and others is called to the advantages
0/ FoRHST Lbavks as an advertising medium. Rates will be Atr-
nished on application.

Committee on Publication.
John Birkinbinb, Chairman, 25 North Juniper Street.
Dr. J. T, RoTHROCK, West Chester, Pa.
F. L. BiTLKR, 1820 Master Street.
Prof Wm. P. Wilson, 640 N. 32d Street.
B. WiTMAN Dambly, Hkippack, Pa.
Charles A. Keffer, Dept. Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association,

Founded in June, 1886,
Labors to disseminate information in regard to the necessity and
methods of forest culture and preservation, and to secure the enact-
ment and enforcement of proper forest protective laws, both 8tatc and
National.

Annual membership fee. One dollar.

Li/e membership. Fifteen dollars.

Neither the membership nor the work of this Association is intended
to be limited to the State of Pennsylvania. Persons desiring to become
members should send their names to^. B. Weimer, Chairman Member-
ship Committee, 512 Walnut street, Phila.

President, John Birkinbine,

Vice-Presidents, Herbert Welsh, Howard M. Jenkins, James C
Hajrdon, Prof. Wm. P. Wilson. j . * j

General Secretary, Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock

Corresponding Secretary , Mrs. John P. Lundy.

Treasurer, Charles E. Pancoast.

Council-ai- Large, Mrs. Brinton Coxe, Rev. Alfred L. Elwyn. W. S.
Harvey.

Council from Philadelphia County, ].KodmAn Pan. A. B Weimer.
Richard Wood, Eli Kirk Price, Henry Budd, Henry Howson.

Council from Chester County, Mrs. H. I. Biddle, Wm. 8. Kirk.
Samuel Marshall, I homas H. Montgomery, James Monaghan.

Council from Delaware County, Miss Grace Anna Lewis, Charles
G. Ogden.

Council from Montgomery Countv, Dr. H. M. Fisher, Dr. Alice
Bennett, Dr. I. M. Anders, Hon. B. Witman Dambly, Dr. J. Newton
Hunsberger, Dr. Samuel Wolfe.

Office of thb Association, 1012 Walnut St., Philadklphia.

EDITORIALS.

TO do justice to the excellent report of the For-
estry Commission appointed by Gov. Patti-
son in May, 1893, which has but lately ap-
peared in print, would require all of the columns
of Forest Leaves, and we can merely offer a sum-
mary of its contents. It is a work alike creditable
to Messrs. Rothrock and Shunk (the Commis-
sioners), to the Department of Agriculture, under
which it is issued, and to the State.

If every member of the Legislature will read the
report, we have no fears but that judicious mea-
sures for forestry preservation and protection will
receive the support of the general assembly.

We advise each reader of Forest Leaves to
secure a copy of this really valuable document
from a member of the Senate or House of Repre-
sentatives of the State, to whom they are allotted
for distribution. The full title of the book is,
R(port of the Department of Agriculture of Penn-
sylvania, Division of Forestry. 1895.

A perusal of the volume will give an idea of
the former and present conditions of the forests
of Pennsylvania, and demonstrate the necessity,
for the present and future welfare of the State, of
some provision to maintain a liberal area of grow-
ing timber.

The appearance of the report a few months prior
to the assembling of the Legislature is fortunate,
and we can only hope that those to whom is com-
mitted the making of our laws will familiarize
themselves with the lesson which it teaches

Notwithstanding the excitement and interest as-
sociated with the national election, the people of
the State of New York defeated a proposed amend-
ment to the State Constitution which authorized
the lease, sale or exchange of certain forest lands ;
an amendment which, apparently, would have ulti-
mately been of advantage to the State had its
provisions been carried out with honesty for the
benefit of the forests. Evidently, the people of the

k

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FOREST LEAVES.

Empire State are determined to protect the forests
and preserve them, and the failure of the amend-
ment to pass will probably force the presentation
of some other measure which, while relieving the
present law of its prohibitions against cutting of
any timber, will advance the cause of true forestry.
Pennsylvania needs forest preserves, and, if we
profit by experience gained in our sister State, we
can have such laws framed as will not repeat the
errors detailed in the excerpt, on another page,
from the editorial in Garden and Forest on '' For-
estry and the New York Commission.*' J. B.
* * * * * '

The Pennsylvania Forestry Association has ac-
cepted an invitation from the Flower and Fruit
Section of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
to hold a joint meeting in the new Horticultural
Hall, Broad below Locust Street, Philadelphia, on
the evening of January 19, 1897.

In addition to an illustrated address on *' Fire
and Flood— The Scourges of Pennsylvania," by
Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Forest Commissioner, there
will be exercises of interest tending to advance
the cause of forestry.

* * * >|C ic

The annual meeting of the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association for the election of officers and
the transaction of business will be held at the room
of the Association, 1012 Walnut Street, Philadel-
phia, on Monday, December 14, 1896, at 3.30
P.M. We trust that all of our members who can
do so will attend the meeting.

*****

Before the next issue of Forest Leaves reaches
its readers, we shall have passed the threshold of
another year, and it seems appropriate to take a
brief review of 1896 and look forward to the possi-
bilities of 1897.

During the year now closing there were many
indications of progress in the forestry movement
throughout the country, but we can only chroni-
cle a few of the more prominent. The advanced
stand taken publicly by the chairmen of the Public
Lands Committees of the United States Senate
and House of Representatives for forest protection
the appeal for forestry legislation in the Presi-
dent's message, the appointment of a Commission
named by the National Academy of Science to in-
vestigate the forest conditions under the direction
of the Department of the Interior, and the valu-
able researches made, supplemented by the excel-
lent publications of the Division of Forestry of
the United States Department of Agriculture, are
indications of progress as a nation.

The decision of the people of the State of New
York, expressed by an enormous popular vote, to
guard its forests against destruction, is an evidence
of the growing sentiment in a sister State The
movement inaugurated in West Virginia looking

towards the establishment of a Middle Allegheny
; Mountain forest reserve in that and other States
is an indication that forestry has taken a firm hold
on the people. The practical application of the
forest wardens as a means of decreasing forest fires
in Minnesota and Canada is a step forward which
will go far towards securing action in other States.
From all parts of the country come assurances of
awakening interest in forest preservation, and of
the realization of the necessity of some action to
sustain the lumber industry or to control the stream
flow.

The year has shown a most gratifying increase
in the membership of the two organizations which
Forest Leaves represents, both the American
Forestry Association and the Pennsylvania Forestry
Association showing rapidly augmenting rolls. In
our own State there have been notable celebrations
of both Spring and Fall Arbor Days, and a general
endorsement by the press of the importance of
recognizing these days.

We see in the report of the Forestry Commission
of Pennsylvania a most gratifying advance, full of
promise for the future, for it places in the hands
of each legislator, and of many of its citizens, a
record of the forestal condition of the State, and
of the possibilities for future increase of our forest
area.

With such a pleasing retrospect, we can ap-
proach the future in hopefulness and in confidence.
The way to success has each year been cleared of
some obstruction, and all friends of forestry in
Pennsylvania can unite their influence to aid in
securing the enactment of proper laws by the Legis-
lature which meets in January. What the State
needs is to secure more protection than the pres-
ent laws give against damage from forest fires, and
a sure method of punishment of those responsible
for these fires. It needs forest reservations on our
important water-sheds to maintain the stream flow
in dry seasons and reduce the losses in times of
freshet; provided with a system of administration
which will secure the benefits of true forest man-
agement. The friends of forestry in Pennsylvania
to-day are sufficiently numerous and influential to
secure these and other needed reforms if they
make common cause of action. But the co-oper-
ation of every such friend is needed to demon-
strate to the legislators that the people of the Com-
monwealth demand that the reckless destruction
of standing timber be stopped ; that the con-
stantly recurring losses of property and life by
freshets be alleviated ; that the streams intended
to supply our water powers and our water supplies
be maintained as far as possible against the influ-
ence of droughts ; that the lands in the State now
barren and unproductive, which destroy other
areas by erosion from them, be recovered and pro-
tected; and that the State continues to produce

FOREST LEAVES.

uza-

\\ I

the material for its lumber and other allied indus-
tries, J. B.

The Annual Meeting of the American Forestry
Association will be held in Washington, D. C, on
Friday, Februarys, 1897. The business meeting
will presumably occur in the morning at the Cosmos
Club, while a joint evening session with the Na-
tional Geographic Society will be held in the First
Congregational Church, Tenth and G streets,
when Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Forestry
Division, Department of Agriculture, will deliver
a lecture on '* The Forests and Deserts of Arizona,"
through which territory he traveled during the
greater portion of last summer.

— The following item is from the San Francisco
Chronicle :

The members of the Commission (appointed to
examine the forest reservations of the country and
suggest needed legislation for their reservation)
separated in Montana in order to more thoroughly
inspect the forest reservations in the Northwest,
and are now gathering in San Francisco to visit
the Sierra reservations in a body.

In the opinion of Professor Brewer, one of the
Commission, unless stringent measures are em-
ployed to protect the forests of the country, there
will be no forests in a few years.

*'I was in California from i860 to 1864," he
said, *< and during that time was so impressed with
the grandeur of the magnificent giant sequoias of
the State that I have been lecturing about them
ever since. A great many stories have been told
about the trees of California, and although noth-
ing more than the truth may be said regarding
them, the people of the East are inclined to credit
the authors of the tales with vivid imaginations.
I have been blowing about the big trees of Cali-
fornia all these years, at the risk of my reputation,
and now have come back here to find that the
giant pines and firs which I have described many
times as towering hundreds of feet in the air around
the slopes of Mount Shasta have been almost en-
tirely obliterated. I was never so shocked in my
life, and, as if they couldn't get them down fast
enough with the axe, they are blowing them out
of the ground with dynamite.

''I have heard it remarked that the forests of
the West are inexhaustible, but when one looks at
the ruthless destruction that has been accomplished
near Mount Shasta in seven years, he will become
convinced of the alarming need for legislation that
will preserve our forests for the benefit of suc-
ceeding generations.'*

:>fj3"

— The finest rosewood in the world comes from
Bahia.

Fall Arbor Day.

FRIDAY, October 23d, was designated by
Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer, Superintendent

^ of Public Instruction, as the Fall Arbor
Day, and on Thursday evening, October 22d, the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association held an Arbor
Day meeting at the Drexel Institute, Philadel-
phia, which was well attended by members of the
Association, students of the Drexel Institute,
public school teachers and others interested in
forestry, Dr. Brooks, Superintendent of Schools
of Philadelphia, being on the platform with the
speakers.

After an organ prelude. Dr. James MacAlister,
President of the Drexel Institute, welcomed those
present, stating that the Institute was much in-
terested in what was being accomplished, and in-
troduced Mr. John Birkinbine, President of the
Pennsylvania Forestry Association, who presided
at the meeting. Mr. George Garrett, a pupil of
the Institute, then read the Fall Arbor Day an-
nouncement, which appeared in our last issue.

Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer, Superintendent of
Public Instruction, was then introduced, and the
text of his pleasing address will be found on another
page of this issue.

•Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Forestry Commissioner,
then spoke of the evil effects of forest fires, and
the removal of timber from mountain sides and
valleys, pointing his remarks by a number of new
illustrations taken this fall in various counties in
central and northern Pennsylvania. In closing,
some fine views of water-powers in this State were
exhibited. Dr. Rothrock stating that he had col-
lected over two hundred similar photographs. Dr.
Shaler, of Harvard, has computed the time when
our beds of coal will be exhausted, and here at our
doors and running to waste was a force capable of
furnishing power sufficient to run all our ocean
steamers, or all of the manufactories of Philadel-
phia, which a proper utilization of the timber
lands at the headwaters of these streams would
ensure for all future generations. In Drs. Schaeffer,
MacAlister and Rothrock the friends of forestry
have strong allies.

—At Chelsea, England, an improved steam
felling and cross-cutting machine is employed.
1'he machine is mounted upon a strong axle, which
is supported on a pair of wheels of such a diame-
ter as to enable the saw to cut through a tree at
a height of about three feet from the ground.
After the tree is felled, by simply turning a band
wheel, the saw can be set to cut in any angle be-
tween the horizontal and vertical positions. The
machine, as originally constructed, can fell an oak
tree of ten feet in girth in three or four minutes
and cross cut it afterward in about two minutes.

37^

FOREST LEAVES.

The Arizona Forests.

PURING the past summer Mr. B. E. Fernow,
Chief of the Forestry Division, visited the
Territory of Arizona, camping through it
for three months for the purpose of studying not
only its forest conditions, but also their relation to
other economic conditions and questions, such as
the irrigation problems, agricultural and mining
development, etc.

Mr. Fernow has kindly furnished the following
interesting notes on that little known region ;

It may not be known to the readers of Forest
Leaves that Arizona, which brings up in every-
body's mind the embodiment of desert drought and
dreariness and of insupportable summer heat, con-
tains some of the loveliest and largest forests to
be found between the great forest areas of the Pa-
cific and Atlantic coasts, and also affords the
most perfect summer climate within this forest area.
The northeastern part of the Territory, about
one-third of its area, is largely a plateau, 6000 feet
above sea-level, and about 5000 square miles of
this is occupied by a forest of pines, almost exclu-
sively of the bull pine (^Pinus ponderosd), of fine
development, with diameters up to 3 and 4 feet
and height above 100 feet. Rising from this pla-
teau is the magnificent range of the San Francisco
Mountains, with its peaks above 12,000 feet, reach-
ing above timber line into the boreal zone. One
half-day's ride brings us from the bull pines through
white pines {P. flextits), and foxtail pines (^P,
aristatd) and Douglas spruces, to the Englemann
spruce, which is here the timber-line tree.

To be sure, with the differences of soil condi-
tions, limestone, red sandstone and malapai (lava),
the forest conditions change, but, for the most
part, the forest appears more in the nature of a
park, the trees standing more or less singly or in
groups, with large spaces between, which, after the
summer rains, beginning the first week of July,
clothe themselves with a verdure of grass, illu-
minated by a wealth of brilliant hues of' wild
flowers, a lovely combination.

Here and there larger openings occur, sometimes
square miles in extent, where the shallow-washed
and compacted soil gives the advantage to meadows
in these grassy valleys.

In there, occasionally, a ranchman has tried his
hand in agricultural pursuits, but, beyond a crop
of ''spuds" (the local name for potatoes) and
some fodder corn, not much can be grown on
account of the short season free from frosts.

For camping, no finer summer climate can be
found even during the rainy season, for the rain
IS usually of short duration— an hour or so in the
afternoon— and the air is so dry that its effects
soon disappear. The nights are cool, even cold,
in July towards morning.

FOREST LEAVES.

It was interesting to note the millions of little
pine seedlings springing up after the first rains
These seedlings, however, play no part in the re-
production, for, before they can harden their wood
the early frosts nip them. The reproduction must
rely upon the seedlings which sprout in the spring
but, as the spring is usually droughty, it is only in
favorable seasons that such reproduction takes
place, which accounts for the occurrence of
groups of younger trees more or less of the same
age.

In the southern mountain ranges— the Santa
Ritas, the El Rincon, the Santa Catalinas, Chirca-
huas and Huaclincas— we find a remarkable ex-
ample of the dependence of forest distribution on
moisture conditions. Here, all these parts of the
ranges which do not rear their heads above, say
5000 feet, are timberless, because their altitude is
not sufficient to cause precipitation; but where
this altitude is exceeded, not only the summits but
the slopes and valleys are densely timbered, there
being enough rainfall to provide the necessary soil
moisture by drainage.

Here the three-needled bull pine is largely re-
placed by a more southern species, the five-needled
Arizona pine, which covers large stretches up to
the very summits above 9000 to 10,000 feet, the
ravines, especially the northern and eastern ones,
having admixtures of Douglas spruce and the
Mexican white pine, P. acahuite. Such interest-
ing species as the Pi?ius magri (formerly Pinus lati-
folia), with its long tufts of needles, occur in spe-
cial localities.

These southern mountain forests may be esti-
mated to add another 1000 square miles to the
forest wealth of the Territory.

—Microscopical investigation is said to prove
that the pores of wood invite the passage of moisture
in the direction of the timber's growth, but repel
it in the opposite direction, and this is supposed
to account for the phenomenon of two pieces of
timber sawn from the same section of a tree some-
times appearing to possess variable degrees of
durability. It is found that if the wood, say, of a
gate post, is placed right end up the moisture in
the soil will affect it, but the rain falling on the
top will do little harm ; if, on the other hand, the
butt end of a tree is placed uppermost, the top of
the post will decay, because the moisture of the
atmosphere will penetrate the pores of the wood
more rapidly in such a position. The fact, so
familiar, that the staves of a wooden tub appear to
absorb moisture irregularly— some getting quite
sodden while others are comparatively dry and
seemingly almost impervious to moisture — is be-
cause the dry staves are in position as the tree
grew, but the saturated ones are reversed.

^73

181

Address of Dr. Nathan C. Schaeffer,

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.

(Delivered before the Pennsylvania Forestry Association at
the Drexel Institute, October 22, 1896).

SOME years ago one of the German States
sent an agent to this country for the pur-
pose of studying the different kinds of
wood used in our industries. The rapid destruc-
tion of our forests has led the German experts in
forestry to believe that before the close of the next
century Germany will control the lumber trade of
the United States and that Pennsylvania, once so
densely wooded, will be importing timber from the
forests of the Fatherland.

Shall this hope of the foreigner be realized?
Shall the thought that the New World must in
time buy its timber from the Old be more than an
an illusive dream? The Drexel Institute says
No. At least that is my interpretation of the fact
. that within a year two meetings have been held
under the auspices of the Forestry Association in
the magnificent auditorium of an institution which
from its inception has been foremost in teaching
the applications of science to the arts and indus-
tries of civilized life. The Lancaster High School
enters its eniphatic protest against the realization
of this ambition of the foreign expert in forestry ;
for twice each year it holds an Arbor Day cele-
bration, and has in these twenty-four Pennsylvania
Arbor Days planted more than three thousand
trees, together with hundreds of roses and vines.
The Pennsylvania Forestry Association has awa-
kened the State from its lethargy. Its publica-
tions have drawn attention to the importance of
tree-planting and caused the people to take an in-
terest in the preservation of our forests.

In accordance with a resolution of our Legisla-
ture, the Governor annually appoints two Arbor
Days in the spring of the year, one for the south-
ern and the other for the northern tier of counties,
so that all sections of the State may have a day
suited to their climate. Since trees may be planted I
in the fall as well as in the spring of the year the
Department of Public Instruction appoints an i
Autumn Arbor Day, for the purpose of supplement-
ing the work of tree-planting in the spring, and
for the sake of securing the benefits of the ob-
servance of this day to the thousands of rural :
schools which, on account of their minimum term
of six months, are not in session during April.

Trees have ever been associated with schools
and seats of learning. In the city of antiquity
most remarkable for its schools, tree-planting was
considered one of the most graceful as well as one
of the most beneficent of employments. One of
Its statesmen, Cimon, not only planted trees, but
took in hand the wild wood, pruned it, dressed it,

I

and laid it out with handsome walks and welcome
fountains. For many generations his trees ex-
tended their cool, umbrageous branches over the
merchants who assembled in the market place.
Cimon's most lasting claim to fame is found in
what he did to form the groves which in the pro-
cess of time became the academy where Plato
taught and from which emanated the influences
that during the long period of a thousand years
drew to Athens the brightest intellects of the civ-
ilized world and helped to make her the city of the
poet and the sage.

In 1880 I helped to carry to his last resting
place one of Pennsylvania's distinguished educa-
tors. On opening his will his relatives and friends
and pupils were surprised to find a provision in
which Prof. John S. Ermentrout set apart a sum of
money for the annual planting of three trees upon
the campus of the Keystone State Normal School,
an institution which he had helped to found. This
was several years before the inauguration of Arbor
Day in Pennsylvania.

Arbor Day serves a fourfold purpose. The first
is economic, the second is aesthetic, the third is
patriotic and the fourth is educational.

The economic feature appeals most strongly to
this age steeped in money making and mercantile
pursuits. The geographies of my boyhood had a
great American desert where J. Sterling Morton
and his wife founded their Arbor Lodge. The
territory in which the books said no trees would
grow has now become the leading State for tree-
planting in America. The people of Nebraska
have shown the value of tree-planting for fuel and
lumber, for condensing the moisture of the winds
into rains and thereby adding to the areas which
can be brought under successful cultivation. On
the other hand, the cutting down of trees and the
destruction of forests gradually convert fertile
lands into arid wastes. In Spain, where once
dwelt the foremost people of Europe, and in other
districts around the Mediterranean, where once
hundreds of millions of people dwelt in plenty,
the destruction of the forests, which used to con-
dense the vapors of the winds into clouds and rain,
and then held the waters for gradual distribution
by springs and streams, has given rise to destructive
floods, to droughts and failures of crops, so that
the descendants of once prosperous nations are
now struggling for bread. Through the destruc-
tion of our Pennsylvania forests, the Juniata Val-
ley has become the mother of the floods. During
successive summers its leading city has been
threatened with direst water famine. Dining
with a friend in Altoona, I was not offered any
water to drink. The lady of the house explained
the situation by stating that they got water from
four to eight o'clock. A fire broke out. The
authorities concluded that it was cheaper to let the

y

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I

FOREST LEAVES.

fire burn than to waste water in trying to extin-
guish the flames. There was a time when ill-in-
formed reporters made fun of Arbor Day procla-
mations and of the zeal of the members of forestry
associations. Thanks to the indomitable zeal of
our able Commissioner of Forestry, Dr. Rothrock,
the public will no longer put up with a news-
paper that dares to bestow the title of "crank**
upon those who advocate and practice tree-plant-
ing.

The economic value of Arbor Day is no longer
disputed, its value in cash outcome and in adding
to the material comfort of our people is evident to
every citizen of average intelligence. But there
are some things in the world more valuable than
dollars and cents. You can buy a house, but you
cannot buy a happy home — that must be made by
you and by her who occupies it with you. You
can buy a pew at church, but you cannot buy an
easy conscience — that results from your manner of
living and dealing with other men. With money
you can buy a magnificent copy of Shakespeare,
but you cannot purchase the ability to appreciate
his plays. You may buy the cords of wood con-
tained in a tree of magnificent size and beautiful
proportions, but you cannot buy the ability to ap-
preciate the beauty of trees as they are found in
the meadow, upon the mountain, or in the public
park. Any one can understand how trees add to
the value of country homes and draw city boarders
to otherwise unattractive villages in the summer
months; but only he who has developed his es-
thetic nature gets full enjoyment out of the scenery
and the landscapes of beautiful Pennsylvania. The
people of North Carolina urged me to take a trip
along the French Broad River for the sake of the
scenery. The trip was a disappointment. In the
great valley stretching from Easton to Harrisburg,
1 had, as a boy, seen far more beautiful scenery,
and felt its influence upon my soul. Dr. Roth-
rock is right in calling our State ** Beautiful Penn-
sylvania.** People sometimes wonder why no
gold and silver and other valuable minerals were
put into the North Mountain and the other ranges
of the Blue Ridge. It were well not to ** look
so valuable a gift horse in the mouth.** As a con-
denser of rains and a producer of fertility, it has
added more to our wealth than if it had mines of
the precious metals. As a means of adding to the
beauty of our State, its value cannot be estimated
by silver and gold. ./Esthetically speaking, the
trees do not belong to the man who owns the land
on which they grow, and who thinks of money
and nothing but money all the year round ; the
poet owns the trees, the mountains and the valleys
with their vernal green and their autumn foliage
and their singing birds. Let us celebrate Arbor
Day so that our children may learn to api)reciate
the surpassing beauties of their native State,

Arbor Day serves a patriotic purpose. ** What-
ever binds one to his home and town strengthens
his love of country, and nurtures all the better
elements of his nature. Patriotism does not thrive
in the soil which produces no local attachments.
The nomad without a home, as content in one
place as another, and happy nowhere, rs like a tree
planted in a tub — portable, indeed, but at the ex-
pense of growth and strength."

It is difficult to conceive of any object better
adapted to carry the associations of home or of
school-days than a familiar tree. It will continue
to grow upon the spot where it was planted while
those who played under it are scattered over the
globe in the pursuit of fortune, or in the struggle
for existence. As it grows in size and spreads its
branches, those *yho named it and learned to love
it, may be growing in fame and affluence, but they
come back to repose under its shade and to talk
of earlier and happier days, in which the future
was radiant with hope and the heart had not been
soured by disappointment. The houses in which
our childhood was spent have been remodelled ac-
cording to the fashion of the day, the carpets and
the furniture have been renewed, but the trees
around the old homestead have been spared, the
ground upon which they stand has been hallowed
by memories of the innocent. sports of childhood,
and by the recollection of joys which seem like a
bit of heaven to earth vouchsafed. The playful
animals, in imitation of which we skipped and
gamboled, are dead and gone ; while they lived
they went on all fours, but the trees with their
crowns pointing skyward, were like the Gothic
arches in the village church, and resembled the
worshipers with their faces directed towards
heaven.

He whose soul was nurtured in the enjoyment
of a happy boyhood will never forget the trees
in whose shade he rested and i)layed. While a
tree stands his heart will cling to the old home-
stead, though all else be changed. Let us cele-
brate .\rbor Day so that our children may learn to
love and cherish their homes and their native land.

Finally, Arbor Day has an educational value.
Said a Yale professor: '* I have recently talked
with students, sons of well-to-do families, who
could not give the names of three kinds of trees
in our streets. They have grown up as ignorant
of the trees of our forests and the crops of our fields
as a Hottentot grows up ignorant of the stars.*'
"I would rather," says Thomas Arnold, '* that a
son of mine believed that the sun went around the
earth than that he should be entirely deficient in
knowledge^ of beauty, of poetry and of moral
truth." The celebration of Arbor Day is only
part of a larger system of education that is surely
coming. To know the names of trees is not much ;
the name of the tree is the one thing about a tree

FOREST LEAVES.

1«3 -

with which the Creator has had little or nothing to
do ; yet ignorance of the name is evidence of ig-
norance of its qualities, uses and beauties. Had
the tree been observed, studied and dicussed, it
would have received a name, even if it were not
the scientific or botanical name.

Our ignorance of trees is but an example of the
wide-spread ignorance of our people concerning
the daily marvels which transpire around them in
the natural world. When a farmer's son can pass
through the elementary school and the high
school, through the college and the university,
without hearing one word that would make him a
better farmer or dignify the vocation of farming,
statesmen may well pause to inquire whether some
changes are not imperatively needed in the cur-
riculum oi the public school. France and Ger-
many, Belgium and Switzerland, Austria and
Russia have thousands of little school gardens con-
nected with the elementary schools and the normal
schools ; not gardens, metaphorically speaking,
like the kindergarten, but literal gardens, in which
the pupils and their teachers learn how to prepare
the soil and plant the seed, how to weed the garden
and kill the noxious insect, and how, by skilful
tillage and the use of fertilizers, two blades may be
made to grow where but one grew before. Secre-
tary Edge assures me that of the four millions
which Pennsylvania farmers expend annually upon
fertilizers, one million is wasted through ignorance
of the commonest principles of agriculture. The
farmer seems to be the only man in these days who
hopes to thrive by sticking to the methods of til-
lage practiced by his grandfather.

Arbor Day is but one feature of the new era in
education which is surely dawning, an era in which
the battle of the kine and the swine will have been
fought and won, so that the money now wasted
upon fences will be expended upon school gardens ;
an era in which the rural school will no longer be
satisfied with words, words, words, with figures,
sums, problems and answers; an era in which the
boy*s eyes and mind will observe the marvels and
enjoy the beauties of the farm, the garden and the
forest ; an era in which the average man will think
it as great a disgrace to be ignorant of the common
trees, plants, flowers and insects, as he now deems
it to be ignorant of the letters of the lOnglish Al-
phabet, or of the candidates of his political party,
or of people who have been his next-door neigh-
bors during half a lifetime.

— The 150th anniversary of the surrender of
Cornwallis was celebrated at Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco, by the planting of thirteen trees,
to represent the thirteen original States.

Western Interest in Forestry.

Washington, D. C, November 14, 1896.

Editor Forest Leaves:

During the past summer I had occasion to go
West on business, and took advantage of the op-
portunity to call upon several gentlemen who are
known to be interested in the preservation of our
forests. In Denver I found that business men ap-
preciate the necessity of stopping the indiscrimi-
nate cutting of the scanty timber on the mountains,
but they admitted that there was not very much
public sentiment in that direction. Two residents
of Colorado Springs said that the newspapers of the
State were in sympathy with the cause of forestry,
but that it was hard to get the legislature to realize
the importance of immediate action. I was told,
however, that this winter an eff*ort would be made
to procure the passage of a law looking to better
protection of the timber.

The average sentiment on the subject was pretty
well illustrated by the remark of a mining official
with whom I was conversing as the train made its
way over the Tennessee Pass. We passed a char-
coal furnace, and he was saying that it was a cheap
fuel ; that the people furnished the wood at about
two dollars a cord. On my asking where they got
it, he said: "Oh, they cut it anywhere on the
mountains ; it is all free.'*

In California, as in Colorado, the importance of
the forests in conserving the water supply, and thus
being a valuable aid in the matter of irrigation,
seemed to be well understood, but, owing to cer-
tain reasons, the Forestry Commission had been
abolished, and all forestrv matters turned over to
the State University. There is a fire law, but it is
difficult to enforce it, owing to the vast stretches
of land to be covered. The value of the forest
reservations is appreciated, but there is lacking
that general public interest which is necessary to
any decided advance,
i in Utah, the railroad companies are flagrant vio-
I lators, one company being said to have sixty camps
at work cutting ties on government land. In ad-
dition, the sheep-herders complete the ruin begun
i by the timber tliieves, and this in spite of the fact
that there are many object lessons of what would
be the result of protecting the forests from the
! sheep. These occur in canyons where it is not
; possible to take the sheej), and where, in conse-
([uence, the forest cover soon springs up again. The
hope was expressed that at this session of the legis-
lature the matter of forestry would receive better
attention. Very truly yours,

George P. Whittlesey.

— The storm along the coast of Florida ruined
3,200,000 acres of timber.

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FOREST LEAVES.

Kentucky Coffee Tree.

THIS is a member of the large and important
order of " Leguminosae " or Pulse family
of trees and plants. From an ornamental
point of view this species is of considerable im-
portance, as its peculiar habit of growth is quite
distinct from all others. It is never a beautiful, but
at all times a picturesque specimen of forest growth.
Consequently, for use in landscape gardening it
has its value in certain positions, as, for instance,
a solitary tree on the lawn, or as a centre in a
group of rounded foliage. The peculiarity of
growth has given to the Kentucky Coffee tree
{Gymnocladus Canadensis) its generic name, which
is derived from two Greek words signifying a naked
branch.

It is a fine tree from 60 to 90 feet in height, and
sometimes from i to 2 feet in diameter. When
destitute of leaves it has a remarkable '' clubby "
appearance from the absence of small branchlets.
The bark is dark brown, closely fissured, in general
aspects much resembling the walnut. But for its
durability the wood seems to have little to recom-
mend it. It is heavy without being strong, coarse
grained, of a dark red color, taking a beautiful
polish, hence it is not inaptly termed North Ameri-
can mahogany. When sawed into planks it warps
considerably.

The leaves are bluish-green in color, compound,
made up of several primary divisions, and these
bearing each from seven to thirteen ovate, sharp-
pointed leaflets on stalks that are not more than
one-eighth of an inch long. Flowers, male and
female separated (each on distinct trees), appear-
ing in May, from the axils of the leaves, white
or greenish-white, in clusters that are three to
six inches long. The flat pods, six to eight inches
long, and from one to two inches wide, some-
what curved like a sickle, mature in October.
The tree thus clothed presents a peculiar and
striking appearance, not at all unpleasant to the
eye, and the pods are valuable as a means towards
increasing our stock of plants for forest purposes.
These pods are several seeded, the latter incased
in a gummy substance, and can only be forced to
give up their contents expeditiously by permitting
them to freeze hard before collecting, and then
thrashing with a flail. The hard, flattish seeds may
be sown at once, or preserved dry until spring,
when they must be soaked in hot water for forty-
eight hours, and sown in drills like garden beans.
This species need not be planted as thickly as
some others, owing to its large size and rapidity
of growth.

The Kentucky Coffee tree is by no means com-
mon in Pennsylvania. If native here at all, it is
on the southern and southwest border, and is some-
times known here as mahogany or lignum vitse.

The illustrations, for which we are indebted to Mr.
Charles S. Bradford, Jr., are taken in Chester
County, Pa., where the trees were planted. In
cultivation it is by no means rare, and may fairly
claim notice on lawns, but in the arts seems to
have but little place. It needs little, if any,
pruning on account of the scarcity of branches,
which gradually disappear as the tree increases in
size. In proper congenial ground (rich, moist soil)
it should prove one of the most remunerative forest
trees we could select for timber purposes. The
name coffee tree (from the resemblance of its seed
to the coff*ee bean) is misleading, as no one seems
to have persisted in using any part of it as a substi-
tute for coffee.

Its physical properties are; Specific gravity,
0-6934; percentage of ash, 0.67; relative approxi-
mate fuel value, 0.6888 ; weight in pounds of a
cubic foot of dry wood, 43.21 ; relative strength,
149. The strength is much below what might
have been anticipated from the weight.

— C-^-Ci^

The Oak-Pruner (Stenocorus Putator).

THE ravages of this insect were unusually de-
structive during the past summer in New
Hampshire, and also, according to the press
in some portions of Pennsylvania. The writer's
atttention was called to it by seeing the ground
under every oak strewed with twigs. On examina-
tion a hole was found at the junction of the twig
with the branch, and splitting the branch with a
penknife exposed to view the grub. Dr. Harris
(treatise on '^Insects Injurious to Vegetation,*'
page ^6) says that the history of this insect was
first made public by Prof. Peck {Massachusetts
Agricultural Journal, vol. v.). In its adult state it
is a slender, long-horned beetle, of a brown color,
sprinkled with gray spots. It lays its eggs in July,
placing each one close to the joint of a small twig
near the extremity of a branch. The grub hatched
from it penetrates to the pith and devours it.
Towards the end of summer it divides the branch,
leaving only the ring of bark untouched. It then
awaits its fall, the leaves serving to break the shock.
Branches five or six feet long are thus severed.
They must be collected and burned to prevent
the development of the beetles.

— Probably the oldest timber in the world is
found in the ancient temples of Egypt, in connec-
tion with stone-work which is known to be at least
4000 years old. This, the only wood used in the
construction of the temples, is in the form of ties,
holding the end of one stem to another.

'

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 12.

KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE. GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

^im^

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 12.

TRUNK OF THE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE. GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Forest Leaves, Vol. v. No. 12.

KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE. GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

Forest Leaves, Vol. v, No. 12.

TRUNK OF THE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE. GYMNOCLADUS CANADENSIS.

CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

. f

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FOREST LEAVES.

Succession of Tree Growth.

¥R. J. O. BARRETT, Secretary of the
Minnesota Forestry Association, sends
us tHe following communication in ref-
erence to reforestation on cut-over timber lands :
Almost universally the notion prevails, that
** when the pines are gone, they are gone forever;**
and that **the soil where they grew is worn out,
unfit to reproduce good timber qualities.*' This
notion, so damaging to forest preservation, also
discourages improved forestry on the prairie, where
temporary trees are often planted only for the pres-
ent convenience of the proprietor.

Alternations of trees are as various as the species
within the territory where they occur. In the
Southern States especially, and sometimes in the
Northern, oaks take the place of the departing
pines, and so the reverse. But the succeeding
oaks stand no show compared with the poplars,
aspens especially, and the canoe birches. The lat-
ter grow on moist or dry places ; fires cannot erad-
icate them. Both waft on wings of down their
millions upon millions of almost infinitesimal
seeds that alight everywhere. Burnt districts or
any cleared lands are their paradise. Hence, all
along the northern tie'r of lumber states, and over
the Canadas, even to the Arctic Circle, these
trees take possession of denuded lands. Fortu-
nately they are short-lived and often pave the way
for the return of the pines. Oaks get a foot-
hold, too, interspersed with other hardwoods, for
their seeds and roots, long buried under the leaves
and soil, get sunlight enough to sprout. These
facts demonstrate that with proper management
we can have the most valuable trees, only plant
and preserve them, and keep out fires and brows-
ing stock.

So far from the forests having a worn-out soil, it
is the best in the world. The decay of the fallen
leaves and limbs, the carbon dioxide thus evolved
for plant growth again, the nutrifying agencies of
the net-work of roots, form the rich humus of the
future farms. Neutralize this fertilizing art of na-
ture by injudicious cutting, or burning the leaf
mold, and not only is the soil thus impoverished
and drouth provoked, but sorrowful alternations of
trees inevitably ensue. H. B. Ayres, a forest expert
in our State and close observer, avers that burnt
land '• could not be put in condition as promising
(as an adjoining unburnt tract) for less than $20
an acre.*' On an unburnt acre, cut the same
winter — three years before his investigation — he
counted ** 1267 little white pine seedlings, two
years old,** growing under the shade of immature
pine saplings, poplar, maple and hazel brush.
Every woodsman has noticed like results wherever
fires in the pine regions are excluded. The Eng-
lish oaks grow to-day in places where William the

Conquerer found them when he invaded Britain.
For centuries the pines of Maine have repeated
themselves on their native heath. Give the con-
ditions, and the ** fittest remain while human gen-
erations come and go.*'

Have Tree Owners Any Rights ?

71 S an evidence of the interest taken in tree
/^ protection by the newspaper press and to

^* direct attention to the commendable and
determined efforts of a citizen of this State to de-
fend his trees, we present an editorial from the
Philadelphia Press. We shall watch with interest
and pledge the support of the Pennsylvania For-
estry Association in all its efforts to secure equit-
able treatment of our trees. We need not repeat
the assertion made heretofore, that the true friends
of forestry are not those who spend their time
singing, '* Woodman, Spare that Tree," but are
those who see in the tree a beautiful evidence of
the Creator's wisdom, designed for man's use, and
to be used by man when mature, and who will
protect it against vandalism or wilful destruction :

** An interesting case is now pending in the
Superior Court of Pennsylvania to test the right
of telegraph company employees to cut down or
mutilate trees which impede the placing of the
wires as they wish to have them. It is well known
that they claim this right, and exercise it at their
own pleasure. Not only telegraph and telephone
companies, but trolley companies, treat trees sim-
ply as impediments which they are free to remove
if they desire to, regardless of the wishes, rights
and interests of the owner.

^* In the present case Dr. John Marshal, of this
city, has a summer residence in Berks county,
which is or was separated and screened from the
public road by a grove of ornamental trees. A
telegraph company had run its line through this
grove before Dr. Marshal bought it, and the line
was continued in operation during his ownership.
But the company was not content with this. It
wanted to add to its wires, and to do so sent
men on the premises, who, in the owner's ab-
sence, and notwithstanding the positive prohibi-
tion and repeated protest of the person in charge,
entered upon that portion of the property partly
occupied by the telegraph line and attached ad-
ditional cross-bars to the poles, and under the
pretext of clearing a space for the operation ot
the telegraph line, cut down close to the ground
between sixty and seventy trees growing thereon
and mutilated others. Thirty of the trees that
were mutilated in no way obstructed or interfered
with the wires of the telegraph company.

''It is gratifying to know that the men who
committed this outrageous piece of vandalism

I '

^7V

FOREST LEAVES.

FOREST LEAVES.

were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced for
their trespass. The Superior Court is asked to
decide whether their convictions and sentences
are right under the law. Their lawyers base their
appeal on technical grounds which we need not
enter into. Whether right under the law or not.
severe punishment for such an offence would
certainly be most righteous under heaven. It
takes at least a generation to grow large, hand
some trees which are of any real value, yet
there are men who would think as little of de-
stroying them as they would so many rats. It is
hard enough, and often impossible, to protect shade
trees by the wayside, no matter how beautiful and
desirable they be in the eyes of their owners, but
trees growing wholly on private property should be
as inviolable from the assaults of outsiders as a
man's own home.

"The rights of trees and the rights of owners in
their trees is a branch of law which has not yet
its separate text-book. It would probably be a
thin one at the best, especially if the assumption
of the constructors of overhead wire lines are
anywhere near right in the estimate of the defence-
lessness of tree-owners. Some of the tree societies
should take up this subject. There are other ene-
mies of trees beside wasteful lumbermen and forest
fires."

Forestry and the New York Constitution.

WE did not approve of the action of the Con-
stitutional Convention of 1894, which
made it impossible to cut or sell any
tmiber on the State lands. We have never
ceased to plead for the preservation of the
North Woods, but we have urged that they
should be made to yield revenue and grow more
productive every year. This constitutional provi- 1
sion. It IS true, put a stop to the selling of stand- I
mg spruce above a certain size, which was prac-
ticed under the form of law and which might |
easily have ruined large areas of forest; but it i
seemed to us, and still seems, a short-sighted
policy to provide for a thriftless protection of the
forest by sacrificing its usefulness. Absolute pro-
hibition of the removal of wood, including even
wood that is dead and down, from the State pre-
serve simply means waste ; but the convention
impressed with the shameful abuses which have
been practiced under the name of forest manage-
ment, felt justified in withholding from the people
of the State the right to use what is their own,
because they feared that through ignorance or
greed they would not use it to the best purpose.
So apprehensive were they of the dangers of mis-
management that they voted unanimously to pro-
hibit any management whatever, and under the
constitution as it stands trees must grow to ma-

turity and die, and fall and rot, instead of being
encouraged to develop into marketable timber
and bring an income to the State. This means
either that the convention did not know that
there is such a thing as a rational forest manage-
ment or that they were convinced that the people
were so ignorant or vicious that they could not be
I expected to adopt any such system.
I We believe that fundamentally the interest of
the people in the forest and the interest of the
, lumbermen are one, and that no advantage will
accrue to either by leaving the products of the
forest go to waste. It is our opinion that the
cause of forestry was not helped by the dissemina-^
tion of 'such ideas by the constitution makers,
and that the revised constitution was based on a
serious misconception of the true relation of the
forest to civilized society. It may be that our
legislators are not yet to be trusted in so delicate
a matter. But when we read Sir Dietrich Brandis's
account of what has been accomplished in Burma
i in administering forest-lands in which half-wild
and wandering tribes hold prescriptive rights, it is
' not credible to our enlightenment that such an
admission must be made. Nevertheless, the
amendment which was killed on Tuesday was not
I a step toward rational forest practice. It did not .
j provide for any intelligent or scientific adminis-
i tration of the State timber-lands; it only opened
the door for greater spoliation. It certainly will
I not hasten the era of productive forestry to opea
State forest-lands to invasion by railroads or to
lease them out in five-acre patches to campers.
What should be provided for is the beginning of
systematic forest policy. This would be an ob-
ject-lesson of inestimable value. It would correct
false views and encourage the establishment of
skilled forest economy not only in the public, but
in the private, timber-lands of the State. This is
prevented by the constitution as it is, but matters
would be much worse if there were coupled with
this prohibition the chance of trading and leasing,
and the general demoralization and destruction
which might follow.

After all, there is something gained when the
people have made up their minds to protect the
woods even if they do it unwisely. Let us hope
the time will soon come when popular sentiment
will be so enlightened that it will be safe to trust
the officers of the State to organize and develop*a
system of rational forest practice, when there will
be no fear that our people are too ignorant to do
this in a scientific way, and no fear that their
moral sense is so dull that they cannot administer
a trust like this without official corruption.—
Garden and Forest,

—-The Scotch Pine grows well on a dry, sandy
ridge.

in and Now a Forest

'w, rn a recent article

'thie, im&es the following

reservation in Sullivan

pari embracing the battlefield
tornado this fall blew down 494
386 others to such an extent
-ixvs: tD lie cut down. This accurate
t^srmntion wrought by a single
space ^ves something upon
:tittr dam^tr that must have been

iTJ

ijition was printed of the

-still standing in the great

and especially that part

h Mountain in Sullivan

. and m"^d that this magnifi-

«»vcrmg some 30,000 acres be

made a State reservation.

the unusual tornado would

tr mav be inferred from the

rualh doTie at Gettysburg, is almost

anc 1: would require four hundred

- vears to rejiaiT the damage.

that the coming session of the

possible the establishment

HE the North Mountain. No

itj 'the folate combines so great an

1 iimher and elevation, mountain

other ciiaract eristics which

"rite icacj voir that feeds almost

and irreat rivers, and fur-

fph of hundreds of cities and

ivaiVi:. clear to the Maryland

S. MacBride, of Iowa City,

a^amaphlet entitled, **County

te advocates the setting aside of

parks in various sections of

ill not only serve as pleasure

object lefBons, showing the

portion of the farm can be

il^ Ae proper cultivation of trees.

JfacBride's proposition will

ronsi delation it deserves, and that

r>n!^ in Iowa bm other States there

public parks such as are now

nf our Eastern States, and

ha> reserved in some ix)r-

» ^giTMrii^ in popular favor, and
it, ivoth in this country and abroad,
nous.

Effect of Forest Fires on Birds and Ani-
mals.

FORESTRY Commissioner Dr. J. T. Roth-
rock and Zoologist Dr. B. H. Warren, of
^' the Agricultural Department, have been
collecting from lumbermen throughout the State
some instructive data concerning forest fires and
the destruction occasioned by them to game and
various species of wild song birds which have
their summer homes in the forests and old slash-
ings. The data received show that the destructive
fires in the spring and early summer destroyed
thousands of pheasants or ruffed grouse, rabbits,
both the common cotton tail and the mountain
jacks, great numbers of wild turkeys, also numer-
ous broods of quail, many squirrels and lots of
deer, especially young fawns, and some bears.

In some counties where the fires raged with the
greatest fury and burned over hundreds of acres
the brook trout in the small tributaries of the
mountain streams were nearly all destroyed.
Great numbers of insect-eating birds, such as
warblers, thrushes, etc., were killed. The great
increase during recent years in the number and
virulence of insect pests, it is claimed, is largely
due to the forest fixts,.— Lancaster Examiner,

— The steady and serious diminution in the flow
of the creeks and rivers is a matter which, having
been noticed for some time by scientific persons,
especially those engaged in the forestry movement,
is now coming sharply to the attention of business
people. In the courts of Delaware County, Pa.,
October, 1896, in the suit of the executors of
James Irving, who owned a worsted mill on Rid-
ley Creek, against the borough of Media, damages
were claimed from the borough upon the ground
that it took so much water from the creek for its
water-works that the water-powers on the stream
below were greatly impaired. One witness said
that from 1874 to 1894 the capacity of the stream
had been reduced one-half during the working
hours of the day, and other witnesses estimated
the loss at 25 to 30 per cent. The court held that
if the borough of Media used more per day than
when it received the right of use twenty-one years
ago, it had trespassed upon the rights of the mill
owners, and the jury gave a verdict for $1600
damages. The case, it is said, will be appealed.
We may assume that we have not heard the last
of such controversies. The same sort of a suit has
been brought in Lancaster County by mill owners
on the Conestoga Creek against the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, complaining of its taking the
water for use in its locomotives. The simple fact
is, that the streams are drying up, and that there
is not, and will not be, water enough for all the
purposes which are desired, — Manufacturer,

FOREST LEAVES.

\

V

)

'?

tte^

c|tnrr*r.

tlic Ground Dry Out so
Rapidly ?

T^4Sr»aB»n TB95 ) ^"''^ one of exceptional
i V ^JtTiMjgh;, The aggregate rainfall for the

igteTt of Pennsylvania was far below

fe v^tober the shortage was not

inches. Of course to restore the

tiiB^mmnal condition of moisture con-

nwe and a large rainfall would be re-

Intfefcd, i: is by no means certain that

tttti- OE&inm]^ condition has been attained yet.

niis> laairCteiss^atrded as a partial answer to the

Tw^^^^^ ^"*'* **'* ^^*^ ^^*^^ communication.
H: is-riait,f^rwwy«R:, the whole answer.

Obssarwu||r tlknaers iiave noted that years ago
^|^J^*«JJ*>fc ^rw» and grain could stand much
wBgfiff tftmi mrm- without becoming dead ripe.
H:arvcs$tii^v.KOuid ie jiostponed, if required, longer
UwaLniwr\«lttoiit iniun- to the crop. This they

u. i ne crop now must be cut
_ i.oraserious loss follows. We [
•^SRmmtiiir this on the suppr>sition that |
"^t >- nunr imid. If the average tern- \
umthangtti there remains but one ex- '
. . tnai thene is less moisture in the
over rtitt rjwintr> at large. Meteorological
^liittJ^iif rtney reached over a sufficiently long
Bi«vU:. m^tr^^we^ jjositive answer as to whether
^t^li^ « At x«e. In the absence of such
.^i^»^ 'ie aliowed to ^«ek the explanation
unntnifr direction. Accordingly we call to
I luuiiL :int ^iBscrvations of Dr. Evermayer for the
liavitrtan LTrvvgrnmem, where it is declared that
^^^ -^-^ ^&imilaj sac the ** evaporation of
imm>.„i,. ^Iwili^£teas»t JB^resL, includine: transpira-
ttuir^- -^•" ^ ^

^ _, ^- cent, the evaporation from
;fc>^«ltar-«urflKKeTti:the open.''

- nliar significance in this statement
^membsred that from water surfaces,
ti^ WW ^^ng have thought the water
^PMiv. Uv ll«|p«Miijn, of the earth was mainly

Ut tint: i^n: o: tins -revelation as to the activity
ottima^ it ^jvii^ a«r moistuTe to the atmosphere,
^•■Mfc^ Q?»i«ideT aiso the vast area once tim-
iJ^tftjst. tint: noir ^naded of trees, the conclusion
tortaa^ii^ imnti iKthsK this must inevitably have
surrMBdfe* is> i)y * itsB humid atmosphere. If
^m^<^n.tttKimi he correct, an explanation of the
ajllter TtUHdm with which our cleared surfaces
^•jrQui- mo5: o^^mor. Evaporation is of necessity
MW^raymi, Thjsnaani teste itself at once by the
grmier r/.-.^mtv with which the moisture disap-
P«ar^ rmn ti%e >soil, and it ako explains partly,
y^hy^ «5 ^Jtt ^ Tain^ which are apparently copi-
QM^ thu vtniuim 01 water earned by our streams so
sQ%m iummsuKw T T R

Forests and Factories,

IN his annual report to the Amoskeag Manu-
facturing Company, whose mills are located
" at Manchester, N. H., utilizing, as those
below at Nashua and Lowell do, the splendid
water-power of the Merrimack River, the treasurer
of the company stated some important facts con-
cerning the usefulness of the river for manufactur-
I ing purposes, and made a strong appeal for the
I preservation of the forests of New Hampshire in
I order to protect the water supply. He mentions
I first, the great freshet in the Merrimack on April
I 16, 1895, when the water rose to the highest point
I that until then had ever been known, injuring the
I Amoskeag dam, and compelling extensive and
! costly repairs. He then describes the terrific
freshet of March 2, 1896, which rose one and one-
half feet higher than even that of the preceding
year, and which compelled the stoppage of the
mills, with their 6000 operatives, for some time,
I and would have done immense damage to the mills
I had it not been for the strong repair construction
! of the previous year.

"I need not say,'* proceeds Mr. Coolidge,
" what a terrible loss to the city of Manchester
such accidents are, and how desirable it is to take
any measures which may diminish the probability
of future and higher freshets. When you consider
that the Merrimack has for the past few summers
been lower than in previous years, it is evident
that some cause is at work turning the stream into
a torrent with long droughts and fearful discharges
of water.'*

There is but one explanation, he further says,
of this phenomena. It is, simply, " the cutting
down of forests around the headwaters of the
Merrimack, the Pemigewasset and other affluents.
The woods hold back the water and allow it to
trickle slowly into the streams ; cut down the
woods, and the rain running rapidly over the sur-
face of the ground, which is baked by the sun or
frozen hard by the winter cold, pours into the
streams, turns them into roaring torrents, and
finds its way all at once into the Merrimack,
sweeping everything before it. In a few days the
river sinks rapidly, and becomes in time of drought
an insignificant stream. Had the forest been left,
no sudden discharge of water would have taken
place, and all through low water, streams would
have trickled through the woods and swollen the
Merrimack when it was low."

Reniarking upon the experience of European
countries in this matter, especially France, along
the valley of the Rhone, by which they were com-
pelled to adopt stringent measures to protect the
forests along the rivers and their affluents, Mr.
Coolidge proceeds to point out the great serious-
ness of the subject to such a city as Manchester,

FOREST LEAVES.

1

and such a State as New Hampshire. It is the
power of her rivers which gives New Hampshire
its greatest importance. The damage done is
already most serious, " and if this state of things
continues, manufacturing by the water-power of
the Merrimack will become, in my judgment, im-
possible. No new mills will be put up, and the
old ones will have to use steam, which places them
at a great disadvantage with regard to other manu-
facturing cities where coal is much cheaper, owing
to less transportation."

The strength of such manufactories as the
Amoskeag Mills consists largely in their situation,
where nature pours over their water-wheels, at the
lowest possible cost, the power that moves their
spindles and looms. If these water-powers are to
be destroyed, such industries will be practically de-
stroyed. If steam must be used, and coal brought
from the distant mines, the condition will be
revolutionized.

"I appeal to you, gentlemen," says Mr.
Coolidge, '' for the interest of New Hampshire,
which depends on the success of the manufactur-
ing corporations situated on the Merrimack and
the other streams of the State, to exert your utmost
influence to induce the next legislature to protect
the forests remaining. — TA^ Manufacturer,

Improvements in Wood Fibre.

A N architect of Munich, Germany, claims to
.h\ give to wood fibre a special adaptation

^ and value as a building material by im-
pregnating it antiseptically with a mortar stucco,
manufactured by a peculiar process, in combina-
tion with a mortar of Roman cements. The ne-
cessity of constructing partition walls in upper
stories when they do not exist on the lower floors
has led to various inventive resorts for supporting
such walls either by means of cast-iron pillars or
with iron beams. Very light materials for parti-
tions are also used, such as walls of iron-wire, laths
of cane, etc., but to all these, it is claimed to have
been proved by experiments, the planks, the slabs,
and even the wainscoting of the Schwartz wood
fabric, are superior. Furthermore, they are de-
scribed as being incombustible, able to be worked
in the same manner and with the same tools
as ordinary wood, and are bad conductors of heat,
cold and sound.

< •

— The wood burner finds that the common white
wood or yellow poplar of America yields readily
to treatment with the hot iron, but the most satis-
factory fire-etching has been done on panels of
French poplar, which is soft and free from gum.

Ne^v Books.

Report of the Department of Agriculture of Penn-
sylvania, Part IL Division of Forestry, 1895.
Harrisburg, Pa. 8vo, 361 pages, illustrated, bound
in cloth. This volume comprises the report of the
Forestry Commission, the engineering portion of
the report being treated by William F. Shunk, and
the botanical and practical section by Dr. J. T.
Rothrock.

Mr. Shunk gives the area of Pennsylvania as 45,-
096 square miles, and after sketching its general
topographical features, presents sketches of its
water sheds, crediting the Delaware River with a
drainage basin of 6443 square miles in Pennsylva-
nia, supplemented by 5000 square miles in neigh-
boring States. Similarly the Susquehanna River
drains 21,006 square miles in Pennsylvania, and
6000 in adjoining States, while the Ohio at the
western border of the State has a basin of 14,747
square miles in Pennsylvania, with 8680 square miles
tributary in adjoining States. Minor drainage areas
aggregate 2900 square miles. A colored map
graphically indicates these principal water sheds
and those of the prominent affluents, while a series
of profiles illustrate the brief, but comprehensive
statements, concerning the various streams, and a
diagram shows the fluctuations of the Susquehanna
River at Harrisburg from 1874 to 1894.

Mr. Shunk directs attention to six possible forest
reserves, ranging in area from 200 to 2000 square
miles, and emphasizes the importance of the Po-
cono tract of 970 square miles, and the Lycoming
tract of 1460 square miles. As the average present
value of these lands is given at seventy-five cents
l)er acre, the State could secure the six reserves, with
an aggregate i:rea of 5430 square miles, for about
$2,600,000, a small amount when compared with
the value which these reserves would prove to
the commonwealth.

Mr. Shunk briefly discusses the influence of the
forests upon reducing flood ravages, but omits to
direct attention to the important bearing which
forest areas have upon our water-powers and water
supply. These and other topics would probably
have received attention from him, had not serious
illness interfered with Mr. Shunk's labors in the
Commission, a circumstance greatly to be regretted,
for the engineering features of the forestry problem
of this State need to be appreciated by the Legisla-
ture and the people.

The report of Dr. Rothrock, the botanist mem-
ber of the Commission, embodies fourteen dis-
tinct chapters embellished with forty-seven full
page illustrations, which add greatly to the value
of the report.

For the first time the laws of the assembly re-
lating to forestry, timberland, trees, etc., are col-
lected and abstracted, and the table of forest fires

'=-1

I ■■■»» ■

FOREST LEAVES.

tells a startling story of their ravages, supple-
mented by the detailed statement of cleared and
timbered land, and the views of burned or waste
areas.

The direct financial loss from these fires was
enormous, while the indirect loss was even greater
One firm in Pennsylvania has in recent years lost
150,000,000 feet of timber by reason of forest
fires; another has had 12s, 000 acres of land de-
vastated during the season of 1 893. Of all the many
causes which combine to destroy property by fire
insurance companies now place burninir forests
third or fourth in the list.

The catalogue of forest trees of Pennsylvania
having commercial value adds to the usefulness of
the work, as does the discussion of forestry methods
and notes on propagation.

Pennsylvania, under original natural conditions
was one of the best wooded States in the eastern
half of the Union. The forests were dense the
trees large and valuable, and comprised a variety
that was of great commercial value. Now, this is i
sadly changed.

In the absence of forests on hilly regions, the
soil becomes impoverished and barren, and floods i
rush down from such areas to the great detriment
of the regions below. Pennsylvania to-day has
many such tracts, and it is an imperative necessity
that this condition be remedied. The change will
involve half a century of work, and no person or
persons can be expected to undertake it The
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should do it for
her own self-preservation. |

The cost would be small, compared with the im-
mense good to be derived from the outlay Be-
sides this, each farmer cobld plant trees on' some
portions of his farm, along small streams, ravines,
or rocky hillsides, and thus in twenty years add
sorne $5000 to the value of his farm. In the' year
ending May 30, 1880, the total value of the lum-
ber products of Pennsylvania (merely as lumber
and not in a manufactured condition) aggregated
i»22,45 7,359. This estimate does not include the
money distributed through the tanning industries
aggregating about ^12,000,000 annually. Penn-
sylvania then stood onlv second in its lumber in-
terests, now, in consequence of forest fires and dis-
regard of forestry principles, the great tanning and
lumber interests are seriously menaced

In half a century this State could have, on
grounds otherwise of no value at all, a timber crop
worth §1,500,000,000. Hence the potential loss
(not the actual) to the commonwealth for each
fire or series of fires that devastates the timber
producing areas is $30,000,000. There are ap-
proximately 15,973,737 acres of cleared land and
9,099,817 acres of wooded lands now in this State.
These figures are compiltid from assessors' reports
and do not embrace the entire area of the State'

on account of carelesness in oflftcial returns Prob-
bly 36.29 per cent, of the area of the State is in
timber.

Some details of the large consumption of timber
in Pennsylvania in mines and railroads are given

Statements from 265 mine owners in this State
have deduced the following facts:

The yearly consuption in all the mines of Penn-
sylvania, is 46,606,196 solid feet. It requires i^n -
818 acres of land or 218 square miles to furnish
merely the prop timber used in one year by the
coal mines. If Pennsylvania is not careful the
supply of timber will not meet home demands

Seventy railroads of this State use an aggregate
^* 3*129,417 ties yearly, and the total number is
probably about 3,556,041, or 158,540,160 feet;
17,990,504 feet are used for general construction ;
8,246 189 feet for bridge building and 78,240,768
feet of wood as fuel, or a total of 263,017,621 feet
of lumber used annually by Pennsylvania's rail-
roads.

It is a most valuable work on the timber lands
of Pennsylvania, the native trees, etc., and all our
readers should secure a copy.

TAe Timber Pines of the Southern United States
Quarto. 143 pages. Illustrated. U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Forestry Division, Washing-
ton, D. C. ^ ^ b

This work forms Bulletin No. 13, and is com-
posed of a series of monographs by Dr. Charles
Mohr on the ^v^ pines of economic importance
in the southern United States, giving the results
of many years of conscientious observation and
study. An interesting chapter on the wood struc-
ture, by Filibert Roth, has been added, and a
comparative study of the economic, sylvicultural
and technical characteristics and values of the
pines under consideration. Dr. Mohr has made
an exhaustive investigation of the longleaf pine
j {Pmns pa/ustris, M,),i\\G Cuban pine {Finns hete-
1 rophylla), the shortleaf pine {Pinus echinata, J/.),
I the loblolly pine {Pinus tccda, T.), and the spruce
V^nQ {Pinus g/at?ra). The data which he has col-
lected, aided by the fine illustrations, convey
much new and valuable information, and the work
IS a very thorough treatise of the ^wq species con-
I sidered, creditable alike to the author and to the
! Forestry Division.

— Degane wood is imported from South Amer-
ica, and IS used in making light trout and bass
rods. It IS much like lance wood, but lighter in
weight, and is sold generally by the rod and tackle
men.

—Nickel-plating wood is a new industry, in
which utility instead of beauty is sought.

FOREST LEAVES.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

OF

TREES

IN THIS PAPER ARE MADE BY THE NEW

Autoglyphic Process

OF

FOREST LEAVER.

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN

OF THE

Peisylvania Forestri Association,

SEND FOR CIRCULAR.

LE^WIS' LEAF CHART.

PART 1, NOW HEADY,

No. 1 . Hiciinial-fruited Oaks : Black Oak and allies. Price 50 c.
No. 2. Annual-fruited Oaks : White Oak and allies. Price 5() c.
No. 3. Southern, PaciHc, Hardy Foreign and some extinct oaks.

Price :>() c.
Accompanying illustrated Booklet, relating to the Oaks. Price

r>0 c. Sent on receipt of cash price, in tubes, or boxed

when ordered in large qurtntities. In the latter case,

send for wholesale prices.

Price of whole series of Charts, illustrating i>ne hundred species
of our best trees, S6.(K). Please subscribe for the series.

GRACEANNA LEWIS,

121 "West Washington Street, Media, Pennsylvania.

AND THE

Aniericafl Forestry Association.

The attention of the advertising public
is called to the advantages we offer as a
medium. Address, 1012 Walnut Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

RATES-

I inch, .
'A page, .

insertion.
$1.00

4.00

7.00

12.00

insertions.
$4.00

17.00

30.00

50.00

insertions.
$8.00

34.00

60.00

100.00

ON'T BUY

"te^^UNTIL to

yoa Rend

The Win.H. MOON Compan),

MORRI8VILLE, PA.

/ For their new descrlp- Cmaa
tive Catalogue fur 189t>— il VVi

BUY NO INCUBATOR

and pay for it before giving
it a trial.

The firm who Is afraid to let ^ou
try their incubator before buying
it, has no faith in their machine.
We will sell you ours ON TRIAL,

NOT A CENT until tried,
and a child can run it with
5 minutes* attention a day.

We won FIRST PRIZE WORLD'S FAIR, and

will win you for a steady customer if you will only buy
ours on trial. Our large catalogue will cost you 5
cents and give you $100 worth of practical infor-
mation on poultry and incubators and the money
there is in the business IMans for Brooders, Houses,
etc., J") cts. N. B.—Send us the names of three per-
sons interested in poultry and 25 cents and we
will send you "The Bicycle: Its Care and Re-
pair," a book of 180 subjects and 80 illustrations,
worth $5 to any bicycle rider.

VON CULIN INCUBATOR CO.,

BOX 1310 DELAWARE CITY, DEL,

FOREST LEAVES.

ORIENTAL PLANE,

THE BEST TREE FOR STREET AND AVENUE PLANTING.

At the present tiiiie tree-loving people are endeavoring to seeure the hest tree for plant-
ing on the avenues and streets of onr cities, and after a careful study of the matter we have
reached the conclusion that the Oriental l^lane is in every respect the most satisfactory.
It is long lived, a rapid grower, and very clean, as it is never troubled with worms or insects.

PLANE TREES ON VICTORIA EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES RIVER, LONDON.

Five years ago, while in Europe for horticultural research, we found that for a num-
ber of years, in London, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and other critics, this tree had been
used with most successtul results. It was found to be the onlv tree which would li^row
satisfactorilv on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames River, London.

Tlie parks and cemeteries in many of our cities and a mimber of our leading land-
scape gardeners have recently been using tlie Oriental Plane very extensively for avenue
planting. Can furnish many testimonials concernini": the merits of this tree.

Trees of good size 75 cents, $1.00, and $1.50 each. Special rates in quantity.

ANDORRA NURSERIES,

WILLIAM WARNER HARPER, Manager,

SPECIALTIES:

CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA., PA

Large

Specimen Ornamental Trees,
Hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas-

t.

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