UC-NRLF V&-KX ^J^^*^. «c.,*. /h4~ - 1 1 Work of Minnesota Forest Service - 1 2 Slash Burning - 1 5 -'50933 has been found both expedient and appropriate to change the name and the organization of the "Minnesota Forester." The paper will hereafter be the joint organ of the State Forest Service and the Minnesota State For- estry Association. It will continue to support the same principles as before with the old-time vigor, and will in addition set forth as clearly as possible the policies and activities of the State Forest Service. The condition of the forest fires in the north woods will be closely followed for the benefit of the public and any important test cases or decisions will be carefully recorded for the benefit of the rangers and patrolmen of the Service. The publication will hereafter be known as "The North Woods." We ask you to give it the same loyal support that you have given the "Minnesota Forester" in the past. For our part we promise to persist in insisting that you do your duty as citizen in preventing the occurrence of forest fires and caring for the timber resources of the State. ONE of the most important measures passed by the Legislature of 1911 was the bill for the establish- ment of a State Forest Service. This gives Minne- sota the most efficient forest law of any state in the Union. The law provides for the appointment of a State Forester. The position is entirely non-political, the appointment being made by the State Forestry Board, whose members are nom- inated by the different societies and institutions of the State. The law abolishes the office of the State Forestry Commissioner and vests all the duties and authority of that office in the State Forester. The chief duty of the Forester at present is the prevention and suppression of forest fires, but he is also entrusted with the management of all the State forest reserves under the control of the Forestry Board, and the encouragement of the practice of forestry within the State. Instead of the miserable pittance of $17,000 allowed for forest protection in the past the new law appropriates $75,000 per year for the new Forest Service. Although this is only half as much as is needed for the protection of such a vast territory it is a generous increase over past years and prom- ises well for the future. The Forestry Board was especially fortunate in securing for the office of State Forester Mr. W. T. Cox, who is prob- ably better suited to fill the position successfully than any 5 other mpu in the United States. It is his own State and he has always shown an active interest in it. He has hunted over it and worked over it and knows the condition better than any other forester. He was graduated from the Forest School of the University of Minnesota and then through field work in all parts of the United States worked his way up to Assistant Forester' of the United States. His work there fitted him well for his new work here — for he was in charge of the division of management in the United States service, the division which manages and protects the vast areas of the National Forests. Mr. Cox's first official act was the appointment as his assistant of Mr. Dillon P. Tierney. Mr. Tierney was graduated from the Forest School of the University of Minnesota in 1906. During his course he did considerable work for the State in the north woods. The year after graduation he worked for the Weyerhaeuser Companies at Cloquet. The next year was spent at the Yale Forest School, where he received the degree of M. F. The following year was divided between seme private work in Alabama and United States Forest Service work in Mon- tana. He was then appointed an instructor in the Minne- sota College of Forestry and put in charge of the* Cloquet Forest Experiment Station. This wide experience and thor- ough training makes him an invaluable assistant. The new law made the Forestry Commissioner, General C. C. Andrews, Secretary of the Forestry Board, and relieved him of the arduous and thankless duties of State Fire Warden. As we said before, Minnesota now has a State Forest Service to be proud of: good men, a good law, and a good organization. Only one thing more is necessary: backing and co-operation from the corporations and people of the State. Don't let us throttle down this splendid machine by antagonism and lack of support. We have fooled away our forest wealth long enough; now let. us make a supreme effort under these most favorable conditions to make up for the neglect of the past and to push ahead with the new order of things. 6 ©ttr 3fftr? Jlatnil The chief object of our new State Forest Service is the protection of our forests from fire; the new idea is the pre- vention of fires rather than the fighting of them after they have started. The old law provided for the fighting of fires that had already started, but did not make any provision for measures looking toward the prevention of fires. A man could be paid for the work he did in actually putting out a forest fire, but he could not collect for the time he put in looking up the cause of a column of smoke. The natural consequence of such a law was that the fire wardens were not willing to trust the old proverb that "Where there's a smoke, there's a fire," but waited for some more conclusive proof that their services were really needed. Result: twenty men for two days fighting a fire that the warden could have put out alone if he had been there in time; and an expense to the State that would have more than paid for the warden's full time for a month, not to mention the damage done to the timber and the soil. The new law aims directly at the prevention of these fires. If a fire does get a start the law provides for its extinction, but every effort is made to catch it in its incip- ient stage, or to prevent it entirely by the cleaning up of dangerous brush around logging camps, highways and clear- ings, by enforcing the use of spark arresters on locomotives,, and by educating the people. Naturally, such a change in the law necessitated a change in the field force. The only way to prevent fires was to create a body of men whose sole business it was to watch the forests continuously throughout the fire season for any- thing that looked like a fire or anything that looked apt to start a fire. The Forester decided that the only way to do this suc- cessfully was to divide the forest section of the State into a number of districts and put a competent man in charge of each. Twenty districts were created. The number was lim- ited by the size of the appropriation. It is clear that they are larger than one man should be required to handle, but the great efficiency of the present force, even when working on such large territories, should encourage the Legislature to be more generous next time. The districts created, the next thing was to find the right men to take charge of them. It was easy to get men, but the right men were not so plentiful. They had to be good woodsmen, experienced, strenuous, tactful, and yet masterful. They were carefully selected from hundreds of applicants. 2fye Sfespflttstbtlttg nf tlje ffiattfc ©timer Owing to the fact that the State has always paid men for fighting forest and prairie fires, the people of the north woods have to a certain degree lost the idea of individual responsi- bility. There are few individuals who would volunteer to put out a fire that did not threaten immediate danger to 'themselves or their neighbors, and nine-tenths of the ones who would volunteer such services would want pay for them. Even fires which they themselves have started on their own land they look to the State to take care of. This is altogether a wrong idea of the State's duties as fire warden. The State should, and does, try to prevent forest fires, and aids in every way in putting them out when they have started; but this does not free the individual from the responsibility of exercising care in starting fires on his own land, nor entitle him to compensation for putting them out. The chief source of trouble in this connection is the bog fire. A bog which catches fire in a dry season will burn on for months in spite of considerable rain. It is a hard job to put it out, and the land owner figures that it will do little damage where it is. He neglects it and lets it burn on unnoticed. If it must be put out, he expects the State to do it. The danger comes when the fire perists till a dry 8 season, and a high wind causes it to break away into the open and grow into a conflagration. Many of our bad fires have started in just this way. Under the law a person permitting a fire to burn unat- tended on his own property is guilty of a misdemeanor. These bog fires come well within the meaning of this law, and it is up to the landowner to put them out at his own expense. It is the cheapest course for him, and he should do it willingly rather than be called into court. No man in the city gets pay for putting out a fire in his own house, and no settler has a right to expect pay for putting out a fire on his own homestead. The reasonablenss of this demand should appeal to every- one, and the respect for the property of others should enforce this precaution without any other incentive. 3% Hoai aa a The following letter, addressed by the State Forester to the chairman of all the Boards of County Commissioners in the State should change the country roads from firetraps to firebreaks, and develop the most comprehensive protective system that could be devised — with practically no expense. The rangers can enforce this order in their districts, but they should be backed up by every citizen in the county. No road contract should be let hereafter without a clause requiring this disposal of slashings. Even if the land on either side of the road is to be quickly cleared for agricultural purposes, this precaution is not wasted. The pile of slashings along the edge of a right-of-way makes an ugly place to build a fence, and the disposal of it when it has once been piled in the standing brush is much more expensive than it would have if it had been piled in the middle of the road in the first place. 9 , July 1, 1911. Chairman Board of County Commissioners — Dear Sirs: Since logging companies, railroads and others cutting timber are required to properly dispose of the brush or slash, it would seem advisable that the State and Coun- ties conform to this requirement where they are constructing roads. As we all know it has been the practice to throw the tree-tops and brush into piles or wind-rows along the edge of the woods on both sides of the road. This has a doubly harmful effect. The brush when dry constitutes a fire-trap in which a fire can quickly gain headway if any one passing by carelessly drops a lighted match or cigar butt. It also renders the road useless as a fire-break, since a hot fire so near the road is almost sure to jump across and because of the added heat from the brush piles it cannot be stopped at the road. A road should constitute one of the best pos- sible places to stop a fire. In any road work which your county has under way or intends building, you should immediately provide for the burning of the brush and tree-tops where the road passes through wooded lands. The burning should be done by throw- ing the brush into the middle of the roadway and burning it in piles when conditions are such that the adjoining woods can be protected. Some one should be left to see that the fire does not spread, since the person or persons in charge of the work are liable for all damage caused by a fire which escapes. The disposal of brush is required by the forest law passed during the last session of the Legislature (Sections 1 and 15, Chapter 125), which makes it the duty of the State Forester to prescribe the manner of disposing of all brush and slashings as a means of preventing forest fires. I con- sider this work of special importance. It is something per- fectly feasible to carry out; it costs little and should have a very beneficial effect in the control of fires in your com- munity. I hope that you will give this matter your personal thought and attention both as a county officer and as a 10 citizen. The State Forest Service will keep in touch and will appreciate your efforts in the carrying out of these instructions. Very truly yours, STATE FORESTER. The attention of sportsmen and all others who visit the forests is called to the following appeal: Jlrmtti An Appeal to All sportsmen are interested in the portection of our for- ests. This could not be otherwise, since the forests consti- tute the natural home of all big game within the state. With the disappearance of the woods the game will disappear also. Many of our game fishes can live only in our wooded lakes and streams; the protection afforded by the forest and the character of run-off resulting from a forest cover appears essential to their existence and propagation. The sportsman, before all others, appreciates the forest for its own sake. The lure of the woods is one of the great- est incentives to the camper, hunter or fisherman. Who would care to go on a lengthy canoe trip or camp in the northern wilderness were it not for the call of the woods? The forests of this state have been steadily reduced in area and impoverished in character by fires, and this is an appeal to you to do all in your power to prevent forest fires by exercising care in camp and by putting out small fires when you find them. Under the new forest law any person leaving a fire unex- tinguished is liable for the damage it does and is subject to prosecution as well. The State has over a hundred rangers and patrolmen on duty, but every sportsman should be a volunteer ranger and game warden and help protect the forests and the game. WM. T. COX, State Forester. 11 &? rtrir* ' The Minnesota Forest Service was organized in May, 1911. It was then that the State Forestry Board, in accord- ance with the Act of April 12th, selected "a trained Forester" and turned over to him the administrative work of the De- partment. The forest law is a comprehensive one, carefully drawn and passed upon previous experience in this and other states. It provides an annual appropriation of $75,000.00, in addition to certain specific appropriations made for the care and pro- tection of the State Forest Reserves and parks. The task of the service is enormous. Minnesota originally had approximately 33,000,000 acres of forest. Of this 5,000,000 acres have been cleared for farming, leaving 28,000,000 acres of forest land in this State. This is exclusive of the lakes lying within the forest region. There are about 4,000,000 acres of Indian Reservation and National Forest lands in the State, leaving 24,000,000 acres extending north and northwestward from the mouth of the St. Croix three hundred miles to the Canadian boundary, and for more than three hundred miles along the boundary from Lake of the Woods to Lake Superior. This enormous area, now largely cut over and much of it burned, it is the duty of the State Forest Service to protect from fire. Since the organization of the Service last May consider- able progress has been made. This State has been divided into twenty fire districts which embrace the coniferous forest region. In charge of each of these districts is a district ranger, selected solely because of his experience and ability as a woodsman — the type of man commonly employed as logging superintendent. These men are located at the most convenient points for reaching the different portions of their districts and keeping in touch with their patrolmen and with the public. The rangers have selected the headquarters for their patrolment and assigned to each of them a definite area to patrol. Both the rangers and patrolmen have been in- structed in the field as to their duties. 12 Many look-out towers have been erected, and a larger number, as well as some telephone lines, are in process of construction. Trails are being cut out and canoe routes improved to furnish quick means of communication in dis- tricts heretofore practically impassable. Wagon roads are being encouraged by substantial assistance in the actual clearing out of the timber where the roads will serve as valuable fire lines. Several fire lines other than wagon roads are being cut out in places where they will play an important part in preventing the spread of fires in danger- ous localities. Canoe routes are being mapped as well as improved, and portages fixed up so that they will no longer have to be dreaded by the traveler. Good camping places are designated, with the idea of persuading people to use the same sites and thus minimize the danger of greatly strung-out or scattered camp fires along the routes of travel. Crude but safe outdoor fire-places are thrown together by the patrol- ment for the use of campers in localities much used. The railroads have been brought to realize that a busi- ness-like system of fire protection is a paying proposition, and they have organized special forces of patrolmen mounted on speeders and placed where the district rangers feel that they will be most effective. These places are, of course, on the heavy grades and along sections of the tracks peculiarly susceptible to the starting of fires. The companies are also paying much more attention than formerly to the question of spark arresters on their locomotives. At least two new spark arresting devices of great promise have been produced within the last three months by the master mechanics of railroad companies within the State. In the construction of new railroads, wagon roads, trails, etc., the brush is no longer piled along the outside of the right-of-way to serve as a fire-trap, but is required to be burned as construction proceeds. In the summer logging being done this season on a large scale because of the large quantities of timber killed by last summer's fires, the slash has been either burned as the log- ging progressed, or piled ready for burning late in the fall 13 or early in the spring, depending upon the character of the timber. The most economical and satisfactory method for the disposal of slash differs widely in different types of for- est, so that the method to be used in each case is left to the district ranger to prescribe, the idea being to co-operate with the lumber companies in working out the best method for each individual tract. There is no disposition to be arbi- trary, but there is a persistent desire to get rid of the slash which constitutes a fire danger. Co-operation with the settlers is being brought about. The settlers are coming to realize the importance of forest fire prevention to themselves and the community, and in many localities are rendering valuable assistance to the rangers. Volunteer fire brigades, similar to the ones main- tained in villages, are being organized in communities where this is feasible. Control of forest fires will be much more effective when the rich agricultural lands of Northern Minne- sota are thickly settled, thus cutting the forest region into belts and irregular tracts, and confining it to the poor, sandy, or rocky land, which alone should be maintained in forest. The State has made a good start in the matter of creat- ing parks and forest reserves. Principal among these are Itasca Park, which includes the source of the Mississippi and Burntside Forest in the wild rocky region north of the Vermillion Range. It is the duty of the State Forest Service to care for and improve the State reserves, which are rapidly coming to be appreciated for their beautiful lakes and pine forests, full of ideal spots for summer camps. The rangers serve as special game wardens without pay, and the regular game wardens of the Game and Fish Com- mission serve as special forest rangers, thus increasing the force of men devoting their efforts towards making safe and accessible the great forests of Northern Minnesota. 14 The old law enforced the burning of slash wherever found, regardless of conditions and circumstances. It aroused much opposition among the lumbermen, because they knew that there were places where it was useless, and others where it was not only useless but the next thing to impos- sible. The ignoring of these local conditions was the weakest point in the law. The attitude of the present State Forest Service toward this problem which is of so much importance to lumbermen is very clearly shown by the following circular letter from that office directed to rangers throughout the northern end of the State. In reading the letter it must be remembered that these regulations are issued to sensible woodsmen, who use their discretion and their judgment, based on years of woods experience, in enforcing them. COPY OF CIRCULAR LETTER TO RANGERS REGARDING DISPOSAL OF SLASH. MINNESOTA FOREST SERVICE. July, 1911. A. Slash on land which is to be cleared for farming should be effectively disposed of, either in pile or by burn- ing the whole area, at such a time and with such care as will prevent its spread to any adjacent lands. B. Lands not to be cleared in near future: (1) Where appreciable quantities of young and pos- sibly merchantable timber is left standing, slash should be piled and burned either as cutting pro- ceeds or later, when conditions are more favor- ble for safe burning, without endangering the remaining ground growth and timber. 15 (2) Where the land is cut practically clear of mer- chantable timber and there is no young growth present, the slash, if it endangers adjacent forest land, property or human life, must be burned in the cheapest, safe and effective manner. If ad- jacent forest lands, property or human life are not endangered by the slash it need not be burned. (3) Where only a light cutting (10 to 15 trees per acre) is made, but the fire danger to the remaining and adjacent timber is materially increased, the slash must be disposed of either by burning in small piles or by lopping the branches from the tops and limbs, so that they will lie close to and flat upon the ground. If the danger is not increased the slash need not be burned. C. Slash along roads, etc. Slash resulting from cutting out or clearing right-of-way for railroads, wagon and tote roads, trails, portages, ditches, telephone, telegraph and power lines, must be burned clean within the cleared space. It is a misdemeanor to allow fire to spread to the land of another, and in addition the person or persons responsi- ble for such a fire are liable for all damages caused. In fire-killed timber, where for the most part the needles, leaves and small twigs are destroyed, the slash need not be disposed of. As a general rule, slash which is or may prove to be a fire danger must be disposed of. WM. T. COX, State Forester. "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume IV. DECEMBER, 1911 Number 3 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. E. G. CHEYNEY, Editor, ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINNESOTA. CONTENTS Fire Protection and the Settler 3 What the Government Does to Help 7 Letter to Town Officers - 9 Service Notes - 11 Forest Near Beaudette Before the Fire. Fire Protection and the Settler Settler, Know Your Ranger. THE following is an extract from a letter written to the State Forester by a sportsman who was hunting in the North woods last month and became interested in the forest situation here: "In talking with homesteaders within the past three or four weeks, I praised the work which the State Forest Serv- ice was doing, especially in fighting fire. My remarks were met with disapproval. Their point of view in a general way amounted to the statement that forest fires are good for the homesteader. It's the easiest way of clearing land, and it opens up tracts which would otherwise require a great deal of labor. I called attention to the destruction of timber on the land, and was told it was the easiest way to get rid of it; that if they tried to sell it they were cheated by the lum- ber companies. This, you see, is the line of criticism." We know that this is not the attitude of all the set- tlers by any means, but there evidently are a few and the situation should be explained to them. This article will en- deavor to explain the attitude of these laws dealing with forest fires toward the clearing of wild land for settlement. It is very important that the settlers of the northern part of the state should be thoroughly familiar with the present system of forest fire protection that they may know both what restrictions are placed upon them and — which is quite as important — what restrictions are not placed upon them. Otherwise they are apt to become unnecessarily entangled with the law or to have exaggerted ideas of the imagined hardships which those laws impose. It is not necessary for any settler, no matter where he may be located in the Northern counties, to overtax his mem- ory in order to recall some instance where a fire started with the intention of clearing up a little land had destroyed some other man's home or burned up some valuable timber. Occa- sionally it has come back like a boomerang and detsroyed the home of the very man who set it. On the other hand it is yet easier to recall many instances where fires have been thus used to the great advantage of the settler without any apparent injury to anyone. Naturally the damaging fires re- ceive the most attention and make a greater impression on public opinion. This leads many people to make the rather rash decision that all use of fire in the clearing of land should be prohibited. The man in the city or on the prairie, who has no land to clear and whose only knowledge of the conditions in the for- ested areas is obtained from the newspaper accounts of the property destroyed and the lives lost in the forest fires, knows nothing of the necessities involved in the clearing of land and is rather indifferently in favor of any law which tends to lessen that damage regardless of the hardship he is unwittingly putting on some settler. The settler who has already cleared his land — whether by fire or otherwise — and has put many valuable improvements on his farm in the shape of buildings, fences, haystacks, etc., also supports energetically any law which promises to protect that prop- erty from destruction. It is a matter of self-defense with him and he cannot afford to take any chances ; the more rigor- ous the law the better it suits him. The timber owner has the same point of view. Were these three classes the only ones to be consid- ered the forest fire problem would be a simple one; the strict- est possible laws could be passed and the people would see to it that they were rigidly enforced. But there is another side to the question. Many of the claims in the North coun- try are entirely covered with forest or brush and the set- tlers too short of capital to afford to clear them by other means than burning. These settlers have their rights and their needs must be considered; must, indeed, be very leniently considered, for they are engaged in a life of hard- ships which will add to the wealth of the state. They are Foresft Near Beaudette After the Fire. homemakers and should be aided in their work in every legi- timate way. Some of these men naturally regard any law which deprives them of this one method of land-clearing within their reach unfair. They fight it and elude it every chance they get. Any system of fire protection must protect all these dif- ferent interests, if it is to be successful ; the present sys- tem in force in this state does protect them all. Why, then, are many of the settlers opposed to the system? Why do they look on it with disfavor as an encroachment on their rights? In most cases the answer is clear, because they do not understand the present law and do not know their rights under it. Here are, in brief, the points of the law: The destruction of the property of another is no man's right, and punishment for such an offense is unquestionably justifiable. If a man shoots at a deer and kills a horse, he would never doubt the claim of the horse's owner for dam- ages. Why, then, should he resent it if a man objects to having his house or his timber burned by a fire which was meant to clear a field? It is quite as clearly justifiable to prohibit by law any- thing which greatly endangers the life or property of an- other. No one questions the right of the law to protect a man's building a fire in a city which may burn down the house next door. Strict laws govern the character of the building which may be put in a certain district that other more valuable property may be protected. Every fire, whether in a cook stove or the furnace, in a city house endangers other houses more or less, but it is not possible to do without them. Hence certain restrictions are put upon those fires by law. They must be in a certain kind of stove with a certain kind of chimney. In the same way every fire in a wooded claim endangers other property, but some of them are necessary and cannot be prohibited; they can only be regulated by restrictions. In other words, there are many cases where there must be a compromise between the protection of property and the necessity for fire. Such compromise the State Forester, un- der the persent law, is authorized to make either directly or through his rangers. There is no such thing as a fixed closed season when slash burning is prohibited. Every case must be decided in view of the conditions and the danger which threatens other property. Because one man has been prevented from burning at a certain time is no reason for all his neighbors to consider that they also have been denied. Conditions may be such that it would be perfectly safe to burn on one claim, and suicidal to attempt it on the neigh- Boring claim at the same time. These conditions will be studied in each individual case by competent men w'ho know their business and who will favor the settler whenever it is possible to do so. There will be some whole seasons when it will not be safe to burn at all even with the greatest care. It is hardly ever safe to light a fire in slash and let it go without first taking certain precautionary measures. What these measures are will vary according to conditions and will never be any more inconvenient then is positively necessary. Although some of these measures may seem to the settler to work him a hard- ship he must remember that others have rights as well as he, and that it is less of a hardship for him to defer his burning, even for a considerable time, than it would be for a neihgbor to lose his home through a fire carelessly set. The settler must also remember that the ranger has the full authority of the law to put a stop to his brush burning whenever it endangers property, but, which is quite as im- portant, that ranger will gladly accommodate him whenever possible, for he wants his co-operation and cannot do satis- factory work without it. Half the harshness which a few of the settlers see in the new law is imaginary and nine-tenths of it would dis- appear if each one consulted frankly with his ranger, instead of sullenly imagining himself injured. A little open-minded investigation would show him that the law has been tem- pered for his especial benefit instead of sharpened for the express purpose of persecuting him. There is not a case where slash cannot be burned under the law and with the permission of the rangers if certain reasonable conditions will be complied with. The law protects the settler from his neighbor and him- self; the law is for him, not against him; let him learn it and he will abide by it. (This article will be followed up in the next issue with an article on "The Use of Fire in Clearing Land.") What the Government Does to Help THE primary object of the Week's bill which was passed by the last session of Congress was the creation of N. F/s in the White Mountains and Southern Appalachians, a much needed measure and one for which the supporters of forestry had been striving for many years. When the bill finally passed, it accomplished this purpose and at the same time provided for a certain amount of protection to the forests on the water sheds of navigable streams in other parts of the country. A certain amount of the fund was set aside to be distrib- uted by the Forest Service among the states which were will- ing to co-operate in the work. Some states received one thou- sand dollars, others two, others three, and so on. Minnesota, on account of her large area of important water sheds and her efficient State Forest Service received $10,000.00. According to this co-operative agreement, the money could be used for the employemnt of patrolmen who should be paid by the Federal Government, but appointed and controlled by the State Foresters. The only restriction was that the men so employed should be employed exclusively upon the water sheds specified. This timely aid made possible the appoint- ment of thirty-five extra men. The importance of this aid can hardly be over-estimated. The appropriation made by the Legislature was too small to allow the appointment of enough patrolmen to properly and efficiently cover the vast forest territory which needed pro- tection. In this early stage of the development of our state patrol system it is of the extremest importance that the patrolmen should frequently cover the whole district assigned to them in order that they may become thoroughly acquainted not only with the forest conditions, but with the settlers within their district. It is of equal importance that the peo- ple become thoroughly acquainted with the law and the men who are enforcing it. The co-operation with the government has alone made this relationship possible. The men do know now, owing to the smaller districts it has been possible to assign them, all the settlers in their districts and have done a greater educational work than could have been accom- plished in any other way. It is this educational work carried on continually through the favorable seasons of little danger which will mean the salvation of the country when a dry season comes upon us. The ranger will then have the divided support of an intel- ligent people instead of having to contend with a stolid in- difference or" a stubborn opposition born of ignorance. 8 Letter to Town Officers Dear Sir: You probably know of the systematic effort which has been made in 1911 to protect Minnesota's forests and prairies from fire. The great area of Minnesota, approximately 28,000,000 acres, where these fires occur has been divided into twenty large districts, each in charge of a District Ranger working under the State Forester. As you live in one of these districts, you doubtless know that during the past fire season there were other men, called patrolmen, work- ing under your local ranger, and that each one had a beat of several townships. It was the same in all districts; in some cases a patrolman had twenty townships. The neces- sity of assigning so much territory to one man is unfor- tunate; it exists because the appropriation provided for the Forest Service will maintain during the summer months but a limited number of men, — an average patrol force of eighty men, — who must patrol more than one thousand townhsips. It is evident, and this may have occurred to you, that with beats so large patrolmen cannot do so effective work and that more property, even life, may each year be destroyed by fire in any township than would be the case were the beats smaller, — preferably one township to each patrolman. This truth applies to your township. Section 24 of the 1911 Forest Law permits the people to take action which will result in greater security to life and property (every dollar's worth of property destroyed by for- est fire is a dead loss to its owner and means a decrease in future township tax receipts) in your township. By it your voters may authorize an annual tax of five mills upon all tax- able property, the money from which will constitute the "Fire Fund," and is to be used in paying fire costs in your town. To prepare for a possible bad fire season in 1912, this tax should be authorized at your 1912. spring election, then as- sessed and collected as soon as possible. 9 "To prevent fire and its ravages is cheaper than to fight it" is a truth no one denies. The rangers correctly advise that the cheapest, most effective method of spending the "Fire Fund" is to devote all or as much of it as may be nec- essary to hiring a competent local patrolman. This man, a resident, should be reliable in every respect, — one who will do his work carefully, devote his whole time to it, and who will spend the town's money wisely. His beat will be the township, his work the prevention and control of fire therein. In order that he may work with authority and to the best good of the town it would be advisable for him to work with the State Service under the direction of the local ranger. He could then be given an official appointment by the State Forester, which would permit him under the law to act with authority and with the backing of the state in enforcing proper disposal of slash, in making arrests if necessary, in summoning aid to fight fire, and in carrying out the provi- sions of the law generally. The benefit resulting to your town from taking this action will be evident to you. Miscreants, who in a larger beat would have a good opportunity to set fires for revenge or other reasons and escape detection, would not be so daring because of the constant presence of a patrolman in a small area. Brush burning will be under closer supervision, and fires not nearly so liable to originate therefrom through care- lessness. Fires starting from any cause will be more easily extinguished while small, with a consequent saving to prop- erty owners and to the township, because a township patrol- man will at no time be very far from any given spot in his beat: This step is of the utmost importance. I hope that you will exert your influence towards the authorization of the levy at your 1912 spring election. If the people adopt the above suggestion they will at a small cost make their town a better, because a safer, place to live. December 9, 1911. WM, T. COX, State Forester, St. Paul. 10 Service Notes Ranger Kilby has completed the firebreak in the vicinity of Beaudette and Spooner, and has submitted a detailed re- port showing extent of the fire lines and the various items of cost. This is the most extensive work in the way of construct- ing fire lines done in the state, if not in the country; and it precludes the re-occurrence of such a disastrous fire as that which destroyed Beaudette and Spooner. For this work there was used three thousand dollars from the Red Cross funds subscribed for the relief of the fire suf- ferers in that vicinity. In no other way could an equal' amount of money have been spent to afford them greater relief. It is expected that the reconnaissance work now being done north of Red Lake in Beltrami county will show that some of the land in that region may be more advantageously de- voted to forestry than to agricultural purposes. Much of the land in that vicinity is excellent agricultural land; but most of the islands and ridges are very sandy, and soil tests made in them make it plain that timber is the only crop which can profitably be raised on them. Congressman Steenerson has a plan which will be sub- mitted to Congress for the creation of another Federal forest in the vicinity of Red Lake. This is a commendable under- taking, and more will be heard of it later. Ninety-five lookout towers at a total cost of approxi- mately $3,200.00 have been erected by the Forest Service. There will be a meeting of all the State Rangers in Bemidji on January 3d. At this meeting the progress of the work in 11 the different districts will be talked over among the rangers, and plans more carefully harmonized for the work of the future. For the greater protection of game in Itasca State Park the one-half mile hunting limit has now been clearly marked out. The law provides that no hunting shall be done nor fire- arms carried within one-half mile of the boundaries of the park. Heretofore the officers of the park have been at a dis- advantage in enforcing this regulation, because frequently people were unable to tell when they had come within the one-half mile limit. Ranger Johnson, with two of his patrol- men, completed the line on the west side of the park, while the work on the south and east sides was done by County Sur- veyor Keays, of Park Rapids. The line was cut out to a width of four feet, and clearly designated by posters, mark- ing the trees with red paint, and setting up painted posts at intervals of about twenty rods. The very great abundance of game in the park insures a steady supply for the adjacent territory, and there will al- ways be good hunting in the vicinity of the park as long as the state law and regulations governing the care of game are enforced. Rangers, Patrolmen, Woodsmen and Others! If you have any suggestions regarding "The North Woods" let us hear from you. 12 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest THE NORTH WOODS Volume IV. - V JANUARY, 1912 Number 4 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. E. G. CHEYNEY, Editor, ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINNESOTA. CONTENTS The Work of the Service 4 The Watch Tower - 7 The Duties of a Patrolman in the State Service 9 Cooperation With the Railroads 12 Forest Service Notes - - - - - - - 14 Get Busy ARE you a member of the Minnesota State Forestry Asso- ciation? If not it is time that you joined. Do you realize what this Association is and what it is doing? Do you realize what the forest wealth of this State is, and that you have a part in that wealth? Do you know that the State now has a Forest Service to foster that wealth and that that service needs your support? Do you further realize that you cannot support a thing nor even give it your sympathy unless you know what it is and what it is doing? And lastly, do you realize that the only way for you to be- come thoroughly familiar with this great movement is to be- come a member of this association and read the "North Woods?" It is really a great work and you must keep posted on it if you are to be a competent citizen. Every man feels that he must know the latest development of events in China, but how unimportant and unreal they are compared with the ac- tivities right here at home. Any man should be ashamed to confess that he does not know what is being done for the de- velopment of his own State. He may hide his ignorance for a while but others are reading and he will soon be unable to talk to them intelligently. You can't afford to be that ignorant man. Join the army of the progressives and send us your dollar. It is the only way. The Work of the Service Read Before Annual Meeting. By D. P. Tierney, Asst State Forester. THE original forest area in this State was about 28 mil- lion acres. Of this great area over half has been or will be turned into farms. It is the work of the Forest Service to protect all of the forest resources on the entire area from the ravages of fires and to insure the preservation of the tim- ber to its best uses. By an act of the legislature of 1911 a fund of $75,000.00 per annum was provided for the carrying on of this work. In view of the funds which were available previous to this time, this was a decided increase and speaks well for the foresight of those who were responsible for it. It is a good start, — but only a start. As a matter of comparison, if this fund of $75,- 000.00 were used entirely for the protection of the forests, at an insurance rate, it would amount to approximately l^c per $100.00 of valuation, as against 94c insurance per $100.00 of valuation on all other insurable property in the state. $75,- 000.00, then, or l^c per $100.00, is the amount the state pays for the protection of its timber resources. This is an aston- ishing comparison, but it shows, more than any other one thing, how much undervalued are our timber resources. Our first care of them, in the organization of a Forest Serv- ice personnel, was to use every possible means to prevent fire. $75,000.00 would go but a very short way in paying for fighting fires such as occurred during the extremely dry season of 1910. In preventing fires, our idea has been to carry on a campaign of education among the people living or traveling in the forest districts. The majority of the people need only to be reminded of the great danger of fires carelessly set or let run wild; but a certain number must also be reminded that they will be punished for carelessness or wanton destruction of property. Rainey Lake As a further precaution against the spread of fires, our field force requires public highways, railroads and trails to be kept clear of brush and inflammable debris. Logging opera- tions are closely followed, and the slash therefrom must be taken care of in such a way as to remove as far as possible the danger from fire. It is not always possible to burn the brush following logging operations, nor is it in many cases de- sirable. The method of disposal used depends entirely on the local conditions, such as the character of the timber, the den- sity of the stand, and the kind of soil. Wherever logging oper- ations are carried on in mixed stands, and that valuable hardwood timber is left standing, it is manifestly undesirable to start a fire that will sweep over the ground completely. The timber remaining will be either killed directly by the fire, or eventually overthrown by wind, on account of the burning up or drying out of the ground cover. Under favorable condi- tions, on all pure stands of pine, the brush is burned as the work proceeds. During the past season the Service has erected over ninety lookout towers for the use of the patrolmen and rangers. With the aid of these the field men are able to watch a much larger area than they otherwise could. Eventually these towers will be connected with the ranger's office, and the patrolmen will be mounted on ponies, so that, having discovered a fire from the tower, the patrolman may telephone a report of it to the ranger, and will be able to quickly execute the orders for the extinguishment of the fire. As a further step toward preventing fires, we have secured the co-operation of the railroads to the extent that the rights of way of all their lines in the forest district are carefully patroled at their expense whenever our rangers feel that there is danger of fires being set by their locomotives. After their disastrous experiences of the season of 1910, the railroad com- panies can readily see the advantage of spending a few thou- sand dollars to prevent the occurrence of fires. A great deal has been done. The total of damage claims and suits now pending would make the strongest kind of an argument with them for the inauguration of some scheme which will reduce the danger. During the past season two or three spark ar- resters have been designed, and they give every evidence of satisfaction under the trials to which they were submitted. It is hoped that during the coming winter there will be a con- certed effort on the part of the different companies to pass upon the respective merits of these spark arresters and adopt a design which is thoroughly efficient and satisfactory. In addition to the patrolmen provided by the railroads for their rights of way, we have also another auxiliary body of patrolmen, which may be called upon, this is from the various lumber companies. Each ranger knows the location and ex- tent of all cut-over slash lands in his district, who were re- sponsible for them, and how many men were required in a dry season to take care of them. When necessary, either the firm responsible for the slashing or the owner of the land will be called upon to put on a patrol force to keep out the fire. These two organizations, then, can be depended upon in time of need to put on a salaried force of patrolmen, amounting to about four hundred men. To a certain extent under direc- tion of Forest Service. The new law makes a provision whereby organized town- ships may levy a tax not to exceed five mills, to provide a fire 6 fund. This fund can be used to pay a forest patrolment for the town, and there is every likelihood that the majority of the organized towns will take the necessary steps to provide this fund. People now understand more clearly that the state does not make a business of paying a man every time he gets out and puts in an hour or so fighting fire, whether on his own land or not. In a number of cases during the past season owners have allowed fires to burn unguarded on their own land. This is a very dangerous practice, and our policy with regard to it has been to require the owner to get out and extinguish the fire, paying all expenses therefor. If he does not do this, he is liable to fine and imprisonment under the law. One of the most interesting things accomplished by our field force during the year has been the classification of the various types of land. Nearly every ranger has in a portion of his district, land which is not good farming land; and in many cases this same land is fully stocked with growing young pine, which in fifteen or twenty years will be of great value. Since these lands are non-agricultural, we designate them as forest land, which, for the whole northern part of the state, will total twelve or fifteen million acres. This area of forest land is separated into bodies of all sizes, ranging from a sec- tion to several townships in extent; and it is the firm belief of all conservationists that a forest is the only paying crop that can be raised on such land. The Watch Tower THE most important factor in the efficiency of any sys- tem of fire protection is the ability to discover the fires in the early stages. If this can be done the extinction of the fire is usually a very simple matter. A fire, even in the dry season, does not run very rapidly at night, but owing to the dew and the smouldering of the fire it produces a great deal of smoke. The discovery of this smoke early in the morning will usually enable the patrolmen to reach the fire and get it 7 under control before the sun has dried the ground or the wind has risen. Again, if smoke can be discovered in the late afternoon the fire can be located and usually extinguished when it is subdued by the dampness of the evening. These latter observations must not be left till too late an hour for the smoldering fires are very hard to find at night. In a mountainous country it is very easy to obtain moun- tain peaks from which such a lookout can cover a large ter- ritory. In such a country, if there be a good system of trails, a mounted patrolman can take care of a very large district. In a flat country such as our north woods there are no such natural vantage points. On accounts of the surrounding trees or brush it is very difficult to "see out." In order to over- come this difficulty the State Forest Service has caused to be erected all over the northern counties towers from which an extended view of the country can be obtained. These towers were built by the rangers and patrolmen at a very low cost. By means of them the efficiency of the patrolmen is increased many times. Also the nuirfber of men needed for patrol will be reduced. Later these towers will be connected by tele- phone to the headqaurters of the different patrolmen and in the very dry seasons a lookout will be maintained contin- uously. He will give immediate notice of any smoke discov- ered and the cause of it will be quickly investigated. The cost of such a system might on the face of it seem excessive, but when we stop to consider that by this means one man will extinguish a fire which would, if not discovered for a day or two, keep twenty men busy for several days and in the meanwhile destroy considerable property, the real economy is apparent. The pay roll piles up pretty fast when a large number of men are employed and the property dam- age caused by a comparatively small fire is often great. The b.uilding of these towers is a big step toward insuring the safety of our forests and the lives of our isolated settlers. A Patrolman's Camp The Duties of a Patrolman in the State Service By Walter Kueffner. THE present duties of a patrolman consist mainly in the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires. He should thoroughly familiarize himself with the condi- tions of his district; know the trails, canoe routes and the location and area of old, new or prospective slashings. He has to huild lookout towers, telephone lines and cabins, if necessary, and is also a deputy game warden. Each patrolman must keep a diary and record his daily work and observations. He must post notices and fire warn- ings throughout his district and patrol the same once a week. On such trips he takes his tent and camping outfit, provi- sions and necessary tools with him, making an average load with his canoe of about 160 pounds. This he has to pack across portages which vary from a quarter to two miles in length. The mode of travel was altogether by canoe and we made from 10 to 20 miles a day, stopping at nature's grandest hos- telries, our beds were of balsam boughs and our coverlets the starry heavens unless the rain or mosquitoes made us seek the shelter of the tent. My district was located in the northeastern part of this state with headquarters at Ely, St. Louis County, near the Canadian boundary line. It comprised Burnside Forest and the adjacent lakes, an area of about 90 square miles and is part of our great timber and mining region. In its original state it was densely covered with Norway and white pine, but the lumberman's ax and the forest fires have done their deadly work so as to leave great portions of the country bar- ren and rocky and unfit for agricultural purposes. And it behooves the present and coming generation to stop this waste and restore this vast region to its original wealth by reforestation. The few settlers up there are mainly Finlanders, sturdy pioneers of the Northland. Indians are still in this vicinity but they give us no trouble. There are also a number of lumber camps in operation and their people were always friendly and willing to help us, and oftentimes we worked together with their patrolmen in suppressing fires. As this was a rather wet season, very few bad fires broke out. Those that did were mostly ground and brush fires only occasionally spreading to the tops of the trees. The ground fires were usually extinguished by water which we carried in canvas pails, as in most cases there was a good water chance. When this was missing, we dug up earth and sand and smothered the fires. But if it could not be controlled by these means we would build a fire-break by clearing a strip of land of brush and inflamable material and digging a trenth to prevent its spread. If the fire should sweep through the tops of the trees and things get dangerously hot, the saying is, "Run like hell, and pray for rain." Campers and berrypickers gave us the most trouble by their carelessness in looking after their camp fires. They 10 were responsible for most of the fires. The Indians never bothered us about their camp fires at all. While I was patrolling a fire, I came across the lodge of a squaw who had with her a couple of children. I talked to her about the fire, and she said: "White man, he no good, he build big fire and burn up everything, while squaw she build little fire and stand over it." The railroads and their employes caused very few fires and if they did, they were extinguished by their own patrolmen without delay. For purposes of observations, lookouts are erected at con- venient high places from ten to thirty miles apart. I was given orders by the district ranger, Mr. Campbell, to build a lookout at some suitable and advantageous point and was limited to $25.00 for expenses. I selected a hill near the east end of Burnside Lake, which was near some abandoned lumber camps and near the county road and government tele- phone line. We were supposed to let this out at contract, but I knew that it was impossible to expect anybody to build a tower for that price where transportation was so difficult. So I got a young Finlander and the two of us put up a tower in a week. We built it 30 feet high, 12 feet square at the base and 4 feet square at the top. We went into the woods and cut and hewed four standards about six inches square, then towed these across the lake and hired a team to haul them up the hill. After several unsuccessful attempts at try- ing to raise the sides by the aid of a jim-pole, we abandoned the idea and sawed the standards in half and built a tower in two sections ; the first one 15 feet high with »an 8 foot plat- form and the second one the same height with a 4 foot plat- form surrounded by a railing and constructed two inside lad- ders to reach the platforms. The necessary boards we got from the lumber camp which the lumber company was willing to let us do. I found some old lime in the camps so I gave the tower a coat of whitewash in which I put flour to make it stick good. This lookout gave one a splendid view of the towns, lakes and adjacent country for about 30 miles and put us in touch with the other lookouts. I had the honor of taking Messrs. Cox and Tierney through 11 the Burnside Park District when they were on their trip to International Falls. And then I was cook and Mr. Campbell, the ranger, the host. The weather was quite bad at the time and we could not break camp very often, but took short trips around the park and nearby lakes for purposes of observa- tion and taking photographic views. After the hardships of the day we would gather around the camp fire and found recreation and information from the interesting stories told by the more experienced ones. Our knowledge of natural history was greatly increased by learning of the existence of most wonderful animals, such as the side hill guager and the wampus cat. And by thus coming in close contact with the heads of the department, we feel that we are a part of the great system of preserving our forests from fires; fires which were so often destructive of immense amount of property and of that which is infinitely more valuable — human life. This system depends in the first instance upon the manner in which the patrolman performs his duty. He is the foundation upon which the frame is built. The patrolman's life is a lonely one; his du- ties are onerous; his labor hard and burdensome, but to his honor be it said that he realizes his position and strives to give his best efforts to further in his humble way the inter- ests of the service and the country whom he serves. Cooperation With the Railroads THE co-operation of the railroads with the Forest Service for fire protection as required by the State Forester, Wm. T. Cox, is without doubt a great success in District No. 12. The railroads furnish and maintain at their own expense patrolmen on speeders equipped with shovel, ax, scythe, water pail and some kind of old sack or cloth. They have a reg- ular beat to patrol, the length of the beat is determined by the ranger in charge of the district. 12 Some Absolute Forest Land It varies according to the danger of setting fire by sparks from passing locomotives, usually from six to eight miles, they are required to go over the beat after the pasing of each locomotive between the hours of nine o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening. This of course depends upon the condition of the weather. They are under the in- struction of the ranger at all times as to when railroads shall be patroled. The ranger having free use of the telegraph lines to give instructions to the patrolmen, and when in the opinion of the ranger it is not necessary to patrol the rail- roads the patrolmen are required to mow the grass, brush and weeds, rake and pile the same together with any debris that may be upon the right of way and burn it. If at any time the patrolmen finds it impossible to extin- guish any fires set by passing locomotives he may call to his aid the nearest section crew, who have instructions from the roadmaster to go to his assistance at once. Each patrolman makes a record of the number of every locomotive passing over his beat, so that in case of fire he can make a report showing the number of the locomotive last 13 passing over the right of way, the time as near as possible when the fire was set, area burned over, number of men em- ployed and time consumed in extinguishing the fire. A copy of this report is sent to the ranger in charge of the district and also to the division roadmaster. An accurate diary must be kept by each patrolman recording the daily work, to be submitted to the ranger at the end of each month. These diaries are kept on blanks furnished the regular patrolmen. The system outlined above has resulted in the extinguish- ment of nine fires in this district, two of which were quite extensive, burning over an area of two acres and one-half, and three acres and three-quarters respectively. These fires were extinguished by the railroad patrolman without other help except in one case in which two men were employed. The railroad bearing the expense. It is of course impossible to determine what damage these fires would have done if not put out at once. It has further resulted in the clearing "of nearly six miles of right-of-way of all grass, brush and debris. This work has met with the entire approval of the rail- road officials, and they have willingly lent their hearty co- operation, they have without doubt found it far cheaper for them than paying fire claims. E. A. LINDER, Ranger, District No. 12. Forest Service Notes The following correspondence shows a typical example of the way many woodsmen base their opinions of the forest laws: January 5, 1912. Dear Sir: Your letter of December 30th to the Honorable, the Attor- ney General, is received by reference. I suggest that if you are interested in purchasing timber and operating in North- ern Minnesota, you make it a point to visit some of the camps 14 where cutting is now going on and where the slash is being disposed of as directed by our Forest Rangers. You will find that the cost of disposing of the slash is not prohibitive; and a great many of the companies are now coming to the con- clusion that where they dispose of the slash as cutting pro- ceeds they actually lessen the cost of logging. This, of course, is due to the fact that without the slash encumbering the ground skidding is cheapened. Moreover, practically all of the lumbermen have come to recognize the importance of disposing of slashings in such a way as to reduce the fire risk to their own property and adjoining lands. In the case of pine, the usual practice is to require that the slash be piled and burned as cutting proceeds, except in localities where the land is exceedingly rocky, in which case a fire line is cleared out around the cutting area, and the slash left elsewhere, so that it may be a protection to the scanty soil and encourage the seedlings to come up. The slash from spruce is usually required to be lopped, not burned, and this applies also to cedar, — a strip being cleaned out along the logging roads and around the cutting area, to pre- vent fires getting into the slash. In the case of hardwood cuttings, usually only a fire line around the entire cutting area is necessary. But I think you will realize that these general plans must be varied to some extent to suit the actual conditions on the ground. Our aim is to reduce the fire risk to a reasonable extent and at a reasonable cost to the oper- ator. I am sure that you will have no difficulty in complying with the instructions of our rangers, should you decide to pur- chase timber in Northern Minnesota, no matter what class of timber you desire. Very truly yours, State Forester. December 30, 1911. To the Honorable Attorney General, St. Paul, Minn. Dear Sir: I am up here in Minnesota with intentions of buying tim- ber and operating a manufacturing plant of some kind. I 15 saw a notice in the paper last evening that loggers have to take care of the tops of their trees when they cut trees. If this be the case, it will be prohibitive to my business. Would like to know to what extent the law would compel a man to clean up his slash and what is meant by the term "Take care of your slashings." Respectfully yours, The idea of a man undertaking to establish himself in busi- ness without any knowledge of the law under which he must work! What group of business men would think of incor- porating in a state without looking up the laws of that state? Ignorance of the law is no excuse, but it is the cause of many of our troubles. It is hardly probable that the State Forester would approve a law which would make legitimate business in the state im- possible. The Jaw does compel the disposal of slash for the protection of adjoining property, and this requirement may be prohibitive in a few cases, but when a business cannot be carried on without excessive danger to adjacent property it ceases to be legitimate. It is the duty of the State Forester to take every reason- able precaution to prevent the spread of forest fires, but it is just as much his duty to interfere with business as little £«s possible. The more profitable the lumber business the better chance there is for the development of forestry. The lum- bermen will find, if they consult with the forester and famil- iarize themselves with the forest laws, that their business is very little hampered. In no instance has the cost of brush disposal proved prohibitive to operations. The editor will be very glad to receive articles on any subject of interest to our readers. 16 "Forest Schools the Foundation 2>f For's'** THE NORTH WOODS Volume JV. FEBRUARY, \9\2 Number 2 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly, Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. E. G. CHEYMEY. Editor, ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINNESOTA. CONTENTS Get Busy 3 Editorials— State Soil Survey - 4 The Conference With the Railroads - 6 How to Set Apart the States Non- Agricultural Lands for Forestry Purposes - 10 Not All Gone Yet 15 Get Busy ARE you a member of the Minnesota State Forestry Asso- ciation? If not it is time that you joined. Do you realize what this Association is and what it is doing? Do you realize what the forest wealth of this State is, and that you have a part in that wealth? Do you know that the State now has a Forest Service to foster that wealth and that that service needs your support? . Do you further realize that you cannot support a. thing nor even give it your sympathy unless you know what it is and what it is doing? And lastly, do you realize that the only way for you to be- come, thoroughly, f am jliar with this great, movement is -to be- come a member of this Association and read the "North Woods?" It is really a great work and you must keep posted on it if you are to be a competent citizen. Every man feels that he must know the latest development of events in China, but how unimportant and unreal they are compared with the ac- tivities right here at home. Any man should be ashamed to confess that he does not know what is being done for the de- velopment of his own State. He may hide his ignorance for a while but others are reading and he will soon be unable to talk to them intelligently. You can't afford to be that ignorant man. Join the army of the progressive and send us your dollar. It is the only way. Mt. Reunion from Rove Lake on the Northern boundary of Minnesota. Tip' scenery in this district is very similar to that in the wilder portions of the adirondacks. State Soil Survey FROM a recent newspaper article it would appear that the agriculturists are -at last awakening to the necessity of a soil survey for the clasification of the the state lands. The foresters have long been aware of this necessity as an article in this issue will clearly show, but have been unable to arouse the interests of the people. In fact the State Forest Service through its ranger system has already begun this work of mapping the forest area and expects to do much more of it during the coming summer. The agriculturists have continually met the issue with the statement that the land is all agricultural and therefore no classification is needed. Such a position is not tenable for anyone who knows the true conditions in the state. There are three distinct classes of land: (1) Lands which are unquestionably agricultural; (2) lands which are just as unquestionably forestal; (3) lands which are of questionable value. The first two are easily recognizable, but have never been located definitely on a map. This mapping should be done at once to prevent the location of settlers on forest land which they cannot farm. This is now being done right straight along and resulting in the alienation of the land from the state, the destruction of the forest growth, and the blackening of Minnesota's reputation among prospective settlers. The third class needs careful consideration and will never lend itself to anything but a temporary classification — for its value depends wholly on economic conditions. Thousands of acres Avhich are capable of supporting good agricultural crops are totally without market facilities and will be for forty years to come through lack of transportation. In other cases the soil is so poor that the necessary intensive methods of cultivation are impossible and will continue impossible for many years. While these lands are awaiting the necessary economic development to make them available for agricul- ture they should be used for forestry. There will be time for the harvesting of one crop of trees at least and in many instances will be devoted to forests always. It is simply a question of utilizing what we have for the purpose to which it is best adapted. The farming of non- agricultural land means the loss of timber and the failure of the farmer. The Conference With the Railroads IN view of the vast territory traversed by the railroads and the great number of fires originating along their lines, the State Forester issued invitations to those lines oper- ating in the forest regions in the northern and central por- tions of the state to meet with him in a conference in Brain- erd, February 10th, to discuss ways and means for the pre- vention of these fires. There was a most hearty response. Some forty odd men, some of them high officials, representing nearly all the roads which touch the forest area, were pres- ent and showed themselves enthusiastically in favor of co- operation or any action which would tend to reduce the risk. It was shown very clearly that the interests of the rail- roads lay along three distinct lines. The chief of these is the enormous cost of the damage suits brought against the railroads in dangerous seasons for fires along the right of way, some of them justly chargeable to the sparks thrown out by the locomotives, others started by the settlers clearing land or from some other cause, and charged to the railroad, but all of them amounting to millions of dollars in the aggre- gate. A big expense for preventitive measures is justifiable as an insurance charge against these enormous losses. In the next place the direct losses to the companies in the de- struction of their own property, chiefly ties, trestles and buildings (with an occasional loss in rolling stock) is con- siderable in a bad season. Lastly, probably the largest loss but not in the past given sufficient attention by the roads, there is the destruction of traffic in the form of forest prod- ucts, grain and hay, which would have made thousands of car-loads of freight in the future. The loss from this source mounts into the millions. The railroads did not deny that a large number of fires — though by no means all of those with which they were cred- ited— were set by sparks from the locomotives, but on the other hand they claimed credit for doing everything in their power to prevent it. This preventative work is along three lines: (1) To prevent the escape of sparks from the loco- motives; (2) to prevent fires from being started by the sparks which do escape; (3) to prevent the spread of fires which do start in this way. (1) It was interesting to note that some of the railroads asserted that their modern engines, equipped with the stand- ard master mechanics front end and the attachment for flood- ing the ash pan by means df the injector, were practically fire-proof. It was also quite as interesting to note that many asserted — soire cf them, by the way, the same ones who claimed their engines to be fire-proof — that practically all the fires originated from sparks from the ash pan and almost never from the stack. There were many contradictory state- ments on this point. The same men who said that nothing ever came out of these ash pans except ashes flushed out in the form of slush, said all the fires originated from the ash pan and never from the stack; those who said no sparks ever came from the stack admitted having tried inumerable spark arresting devices. Why try them on stacks already sparkless? This all sounds like a hopeless tangle, but the explanation is simple enough. Even the railroad men must admit that their locomotives do start fires in dry seasons. If then it must be admitted that sparks do come from, the engine some- where, by all means let it be from the ash pan — for the loco- motive engineer mortally dreads any tampering with the stack which may possibly interfere with his draft. He must make steam. Hence his suspicion of any contrivance which even hints at a choking of the stack, and all the rest comes naturally enough. It is a pity that the ash pan is not relatively a more im- portant source of the fires because it can, by a little care on the part of the engineer, he made absolutely safe. Unfor- tunately- the stack plays a more important part than is gen- erally admitted. Everyone who is familiar with locomotives and has observed the fires along rights of way knows that the stack does throw sparks which do set fires and that some improved device is absolutely necessary. However every one knows that an engine must have a draught to make steam and it is not likely that any mechanism which seriously inter- feres with the working of the engine will be enforced — there are too many which do not. (2) To prevent the starting of fires from escaped sparks all the companies agreed that it is necessary to clear the right of way of all combustible material. Most of them are already doing it to a certain extent, but agree that there is still more to do. The cleanness of the right of way is of value not only to prevent fires but as weighty evidence that the fire did not originate with the railroad. This is of importance to the company in protecting itself from the settler in the case of fires it did not start. There was not such unanimity of opinion in regard to the advisability of clearing any fire-break outside of the right of way. The companies regard that as the duty of the adja- cent landowners, but. are in some cases making these breaks themselves to save damages. Three hundred feet from the track on the prairie and one hundred and fifty feet in the for- est is the rule. There are two sides to the question. The settler should not be allowed to accumulate inflammable ma- terial next to the right of way and then expect the railroad to go to extra expense to protect it. On the other hand, where there is no such wilful accumulation of debris the rail- road is responsible for any fire which spreads from its property. (3) To prevent the spread of fire from the right of way. In this respect the companies seem to be unanimous in think- ing that they are doing everything necessary. They wel- comed anything in the way of suggestions for more effective methods. Their section crews are all instructed to watch for fires and put them out whether they started from the right of way or not; their trainmen are all instructed to report fires to the agents and section crews, or to stop and fight them if necessary; nearly all of them have patrols in one form or another; nearly all of them have some form of fire- fighting equipment, such as tank cars and pumps on their engines. And yet they admit that many of the fires get away in spite of the great, army of men who are instructed to look after them. Many of the superintendents are doing every- thing that they can think of to make their systems effective. Is it not possible that this is another case of "what is every- body's business is nobody's business?" — for in spite of all of these instructions emphatically stated there are instances of both section crews and conductors heedlessly neglecting fires which have later cost the company thousands of dollars in dam- ages. "Usually a few men who devote their whole time and at- tention to some one line of work accomplish much more than many times their number who are supposed to do that work as incidental to their regular business. And would not such a body of specialists be cheaper? What other branch of the railroad is there where anywhere near so much money is in- volved and yet no one whose sole business it is to look after it? This phase of the problem brought out the only resolution of the meeting. It was resolved as the sense of the meeting that an organization composed of repersentatives of all the railroads interested to discuss and push the fire preventive measures was advisable. Such an organization can do much to ferret out the most efficient methods. In addition to this discussion of the duties of the railroads several points were brought forward on the other side of the question, the necessity of protecting the railroads from the settler and others. Everyone agreed that many unjust claims are put in for fires which the railroad did not start. The evils of this practice are further increased by the diffi- culty which the railroads have in defending themselves be- fore a jury of settlers no matter how unjust the claim. Fur- ther the owners of the abutting property pile debris along the right of way for the express purpose of having it burned up and recovering damages. Another source of loss to the railroads is the camper or hunter who usually comes out from the city wholly ignorant of the danger from forest fires. He leaves a camp-fire burning which spreads so as to en- danger railroad property and brings upon them the blame for starting the fire. It was pretty clearly shown that it was the duty of the forest service to take care of these things and clear the rail- road of the blame. This can best be done by the education 9 of the public through the state rangers and patrolmen, who should also be able to give evidence on the source of fires starting from the outside. The Farmers' Institutes were also suggested as a means of educating the people of the country districts in the care of fire. These things the service will undoubtedly do. They have been working on them, but have not been organized long enough to show much result. On the whole the meeting was a great success. It furnished an opportunity for the exchange of ideas, brought into closer touch the railroads and the State Forest Service, and showed all parties concerned that the watchword must be co-operation and not antagonism. How to Set Apart the State's Non-Agricultural Lands for Forestry Purposes By General C. C. Andrews, Secretary of the Forestry Board. THE school and swamp lands which have been granted to the State of Minensota and which the state still holds are supposed to aggregate about three million acres. The disposal of these lands is regulated to some extent by provisions of the Constitution which the legislature alone cannot change. Article VIII of the Constitution provides that the school lands shall be sold at public sale; also provides that all swamp lands shall be appraised and sold in the same manner and by the same officers, and the minimum price shall be the same, less one-third, as provided by law for the ap- praisement and sale of the school lands under the provisions of title one of chapter thirty-eight of the General Statutes. This chapter thirty-eight of the General Statutes is thus made a part of the Constitution. It provides that the State Auditor shall be Land Commissioner and gives him general charge and supervision of all lands belonging to the State. He can cause an appraisal of lands whenever he thinks it for the interest 10 Rove Lnke from Mt. Reunion, showing the narrows. This is one of the most delight- ful camping regions of the state. of the State to do so, and cause notice of time and place of sale to be published. All details in respect to the sale of land and standing timber are set forth in said chapter. The minimum price of school land is fixed therein at $5 per acre. Consequently, the minimum price of swamp land is $3.33 per acre. By the present law a purchaser has to pay only 15 per cent of the price at the time of purchase and has forty years in which to pay the balance with only four per cent interest. It has seemed desirable that such of the State's lands as are not well adapted for agriculture should be set apart for forestry purposes. Under- the provision of the Constitution above cited, the State Auditor could, in his discretion, offer any of the swamp lands for sale; yet, there would be no ob- ject for his offering for sale any lands that were unfit for agri- culture because he could not expect to receive even the min- 11 imum price therefor. It would therefore seem wise to have a careful examination made of all the lands belonging to the State, with a view of ascertaining what portion of them are unfit for agriculture and could properly be set apart for for- estry. With such knowledge the legislature could safely pass an act placing the State's non-agricultural lands in charge oi; the Forest Service. With a view to accomplishing this re- sult I, in the early part of the session of the last legislature after consulting the State Auditor, carefully drew up a bill for this purpose, a copy of which I give below. I thought there would be no use of introducing it unless it had the approval of one of the committees on public lands, and I therefore transmitted it in duplicate form to the Senate Pub- lic Lands Committee through its chairman, Mr. Boyle of Eve- leth, St. Louis county, with the letter below. I also appeared in person before the committee and advocated the introduc- tion and passage of the bill. One great benefit from the bill, aside from its promoting forestry, would be that it would enable the State Auditor to know exactly the character of the agricultural lands and be of great benefit to people who wish to buy and improve them. The State's vacant lands are prob- ably worth fifteen million dollars and the amount provided in the bill for their examination is comparatively a very small item. The intelligent public sentiment of the State is in favor of such legislation. Any good business man owning such property would not let a year pass without undertaking such an examination as the bill calls for. General Andrews to Senator Boyle: Office of the Forestry Commisioner, St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 14, 1911. Hon. James P. Boyle, State Senate. Dear Sir: With reference to the bill which I sent you providing for the examination of vacant lands belonging to the State, I would submit the following: Three examiners could probably work to advantage at call- 12 ing distance from each other. It may be assumed that an examiner would have a light spade with which to examine the soil, and that on an average one man would examine eight forties (320 acres) a day. At this rate it would require 9,375 days' work to examine 3,000,000 acres, and sixty men work- ing 156 days each, say from May first to November first, could accomplish the work in one year. Probably it would not be practicable to obtain the services of more than 30 competent men per year, in which case it would require two years to do the whole work. The best timber cruisers are getting over $5 a day and their expenses. It is absolutely necessary that trustworthy men be employed who will be faithful and sure of being accurate as to government lines and who will know that they are on the right tracts. Three men working in the same vicinity will be some check on each other. I think it may be assumed that on an average competent men can be obtained at $5 a day, and in addition $1.50 for their living expenses. At this rate the whole cost of the labor will be $60,937.50. There will be some travelling expenses, clerk hire, postage, printing and stationery, which will bring the expense up to $65,000, the amount carried in the bill. Yours very truly, C. C. ANDREWS, Forestry Commissioner. A BILL FOR AN ACT TO ENABLE THE STATE AUDITOR TO MAKE AN EXAMINATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE VACANT LANDS BELONGING TO THE STATE, AND TO APPROPRIATE MONEY THEREFOR. Section 1. It is hereby made the duty of the State Auditor to cause an examination to be made of all the vacant lands belonging to the state to determine the character and value of the same. For this purpose he shall employ competent persons to examine in person each subdivision of forty (40) acres, or less if fractional, according to government survey at 13 a time of the year when the soil can be examined, and who shall make careful and clearly written notes on the ground of the quality, character and value of the land, the character Oi the surface, whether level or if broken, whether moder- ately or very broken; whether stony or free from stones, aver- age depth of black soil and character of sub-soil; presence or absence of water, running stream or pond; whether timber has been cut and removed or been damaged by fire; what subdivisions contain merchantable timber; the different kinds, quantities and value of such timber according to rough esti- mate; also(show what subdivisions are unfit for agriculture and only fit for the production of timber; the facts showing such conclusion, and whether on account of being sandy, rocky or hilly. The State Auditor shall prescribe the form of blanks and plats on which field notes and records shall be made, and the manner and frequency with which they shall be returned and filed. He shall pay the persons so employed and any clerks necessary in carrying oh the work, such rea- sonable compensation as shall be found necessary. Section 2. As the work hereinabove prescribed progresses the State Auditor shall examine and revise the returns of the examiners, and approve or reject the same, and designate what agricultural lands are first-class and what agricultural lands are second-class, and what lands contain merchantable timber, and any such lands which he finds are only fit for the production of timber, shall, if the contiguous tracts are of sufficient area for economical administration for forestry pur- poses, without further legislation by him be set apart and become for the time being forest reserves, and be adminis- tered by the Minnesota State Forestry Board or such other organization as the legislature may prescribe. Section 3. To carry this act into effect there is hereby ap- propriated the sum of sixty-five thousand ($65,000) dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary. Mr. Boyle, Chairman of the Senate Public Lands Committee, later informed me, to my regret and surprise, that the com- mittee thought it not advisable to introduce the bill, and it was not introduced. 14 Not All Gone Yet MINNESOTA has the greatest forests of any state, east of the Rocky Mountains. More than five-eighths of its area is a part of the original forest belt. This belt embraced 33 million acres. Over 28 million acres still bear forests of some kind, though much of the area has been logged and still more has been burned over. The "Great North Woods" is over 300 miles wide along the northern boundary, and extends 364 miles north and south. The southern portion of this immense area, containing mostly hardwoods, is known as the "Big Woods." Adjoining the Big Woods on the north are the "Pineries," — consisting of nearly pure stands of White, Norway or Red, and Jack Pine. North of the true Pineries is a vast region containing rich forests of Spruce, Cedar and Tamarack, and enormous quantities of the finest Birch and Poplar. There is also much Pine, espe- cially in the high, rocky country north of Lake Superior and east of the Little Fork River. The country from the Little Fork and Rat Root Rivers westward to the Red River Valley, embracing an area of five million acres, is a densely forested district. Spruce, Tamarack and Cedar here frequently form stands so dense that they are difficult to penetrate. Here Poplar and Birch attain their best development, and, if fires are kept out, will furnish material for many mills in the future. Computing the value of Minnesota's forests to her people, we are confronted with impressive figures. There are ap- proximately 75 billion feet of merchantable timber, standing in the woods. This has a stumpage value of at least $4.00 a thousand. The wages paid out in logging and manufacturing amount to at least $8.00 a thousand, and for transportation an average cost of $1.00 a thousand may be added. This means, then, that the mature timber now standing has a value to the people of Minnesota equivalent to 975 million dollars. This does not take into consideration the value of 15 the forests as a field from which successive crops of timber are produced, nor its importance in maintaining conditions favorable to the existence of big game and game fishes. The game animals and fish in their present abundance attract thousands of people from outside the state and bring a large revenue to our citizens. Then, too, the forests are an im- portant influence upon the climate of the state, and in regu- lating stream flow. Minnesota is rich in streams used for navigation and waterpower, with enormous possibilities for future development. Minnesota's immense forests, so long regarded as inex- haustible and as requiring no attention save in selfish exploit- ation, are now becoming a matter of more general interest. Their protection and their conservative, rather than wasteful, development are seen to be a necessity. Minnesota's voters, partially awakened to forest needs, au- thorized the pasasge of a law in 1911, permitting the syste- matic care of their forest resources in the future. By its pro- visions, the present Minnesota Forest Service was created and an organization effected. It provided for a Forestry Board of nine members, selected by the several representative so- cieties and organizations of the state. The Forestry Board selected a Forester, in May, as their exectuive agent. An assistant to the Forester was chosen, and the two undertook at once the important duty of selecting a force of District Rangers and Patrolmen from the large number of applicants. In this great care was observed, because of the important nature of the duties involved. Every applicant was subjected to a personal examination by them. Personal characteristics, experience, and woods training, as well as executive ability, were the determining features in the choice of men. "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume V. MARCH, 1912 Number 3 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. E. G. CHEYNEY. Editor, ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINNESOTA. CONTENTS Suggestions on Systematic Fire Control The Woods as a Recreation Ground - 8 Conference With Timber Operators - 1 1 Conference With Railroads - 1 1 Patrolmen for 1912 15 Suggestions on Systematic Fire Control. By Dillon P. Tierney. DURING the past season the damage resulting from for- est fires was not very great. This was partly because the weather conditions were favorable. These condi- tions may not be so favorable during the coming season, so that it may be well to consider what additional precautions and means can be adopted to protect the forests. There are approximately one thousand townships which need protection from fires; and with one hundred forest rangers and patrolmen in the field there would be for each man an area 60 miles long and 60 miles wide. Considering the generally even topography, means of transportation, and the intermingled settlements, this area is much too large for one man to handle, even when weather conditions are the best. With so small a force, it is not a safe business propo- sition to rely on there being but little fire damage should a period of drought occur. A fire-fighting organization must be prepared to meet any emergency that may arise. The lack of funds to hire an emergency force is a big handicap, but this can be discounted to a certain extent by perfecting every part of the system. "Ranger, know thy District" is the watchword of the diligent worker. He will know every road and trail, settler, and fire danger, and know how to handle a fire in any or all parts of his District. The ensuing year will undoubtedly reveal the facts that will show some Ranger has neglected to grasp his opportunity to acquire this essential information. A thor- ough knowledge of their respective districts will perfect the details of the fire fighting system which are of most import- ance to the rangers and patrolmen. Most of the details of fighting a fire can be thought out in advance, and it might be well to suggest what these are. If the ranger or a patrolman is not at hand to organize the fire fighting work, the most reliable and efficient man whose services are immediately available should be directed by wire, messenger or otherwise, to take charge. Then see to it that the work is pushed with the utmost vigor and to best advantage. This means that the forest officers must know who, in each community, is the best man to take charge; where the fire fighters can be gotten; how assembled; and how they are to be fed and sheltered. Aside from these mat- ters, there are the particular problems which each fire pre- sents. Handling these details for any one fire would pre- sent no extraordinary difficulties; but when a ranger may one day be called upon to direct the work of fighting a hun- dred fires, the need of a carefully prepared system is evident. The ranger will find that his duties are those of general, quartermaster, recruiting officer and fire fighter combined. During the present month, practically all of the organized townships in the forest region of the State will vote on the question of levying a tax to provide a fire fund. This is in accordance with Section 24 of the 1911 Forest Law. The townships which levy this tax (not to exceed five mills) will thereby provide a fund to pay for a local forest patrolman, and small local fires, beginning with the season of 1913. Many townships have a sufficient current expense fund to secure the necessary protection this year. Many excellent suggestions are contained in a paper pre- pared by Asst. U. S. Forester W. B. Greeley, and published in Vol. VI, No. 2, Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters, 1911. The points of particular interest to the people of this State, and especially its forest officers, are embodied in the following extracts. The position of Super- visor of a National Forest corresponds to a degree with that of our District Rangers. With this in mind, the application of Mr. Greeley's ideas to the Minn. Forest Service organiza- tion is apparent. "A brief sketch of what to my mind constitutes an ideal fire-fighting organization may be in place. Let us take first the ranger district. Each district, with its force of patrolmen, its own equipment of tool caches and staple food supplies, its pack train — if one is needed — its reserve force to draw upon Slash Burning— A clean burn. Showing the ground clear for skidding. iri the form of per diem guards or a detachment of troops or a string of settlers or lumber camps, and a responsible dis- trict ranger in charge, with an assistant who can, if need be, act as quartermaster, should be an independent fire protec- tion unit, dependent upon outside help only under exceptional conditions. This is the ideal which should be worked to- wards. I do not feel that the service will be an effective fire- fighting organization until this ideal is reached, since a tre- mendous loss always occurs whenever an attack upon a fire must wait for men and supplies from an outside source. "Taking the next unit, the Natioal Forest, there should be available for each supervisor either a clerk or a trained ranger or guard, who can act as quartermaster for the Forest Service whenever the need occurs. The executive staff of the Forest, consisting of the supervisor, his deputy, forest assistant, and other officers not attached to districts, should be .very largely foot-loose for field work, directing the foremen of the fire crews, taking hold wherever special assistance is needed and directing the district rangers in adapting their patrol force to the latest exigencies developed by the situation. Either the supervisor or his deputy must keep in sufficiently close touch with headquarters to learn quickly of new developments in the situation — fires in other quarters and the like — but this should seldom require him to remain continuously for any length of time at the office. His best work can be done by directing the work on the larger fires, the location of trenches, the use of back-firing, the size of the force employed, whether too weak or unnecessarily large, and the like. It is just this service which the most, experienced and capable men on each forest should render during a fire emergency, and it is just this which determines the cost of fighting fires and the ef- fectiveness of the work done in protecting the Government property at stake. While the details must be left to district rangers and foremen of fire crews, periodic supervision from the supervisor or his deputy on the ground is essential to the best work. Many instances occurred last year where timely visits from the supervisor to the rangers in the field, a half day's inspection of the lines, and a few concise instruc- tions as to how the work could be more effectively handled meant success as against failure in bringing a bad fire under control. I feel it essential that the supervisors be in a posi- tion to do just this thing. "The district force should resolve itself, during a fire emer- gency, into a crew of reserve quartermasters, foremen of fire- fighting crews, and the like, with one man always on the job at headquarters to keep in touch with the entire situation in the district, handle transfers of rangers between forests to 4make the entire force of the district available where most needed, and keep the general system up to its highest work- ing efficiency. Otherwise all hands should be sent into the danger zone to take hold wherever they can help the super- visors best. Agents need to be placed at labor and supply points from which several different forests can be equipped. The most effective help can often be rendered by relieving a supervisor at his office of other duties and enabling him to take hold of some of the worst fire situations in the field. As a rule, little can be accomplished at such times by inspec- tion or supervision of the field work by the local officers. It is 6 Slash Burning— Showing how slash from heavy stand has been burned without injury to young growth. a time for the district men to take off their coats and take hold of any specific job which confronts them, however in- significant." "Aside from some of the suggestions which I have pre- viously made, two general lines of action seem to me to be clearly needed in order to attain this standard of efficiency in fire control. The first' of these is continued investigation of all the problems related to fire prevention and extinguish- ment by experts who are free from all other duties and. thus able to devote their time and efforts exclusively to this prob- lem. This has been begun in two of the districts. I would like to see one of the best men in every district prosecuting such investigations. The second line of action is also but an extension o,f what has already been done at many points, but which should, I believe, be enlarged and systematized. This; is the instruction of our field personnel in the best methods; of fire fighting. Such instruction should be strongly, em- phasized in the short forestry courses given for rangers. I believe also that a comprehensive fire-fighting manual should be prepared which can be enlarged and revised from time to time, placed in the hands of every ranger and guard in the service, and made a part of his duty to master thoroughly. Fire fighting is a matter of scientific management, just as much as silviculture or range improvement. No one recognizes more fully or heartily than I, and I am sure that no one has had occasion to recognize better tha.n I, the character of the work done by the field men of the service in fighting fires. I am convinced, however, that they and all of us have a deal to learn of this important promblem, and that we should be ta.ught in the same manner as the service is teaching and training its personnel in other lines of work, viz: by expert investigation and systematic instruction based upon the re- sults of the investigation. "Supervisor Adams, of the Ozark Forest, has set a splendid example of what may be accomplished by expert technical study of this problem, particularly in the development of chemical appliances for extinguishing fires. Every phase of the question should be studied in the same intensive manner, including possible "pyrecide" compounds, improved tools, im- proved methods of communication, fire breaks and the like, and their results made directly available for the improvement of the fire plans on the respective National Forests and the instruction of the forest personnel." The Woods as a Recreation Ground. THE importance of the north woods of Minnesota as a playground for the people of not only this state, but of the whole middle west, does not receive the considera- tion that it should. The woods of Maine and the Adirondacks fur- nish pleasure to hundreds of thousand of people in the north- eastern section of the country and that feature is recognized as an enormously valuable asset to the sections in which they are located. It brings millions of dollars into the coun- try without interfering seriously with the other economic 8 developments. Even people from our own state travel the intervening thousand miles to enjoy an outing there, when, did they but know it, they had quite as attractive a place in which to enjoy themselves at home. Yes, quite as attractive, but few have taken the pains to in- vestigate. A disgracefully small proportion of the people in the southern half of the state know what the northern half is like. For what do we travel to Maine? Woods, game, fish, canoe routes and scenery. Our north woods has them all! Woods! Over hundreds of thousands of acres our forests stretch unbroken s'ave here and there where a lake or a rugged hogback splits the cover. And that woods so closely resembles the woods of Maine that only an expert could tell the differ- ence. Pine, birch, cedar, tamarack, poplar and occasional patches of other hardwoods. . Game? Where in the United States is the wild life more plentiful than in that great reach of forest north of Lake Superior? Moose, deer, bear, partridge and many of the smaller animals are there in abounding plenty. As many as twenty moose have been sighted in a day's paddling. The drumming of the partridge can be heard at any hour of the day or night. The deer are everywhere. Fish? The fisherman who cannot find what he wants in some of the northern lakes or streams is certainly hard to please. From the small boy who bobs for perch in the shal- low lakes to the scientific angler who casts for muscallonge, the black bass specialist finds plenty of sport in the lakes of the -central north, the streams and the lakes of the northeast abound in speckled and lake trout, and for the fisherman who simply wants to catch fish, pike, crappies, blue gills and pick- erel can be pulled from the water almost anywhere. It is necessary only to pick the locality and the right kind of fish are ready to hook. Canoeing? There is one portion of the State where the canoe is the only practical means of travel. Beautiful routes hundreds of miles in length, through rock bound lakes and illusive streams, with short portages and ideal camping places can be found for parties of all descriptions. Neither 9 Maine nor the Adirondacks can compare with our North Woods in this. Scenery? Nor are our North Woods without scenery. It is hard for the dweller on the prairie tp realize that there are near mountains in his own state, but they are there. Moun- tains rising to ah altitude of over 2,000 ft. carved into rocky cliffs and spruce covered peaks. Set right into this back- ground of broken country are hundreds of island-dotted lakes, the ideal camper's country. How many know that these things are all easily within their reach ? But there is one important factor in this without which all these attractive features fade away into one great stretch of desolation. The forest. What is a camp, a canoe trip or scenery without forest? What becomes of game when their forest home is destroyed? No amount of stringent laws and money expended in game protection can accomplish anything if we allow their home to be wiped out. Few wish to fish in a desolate country." In game protection the Europeans are wiser than we. The oid time kings protected the forests to protect their game and it worked. Sportsmen should think of this and strongly support the movement to preserve the forests. Every camper, fisher, sportsman, canoeist or summer tourist is far more in- terested in the forests than he realizes. He should use his influence to preserve it. Nor need he hold back for fear of injuring the economic development of this state for the money returns alone — which is a small proportion of the benefits — is far more from this source than could be obtained from agricultural crops in that sandy, rocky, barren soil. 10 Forest Service Notes. CONFERENCE WITH TIMBER OPERATORS. THE disposal of the slash in the 1,500 lumber camps of the north woods is the all absorbing question demanding the attention of the State Forest Service this winter. The old law required the piling and burning of all slash, regardless of kind, location or condition. It worked many un- necessary hardships. The present law requires the disposal of slash in such manner as the State Forester may deem best, an infinitely better law for all parties concerned as it makes it possible to base the methods on the existing conditions, burning on high ground, lopping limbs in the wet. places and burning over considerable tracts broadcast where the land is destined for clearing in the near future. In general the work is progressing satisfactorily and the slash is being cleaned up as never before. But the work has brought up many new questions and points of view which should be discussed and thoroughly understood by all inter- ested. Pointers of value both to the state rangers and other timber operators have been unearthed. In order that these points may become generally known, and the stuation thoroughly understood, the State Forester has called two conferences of the timber operators, one in Bemidji on March 26th and the other in Virginia on March 28th. It is hoped that most of the men interested can attend one or the other. CONFERENCE WITH RAILROADS. AT a preliminary meeting of the railroads called by the State Forester in Brainerd on February 10th an organ- ization was suggested, a representative of each road au- thorized to confer with the Forester on forest fire problems. In compliance with this resolution Mr. Cox called a meeting 11 of this committee in Duluth on March 14th. There was a very encouraging response. Thirteen railroad men were present representing nearly all the roads in Northern Min- nesota. Mr. W. H. Gemmel of the Minnesota and Internation was elected temporary chairman. When the meeting was called to order, the chairman asked Mr. Cox to outline the points which he considered that the meeting should take up. Mr. Cox briefly summarized the discussions of the Brainerd meet- ing and suggested that they take up the three questions of spark arresters, fire patrol and fire lines. The discussion of the first question showed that some pro- gress had been made since the Brainerd meeting — for prac- tically all the roads were ready to admit that at least some fires were started by sparks from the stack and that some device was necessary to stop them. The question was not followed very far on account of its technical character and because it was something in which there was no chance for uniformity. Many of the roads have devices of their own which they desire to use and there is no reason why they should not do it if the purpose is accomplished. There is no necessity for having the spark arresters all alike. Efficiency is the only test. The only definite action taken was a motion from Mr. Potter that the Forester appoint a man to inspect the engines in the shops occasionally to see that the inspectors of the company are doing their work. This was agreed to by all the roads, and they further agreed to back up the findings of the state inspector. The question of patrol was then taken up. Mr. Cox sketched the work that had been done last summer. All the roads had maintained a patrol of some kind: men on speeders, men on foot, men under the direction of state rangers, and men under the direction of the roadmasters, each road using the method which seemed best suited to its particular organ- ization and traffic conditions. The roads which ran but one train a day would necessarily need a speeder to patrol after that train, while on an ore road, with a train every twenty minutes, the use of a speeder would be next to impossible. 12 On the strength of last summer's experience, the efficient control of fires by the methods used, — the railroads thought it best to try that same scheme again next summer and im- prove it later if change seems advisable. That is all right, but it must be remembered that last summer was an excep- tionally favorable year. There were very few fires to fight and the experience cannot be considered as a fair test of any system. Let us not fool ourselves by the apparent solution of the problem. If we have a bad year, certainly more men will be needed — there is no doubt about it and we might as well be prepared for it. Nor is it at all certain that the pres- ent systems, though apparently best suited to present condi- tions and organizations, will prove most satisfactory in the end. Men who have other work to do cannot devote all their time to fire patrol and it is almost impossible to impress them with the importance of it. One man devoting his whole time to it is bound to be more efficient than a whole section crew with other duties and the very fact that there is some one appointed specifically for that purpose adds very much im- portance to it in the eyes of other men. Their efficiency along that line is thus increased. Some of these points may be taken up, for the roads asked Mr. Cox to formulate any suggestions that he might have along this line and submit them to all the roads. This, in connection with the reports to be submitted by the roads on the work each has done in the past, should result in some improvements. On the question of firebreaks there was still greater diver- sity. Some had firebreaks outside the right of way, others had breaks inside the right of way, others -had none at all. Nor were all agreed on the most effective kind of firebreaks — some even doubted their efficiency at all. It is the field in which the roads have had the least experience and conse- quently the field where there is the greatest chance for im- provement. It is perfectly true, as some one stated, that a furrow — or even several furrows — will not by itself stop many fires, but it is nevertheless a very valuable thing to have. It makes it possible to burn with safety the strip be- tween the furrow and the track, — thus cleaning up the right of way so that a fire cannot gather sufficient strength to jump the furrow, and it increases a hundred fold the capacity of a single patrolman in controlling a fire. It is also apparent that a break inside the right of way — inside the point where the sparks fall — is almost useless. The break must be outside the range of the sparks. The state can probably aid in getting the permission to place these breaks outside the right of way where they are most needed. Moreover, many of the breaks which have been built so far have not been placed where they would do the most good. There are places where breaks are not needed at all, there are others where there are absolutely necessary. The section men have started at one end of their section and put them through everything indiscriminately as far as the money held out. Money could be saved by the use of more judgment. The importance of this point in the discussion was recog- ized by the passage of a resolution directing all roadmasters to confer with state rangers on location of all breaks and re- port on them to the superintendents. This will undoubtedly result in the much more profitable expenditure of the money devoted to that purpose and also in a much more uniform sys- tem. There were other questions of minor importance discussed and in all of them the railroads showed their willingness to co-operate in any way that would be helpful. There was a sincerity on the part of all concerned which made it seem certain that something would be accomplished. The time for mere talk has passed and there was a hopeful tone in all the discussions which pointed to accomplishment. Where such a spirit prevails success is assured. Those present: For the railroads: Great Northern, T. E. Cannon and E. S. Stewart. Northern Pacific, K. M. Nicoles. Minnesota & International, W. H. Gemmell. Canadian Northern, A. E. Warren. M. St. P. & S. Ste. M., E. F. Potter. Duluth & Northwestern, G. Dunlavey. Minneapolis & Rainy Riv., F. C. Gerhardt. Duluth, Messabe & Nor., H. L. Dresser. Duluth & Iron Range, W. A. Clark. Duluth & Nor. Minn., W. Bailey. Minneapolis & Minn. Northern, Mr. Warren. For State Forest Service: W. T. Cox, D. P. Tierney, Austin Gary, Percy Vibert. State Forestry Board: E. G. Cheyney. U. S. Forest Service: G. E. Marshall. Patrolmen for 1912 WHEN the patrolmen were chosen by the State Forester for the summer of 1911 the position was a new one; few knew the nature of the work to be done and many who applied were ill-fitted for the business in hand. Many put in applications who looked on the position as an oppor- tunity for a cheap vacation with plenty of canoe trips and horseback riding thrown in. This necessitated much dis- agreeable work in sorting out the unfit men and probably led some of the disappointed candidates to feel that the selection had not been wholly impartial. In order to do away with these undesirable features the Forester has issued the following notice to all applicants: On March 21st, the examinations will be given at the va- rious headquarters of District Rangers and at the office of the Forester in Saint Paul for those desiring positions as patrol- men. The examinations will be given at 9:00 A. M., and will be conducted by the District Rangers. New applicants who 15 take the examinations must be between the ages of eighteen and forty years. The age limit will not in any case disbar from examination any man who did satisfactory work in the Service last season. The questions are largely of a practical nature and are designed to bring out the applicants knowledge of all kinds of woods work. Those who pass the examination will be placed on the list of eligibles, from which list appointments will be made until all positions are filled. You may take the examination at any one of the following points: Aitkin, Walter L. Eisenach, Ranger. Cloquet, Percy Vibert, Ranger. Brainerd, J. P. Saunders, Ranger. Grand Rapids, Hugo C. Nelson, Ranger. Deer River, M. J. Thornton, Ranger. Bemidji, L. F. Johnston, Ranger. Park Rapids, A. C. De Puy, Ranger. Warroad, E. A. Linder, Ranger. Beaudette, Wm. Kilby, Ranger. Northome, H. H. Winslow, Ranger. International Falls, C. A. Peterson, Ranger. Orr, F. W. Bessette, Ranger. Ely, Edgar E. Chappell, Ranger. Grand Marais, Hans Kasper, Ranger. Forester's Office, St. Paul. In this way the list of eligibles will be determined by the ability of the men themselves and a much better choice willv be possible. It was thought at the time the law was passed that it might be difficult to persuade the right kind of men to accept these temporary positions, but the work has proved very attractive and plenty of the right sort of efficient woods- men are available; the difficulty is in the number of appli- cants. 16 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume V. APRIL, 1912 Number 4 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. E. G. CHEYNEY, Editor, ST. ANTHONY PARK, MINNESOTA. CONTENTS Two Odd Characters of the Bird World, D. Lange 3 Slash Again 7 The Conference with the Timber Owners at Virginia 1 1 Minnesota Day - 12 Notes - 14 Two Odd Characters of the Bird World By D. Lange. WE generally associate bird song and bird nesting with May and June, and only a few people are aware that even in this latitude the song of birds may be heard during ten months of the year and eggs or young may be found during eight months. Two birds, common in their respective regions, vary so widely in their nesting habits from the established order of the bird world, that they well deserve to be called odd char- acters; they are the little goldfinch, common everywhere the year round, and the Canada Jay of our northern ever- green forests. The goldfinch reminds me of a boy who goes off to play with his friends and forgets all about carrying in the wood and doing other chores until it is almost too dark to see. In May and June, when other birds build nests and rear families, the goldfiniches seem to think only of enjoying the fine weather. The males show off in their golden plumage with black tails and wings, and jaunty black caps. They roam about in small flocks singing and feeding as they go like troups of merry little bachelors who are enjoying the fun of watching their married friends working hard for the support of their families. I have seen as many as a dozen of them displaying their striking gold and black plumage on the sprigs of a dead willow. But as for entertaining serious thoughts of courting and housekeeping, — not they. It is not until July that they choose their mates and think of the serious business of bird life; but many nests with eggs or young may be found as late as September or even October. The nest is a pretty cup, generally lined with thistle down. It may be in the fork of a tree or bush, but the favor- ite place is in the fork of some tall thistle. When exploring the edges of fields and woods in August and September, I can always find one or more goldfinch nests. In fact it is easy to select the patches which ought to contain a. nest, and generally the nest is there. One of my boy friends found a nest with three eggs in it a day or two before Christmas. The eggs were frozen, and of course deserted, and how late the birds started the nest it was impossible to tell. I have frequently found nests still with eggs during the week of the State Fair. The latest date on which I found one was September 28th. I had gone out for an early morning walk. The air was cold and crisp and the grass was covered with hoar frost. As I approached a patch of thistles I heard a plaintive call: "Chipee, Chipee." Entering the patch, I found a nest with four young goldfinches, large enough to leave the nest within three or four days. There was no trace of the parent birds, and the nestlings seemed to be cold and hungry; but a few rods away a large flock of goldfinches were feeding on the seed of the wild hemp near the railroad track. Somehow things did not look just right about these little finiches. The sun had just risen, it was quite cold and the nestlings still called plaintively for food. I felt sure they must also be cold and one of the parents ought to have been on the nest. I passed the nest a second time, but neither of the parents were near it. Having an out-of-town engagement for the day I could not visit the birds again the same day, but I went early next morning and found my fears only too well founded. Two of the young birds lay dead in the nest; one I found dead in the grass under the nest. The other two I could not find. It was clear that the parents had deserted the young, but why they had done so is not entirely clear to me. Food was abundant near the nest and the weather continued warm, although the nights were cold; and, moreover, goldfinches stay with us all winter. However, at this time they assemble in flocks and roam about from place to place. It is possible, that the whole goldfinch population shifts southward in win- ter. In that case the goldfiniches that nest here in summer would not be the same birds that are with us in winter. I know of a case in northern Wisconsin, when young gold- finches were still in the nest about the beginning of October. A spell of cold weather set in with a snowfall of about two inches and the parents deserted the unfledged young. The only explanation I can offer of these cases of "child desertion" is that the flocking and migrating instinct late in the season overcomes the parental instinct. In the case ob- served at St. Anthony Park, there could be no question about food still being abundant and the weather favorable, but I saw a large flock of goldfinches disporting themselves on thickets of wild hemp only about two hundred yards from the nest, and I suppose that the call of the flock to roam among the roadside weeds appealed so strongly to the par- ent birds that they forgot about their cold and hungry nest- lings. Why the goldfinches nest so late is not known for certain. It is thought that they wait until their favorite food, the seeds of thistles and other composites are abundant, which is not the case before midsummer or autumn. Frequently almost the whole nest is built of thistledown. The novice is likely to be puzzled by the change of plum- age in the male goldfinch. In fall the males lose the con- trasting black and yellow and assume the olive green of the female with a light buff bar on each wing. It is in this plumage one finds them feeding on the seeds of roadside weeds. Goldfinches fly in a characteristic wavy line, and while on the wing generally utter their call: "Ker-chee, chee, chee." Two calls sounding like "sweet" and "baby," they utter while perching. Their song resembles that of a canary, and the birds are often called wild canaries, although our canaries are not descended from them. The oddities of the Canada Jay are quite different from those of the goldfinch. This bird of the many names and no little fame never is found, as far as I know, south of the belt of evergreen forests. Indians, hunters, trappers, campers, and lumbermen all know him well. He is called meat bird, moose bird, camp robber, lumberjack, and whiskey jack. The last name is a corruption from Chippewa and should not be taken to imply that he is fond of the white man's strong drink. But of the white man's camp food he certainly is fond, and I have found only one item of camp grub that he will neither steal nor accept as a gift. I do believe that these birds living for many generations in a country, where Indians and Whites have trapped and hunted and have built their campfires, have learned that a campfire always means food of some kind. One summer, while camping at Lake Itasca, I became well acquainted with a family of four whiskey jacks, who made their home in the spruces and tamaracks near a beaver pond on Nicollet creek. I made camp near the pond several times and every time these jays in their monkish garb of slate, and with a whitish cowl, emerged from somewhere in the thicket as soon as I had my fire well started. If birds could choose their garb, I should say that the spruce jays chose theirs to facilitate their preying on the innocent. From their garb and white heads one might judge them to be the most kind-hearted philanthropists, if mischief and roguery did not fairly beam out of their black eyes. With a little encouragement the family at the beaver pond became very bold. One perched on a stick a few inches from our fire and we had to shoo him away, because his evi- dent intention was to steal a piece of ham out of our frying pan. I suppose in nature they eat principally seeds and insects; in camp they rejected only one thing. They took ham and bacon, both raw and fried. Bread and biscuits were welcome, eggs, potatoes, boiled and fried, and canned beans. After hav- ing given them of everything else, I threw a raw onion to one of them and he flew away with it. When he returned I offered him another onion, but he declined the gift, nor would the other jays touch onions. In some way he had passed the word around that we were not above trying to fool a trusting and pious jay. Onions were the one thing they had no use for. In order to see how close they would come, I pegged down 6 a piece of raw bacon. Pretty soon a jay came down to carry it away. When the bacon wouldn't come, he hastily gulped a few mouthfuls and flew away. I moved the bacon nearer to me and soon the jay came down again and repeated his first performance. Again and again I moved the bacon until the jay was eating bacon within a foot of me. It was one of my most interesting experiences with wild birds, and my two lady companions were amazed at the boldness and capacity of the birds, who did gulp an immense quantity of food and carried away a still greater quantity. When we returned to our campsite for supper, only two of the jays showed up. My women friends thought the other two were laid up in the jay hospital from over-eating. In their nesting habits the Canada jays are the extreme opposite from the goldfinich.es. It seems as if they could not get started housekeeping soon enough. Early in March or perhaps even late in February their nests, placed on spruces or pines, contain eggs. Snow still covers the forest floor and the temperature may fall to twenty or thirty below zero. But they protect their eggs and bring out their young in spite of cold and storms. Why they nest so early is not known, but for some reason they must have found that the cold and stormy days of March are the best time to rear their young. Slash Again ON March 26th a conference was held in Bemidji between the timber operators of that district and the State For- est Service in order to determine the best methods of disposing of slashings and, if possible, the cost of burning them. Senator O'Neil presided and his thorough knowledge of the conditions and his familiarity with those present helped very much to bring out the frank discussion that was desired. He knew where information on each subject was to Le found and was usually successful in pulling it out. Opinion varied tremendously, all the way from the man who thought the slash could not be burned for less than $5.00 per thousand to the man who figured that the decrease in cost of skidding would more than pay for the burning; from the man who thought the whole State Service was a farce to the man who wanted that same Service to take charge of all the brush burning and assess the cost against the owners; from the man who objected to any State inter- ference with his logging methods to the man who was willing to live up to the rules at any cost for the sake of posterity and the good of the State. At first this wide difference in opinion seems confusing and discouraging. It looks as though there were no possi- bility of getting down to a system which could be univer- sally applied, and it would appear that such a system is what the timber operators want; something which could enable them to give definite instructions to their foreman, to be car- ried out to the letter without further thought or consideration. Such a system would certainly simplify matters, but it is utterly impossible. The operators themselves proved this when they tried to apply the old law which specified exactly what should be done, how it should be done and when. No one knows better than the men who tried to follow those in- structions that anything approaching uniformity is out of the question. At least half the operators in the State would be put out of business if such uniform requirements were strictly enforced. Nor are the reasons for this very hard to find. Nowhere in the world is there a forest extending over twenty-eight million acres in which the conditions are anything like uni- form; and in few countries are the conditions more varied than in our north woods. If the forests were all clean stands of pure Norway, running twenty thousand to the acre, there would be but one problem which could be quickly solved and a formula developed for the disposal of all brush; it would be a simple matter. The same could be done if the forests were all white pine or all cedar of a certain density; there would be only the one problem. Instead of that we have almost endless variations in the conditions. The cost is figured on the thousand feet of logs and not on the unit of area; hence the cost will vary greatly 8 Clean Burning of Slash in Cedar Cuttings. with the density of the stand even where the forest is all one species. But the forest is of one species over only com- paratively small areas; as a rule it is a mixture of two or three species and every different mixture presents a different problem. Since there are at least ten different species which can enter into this mixture there are hundreds of different combinations and when we consider the different proportions in which these different species may occur in stands of dif- 9 ferent density the number of combinations swell almost be- yo'nd belief. There are sections where each forty differs from every other forty; no two are exactly alike. Of what use is an iron bound, inflexible law under such conditions? Is it any wonder that some men state — and that from actual experience — that it has cost them two dollars per thousand to burn their brush, while others maintain that they have burned successfully for years at a cost of 18 cents? They may both be sincere and honestly believe that they have figured the cost accurately; maybe they have as far as the books show it. One may have been logging in a dense stand of pure Norway, the other in a thin stand scat- tered through a dense growth of popple and birch, or a mixed stand of cedar, spruce and balsam. One may have had a green crew, indifferent to their work, the other an experi- enced crew of conscientious workers. In considering this matter of cost we must bear in mind several points. Most of the figures presented were from men who had burned their slash by contract, or by the contractors themselves. Naturally the contractors do not care to have these cost figures set too low, and it is significant that the contracts are eagerly sought. Still more significant is the fact that the low figures nearly all come from the rangers and operators who have been doing their own burning for some years. They are both interested in finding the actual cost. There is no reason why the ranger should underesti- mate the cost — if he did his efficiency would be questioned; there is no reason why the operator who is honestly endeav- oring to find out the costs of his woods operations should overestimate them. Conclusions. There are, then, several quite obvious conclusions which may be drawn from the arguments presented. The slashings from pine cuttings can, in almost every in- stance, be burned at a reasonable cost — usually burning as the operation proceeds. In cedar cuttings it is usually better to put firebreaks through and around the cut over tract than to try to pile it and burn it. 10 In many swampy localities it is better to lop the branches so that they will be close to the ground and rot than to try to burn them. Every operation presents an individual problem which must be solved according to conditions; no set formula will apply. Not every green horn can burn brush successfully. It is a problem needing careful study continually and calls for more experienced men than some other portions of the woods operation which now receive more attention. The ranger and the foreman should go over the woods together and work out a plan which is satisfactory to both. The responsibility for the slash burning should be defi- nitely placed in every operation. The operators as a whole seemed well pleased with the workings of the new law and heartily in favor of co-operating with the Forest Service. The Conference with the Timber Owners at Virginia IN order to get nearer to the problems of slash burning the operators of the northeastern portion of the State were invited to a separate conference with the State Service officials at Virginia on March 28th, instead of the one held in Bemidji two days earlier. The discussion of slash burning followed much the same lines as at Bemidji, but the operators seemed to better ap- preciate the value of the work and showed more considera- tion. They showed a willingness to co-operate, and back up the rangers in every way possible. A resolution was passed that all brush made in the clearing of roads and skidways should be burned in the winter. Mr. Coy suggested a new scheme, a committee composed of one man from each company and one settler to co-operate with the ranger in each district in deciding the best methods of disposing of slash. This would certainly do a great deal 11 toward developing efficient methods which would be accept- able to all concerned. The cost of burning slash as reported in this district was much lower than in the Bemidji district and much more sys- tematic methods seemed to be in use. The same points came out here as at Bemidji; that the high cost of slash burning was maintained by the contractors and a lack of a sufficient study of the best methods. An inquiry into the question of fire patrol showed that several of the companies already maintained patrols of their own in the danger season and others agreed to do the same. The co-operation of these private patrolmen and those put on the railroads will greatly increase the efficiency of the State force. On the whole it was a very satisfactory meeting. It gave the timber owners a better insight into the work of the serv- ice and increased their confidence, emphasizing the common interest which they both had in the prevention of fire. Minnesota Day 4*T% yTINNESOTA DAY," Bulletin No. 34 of The State J_VJL Department of Public Instruction certainly de- serves a great deal of commendation, and should be made familiar to every school boy and school girl in the State. It contains much valuable information in re- gard to the early history of the State, but better yet, it tells something of the wonderful resources and the necessity of conserving them. This is certainly attacking the problem in the right way. The proverb that "you cannot teach an old dog new tricks" is pretty true. With the greatest pos- sible pains the progress made in impressing the necessity for conservation on the old people is very slow, but the children will grasp it readily and do much toward converting their elders. Some interesting facts are stated in regard to the value of the Minnesota forests. "Computing the value of Minnesota's 12 forests to the people of the State, we are confronted with impressive figures. There are approximately seventy-five bil- lion feet of merchantable timber standing in the woods. This has a stumpage value of at least $4.00 per thousand. The wages paid out in logging and manufacturing amount to at least $8.00 per thousand; and for transportation, an average cost of $1.00 a thousand may be added. This means, then, that the mature timber now standing has a value to the peo- ple of Minnesota equivalent to $975,000,000. This does not take into consideration the value of the forests as a field from which successive crops of timber are produced, nor its importance in maintaining conditions favorable to the exist- ence of big game and game fishes, which attract thousands of people from outside the State and bring a large revenue to our citizens. Then, too, we must not forget the important influence of the forest in its effect upon the climate, and in regulating stream flow, for Minnesota is rich in streams, used for navigation and water power, with enormous possi- bilities for future development." "The Great North Woods" is over three hundred miles wide along the northern boundary, and extends 364 miles north and south. The southern portion of this forest region, containing mostly broad-leaved species, or hardwoods, is known as the "Big Woods." This type of forests grows upon heavy clay soils, and is rapidly being cleared for agriculture. Immediately north of the Big Woods lies the so-called "pineries," consisting of nearly pure stands of white pine, Norway, or red pine, and jack pine. In general, the pine forests cover the sandy and gravelly portions of the State, although white pine is often found upon clay soil. Norway and jack pine do well upon the very poorest sandy land. "North of the true pineries is a vast region containing rich forests of spruce, cedar and tamarack, and enormous quantities of the finest birch and poplar. There is also much pine, especially in the high, rocky country north of Lake Superior and east of the Little Fork River. The country from the Little Fork and Rat Root rivers westward to the Red River valley, and embracing an area of five million acres, is a densely forested district. Spruce, tamarack and 13 cedar here frequently stands so dense that they are difficult to penetrate. Poplar and birch here maintain their best de- velopment and, if fires are kept out, will furnish material for many mills in the future. The soil in this district is a rich loam, the same as that in the Red River valley, so that it is being cleared for farming. There are in the state, however, many millions of acres of rough, stony lands, and poor sandy or gravelly lands, suitable only for the production of timber, and capable, with fire protection and conservative logging, of supplying continuously far more lumber than is now annually cut in the State." "A beginning has been made by the newly organized State Forest Service to protect the forests from fire, to secure a greater economy in the utilization of forest products, to en- courage the use of species of trees other than those now cut, and to differentiate between agricultural and forest land with a view to perpetuating the forests upon land which will pro- duce a greater profit in growing timber than in agricultural crops." If the grown people could but realize this, which the chil- dren will learn so easily, an appreciation of the northern part of the State would be assured. Notes On April 15th the Junior Class of the College of Forestry left for Itasca Park, where they will continue their school work until next September under the direction of Prof. John P. Wentling. They took along a cook and a suppply of pro- visions that should last some time. They will live in the large, log bunkhouse built by the school and run their own boarding house in the cookshack. The class is organized into a close corporation for the co- operative management of all its business. The general care of the camp as well as the dining table is looked after by the corporation. It is a matter of tradition that the camp should be left in the best possible shape and the expense 14 kept down to the minimum. In this way they not only get along with a very reasonable amount of money, but learn to carry all the cares and responsibilities of running a camp. It develops the men's self-reliance as nothing else could do. This management of camp affairs does not interfere with the class work in any way. Of course nearly all the work is in the open. Five days in the week from eight o'clock to five the class is busy with problems in sylviculture, mensuration or surveying; but besides this, and of quite as much import- ance, they are continually learning the life of the woods, and the knack of dealing with men in the close intimacy of camp life. The members of the class are: H. D. Brunelle, Cloquet, Minnesota. A. Erstad, Zumbrota, Minnesota. Thomas A. Griffin, Minneapolis, Minnesota. E. Howard Hall, St. Paul, Minnesota. R. B. Haworth, Des Moines, Iowa. N. O. Henchel, Rochester, Minnesota. John Moir, Minneapolis, Minnesota. H. D. Nuffer, Hills, Minnesota. D. L. Renshaw, Monona, Iowa. E. C. Rogers, Hammond, Minnesota. O. M. Savre, Northwood, Minnesota. C. D. Simpson, Northfield, Minnesota. Paul H. Tobin, Minneapolis, Minnesota. G. H. Wiggin, Minneapolis, Minnesota. H. E. Wyman, Dundas, Minnesota. During the month of March Mr. Austin Gary made an in- spection of the slash burning operations in Districts 2, Ranger Eisenach; District 3, Ranger Vibert; District 5, Ranger Nel- son; District 8, Ranger Johnson; District 9, Ranger Depuy; and District 14, Ranger Winslow. Mr. Gary is a very well-informed lumberman and has had very extensive experience in the disposal of slash in the New England states where this practice has been in force for some 15 years. He reported the work as being carried on very suc- cessfully and satisfactorily. He considered that the rangers were handling the situation very well; much better than it could be handled under any inflexible law. Mr. Gary went to Washington, D. C., the first of April to work for the U. S. Forest Service. He will probably be em- ployed in timber sales work on the National Forests during the coming summer. He will return to the University next fall to resume his work as Professor of Lumbering in the Col- lege of Forestry. 16 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Fores! Wealth.* THE NORTH WOODS Volume V. ^JUNE, 1912 Number 6 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry ASSOCI'J don"* One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS Elk for Superior Game Preserve 3 Plans for the Cloquet Station - 6 Volunteer Rural Fire Brigades - 10 News and Views of the Woods 12 Canada's New Railroad Rules - 16 A Trajjik Stoary of the Woods 18 A Plea for Municipal Forests - 2 1 Road in Northern Minnesota after Destructive Fire. Ockerson Heights across Doming Lake, Itasca State Park. Elk for Superior Game Preserve WINNING back to Minnesota the elk which have crossed the international border into Canada, and re-intro- ducing them in the Superior Game Preserve, there to be protected by state laws, is ardently advocated by W. T. Cox, state forester. Not that the great herds which fled to the Canadian wilds on the approach of civilization years ago, may be brought back, but sufficient of the species should be obtained to give them another start. The country is ideal, the land their native haunt and conditions in the Superior reserve receptive. Mr. Cox said: Thousands of Elk Roamed Through the Heavily Timbered Country. "Not many years ago Minnesota was the home of the noblest elk in America. The settlers of the Minnesota River valley and the Lake Park region to the northward used to see more elk than common deer. It was not unusual dur- ing the winter when the elk were banding and moving into more heavily timbered country, for thousands to be seen in a, single herd. This splendid animal which furnished meat for the tables of our fathers in all that region from Southern Minnesota northwestward and northward to the Canadian line, has all but left the state. Probably not more than a dozen individuals still exist in the country north of the Red Lake. "Did the others suffer the fate of the bison? It is our opinion that they did not. Of course thousands were killed and eventually all would have suffered a similar fate had they remained in the territory they liked so well — the Lake Park region. Pope, Douglas and Ottertail were wonderful counties for elk because the little prairies, the hardwood forests, the hundreds of lakes and streams made conditions ideal as re- gards food and shelter. That territory has been claimed by the farmer, and rightfully so, for the soil is rich. Cultivated fields ano'f staml.' y.ij^. VII. Studies of growth, volume and yield". VIII. Systematic observations on the time of budding, flow- ering, leafing and fruiting of the important species at the sta- tion (Phehological Records). IX. Building up of collections of Forest flora, rocks, soil, insects, fungi, etc., at the station, for purposes of demonstra- tion and investigation. To Record Exact Effect Moisture on Trees and the Station's Land. A control station is to be established at which precipita- tion, temperature of the air, wind velocity, humidity and evaporation will be continuously measured throughout the entire year. At three control stations, a record of soil tem- perature and moisture content of the soil will be obtained. Evaporating tanks are recommended, to show the average evaporation in the district, and snow scales during the winter to record the accumulation of snow and its thawing in the spring. Experiments to Determine What Should Be Done With Burned and Cut-Over Land. "Minnesota and the Lakes States in general," the report says, "contains a large acreage of burned-over and cut-over land which is not suitable for agriculture. A study of the natural re-growth of these lands is of vital importance. This study should be carried on intensively by means of sample plots, on which the succession of different plant associations should be determined, together with the physical factors in- fluencing this succession. This study should lay emphasis on determining what will be the ultimate future of this land if left to itself, how long it will take for it to come back to forest, and what will be the kind and character of forest growth. This study should be complementary to the study of the best silvicultural methods of cutting in the Norway, White Pine type and swamp type. In order to carry out this study, old cuttings of different ages, made under different conditions, should be located and the progress of natural reforestation recorded. From these, conclusions are to be drawn as to the results following one OF another method. "In making these studies, sample plots of several acres in extent should be selected, and a general description of the <-cir,i)i;p,d.~ "Within each of these large plots, small plo'tb ot ow>y a few square yards should be located, on which minute examination should be made of all the vegetation. By locating a series of such large and small plots on old cuttings, the progress of natural reproduction under different methods of cutting may be traced. Recommends Plots of Ground Planted to Different Kinds of Pine. "There are a number of commercially valuable species which climatically are well adapted to this region. A sys- tematic effort shorlrl be made of introducing the important species at the station. The introduction of the species should b© made by the planting of well-developed stock and not by sowing. The species should be purchased from commercial nurseries. The planting should be done in the fall or spring. "The following species should be planted at the station in small plots, 40x40, each plot containing 100 trees: Scotch Pine, Douglas Fir, both Pacific and Rocky Mountain forms; Norway Spruce, Yellow Pine, Western White Pine, Engel- mann Spruce, Sitka Spruce, Lodgepole Pine, Western Red Cedar, White Spruce, Noble Fir, Anabalis Fir, and White Fir. Arrangements should be made with the U. S. Forest Service far in advance for small quantities of these species, which can be planted this fall. These plantations — since the object of them is to introduce the species — should be given the greatest care possible. "A species which, on account of its possibilities on the poor Jack Pine land, deserves considerable attention, is the Scotch Pine. The experience gained from planting Scotch Pine on the poor sandy soil in Michigan showed that it is probably the species to grow. The great drawback with the ordinary Scotch Pine is that it is apt to be crooked, and not to yield on that account timber of high commercial value. It has been experimentally shown that the seed secured from the Baltic provinces, the so-called 'Riga' variety, produces straight poles and high-grade lumber. The Forest Service has secured considerable quantities of this Scotch Pine from the Rus- sian Government, and promised to furnish sufficient seed for raising a large quantity of stock of this variety for planting 8 on the Jack Pine land. Since this stock must be raised here, •at least two or three seed-beds should be devoted to growing stock of this variety of Scotch Pine. Half of the beds should be sown this fall; the other half next spring. If this variety of Scotch Pine possesses the qualities ascribed to it, it will solve to a large extent the Jack Pine problem in the Lake State region, as it is the only valuable Pine that can com- pete with Jack Pine on Jack Pine land. Willows to Supply Basket Material For the Indians and Manufacturers. "The abundance of low-lying land which may be too wet for agricultural crops offers a good opportunity for utilizing this land for growing basket willows, for which there is al- ways a market. An arrangement, therefore, should be made to secure from the Forest Service at Washington next spring, cuttings of different species of commercial basket willows with which to start a basket-willow holt. The basket-willow rods can be distributed in the state to people interested in the in- dustry, to Indians, for the purpose of stimulating basket-mak- ing among them, and to public institutions. The holt at first should be confined to a few of the most important species, and later may be extended to include many of our native species, with the idea of developing a native willow that will be suitable to our local conditions." i Volunteer Rural Fire Brigades $ VOLUNTEER rural fire brigades to aid the state forest service in fighting the "red dragon" of 'the woods, are being organized in the northern part of Minnesota. Initiative along this line was taken in the district of William Kilby, forest ranger at Beaudette and settlers in three other townships have signified their intention of following the ex- ample that has been set. State Forester Cox would like to see these brigades organized in all sections of the state. At the organization of the first brigade at Beaudette, Rang- er Kilby recommended a plan which has met with the For- ester's approval. His proposals follow: How to Go About Organizing a Rural Fire Brigade for Aiding the Service. "In each township or locality deciding to organize a Rural Fire Brigade for the protection of life and property in such township or locality, there shall be one man selected by the settlers and approved by the District Ranger, who shall be known as the Captain of any brigade so formed. "There shall also be appointed two or more assistants to this man, who, in the event of fires occurring, shall act as messengers and inform the settlers in the vicinity, of the whereabouts of the fire. The settlers can then come pre- pared to fight fire with the least loss of time, and can bring such tools as shall have been previously agreed upon. "It is advisable that some safe place or places should be designated and their whereabouts well known to the settlers, where families could be taken in the event of serious fires. "Each settler should bring an ax and shovel, and there should be water pails at hand. These arrangements can be made among the settlers, and this should be done as soon as possible. It would be simple to have a list of available help and check off against each man's name the tools he is expected to bring. 10 "The State patrolman shall assist in every possible way, and will take charge if he happens to be present at any fire; but in his absence, the Captain of the Brigade will take charge and will be paid at a fixed wage, agreed upon with the Dis- trict Ranger; and the settlers fighting fire shall be paid at a maximum rate of twenty-five cents per hour during the time they may be so employed." Practical Methods Recited to Settlers Relative to Fighting Fires. Ranger Kilby told the settlers of practical methods of ex- tinguishing flames and urged the importance of getting to them early. A report to the State Forester covering the meet- ing, quoted Mr. Kilby as saying: "No fixed rules can be laid down for fighting forest fire's. As a general rule, in light soil— on such places where Popple, Pine and White Spruce grow, a shovel is the most useful tool, or a wet sack, if available, can be used to good advan- tage. In muskeg or moss, where Black Spruce, Cedar or Tamarack grow, ditching is the only way to prevent the fire from spreading. "Around every cabin there should be cleared land, free from debris and broken, as many places were destroyed in the forest fires of 1910 by creeping fires which could not have burned across broken land. "Prevention is better than cure. Encourage your neighbors to carefully burn their slashings, keep the roads clear, and quench all unattended small fires on your own land or on the land of others, and there will be little danger from serious forest fires." H s News and Views of the Woods « More than 1,000,000 miles of roadway territory in compar- atively sparsely settled sections of the country will be cov- ered daily by a forest fire preventive force of 55,000 men, as a result of an order issued by Postmaster General Hitchcock. These men are the rural and star route mail carriers, who are directed to co-operate with the forest rangers and state fire wardens in every way possible. Last year forest fires destroyed approximately $50,000,000 worth of property. The agricultural department has been anxious to increase the efficiency and strength of its forest fire preventive service and Postmaster General Hitchcock offered his department's assistance. There are 42,000 rural and 13,000 star route mail carriers. Their daily routes take them for the most part through sparsely inhabited parts of the country. By the terms of Mr. Hitchcock's order, the duty of the car- riers on observing a fire or any indications of a fire, will be to notify the nearest forest rangers or fire warden. Post- masters in or near national forest reserves also are instructed to immediately report forest fires. T. R. Angst, representative of a powder company, has just completed an experiment at the Northwestern Experiment Station at Crookston, Minn., under the joint supervision of faculty members of the Crookston school of agriculture, in which Superintendent C. G. Selvig of the farm and school is much inte'rested. Two acres of land have been dynamited and will be seeded to flax, side by side with a field of flax which will be seeded after ordinary plowing. The theory is that the dynamiting will make available a vast amount of plant food, and that the roots of grain, flax or anything else planted, will draw from a depth heretofore im- possible because of practically impervious strata. 12 Charges of dynamite are placed in holes three feet deep at intervals of fifteen feet each way, and touched off with fuses in the ordinary way, certain sections at a time. While there is an area of only three feet in diameter of dirt thrown up directly over each charge, the explosion cracks and loosens all the dirt and breaks it up. Manufacturers of explosives wanted the government to ex- periment, but there were no funds available and the powder companies made a proposition that the explosives would be furnished free for experiments and tests. While the initial expense -is now estimated as about $15 an acre, this may be reduced, and it will take experiments to discover just how often dynamiting would be necessary and could be profitably done. According to a report compiled in the office of the State Forester, June 1, only eighteen fires had been reported by forest rangers this season. The total damage estimated from these fires was $50. Most of them were in mea.dows, or strips of land where no damage was done. None was serious although several would have developed into bad fires if they had not been promptly checked. Seven were set by locomo- tives and most of the others were burnings that got beyond control. While Minnesota has escaped, the fiercest forest fires in years have been raging in the country north of the Saskatchewan river to north of Prince Albert City, Canada. The Hudson Bay railway survey camps have been destroyed. Men lost all their outfits. Much valuable timber has been burned. Continued wet weather made the recently created positions of fire warden, of which there are four in the township of Stuntz near Hibbing, something of a sinecure. The rangers were reported as gathering brush and piling it in heaps to be burned in dry weather lessening the danger from forest fires. The present summer has been the wettest in the his- tory of the range, according to the old timers. Water is standing in the low spots all through the woods, the growth of slough grass is the most dense in years and the levels of 13 the small lakes and streams are higher than for years. With the woods in the condition they are at present the danger from forest fires is remote and woodsmen do not believe there will be any of consequence in northern Minnesota this year. "More than 930,000,000 board feet of lumber, valued at $20,000,000, is annually utilized in the wood-using industries of Wisconsin, and almost 50 per cent of this is purchased out- side of the state. This means that in time the state will lose its wood-using industry unless the rapid destruction of the forests is checked." This is a statement made by State Forester E. M. Griffith, of Wisconsin, who is back of a movement to create a rorest reserve of at least 1,500,000 acres. The state has a reserve of less than one-third of this number already but Mr. Griffith declares that a much larger reserve "can aid very materially in supplying this raw material, though the state cannot and should not be expected to do it all." Charging negligence in not protecting locomotives with cinder arresters, thirty or more insurance companies and prop- erty owners have commenced suit in the superior court at Tacoma, Wash., against the Great Northern railway for dam- ages approximating $275,000, alleged to have been imposed through fire which started in the Galbraith Bacon dock in Seattle, June 10, 1910, consuming several city blocks. It is specifically alleged that cinders from a locomotive belonging to the defendant set fire to the dock, resulting in the loss of one life and burning property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Tribute to the presence of God in the woods, recently was paid by Rev. George R. Gebauer, pastor of the First Unitarian church in Duluth while delivering a sermon on the subject, "Influences." The following pretty eulogy of the stars and woods and the sermons they preach, came from him: 14 "It was none less than the great Kant who said: 'The two things which most overawe me are the starry heaven above and the moral law within.' He said nothing of any relation- ship between the two but to me ther$ seems to be such. I am convinced that if only we would take our children into the star-lit silence of the night, and in the presence of this visible Infinite speak to them of the Infinite and the eternal law of goodness, we should find them much more receptive than in our Sunday schools with their sanctimonious trim- mings. What the stars preach to us is truly 'heavenly,' and the sweet influences of the Pleiades creates a reverence which holy scripture will hardly give in such rich and pure measure. "It is wrong to speak of a dead world of matter, if thus the very stars speak to us. No, this is not a soulless universe and Arcturus and Vega and the farthest nebula are filled with the divine soul and try to draw us upward. And as the stars preach to us, so does the earth; nature about us uplifts the sore and troubled soul. The woods and the hills say to us, when we come with fevered brow from the daily pursuits, as Emerson puts it: 'Why so hot, little man.' Yes, it is nature that tells us that man is more than a dollar-earning or dollar- grasping animal, and that his life may be measured by some- thing else than the capacity for making money, and wasting wealth. Yes, life in the end is only true life when it is close to nature; a life is only full when it can look in reverence up to the stars and love nature as a, divine mother. "I think it would be a blessed thing to close for the sum- mer not only the schools, but the churches, and turn the saints and sinners to pasture, if people would only forget themselves there. How it might expand those shriveled souls, the souls of poor over and under-reformed humanity, of pale-faced gospel-ridden churchgoers, of miserable sermon- crammed sinners, simply to go into the woods and become men again, and forget all about preachers and teachers and saints and sinners and reformers and 'such like.' Not that we do not need the prophts and preachers but that it is well to get away from them for a time." 15 Canada's New Railroad Rules CANADA, as the United States, has paid it's yearly toll of millions of dollars in fire losses. Profiting by the experience of her neighbor across the border, she has now fully awakened to the commercial and moral necessity of doing all in her power to preserve and propagate the forests. In such an endeavor there is work which only the government can do — and work which the government can cause to be done. The Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada caused a set of rules and regulations to be drawn up which were pre- sented and discussed at a meeting of the authorities and the railroad companies at Toronto, April 30, 1912. The regula- tions were adopted in substance as follows: Rules the Government and Railroads Have Agreed to Enforce. "The size of netting mesh for all locomotives with exten- sion smoke box, shall be not larger than 2y2x2ys per inch of No. 10 Birmingham Wire Gauge, the openings of the mesh not to exceed a quarter of an inch and one sixty-fourth of an inch to the square. In the case of a diamond stack, the mesh shall be not more than 3x3 per inch of No. 10 Birmingham Wire Gauge, the openings of the mesh not to exceed three-six- teenths and one sixty-fourth of an inch to the square. "The openings of the locomotive ash pans shall be covered by heavy sheet-iron dampers where practicable, otherwise with screen netting. Water connections shall be made with either the injector or boiler, so that the ash pan can be flooded. "The railroad companies shall provide inspectors, who shall examine at least once a week each engine, noting its number, condition and repairs made on the fire-protective appliances. The records shall be open to inspection by the Board. In case any of the fire-protective appliances are found defective, such engine shall be removed from service until such defects are remedied. Special inspectors shall also be appointed by each road, who shall inspect each locomotive at least once a 16 month, and report directly to the railroad official held respon- sible for the condition of the motive power of that road. Authorized officers of the Board may also inspect any loco- motive and remove same from service if found defective. "Back dampers shall be kept closed while engine is run- ning ahead and front dampers while it is running tender first. "No live coals shall be deposited on track or right-of-way outside of yard limits, unless immediately extinguished." "The questions of clearing rights-of-way, burning debris and litter, and building firebreaks, together with other measures thought necessary, are to be taken up in detail in a, state- ment submitted each year to the different railroad companies by the Chief Fire Inspector. "No railroad company shall construct fire-guards upon land under cultivation without the consent of the owner or occu- pant of the land. If this consent cannot be obtained, a report must be made to the Board at once. "No unnecessary damage shall be done to the property of the owner or occupant of the land on which the fire-guard is being constructed. "No railroad company shall burn or cause to be burned any slash, debris or litter, unless sufficient precautions are taken to prevent the spread of such fire." Make it Compulsory That All Employes Shall Report Forest Fires. There is issued also another yearly statement by the Chief Fire Inspector taking up the matter of patrol with the dif- ferent roads, stating the number of men required, their loca- tion, equipment and the means provided for transporting the fire-fighting force from place to place. All section men and other employes are required to take measures to report and extinguish all fires on or adjacent to the rights-of-way ; that trains crews shall report all fires to the nearest telegraph or telephone station and it shall be the duty of the person so informed to notify immediately the nearest forest officer and section men. In case of necessity, outside assistance shall be obtained. Every railroad company is required to give particular in- structions to its employees in regard to the regulations, and 17 shall cause appropriate notices to be posted at all stations along its lines. Any railroad company violating any of the regulations, is in addition to all other liability, subject to a penalty of $100 for every such offense. If any employee neglects to obey the regulations, he shall, in addition to all other liability, be subject to a penalty of $25 for every such offense. $J A Trajjik Stoary of the Woods [Reprinted with permission from Field and Stream] 1 Dere Felde & Streme: — HEAR is a trooly trajjik stoary whitch I made up out of mi own hed & I call it the WALE OF THE FOR- RIST RANJER. It was a bammy nite in the munth of Oggust & alsoe in the hart of one (1) of owr moast poppler State Forrist Preeserves in the Rokky Mountins. The sun had set in the West. It was dark & the preddytory kreechurs with stelthy footsteps prouled bak & foarth over the ruggid boalders looking for their supper. A feeling of aw cairn over the plump, well-drest Forrist Ranjer hoo sat at the doar of his cabbin, skratched a match on his corderroy britches & peared hear & there for forrist fires whitch it wood be his dooty to subdoo. He was still youthful & full of hoap. In the biest pokkit of his bloo flannil shert, whitch was slitely woar at the elbos, he cood hear the russel of a luving letter from the fare gerl hoo was to be his moar or less blushing bride. His thots were of happy-ness & the prezzent hi cost of living. Ha! His eyes do not deseave him. It is too erly after supper for that. Miles away to the larburd — (as the eddytur wood say in his moterbote stoaries) a tinny spark of lite is vizzibel. 18 There it is agin — & this time it ain't so tinny. The forrist is on fire! Off el thot! Gentul reeder did you ever notis that a fire starts in a smawl way & grows rapidly, like a grosery bill? This minnit you cood put it owt with a wet sock; the next, the hull fire department of Noo York coodent git there too kwik. Fire is like the Keely Kure— it must be took in time. Let us reeturn to owr Forrist Ranjer hoo we left saying "Ah." He is saying sumthing else now. With the seelerity that comes of mutch praktiss & kareful peroosal of the Servis Reggylashuns he has grabbed up his saddel & bridel & axe & spaid & ho & a few other hully nessesserry yootensils. Then he drops them awl in a heep. He shaiks his fist at a immajinnery objikt in the far distunc'e & several degrees south of east of his solliterry cabbin, & he lifts up his voice on hi. What is he saying? Let us lissen. He speex of a fire ait (8) miles away — a fire that you cood cover with a Merry Wido hat. He speex of ait miles that are strate up or strate aown, windfall timber, rox and brush, with no rodes better than a deer trale. He tawks of the tellyfone lines that he askt for and dident git, whitch wood have spred the alarm & brot help in his owr of nede. But lowder than all, he tawks of a buntch of dam-fools in Washington hoo think Forrist Ranjers aut to eckonymize by locating kloas to the trolly lines & dooing there tellyfoning from the korner drugstoar. It is moarning. A klowd of smoak huvvers over the seen. What is that fearful voice of wo, at the sownd of whitch the mountin beests krowch & shivver? It is the WALE OF THE FORRIST RANJER. He coodent git to the fire! This stoary is not copy-ritted. Enny publik-spirrited cit- tizen has an invite to reeprint it in pamflet or sirkuler form & send saim to members of Kongress, short chanje artists, inmaits of staits institooshuns hoo ware striped kloas, etc. &so4th. The appropryashun for the Forrist Servis has been redoosed a hull milyun (1,000,000) dollers ($)— & the Upper House still to heer from. It is campane yeer — the pollyti- shuns need the munny. They need it mity bad & if sum of them don't git it now they won't have an uther chance. It has been the rewl to promis the Forrist Servis five mil- 19 yun & give it three. This yeer they knok off one-third for cash. What doo a buntch of ignerrent ranjers want of signul stashuns & telyfon lines & graided rodes. They ain't put owt there to ride in ottermobeels, or chat with each uther over the wier, or doo fancy wigwagging from signal stashuns. Let them git owt and chop their own trales throo the brush. Say, I cood put them kongressmen on plum level grownd in enny of owr Rokky Mountin Starts, set a whisky bottel in fotty (40) yards of them, & they wood be awl day getting to it, over & under & around the down timber. They wood braik their neks in no time on the trales that the Forrist Ranjers have to use regular. The kongresshunal idee of a state pree- serve is a park with sum seement waks in it, but not as menny as the pampered & luxyoorius Ranjers wood like. Why bild speedways for a lot of cheep fire fiters, when good friends of owrs need the munny. So far as intylekt goes, the avridge Forrist Ranjer ain't in the same klass with a kongressman. If he was, he wood burn his pantz — & never put the fire owt. But he can't be in too (2) plaises at once, nor he can't commoonikate by thot waves with uther Ranjers throo the brodside of a mountin. It's hard to let that milyun loose, but maybe you must. — Unkel David.— A study of the forests of Koochiching county is now being carried on by Phil. Allen. The distribution and location of the timber types will be determined. The amount of timber and the rate of growth of the principal species will also be studied. A Forest Service telephone line is now under contruction up the Big Fork river to Big Falls and east to the Little Fork river. Fred Kueffner is in charge of the work. 20 1 A Plea for Municipal Forces $ MUNICIPAL forests for southern Minnesota and other sections of the state where the supply of firewood has become depleted and where material for fencing is not readily at hand, are advised by W. T. Cox, state forester. Not only do the woods supply valuable material, he says, but they keep the sources of water supply free from contamina- tion and afford opportunities for pleasant public parks. Re- turning from a trip into the southeastern part of the state recently, Mr. Cox said: "Certain counties have about half-forested land, in spite of the fact the country has been settled longer than other parts of the state. These lands, of course, are the rougher lands, either quite hilly or lie along the bluffs of the rivers, like the Zumbro and the Cannon. The forests consist of hardwood, oaks of several kinds, maple, elm, basswood and a great variety of other kinds. "There is an opportunity for a great many small cities and villages to own municipal forests, particularly at the source of their water supply. Such forests would pay well and at the same time keep the source of water supply free from contamination. The bluffs along some of the rivers are all particularly adapted to municipal forests. They could be bought cheaply and would make beautiful parks." What a Missouri Expert Says About Need of Woodlots on Farms. "Growing a Woodlot from Seed," is the subject of an article in AMERICAN FORESTRY for June written by J. A. Fer- guson of the University of Missouri. Part of it deals with this very subject Mr. Cox has mentioned, and says: "Every farm should have a woodlot to furnish fuel, fence posts and other wood material needed. Especially is this true in the less wooded regions like the prairies, where wood products must often be transported long distances at considerable expense. Nearly every farm contains some land 21 that is too poor for raising crops or that is not available for grazing or other purposes, which usually lies idle year after year. This land is a burden to the owner because it brings in no returns, yet must bear its share of the taxes. Such land ought to be devoted to the raising of forest trees. When we consider that an acre of land planted to fast-growing trees will produce from one to three thousand fence posts in twen- ty years, and that with some species fence posts can be se- cured in less than ten years, a farmer, by allowing waste places to stand idle, is losing a return he could secure by a slight effort. It is not a difficult matter to start a woodlot, neither is it an expensive one. It can be done without any cost to the owner except the time and effort necessary to grow and plant the trees. Best Trees For Starting a Woodlot Are One-Year-Old Seedlings. "One reason why farmers do not start forest plantings is because they believe large trees are necessary which can be purchased only at considerable cost. The best trees for start- ing a woodlot are one-year-old seedlings, which can easily be grown from seed by the farmer himself. Every farm should have a forest nursery for growing trees for starting forest plantings. Such a nursery can also be used to grow larger trees for planting about the house, along the roads and for making windbreaks. It should be located on well-drained fertile soil such as might be selected for a garden. Where the space can be spared a portion of the vegetable garden makes an ideal nursery site. The soil should not be made excessively rich, as too fertile a soil will produce a rank growth in the seedlings, making them difficult to handle in transplanting." 22 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume V. JULY, 1912 Number 7 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS A Night in the Forest's Ashes - 3 Gathering the Wild Berries 8 Larch Saw-Fly Killing Tamarack 1 0 Game Plentiful in the Woods - 1 3 Making Trees Work on the Farm 1 6 Homes in Itasca and Burntside - 1 9 Coming of the Homesteaders - 22 Seeking Municipal Wood Lots - 26 News and Views of the Woods 29 s A Night in the Fore&'s Ashes $ (The following is an extract from a letter written by a St. Paul newspaper man to "The North Woods." The section he visited is along the Canadian border and while more extensive than other fire-ridden districts, depicts in a great measure the conditions existing in woods which have been swept by con- iiag'rations.) THE loneliest place in all America, the most forbidding, is found in the depths of a forest once swept by fire. Tales may be told of the stillness that terrifies the traveler on sun-baked Sahara and draws the mirage to haunt his eye and brain; the solitude of the polar regions where the ice floes stretch for miles unbroken, may be cited as spots where loneliness is greatest felt, but neither compares in its dread to the feeling which comes to one who spends a day or a night in a fire-swept forest land. There is a sense of awe, a desire to run away — away to green fields and green trees and friends and companionship and life and people and be back with the big pulsing world, which is almost irresistible. The giant pine trees, stripped of their limbs, motionless and dead; the unbending trunks of great spruce and tamarack trees, blackened and burned by the yellow tongue of fire, standing as wrecks of what once were forest kings, and all about them naught but desolation and silence, makes one want to turn and go where the hand of destruction has not placed a blot upon the earth. Spends a Night in a District Twice Swept By Fire. A short time ago, I had occasion to spend a week in North- ern Minnesota in a section denuded by fire in 1909 and again in 1910. The trip was made from Duluth by boat on Lake Superior to a point far up the shore toward the international border. A "buckboard" drawn by a strong team took me with my guide into the wilderness. We drove most all day over logging roads and trails and at night stopped by the side 3 of a little stream whose water was clear and pure and cold, far away from any human habitation. "Why," I said to my guide, "is no one living here? Will not these lands produce when cleared of timber?" "The land is dead," he replied. "And these blackened trees, are they worthless now?" "The trees are dead," he answered. "And these streams — do not they contain fish?" "The fish are dead," he responded. "And the wild animals that were here?" "They are dead, those that didn't escape." "And will this land never produce again?" "Some day," he replied, "some day, years from now, it may grow trees, but that is a long time away. The top soil is dead. It grows nothing. The land is deserted. The wild animals do not come here because there is nothing on which they may feed. The birds do not come except as they stop in their flights from sections where the country is green. The hunter does not come because it affords him no game. The settler does not come because he can raise no crops. The pleasure-seeker does not come because of the loneliness. No one comes. This land is shunned and despised and hated." A Silence That Weights and Depresses the Dweller in the Woods. We prepared supper from a campfire made in the roadway, and watched the day die out of the sky. A big moon came up in the southeast and began casting shadows from the tall blackened trunks. A little wind sprang up but its move- ment was scarcely heard among the great poles that once had been trees. We felt it on our faces, saw it fleck off bits of ashes from the hulks about us but the woods were silent. There was none of that soft sighing which marks the passage of the night breezes through the pine trees of the woods, no gentle swraying of branches, no dropping of cones, no laugh- ing and fluttering of leaves such as mark the forests where there is life and living, breathing, things. Instead, there was that cold, still silence which marks the presence of the dead and in which there is no moving creature. I put on my hat and walked up the trail to the summit of a little ridge, where I could be alone. I wanted to go away up there to see if some place in all that silent woods, I might not hear some of the usual night noises and hear the night birds and get the smell of trees and grasses and wild flowers in my nostrils. I wanted to walk along the banks of that little stream and see if somewhere in its water I might not see a muskrat or find a beaver's home or hear a trout jump- ing for prey. I wanted to feel life again. I wanted to peep back into the living world we had left behind. The gnarled poles casting their long shadows had depressed me. The flood of moonlight fell unbefittingly on the wreck that lay about me. Beneath my feet, the dead and blackened bits of branches broken off in the fire, cracked dismally as I picked my way toward the ridge. There was no life, no sounds, no birds, nothing, save the crackling of the sticks. No trout moved in the waters. No muskrat swimming low, poking only the tip of his nose above the surface looked at me and no beaver greeted me. No night bird poised on the branches of any tree then fluttered away. No chipmunk scurried across my path. No porcupine with its half-human face glared at me from a fallen log. Nothing was there but ashes and sometimes little patches of green weeds that could live within them. I went slowly to the top of the ridge and sat down to rest. Before me for miles, stretched the same scene of solitude and deso- lation, the same blackened trunks of trees, the same waste? and barrenness. Away off in the distance, beyond the hill, the faint howl of wolves came to my ears. Dismal as it was, it told me that there was life over there. The sound brought no chill. Rather, the slight breaking of the silence was wel- come in all that solitude. The Longing to Run Away and Hide From the Picture. I listened for an hour to the wolves and turned to retrace my steps. I wanted to hide the scene from my vision, and sleep. I wanted to forget those blackened trees standing there as silent sentinels over a land that was dead ana shunned and despised and hated, as my guide had told me. I wanted to go back to life and out to where things where green 5 and living. The ghastliness and "ghostliness" of the crime committed by fire brought to my mind Dante's Inferno and I wondered if the live trees that died in those awful conflagra- tions of but a few years before, had suffered the tortures the wonderful Dante pictured. Rolled up in my blanket, sleep came quickly that night, but I awoke next morning with the picture of the night before still in my mind. "A cup of coffee," I said to my guide, "and we'll move on." When the team was harnessed and our "buckboard" began moving away, I rejoiced. I bade my driver hurry. I wanted to leave behind me the burned-over forest. I wanted to es- cape from the walls of that tomb in which we had camped. I wanted to see nature alive, to feel the coolness of fresh woods, to get the smell of trees and leaves and growths that had the sap of life. "Three hours," my driver said, "and we will come to the lakes on the international border. There it's green." We passed rotting logs which the bears had ripped to the heart in search of ants. But we saw no bear. We passed a spring which gave forth a mineral water that smacked of salt and which the deer sometimes came to drink. But we saw no deer. As the day advanced, a small flock of wild ducks flew over our heads in the direction of a lake. They did not stop. No song birds flitted about in the trees. The land was deserted. Exultation That Comes When Life Is Seen Again Amid the Branches. Shortly before noon, away off on a distant ridge, we again saw trees with leaves and branches, trees clothed in the gor- geous green so wonderful in Minnesota's forests. I wanted to shout, to run toward them and clasp them in my arms, to thank God I was back in the living world again and exult over the life I felt in my blood. I think that ages ago, I must have been a wild animal living in the woods, because surely others do not know the joy that comes to me when I get back close to nature and feel the vigor of the earth and drink in the power it exudes. It's a medicine that's worth 6 more to me than all the chemical compounds and "safe dis- coveries" ever made. There is no odor in all the world so sweet to me as that which comes from the trees and grasses and wild flowers those mornings deep in the forests when the dew is still fresh upon the leaves. If the law makers in Minnesota could go into the Northern forests and see there the crime of fire — see the desolation It wreaks and know the millions of dollars that have gone up in flames with the burning of the trees they would have the country from Grand Portage to the Lake of the Woods pa- troled by an army of trained watchmen. If I had my way, i d buy up all the non-agricultural land denuded by timber- men, and reforest it now. Doing this would yield millions to the state a few decades later on. Letting it lie idle will cause it to always be a load. But, first of all, I would see that the present living forests are protected from fire, and the great state of Minnesota can spend money in no better way than by affording this protection. Each burned-over section of the big North woods tells a tragic tale which should not be re- peated. Liberating Land-Locked Fish. The "rescue ship" operated by the federal government on the Mississippi river, is preparing to free the land-locked game fish between Homer and Lake Pepin. Reports have been received to the effect that since the river began to fall thousands of game as well as rough fish have been trapped and will die in the pockets unless liberated at once. It is on this mission that the crew of the Curlew will be busily en- gaged between now and the close of navigation. The work of the government in this connection is greatly appreciated by fishermen, professional and amateur, who in other years have been compelled to carry on the task them- selves. Because of lack of equipment and funds thousands of fish perished. W. H. Winslow of Northome, state fire ranger, has bought 124 acres of land at Island lake. One tract containing nine acres, will be platted and sold in one-acre lots. The location is said to be one of the prettiest on the lake. s Gathering the Wild Berries i THE most bountiful crop of berries the North woods has produced in years, is being harvested and will continue to be harvested till along about September, according to reports. Picking them is affording employment for scores of persons, the Indians playing no small part. In practically all the tier of counties along the interna- tional border, strawberries are found in quantities. They are small, but are unusually tart, well formed and solid. Bucket- loads of them are finding their way to market. With do- mestic strawberries practically done for the season, the wild strawberries find ready purchase. Indians Sell Blueberries to Get Money With Which to See Circus. The most enormous crop of blueberries in years, is finding its way to the hands of buyers. Within the two weeks pre- vious to July 24, L. H. Burns at Cass Lake paid out more than $1,000 for blueberries. Indians going to that city to see the circus, in one day received $197 for berries sold. Prank L. Vance, known as the "Rice King of the Squaw Lake Country," has been wholesaling blueberries and doing a big business. In the country north of the M. & R. R. Railway there are vast areas producing prolifically. Mr. Vance estab- lished buying dates, and each day that the M. & R. R. trains went to Stanley, the terminal, he came down the Big Fork river in his launch to buy berries and ship them. One report said that since the opening of the season, he has been ship- ping about 50 bushels a day, with prospects of this amount being doubled as the season advances. The average price has been about $2 a bushel, and a lot of money has been placed in circulation through the industry. Raspberries Being Gathered and Shipped in all Directions. Dewberries also are gathered now, and raspberries are ripening. This crop will be a "bumper" this year, too. Wild cherries will come into the market in August. Prospects for 8 a big cranberry crop in the swampy districts are promising. The raspberry season is on in full blast in the vicinity of Deerwood and the Bay Lake Fruit Growers' Association is harvesting one of the largest crops ever grown in that ter- ritory. Special cars are being furnished by the Northern Pacific railway for the Twin Cities, Fargo and other Western points. One express refrigerator car loaded with 800 cases was sent to Winnipeg. The Indians are unusually busy picking berries, all the way from the White Earth reservation to Pigeon river, and will gather in many dollars before the summer has ended. With strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, dewberries, wild cherries and cranberries plentiful in the forests of Northern Minnesota, the winter's larder will be well supplied. The State Forestry Board met at Ely, Minn., July 18th. The full board was present, with the exception of Dean A. F. Woods and Hon. John Lind. Accompanied by State Senator Cheadle, C. A. Congdon, L. B. Arnold, A. C. LeDuc, Mr. Par- dee, W. T. Cox, state forester and D. P. Tierney, his assistant, the board made a trip to the State Forest on Burntside Lake. The party went in automobiles and crossed Burntside Lake in canoes, furnished by the State Forest Service and the United States Forest Service. The land was made near the end of the north arm and the whole party crossed the portage to Slim Lake. From the top of the hill there a very exten- sive view was obtained of Burntside Lake and of all the country between that and Long Lake. The trip took the board into a district which is primarily a forest country. The prevalence of rock makes a large per cent of it unfit for agriculture. Marsh Island, near New Orleans, La., containing approxi- mately 74,000 acres, has been bought by E. A. Mcllhenny of Avery Island, and will be added to 13,000 acres deeded a few months ago to Louisiana to form a great preserve for wild birds. The purchase price was $146,000. It is planned to establish a chain of preserves for wild birds in the Mississippi valley. 9 Larch Saw-fly Killing Tamarack THE larch saw-fly, one of the worst despoilers of forests, is killing tamarack in Minnesota. This little insect, brought to America, from European countries, unbidden, not welcomed and feared because of its ability to destroy, is hard at work in the North woods and already has made in- roads which is alarming. The fly has killed a great part of the tamarack in Maine, Quebec, Ontario and lake states of the East and has now reached the Northwest. The female saw-fly has an ovipository containing a pair of saw-like organs with which she makes incisions in the leaves or stems of trees in which to lay eggs. From these, little green worms hatch and become deadly enemies of the giant trees. In Minnesota, the pest is to be most feared because Minn'sota has more tamarack than any other state in the 'union. It is one of the staple timbers. Tamarack grows to be more than 100 feet in height, often gets to be over two feet in diameter, is usually straight and is the best of timber for bridge work and for use in piling and ties. Because of its value, the state forest service is making a special study of its production. Nip the Leaves From Trees and Thus Destroy the Lung*. Tamarack is found on millions of acres of Minnesota land, and is especially a.bundant on much of the state properties. In Koochiching, Itasca and Beltrami counties tamarack is thickest, although it is found in all the Northern counties. "The larch saw-flies first appeared here some seven or eight years ago," according to W. T. Cox, state forester. "They have multiplied rapidly, and are injuring the tamarack trees appreciably. The flies kill the leaves and twigs of the trees — the 'lungs' through which a tree breathes. Apparently, they attack the large trees first. They seem to take the high spots first, like the eagle making its nest. They do not dam- age the small trees so much as they do the large ones. There 10 Agricultural Land in Northern St. Louis Co. were sections of the forests in this state in 1910, where the sa\y-flies practically stripped off all the leaves. Because of tlie. extreme droi'th, it helped the trees that year by prevent- ing transpiration but the danger point has been reached now." Mr. Cox says there is no way to stop the ravages of the flies except to import their enemy, a parasite found in Euro- pean countries. One authority describes a larch saw-fly as a "hymenop- terous insect belonging to the family tenthredinidae." An- other ironically depicts it as a cross between a hornet and a beaver. Gifford Pinchot, former chief forester of the federal gov- ernment, cannot increase his taxes in the District of Co- lumbia, though he wants to. Mr. Pinchot recently decided his mansion had been under-assessed about $44,000 and pro- posed to pay more taxes. The assessors, however, think their figures are correct and declined Mr. Pinchot's money. Following a struggle lasting nearly three months, the drive of logs from Red Lake has reached Crookston and the big mill has arranged to get to work upon them. The drive is estimated to be large enough to keep the mill busy till the freeze next fall. To get the logs to the mill, floods five hours apart, were obtained by raising the dam. across the Clearwater at Red Lake Falls. A small army of drivers made the most of each flood and kept the logs moving when the water came. The government agent who took soundings in Red Lake, reports a fall of ten inches below the unprecedented low stage reached last fall, and unless there are unusual rains this fall or next spring, a drive next year may not be attempted. It is esti- mated that more than 30,000,000 feet are strung along the shores between Red Lake and Crookston. 12 & Game Plentiful in the Woods s ONE hundred and eighty arrests for violations of the state game laws have been made in Northern Minnesota dur- ing the past six months, according to a statement pre- pared for The North Woods by H. A. Rider, executive agent of the State Game and Fish Commission Of these, 165 re- sulted in convictions and 15 were discharged. There were 111 seizures of game or firearms as contraband property. The forests are literally teeming with game, according to the executive agent of the game and fish commission, and conditions for hunting this coming season never were better. Mr. Rider's statement follows: Bright Outlook For Hunters Reported By State Commission. "Editor The North Woods: "I have been requested to give a statement relative to game conditions in the northern part of the state. Con- ditions were never better than at the present time and the outlook for game of all kinds is very favorable. The deputy game wardens report that partridges and quail are very numerous and are of good size for this time of the year. Prairie chickens are plentiful. Deer and moose are seen in large numbers and also are in splen- did condition. ''The Commission has, in years gone by, had some trouble in enforcing the game and fish laws, partly caused by the lack of funds to properly protect the game and enforce the law. The Commission also has had trouble with people who seem to ignore the law pertain- ing to game and fish. I am glad to say, however, that the people are coming to realize that unless game and fish are conserved, that it will be a question of only a few short years when there will be none left. 13 "In the six months last past, there have been 180 arrests made for various offenses, all in the northern part of the state. Of these, 165 resulted in convictions and 15 wherein defendants were released. There also have been 111 seizures made and the property declared contraband. On the whole we are pleased to say that conditions are improving, owing to the efficient work done in that vicinity by local game wardens." H. A. RIDER, Executive Agent, State Game and Fish Commission. Would Discard Rainbow Trout. Wisconsin regrets that rainbow trout were planted in its streams, according to Joseph Lucius of Rhinelander, presi- dent of the Fish and Game Protective Association of North- ern Wisconsin. "A few years ago," Mr. Lucius said, "my brother and I brought the rainbow trout to Wisconsin from California. We stocked some of the streams. The result is that in those streams the brook trout have practically been cleaned out by them. We would like to be rid of the entire lot. We look on the rainbow trout almost the same as on German carp." A. E. Creith and P. A. Paquet, state timber cruisers, were eaten out of house and home in Powell township on the Huron Mountain club preserve recently by a family of black bears. After a big female and her two half-grown cubs had demolished their tent and consumed their provisions, the cruisers hastily finished their work and made a forced march of thirty miles on light rations to connect again with a square meal. The havoc wrought by the animals and their tracks in the little clearing where the two men were camping were viewed by J. H. McLean and John Hanaway, also estimating timber for the state. Practically all the leading lumber dealers at Menominee and Marinette, Mich., have sold their season's cut of hard- wood. The Edward Hines Lumber company of Chicago was one of the principal buyers. 14 A Fish Hole Along Rainy Lake. Making Trees Work on a Farm ONE little belt of trees four rows deep, is to a naked 40-acre field, what a last year's overcoat is to a tramp. It's protection. The fields of this state need the trees just as much as a tramp needs an overcoat and there's not going to be full comfort for either till they get what they need. So says W. T. Cox, state forester. Within the past few years, foresters and agriculturists have been preaching with all the energy of paid spell-binders, the doctrine of tree-planting about fields, as a means of protec- tion and for the furtherance of crop production. Some of these rainy Wednesday mornings, the agrarian who wishes to get the most from the ground with the least exertion, will begin realizing the value of such shelter belts and will pay as much attention to growing them as he does to growing wheat or sheep or other articles which cause the city folks to swear at the high cost of living and censure the middleman. Then such agrarian will call the hired hand, go out and gather in some willows, cottonwoods, box elders, green ash or elm trees and have them safely planted before he conies back to his bacon and tea. It may take him several days to get them gathered and get them planted, but in the end they will fat- ten his bank account like green corn from the silo fattens the steers. Weeds Driven By Wind Travel Toward the Northeast. A row of trees four rows deep will have an appreciable effect on a full 40-acre tract of land. Evaporation in a field increases with the square of the velocity of the wind, or, in other words, if a shelter belt is provided, it will reduce the velocity of the wind across the field one-half and reduce evaporation four times. Weeds in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota on any field, will take the equivalent of 12 bushels of wheat to the acre, moisture and nutriment Add to this 16 the amount of evaporation occasioned by the wind, and the enormous draught from the ground is realized. In Minnesota weeds travel in a northeasterly direction, because of the winds which blow from the West and South- west at the time of the year when it is possible for weeds to travel. This is in the late summer, fall and spring. Seeds are carried and spread rapidly. The Russian thistle, for in- stance, was brought by immigrants to their settlements along the Missouri river in North Dakota. In two years they had reached the eastern boundary of the state, traveling at the rate of 100 miles a year. The thistle is a little tramp in it- self, riding the blind baggage on railroad trains, stealing into wagons and buggies and gathering a ride wherever possible for it to lodge. One thistle will produce thousands of seeds, each, in turn, to carry its proportionate amount of aggrava- tion to farmers. Mustard, wild oats, Canadian thistle, crab grass and the ox-eyed daisy also belong to the same class of vagrants. Shelter belts, in a measure, will stop the drfting of these wild weeds. Shelter belts will retard the movements so that with proper care, they may be stamped out. Birds Which Destroy Insects Will Come to Live in the Trees. There is another reason why trees should be planted about fields — one which should appeal to him who loves nature and the wide out-door world. Trees attract birds, afford them homes and make them friends and workers for the agrarian. It is said that a young robin will eat its own weight in worms each day. The trees lure the catbirds, finches, thrushes, doves, larks and sparrows — all enemies of the pests which get to growing crops. The finch is the natural enemy of the potato bug, and the doves, larks, thrushes and other field birds will destroy more worms, insects and bugs in a day than any man can destroy. Out on the bleak prairies of some of the more Wesjtern states, the blizzards each winter make life practically un- endurable. The cold North winds howl and cut with the sting of a whip. From the beginning of the cold months till their end, these winds drive back and forth without mercy. Cattle 17 and the sheep left unprotected, often freeze in their tracks. Wilds beasts suffering from hunger are driven by nature to the settlements. The homesteader, if he has the determina- tion to "stick it out," remains indoors as much as condi- tions will allow. For months, the life on the plains is one long tale of hardship. But go to any timber belt where the rush of the wind is broken, and there in the shelter of the trees, will animals be found. There, you will find the cabins of the homesteaders who are fortunate enough to file on land which affords pro- tection. There you will find the best example of what trees mean to prairie lands. In Minnesota, willows and cottonwoods planted about a 40-acre field, will make an appreciable difference in crop pro- duction within two years. Box elders, green ash, elms and hackberries will all develop in from three to five years, then evergreen and spruce may be substituted. But it is no use trying to plant evergreens without some shade and protection first. They will not develop. Get the smaller trees or bushes in first, and let the big trees follow. Every farmer who does this will get more from his ground, will make his farm a better place for habitation and will add to the beauty of our state. Capt. T. H. Pressnell, deputy clerk of the United States court at Duluth, has been exhibiting some peanuts which were grown last year on a piece of land at Stony Point, Ait- kin county. Miss L. M. McPheeters, daughter of George Mc- Pheeters of Stony Point, read somewhere of how the peanut is cultivated, and determined to see what could be done with it in Minnesota soil and in a Northern climate. She obtained some seed and started her experiment. She had a very fair crop and is extending her experiment this year. She hopes tc. produce a peanut that can be raised in a climate as far north as this to the extent of making it a new industry. 18 $ Homes in Itasca and Burntside s MEMBERS of the state forestry board informally have been discussing the question of opening sections of beautiful ttasca park and Burntside forest to persons Who want plots of ground on which to build summer bun- galos or cottages. Situated as these lands are in the most picturesque parts of Minnesota, in regions dotted with lakes, filled with wild game and rustic, they could provide some of the most attractive summer home and outing locations that could be found in all the Northwest. There are 22,000 acres in Itasca park, and 20,000 acres in Burntside forest. The plan the board has discussed, but on which no definite decision has been reached, provides for letting these pretty building sites to persons at a nominal rental each year. In this way, homes for summer use might be erected under supervision of the park and forest authorities and main- tained so long as the rental for the ground is paid. This rental probably would not be more than $10 or $20 a year. None of the land either in Itasca or Burntside will be sold. Title will always remain with the state, but it is possible that the man in the city who wishes to build a summer bun- galo or home for himself and family, may be given oppor- tunity in one of these state preserves. The Itasca State Park has claimed the attention of a vast throng of visitors this summer, according to E. G. Cheyney, director of the Minnesota Forest School who has spent much time there since the heated season started. Up where the stillness of the woods is unbroken save by the visitors them- selves, relaxation from business worries and relief from humid atmospheres, have been obtained. Here is what Mr. Cheney writes about it: Visitors Thronged to the Big Log Hotel and Taxed it to Capacity. "The park has drawn visitors from all parts of the country and especially from the lower stretches of the Mississippi 19 valley. The great log hotel and its outlying cottages have been taxed to the limit of their capacity and many requests for reservations have been turned down. "Four years ago, this resort was comparatively unknown. Its development can be traced to several causes. It is the kind of .a place that grows on one who has once visited it. Twenty-five miles from the railroad and the only patch of original timber in that section of the country, makes it at- tractive. The fact that the waters flow directly from that litle lake in a stream that broadens and widens and deepens until it becomes 'The Father of Waters' and empties into the rolling waters of the Gulf of Mexico, 2,000 miles away after having passed through the very heart of a great nation, cer- tainly lends a fascination. "The quiet of the place enters into the very soul of the people there who are worn with the noises of the cities. Those who have once visited Itasca, come back again and again. The improvement of the roads and the consequent establishment of an automobile livery, makes it possible for the traveler to sit down to supper in the park two hours after he steps from the train, and the daily stage gives good mail service without forcing the worries of civilization on the woods dwellers. Where Deer Look Wonderingly at Visitors Who Come Their Way. "These are some of the things which have brought about the popularity of the park, but the real fascination lies in the easy opportunities for familiarity with the wild life of the woods. The park is a game preserve and has become a true refuge for all kinds of wild life. Hardly a trip up the lake ever fails to gain a sight of at least one deer browsing along the water's edge, and often as many as half a dozen are seen on one trip so tame that a boat or canoe may get within 50 feet of them. Nearly every lake in the park can now boast some beaver and there are a number of beaver houses on Itasca itself. These animals have become nearly extinct in most other states. "Back from the lake in the forest and along in the many beautiful roads and trails, the woods are alive with part- 20 ridges, so tame that they hardly- seem to notice the passer- by. The birds recognize the park as a good, quiet breeding place and spread from there in the fall to supply the whole country with game, in the hunting season. The host of hunt- ers in the vicinity of the park every fall — in a country from which the deer have long ago been driven — is sufficient evi- dence of the efficiency of the park in supplying the hunters with venison. "In order that this forest may be kept intact as a resort, as a patch of primeval forest in the wilderness of cut-over land and as a refuge for the game and other wild life, it is necessary that fires be kept out. To this end, 24 miles of fire-break have been built around the boundaries of the park and are kept cleared by the state. "Itasca park is fulfilling the purpose for which it was in- tended and will do much more." Strange Stories Told of Game. Driven frantic by flies, a big buck deer plunged into a small lake near Northome and appeared deliberately to commit suicide by drowning. In any event the animal splashed out to a point beyond its depth and sank. Persons on shore ran to its aid, but by the time they reached the animal it was dead. It was dragged from the water and the carcas burned. Deer and moose are seeking relief from the torment of flies and mosquitoes by wading into the lakes and recently have become exceedingly tame. One of the biggest rafts of pulpwood ever built and floated, arrived at Ashland, Wis., July 24, from Canada. It consisted of 4,000 cords, and was for the Wisconsin Pulpwood company of Neenah. The rafting of logs on Lake Superior is now practically a thing of the past, but rafting of pulpwood will be a feature of many years to come. The pulpwood was towed to Ashland by the tugs Laura Grace and James Whalen without mishap. The raft was valued at about $26,000. 21 1 Coming of the Homesteaders § NEARLY 200,000 settlers have moved into Northern Min- nesota in the past 10 years, according to figures of the United States census bureau. Since 1890, the popula- tion has more than doubled, and yet there still remain mil- lions of acres awaiting the coming of the homesteader. If every quarter-section of land had a homesteader's cabin upon it, a barnyard for dairy cattle, a chicken yard and berry patch, this state would be by far the richest in the Union. The national government alone has 1,500,000 acres of soil, 1,000,000 acres of which is open to homestead. The state has vast areas, some of which last year sold for as low as $5 an acre. All of that which went at public auction brought an average of a little more than $6 an acre. The state re- quires the payment of only 15 per cent down when this land is bought and allows 40 years in which to pay the balance, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent. Great Areas of Land Lie Idle Which Some Time Will Be Reforested. Slowly, the great pine, cedar and spruce forests are being cut away, to give room to the plowhsare. There are sec- tions in the northern part of the state where nothing but trees can be successfully grown. There are areas which the state would do well to buy and reforest. Burned-over and cut-over land are idle, bringing no revenue and probably never will bring revenue if reforesting is not begun. Bil- lions of feet of lumber worth millions of dollars to the state can be produced. The settler cannot afford to buy this land, reforest it and sit down to wait for a return. But the state can afford it and the enormous sums obtained by European countries from this source, is evidence of the possibilities here. Railroads in Minnesota have approximately 15,000,000 acres of land to offer to the settler and are doing much to develop 22 homes in the big North woods. Each family which conies means a certain added revenue to its gross earnings. The smoke from a cabin is more pleasing to the eyes of the rail- road builder than the solitude of idle land. To what extent the northern part of the state is being settled, is shown in the following table, compiled from the census bureau reports: County. 1910. 1900. 1890. Aitkin 10,371 6,743 2,462 Carlton 17,559' 10,017 5,272 Cook 1,336 810 98 Isanti 12,615 11,675 7,607 Itasca 17,208 4,573 743 Kanabec 6,461 4,614 1,579 Koochiching 6,431 .... .... Lake 8,011 4,654 1,299 Mille Lacs 10,705 8,066 2,845 Pine 15,878 11,546 4,052 St. Louis 163,274 82,932 44,862 Becker 18,840 14,375 9,401 Beltrami 19,337 11,030 312 Clay 19,640 17,942 11,517 Clearwater 6,870 Kittson 9,669 7,889 5,387 Mahnomen 3,249 Marshall 16,338 15,698 9,130 Norman 13,446 15,045 10,618 Otter Tail 46,036 45,375 34,232 Polk 36,001 35,429 30,192 Red Lake 15,940 12,195 Roseau 11,338 6,994 Wilkin 9,063 8,080 4,346 Benton 11,615 9,912 6,284 Cass 11,620 7,777 1,247 Crow Wing '...16,861 14,250 8,852 Hubbard 9,831 6,578 1,412 Morrison 24,053 22,891 13,325 Todd 23,407 22,214 12,930 Wadena 8,652 7,921 4,053 Total 654,895 481,416 279,585 23 Immigration Commissioner Says Government Land Will Soon Be Gone. In a recent article relative to Northern Minnesota, H. J. Maxfield, state commissioner of immigration said: "Five years from now we will behold a great transforma- tion in the cities and villages and in the country. Although on January 1, 1912, there were approximately two million acres of government land in Northern Minnesota, I believe almost half of that has been taken in the past six months. In five years there will not be a foot of government land left. "At present the state has approximately 2,500,000 acres of land in the Northern counties. If the present wise policy of selling the lands to actual settlers is continued, these other lands will be very largely disposed of in the next five years. "Great state, judicial and country drainage systems will re- claim the vast areas of swamp and low lands found in some parts of Northern Minnesota. I do not expect to see at such an early date as five years hence such complete and perfect development of these lands as is now found in Southern and Central Minnesota. Northern Minnesota will probably not then have that high state of development to which it already aspires, but I do expect to witness within that period of time great agricultural, commercial and social development. Sees Wonderful Future For Land That As Yet Lies Undeveloped. "In the next few years thousands of miles of roads are sure to be builded because the people of Northern Minnesota de- mand and are going to have better roads. Hundreds of schools will be established where no schools exist at present and many of these newly established schools will take advantage of the agricultural educational features and consolidation privileges now offered by the law. "Ever during my residence in Minnesota I ha,ve been firm in my belief of a bright future in store for Northern Minne- sota but some recent visits there have convinced me of greater possibilities than those for which I had early hoped. While my enthusiasm for Minnesota and this Northern section of the 24 The Original Homesteader. state may be received by some with more or less skepticism, I firmly believe that a visit through the Northern country five years from now will prove the correctness of my present fore- cast." Patrolman Iverson of the Duluth police force is accredited with having caught a six-pound trout with his bare hands beneath the Lester Park bridge in the Zenith City some days ago. The police officer saw the big fish in the water near the shore line and grabbed it. The measure from tip to tail was 20 inches. 25 s Seeking Municipal Wood Lots ® THE Massachusetts Forestry Association is making an ap- peal to towns and cities in the Bay State to establish "wood lots" on waste lands, much along the same line as recommended by W. T. Cox, the Minnesota state forester. Massachusetts, with 1,000,000 acres of wild or waste land, puts it up as a straight business proposition that from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 is being lost annually through inactivity in utilizing this ground, and calls attention to the fact that although the state reforested 860 acres last year, 1,000 years will be required to plant trees to all waste land unless other agencies take up the work. In a circular signed by Harris A. Reynolds, secre- tary of the forestry association, the individual, corporation and municpality are urged to take a hand in reforesting work. The circular says in part: Opportunity For Towns and Cities to Do a Splendid Work. "The bodies to which this proposition should appeal most strongly are the towns and cities. Their waste or wild lands are bringing little or no revenue through taxation. They can be bought very cheaply. Cord-wood and lumber are both ex- pensive. Each could be made more plentiful by this plan and consequently in all probability reduced in price. If we had forests in place of what is now waste land about a. town the outlying land would be more valuable. As a means of con- serving the water which in many towns of the state is used to produce power for the factories the forests would be in- valuable. Not only would the water be conserved but the res- ervoir supply would be purified. Our wild game would be afforded cover and a breeding place. These forests could be utilized as wild parks and places of recreation. Municipal bonds might be issued for this purpose just as they are for Dther improvements. "To follow all these facts with the cold business statement, that the town could actually net from $3 to $5 annually per 26 Kettle River Falls, American Side, St. Louis Co. &.-c**c of slich uv'ests, leaves no arguments to be brought against the plan. As proof of what can be done along this line, take for example the experience of some of the towns and cities of Europe. Baden with a population of 16,000 has a forest of over 10,576 acres which nets $6.25 per acre annually. Freiburg with 61,500 inhabitants owns over 8,000 acres and receives from it a yearly income of $5.79 per acre. Zurich; Switzerland, is said to clear $12.00 per acre annually from its town forest. Even villages of less than 1,000 population have their own forests, which are proving profitable investments. Two states of Ger- many, Prussia and Saxony, are netting on large outlying tracts an average of from $2.50 to $5.30 per acre annually. Surely it pays to have our lands working rather than lying in idle waste. In fact no substantial arguments can be brought against the best utilization of land which is not now pro- ducing anything of value to the town or state and which is simply so much dead load to the community." Branches of the associations in towns and cities are pro- posed by the Massachusetts association and citizens are urged to join. One plea for new members says: "Here is a little state which we think is mighty fair, It has tried to save its forests as a man would save his hair. But alas, 'tis bald in places, nothing left but stumps or embers, All because this 'sociation doesn't have enough of members." The Isle Royale Copper company is arranging to increase its production and will ship rock to the Centennial-Allouez stamp mills at the rate of 600 to 700 tons daily. Its own mill is operating up to capacity at 1,800 to 2,000 tons daily. New development work shows rock that will average about 16 pounds fine copper to the ton. The Spottswood lands consisting of about 9,500 acres, about one-half of which lie in Lake county, Minn., have been sold to the land department of the Duluth & Iron Range road. 28 s News and Views of the Woods & An almost unprecedented rush in lumber traffic is reported on Lake Superior. In its issue of July 19, the Duluth Herald said : "Ten lumber boats fully loaded left the Duluth harbor in the last twenty-four hours for lower lake points. "The continued activity in the lumber shipping branch of the lake shipping business is the sensation of the season. Other years there have been spurts from time to time, but at no period during the last few years has the business con- tinued at top speed from the beginning of the season with such persistence as it has this year. "The boats are coming and going and being loaded and unloaded as fast as possible. More men are engaged in run- ning boats, loading and unloading, than in many years. And on the lake the steamers are going down and coming back at high speed, racing even being indulged in to get to the docks first. 'It's a regular old-fashioned lumber shipping year, with rivalry between the different boat lines at fever heat,' re- marked an old-time lake man this morning. "Every boat that can be quickly turned into a lumber hooker is being made to carry the commodity. There are more boats carrying lumber this season than in several years. "All the boats are taking capacity loads and the steamers that can stand it are being fitted out with two consorts." An investigation of expenditures in the federal forest serv- ice by a. special senate committee has been asked in a resolu- tion introduced by Senator Overman. The resolution was referred to the committee on urgent expense. It was inspired by reports of abuses. "I am informed," said the North Carolina senator, "that duplications of payments have occurred; that more officials are employed than are needed; and that timber lands are 29 being denuded more rapidly than before the service was es- tablishd." Preliminary steps have been taken by State Auditor Iver- scn and Attorney General Smith toward making claims against all railroads in the state for damages which have accrued to lands burned over by forest fires started by loco- motives. It is the intention to obtain information as to the loss re- sulting from each fire and to call upon the roads to make set- tlement. The first report received this morning covers a loss esti- mated by Andrew Miles, timber cruiser, at $540 for a fire near Corona, Minn., during June, 1910. This fire, the report said, destroyed all timber on the land and killed the top soil. Game Warden George Wood, while on a trip into the Peli can lake country north of Virginia on the trail of game law violators, came across a family evidently of Syrian birth, composed of the father and mother and five children, living together in a little hut of single room, says a Duluth news- paper. The children were running about entirely naked and the mother robed in nothing more than a gauze vest. The father, who appeared to have enthroned himself as the liege lord of this little band of savages, wore a pair of filthy over- alls and was reclining in the shade of a tree while the woman and children were cleaning fish and preparing a meal. In the little niche in the woods where the house was stand ing was a small garden and from this, with what game the man procured, had furnished the family subsistence, so the father said, for months. The children, the eldest of whom was about 15, had never been to school, could not speak a word of English and were more like wild animals than human beings. The game war- den confiscated some nets that he found on the premises, but not having the authority to interfere with the family's man- ner of living, left them as he found them in their miserable surroundings. 30 Sturgeon Lake in St. Louis and Itasca counties may be made part of a state preserve if the legislature can be in- duced to become interested in the preservation of one of the state's most attractive bodies of water. The lake has 44 miles of shore line and includes about one-half of a town- ship. A movement is on foot to have it set aside and re- tained as one of the rustic beauty spots of Minnesota. There are few settlers around Sturgeon Lake. The state owns part of the shore line, but the greater portion is in the hands of lumber companies. The soil about it is sandy and not particularly adapted to agricultural purposes. The divid- ing line between the adjacent farming land and the poor land about the lake is very distinct. The cost of making the lake a state preserve would not be great. J. J. Johnsrud of Bear River, has taken the matter up with the state forester, and obtained his indorsement. A bill pro- viding for the purchase of the shore line about the lake not now owned by the state, will be introduced at the 1913 ses- sion of the legislature and members from St. Louis and Itasca will press its enactment. An amendment to the agricultural appropriation bill now before congress in which is believed to be a joker which jeopardizes the safety of our great national forests has been discovered by Chief Forester H. S. Graves, according to Prof. Herman H. Chapman of the forestry department at Yale uni- versity. The amendment, which was presented to the senate by Senator Nelson and passed that body, reads as follows: "The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby directed and re- quired to select,' classify, and segregate as soon as practica- ble all lands within the boundaries of the national forests that are suitable and fit for agricultural purposes and as soon as such lands have been thus selected, classified and segregated, the same shall be open to settlement and entry under the home- stead laws and the sum of $50',000 is hereby appropriated for the purposes aforesaid." Mr. Chapman points out that its result will be that many will file on such timber lands "suitable and fit" for agricul- 31 ture merely for the purpose of acquiring title, as has been the practice in the Northwest in the not very remote past, and that as soon as they get title they will sell to the lum- ber trusts, who will hold the timber standing for a long period of time in most cases, so that the settlement by agri- culturists is a snare and a delusion. "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume I. AUGUST, 1912 Number 8 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. All subscriptions should be made payable to E. G. Cheney, Secretary, care State • Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS The Fight Two Men Are Making 3 Chief Forester Scents Danger - 7 Ducks Making Ready For Flight 1 1 Dislikes Muskrat Tail in Stew - 1 4 Glaciers and Our Forest Land - 1 6 News and Views of the Woods - -20 The Fight Two Men Are Making Here are two pictures drawn from real life. They tell a story by comparison which should make a poor man pause and ponder. Neither is an exception or an unusual case. Both may be found in the original today. One is a story of life and happiness in the big North Woods. The other is a story from "The City Where Nobody Cares." Which is the most attractive? THE FIGHT OF ONE. (Six o'clock in the morn- ing.)— The alarm clock beat a discordant tattoo on the lit- tle nickel-plated gong and the laborer awoke. Mechan- ically he began crawling from bed and reaching for his street clothes. "Mary!" he called. "Mary, it's 6 o'clock. I must hurry." He heard his wife moving about in the adjoining room. He heard her slowly drawing on the \vorn clothing, and lacing up the heavy shoes. He went tc the stove, shook the grate, threw in a scanty supply of coal, then turned to the kitchen and started the fire with which "Mary" would cook breakfast. Outside, a milk wagon rat- tled along the cobble-stones THE FIGHT OF ANOTHER. (Six o'clock in the morn- ing.)— For an hour, the birds had been calling. A par- tridge, frightened by the swoop of a. hawk, fluttered past the cabin and hid in the hazelbrush. A chipmunk scampered across the flooring and darted into a box of po- tatoes, freshly dug. The chill air of the woods, laden with the odor of pine trees and wild grasses permeated the room. "Mary," said the man, "it's time for breakfast. Let's get up. I'm going to dig potatoes till noon, then I'm going over beyond the ridge and gather cranberries. We might want them this winter." The settler drew on his clothing, lighted the fire in and a few workmen who "showed up" at 6:30 could be seen still half asleep, plod- ding toward their tasks. The chill morning of the early fall caused all to shiver with the cold. Daylight had not yet put in appearance. An oil lamp on the kitchen table il- luminated the room of the laborer, where his wife was preparing the cofSee and toast. They sat down to the fru- gal meal. "When I get my pay Sat- urday," he said, "we will have enough with what's left over, to pay the rent, won't we?" "Yes, John," she answered, "and we'll have a dollar or so besides." "Can't we apply that to the grocery bill?" "Yes, but you know your shoes are worn and you must get another pair or you'll take down sick. The grocer can be stood off till the end of next week. We'll pay him then." "No," said the head of the house, resolutely. "We'll give the range, then flung open the door. Daylight was just breaking. Outside, the squir- rels were barking and a half dozen rabbits played in the path that led down to the spring. The frost had nipped the leaves f~om the berry bushes that covered half of his ten-acre tract. They stood naked in the light. On the other half of his little farm, potatoes had been plant- ed. The work of digging had just begun. "Some crop, that," the man said to his wife, cheerfully. "I'm going to pry out 300 bushels from each of those acres. Furthermore, I'm go- ing to get 75 cents a bushel for 'em." He sat down and figured laboriously. "Fifteen hundred bushels at 75 cents a bushel," he an- nounced, presently, "makes $1,125. We might salt away about $750 of that." The odor of boiling coffee, the smell of fish frying in the pan and of hot biscuits com- ing from the oven, together with the sight of wild rasp- berry jam and honey, quick- ened his senses. The full, big joy of living in good health and surrounded by plenty, away out in the wide, wild that to him. He's spoken about it twice.".- The butcher was mention- ed, the coal dealer, milkman, and doctor. Together they figured up what might be left over when the bills were paid. The amount was— nothing. Days, weeks, months ahead, they saw nothing but work and saving to meet bills — nothing to look forward to. Should he lose his position or should he become ill, there would be no income, no way in which to satisfy the little bills, small as they were. "We're living, anyway," he said, optimistically. "Maybe something better will turn up after a while." "I hope so," his wife re- plied. "But it don't seem we have much to look forward to. I don't know what we'll do when we're both very old. Probably we can't stay to- gether then." They finished the coffee and just as daylight was breaking he put on the frayed coat and started off to the works. All that day his wife's country made him happy. "We've got our strawber- ries and raspberries all put away," he added. We've got four buckets of wild honey. We've got potatoes to eat, to sell and to give to those we wish to help. I'm goin' to put in the winter's wood this month and next month the season's open for deer and we'll put away our venison. Then this winter I'm goin' to set some traps and I suspect I can clean up a hundred dol- lars or so on furs. We'll put that in the bank, too. We'll get some more books and magazines and papers, and — He stopped suddenly and began again laboriously fig- uring. "Do you know," he finally added, "that with what we had left from berries after buying all our clothes and with what we will make from our potatoes, we'll have about $1,000 in the bank this year?" "I know," his wife replied. "And I know, too, that two years ago, you was working for $15 a week in the city and we couldn't pay our bills. And I was scared all the time that you'd lose your job and we'd end up in the poorhouse. But we won't do that now. I'm happy — out here." words ran through his mind: Both of them were happy "I don't know what we'll do on a ten-acre, tract where ber- when we're both very old." ries and potatoes grow in the Neither did he. big North woods. There are thousands of ten-acre tracts in Northern Min- nesota waiting for the poor man — for the man who will go to them and plant potatoes and berries. They will provide him with independence. These tracts of good tillable land may be bought at prices ranging from $4 to $10 an acre and on most any terms. The forests will produce meat and ber- ries free, the streams will provide fish free, and there will be a competence for old age if resources are conserved. Think it over. 1 Chief Forester Scents Danger * WARNING of the "woodchuck" in a bill introduced in Congress providing for the opening and entry to set- tlement of lands fit for agriculture in the national for- ests, has been issued by Henry S. Graves, chief forester of the federal government. In an article in the Saturday Even- ing Post, Mr. Graves flays the speculators who, in years gone by, have gained control of hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land, and who have secured in them, oftentimes, the most valuable water power sites. Cities Example Resulting From Opening Land in Olympic National Forest. The eagerness with which the speculators in timber pursue every opening for the spoliation of the national forests is made in a striking manner by Mr. Graves, when he cites the results of the elimination from the Olympic national forest in Washington of over 700,000 acres of heavily timbered land, on the pretense that it was chiefly valuable for agriculture. He says that ten years later not over 600 acres of the more than 700,000 eliminated, had been brought under cultivation; that title to 523,000 acres has passed into the hands of own- ers who are holding it purely for its timber value. In this article he gives the following list of the "farmers" who are now the owners of large bodies of these "agricul- tural" lands: Acres. Milwaukee Land company 81,630 James D. Lacey & Co 48,370 Edward Bradley 16,360 James W. Bradley 16,360 Weyerhaeuser Timber company 15,560 Henry & Larson Land company 13,840 Simpson Logging company 12,360 Acres. E. K. Wood Lumber company 10,670 Poison Logging company 10,040 George F. Stone 8,920 Ruddock & McCarthy 7,810 Olean Land company. 6,040 Puget Mill and Timber company 5,760 W. H. White company 5,280 O'Neil Timber company 5,200 Edward and Susan Lowe 5,040 St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba R. R. 4,760 H. S. Upper 4,360 Merrill & Ring company 4,160 Union Lumber company 4,120 C. C. Bloomfield, et al 3,720 Goodyear Land company 3,640 George M. Burr 3,480 C. H. Davis 3,440 C. E. Burrows & Co 2,780 James Campbell 2,760 Mason County Logging company 2,680 V. H. May 2,560 James McNealy 2,420 Lincoln Timber company 2,280 Carston & Earle 2,240 Total 318,640 Constant Vigilance Required to Defend the Public Areas. Our public land areas, and particularly the forest areas, require the constant efforts of vigilant and incorruptible gov- ernment agents to defend them from the cupidity of men eager to possess themselves of timbered areas of great value or of water power sites, also of great value, on the terms of the homestead law. Mr. Graves says that many of the areas that speculators are now seeking to obtain contain from 100,000 to 200,000 feet of timber to the acre. Single claims of 160 acres would have a value of from $50,000 to $75,000. It is not, however, the policy of the forestry service to with- hold lands from agricultural uses where the public service would be promoted thereby. In 1906, he says, the forest service recommended the so-called forest homestead bill, which was passed. Under this act lands deemed by the Sec- retary of Agriculture to be valuable chiefly for agriculture and not needed for public uses are open to entry; approx- imately 1,400,000 acres have been opened to entry in accord- ance with its terms for the benefit of upward of 12,000 set- tlers. The trouble with the proposed amendment, as he describes it, is not that land suitable for agriculture is to be opened for entry, but that land more valuable for its timber than for agricultural purposes is viewed as agricultural land, regard- less of its value for the timber which it bears. The larger interest is subordinated to the smaller, and the land grabber seeks it because of that larger interest. AN OLD GOVERNMENT TOWER North of Spider Lake in T. 137, R. 31. It commands a fine view of the level val- leys to the east and west, and of the morahuc hills stretching north, and south. s Ducks Making Ready For Flight i THERE is uneasiness in the woods. The ducks are rest- less. Within the past few days small flocks have been seen making short flights from lake to lake. A chill north wind which swept cross-country from the Canadian bor- der brought a message that the summer is ended. In a short time now — just as soon as a few more frosts have nipped the leaves in the woods and cold night winds come regularly, Minnesota will lose part of its game. The latter part of September or during the month of Octo- ber, if the season is regular, the ducks will start South. A few small flocks at first, then an increasing number till the great droves of mallards and canvasbacks which have sum- mered in the North woods and through that region of Canada which extends to the edge of the frozen Northland — all will fly with the coming of cold. Little wild birds which have spent the first six months of their existence beneath the shade of pine, birch and tamarack and hidden in the reeds of Minnesota's wild lakes, have become strong enough to fly and their first voyage will soon be under way. Short, Nervous Flights Precede the Gathering on Common Feeding Ground. According to those who have studied the habits of the wild duck, the first approach of winter — the first chill wind and the first white frosts, cause the flocks to begin collecting. The parent birds with their little ones about them, all of which have been taught the use of their wings, start short trips away from the native feeding ground. A small distance today, a larger one tomorrow and so on till the wings of the young have become strong and ready for the hard journey South. These flights, taken with so much regularity, make it appear as though the birds were restless and fearful. The settlers take the movement to mean that winter is approach- 11 ing. The hunter versed in the lore of the woods is not so ready to give credence. Sometimes the sign is opportune. More often it is false. Usually, these short flights mean that the ducks are merely strengthening their wings to be in readi- ness when winter does arrive. The great flocks of ducks that annually fly to the South, do not come from one certain point. Each flock results from the gathering or collecting of smaller flocks. The birds meet on a common feeding ground where for days they move about awaiting the others which instinct tells them will come. When the flock has assumed sufficient proportion, a few of the stronger birds rise from the water, the scream of the wild duck resounds through the forest or over the waters of the lake an-d with one accord, the entire lot rises on wing, completes a circle and in V-formation turns towards the Gulf and the migration is under way. Each large flocks thus gathers and moves. En route, recruits are picked up along the way. Flying Targets Till They Reach Bayous of the Lower Mississippi. From the time the birds leave the Canadian border, they become moving targets till they reach the bayous in the lower Mississippi. What percentage is killed, cannot be estimated, but the slaughter is appalling. Unquestionably, the canvas- backs are becoming fewer. They fly in smaller number and their migration becomes later each year that passes. The canvasback does not increase at its breeding ground so rap- idly as the mallard or the teal. The number of eggs laid by the mother duck is smaller and fewer of them hatch. The mallards also are moving in smaller number than in years gone by, but the proportion of their decline is smaller than that, of the canvasback. Their meat is the best to eat of all the wild ducks. The teal apparently are as plentiful as they were ten years ago. "The wild ducks are moving further north to find summer feeding grounds," an old hunter said. "The moose have prac- tically cleaned out the wild rice from Minnesota lakes, on 12 which principally they fed. The big game preserve just across the Canadian border harbors more than does all of Minnesota, whereas, a few years ago, the wild ducks were more plentiful here because of the' lakes filled with rice. In just a few more years, we will all be shooting Canadian birds, if we kill any wild duck at all." The duck season opens September 7 and closes November 30. Not more than 25 birds may be killed by a hunter in one day and at no time shall he have more than that number in his possession. 13 s Dislikes Muskrat Tail in Stew $ SAM F. FULLERTON, deputy state fire marshal, does not believe that the tail of a muskrat adds materially to the value of an Indian stew. He doesn't mind a little "mussrat" meat, the flesh from an ordinarily respectable snake, the smooth flanks of a pickerel nor the ham of a gopher, but he will not stand for the tail of a muskrat. In a communication to The North Woods, Mr. Fullerton tells of a trip to Cutfoot-Sioux in the early days of Minne- sota, and of being fed a strange stew by a squaw while en route. His letter says: Believes in Adage — "It's Never Too Late to Mend." "I came to Minnesota in 1879, settling in Duluth. At that time the lumberman was just coming in to subdue the forest (as they called it). I have watched the waste and know the efforts being put forth to reforest our cut-over land not suit- able for agricultural purposes. I am not one of the men who think this is a case of locking the barn after the horse is stolen. Rather I believe in the old adage, 'It is never too late to mend.' The efforts being put forth by the Forestry Board to save what we have, from fire waste, should have the back- ing and hearty support of every man who loves Minnesota and her great future. "I am sometimes astonished myself at the great changes that have taken place in the space of a few years. Recently, as I rode over the Great Northern railway from Crookston to Duluth, my mind went back to another trip I took on horseback. The road had been finished to Deer River and I wanted to go to Cutfoot-Sioux. At 5 o'clock in the morning I started, thinking the Indians would ferry me across the foot of Ball Club lake, but when I got there the ferry was on the other side and no Indians. I could do nothing else but swim lengthening out the rope I had on the horn of the saddle I swam across, not even removing my clothes. 14 Fortunately my horse took to water like a duck and swam after me. The day was warm and I did not mind the wetting. Chippewa Squaw Sets About Preparing Him a Stew. "I arrived at Cutfoot-Sioux and Mr. Fairbanks, the man I wanted to see, was away, his squaw could talk very little English and I did want something to eat — worse I think than I ever did before. Using all the Chippewa I knew and mak- ing all the signs I could, I got her to understand that I was hungry, and she set about to prepare a stew of some sort. All I could see going into it was wild rice, and that I knew was good for anybody. "After what seemed to me was an age, the stew was set before me, and I know that no meal I ever sat down to tasted as good as this one, until I fished up on my spoon the flat tail of a muskrat, then it was all off. My appetite was gone and I lost what I had already eaten and was not a bit hungry." 15 $ Glaciers and Our Forest Land * By Dillon P. Tierney. THE glaciers, which geologists tell us at one time cov- ered this state, had a great deal to do with forming that class of land which we term "forest land." In places they left great heaps of sand, gravel and boulders; in other places these deposits were strewn for a stretch of miles in length and several miles in width. Today we can see everywhere the results of the action of the ice in the hills, valleys, lakes and streams. To read of these facts and to see the dull maps which illus- trate them does not convey to one who is not an enthusiastic geologist a very vivid picture, but if one has even a vague idea as to the results of the glaciation he can thoroughly enjoy a well-chosen course of overland travel (not by rail- road). During the first part of August I had an opportunity of taking such a trip, covering in all about three hundred miles through the northern portion of Crow Wing county, southern Cass, the southeastern part of Becker and the south- ern portion of Hubbard counties. My object was to deter- mine in the first place the character of the land and the for- est conditions in the portions of the counties enumerated. After visiting the hilly region in northeastern Crow Wing county in the vicinity of Crooked Lake, I realized the neces- sity of correlating the hilly regions which had elsewhere Deen only vaguely brought to mind. Condition Most Favorable for Establishment of Growing Forest. From Crooked Lake it was possible to make out a well- defined range of hills bearing in a northwesterly and south- easterly direction. These hills are for the most part terminal moraines, with abrupt slopes and more or less rounded tops. 16 TYPE OF THE ABANDONED HOMESTEAD Found where the Soil is too strong and gravelly to produce well. These aban- doned places are nearly always confined to the morainic hills — strikingcontrasts to the prosperous and fertile farms of the nearby valleys. The soil varies from sandy in some localities to coarse gravel with boulders in others. Practically all the mature coniferous timber has been cut off years ago and subsequently burned. The thick growth of hardwood brush and occasional patches of young pine are holding the soil from washing. Conditions are gradually becoming favorable for the establishment of a valuable growing forest. In this particular range of hills — which is from twelve to twenty miles in width, south of Leech Lake — there are a great many lakes, practically all of which furnish splendid fishing. This is also a good country for game. On the south, another range of hills, which reaches Gull Lake near Brainerd, joins with the former in the vicinity of Hackensack and continues northwest through Itasca Park into the White Earth Indian reservation. Still another range of hills, called the "Leaf Mountain Moraine," stretches through central Otterta.il, Becker and Mahnomen counties. 17 An Area That Should Immediately be Purchased by the State. The character of the land a'nd soil in all of these ranges is quite similar, but perhaps seventy-five per cent of all the area of these moraine hills will remain continuously in for- est. The reconnaissance survey work now being carried on by the forest rangers and patrolmen will locate quite defi- nitely the extent and character of these morainic hills. In addition the timber growth will also be shown. Practically all of the land has been logged over and burned to a greater or less extent, and it will undoubtedly lie idle for an indefi- nite length of time. If forest fires can be kept out of these areas, the value of the young timber now growing will soon become apparent. In those parts where fires did not follow the logging operations there are some excellent stands of young pine, mostly Norway pine. In the vicinity of Mantrap Lake, east of Park Rapids, there is an area of approximately two or three townships on which stands of young pine timber are almost continuous. A smaller area, but one more acces- sible and more densely stocked, lies a few miles west of Menahga, where there are seven sections on which the Nor- way and White pine stand as thick as they can grow. This timber has been growing for fourteen years, and has an aver- age height of seven feet. Some individual trees were noted which had attained a height of fifteen feet or more. The soil is remarkably well adapted to the growing of Norway pine, and an area such as this is should immediately be purchased by the state. It can be had at a nominal price per acre, and in twenty years the crop of timber will more than pay for the investment. Ranger DePuy estimate that in his district alone there are approximately 600,000 acres of land better suited to growing timber than agricultural crops. The enor- mous benefits which would accrue to the communities adja- cent to these ranges of hills, if they were bearing contin- uous crops of timber, can scarcely be estimated. The fertile valleys, furnishing homes for thousands of prosperous farm- ers, will always offer a ready market for forest products. The prosperity of the farmers will in a large measure depend upon the readiness and cheapness with which these products can be obtained. 18 YOUNG NORWAY PINE in the vicinity of Mantrap Lake. There are several Townships in the vicinity bearing thrifty timber like this. Waste Lands That Can be Made Yield a Handsome Revenue. These hills are the open mouths of reservoirs from which the lakes and the great rivers of the state are fed. An ade- quate forest cover on them is the only safe means whereby this water supply can be stored up and distributed evenly. Without it the hills would soon begin to wash, and the heavy rains would carry the sand and gravel from them on to the more fertile lands below. To the people of this state one of the most important, if not the most important, conservation problem which they have to face is the question of economically and profitably handling her waste lands. These lands, as has been inti- mated before, are widely distributed throughout the state, but in the aggregate they represent an immense area which can be made to produce a revenue, instead of as now being a dead weight on the progress of the state. 19 $ I News and Views of the Woods $ Oak trees in St. Paul and Minneapolis are being killed by a pest known as the "oak tree borer." It is a small insect propagated in dead trees which are not cut down and experts at the state experiment station have issued a warning that unless action is taken this fall, both St. Paul and Minneapolis likely will lose some of their fine shade trees next season. Indians in the vicinity of Kelliher, Minn., have cleaned up $16,000 in the last month by picking blueberries. They brought in 8,000 bushels and sold them to shippers at an average price of $2 a bushel. About 250 Indians picked the bulk of the fruit. The state board of investment has accepted the applica- tion of Crow Wing county for a loan of $100,000 at 4 per cent, the money to be used to take up the $100,000 bonds of the Brainerd & Northern Minnesota Railway company bonds, drawing interest at 6 per cent and maturing September 1. The annual interest on the new loan will be $4,000, thus making a saving of $2,000 annually in Crow Wing county's favor. Provision is made for the payment of the principal in installments of $5,000 each, the first payment falling due in 1923. A. F. Oppel, J. R. Brownlie and R. F. Eddy, of the state forest service have been in the Sturgeon Lake country, look- ing into the feasibility of establishing a state forest reserve at Sturgeon lake. On the shores of Sturgeon lake is one of the last big bodies of White and Norway pine standing in Northern Minnesota. Lumbermen are now working there and within a short time it will all be removed. Many persons felt that some of the timber should be left 20 in its natural state as it is one of the famous beauty spots of that section and accordingly the Farmers' club at Bear River sought the interest of other commercial clubs on the range in getting the state to secure a forest reserve there. By deals consummated through the attorney general's office and the state auditor, the state of Minnesota has come into possession of 480 acres of land, at an outlay of $40,000, in two farms to be used as agricultural experiment farms. One is located on the outskirts of Waseca, and consists of 235 acres, for which $100 an acre was paid. The farm was purchased from Roscoe P. Ward of Waseca. The other consists of 245 acres about three miles from Duluth, partly cleared, pur- chased at a cost of $16,500. Only $14,500 was paid down, the remainder to be paid when the land has been entirely cleared. This acreage was purchased from the Greysolon Farms' com- pany. The last legislature authorized the expenditure of $65,000 for the purchase of lands and erection of buildings for the station at Duluth and $35,000 for the Waseca station. Both are to be run in connection with the college of agriculture, under the supervision of the university regents. The Northern Lumber company has nearly completed its logging operations on Big Lake. A steam loader and crew of men have been busy there nearly all summer hauling the logs out of the la.ke, where they were landed two years ago, loading them and shipping to Cloquet over the Northern Pacific, running them on a temporary spur into Sawyer, where they strike the main line. Z. B. Hoyt of Cloquet is in charge of the camp, which in on reservation land, about ten miles from Cloquet, and the road leading to it is crossed and recrossed many times by the beds of old rail- road tracks which were laid when the country was covered with big timber and there was a camp every three or four miles. At the completion of the work at Big Lake the track will be taken up and the camp buildings abandoned to the Indians. 21 ANNOUNCEMENT is made that 21,000 acres of cutover land in Clearwater and Hubbard counties from seven- teen to twenty-five miles southwest of Bemidji, owned by the Red River Lumber company, a T. B. Walker & Sons property, will be opened at once for settlement, with J. J. Opsahl as the colonization manager. The land is to be sold in forty and eighty-acre tracts, each to front on graded or laid out roads. The prices are to range from $4.50 to $10 an acre, and on the forty-acre tracts $20 is to be paid down, another $20 in six months and a third $20 at the end of a year, ten years' time being given on the balance. As an addi- tional inducement to settlers the lumber company will fur- nish on $8 to $10 land four cows on eighty acres or forty sheep on eighty acres. The tract is said to excel in dairying possibilities. Six schools are already in operation. To test the soil and demonstrate the value of alfalfa, the company, two years ago, distributed $500 worth of Grimm alfalfa seed with a result that much alfalfa is being grown. At present the Walker mill at Akeley has only enough saw logs in sight to continue the mill for a couple of years, and it is because of the short life of the lumber industry that the lumbermen decided to promote agricultural development. — Duluth Herald. LAST year's lumber cut in Minneapolis will be consider- ably exceeded this season according to estimates and figures from the office of the surveyor general of the second Minnesota district and the Mississippi and Rum River Boom company. The cut for this year up to August 1st is more than double that of 1911. If a log drive located near Little Falls reaches Minneapolis in time the season's cut will be far greatest than that of 1911. On August 1, 1911, about 19,400,000 feet of lumber had been cut by Minneapolis mills in that season. By August 1st of this year 45,904,550 feet had been cut. More than twice as much lumber already has been cut this year than in this sea- son a year ago. Only two lumber milling companies are operating in Min- 22 neapolis this year. Three mills are cutting the logs. The Northland Pine company is operating two mills. The Smith Lumber company is operating one mill. The saws now are working on the second drive of the season and the operators are hoping that developments will favor a good start on the third drive, the one now on the river near Little Falls, before cold weather sets in. SG. IVERSON, state auditor, has arranged twenty-three special sales of state lands suitable for homesites, to be held during the month of November. These lands are in various parts of the state and comprise more than 300,000 acres. The dates follow: Acres Nov. 1, 11 A. M ., Caledonia, Houston Co 800 Nov. 2, 10 A. M ., Elbow Lake, Grant Co . . 480 Nov. 7, 10 A. M ., Princeton, Mille Lacs Co . . 600 *Nov. 8, 10 A. M ., Walker, Cass Co . .30,000 Nov. 9, 11 :MO A. M., Long Prairie, Todd Co . . 5,500 *Nov. 11, 10 A. M ., International Falls, Koochiching Co, . . 8,000 Nov. 12, 10 A. M ., Park Rapids, Hubbard Co . .25,000 *Nov. 13, 10 A. M ., Bemidji, Beltrami Co . .20,000 Nov. 14, 10 A. M ., Wadena, Wadena Co . . 4,500 *Nov. 15, 10 A. M ., Aitkin, Aitkin Co . .25,000 *Nov. 18, 10 A. M ., Grand Rapids, Itasca Co . .50,000 Nov. 19, 9 A. M ., Two Harbors, Lake Co . . 5,800 *Nov 20, 10 A. M ., Duluth, St. Louis Co . .25,000 Nov. 20, 3 P. M ,, Carlton, Carlton Co . . 8,500 Nov. 21, 11 A. M ., Hallock, Kittson Co .. 8,200 Nov. 22, 10 A. M ., Warren, Marshall Co . .15,000 Nov. 23, 10 A. M ., Crookston, Polk Co . . 17.20 Nov. 23, 10 A. M ., Moorhead, Clay Co 440 *Nov. 25, 2 P. M, , Roseau, Roseau Co ..50,000 Nov. 26, 4 P. M „ Thief River Falls, Pennington Co... . . 1,280 Nov. 27, 10 A. M ., Detroit, Becker Co . .20,000 Nov. 29, 10 A. M ., Ada, Norman Co . . 3,200 Nov. 30, 9 A. M ., Fergus Falls, Otter Tail Co .. 4,000 *Monthly Sales are held in these counties from April to No- vember, on dates fixed by law. These lands will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder: Fifteen per cent of the purchase price must be paid at the time of sale. The balance may run 40 years at 4 per cent annual interest if desired. The title to all state land is perfect. Not more than 320 acres can be sold to one pur- chaser. Agents acting for purchasers must furnish affidavit of authority. Appraisers' reports, showing quality and kind or soil, are on file in the auditor's office. 23 THE question whether an Indian has a right to hunt and fish, regardless of the state game laws, is about to be tested by John W. Carl, in the courts at Fergus Falls, and the case will eventually go to the supreme court of the state and possibly the United States supreme court. Carl is an Indian attorney of Mahnomen. His mother, whose name is May-zhuc-ke-kaush-e-quay, which means "A woman coming from above," is a member of the Chippewa tribe, now located on the White Earth reservation. He took his mother to the scenes of her girlhood and she set nets and caught some pike. Some of the people living about the lake failed to appre- ciate the poetry in the situation, and notified the deputy game warden, J. H. Jones, that a party from the reservation was netting fish. The state law is strict on this subject, and a warrant was sworn out for Carl. He appeared in justice court, was found guilty and fined $20 and costs, amounting in all to nearly $80. Carl says he proposes to test the right of the Indians to hunt and fish regardless of the game laws, and that he will carry this case to the highest courts in order to secure a decision. "The land about Otter Tail and Battle Lake," said he, "was originally Chippewa territory. Owing to the incessant fight- ing between the Sioux and Chippewas there, the United States government leased it from the Chippewas, intending to locate the Menominees upon it. The Menominees were Wisconsin Indians, and were friendly to both the Sioux, and Chippewas. For some reason, the transfer was never made, and, in the course of time, the government threw the land open to white settlement. In its treaty with^ the Chippewas, it provided that they should have the right to hunt, fish and gather wild rice on any part of the ceded land at pleasure. Up around the Indian reservation, the right of the Indians to hunt and fish regardless of the game laws is not questioned, and I believe that under this treaty, we have the same right here." 24 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Fores! Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume VII. SEPTEMBER, 1912 Number 9 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. <• 11 subscriptions should be made payable to E. G. Cheney, Secretary, .care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS Wild Game Calling the Hunter - 3 Forest Laws to Be Sought in 1913 7 State Forester's Annual Report - 1 1 Patrolmen Done for the Season - 1 5 All Itasca Park for the State - - 1 9 News and Views of the Woods - 26 The Firebug and the West Wind - - 3 1 Wild Game Calling the Hunter WHILE "the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock," while the apples are ripening, the potatoes being dug, the winter's supply of nuts being gathered and every out-o'-doors man in Minnesota is going about with a smile on his lips and a song in his heart, the season for real hunting is drawing near, and from now until December ], there will be sufficient sport to make the blood of every Nimrod tingle with the chase. Alluring Cry of the Wild Birds, a Siren Call to Hunters. While, ordinarily, the laws of Minnesota are hedged about with multitudinous "Thou-shalt-nots," and shooting is limited to certain seasons, the fall of the year is the time when every hunter looks lingeringly toward the horizon, strains his sense of hearing to catch the call of the wild fowl and gazes affec- tionately at the shotgun swung on the antlers over the door or put away in its case in the closet. The cry of a little flock of ducks overhead will distract the mind of the man at the city desk till he can't tell a column of figures from a bunch of decoys or a pencil from a gun. The sight of a hunter coming in from the fields with a bag of prairie chickens will attract more attention than a Populist rally, and the picture of a bird dog more comment than a life-sized portrait of the President. "Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself has said — 'I'm goin' huntin'.' " If there be such a man, he should reform. If he lives in Minnesota, it's a 10 to 1 shot that he eats macaroons at lunch and says "Fudge!" and "Gosh!" when he's angry. Because, with all the variety of game birds and animals abounding in this state, surely no one with red blood in his veins and any time to spare, could resist the temptation to get out some time during the fall arid early winter and get some sport in the chase! Some people say that Noah beached the ark on one of Minnesota's lakes after the great deluge a few cen- turies ago, and left specimens of every known animal here, and that some of them lived while some of them died, but the survival was sufficient to provide amusement for the man with the gun, for centuries to come. Chicken Hunting Already Under Way and Quail Season at Hand. On September 7, the lid was lifted so that prairie chicken, turtledove, snipe, woodcock and certain kinds of plover and grouse might be shot without the hunter having to explain to a deputy game warden or judge afterward, why he did it. On the same date, protection was withdrawn from wild duck, goose and all other aquatic fowl, and it may be truthfully said that the mortality among these game birds suddenly became astounding. On October 1, the season for quail, par- tridge, ruffled grouse and pheasant opens and will stay open for two months. But the real, true, soul-inspiring, hair-raising, exciting sport opens November 10, when it becomes lawful to kill deer and moose. Then the red jackets may be taken out to wear in the big North woods to help the hunter distinguish you from a big bull moose or a moving deer. Proposal has been made in Minnesota that each hunter applying for a license be taken out and examined to determine whether or not he can tell the difference between a Jersey cow and a deer, or the out- line of a moose from the shape of a mule. The death rate among cows, mules and men in the woods during the hunting season in recent years has been high As the season for deer and moose lasts only 20 days, however, it is not likely that all these animals will be killed off during the present year. Some "Don'ts" that May Keep You Out of the Courts. the "Thou-shalt-nots" wisely written in the Minne- sota laws, the following, if remembered, may prevent hunters from paying certain specified sums to justices of the peace in order to gain their liberty, or prevent them from having to look at the big wide world from windows which have iron bars before them: IT IS UNLAWFUL— ^ To kill harmless birds. * To hunt deer with dogs. To break or destroy birds' nests or eggs. To place or receive game in cold storage. To hunt on land of another without permission. To wantonly waste or destroy game birds, animals or fish. To carry guns in training dogs during close season on lands frequented by game birds. To retain game more than five days after close of season unless tagged by Commission. To hunt or carry fire arms in state parks or forest reserve, or to hunt in National forests. To use traps, snares, artificial lights, nets, bird lime, set guns, to kill game animals or birds. To use the hunting license of another person — minimum pen- alty $50.00 — or to use another's shipping coupon. To kill any game birds or animals in any other way than by shooting them with a gun held to the shoulder. To use sink boats, motor boats, launches, sail boats, floating- batteries, sunken boxes, tubs or floating blinds when shooting, or to hunt or shoot between dark and daylight. More Than 45 Game Birds Must Not Be Kept at One Time, Under the state law, the limit of game birds that may be killed in one day, is 15. The number a person may have in his possession at one time is 50 aquatic fowl, or 45 other game birds. Non-residents are allowed to ship 25 game birds to their place of residence. The sale of game, however, is prohibited at all times. Furthermore, it is an offense to offer to sell or to buy game. The open season for trapping muskrat and mink is from November 15 to April 15. All the year is the open season on wolves, and the state pays a bounty of $7.50 for each full- grown one killed and $3 for each cub. In addition to this, most of the counties pay bounties on the wolf scalps. !r I! I? It n CD a ft) ^4» on" H 2. •o* fD* n •q ff If 55* 7T ST ft a| 5S* * Fo f fD 00 I "0 2. 3* D. i.? 3? -n o. 7 3-8 Is i z II JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY IJUXE UUY AUG. SEPT, OCT. NOV !• ••! • DEC. Forest Laws to be Sought in 1913 WITH the 1913 session of the Legislature just a short time away, the state forestry board has begun outlin- ing needed amendments to existing laws, addition of new ones deemed almost imperative, and the drafting of bills which will greatly aid in conserving the state's great timber interests. Request will be made that the annual appropria- tion be increased to $150,000 and that an additional $100,000 be set aside with which to obtain lands and timber for state forests. To Require Loggers to Take Out Permits For Work. The Legislature will be asked to authorize the forestry department to require loggers to take out a permit to operate, and to specify just where and when they propose the work. Then all operations will be under surveillance of a forest ranger and brush and slashings disposed of according to his directions. The forestry board will ask that the appropriation for ob- taining tax title lands for forestry purposes be reinstated and that the law be so amended that non-agricultural lands delin- quent for five years or more can be taken over by the state and administered by the forestry board. The present law provides that only lands delinquent since 1891 can be so taken over. It permits property owners to let taxes drag for years and then by paying 50 per cent of what is due, wipe the slate clean. The law is looked upon as a golden harvest for tax dodgers as it now appears on the statute books and prevents the state from getting revenue due it from idle land. Among other things, the forestry board proposes to ask the Legislature for the following acts: Fourteen Acts the Board Has Under Consideration. An amendment requiring1 rights-of-way of state roads to be not only cleaned up in the first place, but the brush cut at least once a vear and burned. An amendment permitting1 the purchase by the "Forestry Board of any portion of a township not suited to agriculture, to be used for forest purposes. The present law limits tin purchase to one-eighth of any one township. An act authorizing the Forestry Board to pay not more than $3.50 per acre for non-agricultural lands (exclusive of the tim- ber thereon) desired for state forests, except in the case of state school or other state lands, when the appraised value may be paid. When desirable to purchase timber it may be paid for at the market price. On account of the difficulty of keeping track of the different funds, it is desirable that $9,302.65, the balance of the emer- gency appropriation of 1911 be turned into the regular contin- gent fund of the Forest Service. This will greatly simplify payments of fire fighting claims. Sec. 15, Chap. 125, Laws of 1911, should be amended so as to provide that w.hen slashings are left unburned contrary to the instructions of the State's Forester, his deputy, or a District Ranger, the District Ranger or a patrolman working under him may go upon the premises with such force of men as may be necessary, and burn such branches, slashings, debris, etc., and the expense thereof shall be a lien upon the land. There should be an annual appropriation of $100,000, lo be expended by the Forestry Board in obtaining lands and tim- ber for state forests. The appropriation for the maintenance and support of Itasca Park should be increased from $6,000 to $10,000 per year. The present law regarding Itasca Park should be revised: (a) to correct the terms aplied to different features about which there is at present time some confusion; (b) to permit the leasing of the hotel property to the highest responsible and satisfactory bidder. The Forestry Board should have authority to extend the boundary of Itasca Park by purchase, it being understood that lands added to the park from this date on shall be state forest land, to be handled as a state forest, rather than as a park in the strict sense of the word. The regular Forest Service appropriation should be increased to $150,000 per year, because the present appropriation of $75,000 permits of the maintenance of little more than a skele- ton force of rangers and patrolmen. Proposed constitutional amendment authorizing a commis- sion to set apart school and other public lands which are not suited to agriculture. A law authorizing the leasing of state lands for purposes of summer hotels, cottages, hunting and fishing lodges, water power sites, etc., for a reasonable term of years, depending upon the purpose for which the land is desired. The present "tree bounty" law should be modified so as to permit the use of forty per cent of the fund for educational and experimental work in forestry in portions of the state contemplated by the original tree bounty law. This fund should be administered by the State Forestry Board. Cities and villages should have authority to levy a five-mill tax per annum on the assessed valuation of the city or village property, to create a fund with which to purchase and main- tain municipal forests. They should also be authorized to condemn for this purpose. Lands for purchase should first be approved by the State Forester. State Forester Has Commented on TWO of the Measures. The annual report of the state forester, just issued, devotes some attention to several of the subjects mentioned above. Relative to municipal forests and to tree bounties, he says: "Many cities of southern Minnesota are so situated that it would be perfectly feasible to maintain municipal forests, under municipal control, so that residents could be assured of a permanent supply of firewood, posts and other products at the actual cost of production. Moreover, their water sup- ply will be protected by a forest cover. When steps are taken in this direction, and it is probable that some towns will do so in the not far distant future, it will be found that the ad- vantages to a community will be very great, if only in the reduced cost of fuel. State Has Spent $600,000.00 Since 1888 in Tree Bounties. "A number of years ago, in 1888, the state legislature passed a law appropriating the sum of $20,000.00 annually to be devoted to the payment of bounties at the rate of $2.50 an acre per year for six years, to those who planted trees on the prairie. The total amount so expended by the state is $600,000.00. It is interesting to note that this amount greatly exceeds the total sum that has been spent in efforts to pre- serve the enormously valuable existing natural forests of the state. As mentioned previously in this chapter, the benefit derived from the bounty fund will be looked into in the sum- mer of 1912, with a view to determining the results of this method of encouraging afforestation. "Aside from what tree planting has been done on the prairie with the encouragement of the bounty, a great deal more has been done without that incentive. The benefit of a good sized woodlot on a prairie farm cannot be calculated in dollars. If so situated as to break the force of the wind from the farm buildings, stock may be turned into the barnyard on days when storms, if unbroken by a grove, would not permit. Snow melts more slowly under timber than on the open ground, and the slow drainage from a woodlot will often be of advan- tage to adjoining fields in dry springs. When the planted 0 trees are mature, a portion of a woodlot may be used to give shade to stock. It is advisable, however, to separate the woodlot proper from the pasture-shade-tree proposition. Should a man wish to sell his prairie farm the presence of a woodlot in good condition will increase the acreage value of the whole farm. The principal and most direct benefit to a prairie farm comes from having a supply of fuel, fence posts and other material at hand for home consumption, and even for sale. He cannot hope, however, to produce his own lum- ber. It is important, therefore, that the forests of northern Minnesota continue to supply lumber to the farming districts of the state." 10 ® State Forester's Annual Report & (By Prof. E. G. Cheyney, Director of the Forest School, University of Minnesota.) WE always look forward with interest to the first report of any new undertaking to see what it promises for the future. This is especially true in the case of the establishment of a new department in the State Service. Will it simply assume the titles given it by law and proceed to spend the appropriation allotted to it in the easiest and least disturbing way? Will it become a part of the political machine — a roosting place for lame ducks — using its appoint- ive power to secure the votes of otherwise useless employees? Or will it really be an efficient organization, grasping thq problems presented to it with a broad comprehension of its possibilities, striving for the welfare of the state and seek- ing to get value received for every penny expended? That is the most important question and it is answered in the first annual report of the State Forester of Minnesota, in no uncertain tone. The whole report rings true to the note of efficiency and service. All the men in the new service are technically trained men or experienced woodsmen holding their positions through efficiency. Broad Scope of Work Undertaken By the Department. A mere glance at the nature of the contents of the report shows the broad conception which the forester has of his duties: fire prevention and fire fighting in all its phases, including the education of its citizens, the disposal of slash, the protection of frontier towns, the building of watch towers, the improvement of trails and portages, the construction of telephone lines, the surveying and mapping of tracts of abso- lute forest land, a study of the extent and distribution of the state's forests, the forest's share in the wealth and wel- 11 fare of the state and education of the people at large in the value and benefits of permanent forests. That outlines a far-reaching and comprehensive program. Whether it can be carried to completion in all its branches in the future depends largely on the people of the state, but it shows that the forester has a true conception of his enor- mous responsibilities. But let us vent our criticisms first and be through with it. The worst, practically the really bad, feature of the report is the lack of an index. The reference value of the book is greatly crippled by the lack of this simple contrivance, and its omission seems inexcusable. First Object, Preventing Fires; the Second, Extinguishing Them. Naturally the bulk of the report deals with the fire prob- lem— the first that the forester must meet in any field. The organization consists of the State Forester with the Assistant State Forester working through a force of fifteen permanent District Rangers, who in turn have under them a force of temporary patrolmen. The first object is fire prevention; the second to extinguish existing fires as quickly as possible. Every effort is directed first toward prevention. To those familiar with the former attitude of all those in- terested in forest fires in Minnesota the most remarkable feature of the whole report is the truly wonderful degree to which all these diverse interests have been induced to co-oper- ate with the new Forest Service in the protection of the for- ests. The United States Forest Service under the Weeks law gave $10,000 for the employment of patrolmen to work under the district rangers on the watersheds of the navigable streams. The railroads kept reserves to act as patrolmen along their rights of way at the call of the rangers in the danger sea- son, and extended many courtesies to aid the new service. Some of the timber owners hired patrolmen of their own to work under the rangers. 12 A large number of organized towns taxed themselves to add their patrolmen to the state force. The number of patrolmen, and hence the working efficiency of the service, was more than doubled through co-operation. Constructing Fire-Breaks Around Towns, a New Idea. One of the most interesting features brought out, especially interesting because it is a new idea, is the protection of the towns in the forest areas by the construction of fire-breaks around them. Such breaks were built only at the instigation and with the co-operation of the State Forest Service. Such a break would have saved any one of the numerous towns which have been wiped out by forest fires in the past years. The method and cost of construction makes interesting read- ing. But even more interesting is the description of the great fire-break in the great burnt-over district devastated by the tremendous fires which destroyed the towns of Baudette and Spooner two years ago. This work, made possible by a con- tribution from the Red Cross fund for the aid of the fire sufferers in that district, is the most comprehensive system of fire-breaks in the country that have ever been constructed for the protection of such an extensive area. Would not such systems of breaks pay in every forested area? Quite as interesting, and probably the most valuable data in this report is the detailed description and accurate cost data on the extinction of an extensive bog fire in southeast Polk county, covering an area of 236 acres, by means of a power ditcher and constant control, at a cost of $1,800. It shows how serious these fires can really be. The moral drawn is that they are very cheaply handled when small and very expensive when allowed to grow. They are usually to- tally neglected. Although this work of fire prevention and fire fighting nat- urally occupies most of the State Forester's time at present and a large proportion of his report, he makes it distinctly understood that he considers it only as the preliminary step which will make his proper work, the scientific management of the state's forests, possible. 13 Merchantable Timber Worth $975,000,000 to the State. Among the interesting facts contained in the report is the statement of Minnesota's forest resources. In spite of the ravages of legitimate lumbering and inexcusable fire loss, she still has the greatest forests of any state east of the Rocky Mountains. They are spread over 28,000,000 acres and contain approximately 75,000,000,000 feet of merchantable timber, with a value to the people of the state equivalent to $975,000,000. Quite a considerable portion of this is made up of hard woods located in the southern portion of the state. This report as a whole is a very good record of the year's work of the State Forest Service — a virile record of the achievement of things worth while — and contains most val- uable information. Its honest striving for the welfare of the state and its pointed calls to the needs of the future should enlist the sympathy and support of every true patriot. It is a true, manly appeal which every one should heed. If the forester can attain the goal he sets up for himself in this first report, the conservation of Minnesota's forest wealth is assured. There are a number of good photographs illustrat- ing the text very well. Only Three Pitifully Small Tracts Controlled By Forester. It is to be regretted that more space in the report cannot be given to the "State Forests." That, however, is not the fault of the report, but due to the lack of "Forests." Out of more than two million acres of forested land actually owned by the state, only three pitifully small tracts are under the control of the forester. Millions of acres are wasting away in idleness, either in the possession of the state itself or of private parties. Moreover, large areas of non-agricultural lands are constantly reverting to the state for non-payment of taxes, to be bought up by the speculator, who alone profits in the subsequent sales and resales to unsuspecting purchas- ers. These lands should be producing valuable timber crops. It is to be hoped that the great state of Minnesota will soon turn over some of them to the State Forester, so that they can be cared for in a business like manner, thus adding, with productiveness, to the wealth of the state. 14 * Patrolmen Done For The Season « THE patrolmen have completed their work. Following a vigil which has extended over a period of nearly six months among the pine,, spruce, cedar and tamarack forests, they are being retired and by the first of October, unless it becomes excessively dry, not more than nine or ten will remain. These will work on during the winter. Up in the lonely reaches of the Minnesota woods, these guardians have kept watch for fires, cut trails through tim- bered land and underbrush, built lookout towers and in some instances, put up cabins for permanent use. They have put in a busy summer. Fifty were employed, and these 50 dis- covered and extinguished approximately 350 fires. Only one of any consequence occurred. That was in the vicinity of Margie in Koochiching county, the first week in July. There a hard fight occurred to prevent a devastating conflagration. It was a successful fight but one which had a cost. Forests Saved During July By Vigilance of Patrolmen. Extinguishing the 350 small blazes, however, is what saved the state of Minnesota from serious fires during the summer of 1912. All big fires have their inception in small fires, of course, and along during the dry spell that was experienced the last of June and the first of July, there probably would have been the same old story of big losses to tell, had not the patrolmen been alert and watching. "We had an unusually good class of men," said W. T. Cox, state forester. "It will be difficult to get so good a lot again, considering that we employ them such a short time. There is still plenty of work for them to do and we would keep them longer if we had enough funds to make their employment possible." 15 COMING BACK FROM A FOREST FIRE To Watch the Loggers During Work This Winter. The nine or ten who will remain during the winter, will watch slash disposal, noting the manner, promptness and thoroughness of the work. They know their districts, know the operators in the timber and the operators know them. Besides this work of supervision, the patrolmen will do some snowshoe reconnaissance duty. The forestry board will ask the next session of the Legis- islature for an appropriation of $150,000 — double the amount appropriated now — with which to conduct the work in 1913. The state forester believes the North woods should be pa- trolled by at least 200 men during the danger season, instead of by 50 as the force is now constituted. Commenting on the work of the patrolmen during the sea- son and telling of their duties, the forester says in his annual report, just issued: What Patrolmen Have Been Doing to Perfect the Service. "Immediately upon taking the field it was required of every patrolman that he acquaint himself with all characteristics of his territory, and especially with the people. He sought, for future reference, the location of areas which were most liable to fire. He learned the rivers, roads, trails and open regions — all the means of rapid travel and advantageous lines of defense in case of fire. Many patrolmen worked out definite patrol routes, which they covered as often as necessary in the performance of their chief duty — guarding against the occur- rence of fires. They were supplied with tents, axes, shovels, mattocks and other simple equipment necessary to living and working in the forest. Where there were good water routes in their beats patrolmen were furnished canoes. In the latter case, or where horses were used, sets of fire-fighting tools were carried. "Patrolmen were endowed with police powers to enforce the forest law. They were empowered to summon aid in the case of fire, to demand the observance by the people of the requirements of the law, to make arrests when necessary; and were responsible to the rangers in carrying out the de- 17 tails of their work. Their principal duty was, of course, the prevention and control of fires. In this connection, they post- ed warning notices and explained the law and the aims of the Forest Service to the public. In rainy weather, when fires were unlikely, employment was always at hand in erecting watch towers on commanding sites selected in going about the country, in compiling maps from data obtained when on patrol, in clearing out trails and portages, and other work of a similar useful character. "Rangers took care to select points for patrol headquarters which could be reached quickly by telephone if possible, at any rate by mail. Thus, in any emergency, a patrolman could quickly get in touch with the ranger, and vice versa. Patrol- men were required to keep a diary, recording therein the business of each day. These were forwarded to the ranger once a month, to be summarized together with his own. While the nature of a ranger's duties was such that he must spend a part of his time in district headquarters, he devoted the greater part of it to going about his district advising with the patrolmen, supervising the work of the latter, planning new activities for them, and looking after such matters as were beyond the authority of the patrolmen." 18 # All Itasca Park For The State s T^OLLOWING an announcement by the state forestry board r that a bill will be introduced at the 1913 session of the Legislature authorizing the board to purchase all lands within the boundary of Itasca park and to acquire adjoining land for use as a state forest, the St. Paul Pioneer Press has come out in active support of the proposal and declared that "the Legislature should do its duty by preserving for pos- terity a magnificent remnant of the primeval forest." In an article printed Sunday, September 22, the paper declares that the Legislature should not longer overlook the immensely val- uable asset Minnesota has in the possession of its great play- ground at the headwaters of the Mississippi. The forestry board contemplates asking the Legislature for an annual appropriation of $100,000 for use in obtaining lands and timber for state forests. It purposes, if this appropria- tion is made, to purchase lands adjoining Itasca with the distinct object of using them for growing trees as a crop, rather than as a park in the strict sense of the word. The Pioneer Press says: A Little History of Itasca and the Struggle For it. "The forestry board is planning to secure to the state the title to all land in Itasca state park and in addition all timber that borders on the lakes and any of the roads and trails. The board members and those who have been interested in the development of the park have struggled more than a generation against the handicap of inadequate appropriations. The original plan was to purchase all the land and all the timber within the area set aside as a forest park at the head- waters of the Mississippi. The park was designed as a play- ground for the people of the state and nation within which is to be preserved for all time, a remnant of the primeval forests that formerly covered the northern part of Minnesota. 19 "Itasca state park was established twenty-one years ago by act of the Legislature, which designated the bounds enclos- ing a tract approximately seven miles long and five miles wide and including nearly 23,000 acres. The United States government donated more than half the land in the park area with the understanding that the remaining acreage would be secured by the state. Comparatively little progress has been made toward acquiring title to the privately-owned holdings within the park. The board has purchased from time to time small tracts along the lakes and trails, but there remain nearly 6,000 acres held by lumbermen. "Governor Knute Nelson, in his message to the Legislature in 1895, urged that action should be taken to get possession of all land and timber within the park limits, when he said: " 'The Legislature of 1891 acted wisely, and with rare good judgment when it established this park. Itasca lake and its preservation is sacred and dear to every American heart. The lake and all its beautiful environment should, as far as possible, be kept intact in its primitive and normal condition. In order to accomplish this, the lands in private ownership should, as speedily as possible, be acquired by the state. These lands can be acquired neither by purchase nor con- demnation proceedings until the necessary funds are provided for that purpose. The work planned by the legislature of 1891 should be consummated and completed by the Legisla- ture of 1895. I commend this subject to your favorable con- sideration, and recommend that you appropriate sufficient funds to acquire these lands by purchase or condemnation.' Board Has $22,000 on Hand with Which to Purchase Property in the Park. "Unfortunately neither the Legislature of 1895, nor any subsequent Legislature, followed the recommendation of Gov- ernor Nelson. Small appropriations have been made from time to time to provide for the maintenance of the park and for the purchase of timber. The law at present provides an appropriation of $6,000 a year to be expended in the purchase of timber lands and timber. 20 The board has on hand about $22,000 that has been saved out of aprropriations from year to year. The state now owns practically all the lands bordering on the lakes i^nd the trails, all that can be seen or is likely to be visited by the tourist. A few tracts that are privately owned are included among those bordering on lakes and roads that should be preserved in the primitive state. "Negotiations are under way to secure most of those, but it is apparent that the state must awaken to the importance and magnitude of the park project and provide more liberally if justice is to be done to the opportunity. "The privately-owned lands in the park are now in the hands of three interests, the Weyerhaeusers of St. Paul, through the Pine Tree Lumber company; T. B. Walker and C. P. Ruggles of Minneapolis. The interests of the last named are included in four forty-acre tracts. The Walker interests include about 2,600 acres on which are some of the finest pine trees in the state. All concerned have shown a disposition to co-operate with the forestry board and to give to the state every opportunity to acquire the areas wanted for the preservation of the park features. The lumbermen have waited more than twenty years in some cases, and are not disposed to delay much longer, particularly as some of the timber is mature and is going back instead of improving in condition. Preparations Made to Go Into Park and Cut Mature Timber This Winter. "The Walkers have their logging road constructed up to the east edge of the park. A camp has been established there from which logging operations outside the park limits were carried on in previous years. Preparations have been made to go into the park and cut the mature timber this winter. Some have maintained that the proposed logging operations will be in the nature of a calamity and should be headed off, if possible. These who should know are certain, however, that it would be advisable to let the lumbermen go ahead; that it would be a mistake for the state to undertake 21 Black represent? iand owned t>> the State Total area about 35 square miles 5 miles wide and seven miles, long Wey erF>auae/r Lands «« Lands- ffl the expense of buying all the timber, as much of it is dete- riorating and would continue to do so unless the state were in a position to handle it more effectively than is possible at present. Furthermore, the areas to be logged are remote from the lakes and roads and, they contend, 'will not spoil the park as a. show place and delightful resort for tourists. "The contractors who have charge of the logging opera- tions for the Walkers are under instructions to consult with the forestry board and to leave untouched any tracts that may be designated. It is not likely that any timber essential to the attractiveness of the park will be removed. The board is negotiating for the purchase from Messrs. Walker and Rug- gles the pine that should be saved. It is expected the funds on hand will be expended for that purpose and will nearly cover the cost of the timber that it is deemed advisable to buy. The board wants, and should have, funds with which to acquire title to all the land in the park now owned by Messrs. Walker and Ruggles. The Walker lands, without the timber, were offered to the board at $2 an acre in 1907. "The state already has entered into an agreement with the Weyerhaeusers regarding their holdings in the park. In ac- cordance with an act of the Legislature passed in 1909, and amended last year, they agreed to donate the land to the park commission. They were given ten years from the date of donation in which to remove the pine, spruce, cedar, tamarack and balsam timber, the state meantime to pay the taxes on the standing timber. They agree to cut no trees that are less than eight inches in diameter at four and a half feet from the ground. They reserve the mineral rights in the land donated. Step by Step the State Is Planning to Obtain the Lan^s Needed. "It is only a question of a few years, therefore, until the state will have possession of the Weyerhaeuser tracts and title to the land. The state at present is contesting before the interior department the title of the Pine Tree Lumber company to about 1,600 acres within the park. If it wins it 23 will get both the land and all the timber on it, but in any event the state will get the Weyerhaeuser holdings in a com- paratively short time. The board plans to purchase the land of the other lumbermen and thus have control of all in the park for all time. State Forester Cox believes it would be the part of wisdom for the state to acquire cut-over lands adjoining the park to be held for forestry purposes and used in connection with the park as a magnificent game preserve. "The park at present is a game preserve and is well stocked with deer and game birds. The Legislature enacted laws prohibiting the killing of game within a half mile of the park. The forestry board last year employed a special detail of men to see that the law was enforced and will put on a larger force this fall. The result of the protection afforded is that game animals and birds have taken refuge in the park in remarkably large numbers. The effects of protection on ani- mal life is particularly evident in the case of the beaver in the park. The Canadian government presented three animals ten years ago. There are more than 400 at present. "The park rapidly is becoming, as was the intention of those who were instrumental in securing it to the state, an ideal outing place where nature may be enjoyed in all its original beauty. A lodge, constructed of logs cut and hewn in the park, has been erected for the accommodation of visit- ors. It is adequately equipped for the comfort and conven- ience of guests and was constructed under the personal super- vision of W. D. Douglas in honor of whom it was named by former Governor Van Sant. Mr. Douglas is a member of the forestry board and as former attorney general was particu- larly interested and active in securing park improvement. Time for the Legislature to Take Over This Valuable Property for the State. "Roads and trails have been opened so as to make all the points of particularly attractiveness accessible to the visitor. A highway, lined on each side by a row of trees, has been constructed from the lodge to Park Rapids twenty-five miles away. Enough has been done to bring the park and its beau- 24 ties within the easy reach of visitors. There is sure to be largely increased enjoyment of the place each year as its at- tractiveness becomes more generally known and appreciated. "The Legislature should not longer overlook the immensely valuable asset Minnesota has in the possession of its great playground at the headwaters of the Mississippi. No part of the park should be at the mercy of lumbermen, however con- siderate. It and all in it should be the property of the state. While there may be question as to the advisability of buying all the standing timber that is privately owned in the park, there is no question about the desirability of state ownership of all the land and of the timber as well on such tracts as are considered essential to the park as a remnant of the primeval forests." News and Views of the Woods The largest white pine known, twenty miles from Moscow, Idaho, and property of Potlach Lumber company, was recent- ly cut. It was 207 feet high, 42.1 years old, and scaled 29,800 feet. THK Soo Line has put four fire-fighting locomotives on its system, two at Ashland and two at Superior. Steam railway locomotives have proved efficient as fire-fighters. The apparatus consists of pumps and hose attached to switching engines. Usually, when the system is installed, the yards are divided into districts, numbered as are fire alarm boxes in cities. APPROVAL of the sale of standing timber on 100 tracts, extending from Cook county to Red lake, has been given by the state timber board. This is timber on land that has either been burned over or timber that is down or about to go down in windfalls. According to estimates of timber cruisers there is about 50,000,000 feet, board measure, of white and Norway pine, valued at $6 to $10 per thousand feet, and 50,000,000 feet of mixed timber, valued at $2 to $5 per thousand. The timber will be sold at public auction at the State Capitol at 10 a. in., October 25. Its total value is estimated at about $:':.(», IMMI. ACCORDING to compilations made by J. F. Funk, in charge of the mineral department in the office of the state auditor, the shipments of ore from state mines this year will approximate 1,500,000 tons, or 400,000 tons more than the maximum shipment, which was recorded in 1910 as 1,100,000 tons. This means that the permanent school and university funds 26 will be enriched by the sum of $375,000, as the state receives a royalty of 15 per cent per ton on all ore mined on its min- eral lands. Further, the state receives from the leaseholders in the way of minimum royalties and rentals about $100,000 additional, so that the total income to the state in 1912 is estimated to be about $500,000. Ore shipments from all mines over the Great Lakes in August, were 7,760,248 gross tons, the highest record of any month in the history of lake traffic. There is every indica- tion, Mr. Funk said, that this year the shipments generally from Minnesota will surpass the record year 1910, when they amounted to 31,966,769 tons. It is estimated that the tax levied on mines not of the state, will bring an additional in- come this year of $600,000. The tax commission is now work- ing on the valuations of mines, which in 1910 they fixed at $232,399,191. The known tonnage of iron ore on "state" mines is, in round numbers, 150,000,000 tons, or about one-ninth of the total tonnage of the state, as admitted to the tax commission. A crew of eight men was sent to Nevers dam on the up- per St. Croix river, September 9, to break a log jam of 10,000,000 feet. Another crew from the St. Croix boom went to Taylor's Falls to keep the logs moving after being sluiced and run over the big electric power dam at that point. That is expected to be the final drive of logs on the St. Croix, as no logs will be put into the river or its tributaries here- after. The intention is to begin improving the upper St. Croix, from Stillwater to Taylor's Falls, next year, so that pleasure boats may operate with more regularity. QIFFORD PINCHOT, former chief forester and close friend of Colonel Roosevelt, will stump Minnesota for the Progressive party early in October. Henry Cochems, in charge of the national speakers' bureau, wired H. T. Halbert that Pinchot would be put at the disposal of the Minnesota state committee. Arrangements will be 27 made for him to address meetings at St. Peter, Albert Lea, St. Cloud, Stillwater, Bemidji and possibly one or two other Minnesota towns. THE bureau of Indian affairs of the department of the interior is investigating alleged destitute conditions among 150 Indians about Mille Lacs, complaint of which was made to Governor Eberhart some time ago by citizens of Mille Lacs. Governor Eberhart referred the matter to the Indian com- missioner in Washington, and in a letter yesterday the act- ing commissioner says that the department expects to act in a short time. It is said about sixty-three families of Indians belonging on the White Earth reservation have moved to the border of Mille Lacs lake, and although many have been persuaded from time to time to move back to the reservation, they have again gone back to Mille Lacs lake, where they say is their tribal home. JUDGE McCLENAHAN has filed an order in district court at Bemidji denying the application of Michael Schmidt of Superior of a temporary injunction restraining the Swan River Logging company from operating its railroad across forty acres of land to which he has title in the Stur- geon lake country. The court holds that there is no ground to warrant the granting of the application and the matter will not be decided until the case comes on for trial on its merits in district court in November. Schmidt some time ago sold the Swan River Logging com- pany the rights to his timber on the tract in question. A railroad was built across the land and the contention of Schmidt is that his property is thereby damaged. The log- ging company stood ready to put up a bond to safeguard Schmidt against damage, and alleges substantially that the litigation was brought with a view to prevent it from taking the timber off in the time fixed in its contract, as it is now worth much more money than when the original agreement was entered into. 28 WARREN K. MOORHEAD, one of the special commis- sioners to investigate Indian affairs and who made a report severely criticising the Indian policy of the gov- ernment, especially as carried out in Minnesota, writes to the Boston Transcript advocating the appointment of Dr. East- man (Ohiyesa) to succeed Commissioner Valentine who has recently resigned. "Eastman," he says, "is the best fitted man in the United States for the position. Moreover, he is a fighter, and we have never had a fighting man as commis- sioner in our history. "That is what the Indian office needs. Not diplomacy, not legal affairs, not this everlasting allotting and educating of Indians — which Leupp and Valentine have pushed to the ninth degree— but the protection of property and the safeguarding of health. And as sure as there is a sun in the heavens, just so certain is it that we shall have on our hands a race of dis- eased paupers unless we change our policy. "Mr. Valentine always tells me when we meet that he realizes that the Indians should be protected. He personally has done, I suppose, all he could. But he has followed stead- fastly that policy established before the days of Commis- . sioner Leupp and ma.de the inexorable law of the Indian office by him, and nothing has occurred that leads him to see the fallacy of such a policy. "The essential thing, the backbone of the whole Indian service is this: Protection for property and safeguarding of health. Eastman, himself a full-blooded Sioux, understands this as does no white man. He is not seeking the commis- sionership and never told or wrote me he would accept it. But to him what we are doing for the Indian today 'is as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.' He realizes that we have made a fetich of educating and allotting. That it is as if we gave our own children valuable property, but no pro- tection, and let them be swindled ad lib. "Do not misunderstanding me. I believe in educating and allotting Indians, but I believe in something else also. The trouble is that we have emphasized that phase of Indian cul- ture to the exclusion of everything else. As a result we have such a percentage of tuberculosis, trachoma, scrofula and 29 other diseases, than one's imagination is staggered by the bald statistics Dr. Murphy offers. We have permitted our California, Oklahoma, Minnesota and other tribes to be swin- dled out of such a huge proportion of their property that the courts are clogged with entries of suits and cases. "What we need at Washington is a Bismarck at the head of the Indian office— a man of the blood and iron. A man who will cancel false deals in Indians lands instantly and not turn them over to the department of justice to drag along three years, as have the White Earth cases. "We need a man who will turn upside down the ancient order of things, who will cut the red tape, who will see that the returning graduate and the old allottee alike are protected even as is the white citizen of the East. A man who will grasp the essentials — know what the Indian needs — who will listen to Indians rather than to white people who live about Indian reservations. And, last but by no means least, a man who has the courage to say 'no' to the army of blackleg law- yers who fatten on Indian claims and suits?." 30 The Firebug and the West Wind (By E. T. Allen.) "No, I'll not burn my slash this spring," The moss-back logger said, "I'll trust to God and luck again; Expense is what I dread." "It's time to hit the trail again," The careless camper said, And left his little fire ablaze Within its leafy bed. "I'll light another cigarette," The idle loafer said, And chucked his old snipe in the brush, One end still glowing red. "Let's punch the screen out of the stack,' The donkey fireman said. And so he did and all the sparks Sailed blithely overhead. "Come on, we'll dump our ashes now," The railroad trainmen said. The train soon fanned them far and wide As on its way it sped. "Good time to fire my slashing now," The thrifty settler said, And touched it off without a thought Of how far it might spread. "I think I'll blow an hour or two," The restless West wind said, Then liked it so he changed his mind And blew a week instead. "Millions in lives and timber lost," The newspapers next said. What made those fires all start at once, We wondered as we read. "It wasn't us, it was the wind," The fools in chorus said. So they're alive and loose this year — We hope the wind is dead. 32 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume VII. OCTOBER, 1912 Number 10 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. All subscriptions should be made payable to E. G. Cheyney, Secretary, care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS The Campfire Club of Minnesota 3 For Forest Service, $5,343,045 6 The Wild Game in Minnesota 8 Annual Meeting December 4 12 Legislation Greatly Needed 14 Where to Go for Good Hunting - 17 Struggles of the Gaim Warden 22 News and Views of the Woods - - - - 25 s The Campfire Club of Minnesota s TO bring together kindred spirits who have enjoyed the big out-doors and who are interested in the preserva.- tion of forests and the protection of wild game and fish, the Campfire Club of Minnesota, similar to the famous Camp- fire Club of America, is to be organized. Within the next few weeks, W. T. Cox, the state forester, will issue a call to well known men of Minnesota, asking them to be present at an initial meeting where plans for such a club will be outlined. When the organization is completed, it will be one of the most unique and one of the most forceful west of the Missis- sippi river. Early History of the Campfire Club of America. THE Campfire Club of America the parent organization, has occupied a commanding position among the asso- ciations of sportsmen in the United States. Starting 15 years ago with a limited membership composed of the fore- most sportsmen, scientists and artists in the field of out-door life, it has by gradual stages, almost unwillingly, enlarged its membership until now the muster roll shows a tenfold increase. Beginning purely as a social organization, with one idea of bringing together around the campfire a small body of men with common interests, the scope has broadened and enlarged through the energy imparted by the membership and the de- mand of the times so that the social side of the club has been largely overshadowed by the work already accomplished and the work demanding accomplishment in the great na- tional problems of forest preservation and the protection of bird and animal life. In the United States there are many organizations in the field of out-door life, but all are to a great extent specialized, and limited in their spheres of usefulness and membership. We have clubs devoted to scientific pur- suits, exploration and mountain climbing, • organizations of yachtsmen and canoeists, anglers' associations and associa- tions of camera experts and big game hunters; but the Camp- fire Club is one organization founded on wildcraft in the broad- est sense of the term. Its membership is composed of every class of nature-lovers, and around its campfire throughout the year, either as members or guests, regardless of special creeds and ties, gather those who love the great out-doors. Five Distinct Reasons For Life of the Club and Its Object. Briefly summarized, the main purposes of the club are sub- stantially as follows: "Through the parent organization, allied clubs and univer- sity and college auxiliaries, to give far-reaching and intelli- gent support to game protection and forest preservation measures, national and local. "To afford a meeting place for men with common interests in wild-craft, scientists, photographers, painters, scluptors or hunters. "To establish through the honor system and otherwise, a standard as to what constitutes a sportsman and to main- tain the same at a high level. "To properly recognize signal achievements in the pur- poses for which the club is organized. "Through dinners and outings in the woods, to renew and cement friendships and to bring out that good-fellowship which is at its best and unrestrained only in the glow of the campfire." The first meeting of the Campfire Club was held in New York city, February 6, 1897. Dr. William T. Hornaday, sent out invitations which said: "CAMPFIRE CL.UB." MEMBERSHIP— Limited to fifty. CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY — To have camped on the ground in a howling wilderness and to have killed or painted big game. EXPECTATIONS — A camper's freedom from restraint; a hunter's plain and simple fare; good-fellowship our patron saint, and when we meet, begone Dull Care. DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES — No constitution; no dress suits; no wine; no profanity; no membership fee to speak of; no by-laws; no long' speeches; no whiskey; no vulgarity; a campfire" and a feed once a fortnight; a- new president at each meeting. The initial meeting of the club was such a success that others who loved the out-door world clamored for admission. The membership limit was raised reluctantly under pressure of applications, to successfully 100, 200, 300 and 400 where it now stands. The roll includes Theodore Roosevelt, Pin- chot, Dugmore, Cody, Rungius, Loring, "Buffalo" Jones and a score of others of national prominence in the world of the sportsman, the scientist, the naturalist and the artist. Campfire Club of Minnesota Will Be Similar to National Organization. In 3904, the Campfire Club incorporated under the laws of New York. For many years the club has been a most im- portant center of activity in the general cause of wild life protection. Perhaps the greatest achievement lies in the work of the American Bison Society in the founding of the Montana National Bison Herd. Fully four-fifths of the fund of $10,500 expended in the purchase of this herd, was raised by members of the Campfire Club of America. The creation of the great British Columbian game preserve now known as Goat Mountain Park was entirely accomplished by members of the club. Of very recent activities, the battle for the preservation of the fur seal, has been brought to a successful issue. The bill for the creation of the Glacier National Park was backed by members of the club and their work was in- strumental in a great measure in obtaining its passage. These are only a few of the accomplishments. The Campfire Club of Minnesota will have similar objects in view. It will be made up of men who have done and who can do things for wild life and the forests in this state. Occasionally, a real campfire meeting will be held, where in the fantastical shadows • cast by flames from burning logs, reminiscences may be recounted and stories told of wild ani- mals which have been met. $ For Forest Service, $5 ,343,045 i /^> ONGRESS appropriated $5,343,045 for the national forest \^S service for the fiscal year 1912-13. This is a slight de- crease over the appropriation for the preceding year. The 1911-12 appropriation was $5,533,100. A comparison of the two follows: 1911-12 1912-13 Salaries $2,318,680 $2,235,760 General Expenses 2,714,420 2,707,285 Permanent Improvement 500,000 400,000, $5,533,100 $5,343,045 Fear of "Woodchuck" in an Amendment Offered By the Senate. Passage of the bill making the appropriation was delayed by an effort on the part of the Senate to add an amendment directing the Secretary of Agriculture "to select and classify in and segregate (from the national forests) all lands within the boundaries on the national forests that are suitable and fit for agricultural purposes" in order that the land might be open to settlement and entry. Fear was expressed that this amendment might open the way to land-jugglers, and the measure was blocked. The bill went to conference and a substitute amendment was agreed upon which read as follows : "The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby directed and re- quired to select, classify and segregate as soon as practica- ble, all lands within the boundaries of national forests that may be opened to settlement and or try under the homestead laws applicable to the national forests, and the sum of $25,000 is hereby appropriated for the purpose aforesaid." The "homestead laws applicable to national forests" pro- vide that the lands open to agricultural settlement shall be chiefly valuable for agriculture and which may be occupied for agricultural purposes without injury to the forest reserves and which are not needed for public purposes. 6 Part of National Forest Revenue For Roads and Schools of States. The bill makes the usual provision that 25 per cent of the gross revenues derived from national forests, shall be turned over to the states where the forests are located, to be applied to the road and school funds. The new law also provides that an additional 10 per cent shall be expended for con- struction and maintenance of roads and trails. The Secre- tary of Agriculture is authorized to co-operate or aid any state wherein lies a national forest, in the furtherance of any system of highways by which the forests will be benefitted. Gifford Pinchot, former chief forester for the federal gov- ernment, has this to say about the appropriation bill: Appropriation Had Been Cut More Than $1,000,000 By the House. "The House reduced the appropriation of the Forest Service by more than one million dollars. This money was needed to protect the forests, hire men to fight forest fires, and build telephone lines, bridges, roads, and trails needed to bring them quickly to the line of fire. The reduction was made in the face of the record of 1910, when seventy-nine fire fighters and twenty-five settlers were burned to death in the national forests, and twelve million dollars worth of timber was de- stroyed, and with full knowledge that the national forests, which contain about two billion dollars worth of public prop- erty, are in grave danger of even greater losses. When the country learned the facts, public indignation was aroused over the needless risk of lives and property entailed by this indifference to the public welfare, and a small fraction of the money the House cut off was finally restored. This harm was done under the guise of the much advertised effort to save millions of dollars to the taxpayers. Yet in the end no economy appeared, for this is a billion dollar session, like the last. "But that was not all. The reduced appropriation was not passed until nearly two months after it was due, so that the appropriations of the previous year had twice to be extended a month at a time, and the uncertainty and delay became as costly and injurious as the actual reduction in funds." 7 l£ The Wild Game in Minnesota ® & (By W. T. Cox.) HOW many of us realize what a state Minnesota is for game? The trouble is that most of us live in Southern or Central Minnesota and have never had occasion to get acquainted with the Northern districts. Most every one is familiar with localities in which migratory fowl are abun- dant when the cool weather of autumn brings them from the North. The wild rice lakes of North-central Minnesota and the mud lakes throuhgout the region where prairie and forest meet, are famed as the haunts of the duck hunter. One of the sights worth traveling a. long v/ay to see is the sudden taking to flight of countless thousands of wild fowl from their feeding grounds or resting places on Bowstring, Mud Lake or Winnebigoshish. These are not, however, the only lakes where such a sight can be witnessed. There are many places in Northwestern and Western Minnesota where ducks of many species congregate in unbelievable numbers for the autumn flight. Geese, too, may be seen by the thousand on certain of our Northwestern lakes, and even in Southwestern Minnesota. The hunter can no longer, even if he would, slaughter them in the disgraceful way so common a few years ago, but he may still obtain a fair number of "honkers" if he is willing to make the effort which is necessary, and deserv- edly necessary, in hunting this splendid game bird. Favorable Years For Hatching and Growth of Prairie Chickens. Prairie chickens— both the pinnated and sharp-tail grouse — have been unusually plentiful this fall. Apparently the fact that prairie chickens were reduced some years ago to a point where hunting was scarcely worth while automatically brought about conditions favorable to their increase. Many farmers posted their farms, prohibiting hunting, and the vil- lage sportsmen no longer kept pointers and setters for the chicken season. Then, too, we nave had a number of favor- able years for the hatching and early growth of the young birds. The increase in the abundance of partridges (ruffed grouse) has been most astounding. A few years ago it was a difficult matter to go out and secure even a respectable bag. Neither last year nor this year was it any trouble at all to go out and kill the limit in less than half a day. This is true not in one locality only, but practically throughout the forest region of the state. The birds are more numerous, of course, in the more thinly settled districts of Northern Minnesota, but there are plenty of partridges in the hardwood country in the cen- tral part of the state, and fair numbers even south of the Twin City. Many people have tried to figure out the cause for the rapid increase of partridges. It probably is due to a com- bination of circumstances; favorable hatching conditions for a number of seasons, several winters without hard-crusted snow, the killing of "varmints" by settlers, and the recent heavy trapping of weasels, due to a lively demand for their fur. All had an influence, no doubt. Sections of the State Where Deer in Greatest Number Are Found. To the more general observance of game laws is due the gradual increase in the number of deer, and to their spread- ing southward into districts from which they had been driven vears ago. Deer are most abundant on the edges of the set- tlements; they are not particularly abundant away back in the wilderness. The great deer sections of the state include the territory lying north and east of Mille Lacs, the valleys of the Cloquet, Whitef°ce and St. Louis rivers, practically all of Itasca county, the country between Leech Lake and White Earth, and the territory lying east and south of Red Lake. Judging from present indications there should be splendid deer hunting this fall. The moose gradually are concentrating into more restricted territory. They are still abundant in the country north 'of 9 Red Lake and throughout the region between Rainy Lake and the Iron Range. Their territory of greatest abundance is the wild country between the Iron Range and Lake Superior. Within this latter district lies the Superior National Forest and game preserve, where they are protected the year around, and from which they may always be expected to come out and replenish the surrounding country. Big Crop of Berries Attracting Bruin From Distant Points. Just as a matter of interest, it may be said that the caribou are increasing in Northern Lake and Cook counties. Possi- bly they are entering the state from the Canadian game pre- serve just across the boundary. The band of caribou inhab- iting the country north of Red Lake is gradually diminishing in numbers, and may be expected to disappear within the next few years. This is due not only to encroaching settlement, but also to the persistent inroads upon the band made by Indians and timber wolves. The very few elk remaining in Minnesota are absolutely protected so far as the law is con- cerned, but they probably are suffering the same fate as the band of caribou just mentioned. The Superior game preserve should by all means be stocked with elk, since conditions there are exceedingly favorable for their existence and in- crease. The rangers throughout Koochiching county, and Northern St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties, report an unusual number of bear this fall, and account for their numbers by the splen- did berry crop in those districts during the past summer. It is well known that the black bear is a great traveler, and when he finds a good berry district he is pretty apt to stay there until fall. Minnesota is blessed with an abundance of game. It is one of the most attractive states in the Union for the sportsman. Let us hunt only in a fair way, kill only a reasonable number, and leave some for breeding purposes and for the other fel- low. The greatest pleasure in hunting, after all, is not in the killing, but in the quest and in the smoke by the camp fire. 11 $ Annual Meeting December 4. i By E. G. Cheney, .Sec. Minnesota State Forester Assn. THE plans are being laid and the invitations are out for the annual meeting of the Minnesota State Forestry Association. We propose to make this a rousing me'eting full of interest to everyone — full of interest because it will deal with questions of vital importance to the welfare of the whole state. The question of the development of our forest resources is not a local matter; it is as vital to the farmer on the prairie as to the woodsman in the heart of the forest; as important to the hardwood forests of the southern half of the state, as in the great pineries of the North. The great strides which have been made in this development in the past two years since the establishment of the new State Forest Service, should fill everyone with enthusiasm. Do you know what these strides are? Do you know what has been accom- plished? Do you know what tremendous possibilities there are in the state? Do you know what legislation is needed to carry out this deevlopment? If you don't know all these things, the annual meeting is the place to find out about them. The program of the subjects for discussion will show you the wide scope and vital nature of the questions. You can't afford to miss it. There are things to be taken up which every good citizen should know and be prepared to push. Why Good People Belong to the Forestry Association and Support Its Work. Members of the forestry association belong to the organiza- tion because they believe in the proper development of our forest resources and because they believe such development imperative to the welfare of the state. These memberships mean the members are willing to lend their support to the 12 progressive movement and are in sympathy with the work being done. Members cannot do the work laid out for them- selves unless they are familiar with what is going on. The meeting will be held in the afternoon of December 4. It will be open to everyone and it will be interesting. It will be of unusual interest to all persons who take an interest in forests and in the great big "out-of-doors." The following is a tentative program: Address — Governor A. O. Eberhart. Half hour devoted to answering questions. Everyone will have a chance. "The Need for State Forests"— Mrs. Backus, St. Paul. "The Forest Home" — Mrs. Gilinan, Minneapolis. "How We Acquired Our State Forests" — E. M. Griffith, State Forester of Wisconsin. "Why the Minnesota National Forest Should Not Be Re- duced"— G. E. Marshall, Supervisor Minnesota Forest. "The Hardwood Forests of Southern Minnesota" — P. C. Records, Ranger State Forest Service. "Prairie Plantations" — G. B. McDonald, Professor of For- estry, Ames, Iowa. "The Production of Timber on Our Mineral Lands" — A. C. LaDuc, Ely, Minn. "Forestry Education in Canada" — B. E. Fernow, Dean Faculty of Forestry, Toronto, Can. "The Work of the Forest Ranger" — Wm. Kilby, Beaudette, Minn. "A Policy for Our State Forests" — H. Oldenburg, Carlton, Minn. "Our Second Industry and Its Future"— Z. D. Scott, Presi- dent State Forestry Board. "The Forests and the Big Game" — W. T. Cox, State For- ester. Stereopticon talks. These talks will be short, snappy and to the point. There is no member of the forestry association who is not especially interested in some one of these topics and there will be many which will absorb attention. The date is December 4! The place — Minneapolis. 13 * Legislation Greatly Needed s OF the forest legislation to be asked at the hands of the next Legislature, none, possibly, will be of more im- portance than the bill submitting a constitutional amendment under which non-agricultural state land now idle in Minnesota, may be reforested and made to yield a revenue. The first annual report of the state forester, covering the period of 1911, says: "Millions of acres are of such character that the land should be kept permanently growing timber. Those mighty hills of massive rock and gravel, covered with pine and spruce and birch — those rock-bound, island-studded lakes — those rushing streams winding to the Mississippi, tumbling to the St. Lawrence or wandering off northward to Rainy river and Hudson Bay— constitute the wildest playground and hunt- ing ground in the Northwest. Much of this region is un- suited for farming. It would be unfair to expect a settler to make a living on the rocks. The best interests of the state as well as the settler, require that this rocky land be used as our woodlot, to produce timber for ourselves and for the future." Opportunity For Obtaining Another Great Fund For the State. Under the present law, the state land cannot be sold for less than $5 an acre. Yet there are hundreds of thousands of these acres on which nothing of value except trees can be grown, and after the original crop of timber is cut and sold, the land lies in idle wastefulness. Under proper handling, the state, a few years hence, would receive an enormous in- come from these waste areas. An additional use, aside from growing trees, may be made simply by the enactment of a law for the leasing of state lands by the Forestry Board for summer hotels, cottages, and hunting and fishing lodges. This is by no means a new idea, 14 for the federal government has been for several yars increas- ing the use of its national forests by leases of this kind. A law authorizing the leasing of state lands for such purposes would go a long way toward bringing people, not only from all parts of this state but from other states, to enjoy their vacations in our North woods. Few people realize what it would mean to have such developments made as would at- tract people in search of pleasant vacations. Other states, for instance Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine and New York, have developed their resources along these lines, and estimate the returns in millions of dollars. Another advantage of this leas- ing system would be that the state would retain control of at least a small proportion of the lake shores and streams which are favorable to use as cottage or hotel sites. The best and 15 most available sites are rapidly being bought up by parties, and in the course of a comparatively few years the general public will find itself more or less excluded from the full enjoyment of these beauty spots. Demand Growing in Many Places For Law Permitting Municipal Forests. In many localities there is a demand for legislation that will enable municipalities to acquire nearby land for use as parks or forests. At present such land can be purchased at a nominal sum, and there is no reason why many of the cities in our state should not eventually be maintained by their municipal forests. A bill is now being drafted which will authorize cities and towns to purchase land for park or forest purposes. ' It prescribes the method of raising a pur- chasing fund, as well as the methods of administration. It is time that Minnesota should make a beginning at least to provide proper legislation along this line. Some years ago a law was passed, the purpose of which was to permit the state to acquire as state forests such lands as reverted to the state for non-payment of taxes. Unfor- tunately a provision was inserted in the bill which specified that only lands which had reverted to the state prior to 1891 could be acquired under this act. The purpose of the bill was thwarted by this provision, since, after 1891, a subsequent law was passed permitting the payment of delinquent taxes without penalties or cost on the basis of fifty cents on the dollar. A bill for the acquirement of tax title lands has been drawn up and will be presented to the coming legislature, and it is hoped that no nullifying clauses will be added to it when it is passed. This bill will carry a small appropriation which is necessary to pay the costs of preparing these land titles for transfer. The measures above described are the principal construct- ive ones from the forestry department to demand the atten- tion of the legislature. The bills will be drawn up at an early date and distributed to all who are concerned or inter- ested, for suggestions and comments. 16 s Where to Go for Good Hunting s WITH the duck and partridge season at hand and the big-game shooting just ahead, where to go and how to get there and what accommodations may be found when the hunting ground is reached, puzzles many persons who contemplate sport in Minnesota's wilds. The list printed herewith, will be found accurate. The guides named are men who know the haunts of game. It is an easy matter to go into the woods and find game and kill it, but it's a different problem to get out of the woods again and back to where civilization begins and ends. The toll paid by men lost in the forests is great. The charges made by .guides range all the way from $2.50 a day to $5, according to what they furnish in the way of camp supplies. The "Best Place" Is Scattered all Over the Northern Section of the State. No person who hunts, ever attempts to tell which is "the best" place to go. All of Northern Minnesota, it may be said, furnishes game abundantly. Besides the names and places mentioned in the list printed herewith, it might be suggested that Hunters Lodge kept by C. M. Everett at the mouth of the V-ermillion river on Vermillion lake, is a pleasant place to go and the rates at the hotel are $2 a day. Goodwill's, kept by I. Goodwill on Vermillion lake is another. A launch goes to and from it from Tower each day. Joyce's Landing on Vermillion lake, is a third. Rates at the hotel there are $2 a day, and the steamer "Olive" calls every second day. Limited accommodations are offered by Lee Chosa on Bass- wood lake. Mr. Chosa has launches on both Basswood and Fall lakes, which make the trip from Winton to the head of Knife lake. In addition to these, there are in that imme- diate vicinity numerous lumber camps where hunters and tourists may obtain lodging and meals. The companies usually charge about 25 cents a meal and lodging is free. 17 Indians Offer Services As Guides and Canoeists For Duck Hunters. At Orr on Pelican lake and on the Boies Fort reservation on Net lake, there are a number of Indians who offer their services each fall as canoe men to take out duck hunters. These Indians are very good at this work and usually are paid at the rate of $2.50 a day. The fishing on Lake Vermil- lion is excellent, and the big game hunting, as good as can be found. There is very little wild rice in Lake Vermillion, consequently the ducks do not gather there in large numbers. Net lake, however, is entirely covered with rice and is one of the best in the state for hunting. Pelican lake, too, fur-- nishes good duck shooting, while deer and moose are fairly plentiful in the country north of it. The following list may be taken as reliable: Deer River — Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — Dell Linden, Katon Willis. Good quarters and boats. Popple — -Ducks, deer and moose. Guide — F. L. Vance. Boats and good accommodations. Inger — Ducks, deer and moose. Guide — William Gibbs. Good accommodations. Orchid — Ducks, deer and moose. Guide — Mr. Beckman. Good accommodations. Wirt — Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — Bert Congdon, Wm. LaFevre and Bert Cooper. Boats and accommodations. Max — Ducks, deer and Moose. Guide — P. M. Tosebrook. Boats and good quarters. Bowstring- — -Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — Carl Christie and Algot Johnson. Good quarters and boats. Jessie Lake — Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — D. C. Mc- Dous-vul, Melviii Johnson, Hay Weaver, Ed. Pifher. Good ac- commodations. Marcell — Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — Mike Metelsky, W. A. Stickler, Frank Evans, George Barlow. Good accommo- dations. Ball Club — Ducks, deer and moose. Guide — Wm. Tibbets. Good quaters and boats. Big Fork — Ducks, deer and moose. Guide — Henry McNerney. Good accommodations. (To reach the above mentioned hunting grounds, take the Great Northern railway to Deer River, Minn.) Grand Rapids — Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — Martin Brothers. Splendid accommodations. Libby — Ducks, fish, big game and chickens. Guide — John Tiessen. Accommodations at hotel, $1 a day. Aitkin — Dudks, chicken, fish and big game. Guides — Fred Jenkins, Arthur Kempton. Splendid hotel, $2 a day. 19 Shovel Lake — Duck's, fish and big game. Guide — Oscar Nes- bit. Hotel, $1 per day. Jacobson — Ducks, fish and big game. Guide — Emery Hurt. Thor — Ducks, chickens, fish and big game. Guide — John M. Johnson. Hotel, rate $1 per day. Remer — Ducks and big game. Guide — W. Wilson. Hotel, rates $1.50 a day. McGregor — Ducks, big game and chickens. Guides — J. W. Clark, Vincent Clark, Al Maddy. Hotel, rates $1.50 a day. Kalavala — Big game. Guide — John Manni. Hotel, rates $1 a day. Redtop — Big game. Guides — Arnt Kalberg, C. Seland. Hotel, rates $1 per day. Isle — Big game. 'Guide — Bernie Carlson. Hotel, rates $1 a day. Seavey — Big game. Guide — Thor Anderson. Hotel, rates $1 per day. Glen — Ducks, fish and big game. Guides — John Swing, El- mer Olsen. Hotel, rates $1 per day. Wealthwood — Ducks, fish and big game. Guides — Anton Hanson, Sid Fetterly. Hotel, rates $1 a day. Malmo — Fish, ducks and big game. Guide — Perry W. Swed- berg. Hotel, rates $1 per day. International Falls — Ducks, chicken and big game. Guides — Harvey Gale, John McLeod. First-class hotel accommoda- tions. Orr — Ducks, fish and big game. Indians may be obtained as guides. Good hotel accommodations. Cook — Fish and big game. Guides — John Fernlund, Frank Long. Lodging and meals at lumber camps. Ely — Ducks and big game. Guide — Ore Fernlund. Good hotel accommodations. Tower — Ducks and big game. Guides — Tom Belond, Oscar Cobb, John Sabbattees, Clarence M. Everett. Good hotel ac- commodations. Gheen — Ducks and big game. Guide — Patrick DeBird. Side Lake — Big game and ducks. Guide — Joseph Bondreau. Good hotel accommodations. Rates, $1 and $1.50 per day. Hackensack — Ducks, . partridges and deer. Guides at the North Star camp, care J. W. Spain. Accommodations. Itasca — Ducks, partridges and deer. Guide — John Korth. Good hotel accommodations. Park Rapids — Deer. Guide — Alfred Smith. Good hotel ac- commodations. Hubbard — Ducks and partridges. Guide — William Gordon. Hotel accommodations. Mantrap — Deer, ducks and partridges. Guides — Ralph Allen, Frank Clausen, Osee McMahon. Good hotel accommodations. Baudette — Ducks, fish, deer and moose. Guides — Harry Curry, Bob Ball, Mr. Riley. Hotel accommodations. Carp — Deer, moose and partridge. Guide — J. Bourgeois. 20 Grand Marais — Ducks, deer and moose. Guides — Joe Carribo, Dave Carribo, James Morrison, George Zimmerman, Charles IVU-rson, Bill Howemstein, Joe Thomas, Angus LaSage, Bill Drouilard, Joe Beargraese, Mons Hanson. Splendid hotel ac- commodations. Bemidji — Ducks, deer, moose and chickens. Guides — F. A. Chapman, John Ross, J. P. Johnson. Good hotel accommoda- tions. Nebish — Ducks, deer and partridge. Guide — H. W. Johnson. Tenstrike — Deer and ducks. Guide — John Drury. Hotel ac- commodations. Kelliher — Ducks, deer and partridges. Guide — Henry Pfund. Hotel. Shevlin — Ducks, deer and partridge. Guide — George Berifleld. Accommodations Frequently Offered Hunters in the Lumber Camps. At Little Fork, Thief River Falls, Warroad, Cass Lake and Be'na are hotels from which guides may be obtained and good hunting is in the vicinity. Along the Alger-Smith ra^road line are lumber camps in districts where the deer and mocue hunting is excellent. Deer and partridges may also be found in plentiful numbers along the D. & N. E. railroad. Struggles of the Gaim Warden (Reprinted from Field and Stream) THE gaim warden is a man of one (1) idee — the saim being to draw his sallery & not exsite the annymuls. He is handed mity few bokays & menny lemmuns. There air men hoom he may pull at awl owers of the day & nite, & uthers hoo air not pullable. His daily prayer is "Let my eyes be opun that I may knoe the pollittykal beleef & the bizness & fammily connexshuns under evry old hat that -bobs upp in the brush. Furthermoar, may I be a thorn in the path of the non-rezzident, hoo is mi espeshul meet. May he hunt & fish erly & offen, & prosper- rity be hisn, that his moalskin may be full of long grene." Hear is a littel pome that was handed to Yore Unkel the uther day by a gaim warden up in the Addyrondax. He calls it THE WURST EVER. He had caut a hatful of littel trowt — Not one (1) of them leegal size — & I stood & wacht him yank them owt With me two (2) offishul eyes; But I knew that his dad owned a stoar in town & soald eggs to the judge's wife, So I sez "You've got a fine mess, Mister Brown." Bet yer life! I heered the dog on the trale of a deer, & hedded him off with my gun; But I see it was just the road overseer Out having a little fun. So I sez, "He's heading for Porter's Laik, & you'll beat him there if you try." A wize gaim warden maiks no bad braik. That's no lie! 22 An uther felloe, one (1) Sunday nite In the bammy munth of Jooly, Went owt in a bote with a big jak lite & shot him a deer in the eye; But I knu that his unkel's son-in-law Has a pardner hoo owns a pair Of bosses Judge Sanders aims to buy — & there you air! A man hoo can be gaim warden & pleeze evrybuddy must git his reward in this world, for there won't be nothing dooing in his line in the next. He must keep his eyes shet for fear of seeing what he is pade good munny to see. He must live in the oder of sanktitty & kept owt of the woods. Where so ever the pollittykel bosses are pointing owt to voters the strate & narrer way, there must the gaim warden butt in & say, "It's just that way, & we can't git arownd it." That he may remane long in offis & bring up his sons to be gaim wardens in the day when there is no gaim left to warden. Now & then we see a misgided retch hoo doesn't belong to the union, & hoo think that the littel bluebakked pamflet of gaim laws is sumthing moar than a joak book. He goes abrod in the land & gethers in hunters & fishers from afar, & the common peepu say, "Behoald, he is the cheese"; but in the midst of his aktivity the mantel of offis is stript from his bronny sholders & past on to sum felloe hoo is onto the sistem. Why is a gaim warden? Becos there must be gaim laws. Utherwize what would the gentul lejjystlators doo, when there is no lejjyslating in site & it is nessessery to hang arownd and draw their sallery for a week or soe longer? The -gaim warden is the only vizzibel sine of the grate thot & labor that is deevoted to protekting owr gaim & fish. Sum times he represents the payment of a pollitikel dett, whitch is not to his diskredit, for 23 most alwaise he wood stir up the meenajjery if his hands wa'n't tide. Ihe averriage gaim warden is a round plug in a skware hoal. If swelled with a little enkurridgment he would maik it air tite. He starts owt thinking that the gaim laws was ment to be onfoarced — whitch is a mistaik. That the rite thinking sittyzens air willing to see their sons & naybers fined for illeegal shooting & fishing — witch is a mistaik. That the pollitikel bosses had rather lose a vote than see gaim & fish extermynated — witch is a mistaik. He is upp aginst it, & if he don' taik a tumbel & drift with the tide he is wuss than a gaim warden — he is a dam fool. I wood like to be a gaim warden — if they pade them better munny. — Unkel David. 24 News and Views of the Woods THE big tree supremacy of California is being disputed by Australia. The tallest tree yet discovered in Cali- fornia was found by actual measurement to be 340 feet high. Australia's record gum tree can beat this by 140 feet. Baron Mueller, formerly government botanist of Victoria, is quoted as saying that Australian gum trees attain a height of 500 feet. But the tallest tree the baron measured was a prostrate one on the Blacks' Spur, ten miles from Heales- ville, totalling 480 feet. This tree was 81 feet in girth near the root. Another found in the same locality was 415 feet high, with a circumference of 69 feet at the base. Mueller refers to this species as "the highest tree on the globe, sur- passing the famous California sequoia and Wellington pine." In 1889, G. W. Robinson, civil engineer of Berwick, in a jour- ney from Gippsland to Mount Baw, measured a tree 471 feet high. The height of this specimen had previously been esti- mated at not less than 500 feet. — American Forestry. Politics prevented a general observance of Fire Prevention Day, October 9, as designated by Governor Eberhart in a proclamation issued in September. Friends of the governor feared that if he called for a big meeting such as was held in St. Paul on Fire Prevention Day last year, it would be de- clared by some to be a political move. Accordingly, the day was but little observed. It is planned, however, to set aside a day during the meeting of the state conservation congress in Minneapolis in November. At that time, the question will be taken up in all its phases. The Minnesota forest rangers will meet with W. T. Cox, state forester and D. P. Tierney, his assistant, at Cloquet, November 1, to review the work of the past year and make plans for 1913. Many qeustions of importance relative to fire prevention and forest conservation, will be taken up. 25 Arthur Safford, a farmer living at Bennettville, near Aitkin, Minn., is exhibiting the pelt of a 350-pound bear he killed in his orchard a few nights ago. Mrs. Stafford discovered Bruin in the orchard about dusk, about ten rods from their home. The first thought a colt had invaded the place and was feasting on the apples that had fallen from the trees and so notified her husband. He grabbed his rifle, preferring to take no chances, and hastening to where the animal was "nosing" about for apples, saw that the brute had too shaggy a coat for a colt and, surmising it was a bear, fired his weapon as the beast retreated toward the timber with a grunt. It was too dark to give pursuit, but the next morning Mr. Safford found Bruin stretched out dead. — Duluth Herald. The Cook & Ketchum mill at Tower, Minn., has closed down for the season. The mill is now being thoroughly over- hauled preparatory to next season's run when some 30,000,000 feet of logs will likely be cut. During the winter a large Corliss engine will be installed and with the consummation of a probable deal for more timber, the running of the mill will probably continue for fifteen years or more. Announcement is made by W. R. Mackenzie of the state reclamation board that the state's ready-made farm, two miles north of Blackduck, Minn., is to be sold to the highest bidder in Bemidji on Nov. 12. The farm is made up of twenty acres of rich clay loam, all cleared. It may be had for 15 per cent of the purchase price with forty years' time at 4 per cent on the remainder. This was one of the five tracts put in shape for farming by the reclamation board which was established by the 1911 leg- islature. The log cut for 1912 will exceed that of 1911, according to information from the office of the surveyor general of logs and lumber in the second Minnesota district. About 80,000,000 feet of logs have been cut already by the two mills operating in Minneapolis this season. 26 Another big drive is located now near Sauk Rapids, and unless cold weather prevents it should arrive in Minneapolis in time for cutting this fall. Three drives already have been cut by the Smith and Northland Pine mills. During the entire cutting season last year only 80,000,000 feet of logs were handled by the mills. If the weather con- tinues favorable several million of feet more should be cut. Had it not been for bad weather in July this year the sur- veyor general says the cut would have been still larger. At its meeting in Indianapolis, October 1-4, Charles Lathrop Pack, an expert forester and millionaire of Cleveland, Ohio, was elected president of the national conservation congress for next year. Amendments to the constitution placing the congress on a permanent basis with a membership roll, instead of having delegates appointed by states, municipalities and organiza- tions were adopted. Fifteen delegates to the congress were appointed as rep- resentatives of Minnesota by Governor Eberhart. The list follows: Capt. E. C. Anthony, Hastings; Hugh J. Hughes, Minneapolis; D. C. Armstrong, Albert Lea; Henry Oldenburg, Carlton; L. O. Cooke, Lake City; Daniel Shaw, Thief River Falls; Albert Berg, Spooner; D. A. Wallace, St. Paul; W. W. Sivright, Hutchinson; Z. D. Scott, Duluth; D. M. Neill, Red Wing; A. E. Chamberlain, St. Paul; J. W. Wheeler, St. Paul; H. A. Tuttle, Minneapolis; J. B. Irwin, Minneapolis.. The oldest living things in the world are the sequoia trees in the General Grant and Sequoia National Parks, The gov- ernment has just issued a bulletin telling all about them and how to get to them. These trees are also the tallest trees known. Within the two parks there are 13 groves contain- ing over 12,000 trees larger than 10 feet in diameter. It is estimated that some of these trees were growing 4,000 years ago. In fact, annual wood rings have been counted on one of the fallen giants in the Sequoia park showing that it had reached that age. 27 The great pines of the Pacific coast, 400 and 500 years old, have reached old age, but the sequoia trees, several times as old as the great pines, are still in the bloom of youth. They do not attain prize size or beauty before they a.re 1,500 years old, and are in their prime when 2,000 years old, not becoming old in less than 3,000 years. Not only do these trees stand in a class by themselves because of their long life, but they are classed among the wonders of the earth because of their giant size. In the giant forest in Sequoia National Park, where the giants are named for men who have been prominent in public life, the General Sherman is 286 feet high and 36 feet in diameter, the Abraham Lincoln 270 feet high and 31 feet in diameter, and the tallest is the William McKinley, 291 feet high and 28 feet in diameter. In the General Grant Park the principal trees are the Gen- eral Grant, 264 feet high and 35 feet in diameter, and the George Washington, 255 feet high and 29 feet in diameter. The president has issued a proclamation making alterations in the Superior national forests boundaries, the net result of which is to increase the gross area of the forests from 910,000 to 1,276,100 acres. The corrected boundary includes 380,555 acres of new land, while it eliminates 14,455 acres previously included. The Superior national forest lies in the northeastern cor- ner of Minnesota, between Lake Superior and the Canadian line. At present it contains little timber of merchantable size, practically all of the original stand having been removed or destroyed by fire before the national forest was created. The government is, however, holding and protecting the land for the sake of the future yield of timber which it will pro- duce under forestry methods. Practically none of the land has any agricultural value, and unless used to grow trees it must remain a mere waste. To grow timber it must be protected from fire. The areas now added are in general character similar to those previously embraced within the forest, and will be protected and admin- istered along the same lines. 28 The eliminated portions are made up principally of private holdings and contain too small an amount of land suitable for forest purposes to make it worth while for the govern- ment to retain the areas in the forest. Throughout the Supe- rior forest the percentage of alienated land is heavy, and the same is true of the portions newly included, so that the amount of government owned land added to the forest is much less than the gross area figures would indicate. Under the proclamation the eliminated lands are with- drawn for classification, following which they will be restored to settlement and entry by the Secretary of the Interior after such notice as he may deem advisable and as he may deter- mine this course to be compatible with the public interest. There is one other national forest in Minnesota, called the Minnesota and situated at the headwaters of the Mississippi, about Lake Winnbigoshish. It contains about 295,000 acres, and was created from Chippewa Indian lands after the virgin timber had been cut off under forestry regulations. In con- sequence it has a much more promising growth of young pine and Norway pine than has the Superior at the present time. The terrible forest fires such as destroyed Hinckley, Chis- holm, Baudette and Spooner should be object lessons to many other vllages and cities in the wooded region of Minnesota, where fires are liable to occur. It is always possible in a dry season like that of 1910, which is especially vivid in recollec tion, that one or more fires may get beyond control of even a most vigilant fire-fighting organization, with disastrous re- sults. There are many Northern villages and cities situated in the heart of the forest, with timber or brush encroaching upon all sides. Any one of them, with a raging fire like that which destroyed Baudette and Spooner, could quickly be wiped out of existence, under present conditions. The resi- dents of these villages and cities have in past years known the worry caused in dry seasons by the prospect of approach- ing fire. Many of them have known their homes to be saved only by the intervention of shifting winds, which hurled the flames in another direction, or by a timely rainstorm. Many have fought for weeks, as the fire alternately approached 29 and receded, to protect their homes, and have come out, even if victorious, exhausted in body and mind, fit subjects for medical care. This statement is not exaggerated, but it is not expected that people unfamiliar with fires in the woods can realize the awful strain which accompanies the terrific physical exertion of opposing such an uncertain and treach- erous enemy. If continued for an/ length of time, fire fight- ing, because of the nervous tension under which one labors, accompanied by the effects of heat and smoke, is killing work. Moreover, for the period that the fires rage, all business must be neglected, entailing financial loss to all concerned. It is possible for any such village or city to eliminate much of the worry preceding and the hard labor accompanying the fire season. A double fire-break properly made, and accord- ing to the special needs of any municipality or even unor- ganized village, would accomplish much. It would furnish in itself an effective obstacle in the path of, and would afford a double line of defense against the invasion of a fire. Every city or village exposed to fire danger should not delay in constructing, where needed, a substantial fire-break. This measure would not only save the people from much of the terror and labor of the fire season; it would also result in direct financial benefit. It would make property in the village or city a better fire risk, decreasing the premiums on fire insurance. In fact, insurance companies have refused to write insurance in some municipalities which are in partic- ularly dangerous situations. By taking advantage of natural features — existing roads, lakes, rivers and open fields — a vil- lage may often protect itself in this way at very small cos\. In some cases the work to be done will not be greatly de- creased by such natural assistance; there the greater cost will be justified by the greater danger to which the munic- ipality is at present exposed. A fire-break should be at no or.tside point less than one mile from the city limits. Local conditions will necessarily require different methods in different places. Experience has demonstrated that certain methods of constructing a fire- break are cheaper and more effective than others. The Forest Service officers are ready to give advice and assistance to 30 any village or city which desires to so secure immunity from destruction by forest fire. A village or city which needs fire protection is authorized to take the necessary steps in securing it by Section 24 of the 1911 Forest Law, which is here quoted: Section 24. The State Forester may appoint supervisors, constables and clerks of towns, mayors of cities and presi- dents of village councils, fire wardens for their respective districts, and it is hereby made their duty to do all things necessary to protect the property of such municipalities from fire and to extinguish the same. All towns, villages and cities are hereby authorized and directed to take necessary precautions to prevent the start- ing and spreading of forest or prairie fires and to extinguish the same, and are hereby further authorized to annually levy a tax of not more than five mills upon a taxa.ble property of such municipalities, which, when collected, shall be known as the "Fire Fund," which shall be used in paying all necessary and incidental expenses incurred in enforcing the provisions of this act. In all townships constituted within any of the forest patrol districts which may be established by the State Forestry Board, the respective town and village officers shall co-operate as far as possible with and act under the general supervision and direction of the state forest officers. Any municipality taking advantage of this opportunity to protect its residents and their property will not only be com- plying with the law; it will be benefiting itself to a degree not to be estimated. — From the Annual Report of the Minne- sota State Forester. 31 "Forett Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume I. NOVEMBER, 1912 Number 11 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. All subscriptions should be made payable to E. G. Cheyney, Secretary, care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS Fire Loss in 1912 Is $23,346.51 - 3 Ready for a Rousing Meeting - 7 Need $150,000 for the Service 1 1 Opportunities in the Forests - 1 5 State Nursery for Forest Trees 19 Ranger Meeting at Cloquet - 22 News and Views of the Woods - - 26 Fire Loss in 1912 Is $23,346.51 WITH a mantle of snow falling upon the forests and the danger season practically ended, Minnesota has cause to remember this Thanksgiving that fire — the "Red Dragon of the Woods," has levied little toll from timber. The vigil of the rangers and patrolmen and the asisstance lent by settlers, cut to a degree the loss too frequently sustained. From January 1, 1912 to October 31, a total of 334 fires occurred in the woods, entailing a damage estimated at $23,346.51. Seventeen thousand, four hundred and seventy- nine acres of land were burned over — a comparatively small area when the extent of the vast region of almost uninhabited timberland, is taken into consideration. With a. record of 405,748 acres burned in 1908, a total of 45,690 acres burned in 1909 and 1,051,333 burned in 1910, the 1912 record of 17,479 acres appears small. The Minnesota forest service as at present constituted, was not organized till 1911, and it was in June of that year the rangers went into the field. Con- sequently, the record of fires in the spring of 1911, is in- complete. Statistics available after June 22, show that during fhe remaining period of the year, there were 144 fires, which caused losses aggregating $18,615. Were the entire loss of the year included in the reports, the amount probably would be far in excess of the loss during the year just closing. Railroads Started Nearly One-third of the Fires Reported. The greatest danger, as statistics show, is the railroad locomotive. Of the 334 fires during 1912, 100 were started by railroads. Brush burning is the second most perilous. Following is a table showing the causes of fires reported to the forest service: Railroad 148 Burning brush 67 Hunters and campers 27 River drivers 2 Unknown 69 Smokers 6 Indians 2 Tramps 1 Lightning 1 Miscellaneous (such as dynamite, traction engine, etc.) 11 Total 334 Curiously, it may be deduced from this table, that the tramp is as dangerous to the woods as lightning and that Indians are worse than either. Three Big Fires During the Dry Season of May and June. Only three fires or series of fires of any consequence, oc- curred during 1912. The worst of these was in Koochiching county where timber, cedar posts and poles on 100 acres were burned, entailing a loss estimated at $2,500. This was in May, and the cause of the fire is unknown. The second big fire also was in Koochiching county, on June 23. This fire, or series of fires was in the vicinity of Margie, where 290 acres were burned over, and one week of hard fighting was necessary to extinguish the conflagration. The loss was esti- mated at $2,301. The third fire occurred in the same section of the state, June 27, burning over 80 acres of cut-over land and into private timbered land. The cause of none of these three fires was ever learned. The latter part of June and first of July, 1912, found the forests in grave danger because of an extended dry season which left inflammable material in abundance. That there were not great losses is due to an unusually close guard kept by the rangers and their crews. Some were practically at SLASH DISPOSAL AS IT SHOULD BE the point of exhaustion when rains came to relieve the strain. Volunteer fire brigades organized among settlers and inhab- itants of villages in the timber zone, helped in the watch. In Ten Years, Forest Fires Cost Minnesota Nearly $4,000,000. During the past ten years, forest fires have cost Minnesota $3,968,418.51, according to statistics compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture, supplemented by those from the state forestry bureau. The fires burned over 1,682,669 acres. One great loss was recorded in 1908, when 405,748 acres were swept by fire, entailing a loss of $2,003,633. Again in 1910, the "Red Dragon" exacted toll of $1,721,752, levied from 1,051,333 acres. The forest area of Minnesota is more than 300 miles wide along the northern boundary and extends 364 miles north and south. There are approximately 75,000,000,000 feet of mer- chantable timber standing in the woods. This has a stumpage value of at least $4 a thousand. Estimating the wages and transportation value of this product, the mature timber now standing in this state has a value to the people of Minnesota equivalent to $975,000,000. This does not take into consider- ation the land upon which the timber grows. It is to help protect and preserve this great asset — an asset* worth nearly a billion dollars, that the forest service is asking for an appropriation of $150,000 a year. People are begin- ning to realize more fully the value of the timber grown and to know that it must be preserved if the state is to have her due. Ready For a Rousing Meeting ARRANGEMENTS are completed for the meeting of the Minnesota State Forestry Association, to be held in the assembly hall on the ground floor of the court house in Minneapolis, at 1:30 o'clock, the afternoon of December 4. Starting with a discussion of "The Windbreak and the Or- chard," the program will cover a range of topics relative to forests, winds and big game and end with a lantern lecture on "Forests and Forest Industries." There is not one address on the program which should be lacking in matters of interest. The Forestry Association expects to review some accom- plishments in its history and fortify itself for some splendid work in the future. The Forestry Association! Why is an association? Did you ever think of that? Did you ever no- tice that every association that you can think of has an object around which it revolves and toward which it pushes its way as opportunity offers? And lastly, do you realize the object of the State Forestry Association? Every new movement, if it is going to succeed, must have backing, good, intelligent backing. At the start this backing is usually in the form of very zealous but widely scattered enthusiasts, each working with remarkable energy, but often at cross purposes with the other supporters through lack of. organization. No matter how capable the individuals may be, they accomplish very little. Concentration of effort is necessary and that concentration is obtained by the formation of an association. How the Association Was Organized and From Whom. The State Forestry Association was organized in just that way. At first a few individuals realized the importance of our forest resources, realized that our enormously rich for- ests, which were supporting the second largest industry in by thoughtless neglect, when their value could be maintained and greatly increased by proper handling. These pioneers in thought soon realized that they were ahead of their times. The mass of the people had not con- ceived these ideas and had never heard of the European sys- tem of forestry. A campaign of education was necessary. And such a campaign could be successfully pushed only through an organization. Thus it was and with this object of education in view that the State Forestry Association was formed. Since its organ- ization some twenty-five years ago tremendous strides have been made toward the preservation and more intensive use of our forest resources. The last and most important step was the passage of a law by the last Legislature creating a State Forest Service to protect and develop our forests. This was one of the best laws that has been passed in any state in the Union. It established a state department which will some day control a system of state forests which will produce for the state millions of dollars of revenue from otherwise worthless lands. The proper handling of that department means more to the state than the conduct of any other state department now in existence. Laws Must be Drafted to Aid the Service if it Succeeds. But the work is only begun. The actions of the service are hindered and restricted by obsolete laws which must be re- pealed and by lack of progressive up-to-date laws which must be passed. Ignorance is the only thing in the way of these legislative measures. The enlightenment of this- ignorance is where the work of the association comes in. Every member of the association should be a center of light and make it his business to spread a knowledge of the needs of the service. The association has accomplished great things in the past and will accomplish more in the future. Yon can't afford to be out of it. Get busy! On December 4, 1912, at 1:30 in the Minneapolis court house, we shall hold our annual meeting. Every phase of the work will be presented and there is something there of special interest to everyone. Come and get some ammuni- tion for the campaign. The Minnesota State Horticultural Society will be in session December 3-6 and the meeting of the Forestry Association will be attended by its members. Following is the program: 1:30 o'clock. A half hour "Question and Answer Exercise" on "The Windbreak and the Orchard," led by E. G. Cheyney, Professor of Forestry, State University. 2:00 o'clock. President Cashman in the Chair. "The Establishment of Orchards on the Principle of Natural Selection to Obtain Inherent Qualities in the Propagation of Trees." Geo. T. Powell, President Agricultural Expert Asso- ciation, Ghent, N. Y. ; 30 minutes. Ask questions of the speaker. 2:30 o'clock. Minnesota State Forestry Association. Vice President Prof. T. L. Haecker in the Chair. President's Greeting: Prof. T. L. Haecker, State Agricultural College, St. Paul. 1. "The Origin of the Hot Winds and How to Prevent Them," J. W. Maher, Devil's Lake, N. D. 2. "The Forest Home," Mrs. Gilman, Minneapolis. 3. "The Hardwood Forests of Southern Minnesota," P. C. Records, Ranger, State Forest Service. 4. "The Forests and the Big Game," W. T. Cox, State For- ester, St. Paul. 5. "The Need for State Forests," Mrs. C. J. Backus, St. Paul. 6. "The Work of the Forest Ranger," Wm. Kilby, Ranger, State Forest Service. 7. "Why Minnesota Forests Should Not be Reduced," G. E. Marshall, Supervisor, Minnesota Natural Forests. 8. "Our Second Industry and its Future," Z. D. Scott, President State Forestry Board. 4:15 o'clock. The afternoon program to conclude with a lantern lecture on the subject of "Forests and Forest Industries," by Prof. E. G. Cheyney. 10 1 Need $150,000 for the Service fa THE annual appropriation of $75,000 for the Minnesota forest service must be increased to $150,000 if timber worth $1,000,000,000 is conserved to the state. This is apparent to those who have made any study of the situation and know the needs existing. The forests of Minnesota con- stitute one of the state's greatest resources — one that is in- creasing in value and which will mean employment for armies of men for years to come. Good Fortune Came to Minnesota During Seasons of 1911 and 1912. An admirable organization has been worked out oy the state forester, for protecting the timber, but necessarily it is in skeleton form. If it is to be perfected, an appropriation at least double the present amount, must be made by the Leg- islature. Good fortune dealt kindly with the state during the past two years in limiting the dangerous dry seasons to short periods. But even at this, the forest force was worked to the limit to prevent devastating conflagrations. Had the seasons of 1911 and 1912 been very dry, the forest force would not have been large enough to patrol all the vast forest area or to have protected the cabins and lives of settlers within. Patrolmen to look after slash disposal — one of the greatest menaces of forests — are absolutely essential. Trained men must be employed. As it is now, the appropriation is so small that they can be employed only during the danger season, and must be discharged as soon as it is past, because of the lack of funds to keep them. Still, a danger season can come most any season of the year, when experienced patrolmen are not available. Knowing that they can depend on em- 11 ployment only temporarily, they cannot be relied upon to remain in touch with the service. The importance of their work calls for a continuous force throughout the year and it is only by employing them throughout all the year that the right kind of men can be retained. Trails and telephone systems must be constructed; more definite data concerning the timber resources must be compiled and the entire forest protective system perfected. Fully $150,000 will be needed if Minnesota is to get her just due from the woods. The initial appropriation of $75,000 a year for the first two years, was probably ample, but the time for perfecting has arrived. Prevention of Forest Fires Only a Preliminary Step in Development. The ordinary popular idea of forestry has been largely con- fined to that phase of the science which has to do with the prevention and control of forest fires. This undoubtedly is an important and serious consideration. Where fires are allowed to run it is impossible for young forests to spring up or plan- tations to develop. Fire protection has been, therefore, the primary duty of the new service the past two years. The prevailing idea that the task of the forest service will be achieved when it has done away with the fire danger is erroneous. This protection is rather a precautoinary measure which must be taken first to assure the continued existence of our remaining timber for proper usage, and to permit of replacing that which is already gone. It wlil always be nec- essary to guard against the recurrence of fires. An advance step, which accompanies the first, is to ascertain and classify the location and extent of such land as will be more profitably devoted to the perpetual growing of timber than of other crops. There are great areas of this nature, of at present indefinite extent, in Minnesota. One problem to be adopted is reforesting such areas as have been cut or burned, and upon which natural reforestation is not taking place. These are limited as compared with the enormous areas on which young tree growth is coming of its own accord. 12 Proper Utilization of Forests, Present and Future, a Problem to be Solved. Furthermore, it is the duty of the forest service to urge and bring about a more conservative utilization of our forests, present and future, in their diversified applications. This relates not only to the scientific cutting of standing timber, which is in itself an end. It has to do also with the best use of the products and by-products of the timber after it has been logged and removed from the forest. Profitable utiliza- tion of that immense proportion of the standing tree which has formerly been absolutely wasted in the process of manu- facturing the finished article of commerce is a vital question demanding the immediate attention of every trained forester and of every thinking, practical manufacturer of forest products. These are some of the broader features of the task of the Minnesota Forest Service. In dealing with them, the service will be forced to consider a multitude of details, each in itself a separate problem. The future success of the forest service in rehabilitating and conserving the forests depends in no small degree upon its present success in securing to them fire protection. While perfecting the latter, which is pre- cautionary, it will be possible to lay foundations upon which to base other operations, made practical by the removal of the probability of forest fires. 13 Opportunities in the Forests WHILE so many men are madly racing about this broad domain seeking opportunity to invest a few thousand dollars and get back just a few thousand more, why doesn't some Patriot call a meeting, get the entire crowd together and deliver a speech something like this: "Gentlemen, please gather close about me on the plush chairs and listen. What's the use of your galloping all over America hunting a place to plant that money where it will grow, when there's a rich, untouched field in Minnesota that's yelling out loud all about its aloneness? Don't you know there are certain lines of industries here which someone, sooner or later, will recognize and" invite right up to his house to dinner and adopt into his family?" After the chorus "What-are-theys" has subsided, the Patriot should continue: Wonderful Opportunity in Minnesota for Manufacturing Poplar Products. "Do you know that practically all of the excelsior used in. this state is imported from the East? Do you know that excelsior is made almost exclusively from poplar? And do you know that hundreds of thousands of feet of poplar goes to waste in Minnesota each year and the plants making ex- celsior in other states are becoming hard pressed for raw material? Do you know that poplar found in Northern Min- nesota is being used for interior finishing, for ceiling and even for flooring? Do you know that nowhere in the United States are there such magnificent forests of poplar as are found along the streams draining into Rainy river, all the way from Northern Cook county to the Lake of the Woods? "Think this over gentlemen. Try it out on your financial secretary and see if he doesn't advise you to investigate." 15 Not only would such a speech be true, but it might be added that there are dozens of other uses to which poplar might be put, such as making staves and headings for barrels and manufacturing other containers of a like kind. It has been the custom of many lumber companies to leave the poplar, birch and balsam go to waste while the more valuable timber is cut away. Factories to Utilize the Birch Now Going to Waste, Are Needed. The amount of birch untouched in Minnesota is appalling. No wood is so good as birch for the manufacture of spools, rollers, clothes pins, tooth picks, toys, woodenware and kin- dred articles. Manufacturers in the East are paying big prices for a poor grade of birch and transporting it many miles from the woods of Maine and New Hampshire. And yet, here in Minnesota, are vast qaimtities of the finest birch that ever grew in America, standing idle and even going to decay in the forests for want of manufacturies. Some day, of course, this birch will be as much in demand as the birch of New England and command a still greater price. Some day some manufacturer will come in and "discover" it and it will be used. Last Chance in America for Establishment of Paper-making Mills. No place in America offers the inducements for establish- ment of paper mills where poplar and spruce may be used, that Minnesota offers. In Maine and New Hampshire, just as much is paid for poplar for pulp, as is paid for spruce. One important article of daily life is wood-pulp for paper. It first came into prominence for general use in the middle Seventies. Soon it was found that wood-pulp, especially that from spruce and other softwoods, was the cheapest satisfac- tory material from which newspaper could be made. With the use of wood-pulp in this connection, the cost to the reader of his newspaper became less, and he received more reading in matter. Where formerly newspapers were only afforded to any extent by the more well-to-do, they became a daily neces- sity of the poorest. This cheapness, and the common desire of rich and poor to be acquainted with the events of the day, increased the demand for newspapers. This resulted in a terrific invasion of the spruce forests for pulp. They rapidly diminished. This invasion sweeping westward with the de- crease in available spruce has entered Minnesota in late years. With the decrease in cheaply available spruce as raw news material has come a search for new woods for the purpose. None has been found so. satisfactory and cheap. Consequently, the price of the newspaper to the reader has been going up. Minnesota is one of the last strongholds of the best spruce for pulp in the United States. It is going, even here. Already much Minnesota capital is being invested in Canadian spruce lands, which, in itself, hurts Minnesota. When the time comes that our spruce forests are exhausted — and it will come if they are not protected from fire — every newspaper reader will have to pay more for his daily or weekly sheet. However, there is still great opportunity here for the paper manufacturing industry and vast fields of spruce and poplar are awaiting its coming. HUNTERS ARE SEEKING THE DEER AND MOOSE LOGGING OPERATIONS IN WHITE PINE 1 State Nursery For Forest Trees & A state nursery to grow forest stock — pine, spruce, larch, elm, cottonwood and kindred seedlings, to be used by farmers in bringing up woodlots and starting small plan- tations, has been suggested to members of the Minnesota forestry board. The fruit grower can go to nurseries and buy young fruit trees and berry bushes but there is no place where the trees found in the big woods and which are almost in- valuable for shelter belts and woodlots can be purchased in quantity. What a Wind-break or Shelter Belt Means to the Average Field. Not many persons realize the value of a wind-break of trees about a field. Not many know that such a wind-break as may be grown within a very few years, will reduce evaporation to a very appreciable extent and Will prevent, in a measure, the spread of noxious weeds. Not many know what a woodlot is worth in dollars and cents to the man on the farm who has to buy fuel for the winter and who periodically needs fence posts and poles. Not many know the extent to which birds, attracted by trees in shelter belts and woodlots, keep down the injurious insects that feed on crops. Since 1888, Minnesota has been paying a bounty for the encouragement of tree planting. Twenty thousand dollars has been appropriated annually to be disbursed at the rate of $2.50 an acre for six years to those who planted trees on the prairies. Since the enactment of the first bill, a total of $600,000 has been thus expended. Nursery to Grow Forest Trees From Seedlings is Suggested. It is now proposed, in order to further induce farmers to start woodlots and shelter belts, to supply them seedlings at practically cost. The suggestion made to the forestry board 19 is that a tract of land, having between 20 and 40 acres, be set aside, where white pine, Norway and jack pine, white and Norway spruce, European larch, elm, hackberry, maple, box elder, cottonwood and ash may be raised from seeds for dis- tribution at a nominal cost. The pine trees grown from these seedlings, will have a merchantable value within 30 or 35 years, while a majority of the others will reach such a stage in about 20 years or less. While they are growing, however, they will become shelter belts and be of immense value to the farms on which they grow. Such seedlings would be ready to move within one to three years from the time they are planted. There are provinces in Canada now where such nurseries have been established, and such Eastern states as New York, New Hampshire and Vermont have tried them with success. State Forester Places Approval on Woodlots and Shelter Belts. Commenting on the value of woodlots and shelter belts in Minnesota, the state forester says in his last annual report: "Aside from what tree planting has been done on the prairie with the encouragement of the bounty, a great deal more has been done without that incentive. The benefit of a good sized woodlot on a prairie farm cannot be calculated in dollars. If so situated as to break the force of the wind from the farm buildings, stock may be turned into the barnyard on days when storms, if unbroken by a grove, would not permit. Snow meits more slowly under timber than on the open ground, and the slow drainage from a woodlot will often be of advantage to adjoining fields in dry springs. When the planted trees •are mature, a portion of a woodlot may be used to give shade to stock. It is advisable, however, to separate the woodlot proper from the pasture-shade-tree proposition. Should a man wish to sell prairie farm land the presence of a woodlot in good condition will increase the acreage value of the whole farm. The principal and most direct benefit to a prairie farm comes from having a supply of fuel, fence posts and other material at hand for home consumption, and even for sale." 20 HARDWOODS THAT REMAIN AFTER PINE HAS BEEN CUT Ranger Meeting at Cloquet THE annual meeting of district forest rangers, held at Cloquet, November 1st and 2d, was an interesting event. The fourteen district rangers were present, in addi- tion to a number of other forest officers, including the state forester and assistant state forester. The sawmill city of Cloquet is a fitting place in which to hold a meeting of foresters. Although Cloquet has a popu- lation of only 7,000, it is the greatest timber manufacturing city in the United States. Last year, between 260 and 270 million feet of lumber and other wood products were manu- factured there. The city has five large sawmills, a paper mill, a box factory, and a large tie and post yard. Situated on the St. Louis river twenty-five miles west of Duluth, it .is ideally located for a lumber town. Logs, pulp-wood and cedar products are driven down the St. Louis river and its tribu- taries— the Cloquet, Whiteface, Paleface, Water Hen, Flood- wood, East Swan and Partridge rivers. There is an enormous timber-producing region on the headwaters of these streams, and because of the character of the country a great deal of this area will always be producing timber. On a Trip to the Cloquet Forest Experiment Station. On the second day of the meeting, some of the citizens of Cloquet took the foresters on an automobile excursion through the Cloquet forest experiment station, three miles west of town. This is a tract of 2,700 acres, upon which the state is conducting experiments in forestry, just as it is conducting agricultural experiments at the agricultural experiment sta- tions. The work of the Minnesota Forest Service for the past sea- son was gone over in detail by the rangers. There were dis- cussions of improvement work, trails, lookout towers, canoe 22 routes, state telephone lines, and similar subjects. Improve- ments and economies were suggested regarding the handling of the slash problem and methods of fire prevention. The subject of personnel received a good deal of attention. There is a general impression among the rangers that the high grade force of patrolmen cannot be retained indefinitely unless their pay is somewhat increased and the period of employment during the year lengthened. As it is now, the patrolmen are . staying with the work very largely because they like it and believe in its future. Resolutions Relative to Slash Disposal Adopted by Rangers. It is felt that in general, the work of the service is pro- gressing very well. The big tasks confronting it are: fire prevention during the dry seasons of spring and fall, super- vision of slash disposal work by the loggers during the win- ter, and seeing to it that rights-of-way are maintained in safe condition along railroads and other highways. The views of the rangers on slash disposal and railroad fire prevention work were expressed as follows: "Whereas, the experience of the past two logging seasons has demonstrated that loggers have in some cases incurred unnecessary expense in disposing of slash; and, "Whereas, in other instances, the fire risk was not reduced as much as it should have been with the amount of money spent; and, "Whereas, it is believed much of this difficulty arises be- cause the supervision of and responsibility for brush disposal rests with several men for each company; and, "Whereas, brush disposal is a peculiarly difficult problem because of the great variety of conditions, each of which requires a different method of handling; and, "Whereas, the superintendents and foremen are already charged with so many duties that they cannot be expected to make themselves familiar with and give the necessary super- vision to brush disposal work to make it both effective and economical; therefore, " 28 "BE IT RESOLVED, That it is the unanimous opinion of the district rangei s that the lumber companies can dispose of their slash, more cheaply and in a manner more satisfac- tory to themselves and the state, by assigning supervision of this work as the chief duty of one of their most capable men." Opportunity for Railroad Companies to Handle Work More Efficiently. It developed also from a review of the railroad fire protec- tion work that a great deal of attention is being given to this subject by the different companies, but here too there is a big opportunity for handling the work more economically and efficiently. The railroads have a definite pioblem in reducing their fire risk and, while they have made some progress in improving their spark-arresting devices and the conditions along their rights-of-way, it is evident that rapid progress can be made and fires eliminated along the railroads only when the problem has been assigned to some one officer for each company, whose sole responsibility this is, and who will have authority to act for the company and have sufficient funds at his disposal. 24 s News and Views of the Woods 33 The Chippewa Indians on the Couderay Indian reservation in \Visconsin, have started gathering Princess pine, which they dispose of to the local merchants all along the reserva- tion line. The merchants ship the pine in carloads to the large cities, where it is used for Christmas trimmings. Sev- eral hundred Indians will be busy until the snow falls, gath- ering these greens, and disposing of them rapidly at a good price, and it is quite a source of income for them. Forest fires in the United States have caused an annual loss of seventy lives, destruction of trees worth $25,000,000, and the loss of stock, crops, buildings and other improvements to the amount of many millions more, according to a report of the forestry bureau issued by Secretary Wilson. To this immense loss, it stated, must be added the enor- mous destruction of young tree growth, deterioration of soil, damage to water courses and adjacent property by low water and flood, interruption of business and depreciation of prop- erty. There are 1,401,340,743 tons of developed, measured, mer- chantable iron ore remaining in the ground of Minnesota which will be assessed for state taxation purposes at $254,- 553,179 this year, according to the equalization of mining prop- erties just completed by the Minnesota state tax commission. This figure is reached after deducting the 1911 shipments amounting to 23,221,070 tons and the stockpiles of May 1, 1912, amounting to 8,170,537 tons, which was assessable as per- sonal property. In 1911, a total assessment of $232,368,469 was made on 1,367,474,853 tons. The tonnage for 1912 is accordingly in- creased 33,865,890 tons and the assessment is increased $22,184,710. Preparations are being made to log the timber west of Tower, owned by the American Lumber company of Chicago. Mr. Barnes of Bemidji is in charge of the work. The timber will be landed at the west shore of Pike Bay and will be manufactured into lumber at the Cook & Ketchum mill. The area of Minnesota is 84,266 square miles or 53,943,378 acres, of which 50,425,269 acres are land and 3,508,119 acres are water. There are 155,759 developed farms consisting of 19,609,000 acres. There are over 30,000,000 acres of land that yet remain in primitive state, and of this amount experts estimate that 90 per cent or 27,000,000 acres are susceptible of cultivation. That means that there yet remains 165,000 160-acre farms, capable of producing everything that is grown in a Northern temperate clime, and situated amid all the accessories of modern civilization, that can be obtained at a reasonable price and on the most favorable terms, that are awaiting occupa- tion, development and settlement. Four large sawmills were closed at Cloquet, October 29, as a result of a log shortage. The annual freeze-up was not expected before the first week in November, but low water in the St. Louis river and a strong head wind has made it impossible to supply the mills with logs. The upper mill of the Northern Lumber company and the Johnson-Wentworth •mill will run this winter, and with extensive logging opera.- tions in evidence, Cloquet is looking forward to a prosperous winter. Partially dressed lumber, that is, where it is planed on one side, will again be admitted to Canada free of duty, according to a decision of the supreme court at Washington. During the administration of Premier Laurier this class of lumber was classed as "rough" and no duty was imposed when brought into Canada from the United States. When the present administration came into power, a tax of $77 a car was imposed. An appeal was made to the courts, and a decision has just been rendered. 27 Ground has been broken at Baudette for the new sawmill of the Engler Lumber company. It will be bigger and more modern than the one destroyed in the fire of several weeks ago, and it is said that it will be about the size of the Shevlin- Mathieu mill. The contractor who built the Spooner mill has also the con- tract for the Engler mill. The officials of the company state that everything will be ready for operation when navigation opens in the spring. Deputy Came Warden J. H. Jones at Fergus Falls received word from Ashby that the fishermen who seined Pelican lake made a record-breaking haul, bringing in 20,000 pounds of buffalo fish in one catch. Some of the fish were of enormous size. Two of the largest weighed fifty-eight pounds each. They weie about thirty-three inches long. The Mohr-Stotzer Lumber company has acquired about 50,000,000 feet of standing timber on 6,000 acres lying twenty miles east of Phillips, paitly in Price and Oneida counties, Wisconsin. The timber is pine, hemlock and hardwood mixed. It is not far west of the Valley division of the Milwaukee road and can be reached by building about ten miles of spur hack. This will mean a new sawmill for Pi ice county and the people there are much pleased. Preparations for logging operations in the vicinity of Ash- land are getting under way. The John Stearns Lumber com- pany will employ 1,000 men on the Odanah res;rvaticn this winter and will log- 60,000,000 feet. The Schroeder Linrber company will log about 20,000,000 feet north of Saxon and will log and bank about 5,000,000 I'eet in the mountain region near Lone Rock en the shore of Lake Superior, in Northern Michigan. Bush & McRea will log and bank about 4,000,000 feet of logs in the Porcupine Mountain district near the Little Carp river. Olson Bros. & Peterson of Ironwooct, have taken the contract for doing the work. Messrs. Bush & McR-ae w'.ll also log is about 1,500,000 feet of timber near Bruce's Crossing, the same having been sold to the Holt Lumber company of Oconto. At the meeting of the International Waterways commission in Washington during November, consideration will be given the case involving the levels of the Lake of the Woods. This probably will be the first question decided by the commis- sion. Instructions have been given Adolph F. Meyer of St. Paul and Arthur V. White of Toronto, the engineers who are mak- ing an inquiry at the Lake of the Woods, to file a complete report by date of the meeting, if possible. The problem of the Lake of the Woods affects the naviga- tion interests, the fishing industry and settlers on the south shore of the lake. The navigation interests want higher levels. Protests have been made by fishermen on the ground that higher levels would hurt their industry, while the set- tlers on the south shore charge that any rise in the water would result in submerging their homesteads. Action by the commission in this case will not be final. Whatever conclusion is reached will be subject to the approval or disapproval of the two governments. The highest price ever paid for Minnesota timber was recorded October 25, when State Auditor Iverson sold to Saarri Brothers of Eveleth 1,000,000 feet of standing pine at a price of $15.75 per thousand. The highest price received two years ago was $15.35 per thousand. The annual sale of state timber took place in the senate chamber at the state Capitol and was well attended. In all 35,000,000 feet of pine was offered and 15,000,000 feet of mixed timber. About two-thirds of the amount was disposed of by Mr. Iverson. In a majority of the tracts offered a substantial increase over the appraised figure was received. The section taken by Saarri Brothers included, in addition to the standing pine, 100,000 feet of spruce, 500,000 of tama- rack and 10,000 of balsam. The appraisal figure for the tract as fixed by the state was $9 for the pine, $4 for the tamarack and $2 for the balsam. The sale made, which was Xf, per cent above the appraisal figures, was $15.75 for the 29 pine, $9.28 for the spruce, $7 for the tamarack and §3.50 for the balsam. Practically all the timber offered in Cook county was taken by the Pigeon River Lumber Co. It was bought in the ma- jority of cases at the appraised figure. The Alger-Smith com- pany took up most of the land offered in Lake county, paying from 15 to 50 per cent over the appraisal. Spirited bidding only took place in the case of tracts where the amount of standing timber was in excess of half a million feet. The small tracts were taken by companies operating in their vicinity and at prices very little in excess of the appraisal. Another noticeable feature of the gathering was the absence of the old-time lumbermen and the heads of those concerns which have made the lumbering industry in Minnesota famous. This year most all of the big companies were represented by clerks and cruisers. The average price paid for pine was $10 per thousand and Mr. Iverson regarded this as extremely good. Frank H. Gillmer, superintendent of logging operations for the Virginia & Rainy Lage company at Cusson, in an inter- view at Virginia, Minn., said that much will be done during this winter, more than any season in recent years. Mr. Gillmor says that any one who thinks the timber is about exhausted in the North woods is in error as at the rate it has been cut in recent years there is available timber for fifteen or twenty years and possibly longer. A Legend THERE is a lake in the state of Minnesota called Leech lake of whose origin the Indians tell a legendary tale. It was during the fighting between the soldiers of the United States army and the Indians of the Chippewa tribe of Minnesota that this story was first heard by white men. Many years ago, when the world was still in its infancy, there lived an Indian woman with her only daughter. They lived all alone, and no man or woman lived near them ; the beasts of the forest, the birds of the air, and the fishes of the waters were the only living things about them. One day the girl disappeared and was nowhere to be found. The spirit of evil stole her from her mother and carried her away to his stone wigwam. For many a day she dwelt there and had everything that human being could wish. One fine morning, while the evil spirit was out hunting, a knock was heard at the door of the wigwam. "Who is it?" asked the girl, much surprised and bewildered, for no one had ever* come to this sequestered region. "I am the spirit of good and have come here at the bidding of the god Hiawatha," answered a voice from wtihout. "Please let me enter that I may give you a stone wherewith you may free yourself from the clutches of the evil one." Then the girl obeyed, opened the door, and received the stone from the good spirit. With this stone she was told to strike a certain spot in the walls of the wigwam. When she did that, lo and behold, waters began to gush forth and flow and the entire valley wherein the wigwam was situated was soon all covered over. This body of water is now called Leech lake. As for the evil spirit he was caught in his own trap. There in the stony wigwam at the bottom of the lake he lives imprisoned, and there he may be heard moaning on windy days to this very day. — St. Paul Dispatch. 32 "ForesT: Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. FEBRUARY, 1913 Number 2 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly. Annual Subscription, (Including Membership in The Minnesota Forestry Associa- tion) One Dollar, Single Copies Ten Cents. A 11 subscriptions should be made payable to E. G. Cheyney, Secretary, care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. A. L. WOOLDRIDGE, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS Passing of the Lumberjacks 4 Forestry Bills Now Pending - . 6 Living In Cities of Birds - 9 A Justice Court by a Box Car - 1 5 Fur Trappers Having Success - 20 Grabbed the American Timber - - 24 News and Views of the Woods - - - 27 The End of a Chapter With this- issue of The North Woods, Mr. A. L. Wool- dridge, the editor, retires to enter the government Con- sular Service. He goes, feeling that he leaves a great work to be done — the proper education of the public to realization of what the vast, yet rapidly diminishing timber areas of the Northwest, mean to the people. Minnesota has standing forests worth a billion dollars to her citizens. She has vast areas of timber lands which must be reforested and which will be reforested when the possibilities are understood. The timber re- sources must be developed, factories must be built, the land available for agriculture be turned by the plow- share and yet all this must be 'done in a way that will not deprive the coming generations of their rightful heritage. The North Woods, as best it could, has been preach- ing the gospel of "Conservation" and under new leader- ship will continue to preach such gospel. If it has ac- complished even in a small measure, some of the ob- jects for which it was intended — if it has succeeded in making one man or a hundred men take more interest in the protection and upbuilding of the state's second greatest resource, it will be felt that the work done was not in vain. The task, however, has only started and the most yet remains to be accomplished. Let it be hoped that it will be accomplished and in right man- ner for the good of all.— THE EDITOR. s Passing of the Lumberjack $ SCARCITY of lumberjacks for work in the forests is seri- ously affecting the season's cut of logs and there is indication that a shortage at the mills is likely to ensue. From all sections in the timbered area of Northern Minne- sota, the plea for men is going forth. It is estimated that fully 5,000 and possibly 7,000 woodsmen could find employ- ment at the camps right now, at wages ranging from $35 to $40 a month — the highest ever paid. Absence of the lumberjacks has caused speculation as to why they have quit the woods, and three plausible reasons are assigned. Primarily, it is believed that the general ac- tivity of the nation — the demand for workmen, has caused many of the old-timers to turn to civilization where they find work at wages ranging from $2 to $3 a day, the year round, whereas, in the lumber camps and logging camps, they find work only part of the year. Secondarily, the war in the Bal- kans has caused hundreds to cross the waters to their native lands. Third, many have migrated to the great forests of Canada where they believe their work will longer be in de- mand. Lure of the Woods Does Not Appeal to Men of This Generation. All of which brings the question: "Is the lumberjack doomed to pass from the woods, as the cowboy has passed from the plains?" Unquestionably, their number has been growing smaller year by year. The lure of the woods seems not to have appealed to the later generation as it appealed to the hardy men who cut into the virgin forests of the great Northwest. The general peacefulness of the forests does not seem so enticing to men of this generation as does the glitter of lights and din of the city. From reports being made by lumbermen, many of the mills will be able to run only part time this coming summer. Writ- ing to the state forest service, Willis J. Walker of the Red River Lumber Company, said on February 5: "We need from fifty to sixty million logs for winter supply and up to last Saturday night we had thirteen million banked and cannot get them hauled any faster, as our camps all need men. I received a message from our Mr. Pray this morn- ing, stating that we were 125 men short in our small camps and Robinson & Dick have in only eight million out of a total cut of twenty-five that we expect. Mr. Robinson has just been here and tells me that he cannot get Iqgs any faster for lack of sawyers, which means that* next summer we will have only a portion of the summer's run. "We have had a standing offer at the Minneapolis employ- ment office for 150 men, for ten days and 'secured thirteen, although we are offering $35 for common labor and fare one way. We have today authorized the agency to pay up to $40 for sawyers if we can get them, which is the highest wages I have ever known men to get. * * * I think these same conditions will apply to the other loggers through the state as I know the cut at the present time is very short every- where." Need 3,COO Men in the Vicinity of Bemidji Alone. A special dispatch to the Duluth Herald about the same date, said: "While there is a big shortage of labor in all the lumber camps of Northern Minnesota, the situation is most acute at Bemidji. John Moberg, railroad and logging contractor, has been in Duluth for two days trying to obtain men without success and left last night for the Twin Cities, where he will offer $35 and $40 a month for men, with free board, and railroad fares advanced to his camps in Beltrami county. "Mr. Moberg said that the logging interests centered at Bemidji are in need of 3,000 men. Two weeks ago Mr. Mo- berg spent several days in Minneapolis and St. Paul and was able to obtain only forty men. "Mr. Moberg looks forward to a very busy year for rail- road contractors in the Northwest. He built the Soo line through Bemidji and for several miles on either side and recently completed forty miles for the Soo in North Dakota." 5 Forestry Bills Now Pending THE Legislature is considering some of the most impor- portant forestry measures — measures that affect in a material way the future development of the state's sec- ond greatest resource — that have come before Minnesota's legislative body in years. The skeleton work of an alert, thorough, systematized forest protective force has been per- fected, a plan for development outlined, and if the lawmakers realize the possibilities ahead, Minnesota will assume and maintain a lead in the nation's great battle to protect and preserve the great forests which have been threatened with destruction. To Double the Annual Appropriation for the State Forest Service. The bill increasing the annual appropriation for the next two years from $75,000 to $150,000 a year, is in, and is being favorably considered. This probably, is the most important bill in so far as forestry is . concerned, as it provides a way whereby the departmental plans may be carried into execu- tion. It will provide means for maintaining a patrol force the year round and the subsequent broadening out of the protect- ive and development scheme. Of secondary importance yet of vital interest to the future propagation of forests, is a bill for a constitutional amend- ment to be voted on in 1914, providing for setting aside cer- tain lands for tree-growing — lands not suited to agriculture. The ame'ndment, as drawn, says: "Such of the school and other public lands of the state as are better adapted to the production of tim- ber than for agriculture, may be set apart as state school forests or other state forests, as the Legisla- ture may provide, and the Legislature may provide for the management of the same on forestry princi- ples. The net revenue therefrom shall be used for the purposes for which the lands were granted to the state." Bill Appropriating Money to Take Over Non-agricultural Land Also in. Appropriation of $100,000 with which to purchase any land adapted to forestry and not suitable for agriculture, is pro- vided in a bill introduced by Senator Gunn. The measure gives the forestry board authority to purchase at a price not to exceed $2 an acre, exclusive of the tree growth thereon, any of such land. Another bill appropriates $2,500 a year for the next two years, with which to construct fire lines and trails in and care for Burntside forest. During the fore part of this month, the Senate committee on forests and forest laws, reported favorably on a bill ex- tending the tree bounty paid by the state, to timber lands as well as to prairie lands, so that hereafter, if the bill is passed, $2.50 an acre may be received for reforesting lands in the timber areas. A bill for a constitutional amendment legalizing payment of such bounty, also was reported favor- ably. Expressions from many members of the Legislature indi- cate they look with favor on all these forestry measures and it is believed their passage is probable. Resolution Denouncing Proposed Transfer of National Forests to State Control. The bill pending in Congress for transferring to states the control of national forests that lie within their borders, is denounced in a resolution introduced by Representative Ben- dixon. The resolution says: "WHEREAS, Bills have been introduced in Con- gress under the terms of which the national forest reserve will be turned over to the various states; and, "WHEREAS, The national forest reserve contains more than two billion dollars worth of the people's property — property which it is essential should be maintained intact for the public good; and, "WHEREAS, The administration of the national forest reserve by the Federal Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, has been and is a credit to that department, and has been conducted in the best interest of the states in which such forest re- serves are located; and, "WHEREAS, The states are not prepared to take without the co-operation of the federal government, as good care of such enormously valuable property as this property is now receiving from the United States Forest Service; and, "WHEREAS, The use of the national forests in producing timber and regulating the flow of streams in controlling grazing and in other respects are in- terstate and far reaching; now, therefore, "BE IT RESOLVED, That the Minnesota House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, protests against the proposed action on the part of Congress, the effect of which would be to transfer control of the national forest reserves from the federal govern- ment to the individual states. This Legislature fur- ther deplores the fact that such legislation has ever been proposed at this session of Congress since the people of the United States have repeatedly signified their approval of the splendid system under which . the national forest reserves are now administered. This Legislature urges that the Minnesota delegation in Congress exercises its strongest efforts to defeat this proposed legislation. "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded by the chief clerk of the House to each of our United States Senators and to each of the members in the House of Repre- sentatives from this state." Similar resolutions, patterned along the same line as the resolution recently adopted by the state forestry board, have been drawn by California, Maine, Massachusetts, the North Carolina Forestry Association, the Conservation Commission of New York and the Southern Commercial Congress. s Living In Cities of Birds By D. Lange $ IF things ran as smoothly in human cities as they do in the bird cities I have visited, the policeman's calling would become obsolete and there would never be any scandal about graft. One of the oldest bird towns in the interior of North America is probably the historic heronry on Crane Island in Lake Minnetonka. So long have the herons nested here that even the traditions of the Sioux Indians do not go back to the time when the great blue herons did not occupy their summer town on Crane Island. It was in the spring of 1908 that the bird city of Crane Island passed into history. When, according to an immemorial custom of their race, the herons returned to Minnetonka about the first of April they found the island occupied by a stronger race. Summer cottages had been built all over the island and many of the century old meeting trees had been cut down. There was at first great commotion among the dispossessed owners. The birds sailed and flapped around the tree-tops and talked to each other in a great variety of croaks and grunts, then they settled down to a great conference of thought and meditation, and for sev- eral days stood in long stately rows on the beaches and sand bars near their island. After a few days, as if by a common impulse the whole flock of about two hundred birds moved across a channel about half a mile wide to Dunlap Island and started to build a new town. In August, 1904, a cyclone broke down a good many nest trees on Crane Island and quite a number of the herons had already moved to Dunlap Island in the spring of 1905. On this island, they will not stay very long; within a year or two, encroaching cottagers will compel them to again move their town and will perhaps drive them away from their beloved lake entirely. 0 A City With no Mayor, no Policeman and no Judge, Yet Quarrels Are Frequent. I have repeatedly visited the bird city on both islands and have even spent a whole night there. I could discover no mayor, policeman or judge. There seemed to be a good many neighborly quarrels and bickerings, but these were always peaceably settled by the parties immediately concerned. They displayed a good deal of temper, croaked and grunted, flapped their big wings and jabbed their spear-like bills at each other but after a few minutes of noisy quarreling about a desirable perch, everything settled down again to a condition of medi- tative peace and quiet neighborliness. During the hours of early morning many of the birds depart to their feeding grounds but at all hours of the day many of the birds are at home and towards evening nearly all come home. As far as is known they feed on an area of twenty-five to forty miles in all directions from their town; comparatively few are seen feeding on the shores of Minnetonka. Their food consists principally of fish and frogs. About the first of June the first young are hatched and by the middle of July all have learned to fly. If one visits the colony in August he will most likely not find a single heron on the island. What becomes of them is something of a mystery but many observations lead me to believe that they scatter and roam far and wide to any desirable feeding grounds, for I have, at this time seen a few solitary herons on lakes and marshes a hundred miles from any known heronry. At this season they no longer return but roost and sleep in trees near their feeding ground. How a Heron Stabs to Death Its Prey and Carries it Away. Once I came upon heron just as he had caught a catfish or bullhead, perhaps ten inches long. I ran quickly toward the avian fisherman intending to rob him of his catch in order to study his method of spearing catfish. He gave me a hasty glance then bestowed a few hurried stabs on the flopping fish and rose into the air with his quieted prey before I could come close enough to rob him of it. 10 Another interesting bird city, perhaps it would be better to say bird settlement, is located on a number of low, rocky islands called the Siskowit Islands, on the south shore of Isle Royale in Lake Superior. This is a settlement of the stately white and pearl-gray herring gulls. It is a comforting thought to all lovers of the wild that these islands have been set aside as a bird reserve and that these great beautiful birds will be safe in the possession of their wild island homes as long as the waves of the clear blue inland sea continue to beat on the red rocks of the Royal Island. Perhaps this set- tlement of the gulls is at least as old as, if not older, than the heronry at Minnetonka. It is quite likely that the gulls began to nest on the red rocks as soon as the receding waters of the lake uncovered the island at the close of the Glacial Pe- riod. I do not know how early in the spring the gulls arrive at Isle Royale; it is quite likely that some of them stay there all winter. The fishermen leave Isle Royale in November for Duluth and return with the first boat in April and the gulls are there when they leave and also when they return. Myself and party visited the Siskewit Island the middle of June. At that time there were many nests placed on the bare rocks and on the beaches all over the islands. Most of the nests still contained the large, brown spotted eggs. A few of the young were hatched and had begun to wander around; they could even swim and were very adept at hiding amongst the rocks. The old birds were much alarmed at our pres- ence and screamed as only gulls can scream. After a little while they became quiet and came to pick up pieces of bread which we thew out on the water. We tried to catch some by twing strings to pieces of bread but they dropped all gifts that had a string attached to them. By connecting a long tube to our camera and by sometimes attracting the birds with fish we secured several fine photographs. How the Gulls Act as a Sanitary Police on the Great Lakes. Gulls although they are good swimmers never dive for their food but take only what floats on the surface or has been thrown on land. They must have a wonderfully keen eye- sight and perhaps an acute sense of hearing. We camped in 11 the shack of a fisherman and many times when our host had cleaned his fish we threw the offal on some bare rocks. Per- haps there was not a gull in sight; after a few minutes one or two would come sailing from the distance, they would cir- cle over their find and settle down to feed. Within fifteen minutes the rock would be white with gulls, all screaming and quarrelling and greedily devouring every bit of food. The gulls act as a kind of sanitary police of the Great Lakes; they devour all kinds of garbage offal and thus prevent any fouling of the water. I have often wondered how it is that- water-birds do not seem to suffer from exposing their feet to the cold water. The waters of Lake Superior never rise much above 45 de- grees but every observer has seen gulls floating for hours on this cold water at a time, and on the still colder ice they seem just as comfortable. The fact is that the feet of aquatic birds always feel cold to the human touch, perhaps their feet have remained reptilian while their bodies have acquired a much higher temperature; even higher than that of man or mam- mals. A very recent bird city is the cormorant settlement of Cor- morant Island in Devils Lake, N. D. About thirty years ago when the lake was surveyed the island did not exist. About ten years ago after the lake had been steadily falling the island appeared as a small ridge of glacial boulders. Very soon afterwards some cormorants discovered the new island and now there are about a hundred nests on the island and in July after many of the young are grown the white rocks are often covered with five hundred coal-black birds. Cor- morants are fishermen who catch their prey by diving for it in fairly deep water. The only creatures on which they had been feeding when I visited their colony was a small stickleback and the young of an odd amphilbian, known to naturalists as mud-puppy. These seem to -be the only crea- tures that have survived since the waters of Devils Lake have become more and more alkaline. The cormorants arrive on the lake as soon as the waters are free from ice and they go South with the migrating hosts of wild ducks and geese. 12 Cormorants That Make Great Noise and Seem Ready to Attack a Man. I discovered no organization of any kind amongst the birds in either of the three colonies described. I think none of these birds would attack a man although they make a great noise and often act as if they would fight. We sent a boy up to one of the heron's nests and one of the birds acted very threatening but he never came closer to the boy than six feet which was, however, close enough to make the boy quite nervous. None of the colonies as far as I could discover had any special sentinels but as a number of birds are always at home, it is quite impossible to approach any nest without be- ing observed. The instinct or intelligence of the birds has taught them that living in colonies affords them almost per- fect protection against their natural four-footed and winged enemies. Although these large birds cannot hide their nests; they do two things for the safety of their eggs and young — they band together for common protection and they select nesting sites as nearly inaccessible as possible. This inac- cessibility some attain by nesting on very tall trees, which is the habit of herons. At Lake Itasca, I found the herons nest- ing in the tops of slim Norway pines a hundred and fifty feet high. The gulls prefer uninhabited islands. The Siskowit Islands support a growth of brush and small trees; they are not inhabited by either wolves, foxes, minks or other flesh- eating animals, so the eggs and young are safe from these common enemies of all wild life. Cormorants are exceedingly versatile in accomplishments and habits. They are excellent swimmers, divers, flyers and perchers and they nest either on tall trees or on the ground on small uninhabited islands. The Birds in Bands, Fight Off Eagles or Hawks When Threatened. Eagles or hawks might, of course, visit all of such colonies but I have never seen one of these birds even near one of the bird cities; they evidently think that a bird town would not be pleasant hunting grounds. No doubt a dozen of spear-billed 13 herons or a mob of screaming, angry gulls would make things very uncomfortable for a solitary hawk' or eagle. Such climb- ing carnivorous animals as bears, lynxes, bobcats and raccoons could climb to some of the nests but in many cases they would be afraid to trust themselves to the topmost slender branches of tall trees and they could certainly not get out of a heronry without having their eyes picked out and their hides punc- tured. 14 s A Justice Court by a Box Car - By William Kilby 1 15 THE dispensation of justice usually is associated with palatial edifices, solemn-faced judges, and an attentive, interested audience. The following is a true account of the proceedings at a justice's court in a case entitled "J. W. vs. The State of Minnesota," held in the open air. During the latter part of the month of June, 1912, the heat was almost torrid, particularly in the northern part of the state. Such intolerably hot weather accompanied by high winds, recalled very vividly the conditions that preceded the serious forest fires of 1910. There was one great difference, however, which gave the inhabitants of that part of the state a feeling of greater security; it was the presence of an organ- ized field force, whose business it was to prevent, if human agency can prevent, such catastrophes like that which devas- tated the villages of Baudette and Spooner on the fateful night of October 7, 1910. Some Persons From Sheer Cussedness Will Not Abide by Provisions of the State Laws. In all walks of life there are some people who by heredity or "sheer cussedness" find it impossible to abide by the laws of society, and therefore it is only natural that there are peo- ple who find it, or imagine they do so, impossible to abide by the provisions of the forest laws. The country along the Northern boundary, much of which was burned over during 1910, presents a serious fire menace in times of continued droughts. Despite the vigilance of the field force, columns of smoke are observed by the rangers and patrolmen from the tall lookout towers, which, like sentinels, are dotted over the coniferous part of Minnesota. Oftimes, the fires from which this smoke ascend are extinguished before the arrival of a forest officers, and sometimes the fire is extinguished after a stubborn fight by a hastily summoned crew. With the coming of night, accompanied by a lull in the wind, and a lowering of temperature, hope revives in the hearts of fire- fighters, who redouble their efforts with a corresponding measure of success. During two weeks this condition of affairs continued in 1912, the rangers and patrolmen were kept busy. Fires were 16 frequent. . Some were intentionally set and it is as much a duty of the officers of the Forest Service to punish people who disregard the state law relating to the starting of fires in dangerous seasons as it is for officers to use all available resources to protect life and property from forest fires. Pre- vious to 1910, owing to the mere skeleton force employed by the state, it was an easy matter for an offender to cover up all traces of his misdeeds, and when an officer arrived to investigate the causes of a fire, he generally was unable to obtain sufficient evidence to secure conviction and punish- ment. Many of these old-time offenders imagined during 1912 that they could cover up their misdeeds as easily as they had always done, but in a few cases they were subjected to an awakening. The following incident shows how one "J. W.," living near the boundary, came to respect the forest law and to realize that a justice court may be held with only the blue sky for a roof and a railroad bed for a flooring. Railroad Velocipede Plays Part in Little Drama Enacted in the Woods. This "J. W." was the owner of a piece of land on which a fire mysteriously occurred. About 7 o'clock one evening dur- ing that dry spell of 1912, a ranger in the State Forest Serv- ice was called to the 'phone. "There's a fire burning about three miles south of town on J. W.'s land," a patrolman said. "Can you send me eight men?" In 30 minutes, the little fire-fighting force had been im- pressed, placed aboard a freight train which was passing through town and hurried twelve miles down the road, where for three nights and two days the fire was fought before it was, by ditching, steered toward a stream where it died out. A day or so later, "J. W.," the owner of the land, was load- ing cordwood into a boxcar when the district ranger and a patrolman approached. They rode on a railroad velocipede, and stopped abruptly. "Is your name "J. W.?" the ranger asked. "Yes." "Then consider yourself under arrest." 17 When au Officer Arrives There is Little Evidence Against the Crimiiuil • The action that followed, was fast. Leaving the prisoner in charge of the patrolman, the ranger hurried away to get the justice of the peace. That dignitary was found putting a roof on a barn. For official duties, however, he invariably gave up domestic occupations and in this instance followed the ranger to the "court house" — the side of the railway track. There the official complaint was drawn up. Yoke of Oxen, a Boxcar and the Blue Sky Form Setting for a Court. With only the forest ranger, the patrolman and two sad- eyed oxen yoked to a wagon, present, "court" was held. The prisoner admitted he had set fire to some slashings and the blaze got beyond control. Here is the way the justice — new at the game — pronounced sentence: "J. W., you're fine $25 and costs for burning your slashings when you oughtn't to, and if you come before me again for burning your slashings when you oughtn't to, it will cost you lots more, and that's wot I tell you." 18 The prisoner received his sentence without comment. The justice collected the fine. The oxen stood stoic and mute witnesses to the dispensation of justice in a little secluded spot along the right-of-way of a railroad away up in the North woods of Minnesota. 19 1 Fur Trappers Having Success $ DULUTH furriers declare that more raw furs are shipped from that city than from any other in the United States. It is estimated that 2,000 to 3,000 men derive their prin- cipal revenue from the sale of the pelts of the animals they can trap in Northern Minnesota. These furs, almost without exception, go to Duluth, either to be made into finished arti- cles ready for household use, or to be shipped to any part of the civilized world, where there is enough wintry weather to make them desirable. Some Canadian furs also go to Du- luth, but not many. The annual revenue that men obtain from trapping the fur- bearing animals ranges from nothing up into the thousands. Some have very poor luck, get discouraged and give up before they have learned how to work the trick. Trappers who make $1,800 from what they catch in one trapping season, from Oct. 1 to May 1, are by no means rare. Most of them, however, do not fare so well. The majority think they are doing well enough if they get from $300 to $500 a season. There are few furs in common use that the woods of North- ern Minnesota do not afford. The pelts in which there is the largest traffic in this part of the country are those of musk- rats, minks, skunks, sables, bears, foxes, otters and ermines. Muckrats bring 25 to 30 cents per pelt; minks, $1.50 to $10; skunks, $1 to $4.50; sables, $6 to $30; bears, $3 to $30; red foxes, $3.50 to $9; silver-gray foxes, $100 to $700; black foxes/ about $1,000; otters, $3 to $20, and ermines, 35 cents to $1.50. Black Fox Pelt Sold Three Years Ago for $150, Now Worth Nearly a Thousand. Black foxes are extremely rare, not only here, but in all parts of the world. Three years ago a black fox pelt was brought to Duluth from the Northern Minnesota woods and brought $150, but if anyone should show one now to a Duluth 20 furrier there is little doubt that there would be no trouble in getting $1,000 for it. Silver-gray foxes are also quite scarce, but they are plentiful indeed compared with the black ones. The Duluth furriers do not by any means handle all the pelts that are shipped through Duluth. All through the trap- ping season buyers represting fur-handling houses in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and elsewhere, travel through this part of the country, making Duluth their headquarters for the buying of furs directly from the trappers. A Twin City buyer recently took a drive of 45 to 50 miles through the Northern Minnesota woods, just to see what he could get from the trap- pers, and purchased only three or four furs. The number of such buyers making their headquarters in Duluth at any one time in the trapping season usually runs between five and twenty. It is not every trapper, however, that is content to sell either to these agents or to the Duluth furriers. One Northern Min- nesota trapper, well known to the Duluth taxidermists, makes an annual trip to New York city with his furs and disposes of them directly to the fur houses there. This man claims to clear $1,800 annually from his trappings. Thus far this year he has trapped furs to the aggregated value of about $900. He has four bungalows in the woods, and. makes it a practice to tramp from one to another, examining the traps at each as he comes to it, and killing and skinning the vic- tims. When the Animal is Caught in the Trap, the Hunter Stuns With a Club Before Killing. The traps that are used in this pursuit are almost alto- gether the steel spring ones, such as are commonly used in catching rats. They are of various sizes, according to the ani- mal that is sought. When the trapper sees his animal se- curely caught he usually stuns and kills it with a club. He would rather not shoot, as that makes a hole in the fur. An experienced trapper will set his snares right in the path where he knows such animals as he wants have run, for it is well known that these animals, have certain fixed routes, which they regularly travel in their quest of food. 21 In the Silence of the Forest Where the Moose Live Most of the men who do the trapping in Northern Minne- sota are whites, but some are Indians. Quite a number of Indian trappers can be found in the region of Grand Marais. The Indians are as good at getting first-class prices for their furs as the whites are and are often more determined hag- glers than any of their white fellow tradesmen. David A. Cone, the Superior street furrier, tells of a visit that an Indian trapper with his squaw and boy paid to Mr. Cone's fur store. It was a typical Indian family, Mr. Cone says. The squaw was dressed in gay attire, suited to the lastes of the red race, the most striking garment being a bright red skirt. The Indian talked in little else than grunts. He opened a bag and took from it several furs, including a cross fox, two weasels and a mink, and grunted: "How much?" Mr. Cone named a price. "No, not enough," was the reply. "Me get better price Rat Portage, Rainy Lake." The Indian hereupon produced a beautiful medium-sized silver gray fox hide, and again grunted: "How much?" Mr. 22 Cone offered $300. "Me no sell," said the Indian. "Me want $1,000." An Eastern fur buyer, who happened to be in the store, pulled out a printed price list and said: "Why, look here. The fox prices only go up to $300." He then read off quite a list of the printed amounts. To the utter amazement of both white men, the Indian, who had seemed to have scarcely enough intelligence to make himself understood in English, took the list from the buyer's hand and read the prices that were listed for foxes up to $700. He had far more education than they had thought. "How much do you want for your fur?" he was again asked. "Me no sell," he said, putting it back in the bag. With that, the copper-skinned family departed. Enough Foxes in One Catch to Clear a Title to a Claim — Gray Foxes Common. Mr. Cone also tells a story of a Duhith young man by the name of McLaughlin, who in one catch of foxes made more than enough to clear his title to his claim on the north shore of the lake. This happened about four years ago. The young man once brought a small fox cub pelt and asked Mr. Cone what it was worth. He was told that it was- worth $2.50. It was of little practical value, but had some value because it was a silver gray fox. The young man said there were many such foxes prowling around his cabin. Mr. Cone then told him how to make a good catch of them when the trapping season came. He was to feed them and get them into the habit of coming to a certain tree and after the summer feed- ing had well established this habit, he could set his traps in the dead of winter and make a complete haul. McLaughlin followed this advice and some months later re- turned with six beautiful silver gray fox hides. He had caught the father, mother and four half-grown cubs altogether. Mr. Cone took the pelts to Chicago, where he sold them for $1,700, of which $1,300 was turned over to McLaughlin, giving him a chance to clear his title to the claim, as well as to pay for all the time he had to spend proving up his claim. The same fox pelts now would bring about $2,700. — Duluth Herald. 23 Grabbed the American Timber THE concentration into the hands of a few powerful inter- ests of an enormous percentage of the timber lands of the United States has created a problem so grave for the nation, in the judgment of Luther Conant, Jr., commis- sioner of corporations, that he has recommended to President Taft that the existing national forests be retained by the fed- eral government as far as practicable. This note of warning was sounded by the commissioner in forwarding to the presi- dent the full text of part 1 of the bureau of corporation's in- vestigation of the lumber industry made by direction of con- gress. The commissioner says: "The report shows a marked degree of concentration in the ownership of standing timber in the United States. The area covered by the bureau's investigation contains about 80 per cent of the privately owned timber of the country. In this area three holders have 14 per cent of the privately owned timber, ninety have two-fifths and 195 nearly half. Marked concentration in the area outside the bureau's detailed inves- tigation also is indicated. Since the amount of standing tim- ber is steadily diminishing and its value rapidly increasing, this concentration involves problems of far-reaching public importance. 4 So far as Timber Lands are Concerned, There Has Been Great Concentration of Ownership. "In view of the facts already published, no extended com- ment appears necessary at this time. It seems proper, how- ever, to emphasize that the present conditions of timber own- ership are largely due, as clearly set forth in this report, to the land policy of the federal government, especially the great federal land grants to railroads and the faulty operation of some of the general land laws. Instead of securing a wide distribution of the public domain in the hands of a vast num- ber of independent owners, as apparently contemplated, the 24 practical result of this legislation, at least so far as timber lands are concerned, has been a high degree of concentration of ownership. The report shows that the great land grants have directly resulted in enormous single holdings, while other great tracts of standing timber, transferred from the public domain in small parcels to private interests, and usually with no important return to the public treasury, have been gathered into large holdings by timber speculators. Concen- tration in the ownership of this timber, moreover, tends con- stantly to increase. The national-forest policy inaugurated in the '90s, and now in successful operation, marked a fundamental change in the ideas which had formerly prevailed as to the handling of pub- lic timberlands. The basic principle of this policy is the re- tention of the fee title to the land and the sale from time to time of the timber only, with a view to the wisest use of the supply and to its proper conservation. By this policy the gov- ernment is able to secure for the public the full market value of this timber at the time of cutting, and at the same time to retain the land itself for reforestation or for such other use or disposition as may later seem advisable. "Attempts, however, are still made to secure the transfer of public timber lands to private owners under the same pleas of settlement which in the past often proved wholly specious and insincere. Instead of a Public Service, Concentration Has Brought About a Public Danger. "Much of the timberland still remaining in public owner- ship is adapted only for timber purposes. All that could be properly asked by a bona fide settler is the surface of arable land after the timber has been removed, but too frequently back of the argument made in the name of -the 'settler' is the desire to acquire the timber or other natural resources rather than the soil itself. It seems desirable, therefore, to direct public attention to the fundamental difference between dis- posing of agricultural lands to actual settlers whose industry contributes directly to the material and social upbuilding of the community, and the alienation of virgin timberlands, which do not require, and indeed hardly permit of, improve- 25 ment by private owners, and the value of which is rapidly rising because of reduction in the supply and the increase in population. The public service involved in the mere specula- tive holding of this timber for an advance in price, under present conditions of settlement of the country, is practically negligible. When, moreover, such lands become concentrated in a comparatively few hands, there is, instead of a public service, a serious public danger. Sale Should Insure to Public Treasury Full Stumpage Value at Time Timber is Cut. "Without entering into a discussion of possible solution of certain grave problems involved in the present concentration of timber ownership, it may be pointed out that the govern- ment today still owns, exclusive of the forests of Alaska, about one-fifth of the country's total supply of merchantable stand- ing timber. It is the agency best adapted to practicing re- forestation on a large scale. Recently important suits for forfeiture of extensive timberlands have been brought by the government on the ground of non-fulfillment of conditions im- posed in the grants by which these lands were alienated from the public domain. For these reasons, it would appear, there- fore, that the government may later be able to materially strengthen its relative position as a timber owner. "The facts set forth in this report clearly point to the de- sirability of maintaining the integrity of the national forests and of extending to other publicly owned timber, including forests in Alaska and timberlands that may be recovered in forfeiture suits now pending or subsequently instituted by the government, the cardinal principle of the national forest policy, namely, the retention of the fee to such lands at least until the timber is removed. Decision will then have to be made between retaining such lands for reforestation and dis- posing of the surface for agricultural purposes. It seems clear, moreover, that the fundamental principle to be followed in the sale of the timber itself is that the terms of sale should be such as to insure to the public treasury substantially the full stumpage value at the time that such timber shall be actually cut." 26 1 News and Views of the Woods $ Industrial loss will result if congress finally curtails the work of the wood products experiment section of the forest service, in the opinion of Chief Forester Graves. In the agri- cultural appropriation bill the amount provided for this work is cut from $170,000 to $100,000. In explaining the features of this branch of the forest serv- ice, Mr. Graves, in a statement, declared that multitudinous users of lumber had been shown how they could secure a max- imum of service and durability from a minimum of material. In experiments to determine the best methods of utilizing and conserving timber, in discovering the best methods of using the by-product and in studying hundreds of allied questions, Mr. Graves contended that this division of the forest service had been paying for itself many times over. Oscar Erickson of Crookston, is trying to interest the Elk lodges of the state in stocking the Superior forest reserve with elk. He suggests that the animals be brought here from the Jackson hole country in Wyoming, where they starve by the thousands each year for lack of feed. Several prominent members of the B. P. O. E. have assured him their support in the movement. The Superior reserve is well watered, there is a good stand of timber and the animals would be protected from the cold winds by dense underbrush. Erickson believes the govern- ment would assist the lodges in bringing a trainload of the animals to Minnesota. The North Wisconsin Lumber & Manufacturing Company on January 25 completed the tearing up of twenty miles of the logging road northwest of Hayward, which with branches, etc., amounted to about forty-eight miles. Most of the rails belonged to the Omaha road and were taken to Altoona. However, about six miles belonged to the Edward Hines Lum- ber Company, which shipped them to Gulfport, Miss., where they will be used in Southern operations. 27 J. H. Worst, president of the North Dakota agricultural col- lege opened the fourteenth annual meeting of the tri-state grain growers' convention at Fargo, January 14, with an ex- position of his plan of building tree hedges on each section line east and west across the state to stop hailstorms in sum- mer and snowstorms in winter. "North Dakota is noted for a severe climate," said Dr. Worst, "whether it deserves all that has been said about it is not to be discussed here. We can improve that climate by planting trees on each section line of the state. When that is done there will be no excuse for crop failures in North Dakota." A large number of complaints about the malicious cutting of timber on state and mining company lands have been made at Virginia, Minn., and a strong effort is being made to put a stop to the proctice. Charles West of Virginia was arraigned in the municipal court charged with "malicious mischief," and the evidence tended to show that he had cut timber from the Jennings Mining Company's land near Mud Lake. "Duluth is a Northern city — one does not need the evidence of the high-towering ski-slide that surmounts its highest hill to realize that — but alfalfa grows its three annual crops on the Jean Duluth farm, and, if berries are a bit late in ripen- ing, they find no competitors in the market. A dozen trout brooks run from the hill's through the city into Lake Superior. One may sit in his garden and catch a rainbow trout and toss it through the kitchen window without stirring from his seat. As I came back from the Jean Duluth farm with Mr. Hostetter, wild rabbits scurried across the city streets in front of our car and hid in the dense woods on either side. Hardly a winter passes without a deer being shot inside the city limits, and a year or two ago a bear was killed less than a mile from the business center. So close to the primitive has Duluth remained, content to take toll of passing com- merce without herself adding to the world's wealth. The new community spirit that the movement for farm develop- 28 ment has inspired is cutting off the forest, driving the deer and the bear back toward Canada, and laying the foundation for a bigger and better Duluth, to be the metropolis in its own right of a rich and happy land of fertile farms. Wise business men everywhere are seeing the American problem in this new light of agriculture. The bankers and business men of North Dakota are trying, through their Bet- ter farming Association, to develop the agricultural resources of an entire state, and so, in a lesser degree and on a smaller scale, such towns as Delavan, Wis., are trying, through the co-operation of their business men, to build up their adjacent rural communities. — Frank P. Stockbridge in World's Work. John Jackson, the Winnibigoshish farmer who has the larg- est farm in the Western Itasca county, has .now about 120 acres under cultivation without a stump to hinder him, and he has a nice herd of stock, pigs and sheep and a threshing machine. He says the only things he lacks now are roads and markets. Mr. Jackson complains that h€ has no school near his place, the school board failing to replace the teacher at his school since the resignation of the teacher who was there for a time this term. A bulletin issued February 1 by the weather bureau at Duluth said: "In the Great Lakes region some additional ice formed on Lake Superior and over Lake Michigan, but in the remaining lakes the harbors are nearly everywhere en- tirely free of ice. • At the same period last year the rivers and lakes throughout all Northern districts were heavily covered with ice and the harbors of the Great Lakes were generally entirely closed and the lakes themselves covered with the heavist ice reported in years." Reports from stations show that at Duluth on January 27, fhere were six inches of snow and twenty inches of ice. At the Soo there were six inches of snow and nine inches of ice; at Ashland there were ten inches of snow and no ice; at Houghton there were twenty-three inches of snow and 11.5 inches of ice; and at Marquette there were five inches of snow and no ice. 29 Since 1907, 6,000,000 acres of swamp land in Minnesota have been reclaimed at a cost of $1.50 an acre, according to the report of the Minnesota drainage commission, just out. The report says reclaimed land now is worth from $15 to $60 an acre. The statistics of the commission show that there are yet 4,000,000 acres of swamp land in the state which the com- missioners state should be drained as soon as possible and rendered available for agriculture. According to the report, when all of the- drainage ditches are completed there will be 575 miles of graded roads built along them. The financial statement of the commission shows that the original appropriation of $502,000 for the construction of drainage ditches has .been doubled by private subscription, and a balance of $204,000 stands to the credit of the drainage fund. In the report the commission strongly recommends that the drainage of swamp lands in the state be continued until all land now useless has been reclaimed. The fact that the facilities for fighting forest fires are not good, makes it more necessary to exercise great care in their prevention. The spring forest cleaning will soon be here and the utmost care should be exerted to prevent the escape of fire. When a woods or meadow burns over, the loss is always greater than generally considered. When a fire goes through a forest it not only kills the young growth but the growth of the trees not directly injured by the fire is retarded for years, because the forest cover has been burned, which retains the moisture necessary for forest conditions. The loss in a forest fire is total because there is no insurance. Do not mutilate your shade trees. Pruning does not mean cutting off the top of the tree and the ends of the branches. It means the removal of dead and defective branches. It means that one 'Of two limbs that cross and rub each other should be cut off. It means that all branches that are re- moved should be cut off close to the axis of" support and the wound treated with an antiseptic dressing. The practice of 30 cutting off the ends of the branches not only destroys the beauty of the tree but positively shortens its life and invites early decay. If your trees are growing taller than you de- sire, it is because the trees are too close. Mature trees should not stand closer than 30 feet and if they are planted closer they should be thinned when the ends of the branches begin to touch the tree next to it. It is rarely a shade tree grows too thick and it is safer to trust to nature to do the thinning than to one who is not an expert in doing this kind of work. Along the farmers' fences throughout the state the birds, squirrels and the wind have planted trees. Many are planted by these agents, but few are permitted to stand. The species, most commonly found are walnut, wild cherry, ash, maple and elm. Most of these, if cared for, would grow into valuable trees, but as generally found they show that they have been browsed, pruned with an ax or not at all, and with a trunk too short to make a twelve-foot log. Tall trees are more val- uable and it costs less to grow them along the fence. They should be pruned up and not be permitted to form a fork until the height of a good length sawlog is reached. When the top of the tree is high the shade is so widely distributed that it has little effect on the adjacent crop. Trees along the fences add beauty to the surroundings. They attract our birds and often serve as a retreat from the storm and birds of prey. The workman in the field welcomes them as a place where he and his horses can enjoy their shade and cool breezes. Stock of all kinds in the field will seek the shelter offered by a tree from the hot rays of the sun and from storms. It is true that occasionally an animal is killed by lightning un- der a tree, but during a storm animals first seek trees and if there are none, they will huddle closely up against a fence, and more animals are killed along fences than under trees. Some farmers purposely leave a few trees along the fence in each field. This practice, as well as the planting of trees along the roadside, is to be encouraged. 31 A five days' short course of instruction for forest rangers, has been prepared by Prof. E. G. Cheyney of the state forest school and within the next few days a definite announcement as to the time of holding a meeting will be made. Not only will working problems be discussed, but plans for the com- ing summer's activities will be taken up. A smoker will be a feature one of the evenings. The plan for the course fol- lows: Monday. Forenoon — Two Hours Land Survey of the U. S. Afternoon — Methods Rough Topographic Surveying. Evening — Smoker and General Discussion. Tuesday. Forenoon — Physiography Northern Minnesota. Afternoon — Classification Soils. Methods Soil Survey. Evening — Smoker. Open Discussion. Wednesday. Forenoon — Growth Tree Seed to Maturity. Afternoon — Silvical Characters. Evening — Open Discussion. Thursday. Forenoon — Protection — Slash Disposal — Patrol — Education — Fire Fighting. Afternoon — Trails — Watch Towers — Telephones — Portages. Evening — Open Discussion. Friday. Forenoon — History — Forest Development Abroad. History • — Forest Development in U. S. Policy of State. Present Work Preparatory. Work of Future. Meaning of Such Development to State. Educational Work of Rangers. Reconnaissance Work. Methods of Recording Forest Conditions. Organizations and Management of Ranger Districts. 32 " 'Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS VOL. II MARCH, 1913 No. 3 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for Members of the Minnesota Forestry Association. Annual Membership Fee, $1.00. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treasurer, care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. D. K. HOOPES, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS The Forestry Association and Rangers' Meeting - 4 The Wolf at the Timber Door . 9 The Best Kind of a Monument - - 1 6 Use of Mining Timber on the Iron Ranges - 17 Disease, The Bathtub and the Lumberjack - 22 Notes on the North Woods - - 26 A NEW ERA THE North Woods is just entering on the second year of its existence, and its future is limitless. The North Woods is just in its infancy, but there are no bounds to the stature it may attain. To aid this growth and attain this future, we ask your aid, you who are readers of its columns. The Forestry Association, handicapped for the last year, by the removal of its president from the state, has just elected a new set of officers and a new executive board. These men are pledged to boost the association and its work, and the North Woods, being merely the outward expression of the ideals of the association, will surely benefit thereby. We have simply taken up, with the new officers of the asso- ciation, the work where our predecessors dropped it, and we desire to thank them for the splendid start they have given us. We realize the enormity of the work before us, but we also realize that the work that has been done has not been in vain, and that forestry, thanks to the enthusiasm of the few, occupies today a. higher plane in public thought than ever before. Among those few enthusiasts to whom our special thanks are due, are the members of the association — the patrons of this magazine. But we are not satisfied with the debt we owe them. We would increase our indebtedness. So we invite more members, more patrons. Come along, all ye who love the woods; for being lovers of the forest, we know you have had experiences in the woods which others would like to know, and you will find the mem- bers of the association an attentive audience. The pages of our magazine are open to you to air your trail and campfire experiences, those fishing and hunting stories of the great North woods you love to tell. And, as regards the association, itself, and its work. The great idea of forest conservation is well started. We know its policies are right, and to you who are not acquainted with the work, become a member of the Minnesota Forestry Asso- ciation and watch its progress through its magazine, The North Woods.— The Editor. The Forestry Association and Rangers' Meeting GEORGE E. Marshall, supervisor of the Minnesota National Forest at Cass Lake, is the new president of the Minnesota State Forestry Association. Mr. Mar- shall was elected at the special meeting of the association held the first week in March at St. Anthony ParK, this meeting being the result of a resolution passed at the regular session of the association last December. The time allotted for the meeting was sc short that the election of officers was passed over. Will Start Membership Campaign. And Mr. Marshall was in the harness as soon as the elec- tion was over. He has great plans for the future work of the organization, which has been without an active head for some time. Among other things Mr. Marshall expects, with the aid of the forest rangers, to increase the membership of the Forestry Association to 1,000 or more within the next few months. Already his campaign is under way, and even before he left St. Paul for Cass Lake he had corralled several new members. The association today has 170 active mem- bers. From 170, to 1,000, that's the mark set, and to help attain it, everyone of the old members have promised to try and secure five more. There were a number of interesting addresses made at the meeting, lack of space preventing their reproduction in full here. Legislation Provides Chief Interest. Chief interest, of course, centered in the bills before the state Legislature dealing with the forestry problems of the state. The State Forester, reported on the status of these measures, most of which have been discussed in earlier issues of the North Woods. Committees of both Houses, he told the association, had recommended all the forestry meas- ures for passage. The bills embody amendments to the present forest laws to increase the efficiency of the state for- A Ranger's Cabin est service, and appropriations for the purchase of non-agri- cultural lands to be added to the state forests. Their pas- sage will do much toward the conservation of our timber re- sources in the northern part of the state and should have the active support of every member of the Forestry Associ- ation. March is a "Booster" Month. Next to the legislation pending, the proposition to make March a "booster" month for the association claimed atten- tion. It was here Mr. Marshall got in his good work and under his guidance the "greatest campaign ever" was planned. What its results will be will be told in an early issue of the North Woods. Besides a president the following officers were elected: Prof. T. L. Haecker, St. Paul, vice president. Phil .H. Hanson, St. Paul, treasurer. Executive Committee — William Kilby, Beaudette, Minn.; Mrs. C. H. Backus, St. Paul; William Kenety, Cloquet; D. Lange, St. Paul, and A. J. McGuire, Grand Rapids. Prof. E. G. Cheyney, secretary. [5] Rangers' Meeting at Forestry College. In connection with the annual meeting of the Forestry As- sociation a five-day meeting for the rangers of the State For- est Service was held at the College of Forestry. In spite of the fact that the men had to pay their own expenses, nine of the district rangers, two inspectors and one patrolman were present. The meetings and lectures were open to the public and many visitors attended the sessions. The object of the meeting was to discuss the policy of the Service in reference to various kinds of work done by the rangers, and to exchange ideas regarding methods particularly in slash disposal and in improvement work. The following program was carried out: Monday morning — Rough Methods of Making, Prof. Allison. Monday afternoon — The United States Land Surveys, Prof. Stewart. Tuesday morning — Physiography of Northern Minnesota, Prof. Sardeson. Tuesday afternoon — Methods of Soil Surveying, Prof. Frazer • Wednesday morning — The Growth of a Tree, Mr. Kenety. Wednesday afternoon — Sylvics, Prof. Cheyney. Thursday morning — Slash Disposal and Fire Patrol, Open Discussion. Thursday afternoon — Permanent Improvements, Dillon P. Tierney. Friday morning — The History of Forestry, Prof Cheyney. Friday afternoon— The Policy of the State, W. T. Cox. Questions of Legal Procedure, Mr. Morgan. One of the most interesting meetings of the session was at Pillsbury Settlement Home in Minneapolis, Thursday even- ing, when Mr. Tierney and Mr. Cheyney delivered short talks. This meeting was given under the auspices of the Forestry Club at the College of Forestry. Experiment Proves a Great Success. The meeting of the rangers was the first of its kind ever attempted in Minnesota and was more or less of an experi- ment. While there may have been plenty of room for im- provement, those who arranged the meeting were well pleased with its success, and the rangers' attitude was summed up by W Ranger Saunders, who spoke briefly at the Pillsbury Home meeting, when he declared that even though the rangers had spent years in the woods they welcomed the opportunity to come to the city and spend a few days studying with the lads who will latei take up their work. Propose Similar Meeting in the Woods. Already plans are on foot to hold a similar meeting some- where in the northern part of the state at a different time of the year when more of the rangers can be present. Mr. Mar- shall has suggested that such a meeting be held this summer at the summer camp of the forest school. Such a meeting held under the very trees which the students are studying and the rangers protecting could lead only to the best kind of results. \ Men Apt to Lose Sight of the Future. The object of the lectures given in connection with the short course were not so much to teach the men anything about the work they are now doing as to encourage them in the work of the future. Men engaged wholly in the occupa- tion of fire prevention — as they are — are apt to become so ab- sorbed in the present work that they lose sight of the future, lose sight of the fact that the prevention of fire is only a pre- liminary step on which the great work of the future, the build- ing up of an enormous producing forest — one of the prime sources of revenue of the future state — will be based. The course was designed to give an insight into the size and im- portance of this great development and furnish a better pro- spective of the work now in hand. The following were present: A. P. Oppel, Percy Vibert, Wm. M. Byrne, J. P. Saunders, Walter Eisenach, Hugo C. Nelson, L. F. Johnson, A. C. De Puy, Percy Records, William Kilby, H. H. Winslow, [7] Piling and Burning Brush The Wolf at the Timber Door By Gifford Pinchot WRITING for the Saturday Evening Post, Gifford Pin- chot, former chief forester of the United States gov- ernment, and the one man, who, alone, is practically responsible for the great strides the forestry work in the United States has made in the last few years, writing on the subject of "Uncle Sam's Woodlot" makes an ardent plea for federal control and supervision of forests. The timber wolf, says Mr. Pinchot, is at the door, and un- less the methods employed by the forest service are ex- tended to state forests, and state and federal forest posses- sions conserved scientifically, the time will come when tim- ber in this country will be worth its weight in geld. An extract from Mr. Pinchot's article foLows The Wolf at the Timber Doer. We use from ten to twenty times as much wood a head as the nations of Europe. Our consumption of timber is not only larger but more wasteful than that of any other great nation. This is a sufficiently serious indictment in itself, but it is not the worst. If we were living within our timber income it would matter little how much we consumed. The fact is that every year we cut and consume three times the amount of wood that is being grown. Overconsumption like this cannot go on forever. When a man or a family or a nation stops living on income and takes to living on capital instead, the wolf is very near the door. Excessive timber consumption such as ours must be fpllowed by timber exhaustion as surely as night follows day. Because of our overconsumption lumber is getting scarcer, poorer and more expensive; stumpage is rising faster in the United States than in any other country and we know with certainty that a timber famine is on the way. A Fhortage of grain can be met in a single year by devoting more land to its production, for the crop springs up and ripens in one season. But a timber crop takes from one to three or four generations to mature. Therefore provision against the [9] entail? Not enough provision to meet the situation fully, but still — since it is all we have to place between our people and a corner in lumber for a full generation — a provision that is worth protecting with the most jealous care. Our national insurance policy against extortion and want in lumber is the national forests. They contain about six hundred billion feet of lumber — enough to supply the needs of the country for only about thirteen years. Theoretically they produce each year about six thousand million feet in new growth. The government reports an annual cut of only five hundred million feet. Why not utilize the whole of the new growth"? Just so far as it can be done without useless sacrifice of our one refuge against the timber monopolists and the tim- ber famine, the yearly increase or the national forests is be- ing cut and used now; but there are certain reasons why it cannot all be used at present, and could not all be used at present, even if these public forests were in private hands. These reasons are: There Are Two Good Reasons. First, because not less than three-fourths of the old tim- ber and new growth lies so far back in the mountains, out of the reach of transportation, that it is unusable for the present. When the government at last reached the point of creating the national forests it was obliged to take what was left, for the best and most accessible of the timberlands had already been taken up and had passed into private hands. We have just seen how few and how large are the private hands into which it has gone. Second, between what government timber is accessible and the great lumber markets stands a very much larger quan- tity of timber in private ownership. This private timber is not only nearer and more accessible but better in quality, and therefore worth more to cut. Much of it lies close to rail- roads and sawmills already built, so that it can be moved and sawed more cheaply than the national forest timber, for the cutting of much of which new railroads and new saw- mills would have to be built. Now there are already more mills in the United States than are needed to supply the demand for timber. In 1911 the sawmills of the Northwest were used to cut less than half of their capacity, and in the two greatest lumber-producing states alone one hundred and thirty of them were idle altogether. Mill owners naturally prefer to use the mills they have to cut the logs they own rather than to build new mills and buy from the government. Wherever national forest timber is accessible and is not blanketed by private holdings, however, approximately the annual growth is being cut. Thus, in the group of national forests near Pocatello, in Southern Idaho, the annual growth is estimated at eight million feet. The present cut is seven million seven hundred and eighty-four thousand feet. On the Deer Lodge forest, in Central Montana, the yearly growth is approximately thirty million feet. The present cut, used largely at the copper mines near Butte, is now twenty-two million feet, and will soon reacn the total of the annual growth. Sales on the Whitman forest, in Oregon, will soon equal the sustained yield of the forest of from forty to fifty million feet yearly. Must Wait For Buyers. National forest timber cannot be sold unless some one will buy. It has for years been the steady practice of the forest service to advertise its timber for sale — just as a private owner would do. It has made, in addition, vigorous efforts to bring bodies of ripe timber to the notice of possible pur- chasers, to seek new capital, and encourage new wood-using industries — in a word, the service has done all it could to utilize the annual growth of the forests without sacrificing their future usefulness. The Question of Selling Government Timber. "Why not throw the government's timber on the market for less than the regular price of stumpage, and so cut down the price to the consumer*' says the Seattle man. "For two reasons," replies the forester. "First, because the moment you propose to sell government stumpage for less than it will bring in the open market you must face the question, How shall we choose the fortunate lumbermen to whom this public timber shall be given for less than it is worth? Just to mention the word 'polities' is a sufficient an- swer to that question. There is no safe and fair way to sell entail? Not enough provision to meet the situation fully, but still — since it is all we have to place between our people and a corner in lumber for a full generation — a provision that is worth protecting with the most jealous care. Our national insurance policy against extortion and want in lumber is the national forests. They contain about six hundred billion feet of lumber — enough to supply the needs of the country for only about thirteen years. Theoretically they produce each year about six thousand million feet in new growth. The government reports an annual cut of only five hundred million feet. Why not utilize the whole of the new growth"? Just so far as it can be done without useless sacrifice of our one refuge against the timber monopolists and the tim- ber famine, the yearly increase or the national forests is be- ing cut and used now; but there are certain reasons why it cannot all be used at present, and could not all be used at present, even if these public forests were in private hands. These reasons are: There Are Two Good Reasons. First, because not less than three-fourths of the old tim- ber and new growth lies so far back in the mountains, out of the reach of transportation, that it is unusable for the present. When the government at last reached the point of creating the national forests it was obliged to take what was left, for the best and most accessible of the timberlands had already been taken up and had passed into private hands. We have just seen how few and how large are the private hands into which it has gone. Second, between what government timber is accessible and the great lumber markets stands a very much larger quan- tity of timber in private ownership. This private timber is not only nearer and more accessible but better in quality, and therefore worth more to cut. Much of it lies close to rail- roads and sawmills already built, so that it can be moved and sawed more cheaply than the national forest timber, for the cutting of much of which new railroads and new saw- mills would have to be built. Now there are already more mills in the United States than are needed to supply the [,*) demand for timber. In 1911 the sawmills of the Northwest were used to cut less than half of their capacity, and in the two greatest lumber-producing states alone one hundred and thirty of them were idle altogether. Mill owners naturally prefer to use the mills they have to cut the logs they own rather than to build new mills and buy from the government. Wherever national forest timber is accessible and is not blanketed by private holdings, however, approximately the annual growth is being cut. Thus, in the group of national forests near Pocatello, in Southern Idaho, the annual growth is estimated at eight million feet. The present cut is seven million seven hundred and eighty-four thousand feet. On the Deer Lodge forest, in Central Montana, the yearly growth is approximately thirty million feet. The present cut, used largely at the copper mines near Butte, is now twenty-two million feet, and will soon reacn the total of the annual growth. Sales on the Whitman forest, in Oregon, will soon equal the sustained yield of the forest of from forty to fifty million feet yearly. Must Wait For Buyers. National forest timber cannot be sold unless some one will buy. It has for years been the steady practice of the forest service to advertise its timber for sale — just as a private owner would do. It has made, in addition, vigorous efforts to bring bodies of ripe timber to the notice of possible pur- chasers, to seek new capital, and encourage new wood-using industries — in a word, the service has done all it could to utilize the annual growth of the forests without sacrificing their future usefulness. The Question of Selling Government Timber. "Why not throw the government's timber on the market for less than the regular price of stumpage, and so cut down the price to the consumer" says the Seattle man. "For two reasons," replies the forester. "First, because ' the moment you propose to sell government stumpage for less than it will bring in the open market you must face the question, How shall we choose the fortunate lumbermen to whom this public timber shall be given for less than it is worth? Just to mention the word 'polities' is a sufficient an- swer to that question. There is no safe and fair way to sell ['31 large amounts of government timber except for what it will actually bring at public auction in the open market. But," continues the forester, "suppose that it would be practicable and safe to sell all of the accessible yearly increase to fa- vored purchasers for less than it is worth. The second rea- son is that the consumer would be no better off." That is true. We hear it urged that if national forest tim- ber were thrown freely on the market the country would get cheaper lumber. Apart from the question of destroying our capital stock of timber, is this proposition sound?" How could large quantities of inaccessible public stump- age be sold in a market already fully stocked — if not over- stocked— from private lands? Only by substantially giving it away! Apart from the inevitable graft that would follow there would be two results: / People Would Have to Pay. First, the owners of existing mills would stop cutting their own timber in order to cut cheap public timber. The con- sumer would be no better off, for but little more lumber would be produced and prices would not be affected. Under pres- ent competitive conditions in the manufacture of lumber and the constant tendency to overproduction, no conceivable quan- tity of public stumpage that could be sold would affect gen- eral lumber prices. On the other hand ,the sale of cheap gov- ernment stumpage would greatly increase the lumberman's profit, and the difference would be taken from the pockets of the people. The second result would be to throw away what public pro- vision we have against the coming scarcity. No folly could be greater. To commit it would leave the consumer power- less to help himself in the future, and that without any use- ful present result. It would benefit the large timber owner by enhancing the value of his stumpage when the public stumpage is exhausted, but it would not help the man who needs a little lumber to get it cheaper than now. This course would play directly into the hands of the tim- ber-holding corporations that are quietly acquiring the re- maining timber in private ownership. Not only could they operate their mills on public timber at enormous profits — [H] giving away the public supply would strengthen immeasur- ably their present monopoly of standing timber; and it is as certain as the law of gravity that the monopoly of standing timber, which is now being consolidated, will soon be fol- lowed by monopoly of lumber production. Forced sales of public stumpage now would mean that a few years hence, when the concentration in timber has ripened into extortion, the people would turn in vain to their own timber to protect them — for their own timber would be gone. The Hard Way the Right Way. When the forest service took charge of the national forests one of its greatest problems was how to handle their timber resources for the permanent benefit of the whole people. It would have been quite easy to sell the timber for less than its value in enormous quantities and without proper safeguards against forest destruction. Such a policy, following the line of least resistance, would have pleased many lumbermen and politicians, and would have shown from the start a comfort- able balance of revenue over expenditure. But the service knew that its first care must be clean administration and the perpetuation of the forests. Every timber sale for which it was responsible must be followed by the reproduction of the trees, and the service must make certain that young forests in the place cf old should insure for the future some public supply of timber. No other policy could be adopted with fair- ness to the American people, and the forest service took the hard but the right way. — Copyright by the Curtis Publishing Co. ['5] The Best Kind of a Monumemt SHORT shrift was given in the Legislature to the bill providing an appropriation for a monument to the men and women who perished in the fire that destroyed Spooner and Baudette. It was decided to let the measure die in committee instead of reporting it to the House. While the spirit that prompted the originating of the bill was unquestionable, the fact remains there would have been little to gain by the erection of such a monument. Those who lived in Minnesota during the Northern horror are not likely to forget it. Every community in the northern part of the state saw living examples of the terror and suffering of those days, and communities many miles from the flames experienced the pall of smoke that spread from the burning forests and homes. A monument of the finest marble erected to the memory of those who perished in the flames could add nothing to the state of the victims or to the lesson the state learned in their fate. But there is another kind of a monument that would endure fully as long and would be of practical value to this and the coming generations, and that is the establishment of a system of forest preservation and protection for settlers that would make certain that no other such disaster as that which overtook Spooner and Baudette will ever come to Minnesota. Such a monument would meet with the hearty approval of every section of the state. If the members of the Legis- lature will make provision for work of that character they will not only be doing honor to the fire victims, but will be making their losses and sufferings worth while, by showing that the state has learned a lesson from their fate — a lesson that will not permit of a repetition of the event — Duluth Herald. Use of Mining Timber on the Iron Ranges By Hugo C. Nelson, Forest Ranger WHILE lumbering in its broad sense — principally the cutting of timber, and the sawing and marketing of lumber — is a common subject and one which the aver- age person is more or less familiar with, the same might also be said of some of the other semi-lumbering industries, such as the tie, post and pole operations and the pulpwood business. Still there is another branch of the lumbering in- dustry of which very little has ever been written, and outside of the territory tributary to Northern Minnesota and the iron ranges very little is known save in a general way. This is the mining timber operations that are carried on every win- ter in the North woods. Upon the fact that suitable timber could be had near at hand has depended to a great extent the rapid development of the immense iron industry of this state, which most people regard in a matter-of-fact-way, but the development of which would have been a serious matter had not this been a tim- bered country. I am speaking of the underground mines in this connection as they were the first operating mines in the state and continued so for a number of years until in some locations the ground, or overburden, was stripped and open- pit mining became the proper procedure where the iron de- posits lay near the surface of the ground and the ore removed by steam shovels. Open Pit Miners Also Use Timber. We, therefore, find two distinct and different ways of iron ore mining, viz.: underground and open pit mining. While the operators of the former class of mines are wholly de- pendent on the use of different kinds of mining timber in their operations and are therefore the principal users of this article, the open pit miners are not altogether able to get along without timber, as they ofttimes sink shafts either in the bottom or the sides of the pit to reach some smaller ore body, or "pocket," as it is commonly termed, which would not otherwise pay to strip and mine. Also in every case the increased use of railroad ties in open pit mining makes in the aggregate amount of lumber used a large item. In order to more fully understand the relative basis of these two methods of iron mining, we will take the figures for the 1912 season which show that there was a total of 34,- 000,000 tons of iron ore mined and shipped from the Vermil- lion, Missabe and Cuyuna ranges. Of this amount, approx- imately 10,000,000 tons was mined by the underground method, and 24,000,000 tons from open pits. In other words, nearly oae-third of the ore mined last year was produced by under- ground mining. To mine those 10,000,00 tons of ore a certain amount of timber had to be used. This is commonly divided into two classes, as, mining timber and "lagging." Mining timber is nothing more or less than small logs, from six inches to ten or twelve inches at the small or top ends and of usual log lengths, of tamarack, spruce or jack pine. This timber is used in what is termed "sets." That is, for cribbing up the sides and tops of the lateral shafts, or "stopes," and on all four sides of the vertical shafts, thereby protecting the lives of the men employed from falling rocks and cave-ins and thus rendering the mines safer to work in. This must be carried on at all times as the work and mining progresses. It is practically all ruined by blasting before the "stopes" are abandoned so that none is re-used. To define "lagging" so that it will be easily understood, one may call it "poor cord wood." It is cut from all of the smaller standing timter and the tops of the trees that the mining tim- ber has been made from and trimmed down to two or three inches. All kinds of timber goes into this, such as cedar, birch, tamarack, jack pine, spruce and balsam, green, dead or fire killed. "Lagging" is cut six feet long. The large pieces are split and the smaller ones are left round. This is used in the tops of the working ends of the "stopes," both to protect the lives of the miners and to separate the iron ore from the overburden or ground when the blasts are set off and the mass comes down. Consequently all of this is broken up at every setting and must be replaced with new material each time. Therefore a great deal of this is used. This explains briefly what timber is used for in underground mining and the necessity for it in carrying on the work. [18) $1,000,000 Worth of Timber Used Annually. The question now arises in our minds as to the amount of timber used annually for these purposes in iron mining in the state of Minnesota. Upon investigation we find that there are certain fixed rules for this in a general way that are fol- lowed by mining men that enable us to arrive at somewhat accurate figures. The first rule is this: One lineal foot of mining timber is used to every ton of ore mined. The second rule follows; one cord of "lagging" is used to every hundred tons of ore mined. Thus we find, taking last year's output of 10,000,000 tons of underground ore, that 10,000,000 lineal feet of mining timber was used, which would equal about 25,000,000 feet board measure. And by the second rule we find that 100,000 cords of "lagging" were used. Figuring at five cents per lineal foot, the average price paid for mining timber, we have $500,000 paid out for mining timber. Also at $5.00 per cord, the average price paid for "lagging," we have $500,000 mak- ing a total of $1,000,000 for this industry in an average year. In other words a cost of ten cents on every ton of ore mined underground. This surely makes an item to be figured on in the timber assets of this state. Demand Is Certain to Increase Every Year. What of the future along these lines? Will the iron mines use more timber in their work, or less, as the years go by? The answer is, from present indications they will continue to use more and more, for the old mines will go deeper after the ore. New ranges are being explored and opened that will be mostly underground work, and a number of the large, open pit mines will eventually have to change to underground min- ing to get all their pre out, when they become too deep to be successfully worked from the surface, and to mine the pockets of ore that are found in and around them. In view of these facts, and last but not least, how about the future timber supply for this great industry, which we can readily see will have to depend as the years go by, more upon suitable timber to carry on their operations? As stated in the beginning of this article there has been a plentiful ['9] supply of timber within ten or fifteen miles of these mines, but already it is evident that this is no longer the case. For first, the loggers took the best of the timber, then fires killed and destroyed a very large part of the balance. Of this bal- ance a great deal has since been used in making ties and pulpwood. In cutting spruce and tamarack for these products the best timber for mining purposes has been taken. Un- doubtedly there is still a vast amount of timber left that can be used for "lagging," but such is not the case with the sup-- ply for mining timber, as this necessarily must be of very good grade and of uniform size. As these conditions have taken place very much the same all over the Northern part of this state, therefore relief can be had only temporarily by getting the supply from more distant points. Future Supply Must be Grown. There remains then but one thing to do and that is to grow the future supply, in the same manner that some of the East- ern railroads are doing and depending on for their ties in the future. In looking about for a suitable and convenient place to carry on this work, a better place could not be found than right here in the back yards, as it were, of these same mines on the two Northern ranges at least. For on the high ground which is largely stony and rocky and will therefore, perhaps, never be farmed to any great extent would be a suitable place for the growing of jack pine. While between the ridges and hills in numerous places, sheltered from the winds to a cer- tain extent, are swamps of various areas with stony bottoms, a fine place to grow spruce and tamarack, and the only thing so far discovered that they are fit for. A great many have al- ready a gooi stand of young timber and could easily be pro- tected. The query always arises in most minds when the growing of timber for commercial purposes is spoken of, that it will take a long time to grow. That is true if you take a large log, say from 18 to 24 inches as a standard, but for mining timber this is not necessary. The average log in this work runs from six to ten inches. This size under proper condi- M tions could be secured in less than 30 years. And as most of the land I have referred to is being held for future exploita- tions or possible mineral reserves it could thus be put to some use until such time that it was needed to be of greater ben- efit to mankind. In the meantime we would be repaying to posterity in a small way a part of what we are taking now. [ai; Disease, The Bathtub and the Lumberjack A HOWL of protest has gone up from the lumber camps as a result of a statement made by Dr. C. E. Button, health commissioner of Minneapolis, and as the result of a bill introduced in the Legislature by Representative C. H. Warner of Aitkin and Senator H. W. Cheadle of Duluth. Dr. Button's declaration probably was responsible for the joint resolution. The Minneapolis health commissioner declared that the lumber camps of Minnesota were most unsanitary, that the lumberjack was a menace to the public health and that a law should be passed compelling the lum- ber companies to improve the sanitary conditions of their camps, making it especially possible for the lumberjacks to get a bath once in a while, at least. The bill calls for the erection of bathing facilities in all lumber camps which are established for more than sixty days at a time. Typhoid The Greatest Menace. "Typhoid fever," said Br. Button, "perhaps more than any other disease is the greatest menace that comes from the lumber camps through the lumberjacks, but tuberculosis and other diseases are also on the list. They result from impure water, improper food, overwork and exposure in the camps. The men in the camps are mostly foreigners and they float into the large cities at the end of the logging season and in- fest the cheap lodging houses. Startling conditions were revealed in a recent survey of the New York lumber and rail- way camps, and I have no doubt but that the same conditions exist in the camps of Northern Minnesota." A clause in the joint House and Senate bill, providing for the regulation of the camps, says the lumberjack has no chance to take a bath during all the time he is in the woods unless he chooses to break a hole in the ice of a nearby stream. 221 You will agree with Dr. Button, Senator Cheadle and Rep- resentative Warner that this is a bad condition; that is, you will agree if you are convinced that these things are so. But let us wait and withhold judgment for a moment. Overwork seldom hurts anyone, and less than anyone else is the lumberjack likely to be afflicted with trouble on that score. Most of the men in the lumber camps are fitted per- fectly for their work. You have seen them, big strapping fel- lows; browned by the winds and the sun, strong, sturdy, capable of working from dawn to dusk, utter strangers to fatigue, to whom, apparently exhaustion is practically un- known. Certainly it is not this class of men who suffer from overwork. Out doors constantly, they draw, seemingly, on Nature for their strength, like the heroes of old. The man locked up in the office all day, breathing impure air, straining his eyes and his back over a ledger — that man may and frequently does collapse from overwork, but not the lumber- jack. What The Records Show. And as for disease. The records of both the Red River Lumber Company and of the health offices of the districts in which the company operates fail to show a single case of typhoid fever during the past several years, according to Dr. M. A. Desmond, Akeley, Minn., chairman of the board of health of Hubbard county. If tuberculosis develops in a lum- berjack, it is more than likely it will develop while he is an inmate of the "cheap lodging houses," which Dr. Dutton says they infest when in the cities. The districts in Minnesota in which the lumber companies operate are practically virgin. They have yet to know the effeminating touch of civilization; their streams are unpol- luted by the waste of great cities; their springs still flow free and untrammeled; th«r air is pure. When the lumberjack brushes the leaves aside from the source of a forest stream, that is gurgling forth from the foot of a tree or bursting from a rocky cavern, he knows he is getting God-given water, that has known no patent filter, and does not need one. When he drops on his stomach beside a river bank and drinks his fill after a hard run, he knows that none of the waste from a / 1^3] packing house or a steel mill has tainted its waters. Sta- tistics of the geological survey show that the waters of the streams and springs in Northern Minnesota are the purest of the pure, and it is from these that the lumberjack gets his drinking water. And About The Food. Ah, but the food, the skeptical will say— what of the food; there perhaps the complaint is justified. Again we answer, no. Long since, the logger has learned that he can make no better investment than to provide his men with a good table, and an investigation of the requisitions of cooks of the vari- ous lumber camps shows the following: Meats — Beef, muttou, ham, bacon, sausage, liver, fresh and salt fish, and dried beef. Vegetables — Potatoes, cabbage, rutabagas, carrots, beets, white navy beans, baking beans and sauerkraut. Relishes->-Pickles, all kinds; tomato catsup, syrup, molasses and vinegar. Canned goods — Apples, rhubarb, pumpkin, corn, peas, to- matoes, and mince meat. Dried fruit — Apples, peaches, prunes, figs, currants, seed and seedless raisins. Flour — Straight, patent, rye and graham, cracked and rolled oats, rice and macaroni. Tea and coffee. Miscellaneous — Oleomargarine and lard; brown and granu- lated sugar, cornstarch, yeast foam, Arm and Hammer soda, baking powder, lemon and vanilla extracts and spices of all kinds. In the early days the food provided for the lumberjack lacked in variety and was not of the best. Indeed some camps provided miserably for the men and earned unenvi- able reputations for the companies. All this has changed, and the "grub" in the average logging camp today is superior as a rule to that served at village hotels. And now as to the camps themselves and their sanitation. While there is scarcely a lumber camp any place that was meant to be permanent, the camps of Northern Minnesota are as well constructed as any. Rough and uncouth, perhaps, in appearances, the camps are built with the precision of a [H] small army post, a building being erected and furnished for each department. There is the eating house, the company store, the sleeping quarters or bunk house, the machine shop the long barn and other outbuildings. While conditions are not ideal they are not nearly so bad as is generally supposed. It is to be desired that better bath- ing facilities and, especially more spacious and sanitary bunk houses be provided. Perhaps legislation is needed to improve these two features of the logging camps, and to my mind the bunk house is the more important of the two. There is no reason why every lumberjack cannot have a bath whenever hje wants it now. As far as we have been able to learn, and we have had information from scores of camps throughout the Northern part of the state, there are always plenty of bathtubs in every lumber camp. The conveniences are just as complete and up-to-date as they are in the average small town, where a modern equipped bathroom is a luxury. There is plenty of warm water, room and heat, and if the lumber- jack chooses to go dirty it is largely his own fault. 1*5] Notes of the North Woods MEN engaged in the lumber business expect that during the 1913 season there will be a strong market and a good demand, with the consequent result that prices will be high. It is claimed, with certainty, that the state supply of lumber will fall short of the average by several million feet. This is due to two reasons. First, the scarcity of snows in the woods. Second, the scarcity of woodsmen. Unfavorable conditions in almost every part of the state where logging is in progress will tend to curtail seriously the supply, and in addition to this the stocks of all mills, especially in this part of the country are unusually low. James McDonald of the Mullery-McDonald lumber company of Duluth is authority for the statement that his company have sold 40 per cent of their cut ahead of the saw. And it is said that similar conditions confront almost every other large mill in the state. Conditions in the logging sections of other states are just as bad as they are in Minnesota. Heavy snows in the West have made logging extremely difficult while heavy rains in the South have made the industry almost prohibitive, while in Michigan and Wisconsin, where snow is an essential, its scarcity is a serious drawback. It is expected that the mills in St. Louis county will not get more than 400,000,000 or 500,000,000 feet of logs for cutting, although they could handle and dispose of a great deal more. According to advices from Deer River, the lumberjacks have already begun tc return from the woods. Lack of snow is said to have cut short the season in the camps, and the men are returning with only small "stakes." It has been a bad winter, according to the Duluth Herald, for "jumping" and that makes it bad for both the men and the employers. Samuel Graham, junior forestry student at the state for- est school, has been selected as manager of the commissary department for the summer class at Lake Itasca. Members of the class will board in the woods for about $2.50 a week compared with the $4.50 charged, at the school. Each stu- dent will make a deposit of $50 with the class treasurer, Donald Aldsworth. This covers practically all their expenses. In addition the class will set up a hotel on April 20, when the freshman class arrives to spend the rest of the summer. The freshmen will be charged $3 a week. The profit will be given to a fund, which will be used to build a clubhouse on the campus. Speaking of the forestry class recalls a recent address made by State Forester Cox to the students at the forest school. The forester spoke on the "Opportunities for Trained Foresters." He told the young men that it was one of the few fields that was not overcrowded. The government, the different states, the railroads, the Canadian government, and many fields of private industry; he declared are open to ex- pert foresters, and still the supply is not equal to the demand. The Canadian government, he said, is especially anxious to secure young foresters trained \n the profession, and there are plenty of promising openings for such men in public and private positions right here in Minnesota. A report issued by Luther Conant, Jr., commissioner of corporations, shows that the total amount of standing timber in the United States is 2,826,400,000,000 feet. Of this amount Minnesota is credited with only 29,700,000,000 feet B. M. This howevei does not include immense quantities of tama- rack and cedar and of fine birch and poplar timber which cover vast areas in the Northern part of the state, sufficient to bring the total timber supply in Minnesota up to 75,000,- 000,000 feet. .Standing timber in the other states is as follows: State — Pacific Northwest. Feet. California 381,400,000,000 Oregon 545,800,000,000 Washington 391,000,000,000 Idaho 129,100,000,000 Montana 65,600,000,000 Southern States — Arkansas 81,600,000,000 Texas 66,000,000,000 Louisiana 119,800,000,000 Mississippi 95,500,000,000 Alabama 56,300,000,000 Florida 74,700,000,000 All other states 710,600,000,000 Europe has 750,112,821 acres; Asiatic Russia, 348,030,000 acres; India, 149,000,000; Japan, 57,718,410; the Philippines, 49,000,000; Australia, 132,864,992; South America, 528,000,000, and the West Indies, 107,000,000.. One of the most novel plants in the world, and practically the only one of its kind in the world is what is known as the cone plant of the forest service of the United States in the Black Hills. The plant was constructed for the purpose of extracting the seeds from pine cones for the use of the forest service in the hills and elsewhere in re-foresting areas on which the natural timber has been destroyed, or in start- ing a growth of timber on new or untimbered lands embraced in the national forests in different parts of the United States. During the fall while the warm weather lasts the cones are opened in the sun by spreading them out on canvas sheets. This is the cheapest method, but as the weather becomes colder, kiln drying is resorted to. The kiln consists of a room with wide swinging doors at each end. An average tempera- ture . of 110 degrees is maintained in the kiln by means of steam. The cones are placed on wire meshed trays, which are piled upon little cars and run into the kiln on steel rails. The kiln holds ten cars and each car holds fifteen bushels of cones, so that 150 bushels are being dried at a time. It requires about 36 hours for the cones to open completely. When fully opened the cones are ready to be threshed. This is done by throwing them into one end of a cylinder, 16 feet long, which is revolved by means of a gasoline engine. This churns and threshes the cone about and jars out the seed. The cylinder slants slightly so that the cones gradually work toward the end and so fall out. Two or three feet from the end, however, the cones pass over one-half inch mesh hardware cloth, which allows the seed to drop through into a fanning mill and as the empty cones pass out of the shaker they fall into a funnel-shaped box and pass into the mouth of the blower, which carries them through a large pipe into the furnace room of the plant where they are burned. Wallace Campbell, Palace Building of Minneapolis, recently purchased 2,000 acres of land from the Great Northern rail- way in Polk county, southwest of Crookston, between Neills- ville and Beltrami. The consideration is given as $60,000. It is reported that Mr. Campbell's intention is to put the tract into immediate cultivation with modern tractors and steam plows. Mr. Campbell previously purchased 640 acres adjoin- ing this. State Forester Griffith of Wisconsin is not worrying over an opinion by Attorney Owen, in which he says that owing to the improper adoption of the constitutional amendment the two-tenths of a mill tax for forestry and waterpower may be jeopardized. Mr. Griffith says the state's right to appropriate money for internal improvements is an important one, but that the state's plan is safe in his opinion because he does not think that in a legal sense the program of his depart- ment comes under the head of internal improvements. The beauty of the opinion he says lies in the fact that now that the amendment has been declared improperly adopted the legislature is clear to make direct appropriations without being limited by any amendment. Did you ever know that a government township is really not six miles square, and that the so-called "North and South" lines of a section do not run true North and South? The answer is easy according to Professor John T. Stewart, head of the Division of Agricultural Engineering at the State University and Professor Stewart is authority. The reason is because the earth is a sphere and not a flat plane. Professor Stewart imparted this information to the state fire rangers from Minnesota who gathered at the College of For- estry recently for a five-days' meeting. Professor Stewart spoke on "The Land Survey of the United States." According to advices from Chicago, Edward Hines, presi- dent of the Hines Lumber Company, has personally closed a deal involving several million dollars whereby his company becomes the owner of the timber holdings, mill properties, camps, equipment, etc., of the Atwood Lumber and Manufac- turing Company of Park Falls, Wis. The Atwood timber hold- ings cover one hundred and fifty thousand acres in three Wisconsin counties in the neighborhood of Hastings. According to Mr. Hines the work of cutting the timber will begin immediately and as fast as it is cleared; the land will be cut up into farms and sold. Statisticians figure that there is lumber enough to employ several thousand men in the cut- ting and milling which will last for twenty years. The Hines company has also purchased from the Colvin & Robb Lumber Company of Biwabik, Minn., according to dis- patches from Duluth, 6,000,000 feet of Norway pine. Another interior mill of the state has just sold to North Tonawanda interests 10,000,000 feet of white pine, No. 2 and better, and a similar sale to the same interests has been made since the first of the year. G. E. Marshall, Supervisor of the Minnesota National Forest at Cass Lake, declares that Northern Minnesota will event- ually become the mecca of tourists and summer pleasure seekers to such an extent that it will rival the far famed and popular resorts of the Adirondacks. Cottage sites in The Na- tional Forest, according to Mr. Marshall, are being rapidly leased by resorters and automobile roads are being con- structed. The supervisor says he expects several thousand tourists will visit the forest this summer. More than one hundred acres of this forest will be devoted this year to experimental planting of white and Norway pine. The government will spend about three thousand dollars on road construction alone and an automobile road will be built through the forest from Cass Lake eastward. A mid-summer conference of national and state rangers and representatives of the State Forestry Association may be held at Cass Lake this summer. "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. APRIL, 1913 Number4 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of that organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treas., care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. D. K. HOOPES, Editor. State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota CONTENTS Forestry as a Profit Yielding Industry - 3 The Value of a Wood Lot - - 7 Forestry Club of the State University - 1 1 The Legislature and the North Woods - - 1 8 Woodland Flowers of the Midland North - 2 1 News and Views of the North Woods - -25 Over the River and Through the Woods - 31 1 Forestry as a Profit Yielding Industry By Dean A. F. Woods s THERE is a popular notion in the minds of many people that the forest is one of the great natural resources which is profitable only in using and that forestry con- sists in protecting from fire and cutting the trees into lum- ber. Up to the present this has been about the only kind of forestry practiced in the United States. It is, however, no more forestry than mowing and using the wild prairie grass is agriculture. Forestry is the propagation of tree crops for wood, either through natural reproduction or by planting. It takes from thirty to one hundred years to grow saw timber from seed. An increase in diameter of one inch in five to ten years, according to the species and conditions, is the aver- age growth increment. Use Three Times Our Production. Under natural forest conditions this means on the average for all kinds of wood in the United States about twelve cubic feet per acre per annum. We are now cutting forty-two cubic feet per acre. We use therefore more than three times our production. Our present per capita use of wood is about 260 cubic feet. The per capita use is increasing all over the world. The price of lumber is increasing rapidly and in the better woods it has now reached a point where it is profitable to practice scientific forestry somewhat as they do in European countries. While we produce on an average twelve cubic feet per acre per annum, Germany averages thirty-eight, Saxony ninety-three, Switzerland fifty, and France forty. In many of the oldest and richest sections of South Germany it has be- come more profitable to grow forest crops than the ordinary agricultural crops on land in every way well suited to agri- culture. A Road Makes the Best Kind of Fire Line Through the Forest. Photo Taken in Park Rapids District. Forestry More Profitable Than Agriculture. The great North German plain, in the region of Kreutz, a few hours east of Berlin, is now being rapidly reforested. Forestry has been found more profitable than agriculture in the sandy soils of that region. The same is true of much of the sandy land of Northern Michigan. It is also true of the more sandy lands of North Central Minnesota and Wisconsin. Much cut-over land in all three of these states, now being sold for agriculture, should never be used for that purpose. It should be kept in forest or if destroyed should be refor- ested. It will yield a good profit in trees and at most a bare living in other crops. A soil classification survey is necessary before these acres can be positively determined. The possession of such infor- What the Sand Lands of Northern Minnesota will do. Area Logged Fifteen Years ago, now Producing White and Norway Pine. Height of Trees, Five to Twenty Feet. mation would enable the state to undertake development of its public and private lands on a permanent basis. Of the 24,000,000 acres of forest land in Northern Minnesota, it is probable that at least 9,000,000 acres would give a larger re- turn in forest crops than in any other crops. This great for- est area contains (now largely in private ownership) the largest and finest white pine forest in the world. Norway pine, spruce, birch, cedar and other species also furnish much good timber. New York Makes An Investigation. The New York State College of Forestry has determined from a large number of investigations, that a white pine plan- tation on land worth $4.00 per acre, with cost of planting $7.00 per acre and money at 4 per cent will yield a net return of $6.14 per annum if cut at the age of fifty years. The follow- ing table shows the variation in net return at different ages: Age of plantation Gross in years. returns 25. $6 per M $ 40.50 30. Stumpage value 75.00 35. 195.00 40. $8 per M 262.40 45. Stumpage value 324.80 50. $10 per M 465.00 55. Stumpage value. ... 505.50 60. $12 per M 532.00 65. Stumpage value.... 566.00 Net Net return Expenses returns per acre $ 27.50 $ 13.00 $0.52 37.60 38.40 1.28 52.54 142.66 4.07 72.20 190.20 4.75 108.66 216.20 4.80 157.85 307.15 6.14 228.05 277.45 5.04 315.68 21.632 3.60 433.28 132.72 2.04 It Is A Long Time Investment. With the development of an effective state forest service and the increasing value of forest products, scientific forestry in Minnesota is destined to be as attractive an investment as any other branch of agriculture. It is however a long time investment and must be handled at first by those who can wait fifty years to reap their returns. 1 The Value of a Wood Lot By P. C. Records 1 PLANTING time is at hand. In the country farmers are sowing their fields; the folks in town are planting their gardens. Along with these should go another kind of planting, — the planting of trees. Many of the earliest settlers of Minnesota came from the wooded districts of the Eastern states. They knew the com- fort and something of the value of a grove on the farm. Hence the coveted quarter sections were those which had at least small tracts of woods. These were particularly plen- tiful in the southeastern part and were rapidly taken up. Then the settlers went up and down along the borders of the timber belt, and gradually into the prairies of the West and Southwest. In one respect the people who settled on the fertile prairie soils of Minnesota were befriended by Nature. There was no part of the state to which she had not given a climate which permitted and aided the growth of at least a few spe- cies of trees. Those e^arly settlers who were wise did not endure long the rigors of the unbroken prairie winters. They planted quick-growing trees for protection, preferable cotton- wood, willows, boxelders, soft maples. So that by the early sixties more or less planting had been done around farm houses in the South and West. First Object Was Protection. The first object of this planting was protection from the cold winds of winter. Hence the settlers planted the rapidly growing varieties named. In some few instances these were varied with other hardwoods, and but rarely with conifers, by the early settlers. These exceptions have since been in- creased in number, both in rehabilitating old groves and start- ing new ones. Hence, while cottonwood, boxelder, soft maple 7 A Promising Grove of Green Ash and willow are still the chief species represented, practically every variety of hardwood and conifer native to Minnesota, together with a number of introduced species, may be found in the planted groves of the state. In 1878 the national government passed a law designed to hasten settlement on the prairies, and at the same time to impel the settlers jto plant more trees. The act, called the "Timber Culture Act," provided that any head of a family or person twenty-one years of age, who had declared intention to become a citizen, could obtain 160 acres of prairie land or fraction thereof by fulfilling certain requirements. Many Tree Claims Were Taken Up. Between the passage of this law in 1878 and its repeal in 1891, a number of so-called "tree claims" were taken in Min- nesota. The trees planted were usually one of the four va- rieties named above, being set out in pure stands or mixture. They were easy to plant, and grew rapidly. In 1877, the state Legislature passed a law designed to fur- ther instigate the planting of trees on prairie soil. It carried an annual appropriation of $20,000 to be devoted to payment of bounties to those who fulfilled certain requirements. The law which has since been amended, is still in effect. Its pro- visions are now approximately as follows: "That anyone who shall plant on prairie soil at least one and not more than ten acres of forest trees other than locusts, and maintain the same in growing condition with the trees at no point more than 12 feet apart, shall receive a payment of $2.50 per acre for six years for the original plantation or ad- dition thereto. Provided, that no plantation or part which has received the full bounty for six years shall again be entered for that benefit." The underlying idea of the law is good. Strange as it may seem, there are men who believe a good grove will not repay them for the land it grows on. It is in an instance like this that^the law and its bounty serves its real purpose. But, the majority of men realize at least the "comfort" advantage of a grove. Hence, they are willing to devote a small plot of 9 ground to a few rows of trees. So the original plantations were usually made* without knowledge of the bounty. Ac- cordingly, in all the counties where bounty claims are re- corded, the records show that a greater or less percentage of the plantations were set out either entirely or in part a number of years before claims upon them for bounty were made. Many Localities Still in Ignorance. Although the tree bounty law has been in effect for thirty- six years, there are many localities where the people are practically in ignorance of it. Since the early settlement of Minnesota, there has been, in the aggregate, a great deal of tree planting done on the prai- ries. As a result, particularly in the southeastern portion, the numerous groves have begun to furnish lumber and fuel. The terrific blizzards of the early days are becoming milder and where the groves are numerous and well grown, hot winds of recent years have not been so effectual in destroying crops. The tree planting which the people have already done has been a wonderful benefit to Minnesota. In view of the foregoing, many believe that little remains to be done with planting trees in this state. The farmer with a row or two of trees feels that he can ill afford to devote more land to that purpose. He does not realize the extent of actual benefit a grove of the right size, rightly cared for and rightly placed can mean to him. As a matter of fact, what has been accomplished is but a beginning. "Human Comfort," Farmer's First Thought. Much the greater part of the tree planting in Minnesota has been done in the desire for human comfort. Wind-break plant- ing about orchards has been carried out on a comparatively small scale. The other benefits of a grove have been only more or less vaguely realized. The true value of a wood lot, or wood lots, to a farm can only be appreciated when these are considered in connection 10 with additional points of advantage. A list of the more im- portant follows: 1. Personal comfort — protection from storms. 2. Winter protection of stock in barn yards. 3. Shade for stock in 'Summer. 4. Orchard windbreaks. 5. Purifications of water supply. 6. Protection of field crops from drying winds. 7. Wood products value. 8. Aesthetic value. 9. Attraction of insect eating birds. 10. Protection from noxious weeds. 11. Profitable utilization of spots of poor soil. 12. Sale value of the farm. There are hundreds of school houses on the prairies which stand bleak and unprotected from the sweeping winds. This condition demands a remedy. A portion of the money which is being devoted to other phases of rural education could well be directed to the immediate building up of groves about ex- posed school houses. Many Wood Lots in Sad Condition. fri the formerly timbered portions of the state there re- main, after clearing, hundreds of thousands of acres of up- land wood lots, kept for their value to the farm. A great many of these are in a sad condition. People have allowed them to become so largely through ignorance. In many cases, if the farmer knew what great eventual damage would be caused by the careless handling or misuse of his wood lot, he would be only too anxious to adopt a better system. By the receipt of greater attention, and in many cases by re- planting, the generally deplorable condition of the state's nat- ural wood lots could be much improved and their value much increased. Even at this late date there are thousands of farm build- ings in the West and South which are almost or entirely un- protected by wind-breaks. The principal fuel is coal. In times of coal or car shortage the suffering is often intense. 11 Even when fuel is readily obtainable, it is necessary to burn much more to warm an exposed house than one which is en- closed by a wind-break. Neither, under such conditions can stock thrive. The farmer, if kind-hearted, will allow them to remain in the barn. They get no exercise. His own labors are increased by the necessity of carrying feed and water to them. The contrast between such conditions and those on the farmstead protected by a good-sized, well-managed wood lot is remarkable. There, even on the coldest days, one may see the sleek cattle lying comfortably in the yard while the stable is airing out. The chickens, too, delight to scratch about in the open. Trees a Guard Against Drouth. One of the benefits a grove brings to a farm was well ex- emplified in the cfrouth years of 1910 and 1911, when fields exposed to the full force of the hot winds were uniformly ruined. Fortunate indeed was the man who had a grove along the south side of a field. In numerous instances, it was only from such a field so shielded that any resemblance of a crop was obtainable. A profitable phase of tree planting which most people do not realize or consider is in the utilization of small patches of waste land. It is an exceptional quarter section which does not have a sand or gravel hill, stony patch or bluff, which it is useless to sow to grain. Taxes must be paid on it, it yields nothing, it is waste land except possibly for poor pasture. It could be turned into an asset by planting some* species of tree to whose needs the soil and other conditions are adapted. A plantation of trees such a spot will pay in sale value of the wood alone the taxes with some over for profit. Tree Planting Still in Its Infancy. Taken all in all, tree planting in Minnesota is in the early stages. There is need of a more general understanding of the real value of a woodlot. There is need of a more general knowledge of what trees to plant, how to plant them, and how to manage the plantations so that the greatest possible ben- 12 efits may be derived therefrom. In this regard, there should be a careful study made to determine more definitely what trees will yield the greatest returns in various localities un- der the varying existing conditions. There is a widespread demand among the farmers for in- formation along these lines. The opportunities of profit through further tree planting and through better management of woodlots are vast. These opportunities will be grasped only when some means is devised to meet the demand for knowledge. The sixth annual banquet of the Forestry club at the state university will be held on the evening of Friday, April 18, at the West Hotel, in Minneapolis. Dillon P. Tierney will be toastmastcr. The following program has been ar- ranged: G. H. Wiggin, "Sawing Wood" ; G. P. Lindberg, "Prospects"; Carl Hamilton, "Work After College"; T. S. Hanson, "Getting It"; B. O. Buehler, "The Club"; O. S. Johnson, "Purpose"; E. G. Cheney, "Tomorrow, Years Ago" The first and second fires in the North Woods of. the present season have been reported by Ranger Saunders. No. i, it is believed, was set by a Northern Pacific Railway engine. The fire burned over an area of 370 acres. The second fire burned over 230 acres and was set according to the report, by N. P. Engine No. 2412, Conductor Vegleter in charge, who failed to report the fire at Brainerd. No particular damayc was done by cither fire. 14 Forestry Club of the State University By Robert Howarth OUT at the State University there is a more or less unique organization known as the Forestry Club. But the po- sition it occupies among the other university organiza- tions is still more unique. In the first place it is composed of earnest young men who, in all probability, upon leaving the university, will pursue as a vocation the things they are study- ing about now. Few are the college organizations which bear such relation to their members. In the second place, although four years less than a decade old, the club already owns one of the finest building lots in St. Anthony Park, and is plan- ning to erect at a near future date a splendid log cabin club house. It is in addition one of the very few if not the only club that is incorporated, and besides having the backing of the entire student body and faculty. Social Idea Comes Second. Most college clubs are formed primarily for social purposes, but with the Forestry Club the social idea came second. The original object of the founders of the organization was "to gain a deeper insight into the science of forestry." Later, when it was found this could also be done in connection with social meetings, the "good fellowship" idea was added, and now some of the most interesting and instructive meetings are those social gatherings at which some member of the faculty addresses the club on one of various subjects con- nected with forestry and join the boys afterwards in a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Club Organized in 1907. In 1907, when the club was first organized, the forestry spirit was not as manifest as it is today. The charter mem- bers were handicapped in securing additions to the organiza- 15 tion. Students were indifferent or entirely disinterested. Of those who were interested many questioned whether the ben- efits derived would be worth the effort of joining and attending meetings. Gradually, however, men in the college of forestry began to see the good in the new organization, and recognize the mutual benefits to be derived from a membership, and before the college adjourned in the spring, the charter mem- bers, who were aided by Prof. E. G. Cheyney, had the satis- faction of knowing that the organization was at last on a firm basis. The First Officers of the Club. Before school adjournment in May of 1907 a constitution was adopted and officers were elected. To G. A. Orr was ac- corded the honor of the first presidency, while James Gillis was elected vice president. Eric Peterson was made secre- tary and treasurer. One of the first problems the club had to deal with was the question of a meeting place. This was solved temporarily by using the horticultural building at the University Farm. This, however, was not thoroughly satisfactory, and finally the club leased a house in St. Anthony Park, the members living there and paying room rent and thereby carrying the expense of the lease. This club house plan was so successful that the Forestry Club determined to become the owner of its own club house, and so set about making plans for the acquirement of one. By means of lectures, entertainments, dances, contributions, etc., the organization finally gathered together enough cash to purchase a lot. The members expect to be able to erect there a club house within the next two years or so. When the lot was purchased the club had to be incorporated and a board of directors elected. On this board are serving sev- eral members of the faculty. Club Has Forty Members Today. At present the Forestry Club has forty members with a number of prominent men on the roster of honorary members. This roll includes President G. E. Vincent of the state uni- versity and other members of the faculty. Any male white 16 student of the College of Forestry is eligible to membership in the club. There are two big features during the year in the life of the club. One is the annual initiation and the1 other the annual banquet. The initiation is held shortly after the opening of the college year, when those freshmen who care to join have been lined up. The evening always ends with a big camp fire in the woods just north of the college campus at which members of the faculty are among the speakers. The annual banquet is held in the spring just before the junior class leaves for the annual outing in Itasca Park. Good speakers are invited and the policy of the ensuing year is discussed and outlined in part. Various other social functions are given during the year in both St. Paul and Minneapolis by the club, but these two far outshine anything else in which the club is interested. Regular Meetings Always Practical. Seldom does a regular meeting of the club — held -on the first and third Thursday of each month — pass without some speak- er being present and giving the students pointers on some phase of forestry. The club is now making an effort for the first time to re- claim the interest of its alumni and to keep in touch with them, posting them regarding the doings of the club, and seeking information regarding their own work in the field. The "North Woods" is to be used in the future as a sort of medium between the alumni of the Forestry Club and its alumni. Object of the Organization. The object then of this organization, unique in comparison with other college men's societies, is to gain a deeper insight into forestry matters and promote good fellowship. What of its ultimate intention? or has it an aim beyond the diploma? Indeed it has. And that aim dominates everything else in connection with the club life and the college life. It is to send out into the field of endeavor men who will be well 'equipped for their chosen work, men capable of handling sit- uations, not matter how difficult, and above all men who will, in their work and results, reflect credit upon the college and club. 17 1 The Legislature and the North Woods 3 Out of the large number of bills introduced in the Legis- lature regarding various phases of the North Woods six have passed at this writing, though most of the other more import- ant ones are on the calendar and will be passed ultimately, if the present sentiment of the legislators is any indicator. House File No. 389, an act changing the term "forest re- serve" to "state forest," wherever it appears in the statutes, was the first to pass through the legislative mill. It is pointed out that this makes the statutes conform to the national laws in which the federal timber lands are referred to as "national forests." The second measure to receive legislative sanction is an act dealing with the cutting and sale of timber on state lands. Technically it revises Section 41, Chapter 204 of the General Laws of the State of 1905. Under the new act any person cutting timber on State lands must post notice to the effect that timber will be cut at cer- tain locations beginning on a certain date. This notice must be posted in a conspicuous place in the company's camp and notice must be sent to the state forester at the time opera- tions begin, so that the state rangers may visit the camp and see that slashings are disposed of in a proper manner. The bill, popularly known as the Itasca park bill, has been reported favorably by the committee, and according to the present outlook, undoubtedly will be passed by the Legislat- ure. State Auditor Iverson has gone on record as favoring a leg- islative committee to sit between sessions to prepare a com- prehensive plan for a department of public domain to be acted on by the Legislature of 1915. He also favors the submission of a constitutional amendment, creating a separate office of state land commission to take over all state land business from the auditor and head the new department. The state 18 auditor has embodied his ideas in an amendment to the Knee- land public domain bill. The state constitution at present places the swamp lands and the internal improvement lands in the hands of the state auditor while the school lands are not committeed to him by the constitution but by statute. "To take away the school lands from the auditor and let him handle the other lands," Mr. Iverson says, "would be bad business. A state land department should be created first and then the correlated state bureau be added to it, instead of first uniting these bureaus and then take over the state land depart- ment when constitutional authority is secured. Uniform laws governing fishing in the boundary water of Minnesota and Wisconsin are likely to be passed by the legis- islatures of the two states according to Senator Manley Fos- seen of Minneapolis, chairman of the Minnesota legislative committee which is investigating the question in connection with a similar committee from Wisconsin. Already the two commissions have agreed to impose a grad- uated license fee, based on the size of the net, the fees to be the same in both states. Fishermen with lines and hooks are not to be taxed. In addition to the fishing agreement the Wisconsin commit- tee has practically agreed to change the date of the opening of the bird-hunting season in that state from September 1 to September 7, to conform with the Minnesota law. Among a number of amendments the Legislature has passed to the forestry laws of 1911 is one tightening the rules gov- erning the running of railway locomotives through the state and the protection of the right of way of the railways. Both these measures will tend to reduce the possibilities of fire as a result of sparks from railway engines. Another amendment fixes the responsibility for the disposal of slash and debris in road construction work on the con- tractor and makes the officer letting the contract for the work liable to a fine if the contract is not drawn according to law. 19 A third provides more stringent rules for the disposal of slash in logging operations. Fines may be collected in case of violation by the town patrolmen and must be turned into the town fire fund in the town where they are collected. The fines are graduated, the highest being $100. The Legislature has also passed a bill providing for the acquisition of cities of municipal forests. A constitutional amendment, upon vote of the Legislature, providing for the setting aside of certain state lands for state forests, will be submitted to the people at the next general state election. An appropriation of $2,500 a year has been made by the Legislature for exclusive use in the Burntside State Forest. This money, according to the state forestry board, will be used at first in the opening up of trails and portages in the forest. The Warner bill, providing for the contruction of bathing and clothes washing facilities in the lumber camps of the state has passed the House. Representative Warner argued that the lack of these things caused disease and vermin to spread in the camps, and that when the camps were broken for the summer the lumberjacks carried them to the cities. The bill has not been acted on in the Senate. Everybody get in the game. One hundred and seven persons have sent in paid up applications for membership in the State Forestry Association since the last issue of the North Woods. That means 107 new subscribers to the North Woods. That makes a total of 208, a jump of more than 100 per cent in thirty days. And there is still a major- ity of the rangers to be heard from. Help us increase the membership of the Forestry Asso- ciation. If you know of anyone interested in forestry send us his name. We will do the rest. 20 $ Woodland flowers of the Midland North By D. Lange 1 ANY one who visits the evergreen forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan is struck by the strange flow- ers, which carpet every sunny spot and frequently grow also in the shade of birch .and balsam as well as on the spongy moss-beds of spruce and tamarack swamps. The strangest of all woodland flowers is the pitcher plant, so-called from its pitcher-shaped leaves. These leaves grow in the form of a rosette in the peat-moss and each leaf forms a wide-mouthed pitcher and can hold from one-half to one and a half ounces of water. The leaves are catch-basins for live insects, which are drowned in the liquid and partly digested; so we have here a plant which reverses the general plan of nature; it is not eaten by animals, but does itself prey on animals. How the Insects Are Entrapped. The methods and mechanism for entrapping unwary in- sects are very remarkable. Near the edge of the hollow leaf is a purple rim, from which a sweet liquid is exuded. This rim, however is very slippery and in addition is covered with short, downward-pointing bristles. The hungry insect finds the footing very insecure and soon slips into the watery trap below. It now makes frantic efforts to escape, but the inner wall of the pitcher is so smooth that a drowning fly might as well try to crawl up the wall of a smooth china pitcher. Soon the unhappy fly or bug ceases its struggles, the soft parts of the body are dissolved in the liquid, and the pitcher plant actually eats him up by absorbing the dissolved flesh. The flowers of the pitcher plant are as unique as its leaves. The dark brown petals of the nodding flower form a com- plete rain and dew-proof tent over the numerous stamens and the odd leaf-like pistil. The flowers, however, live on friendly terms with the insect world, furnishing both food and shelter to numerous small creatures that carry their pollen from one blossom to another. tl Labradore Tea Leaves Interesting. One of the most common flowering shrubs in open, marshy places is the Labradore tea. It is a small bush, with an abun- dance of loose white flowers. Its leaves exhibit an interest- ing adaptation to its environment. The upper side is smooth, but the edges are turned down and the lower side is covered with a dense brown fuzz. Leaves are the lungs *of plants and it is quite important that they be not clogged with rain or dew. No matter how heavy the dews, how frequent the rain and how long the brush is wet, the lower side of these curled and fuzzy leaves, where the breathing pores are located, will not be wetted. Many other marsh plants are similarly pro- tected against the clogging of the breathing pores by rain and dew. The most common and conspicuous flower of the North woods is the partridge berry, or dwarf cornel. In the early summer it forms beautiful carpets of white and green along the old trails of Indians and Hudson Bay trappers. Wherever a fallen tree, fire or ax has made a clearing it spreads its cheerful colors until the stronger trees and shrubs rob it of the needed sunlight. Cornel and Smilax are Abundant, And later in the season when the blueberries are ripe and invite bird, beast and man to eat and feast, our little green cornel will not be outdone by any mere lavishness of food. It now has changed its white flowers into bright crimson berries, and grouse, spruce hens and other birds accept the invitation to help themselves and in return they scatter the nutlet seeds of the dwarf cornel far and wide, so that the North woods will never lack the white and green rugs wher- ever the sun can shine on a bit of open ground. Associated with the pretty carpet cornel is the two-leaved smilax. Sometimes it is scattered among the cornel, but gen- erally it prefers a more shady place, where the boughs of balsam and pine soften the strong light of summer. 22 Dwarf Cornel and Leaves of Clintonia Two Flowers Not to be Overlooked. Two other delicate flowers the nature lover will not pass by — the deiicate white starflower and the fragrant Linnaea. The Linnaea is a delicate trailing vine carrying an abundance of small pink bells. The pretty flower is named in honor of the great Swedish botanist Linnaeus, who discovered it on a botanizing trip to Lapland and arctic Norway, and was de- lighted with its fragrance and exquisite beauty. Another flower that will even strike the casual observer as peculiar to the North woods is the Clintonia. In contrast to many of the Northern woodland flowers this is a vigorous plant with two smooth leaves and a scape of pale greenish- yellow flowers. While is by far the most predominating color of the North woods flowers. Cornel, smilax, white star, Labradore tea, mountain ash, shadbush and thimble berry all deck them- 23 selves in pure white, the color most conspicuous in all kinds of weather and in all kinds of light. Bees Do Not Inhabit North Woods. In one respect the naturalist might be disappointed. The insect guests of these delicate white flowers, are not, bees, but flies and faking flies at that. In no other places have I found mimicking flies so numerous and so early in the sea- son. A few forest insects mimic bumble bees but most of them have adopted the wasp pattern, which consists essen- tially of black and yellow stripes. There are few wild bees in these woods, where the air is often damp and cool, where rains are frequent and copious and the summer season rather short. It is not a good land for bees and in many regions no escaped honey bees are found at all. So the flies have taken the place of bees, but have adopted the color and markings of bees and wasps which undoubtedly saves many a "flower fly from the fangs of lurking spiders who are the dread of all small unarmed insects, but who in turn live in mortal terror of a host of formidably armed wasps, and shun any insect that looks like a wasp, and wasps are not rare in the North woods. Sermons of Beauty in These Flowers. In midsummer or autumn nearly all these flowers invite the birds to dine on fruit or berries, blue, red or white, and well have the birds repaid their hosts. These delicate flow- ers that look as if they had no means of spreading even into the next township, completed the journey around the globe many thousand years before the intrepid Magellan started on his historic journey. The delicate starflower, the little smilax, the fragrant Linnaea and a host of North woods flowers and shrubs, not only fringe trails, streams and lakes in the United States and Canada, but they are equally at home in the for- ests of Northern Europe and Asia. There are sermons and beautiful stories and mysteries in the flowers that bloom along the northern trails and the most beautiful thing about them is that the stories will never be all told and the mysteries will never be all solved. 24 $ News and Views of the North Woods I There will be unexcelled fishing in Minnesota's northland lakes and rivers this year according to the reports received at the office of the state forester at the capitol from the rang- ers. The lakes and streams will be well supplied with water and at present it appears that a better than the average stage will be maintained during the fishing season. There is an average of three and one-half feet of snow in the North woods — more than at any time last season — the snows of the late winter having been of especial benefit, doing away with the possibility of a drought, at least until late in the season even if there should be a scarcity of rain during the summer. The presence of abundant moisture will also serve as a blessing to the settlers and for several months will eliminate the danger of forest fires. Notice has been received from Washington that the $10,000 appropriation for the protection of forests at the headwaters of navigable streams will be available this year. This aid is given the states under the Weeks law, which was passed two years ago. The money is to pay the salaries of the 48 patrol- men in the danger zone. Minnesota is in no danger of spring floods along the Mis- sissippi and tributary streams this year. This is due pri- marily to the extended system of dams and reservoirs at the headwaters of the Mississippi established during the past ten years by the federal government. These reservoirs impound the flood waters during the spring and under ordinary circum- stances a sufficient quantity is held to keep the river two feet above normal throughout the balance of the season, making the river navigable from St. Paul to Central Iowa. 25 The Great Northern Railway Company has under consider- ation a project calling for the construction of a line from Ake- ley on the Great Northern to Warroad on the Canadian North- ern, and running through Itasca State Park. A large part of the proposed line has already been graded by logging roads, and it is said local capital is ready to aid in the construc- tion of the line. If the Great Northern will not build the road the Canadian Northern has promised to look into the project. There is 300,000,000 feet of fine white pine timber around Red Lake which will be tributary to the proposed line, which will also traverse one of the richest agricultural tracts in the state. The Red River Lumber Company has a logging road run- ning from Akeley to within two miles of -Douglas lodge in Itasca State Park. It also built a road from Shelvin south to within seven miles of the state park. The rails on this line have been taken up but the grade is still there. Thus it would take only nine miles of grading to connect the two lines and touch the north and west ends of Lake Itasca/ Lumbermen of Spokane are seriously considering the adop- tion of the wireless telegraph as an effective aid in fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. On the success of a test to be made this spring by the Marconi company in one of the forests near Spokane hangs the future of the wireless as a means of fire fighting. Special apparatus will be placed on the trails used by the forest rangers who will carry emergency serials to be strung between two high trees at any point in the woods. By this means it is proposed to have reported to the central station any incipient blazes, so that fire fighting squads may be rushed to the scene in time to prevent the fire from gaining any headway. Turpentine from Western yellow pine, says the Department of Agriculture, can be put to the same -uses as that from the long-leaf pine of the Southeast, which furnishes the bulk of the turpentine of commerce. Western yellow, pine forms enor- mous forests in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific coast states, 26 A 65-Foot Wooden Tower at Torfin. Roseau County, Minn. Cost, $45.00. while the 'supply of long-leaf is fast melting away. A product very similar to turpentine can be obtained also from pinon pine, another tree common in the Southwest. Careful tests made by the department have shown that the yield of turpentine and rosin per season from Western yellow pine in Arizona is only two-thirds that. from the Southeastern pine, the difference being due to fact that the season of flow in the West is about 25 weeks, and in the South about 33 weeks. During the Civil War, when turpentining operations in the South had virtually ceased, some operations were car- ried on in California to meet local needs. But with the return of the Southern product to the California market, the West- ern operations were abandoned. The results of a chemical examination of the oils of West- ern yellow, pinon, digger, sugar, and loge-pole pines which have just been published by the forest service in an official bulletin show the possibilities of the rosin and turpentine from Western yellow and pinon pines as a supplement to the present supplies. Economic problems of markets, transporta- tion, and labor remain to be solved. Information as to how the 'forest service secured the yields upon which the analyses were based is given in another bulletin on the possibilities of Western pines as a source of naval stores. Western hemlock, says the Department of Agriculture, de- serves a better opinon and more general use than it now ob- tains. Intrinsically it is among the most important of West- ern woods. The wood of Western hemlock has generally been consid- ered an inferior one chiefly because of the prejudice created by the name, which has caused it to be identified with East- ern hemlock. Tests by the forest service, however, show it to have 88 per cent the strength of Douglas fir, one of the country's chief construction timbers. In fact it is often mixed with Douglas fir and used for the same purposes. The wood is practically free from pitch, has a handsome gain, takes paint and stain well, and works smojothly. It is suitable for sash and door stock, furniture, interior finish, framing, flooring, boxes, barrels and pulp. In bridges and tres- 28 ties it can be used for all but the heaviest construction. When properly treated with preservatives, it is a valuable cross-tie and pole wood. According to Forest Service Bulletin 115, the best stands of Western hemlock are found in the coast region and through the Cascade Mountains. The bulletin further gives the results of tests by which the mechanical properties of Western hem- lock have been determined, and tells of the different uses to which the wood is adapted. Because of the extent to which private agencies are now collecting lumber price data, the secretary of agriculture has decided to discontinue publication by the forest service of its quarterly issue of mill and wholesale lumber prices. When the government began to publish these compilations detailed statistics upon production, consumption, and prices were available for all of the great industries which produce and handle raw materials, lumbering only excepted. Many of these statistics were being gathered by the federal govern- ment, particularly the monthly crop reports and cotton re- ports. Prior to 1905 the lumber industry, then fourth and now third largest of the country, lacked even annual statistics of production. In that year a compilation of the lumber cut was started by the forest service, with the. co-operation of the bureau of the census. Authentic records of prices of standard grades in the centers of distribution did not become available until 1908, when the forest service began its record of whole- sale prices. This record, by leading markets, was published monthly until November, 1910. Since then it has been com- piled and published on a quarterly basis. After a year's publication of market prices there was a gen- eral demand for the compilation of prices at the mills, since the market quotations included freight and other costs sub- sequent to manufacture, and did not show the prices received by manufacturers. In July, 1909, the forest service began a quarterly publication of mill prices of lumber, which except for minor changes in species and grades has been continued without change until the present time. 29 Within the past two years lumber associations and other agencies have taken up actively the work of compiling and publishing lumber prices in most of the lumber-producing re- gions. Under these circumstances it is considered unneces- sary for the government to continue this work, except to the extent necessary for its own information. The Shelvin lumber interests have purchased the holdings of the Weyerhaeuser company in the vicinity of Bemidji and Crookston. This means the passing of the Weyerhaeusers from that section of the state. The deal involved about $5,000,000. The Shelvin company will immediately start the erection of a new $100,000 mill. Logging operations will be pushed with renewed vigor. It is expected that the timber remaining to be cut and sawed will be disposed of in the next twelve years. William H. Weller, a patrolman in District No. 9 died on April 1 and was buried two days later at Menagha. The lumberjack has been metamorphorized into a "river pig." Spring has come, the ice on the rivers in the northern part of the state is beginning to go out, and will it comes the exodus of the lumberjack. Lumber companies, who are unable to get their timbers out by rail, are accustomed to pile it up on the frozen river. When the ice breaks up the lumber begins to move. Then does the cutting cease, the lumberjack is no more and the "river pig" takes its place. Equipped with spike shod boots, Mackinaws and peavy poles some 25,000 are now on their way down the various streams in the north- ern part of the state, conveying vast flotillas of logs, prevent- ing jams, forcing the stray and tary logs back into the center of the stream and otherwise earning their springtime name. 30 £ Over the River and Through the Woods i OVER the River and through the Woods, To a Forest Fire we go, With shovel and ax and rake and packs To put out the fire, you know. Over the River and through the Woods, Oh, how the wind does blow, But we fight the fire as the flames go higher, With a lot of vim, you know. Over the River and through the Woods, Oh, how the fire does go, But it came to the break Made by Shovel and Rake, And out it went, you know. Over the River and through the Woods, A Ranger with his horse must go, As the Telephone rings and the Mailman sings, There is a fire in the woods, you know. Over the River and through the A Patrolman in a hurry must go, He goes over the ground like a hunting hound, For there's smoke in the air, you know. Over the River and through the Woods, As straight to a fire we go, The notice was sent as away we went, By the Town Patrolman, you know. Over the River and through the Woods, When we get the word to go, There is Cox and Tierney and Hanson, the Clerk, We all have to get in the harness and work, To help put out the fires, you know. — A. C. DePuy, Park Rapids. May J. according to a proclamation issued by Governor I'.ber- liart, has been set aside for Arbor Day this year. Arbor Day is the one day of the year given over, in all parts of the state, to the [''.anting of trees. The date this year is two weeks later than usual, and it is hoped that, especially in the northern part of the state, inhere the opening of the season is later than in the south- ern part, a more general observation mill be secured by the shift- ing of the date. Trees insure a companionship which is deep, lasting and visible, and every citizen of the state is urged to aid, in some manner, in saving to Minnesota, her trees, which have played such a great part in her history. 32 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. MAY, 1913 Number 5 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of that organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treas., care State Forester's Office, State Capito), St. Paul, Minn. GEORGE AKERSON. Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of Augufet 21, 1912. CONTENTS A Call to Arms - The Laws of 1913 - - 4 What the Legislature did for the Cause of Forestry 8 The Good Sportsman's Prayer - 12 The Summer Forestry School in Itasca Park 1 3 The Promised Land of the Summer Vacationist - 1 6 Improvements — Temporary and Permanent 24 News and Views of the North Woods - - - 29 s A Call to Arms $ TO Those Who Live in Forest Regions: A great responsibility rests upon every one of you. The state looks to you to help care for the trees, to assist in the work of forever putting a stop to the disastrous fires that have devastated miles upon miles of the most beautiful country in the world. We think of the disasters at Hinckley, Chisholm, Baudette and Spooner with horror. Knowing of what has happened, oftentimes through mere carelessness, we should all prepare to do our little part in preventing the recurrence of such disas- ters. At the beginning of the season when fires are easily started, let us gird ourselves for the fight. Every citizen of the forest regions in Minnesota should make himself an assistant forest ranger. A forest ranger is ever on the look out for the small fire that may be smoldering but may need only a high wind to transform it into a con- flagration. If every citizen will do the same thing, if he will report every small fire that he sees, if he will give his time and energy towards helping the rangers, then the time will come when the forest fires will be a thing of the past. Let us guard carefully the trees that God has given us. Let us remember that the forest fires mean not only- the destruc- tion of property worth millions of dollars but oftentimes the loss of life. The battle is near at hand. Let us be ready for the fight. Then may it be said at the end of the season, that the residents of the north, by their co-operation with the state forest service, have prevented a repetition of those disasters which are a part of the state's darkest history. ADOLPH O. EBERHART, Governor of Minnesota. 1 The Laws of 1913 $ HE would indeed be a pessimist who could not see in the laws of the last legislature a bright prospect for the cause of forestry in Minnesota. Almost all of the bills proposed by the state forestry board were passed and the appropriations, viewed in the light of past years, were generous. A number of needed alterations were made in the old law to increase its efficiency, and strenghten the weak spots discovered in the two years it has been in ope ation, and some new features were added to it. Twenty-five hundred dollars was appropriated for the care and maintenance of Burntside State Forest, a 28,000 acre tract, in the beautiful lake country around Ely. This little forest is an ideal summer resort country and is altogether too little known. It is hoped that the building of trails, the improve- ment of portages and the complete protection of the tract from, fire will improve its attractiveness. The constitutional amendment providing for the purchase of non-agricultural lands is one of the most important acts of the last legislature so far as the cause of forestry is concerned. It is one that should receive the endorsement of the people at the polls next election. Itasca park received the lion's share of attention. Strange as it may seem the lumbermen still own a large part of the timber within the park limits. The source of the great Mis- sissippi, an object of interest to the whole United States, and a spot beautiful on account of its forests, it has in the past been impossible to impress upon the legislature that it was no less than a sacred duty to purchase this timber and preserve the forests for future generations. At last the realization has come and the legislature of 1913 has appropriated $250,000 for the purchase of the private lands and timber within the bound- aries, making the park a park in fact instead of a patch on the map. To increase the attractiveness of this beautiful public play ground a further appropriation of $5,000 was made for the introduction of some elk. Since the forest is to be pre- served it is only right that some of the elk which at one time made their home in the western part of the state should be brought back. Twenty-five thousand dollars was provided for the building of roads and fire lines in Koochiching county in co-operation with the state highway commission. This was a most com- mendable measure. The badly over taxed county cannot afford to build the roads which are necessary for its proper development and the fate of the settlers around Baudette has made the people timid about settling in the large, unbroken and unprotected forests. Such a policy will do much to en- courage the agricultural development of the better types of land. It could wisely be extended to other counties. Let us here register one criticism. As is so often the case in a large deliberative body the legislature allowed the promi- nence given to certain details to befog the main issue and failed to increase the appropriation for the maintenance of the state forest service. Originally when the service was created in 1911 an annual appropriation of $150,000 was asked for. These figures were based on actual needs and not padded in expectation of a cut, but in spite of that fact they were cut in half. Partly on account of favorable weather conditions and partly due to the faithfulness of the state forest rangers the fires have been greatly reduced since the passage of the bill two years ago. Probably this was the reason that the legislature refused the request for the increase this year. Owing to the development work done in the past two years the Service is in much better shape to handle the fire situation then they were before, but even so the force of men is entirely inadequate and the policy of economy in this regard will prove short sighted and expensive in the end. Aside from the bills carrying appropriations there were several very important laws made. Among them the law per- mitting towns, cities, and towns to establish municipal for- ests and empowering them to acquire lands for that purpose either through gift or purchase. There are -great possibilities in this. Around many of the towns bluffs and other poor qual- ity land can now be acquired cheaply. This land if devoted to the growth of timber, will some day, and not a very far distant date, bring in large revenues to the towns. There are towns in Germany which pay no taxes at all, the municipal forest pays all the bills. It is to be hoped that many towns will take advantage of the opportunity. Another important measure was the addition of the state forester to the state timber board. Certainly no such board would be complete without him. It is a common weakness of state governments that they do not make proper use of their trained men in their administration. This is a step in the right direction and there are several others of a like nature which should be made. These are the most important features of the new laws and they are good. We must not expect too rapid progress along a strange and new road, and the legislature deserves congra- tulations on the great advance that they have made. There is, however, still something to be desired. It is to be hoped that the next legislature will begin where this one left off, that they will make it possible to increase the ranger force to an adequate footing and that they will make some law provid- ing for the acquisition of non-agricutural lands for state forests which after all must be the true basis of permanent forestry work. There are millions of acres of land in the state which is better adapted for the growth of timber than anything else. It is capable of producing a large revenue for the state, of adding handsomely to the state's development. It can never be acquired cheaper. It is our chief complaint against the legislature that this movement was not started this year. Ill the Spruce Country— Falls on the Brule River, Cook County, Minnesota 2 What the Legislature did for the Cause of Forestry $ When the legislature of 1913 adjourned on April 24, ten chapters relating to the cause of forestry had been added to the laws of the state. One of these laws provides for the submission of an important constitutional amendment to the voters at the next general election. The other laws in- clude appropriations for state forests, the buildfng of roads and fire lines, the strengthening of the forest act of 1911, and additional duties for the state forester. The constitutional amendment provides for the setting aside of non-agricultural state lands for state forests. This amend- ment is one of the important accomplishments of the legis- lature in this field. It is one of things that every one inter- ested in the work will support. The amendment reads as fol- lows: "Such of the school and other public lands of the state as are better adapted for the production of timber than for agri- culture may be best set apart as state school forests, or other state forests as the legislature may provide and the legislature may provide for the management of the same on forestry principles. The net revenue therefrom shall be used for the purposes for which the lands were granted to the state." Forest Law is Materially Strengthened. The forest law of 1911 was materially strenghtened by amend- ments made in Chapter 159. A number of weak spots in the old law had been discovered during its two years of operation. These were remedied in the new chapter. For example the law with respect to slash disposal was strengthened so that in case of failure on the part of companies to dispose of the slash, the state may do the work and collect in a civil suit or oy a lien on the land or timber products. The state Forest Service is given more authority in forcing fire protection on the part of the railroads. The railroads must 8 hereafter keep a careful record of all engines inspected and must install a regular system of fire prevention and protec- tion over each road. The railroads may also be required to maintain fire breaks along certain dangerous portions of their rights of way. The term "forest reserve" has been replaced by the term "state forest" as a result of one of the laws passed by the last legislature. Chapter 86, Laws of 1913, makes this change. The term "forest reserve" has conveyed the impression of some- thing "being withheld." The new term "state forest" conveys the idea of "being used." It has been felt for some time that the term "reserve" created a misapprehension on the part of many who believed that the true conservation was the actual using. Notices of Logging Operations. Hereafter notices of logging operations must be sent to the state forester before such operations begin. Chapter 114 of the new laws not only provides that the state forester must be notified before cutting begins but it further provides that no- tices must be posted in conspicuous places near the scene of the operations. The notices must contain full and complete description of £he lands proposed to be cut, the length of time in which the cutting is to be done, etc. These notices must be kept posted during the entire time that the cutting is going on. Anyone violating this law will be guilty of a misdemeanor and will be liable to a fine of from $25 to $100 or imprisonment from 20 to 90 days. Municipal Forests Possible. Municipal forests in Minnesota are made possible by Chapter 211 of the laws of 1913. Any city, village, or towns may accept donations of land for forestry purposes. The donor of not less than 100 acres will be entitled to have the forest bear his name. If a majority of 'the voters of a city, village or town, so direct, the governing bodies of such municipalities may purchase lands for forestry purposes. The state forester is authorized to approve the selection of the lands and the plan 9 of management. An annual tax of five mills on the dollar is permitted under this law for the purpose of procuring and maintaining municipal forests. The state forester is now a member of the board of timber commissioners. Chapter 383 provides that the governor, the state forester the state treasurer, the state auditor and the attorney general, shall make up the timber board. In passing this law the legislature recognize the need of expert advice in the sale and disposal of the state's timber. Heretofore, the matter has been in the hands of the other four officers named. Itasca State Park Favored. One of the most important measures passed by the legisla- ture in this field was the one providing for the purchase of land and timber in Itasca state park. Chapter 531 provides for the issuance of certificates of indebtedness amounting to $250,000 for this purpose. The forestry board to secure by "gift, purchase or condemnation," all lands and timber in the park not now owned by the state. It was a surprise to many legislators to learn that the state did not own all of the state oak at the headwaters of the Mississippi. The management of Itasca State Park is placed in the hands of the forestry board under the provisions of Chapter 559 of the new laws. The board is authorized to appoint the cus- todian of Douglas lodge and to lease the property upon such terms as shall be agreed upon by the board and the persons so employed. The board is given the right to prescribe the rates to be charged to the public, etc. The board can also ap- point a superintendent of the park. The sum of $250 was ap- propriated for the building of a kitchen at Douglas lodge. The forestry board is given general supervision and control over the game and fish in the park, and is directed to take the nec- essary steps for the protection of the same. In order to make the state park more attractive the sum of $5,000 was appropriated for the purchase of a herd of elk to be placed in a reserve there. The elk in Minnesota have practically disappeared and the purpose is to reinstate the species. The elk will likely be purchased from the govern- 10 ment which wishes to remedy the congested conditions of the herds in Yellowstone park. Burntside State Forest came in for its share of attention at the hands of the legislature. Under the provisions of Chapter 273, the sum of $2,500 is availble each year for the next two years for the building of roads, fire lines and trails and for the care and maintenance of this forest. Appropriation for Roads and Firebreaks in Koochiching County. The legislature appropriated $25,000 for the building of roads and firebreaks in Koochiching county. This money is to be expended under the joint supervision of the state forestry board and the state highway commission. This appropriation was made after it was found that it would be impossible to appropriate a sum of money equal to ten cents per acre of state lands located in that county. A number of bills were drawn up but upon examination each one was found to be un- , constitutional. The fact that there is so much state land in the county makes it difficult for the settlers to bear the heavy burden of building roads and firebreaks. The solution of the problem was to appropriate $25,000 for the use of this one county for the building of roads and fire breaks, so that the state lands might be protected. $75,000 a Year for the State Forest Service. The omnibus bill carried the regular appropriation of $75,000 a year for the work of the State Forest Service. This is the same amount that was appropriated two years ago. An in- crease had been asked for this year in order that the force of rangers could be increased and placed on a firm basis. 11 The Good Sportsman's Prayer (Reprinted from Outing, May, 1913.) Make me strong to endure and patient under failure. Give me steadiness of eye and hand and sureness of foot Endow me with the eye to see and the soul to appreciate the colors of the sunset, the strong lift of the racing wave, the growing green of the tree-tops, and all the sights and sound that make the outdoors potent to heal and to inspire. Give me hope in the morning and content at the end of the day. Above all, make me a good sport, prepared for good and bad luck alike, as ready to spare as to kill, rejoicing most of all in the wild life that crosses my path and goes scathless on its way. 12 $ The Summer Forestry School in Itasca State Park I UP in the forests at the headwaters of the great Mis- sissippi, in Itasca State Park, the junior students of the college of forestry, University of Minnesota, have already taken up their summer's work. The junior class is required to spend the summer at the branch school located there. The forestry board has permitted the college to establish a school within the confines of the park, feeling that the state would get as much benefit from having it there as the students receive from being permitted to study in that region. The heads of the school have no authority in the management of the park, but their advice is often sought by the superintendent in charge. An Effective Fire-Fighting Force Provided. So far as Itasca State Park is concerned, the coming of the students each year means much. In that great forest area fires are often started. What better protection could be found than 15 or 16 young men under the direction of expert for- esters? The young foresters make up one of the most effective fire-fighting forces in northern Minnesota. If the fire is in the immediate locality of the park, the settlers can go on with their own work, knowing full well that the fire-fighters will be at work. It is only as a last resort that the settlers themselves are called in to assist. It is of the greatest importance that the forests at the source of the "Father of Waters" be protected. The first aid in such protection is the presence of a well trained, efficient fire fighting force. Such a force is furnished by the presence of the school of forestry in the park during the season when fires are most likely to start. Important as is the necessity for fire protection, there is still another type of protection that comes in for a full share of attention. The fires destroy in a day but insects and tree diseases will just as surely destroy in time. 13 A Road Around Sturgeon Lake College Has Its Own Nursery. The college of forestry has its own nursery in the park, 'irees are raised and set out. This nursery, which is like a laboratory, is in charge of a competent instructor. The proper development of the state park necessitates the planting of trees on the burnt over and old cut over areas. This is done by the students who go there each summer. It is one other phase of the protection of the forests that the col- lege of forestry is responsible for. During the months that the students are in the park, the peo- ple's property is under scientific management. Headed by Professor E. G. Cheyney, and his assistants, the young men r,re taught the real care of a great forest. 14 There are Thousands of Camping Sites Like This in the North What the Students Gain. The relations between .the park and the college of forestry are reciprocal. Each gains from the other. The state park gains through the various kinds of protection afforded it. How does the student gain? Could a better laboratory be found? Isn't actual experience the thing that counts? The student who goes to Itasca Park sees the whole life of a tree. He can study it in the seed form. He sees the small tree, the mature tree, the finished product as it comes from the mill. The experience he gains in every kind of forestry work is invaluable to him. He -only knows how to fight a forest fire who has had the experience. The students who go to the park have a "bunk" house and a "cook" shack. They form a corporation and elect a man- ager and a treasurer. They then hire a cook for the summer. By this means, the cost of living is cut down to the minimum. State officials who have seen the work of the college of for- estry in the park have come away convinced that the state is the gainer. Those who bad the opportunity of studying and working there are convinced that they are the gainers. 15 1 The Promised Land of the Summer Vacationist * IN the land of the "sky-blue" water, — northern Minne- sota, to be exact, — the summer vacationist finds his para- dise. No other section of the continent offers such a va- riety of vacation trips. Minnesota is fast becoming the recreation state of the Union. It deserves to be the Mecca for the summer vacationists from the central, southern and middle western states. The lakes, the countless streams, the fish, the game, the forests, the unexcelled climate, — all these things are a part of the magne- tic force which is attracting those in search of real outings. As the beauties of northern Minnesota become more widely known, the power of the magnet will grow. The tired city man, his body and brain fatigued from the long winters work, has but to turn to the north and select the portion of the state whither he desires to go. When the pave- ments become hot and blistery, and .the very buildings them- selves reflect the heat, he has but to pack his belongings and start for the north. Does he enjoy a canoe trip? If so, he can select any kind that he likes the best. He can go into the extreme north- eastern portion of the state, up near the Canadian boundary, where the opportunities for canoeing are unexcelled. Here he will find Indian guides to point out to him the best routes to take. He can get right into the wildest sort of a country. To be sure, he will have to pack his own provisions, there be- ing few places where he can replenish his supplies, but that is all a part of the trip. In the Vermillion lake country, and the region to the northeast and northwest, he will find the greatest canoeing region in America. The canoe trips that northern Minnesota offers are so numerous that it is difficult to classify them. A trip on Rainy Lake or Lake of the Woods, on the Rainy River, on the lakes and streams at the head waters of the Mississippi, in the Vermillion lake region, the Lake Park country, in the 16 Leech Lake section, all afford opportunities that are un- equalled anywhere else, and each one differing from the other. The summer vacationist, if he isn't primarily interested in canoeing, asks first of all that he be given a place where he can fish. Go where he will he will find that the Minnesota lakes are stocked with pike, pickerel, muskalonge, bass, etc., and that the streams are full of gamy trout. The fact that once a man has fished in northern Minnesota means that he makes it an annual trip, tells the story better than mere words could tell it. In the proper seasons game of all kinds can be hunted in northern Minnesota. The big game,— moose, deer, bear, — and the small game, — ducks, geese, grouse, snipe, prairie chicken, — can be located easily. But that is another story, to be told at another time of the year. Just now the vacationist is look- ing for the fishing places, the starting points for his canoeing trip, etc. In order that he who reads this little magazine may have some sort of an index to the places where he can secure ac- commodations, a list of stopping places, and summer resorts and guides has been compiled by rangers engaged in the state forest service. The list is accurate, though not complete. It can, of course, be only a partial list of the places in the great land of the north, but it will serve its purpose if it proves to be of help to anyone planning a vacation trip in the "real vacation country" of America. For the purposes of classification, northern Minnesota has been divided into specified regions, viz.: the Lake Park region, the Vermillion Lake region, the Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods region, etc. The names of the summer resorts, the guides, etc., in the following list are given on the best information and can be relied upon. The Lake Park Region. This section includes the counties of Douglas, Otter Tail, Hub- bard, etc. By stopping at any station, lakes will be found nearby. Every lake teems with fish. Pike, pickerel, bass, and some muskies are to be found here. In the streams there is trout. There are more beautiful summer resorts in this section than in any other. The following are a few of the places to go: 17 Dorsett — Pine Cone camp ($2 per day, $12.25 per week). Guides ($2.50 per day). L. Thomas, C. Thomas, W. Alm- quist, P. Sites. Detroit — Hotels on lakes. (Rates $2 per day, $10 to $12 per week). Shoreham, Eddy, Fairhaven House, Nason Bay, Midland Beach, Fair Hills, Kings, Jarvis. Hotels in town: Minnesota, Colonial, Lakeside, Weiss. Perham — Grand View Heights ($2 per day, $10.50 per week). C. W. Eckes. Park Rapids — Stone's Resort on Fish Hook lake ($2 per day). Hackensack — North Star Camp ($2 per day). Hotel Endeavor ($1.50 per day). Guides for cinoe trips furnished on short notice. Hotel Lakeview, Chas. H. Woods, prop. ($1.50 per day). Gus Kalander, cottages furnished, $15 per week. Guides available for canoe trips. Lewis Nelson, Si Swimm, Chas. Turner, Mr. Jensen, Earnest Johnson, M. S. Morical, C. Swanson, Pete Goff. Hotel Chase, Lake Shore and White City hotels (rates $2 per day). Mantrap — Pike and Mantrap camps ($2 per day, $10.50 per week). Guides ($2.50 per day). E. S. McMahon. R. Aller, O. McMahon, Vernon McMahon, E. Rosengren, M. Morse, Frank Clausen, M. Jerrys, A. Wamboldt. Hubbard — Mark Delaney, private house. Crescent Beach camp, on canoe trip from Akeley to Mississippi ($2 per day), guide's ($2.50 per day). Emory Wood, Milan Tripp, Jesse Hendrickson. Akeley — Moor's Spring (rates reasonable). •* * * The Lake of the Wood* Region. The Lake of the Woods contains thousands of islands. The scenery is unexcelled. Canoe trips, lasting from a few days to an entire summer can be taken in this region. The fishing is all that could be desired. The bass, pike, muskie, sturgeon, etc., abound. There is good trout fishing. The summer resorts are not so numerous here but there are a few. Camping sites are easy to find. The persons mentioned here will give informa- tion. Warroad — J. C. Comlins and S. A. Selvog, either have cottages for rent or can furnish accommodations. Guides (rates $2 to $3 per day). Al Jewel. Phil Goodwith, A. Johnson, W. W. Eastman. Zippel — V. A. Jacobs; cottages, tents for camping parties, etc. W. Zippel; accommodations for camping parties, etc. Hackett — Alonzo Wheeler; sites for camping parties at Wheel- er's point, accommodations, etc. * * * The Rainy Lake ami Rainy River Region. No other section of Minnesota is so picturesque. The canoeist, the camper, the fisherman, all find opportunities for enjoyment here. The islands in Rainy Lake are many. Fish of every de- scription is to be found. The muskie, the bass, the trout, etc., are waiting for a battle with man. Guides can be secured at International Falls and several other places. Kettle Falls — Will Randolph; $8 per week. Rose hotel, $10 per week. Rainy Lake City — Two hotels, $12 per week. 18 International Falls — Several hotels. Ed Eck has cottage on Rainy lake. Captain Bedell also has a cottage to let. Guides, Harvey Gale, Johnnie McLeod, William Bearing. Ranier — Guides, Jim Sedore and Al Elsworth. The Cass Lake Region. This section is the natural home of the muskie. Other fish of the gamy variety are to be found in every lake. The lakes all contain the black bass. Trout streams are numerous. This section is just north of Leech Lake. Camping sites are avail- able everywhere. The canoe trips are unequalled and varied. Cass Lake — Star Island Inn; accommodations for 70 guests. Rates $2 per day. Special rates to people staying one week or longer. Boats, canoes and launches rented at reason- able rates. Robert Jarvis, cottages on Little Wolf lake; Wilson Bros., Norway beach; D. M. Larson, boat landing; H. H. Martin, will take tourists. Ferris — Peter McGuire, Big Wolf lake, will take vacationists. Kitichi — Horace Lydisk, Fred Leveraux, will take care of tour- ists. Turtle River — O. A. Johnson, Cottages to rent; Mrs. Mary Gal- lagher, farm house to rent; Nels Otterstad, Anne Dough- erty, Albert Utich, J. Schriseth, Mike Walters, can furnish accommodations. Bemidji — John Moberg, Adolph Kline, P. J. Russell, A. H. Jes- ter, L. G. Prendergast, W. Gray, can all furnish accommo- dations on lakes near Bemidji. Some have cottages and others farm houses. There are a number of good hotels in Bemidji where accommodations can be gotten at rea- sonable rates. Poposky — Boarding house on Mud lake; Mrs. Warner, prop. Redby — Boarding house on Red lake; Pat Cassin, prop. Marcell — W. A. Stickler's; accommodations for 30 people. Guides and boats. Rates $2 per day; special rates for week or more. Forest Lodge, Mike Metelsky, prop., located on Club House lake seven miles from station. Rates $2 per day. Special rates for week or more. Popple — Frank Vance; rates $1.50 per day. Guides and boats at reasonable rates. Mack — D. C. McDougal; rates $1.50 per day. Boats and guides. Ball Club — William Tibbets; rates $1.50 per day. Guides and boats at reasonable rates. Grand Rapids — Martin Brothers, accommodations for 50 per- sons; $2 per day. Inger — William Gibbs, $1.50 per day. Boats and guides. Jessie Lake P. O. — Ed Pifher. Pines Station, Big Fork, Wirt, Inger, Bowstring, Jessie Lake, Effie, Popple, Deer River, Marcell — Postmasters at these towns will give information regarding accommodations, etc. * * * The Mille Lacs Region. Pike, bass, pickerel, perch, trout and in many places muskies. The lakes and streams are almost innumerable. The accom- modations in this section are all that could be desired. It is a fisherman's paradise. 19 -L.ibby — Aitkin county, go to McGregor on N. P. or Soo Rail- ways, drive 17 miles; stage goes to Libby Monday, Wednes- day and Friday. Lakes: Sandy, Boot, Aitkin, Bass, Rice, etc.; Rivers: Mississippi, Savanna, Prairie and Sandy. Hotel, prop. Al Torry; $1 per day. Excellent camping on islands in Sandy lake. Guide, Jno. Tiessen, Libby. Maplehurst — Aitkin county; Soo railway. Lakes: Rice. Riv- ers: Rice, Farmers; $1.50 per day. No guides. Axtell — Aitkin county; Soo. Lakes: Round and Rock. Rivers: Sandy. No hotels; can go to McGregor three miles. Good camping sites. Aitkin — Aitkin county; Soo and N. P. railways. Lakes: Ce- dar, Farm Island, Bass, etc. (too numerous to mention. Rivers: Mississippi and Mud. Hotels: Willard and Foley, $1 to 2 per day. Cottages can be rented at Cedar Lake and ideal lake to camp or spend an outing. Write to District Ranger, Aitkin. Good guides. Wahkon — Mille Lacs county; Soo railway. Lakes: Mille Lacs. Rivers: Rum, Snake and Knife. Hotels: Rex, $2 per day. Resorts: Isle, Malmo, Cove, $1.50 per day. Cottages avail- able. Good guides. Onamia — Mille Lacs county; Soo railway. Lakes: Onamia, Shakopee, Mille Lacs. Rivers: Rum. Hotels: Three, $5 per week. Resorts: South Shore hotel. Kathio. Cottages and boats on all lakes mentioned. Good guides with dogs. Malmo — Aitkin county; reached by team or auto from Aitkin or Wahkon. Lakes: Mille Lacs. Rivers: None. Holds: Swan Nyquist, $1 per day. Excellent camping sites. Wealthwood — Same as Malmo. Nichols — Aitkin county; N. P. or Soo to Aitkin, then by auto or livery; remainder of description same as Malmo. Waldeck — Aitkin county; livery or auto from Palisade or Ait- kin. Lakes: Esquagamah, Round and Waukenabo. Riv- ers: Mississippi. Hotel: Waldeck, $1 per day. Blackhoof — Carlton county; Soo railway. Lakes: None. Riv- ers: Blackhoof. No hotel accommodations. Nemadji — Carlton county; Soo railway. Rivers: Several trout streams. No hotel accommodations. Moose Lake — Carlton county; Soo or N. P. railways. Railway' accommodations are good from here to Blackhoof and Ne- madji trout streams. Lakes: Moose lake. Rivers: Moose Horn, Nemadji and Blackhoof. Hotel accommodations good; $2 per day. Palisade — Aitkin county; Soo railway. Lakes: Red. Rivers: Mississippi and Willow. Good hotel accommodations, $1.50 per day. Remer — J. A. Coates, Big Island Lake. Rates. $2 per day. Guide** John Tiessen, Libby, Minn. Fred Jenkins, Aitkin, Minn. Emery Hurt, Jacobson, Minn. Arthur Kempton, Aitkin, Minn. John M. Johnson, Thor, Minn. J. W. Clark, McGregor, Minn. Vincent Clark, McGregor, Minn. Arnt Kalberg, Redtop, Minn. Bernie Carlson, Isle, Minn. John Swing, Glen, Minn. Anton Hanson, Wealthwood, Minn. Sid Fetterly, Wealthwood, Minn. Elmer Olsen, Glen, Minn. 20 Cottases and Farm Homes on Lakes. Clear and Sugar Lakes — Fifteen mile drive from Aitkin. Stag«, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Excellent fishing, good boats, etc. Address: Mrs. E. E. Barhite, Glen, Minn.; or District Ranger, Aitkin, Minn. Pine Lake — Aitkin county, 15 mile drive from Aitkin. Stage, daily. Good fishing and hunting; can have meals with Mrs. W. H. Marsh at Cutler; can camp in tents upon their prop- erty adjoining the lake, free use of boats included. Ad- dress: Mrs. W. H. Marsh, Cutler, Minn.; or District Ran- ger, Aitkin. Big Sand Lake — 2% miles west of Rentier; Soo Line. Fish, pick- erel, pike and perch. Game, excellent duck hunting, fine rice beds. Rates: $2 per day for board and sleeping cot- tage; also have excellent cottages for $1 to $2 per day. Rice Lake — Aitkin county; take N. P. or Soo to McGregor. Excellent camping places. Good rice beds for duck shoot- ing. Address: District Ranger, Aitkin, Minn. Cottages can also be rented. Cedar Lake — Camping and outing; good fishing; 5 miles from Aitkin; an ideal camping place; cottages can be rented. Address: District Ranger, Aitkin, Minn. Nisswa — Hotel at Booming Out Bay, Gull lake, George Rardin, prop. Lage tents for guests, boats, etc. Launch meets train at Nisswa. Hotel and individual cottages at Mud Bay, Pelican lake; Solomon Markee, prop.; boats, etc. Au- tomobile meets train at Nisswa. Hotel, Webster Hill, prop. Reasonable rates. Bay Lake — Many good hotels at reasonable rates. Jenkins — White Fish lake, Piney Ridge summer resort. Hotel and individual cottages. Lake is good for campers. Outing — Crooked lake; hotel accommodations, W. H. Andrews, prop. Boats and teams at reasonable rates. Every inland lake alive with black bass. Pillager — P. Peterson's place on Pillager brook. Trout fishing. Backus — Line Mountain lake; hotel accommodations and boats. Merrifield — Hotel, George Russell, prop. Cottages can be rented from F. S. Parker, Brainerd. * * * North Shore Country. This section and the country adjacent to it is unique. It is oftentimes mountainous. The vacationist who desires the high- lands will find them here. There are many lakes all of them teeming with fish of every variety. The gamiest trout in the land are found here. The canoe trips are wonderful. There are not so many accommodations but the camper can always find what he wants. At Vermillion lake and on the Northern boundary of the state there are a few stopping places. Ely is the starting point for camping and canoe trips in all directions. The Appalachian country cannot compare with this for canoe- ing, camping and beautiful wilderness. Beaver Bay — North shore, Lake Superior. Postmaster R. H. Slater has good accommodations. Place reached by steam- er from Duluth three times a week. Farmers along shore have accommodations. Postmaster will answer questions along this line. 21 Saginaw — Grand lake, one mile from Saginaw station. James Scanlon, Saginaw, Minn., will give information regarding accommodations offered, camping sites, etc. Island Lake — Island Lake Inn, reached by team from end of Woodland avenue car, Duluth. Proprietor will quote rates upon application. Miscellaneous. Hill City — Hill lake, accommodations at Commercial hotel, $9 per week, or at private houses. Boats rented at reason- able terms. Pokegama Lake — Pokegama Lake hotel, $10 per week. Boats reasonable. Coleraine — Arcana hotel, $9 per week. Trout lake near. F. D. Ford acts as guide occasionally. Swan Lake — Hotel; Frank Stalley, prop., rates about $7 per week. Boats to let. Guide. Prairie Lake — S. H. Randolph's place. Rates reasonable. Good boats. Hibbing — Sturgeon and Side lakes, north of Hibbing. Accom- modations at Side Lake hotel, Joseph Bodrean, prop. Boats at reasonable rates. Guides. 22 ft Improvements —Temporary and Permanent By William Kilby s THE policy of the Minnesota Forest Service is a construct- ive one, and therefore in order to carry out this work of construction it was necessary to erect, as it were, a scaffolding from which the actual building could be per- formed. With the fact in mind that there are approximately 15,000,000 acres of land in the state of Minnesota that can be more profitably employed growing trees than for any other purpose, you can get some idea of the magnitude of the task. The object of our forest service is to secure to the commu- nities and the state, both now and in the future, the greatest returns from our forests. It is obvious that inasmuch as tree growth is a comparatively slow process, so also must be the constructive work of the service, that tends to preserve and perpetuate tree growth. The work that the service has done and is doing is more or less of a temporary nature. The scaffolding will be removed when the building is completed. When looking at a fine struc- ture we forget the scaffolding which was of such importance during the constructive period. .And so it will be with our forest work, the preliminary work will be forgotten, but on its success and completeness will depend the safety of our finished structure. In starting out to upbuild and maintain our forests, it was first necessary that we should protect what we already had, both merchantable timber and young growth. The forest has one enemy which easily outdistances all others, namely — fire. The causes that produce fires may be natural or artificial. Fires which originate from natural causes, such as lightning, do not exceed two per cent of all the forest fires occurring in this part of the country. For the remaining 98 per cent, attributable to artificial causes, man is more or less directly responsible, either by carelessness or by accident. 24 Five Things Up to Service. Knowing this, the service was confronted at the outset with these propositions: 1. To educate the people of the dan- ger resulting from the careless use of fire. 2. To reduce that danger by preventing the accumulation of debris in the for- ests 3. To provide the necessary means of travel to facilitate patrol work and the conveyance of the fire-fighting force. 4. To provide a means whereby fires can be readily detected and located; and 5, to provide the quickest means of communica- tion, so that sufficient help can be obtained with the least delay. These are the main parts of the scaffolding from which the building is being erected. Public's Education Is Being Accomplished. Let us take the various planks as it were, and study them briefly. 1. The education of the people has been and is be- ing effected in several ways, by literature, by earlier expe- riences of forest fires, and by contact with an organized state- maintained-fire-fighting force. This is the most important part of the scaffold, the foundation which must be continually attended to. The fact that people have been told once of- the aims and object of the service is not sufficient. We are one and all forgetful, and unless vitally interested in any par- ticular project we invariably forget anything that has only been told to us once. The importance of the fact that forestry must progress must be borne in mind. People must be kept informed of our progress, they must not forget the lessons inculcated at the outset, and this is best accomplished by an active and intelligent field force, together with an up-to-date literary record. This then accounts for the appointment by the forester of the rangers and patrolmen. Duties of the Forest Ranger. 2 The duties of these men are principally the prevention and suppression of forest fires. They are given authority to enforce the forest law, and as prevention is better than cure, 25 their first duty along this line is to prevent the accumulation of slashings and debris by effective methods of brush dis- posal. The methods necessarily vary with the timber condi- tions, and in regard to this we must consider that slash dis- posal is an added expense, and that we are affecting an im- portant and necessary industry. The slow tree growth ap- plies to slash disposal, our methods must be introduced care- fully but surely, we must not rudely thrust expense upon the persons operating in our forests. Any new proposition is always looked on skeptically, and it is only by persistent ef- forts that we can expect to attain a degree anywhere near approaching perfection. 3. From the fact that the greatest fire danger presented itself in that part of our great North woods sparsely settled, without trails or roads, and practically untraversible except to experienced woodsmen, necessitated the opening up by the forest service of trails and canoe routes. In some places these were old and unused, overgrown with brush, in other places new routes were made in order to shorten distances between isolated settlements. These trails and canoe routes serve a dual purpose. They facilitate and expedite the work of the service and they are important as a means of ingress and egress for the settler. Watch Towers in the North Woods. 4. The watch towers are an important part of the patrol- man's equipment. The usefulness of a tower was governed by height, accessibility by roads or trails, and present or ulti- mate telephone connection. There are 115 towers built by the service in Minnesota and 75 per cent of these are con- nected by telephone with the various rangers' headquarters. The balance or 25 per cent will be connected during the com- ing year. The connection by telephone or telegraph of every watch tower with rangers' headquarters, and with the for- ester's office acting as a clearing house for all messages, will be accomplished in the very near future. 26 Wireless May be Used in Fighting Fires. 5. The means of communication throughout the North woods had heretofore been only as rapid as a man could travel over the rough forest trails, or as fast as he could paddle a canoe along the streams. It needs no argument to convince even the most skeptical that if we are going to successfully fight any fire, we must commence the work of extinguishment at the earliest moment. It would appear ludicrous to a city dweller to walk to the fire engine house to give information of a fire, and then for the engine and equipment to proceed in the same leisurely fashion to the scene of the fire. No, we must adopt the most expeditious methods consistent with the funds at our disposal, and so the telephone is being used as part of our communication system. It is only a part of the scaffold, the day is not far off when it will be laid aside for a more efficient method. Wireless telegraphy is being seriously considered for use in the forests, and there appears no reason why its practicability should be questioned. Canoes are used by forest officers in patrol work, and in places where gasoline launches can be used to advantage they have given excellent results. Co-operation of Pubfic Necessary. That effective methods governing forest preservation may be adopted, which shall tend to reduce and control forest fires, and perpetuate tree growth in order that our timber wealth may be conserved and profitably exploited, both for our pres- ent people and for coming generations, there is one part of the scaffolding which will be moulded irfto the finished build- ing,— the education of the public. We cannot expect results if we fail to secure the co-operation of the majority of the people, and they in their turn cannot be expected to take a lively interest in the aims of the forest service unless they are kept informed of its policies and ideals. 27 In the Rugged Country of Northeastern Minnesota News and Views of the North Woods The Canadian Forestry Association will hold its annual meeting at Winnipeg, July 7 to 10. This is the first regular forestry convention that has been held on the prairies in Can- ada, and it is expected that there will be a large attendance of delegates from both the farming and the lumbering industries, as well as representatives of horticultural and game associa- tions and those who take a general and patriotic interest in forest conservation. Not only will the delegates discuss the question of farm- ers wood lots and the possibility of the growing of timber on waste sand lands, but the possibilities of the western timber reserves will be fully debated by experts from both Canada and the United States. State Forester W. T. Cox, of Minne- sota, is on the program for an address. It is expected that a number of persons from Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wisconsin and Michigan, will attend the convention. Information regarding the convention may be secured from James Lawler, Canadian Building, Ottawa, Canada. The City of Hornell, New York, is establishing a municipal forest. The city's reservoir will be surrounded by 30,000 trees, to be planted under the direction of Professor John W. Stephen of the state college of forestry, located at Syracuse. Hornell is following the example of Syracuse, the latter city having started a city forest last year. Syracuse set aside 150 acres of land to be used for a city forest. A party of students from the forestry school spent the summer there making a careful estimate of the timber and making a forest map of the tract. At Hornell, the trees will be planted by the students in the high school. * * * After several clashes with the state board of immigration, H. J. Maxfield, commissioner, resigned his position. The 29 resignation was to take effect August 1, but the board saw fit to accept it at once. Various versions are given of the differ- ences that have existed between Mr. Maxfield and various members of the board. Following the first reports of the resignation the Twin City newspapers were filled with state- ments and counter-statements sent out by Mr. Maxfield and the board. One of the chief differences seems to have been the method of making public the names of prospective settlers. Fred Sherman, for a number of years, chief clerk in the im- migration department, has been appointed to the position of acting commissioner. Many applications are being received for Mr. Maxfield's place. It is unlikely that the board will make a choice of a successor for some weeks. Mr. Maxfield has announced his intention of entering the land business. State Forester Cox, in an address delivered at Macalester college on Arbor Day, emphasized the attention that should be given to the birds. He said in part: Some people may wonder why we give attention to birds in connection with tree planting and the consideration of forests. To my mind, this association is very appropriate. Birds play an exceedingly important part in the life of a for- est and even in the life of groves and individual trees. Trees have a continual fight for existence against hordes of de- structive insects, and it is upon the insect-eating birds that the trees must depend for their defense. Not only do birds make possible the existence of woodland, but they oftentimes play an important part in the actual reproduction and exten- sion of the forest. As an illustration of this may be men- tioned the spread of heavy seeded species of trees. It is prob- able that the range of the beech and the oaks was extended many hundreds of miles through the agency of the passenger pigeon, which fed upon the beech nuts and the acorns. In this connection might be mentioned also the close relation- ship between certain other animals and forest trees. The walnut, the butternut and the hickories were undoubtedly ad- vanced in their range and made more important factors in the forest by the gray squirrel, which had the habit of actual- 30 ly burying or in effect planting the nuts of these trees. The passenger pigeon was one of the common birds of America up to about thirty years ago, when the last great rookery was invaded by market hunters, who slaughtered these useful birds for food. The species is now absolutely extinct. The gray squirrel, formerly one of the most common animals of the woods, is now extinct throughout nine-tenths of its former range. This matter of the disappearance of wild life, partic- ularly bird life, is worthy of our most serious consideration. Each year sees a reduction in the number of our song birds and insect-eating birds. If our legislature only understood what the presence of these birds means to the agriculturist, there would be some radical changes in our laws. If the average citizen understood more of the every-day life of the birds in our fields and woodlands, there would be a quick change in the attitude shown our feathered friends. The Forestry Club at the state university held its sixth annual banquet at the West hotel, Friday, April 18. Dillon P. Tierney was the toastmaster. There was a sale of government land in the Red Lake re- gion at Bemidji, May 12. The lands are Indian lands that have been reclaimed. People who are entitled to homesteads are permitted to purchase such land. The land is sold for the cost of ditching plus $1.25 per acre which goes to the Indians. The number of subscribers to The North Woods is growing. Get \n\lo the game and help to get more. We want to reach the 500 mark. 31 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. JUNE, 1913 Number 6 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of that organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treas., care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. GEORGE AKERSON, Editor. State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 24, 1912. CONTENTS What We Think of Things 3 Education and Roads 6 Good Roads and the Elwell Law - - 1 1 Progress Made in Roadbuilding - 16 That Constitutional Amendment 20 The Game and Fish Laws of Minnesota - 26 The Problem of Slash Disposal , 29 A Land Clearing Convention - 3 1 News and Views of the North Woods - - - 34 s What We Think of Things — Editorial Comment £ THE NECESSITY OF GOOD ROADS. THE question of good roads is not receiving the attention that it deserves in Minnesota. As in so many other cases the causes can be traced to a mistaken prejudice —the very last thing that should affect the opinions of an educated community. Because the automobile clubs of the cities are pushing this movement the farmers and horse- driving public generally become prejudiced against it on the basis that it is something exclusively for the benefit of the rich. A Mistaken Idea Prevails. This is altogether a mistaken idea. It is true that the auto- mobile clubs want the good roads and will be enabled to enjoy more pleasure and extended tours when the improve- ments are made. But to them it is a luxury. The real econ- omic benefit will come to the farmers and others who use the roads in their business and must use them whether good or bad. One mile of bad road often cuts down the hauling capacity of a team fifty per cent on a twenty-five mile trip. European experience furnishes examples of instances where the building of a few miles of good road have increased the profits of a community hundreds of thousands of dollars. The benefit came to the draymen and not to the automobile driver. Every farmer should put his best efforts into the movement and welcome the aid that he can get from the automobile clubs for the benefit is really all his. Present Road Laws Good. The present state road laws have put the possibility of good roads well within the reach of the people everywhere and at a very low charge. The proposal of building a concrete road from the Twin Cities to Duluth at a cost of $11,000 per mile staggers the average citizen. He opposes the proposition 3 without further thought, and yet this magnificent road could be built at a cost of just five cents an acre to all the benefited area. Every load of grain which a farmer hauls over that road would more than pay his tax through the in- creased efficiency of his team. Roads Needed to Develop Summer Tourist Trade. Nor is the farming community the only one that is benefited through good roads. Our great undeveloped Northland has great possibilities. Summer tourists drop some $9,000,000 annually in the Adirondacks. More than it could produce from any other source. It is a legitimate business. Pew of our own citizens know it, but there are portions of Northern Minnesota which are in many ways equal to the Adirondacks. They are capable of producing quite as high a revenue in the same way and are kept from it largely because they are in- accessible and comparatively unknown. Once put a few good trunk roads through that country and the summer tourists would flock in like Bo-Peep's sheep and like them would leave their "tales" behind them. It would be the best advertising the country could get, would bring in millions of revenue that is now given to other less at- tractive sections of the country and would change some of the beggared settlers who are trying to earn a bare exist- ence from that niggardly soil into portly, well-fed landlords. What Good Roads Mean. Good roads mean increased profit on every farm, increased pleasure for the automobile parties, decreased cost to the con- sumers, of farm products and untold wealth to some of the more barren sections of the North. No one would be excluded from those benefits and all should combine their efforts to ob- tain them. Don't hold back because a man you don't like is go- ing ahead, it will only make you hate him more and put him farther ahead of you. The state roads are good roads and any district which does not use up every cent of those Elwell and Dunn appropriations that they can legally get should consider themselves disgraced. s Education and Roads By Miss Anna Shetland, Supt. of Schools, Koochiching Co. $ RE you going back next year?" "I think not. I like the work. I like the people and have never taught where I felt as great a desire to return. But walking the roads there is too much like swim- ming for me." This remark heard from the train as a teacher said "Good- bye" to a friend at Baudette brought to my mind many simi- lar conversations that had come to me during the previous months as I sought to re-hire teachers and I became uncom- fortably conscious that during a wet season there were few places in the county or in the entire North country where the teachers could reach their schools and not get wet unless they were dressed especially for the trip. Roads the Great Need. This together with the fact that many of our schools were closing late because of enforced vacations during last fall's wet season made me wonder if there was any one thing more needed for the advancement of school work in our country than roads. My answer came from all points with a decisive "No," as I thought of the children and teachers wading half way to their knees in mud and water in order to reach the school house. Let me give you some of the answers that come to my memory. "There is no use of my asking the teacher to go to our school this week. We hate to lose school but she simply can't get there. I walked in water half way to my knees every step of the way and worse in some places." The teacher who resided in the country answered: "If he can get in, I get out." She went, but her next letter said: "It 'was over my knees in many places and I was soaking wet to my waist before the first mile was covered. I would have 6 been afraid of drowning if I had not been used to it and had company. It is hardly better now. No child has reached school this week without being wet and as I write the roof of the woodshed has twelve pairs of shoes and as many socks drying in the sun. When I close the door at night the last thing I see are twelve pair of dry shoes waiting for the chil- dren's return." Conditions the Same in Many Places. This is typical, I am sorry to say, of almost all the schools of Northern Minnesota during the fall and spring. I doubt if there is a single school where shoes are not drying in the sun or beneath the stove. During late fall this is a menace to the child who gets wet and the children who are in the room breathing the steam from the drying leather and wool. Another teacher wrote: "I might as well close school. Out of 15 enrolled I have had two this last month in actual attendance. You cannot blame the parents or children for they would have to wade knee deep to get here and all are under ten years of age." Some of the difficulties facing the school boards can -be seen in these two protests from the same place. The old school house is not safe and a new one badly needed. The first one says: "Please don't locate the school house on T place. It is central, I admit, but all the children will have to walk one and one-half miles and be wet every day. Please let the peo- ple near the old school use it again and build us a new one s© our children wont have to walk so far. The other two fam- ilies can be boarded as they will be two miles from either school." The second protest says: "Please don't build any new building here yet. We can get along a couple years and then we want a consolidated school. Of course, our road is not ready yet but the new river road will place where three schools can be united and we want consolidation. We can't afford to send our children away and we want them to get all that is possible from the home school." Consolidation the Great Cry. Consolidation is the cry from all over the county. The school board can raise the money, they could hire the teach- ers, they could furnish a good education to the children, it' they only get the children to the school, or in other words, — if they only had roads. Consolidation as soon as possible means good roads, noth- ing more nor less. Good attendance means good roads, nothing less. Good teachers mean good roads so they can get into th-B country and be willing to stay there. Our entire education and community life itself is depend- ent upon this one thing. My dear friend of the South, do you realize what our roads and how much is needed to make them equal to your poorest? Our roads are simply a trail with ditches caused by wagon wheels, stumps everywhere or holes where the stumps have been removed. In some places the ditches have been con- structed to carry off the water but unless the stumps have been removed and the road graded at the cost of about $1,000 per mile, we have not even the poor beginning of which we should be so proud. One of my fellow workers in a county that has attained such beginnings said to me, "Our county has better roads than yours. I drove 16 miles today. We got stuck four times and the horses got down once but the rest of the road was good. We couldn't trot much, but those were the only places we had trouble." And yet all Northern Minnesota would be glad if they only had such roads. One good dirt grade road leading into each township would be a source of great joy if it led to a good trunk line. Roads Will Bring Other Things Desired. Development associations have been formed throughout the state to develop the state's holdings, general farm conditions and trade. Consolidation is being pushed and is recognized as the only thing that is advantageously changing rural con- ditions. Immigration is being encouraged at the expense of every city, corporation and the state itself. Yet the one thing that would develop the state's holdings the most, the one thing that would develop farm life into a prosperous occu- pation, that would furnish good trade for our business men, that would impress immigrants favorably and keep them in the country, and that would help develop the children into useful men and women, is lacking when good roads are not supplied. Help to obtain these and you will help develop the state and the nation into a greater usefulness. & The Camp Fire By Victor Shaw (Reprinted From Field and Stream) 1 Roaring and crackling merrily, the leaping flames Fling back the velvet curtain of the night, Painting the bearded canopy of somber pine With ruddy gold. A drifting yellow flight Of blazing stars spangle the shadows, winking out Like fire-flies, and smoke-wreaths veil The silver-studded heavens, fold on fold, Phantoms of forest wealth, dim shades that trail Gray rohes among their sleeping progeny. The night-wind pauses, sighs, and glides away, And deep within the glowing heart that radiates The prisoned magic of another smiling day, Those rosy dreams, fast falling to decay. The Wron-i Way to Build ;i Fire Good Roads and the Elwell Law By Senator James T. Elwell of Minneapolis THE Elwell Road Law was enacted for the purpose of building leading roads throughout the State of Minne- sota, and to do it in a large and comprehensive manner, so as to connect city with city, and village with village, and to give to the citizens of each county easy access to their market towns. The general plan embodies the idea of getting into one lump sum for each county of the state, enough money at one time to build the main arteries of travel for each county. By its provisions any county in the state may build $200,000 worth of good, permanent road which will not only aid the farmers of such county in getting to their market town, but will also be an example to them of the kind and character of road which can and should be built to connect with these main arteries. General Provisions Are Simple. The general provisions of the bill are simple, although the machinery is quite lengthy and explicit, as that feature of the bill is provided for by adopting the main features of Chap- ter 230 of the 1905 Ditch Law. Under the proviisons of the Elwell law, the state pays one-half the cost of the road, the county one-quarter, and the benefited property the other quar- ter, each having ten years in which to make their respective payments. The county is made the financial agent and it issues the bonds or certificates of indebtedness of the county payable in from one to ten years for the entire cost of any and all roads to be built within the county limits, thus pro- viding for the payment of any and all roads to be built under this law. Each road or system of roads to be built will have the ad- vantage of having the cash on hand to pay for the improve- ments as they are made. 11 All roads, after a careful survey and proper advertisement, will be let to the lowest bidder who will give the proper bonds assuring the county and the State Highway Commission that the work will, be done satisfactorily, and in accordance with the plans and specifications of the State Highway Commis- sion. It is expected under this plan of procedure to interest large contractors who have the proper machinery and equipment of every kind for grading and building roads, thereby saving the county under our present plan of building roads from 33 % to 50 per cent. The time has passed when the farmer de- sires to work on the road, as he can make more money by attending to his farm duties, and the man of large experience with proper machinery can do the work for from one-third to one-half of what it will cost the farmer to do the same work. Then, too, the large contractor with his heavy machinery traveling over the road while it is being built, will be able to roll down a new road so that when completed, it will be as compact and as good for travel and heavy hauling as an old road. This has already been demonstrated under the provi- sions of the Elwell law in Winona county where the first con- tracts were let for practically $116,000. The contractors have demonstrated that they can haul, with their up-to-date ma- chinery, gravel and road material for from ten cents to thir- teen cents per yard per mile, when the hauling from the same pits .and under like conditions costs from thirty-five to fifty cents to* haul with teams. The large contractor has the advantage of using his heavy machinery 23 MJ hours out of 24 each day without crippling the efficiency of his plant; and where all of the material is han- dled with steam shovels, and wide-tired wagons with self- dumps, it can readily be seen it is easy to do this work for from one-third to one-half the ordinary cost and yet be able to pay his men who do the work large enough wages to sat- isfy them and to insure their earnest and faithful co-operatioij in completing the work. 12 Procedure Under the Law. In proceeding under this law; first enlist the co-operation of the County Commissioners ;by petition or otherwise and make a preliminary survey which need not be expensive, by a competent engineer and file this preliminary estimate of the cost of the improvement with the County Auditor, and a copy of the same should be filed with the State Highway Com- mission. The County Commissioners should then approve the road, afterwards, the Highway Commission approving same. The next step would be for the final survey of the road which could be made by the State Engineer or by a compe- tent engineer whose work would meet with the approval of the Highway Commission. After a proper hearing before the County Commissioners, and a determination to build the road, viewers are appointed by the County Commissioners to spread the assessment of one-quarter of the cost of the road. These viewers are three in number and must be men who are not in any financial way interested in the construction of said road. The assessment may be spread in the discretion of the viewers any distance which is proper and right and where they think there is benefit. Plan For Northern Minnesota. In Northern Minnesota, the general plan is to spread the assessment three miles either side of the center of the road, and on a good gravel road, costing $1,500 per mile, the as- sessment averages one cent an acre per year for each of the following ten years with interest on same. A good gravel road costing $1,000 per mile with assess- ment spread two miles either side of the center of the road would be the same amount, or, if spread three miles would be less than three-fourths of a cent per acre. No farmer that we have ever seen has objected to the amount to be assessed against his land under the provisions of this law when he knew exactly the amount which would be assessed to him for benefits, as in nearly all cases this kind of a road would save him in hauling his produce to the mar- ket several times its cost each year, besides the added pleas- ure of driving over a good road. 13 Everyone Interested in Road. One of the good features in this road law, is that everyone is interested in its cost and construction. The state, because it pays one-half; the county, because it pays one-quarter; the individual benefited and living near the road, because he con- tributes his share of the last quarter of the cost of the road. With everyone interested, with money in hand to pay for all work when it is completed, a good road should be built at the right cost. What May Be Done Under Law. Finally to sum up what may be done under this law, the State of Minnesota is at the present time able to build $21,- 000,000 worth of good road, or more than $200,000 worth of good road in each and every county of the state, and if we put into operation this law to its fullest extent, we double the value of every acre of land in the state, provide ourselves with all the main roads necessary, and make Minnesota a leader in good roads. 14 Progress Made in Roadbuilding in Northern Minnesota By C. M. King, Deer River PRESIDENT C. M. KING of the Northern Minnesota De- velopment Association, in his report on the progress made in road building in Northern Minnesota, given at Hinckley, June 5, said: "From all over Northern Minnesota letters come to me asking after the progress being made in the establishment of Elwell roads. The system includes a highway running from Duluth to * the Twin Cities; from the Twin Cities by way of Lake Mille Lacs to International Falls; from the Twin Cities by way of Itasca park to the same city on the north; from Duluth by way of Brainerd to Moorhead; from Duluth by way of Bemidji to East Grand Forks and St. Vincent; from Breckenridge to Crookston; from Deer River to Nort- home; from Brainerd to Moose Lake and some shorter roads. All the roads proposed intersected with all the other roads and the system as it stands is an interlocking and interest- ing system. "The view of the good roads committee of your association in planning and pushing forward this work is briefly this: The town supervisors, being charged with the duty of build- ing roads in their respective townships should have before them the map and topography of their township and so con- struct the roads, within the township, as to furnish a com- plete system of roads for the entire town, serving the great- est number of residents at the least possible expense. Complete Co-Operation in Road Building. "The county commissioners, in their respective counties, should in measuring up to their high duties proceed exactly along similar lines, using only the county administrative unit instead of the town. The state highway commission being charged by the law with the duty of building roads for the state, should have the state as a whole before it in the con- 16 templation of building roads for the eri^hfe State money collected by taxation "from 'all" over "the state should be used only to build state roads and state roads should mean roads that conserve the highest and best in- terests of the entire state as a unit. "The Elwell roads furnish the example of the state, county, township and individual co-operating in the building of high- ways. We are opposed to the idea of building roads, radiat- ing from each little village as a hub, like the spokes on the wagon wheel, realizing that no matter how rapidly that wheel might revolve every felly would hold its relative position to the hub. That is, such a system of roads affords only one market for all the farmers tributary to that village, and offers no opportunity for communities to become acquainted with each other. Work Ready to be Started. "Everyone of the highways mentioned at the beginning of this report have sections of their road almost ready to begin work upon. The Duluth-St. Vincent has the most im- portant sections because the most expensive to build, namely, those portions through St. Louis and Itasca counties, as far forward as could be expected in the little more than a month in which we have had to work, since the adjournment of the legislature. The section through Itasca is completed up to the report of the appraisers on which notice for final hear- ing will be immediately made. I may say here, as an evidence of what the highway commission can do under the Elwell law and what it intends to do, and what may be accom- plished by using this statute — that this road through Itasca county will cost $116,680.09, or within a few dollars of this sum as the estimate. "The road costing this sum will be perfectly drained, grad- ed to about a 3 per cent grade, and topped sixteen feet wide with gravel or crushed rock, well rolled in with heavy rollers and built under the direction of experienced engineers and the constant supervision of inspectors. 17 J JtLJ ^J,1V^' : A, Rosy Future in Store. "This will make a road over which a farmer can haul 100 bushels of grain or vegetables with an ordinary team of horses. Imagine if you can what Northern Minnesota will be like, what the counties in this association will be like when the system of roads laid out shall have been completed. The International Falls-Twin Cities roads is practically ready for notices from the International Falls to Itasca state park. Indeed the notices for the first hearing have already been given by the auditor of Koochiching county for that section of the road, from. International Falls to Northome. Koochi- ching and Carlton have the greatest number of miles of roads approved. 18 Road to Forest School in Itasca Park frl That Constitutional Amendment s THE last legislature gave every one interested in the cause of forestry in Minnesota an opportunity of show- ing the exact depth of that interest. By proposing an amendment to the constitution which, if approved by the people, will make possible the setting aside of non-agricul- tural public lands for forestry purposes, the lawmakers put. the matter squarely up to those most interested to create pub- lic sentiment for the amendment. Amendments Difficult to Pass. It is a difficult thing to pass a constitutional amendment in Minnesota. A majority of all votes cast at the election is necessary to approve an amendment. For that reason the task that confronts the members of the Minnesota Forestry Association and everyone else interested in this work is a monumental one. There could be no more important work set before us. It is only by "tackling" the big things that big things can be accomplished. There is so much to be said in favor of the proposed amendment that everyone should familiarize him- self with the benefits that would come to the state by its passage. What the Amendment Will Do. The amendment provides that such school and other public lands that are better adapted for the production of timber than agriculture shall be set aside for forestry purposes. The money accruing from this method of caring for the public lands is to go into the regular funds. A much greater revenue will come to the state if this amendment is passed. Moreover, the revenue will be con- tinuous. At the present time the non-agricultural lands are 20 being sold and when there are no buyers for it, it simply re- mains as so much land going to waste. Timber raising is profitable. When timber can be grown on this land, isn't it better for the state to devote the land to the raising of trees? By this method the state would have a source of revenue that would never run out. At a meeting of -the executive committee of the Minnesota Forestry Association recently held at the state Capitol, it was unanimously decided to start an active publicity cam- paign for creating public sentiment in favor of this amend- ment. The help of every interested person and newspaper is solicited. Resolution Adopted by Committee. The following resolution was passed at the meeting of the executive committee: Whereas, the legislature has seen fit to propose an amend- ment to Article eight of the constitution of the state of Min nesota; and, Whereas, said amendment authorizes the setting apart of such of the school and other public lands of the state as are better adapted for the production of timber than for agri- culture, thus giving to the state funds a greater revenue as well as a continuous revenue, instead of following the present short-sighted policy of selling non-agricultural lands; and, Whereas, this proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors of the state for their approval or rejection at the next general election for the year 1914; now, therefore, Be it resolved, that the Minnesota State Forestry Asso- ciation, through its executive committee, heartily endorses said amendment; and be it further resolved, that they urge all members of this association to use every effort to give publicity to the amendment, that the same may be voted upon favorably at the next general election. 21 'Toting" 1 Minnesota Fishes By Frank E. Force (Reprinted from Soo Line Booklet) s MINNESOTA is the home of inland lake game fishes. From Iowa to the Lake of the Woods, and from the Mississippi and St. Croix to the stormy reaches of Big Stone and Traverse lakes her waters abound with those finny prizes which all anglers most covet, and her lakes and streams afford more sport, perhaps, than can be found within the borders of any other single state of the Union. Trout are to be found here, for the foaming brooklets of the North country are filled with beautiful specimens of the brook va- riety, while in many sections the German brown has thrived in a phenomenal way only a few years after his first intro- duction to our waters. The pike family is well represented, too, with pickerel and the smaller pike in abundance, and the larger fighting members, the muskallonge and Northern pike, each to be found in his favorite haunts, if the angler will take the time and care to hunt them in their respective lairs. Perches are represented by the wall-eye, the sand pike and the yellow perch, while the less important varieties of the sunfish family haunt all streams and lakes and afford sport for the boy just as he is learning the joys of the fields and ponds. Minnesota the Home of the Black Bass. And above all, Minnesota is the home of the great black bass, — big mouth and small mouth, — "inch for inch, and pound for pound the gamest fish that swims," — a single variety of the sunfish family that attracts more sportsmen to Minnesota than all her remaining fish and game birds and beasts do, combined. Then there are the bottom fish, catfish, bullheads, sturgeons, carp, suckers, and many others, and the whole array forms a list that must convince the sports- man that old Dame Nature has indeed been prodigal in her gifts to the lakes and streams of the North Star state. 23 Unquestionably the muskallonge is the hardiest fighter of all inland lake fishes, for the muskallonge not only has seem- ingly unlimited amount of courage, but also usually carries plenty of poundage to aid him in his battles. Near cousin to him in his qualities and size is the Northern pike, that other larger member of the pike group, which often reaches a weight of twenty-five pounds and has gameness enough to test the skill of any angler. But the muskie and Northern pike are not to be found in all lakes. When busy with her scattering hand ages ago Nature seemed to choose certain fixed localities for the implanting of these pirates of the lakes and rivers and these fishes have not spread to any great de- gree since. Many lakes of the Middle West are known as muskallonge lakes, or Northern pike lakes, and as these happen to be rather removed from the trails which the ordi- nary fisherman follows, these fish are sought only by anglers who make their capture a specialty. Trout Streams on the North Shore. Trout fishermen, too, are specialists, for although small brook trout may be caught by almost any child in any one of a thousand streams, the real prizes of the family are only to be found in the streams of the north shore, .and are thus far removed from the reach of the common, everyday angler. Wall-eyes, sand pike and yellow perch abound in numerous lakes and rivers, but these perches are not gamy in a fighting way, and thus we must turn to the sunfish family for sport of many variations and novel thrills. In this group we find the many varieties of sunfishes, the crappie and calico bass, and the rock bass, all easy of capture and furnishing a food fit for any table. Then, as if Nature had meant to give the lie to any who might consider the sunfishes unworthy of no- tice from a fighting standpoint, come the small mouth and large mouth bass, without a question the hardest battling fishes of their size and poundage to be found. Why Bass Don't Bite Early. During the past few years early bass fishing has not been particularly good. We had become accustomed to expect 24 bass to bite in good shape as soon as the bars were let down on May 29, but for one reason and another the best fishing has not come until well along in June. Many reasons have been found for this condition. In the first place, high water has prevailed for several seasons and whatever fish have had an inclination to feed have found plenty of food in the flooded meadows and bayous around the shores. While frogs have been more or less scarce for the past three years, this bait is not to be considered as one of the chief articles of diet of bass and the scarcity of jumpers has not affected materially the supply of food. Shiner and perch minnows, crawfish, bugs and flies of many descriptions are ordinarily very plentiful and the bass, roving close to the shore line, in and out of the grass and weeds, has little trouble in filling his gullet either by day or by night. But this continued great volume of water, perhaps is not the greatest cause of the refusal of bass to take baits early in the season. For some reason or other big-mouth bass appear to be taking more time to their spawning operations than for- merly was the case and during three years have not finished until very late in June. When the female bass are on their spawning beds they refuse to eat, but occasionally will strike at a bait, or in fact, at anything, which comes near them, as bass are very pugnacious in their habits. 25 s The Game and Fish Laws of Minnesota $ THE last legislature made some important changes in the laws relating to game and fish in Minnesota. The state game and fish commission has prepared a con- cise synopsis of these laws together with all of the laws now on the statute books. With the fishing season at its height and the game season coming in the future, it is essential that every sportsman have in his possession this synopsis and the chart prepared by the commission showing the open and closed season for game and fish in Minnesota. They are therefore presented at this time. SYNOPSIS OF GAME AND FISH LAWS. IT IS UNLAWFUL — To kill harmless birds. To hunt deer with dogs. To fish with more than one line. To fish within 50 feet of a fishwny. To break or destroy bird's nests or eggs. To place or receive game in cold storage. To hunt on land of another without permission. To wantonly waste or destroy game birds, animals or fish. To sell fish caught in -lakes of Hennei>in, Kumsey and St. Louis Counties. To ship (except as baggage) brook trout, black, gray or Oswego bass. To obstruct the Commission or its Agents while gathering fish spawn. To carry guns in training dogs during close season on lands frequented by game birds. To deposit sawdust or refuse in waters planted by (Nun- mission or where brook trout abound. To retain game more than five days after close of season unless tagged by Commission. To hunt or carry fire arms in state parks or forest reserve, or to hunt in National forests. To use traps, snares, artificial lights, nets, bird lime, set guns, to kill game animals or birds. To serve bass, wild trout (except lake trout) or any kind of game in hotels or restaurants. To use the hunting license of another person — minimum penalty $50.00 — or to use another's shipping coupon. To kill any game birds or animals in any other way than by shooting them with a gun held to the shoulder. To take fish in any other manner than by angling with hook and line, except that Pickerel, Suckers, Redhorse, Carp, and Bullheads may be speared. 26 To use sink boats, motor boats, launches, sail boats, float- ing- batteries, sunken boxes, tubs or floating blinds when shoot- ing- or to hunt or shoot between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise. GAME LIMITS MOOSE One male antlered Moose (not to be shipped out of the state unless mounted). DEER Resident of state, one deer; Non-resident, one deer. Every hunter must have a Big- Game L'icense. GAME IIIRDS (Resident and non-resident alike . .One day's bag, fifteen birds. Number allowed to have in possession at one time, fifty aquatic fowl; forty-five other game birds. Non-resident al- lowed to ship twenty-five game birds to place of residence. FISH Limit twenty-five in one day; no limit on Sunfish, Perch, Pickerel and Bullheads. Non-resident may take fifty pounds with him to place of residence. No license required of resident for hook and line fishing. Non-resident license fee, one dollar, procured of Game and Fish Commissioner, a County Auditor, or local Game Warden. SALE OF FISH AND GAME SALE OF G A HI 10 Prohibited at all times. It is an offense to sell, offer to sell or to buy game. SALE OF FISH. Allowed during open season, except that sale of brook trout and bass is prohibited. Sale of Pike, Sunfish and Crap- pics, and Perch from waters stocked by Commission is unlaw- ful. SIZE OF FISH ALLOWED TO BE TAKEN Pike, fourteen inches in length or one pound, round weight; lake trout, two pounds, round weight, or whitefish, two and one-half pounds, round weight; Black. Gray or Oswego Bass, nine inches in length; muskallonge, thirty inches in length; other fish except Rock Bass, Sunfish and Bullheads, six inches in length. 27 & The Problem of Slash Disposal By E. A. Lindner $ SLASH disposal was one of the problems for the Minne- sota forest service to face. And it has been a big prob- lem but it is nearly solved. The reason that it has been so hard to solve, is that most of the operators tliat have slash to dispose of do not see the necessity of disposing of it as does the man who owns prop- erty and lives near the slashings. Before the existence of the Minnesota forest service the loggers have always left the debris just as it fell in their operations, and they think they ought to be allowed to do the same yet. This is especially true of the small operators. It has been a campaign of education a case of making them see the necessity of disposing of the slash to protect not only •ethers, but their own property. Campaign Has Brought Results. They have begun to see this now and as more of them realize the wisdom of it, or find out that they will be com- pelled to dispose of the slash whether they see the advisa- bility of it or not, the problem will be solved to a greater extent. After the experience of two seasons I have come to the conclusion that the most effective way of disposing of cedar, spruce, and balsam slash is to burn it in the spring after the snow has gone and before the ground gets so dry that fire will run in green standing timber. Nearly every spring this period lasts from two to four weeks which is ample time to burn it, if people know they have to do it. I am speaking of conditions in this part of the state, viz., the northwestern, here we have good heavy soil and the country is level so the water does not run off fast and does not soak in the ground readily. 29 Of course this plan might not work so well in rolling, sandy, or rocky country. The lopping of tops off of all timber cut is a good plan, and very effective. But it is nearly impossible to get a good job done, and besides it is more expensive, for two reasons. First, the work has to be done in cutting time when men are scarce and wages are high; and second, there is more labor required to dispose of a given area of slash by the lopping process than by burning in the spring. Especially where the timber is thick and it is nearly all cut, "for in a slashing where a thick stand of the above mentioned timber has been cut, the debris will burn in the spring with none or very little piling. But where the stand is thin as it sometimes is in scattering spruce, I think the lopping process the best. Rangers in Slash Disposal. There is another feature to be taken into consideration when the slash is burned, that is, the destruction of young growth of timber. There is no doubt that a great deal of young growth is killed in burning spruce and balsam slash, but not nearly as much as one would suppose. But in the cedar slash very little damage is done to young growth. One reason of this is that nearly all of the timber is cut. Every stick three inches or larger can be used for fence posts. Besides the cedar that is left invariably dies after they lose the protection of the surrounding timber. These slashings grow up to other kinds of timber, nearly always poplar which undoubtedly comes from seed blown there after the cedar is cut. Slash disposal will soon become a solved problem. It is true that no set of rules will work in all cases or in all localities. But the methods are being worked out by men in each district 'whose business it is to find out which is best in his particular locality. Most lumbermen realize that we are trying to help protect them from their own carelessness. 30 * A Land Clearing Convention i A CONVENTION called for the express purpose of con- sidering the problems of clearing land in Northern Min- nesota will be held in Duluth, July 1. Representatives from the 20 so-called "cut over" counties will be invited to be present. Landowners, railway men, merchants, lumber- men, and manufacturers of land-clearing machinery will be present. The idea of holding such a convention grew out of the meeting of the Northern Minnesota Development Asso- ciation at Hinckley, June 5 and 6» The "call" to the meeting, issued by the special committee in charge, follows: The Call to Meet. At the convention of the Northern Minnesota Development Association held at Hinckley, Pine county, June 5th and 6th last, the problems of securing to the cut-over sections of our state the proper methods and necessary financial aid for clear- ing land were discussed. The discussion developed such a wide range of possibilities that it was felt that a special land clearing convention should be held in the near future, and that an attempt should be made to secure representatives from all of the interested peo- ple in the twenty so-calld "cut-over" counties. In accordance with this idea the association appointed a committee of five who were instructed to issue a call for a Land Clearing Convention to be held at Duluth, July 1, 1913. It is estimated that about twelve million acres of land would come under the head of cut-over lands, and it is be- lieved that the demand for these lands which is now assum- ing large proportions will grow as the years go by. Several hundred thousand acres are now held by people who would like to have the same cleared of stumps, but who have not the proper machinery or are unable to hire labor to clear up any part of their tract, and would be only too glad to make the necessary improvements to show its productive- ness. The possibilities of this cut-over land, however, are so 31 well known that it will not be necessary at this time to enter into' discussion of the same. We want to attract to this work the practical, busy man — the fellow who does things. There are years of productive effort ahead of the men who undertake this, and the extent of their efforts lies with themselves. In the clearing up of land, the big fellows must aid the little fellows, both by selecting proper equipment, and the encouragement of large companies similar to those now en- gaged in ditch work, to take up the land clearing work. There are innumerable numbers of firms who are now en- gaged in winter logging and who are partly equipped for the work, and we urge upon them to participate in this meeting. It is our hope that at the^Duluth meeting we will be able to have a representative attendance of the railways, land- owners, newspapers, merchants, lumbermen, banks and man- ufacturers of land-clearing machinery, besides others who would be naturally interested in this work. Your committee feels that the time has arrived when a concerted effort along the lines of land clearing will have a lasting effect on the future of Northern Minnesota. At the next general election a constitutional amendment will be voted on by the people of Minnesota, authorizing the land department of the state to form a revolving fund of $250,000 which can be used for the improving of state land so that if the private landowners and the state will both start on this work, the problem of setting up the cut-over counties will have been accomplished. We, the undersigned committee, appointed for the purpose, hereby announce that a Land Clearing Convention will be held at Duluth, Tuesday, July 1, 1913. And we request that all receiving this notice will endeavor to work up the neces- sary enthusiasm to ensure a large attendance from each and every county interested. Yourg resp€Ctfuilyj F. R. DUXBURY, D. E. WILLARD, GEO. W. EMPEY, CHAS. S. MITCHELL, W. R. MACKENZIE. 32 Improvised Rafts Used by Rangers s News and Views of the North Woods s Professor E. G. Cheney left his work at the forestry school in Itasca state park long enough to go to Montevideo to at- tend the annual meeting of the West Central Development Association, June 13. He delivered an address on "Prairie Forestry and Orcharding." He told of the work being done by the farmers in various sections of the state in planting trees. The meeting was devoted to discussion of methods of bettering the life on the farms. Fred Sherman, for a number of years chief clerk in the department of immigration, was recently appointed as com- missioner to succeed H. J. Maxfield, who resigned after sev- eral clashes with the board of immigration. There were many candidates in the field but Mr. Sherman was selected due largely to his experience in handling the department at various times. The new commissioner has declared that he is anxious to advertise Northern Minnesota as a summer re- sort region. He is already preparing a new booklet on Min- nesota as the place to spend a vacation. The Canadian Forestry Association will hold its annual meeting at Winnipeg, July 7 to 10. Experts from the United States and Canada will be in attendance to discuss the many problems confronting those interested in this important work. State Forester W. T. Cox will be one of the speakers. F. K. Herchmer, district forest inspector for the province of Manitoba, Canada, spent about LO days with State Forester Cox a few weeks ago. He made a trip through the North country with Mr. Cox. One of the things that impressed him most was the growth of young pine. 34 He complimented the Minnesota forest service on its free- dom from politics. He said that if the 'organization in Can- ada could be as free from politics much better work would be accomplished. "I would like to see service as non-political as that in Min- nesota," he said. Thirteen students attending the summer forestry school in Itasca state park attended the annual Chippewa-Sioux peace celebration at the White Earth Indian reservation, June 13 and 14. They "hiked" 60 miles to be present when the In- dians started their war dances, etc. Every year a group of students from the summer school makes the ' pilgrimage to the peace celebration. The canoe races, the war dances, the running races, etc., that the Indians indulge in every year have proved to be a source of interest to all those living within a radius of 50 or 60 miles from the White Earth reser- vation. 35 "ForesT: Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. JULY, 1913 Number 7 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of that organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON. Treas., care State Forester's Office, State Capitol. St. Paul, Minn. GEORGE AKERSON. Editor. State Capitol. Saint Paul, Minnesota Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 21, 1912. CONTENTS Oar Own Ideas About Things .... 3 The Indian Celebration At White Earth . . 5 A Governor's Ideas on Forestry . . . 12 The Problem of the Stump . . . . .15 The Forestry Convention at Winnipeg . . 23 Government Rules for Protection of Game and Migratory Birds ... 27 $ Our Own Ideas About Things —Editorial Comment s THE KING OF THE NORTHLAND. THERE are few people who recognize the true king of the Northern cut-over lands. Truly he must be a strong ruler who withholds these lands from settle- ment decade after decade and laughs at the efforts of the landmen and immigration to fill them with prosperous farm- ers. Some, crazed by the yellow journals, attribute the control of the lands to the trusts who want to keep the land unpop- ulated that they may carry out their nefarious plans in peace. Others take the opposite side and lay the blame upon a short- sighted state policy which taxes the cut-over land to such a degree that one cannot profitably hold on to it. Still others lay it onto the climate, the inefficiency of fire protection, the distance from a suitable market, the quality ot the soil and a dozen other causes. The Stump King Laughs. In the meanwhile the true king laughs silently and holds his hold. For truly the ruler of the Northland is the big pine stump. Land men from time immemorial have belittled his power, have vainly tried to persuade us that he did not exist; have tried, all too successfully in some instances, to explain how easily he can be driven from the country, and have, in their city offices, devised all kinds of unworkable ways of decreasing the cost of deposing him. And yet he laughs and holds his hold. Prairies are all Settled. Had the Northland been a prairie all the other obstacles would have been overcome and the country settled up as has teen the case wherever the prairie exists. Lack of a market did not keep the settlers out of Iowa, an inimical climate did not keep them out of Canada, a -poor soil has not kept them out a part of Nebraska, lack of rainfall has not kept them out of the dry valleys of the West, but the stump has kept them out of the Northland. Land Clearing Expensive. In spite of innumerable prospectuses conclusively proving the contrary, it costs money to clear land, — real money and considerable of it. The average cost of clearing the cut-over lands is not far from $35 per acre, whether it be done by dyna- mite, stump puller or hand labor. Pasturing stump land and waiting for the stumps to loosen their hold is more reason- able, but even then there is only some of the land that is worth it. Stump an Important Factor. Yes, the stump is the king of the Northland and though a little tyrannical is a pretty wise ruler with all, — for he is des- tined to be one of the most important factors in the classifi- cation of land. In order that land be rightly classed as agri- cultural it should pay a higher revenue from farming on its capitalized value than it will from the growth of forests. There is much of the land in the North which would not do this even if it were treeless but would nevertheless be set- tled to the sorrow of many generations of settlers. As it is the stump, by greatly increasing the cost of the land for farming so increases the difference in the capitalized land for farm and forest that it must be put to its proper use. Listen to the Stump King. It is wise to listen to the word of the stump king. Look the question fairly in the face. Acknowledge the high cost of clearing. Wrest from the king the land that is worth it and pass on the rest to another generation of stumps. s The Indian Celebration at White Earth By Percy Keefe § THE life of the Minnesota forest and prairie a century ago when the Indian was lord and master was repro- duced in the vivid forms of simulated savagery last month when 5,000 Chippewa Indians celebrated the forty-fifth anniversary of the settlement on the White Earth reserva- tion. Jointly with that purpose of the occasion, was the fortieth anniversary of the institution of permanent peace between the Chippewa and Sioux nations, the latter being represented at the festivities by 70 of their number from the federal reservations at Devils Lake, N. D., and Sisseton, S. D. Old Customs Resurrected. Indian customs, long since abandoned in the march of civil- ization, were resurrected by the reds to give vent to their tribal sentiments and the proud remnants of a moribund race once more flourished the tomahawk, indulged in the barbar- ous war dance, and filled the air with the weird cries and shrieks that once were the terror of the early white settlers. Forty-five years ago Uncle Sam laid aside several sections in the White Earth district for the use and possession of the Chippewas. Part of it was virgin forests and part of it was prairie. Naturally of an improvident disposition, the reds have sold their interests in the wooded land so far as they could and now possess only the prairie land. It is new and equal to the best in the state from the standpoint of fertility, but the Indians prefer to wait for their allowances rather than till the soil and so many whites have been at- tracted to the country for agricultural pursuits. The Indians, however, never fail to commemorate the set- tling in the region and that of June 14 to 16 was the forty- fifth affair since the settlement. But like their belligerent forefathers, the reds had their domestic differences in celebrating their holiday. The pure bloods and the mixed bloods were at war, and though there were no scalps adorning aboriginal belts, there was a notice- able lack of the peace pipe and two rival celebrations were conducted, one at the trading post and the other at the White Earth by the mixed bloods. The latter had secured control of the committee on arrangements, and the pure bloods, de- prived of representation, withdrew and revelled by them- selves. The differences betwen the two factions are essen- tially political, the pure bloods supporting the administration under Major John Howard as agent and the mixed bloods op- posing those who handle Indian affairs. Major Howard/ per- sonally is acceptable to the mixed bloods but they do not like the methods used in Washington. His diplomacy in the ad- ministration of the reservation affairs has done much to lessen the bitter feeling. The opening day of the celebration, marred to some extent by the factional split was nevertheless attended by the full quota of reds on the reservation, White Earth with its tents and tepees taking on the appearance of an old Indian village. Stalwart chieftians, portly squaws and even papooses strapped to the shoulders of their mothers gathered in the village to celebrate the red men's Fourth of July. Parade a Feature of Celebration. A federal salute started off the celebration after which was the parade. It was led by the Indian school band with the mounted chiefs next in line and a wagon load of squaws gave a vocal exhibition of discord that would give a tuning fork St. Vitus' dance. After the mixed bloods had finished their parade, the other faction marched down from the trad- ing post, in an effort to outdo their family enemies. The pure bloods went through a war dance at the school build- ing, coming down there to attract the crowd to its headquar- ters. Led by their chief, Kahgondaush, they danced for an hour while the musical talent of the tribe thumped a dirge on a drum, and the whole assemblage of celebrants kept up a continuous yelling, denotive of joy but suggestive of carnage. There was not a pigment known to man that did not appear somewhere or other on the faces of the Indians. Their ap- parel was a variegated medley of gaudy colors, while skins, beads, feathers and bells rounded out the aboriginal embel- lishments. The pure bloods then returned to their post, but few of the crowd followed. The whites wanted to hear the speeches and the Sioux brothers from the Dakotas had a yearning from within and the mixed bloods had the neces- sary foodstuffs. The commissary department was one of the busiest spots on the reservation, free flour, pork, sugar and lard being supplied the Indian visitors. Chiefs Gave Orations. The platform program of the mixed bloods was something of an advance from the other features of the celebration. The chiefs whose prototype was the medicine man gave fervid orations in their native tongue, exhorting in their brethren the lively sentiments of patriotism. John Carl presided be- cause he could speak both English and Chippewa languages and he acted as interpreter both ways for the white and red speakers. Rev. Father Aloysius, who has conducted a parish at the reservation for the last 35 years, said in part: "I have seen the Chippewas advance from the breech-cloth stage to one of cultured civilization, and were I to be offered the rectorship of St. Patrick's cathedral in New York, I would still prefer to remain with people here at White Earth." The address of welcome by the chief of the tribe was then scheduled by the old chieftan, O-mah-kah-ke-ence, who was unable to appear. Civilization was too swift for him and he had been run down by an automobile, but sent a word of greeting by messenger. Chief Charrette was his substitute who welcomed the visitors through an interpreter and spoke a few words to his tribesmen. The chief of the tribe by election, Edward Rogers, former Minnesota football star, then spoke. The "chief" however, does not know his native language and addressed his elec- torate through an interpreter. Because years ago when his uncle was agent, G. G. Hartley became attached to the In- dians, that gentleman who is a millionaire mine owner of Duluth, came in a special car to attend the celebration as he does each year. Mr. Hartley gave his red-skinned friends 8 advice on political organization and management, sanitary living and agriculture and business. Then bega'n the real celebration. Around the United States flag pole instead of the funeral pyre as in an early day, the reds gathered their numbers and indulged in an orgy of ap- parent barbarism that lasted for several hours. Dancing in their crouching posture, throwing their heads back spasmod- ically and 'emitting shrill cries, the reds gave the aboriginal interpretation of the modern glides and tangos that vividly impressed the spectators. War Dances the Climax. The second day of the celebration, June 16, was again given over to the war dances as the climax of a peace meet- ing with the Sioux contingent. Forty years ago the Sioux and Chippewas signed the first treaty of peace that was ever ob- served and the event was commemorated at the reservation by a ratification meeting to renew pledges of peace. The peace pipe was smoked to the limit while the squaws who could not stand the smoke, just chewed plug tobacco to keep busy. Speeches were made by the respective chiefs in which they sung the valor and glory of their fathers who had been called by the Great Spirit, and the adulations, liberal to the extreme, were also directed towards some of the leaders who still survive. Chief Red Blanket was the principal orator and was followed by Naz-hay-kay-we-gah-bow. Later in the day a bowery dance was held in which the whites were invited by the squaws to participate. A pale-face was favored with such an opportunity if a squaw would pre- sent him with a trinket of beads of other design and the white either danced or bought her off with a return gift. The council fire and dance concluded the formal celebration in the evening, but there was more or less of festivities during the remainder of the week. The affair was witnessed by hundreds of white people who came by automobiles from Detroit, Mahnomen and other points. A group of university forestry students, encamped at Itasca, hiked 60 miles to White Earth to attend the celebration, re- maining there in their tents until its close. 10 1 A Governor's Ideas on Forestry $ GOVERNOR WILLIAM R. SULZER of New York, in signing a bill providing for the erection of buildings. at the New York state college of forestry at Syracuse, took occasion to express clearly his views on the general sub- ject of forestry. In view of the fact that there is a movement now on to pass the amendment to the constitution giving the state the right to set aside non-agricultural lands for forestry purposes, the opinion of New York's governor is worth reading. He calls attention to the fact that there are millions of acres of land in his state that are essentially forest lands and are best suited to tree culture. The Governor's Views. "There is no subject which today is entitled to more seri- ous consideration than that of forestry," said Governor Sulzer in the memorandum filed at the time of signing the forestry buildings bill. "If proper efforts at conservation had been made years ago our natural wealth would have been greater by a hundred of millions of dollars than it is today. Ger- many, France and Switzerland, taught by experience, have directed the attention of the world to the advantages of scien- tific instruction in forestry. We have delayed too long, in giving ear to their admonition. "More than twenty years ago, while a member of the New York legislature, I advocated a policy of forest conservation and was instrumental in placing upon our statute books leg- islation intended for the preservation of the Adirondacks. Today I am even more strongly of the opinion that no ex- penditure that the state can make is more imperatively de- manded in the interest of true economy and genuine conser- vation than such as will promote and stimulate the policy not only of conservation but of forest building, — the creation of forests for commercial purposes. 12 Non-agricultural Lands for Tree Culture. "There are today, millions of acres of land scattered throughout the state which are not only unused but are per- mitted to become annually of less value and actual waste areas, are a disgrace to the state. These lands are not adapt- ed to agriculture, but are especially well suited to tree cul- ture. That is, they are essentially forest lands. "By training young men as foresters, these waste places may, in a comparatively short period, be productive of a crop second only in importance to those of our cultivated farms. Lumbering and the production of pulp wood for the consumer of paper will again become important industries, and various branches of the wood workers' craft, which have either not been practiced or have been neglected, will afford employment to thousands. Curative Policy Advocated. "No thinking man will deny these facts or the soundness of the conclusion that every day which is permitted to pass without carrying out a curative policy will only hasten the existing deplorable evil and will increase the ultimate cost of securing relief. The fundamental requirement of any in- telligent plan of action to grapple successfully with these conditions must be sought in the domain of education and because the state itself is so greatly concerned in the prompt solution of the problem, it is my opinion that we must now take the lead in the inculcation "of these ideas. "To my mind the bill to which I am now affixing my signa- ture is best calculated to accomplish this desideratum." The 'State Forestry Board held a regular meeting at Douglas Lodge, Itasca State Park, on July 2 and j. Much routine busi- ness ivas transacted. The purchase of supplies of various kinds was approved. 13 $ The Problem of the Stump * PUBLIC interest is being centered on the "problem of the stump." The land clearing convention held at Duluth July 1 indicated the wide spread interest in the solving of this great problem. Representative men from all of the so-called "cut over" counties gathered for a day to discuss ways and means of helping the settler to clear his land. The problem of the stump is an old cne. Every settler who has gone into the northern counties knows what it is. Many, becoming discouraged at the slow progress they have made, have packed their goods and have gone to other states. Those who have remained have had a hard long fight. Stump Has Retarded Development. While other sections of the state have been developed rap- idly the difficulties in clearing the land of stumps has kept northern Minnesota from being developed to the same degree. The realization of this fact, prompted the Northern Minne- sota Development League to issue a "call" for the land clear- ing convention. The results of that convention's work are already evident. The convention went on record as favoring county organiza- tion that will provide for their members cheaper dynamite, co-operative stump pullers, and increased credit for those who are anxious to clear their farms, and demonstrations schools at which improved methods of land clearing will be shown. Results Already Evident. The representatives of the various counties who were pres- ent were urged to go back to their homes and start the county organizations. Within two weeks the first of the county associations was organized. Beltrami county led the way. 15 The Beltrami organization will follow the recommenda- tions made by the Duluth convention. Other counties are following the example set by Beltrami. Word has come that several other county associations are in the process of being organized. Back of all of these county organizations will be the North- ern Minnesota Development League, the district and county agricultural societies and the state immigration department. Agricultural District Favored. The convention also went on record favoring the formation of agricultural districts and the issuance of bonds by those districts. A legislative committee composed of N. J. TJpham, C. P. Craig, and A. J. McGuire was appointed to draft a bill providing for the authorization of such agricultural districts. A committee composed, of Joseph Chapman, Minneapolis; A. G. Wedge, Bemidji and George W. Empey, Hinckley, was appointed to impress upon the Minnesota Bankers' associa- tion the necessity of extending credit to settlers. Helping the Small Settler. Helping the small settler was the keynote of every address made at the convention. It was pointed out that the small settler was the hope of northern Minnesota. It is to him, said the speakers, that northern Minnesota must look for her future development. They said that the first help the small settler needed was in clearing his land, in removing the stumps that held the land locked. The convention opened in a most matter of fact, "go as you please" fashion. No program had been prepared. Every one present, however, had come there to recite his experience and to listen to the experiences of others so it was not long before a definite program of action had been worked out. Best Way of Cleaning. A. J. McGuire, superintendent of the experiment station at Grand Rapids, said that the best way to clear land was to turn it over to pasture for some years while the stumps gradu- ally loosened. "If cows are put on the stump land it will yield an income while the stumps are rotting," he said. "Then, after that, the cost of clearing the land will be much less than if these stumps are taken out while they are still green." Clearing Land Business of the State. "The clearing of land should be the business of the state," continued Mr. McGuire. "If the state cleared twenty acres, or even ten, of every forty, there would be a much greater development here. The land owners who have lands to -sell should follow the same course. Give the settler a little land under to plow and his initial problems will be solved." Schools of Instruction Needed. D. E. Willard, land commissioner of the Northern Pacific, suggested that schools of instructions be held at central points in each district, where the stump puller manufacturers, pow- der men and farmers assemble to investigate methods of clearing and determine what combination will prove the most effective. He suggested that A. D. Wilson, head of the ex- tension department of the state school of agriculture, be made the head of the movement. L. B. Arnold, land commissioner of the Duluth and Iron Range, suggested that there be a proper arrangement of plots of land to be cleared so as to provide a saving in the time consumed in moving from place to place. Financing the Big Question. "The financing of the clearing question is what will bother the small farmer," said Mr. Arnold. "It is possible that the work could be done in connection with ditch or road construc- tion extending the time of payment over several years." Railroads that send out agricultural trains through the northern counties will be urged to send out demonstrators in stump pulling. It was suggested that a land clearing crew could either precede or follow one of these agricultural specials. Fred Sherman, immigration commissioner, promised the 18 Douglas Lodge, Itasca State Park. delegates the co-operation of his department. He said that his department knew no north or no south but was working for the whole state. Much of the time of the convention was given over to the experiences of those who had met the stump problem itself. The difficulties that had been met and overcome were recited in detail. Many Plans Are Discussed. Many plans for bringing about the desired results were dis- cussed. The question of having the counties do the work was taken up. The plan advocated by Hugh J. Hughes of Farm, Stock and Home, was also of interest. Mr. Hughes' plan is as follows: "For the men interested to go in together and buy a gocd stumping outfit, and dynamite as required, and col- lectively pay some one of their number, or some one able to handle a clearing crew to advantage, to go in and work 'the season through clearing land in propor- 19 tion to the amount put up by each member of the asso- ciation. This need not cost much in cash outlay. Sup- pose a neighborhood short of money and long on stumps, with a hard-working man who knows how to clear land as one of its assets. Let the rest of the neighbors agree to care for his crops and keep him and his family in supplies, while he with a small crew made up of other neighbors goes at the clearing problem after the best up-to-date fashion. It seems to us that when the season was over all concerned would be much farther ahead than where each tried for himself to do his own land clearing." Public Attention Attracted. One of the chief results of the convention is that it served to center public attention upon one of Minnesota's most seri- ous problems. Newspapers gave much space to the convention. Editorial comment was frequent. The fact that counties are already organizing indicates that the attention, newly created, is of the lasting sort. Resolutions Passed. The following resolutions were adopted by the convention: Recognizing the fact that over one-third of the area of the state is composed of timber and cut-over lands that are highly productive for agriculture products of which over ninety per cent are unimproved and in need of clearing; Therefore, be it Resolved, That this convention recommend to the various municipalities and business organizations in the northern part of the state, that they co-operate to give every possible assistance for the clearing and settling of these lands, and with this end in view we recommend: First, that local organizations be formed in every com- munity with a central county organization for the purpose of solving the land-clearing problem by the best means they can devise adapted to local conditions. We also urge public spirited men in all such communities to co-operate with each other for the purpose of furnishing 20 funds to deserving settlers or lending their combined credit in some form to enable settlers to get their land cleared. We recommend the appointment of a committee of three to prepare a bill to be presented at special or regular ses- sion of the legislature authorizing the formation of agricul- tural districts and the issuance of agricultural district bonds under proper safeguards when authorized by the vote of the people in such districts. To furnish a revolving fund to pay for the clearing of not exceeding twenty acres of land for any settler. Acquiring title to the land as security therefore and selling back said land to the settler at cost, clearing and interest plus five per cent for administration charges payable in twenty equal payments, along the lines of the law passed by the state of Washington. We recommend the appointment of a committee of three to meet the Minnesota Bankers' Association at their conven- tion in Duluth to impress upon them the necessity of fur- nishing credit to settlers to help them in the clearing of their lands. Resolved, That we endorse the action of the late legislature in providing for constitutional amendments for the providing of a revolving fund of $250,000 for the purpose of clearing state land. Resolved, That we thank the Duluth Commercial Club for the use of their rooms, and their generally courteous treat- ment. (Signed) A. J. McGuire, Itasca Co., Geo. P. Watson, Koochiching Co., G. W. Empey, Pine Co., N. J. Upham, St. Louis Co., W. N. Killen, Soo Line. Hvery member of the Aliiincsoia State Forestry Association is urged to go out and get "one more member.". Let "one more member" be the slogan from now on. Tell your friends who arc interested about ihc benefits rece'ri'ed by joining the association. Show them "The North Woods." 21 A Railroad Right of Way through the Forest. If the underbrush were cleaned out and burned 50 feet on each side of the track and a 25 foot strip plowed on the outside of the cleared strips, this ri^ht- of-way would not be a dangerous one for fires. I The Forestry Convention at Winnipeg By Professor E. G. Cheyney 1 THE Canadian Forestry Association held its annual con- vention at Winnipeg July 7, 8 and 9. The meeting was well attended and the 20 odd papers read covered a wide range. There were delegates present from most of the provinces, representatives of the dominion forest service, the provincial service, the Canadian Pacific railroad and the lumbermen. There was also a good sized delegation from the states, especially Minnesota, whose problems are somewhat the same as parts of Canada. Railroads Becoming Interested. Among the most resourceful of the papers was that of Mr. J. S. Dennis, assistant to the president of the Canadian Pa- cific who explained the interest of the railroads in the for- ests. The paper showed that 'the railroads are beginning to realize the importance of the forests in many phases of their work, directly as ties and other building material and indi- rectly as potential freight and a supporter of other extensive industries. It is something that the railroads, usually so keen and far-sighted, have been very slow to see. Every thousand feet of timber burned in the woods means almost as great a loss to the railroads as to the owner, — sometimes more. They should be the strongest supporters of forest protection and first forest perpetuation. Publicity Work Explained. Mr. E. L. Allen, forester of the Western Forestry and Con- servation Association of Portland, Ore., gave a very good account of the growth and work of his association. He ex- plained their splendid publicity schemes for educating the public to the proper attitude towards forest fires that has so generally reduced the number of fires, and the efficient or- 23 ganization that they have built up for fighting the fires which do start. His paper was full of valuable suggestions which may well be put into practice both in Canada and Minnesota. It should point the way toward a more fire-free forest in both places — for that is largely a matter of education. Passing Resolutions Not Enough. Another paper which seemed to appeal largely to those present was that read by Mr. V. C. Brown of the Commercial Bank of Winnipeg. He offered a few practical suggestions for pushing through some of the plans originated by the as- sociation. His paper was an appeal from the present course of passing resolutions in conventions and then allowing those resolutions to be quietly pigeon-holed and heard of no more. His plan was to have a legislative committee of practical men who would devote their time to bringing the plans be- fore the parliament and forcing them through. Entertainment Features Provided. The program of the convention included a very pleasant luncheon given to the association delegates at the city park by the citizens of Winnipeg and an excursion to the new agri- cultural school for which the province of Manitoba has re- cently appropriated three millions of dollars at one crack. What would the rich state of Minnesota think of that? Are Conventions Necessary? While this convention must be considered a great success from the point of view of the association officials, it forcibly impresses upon us the futility of these conventions as such. Many men prominent in the forestry work of the dominion were brought together who incidentally had a number of small group meetings which may result in something worth while, but what was accomplished by the convention as a whole? When the aggregate expenses are figured they will be found to run into thousands of dollars and the gross results are a few general resolutions good enough in themselves, — which will probably be filed in some parliamentary desk and never get action of any kind. 24 Definite Problems Need Solving. The time has passed when it is necessary to hold conven- tions in order to shpw people that there is such a thing as forestry. Everybody knows that now. If there were anyone so ignorant he would be ashamed to admit it. We have now reached the stage where forestry has developed some definite problems which must be solved before real progress can be made. It is to the solution of these definite problems that all our associations should devote their energies. Most of them involve a change of policy and such changes can be ob- tained only through the education of the people. It is a work that our association can and must do. Let an association grapple with some one of these definite problems and it be- comes a vitally important factor in the development of our forests; let it fail to do this and it is only a question of a short time till it will be a purely social and wholly negligible organization. Professor E. G. Cheyney, State Forester IV. T. Co.v and .Is- sistant Forester Dillon 'P. Ticrncy, attended the Canadian for- estry convention at Winnipeg. 26 1 Government Rules For Protection of Game and Migratory Birds s LAST March a federal law was passed placing game and migratory birds under the protection of the department of agriculture, and authorizing that department to form and publish such regulations as would assure the desired protection. The department has issued its rules and an ex- planation, so sportsmen need not go wrong. Preparation of the regulations was intrusted to a committee of members of the biological survey, appointed by the acting secretary of agriculture March 21, 1913; this committee con- sists of T. S. Palmer, assistant chief, chairman; A. K. Fisher, in charge of economic investigations, and W. W. Cooke, migratory expert. This committee went into the matter thor- oughly, examined data on file, had maps prepared, collected special information, and then made up their rules which they duly reported to the secretary,. The committee went on the theory that regulatory laws heretofore enacted for the protection of game birds had provided long open seasons, and had been favorable to hunters rather than to the birds. In the rules proposed, the com- mittee sought to reduce the open season to reasonable limits, and to give the birds the benefit of the doubt. These regula- tions differ from the ordinary restrictions under state laws, since they take into consideration the entire range of the species and the condition of the birds at all times of the year, and not merely the local conditions when a certain species is most abundant in some particular state or region. The regu- lations will become operative on and after Oct. 1, 1913. Regulation 1. Birds Protection. For the purpose of the regulations the following are consid- ered migratory game birds: (a) Anatidae or waterfowl, including brant, wild ducks, geese and swans. 27 (b) Gruidae or cranes, including little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes. (c) Rallidae or rails, including coots, gallinules, and sora and other rails. (d) Limicolae or shore birds, including avocets, curlew, dowitchers, godwits, knots, oyster catchers, phalaropes, plover, sandpipers, snipe, stilts, surf 'birds, turnstones, willet, wood- cock and yellow legs. (e) Columbidae or pigeons, including doves and wild pigeons. For the purposes of these regulations the following shall be considered migratory insectivorous birds: (f) Bobolinks, catbirds, chickadees, cukoos, flycatchers, grosbeaks, humming birds, kinglets, martins, meadow larks, night hawks or bull bats, nuthatches, orioles, robins, shrikes, swallows, swifts, tanagers, titmice, thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, whippoorwills, woodpeckers, and wrens, and all other perching birds which feed entirely or chiefly on insects. Regulation 2. Closed Seasons at Night. A daily closed season on all migratory game and insec- tivorous birds shall extend from sunset to sunrise. Regulation 3. Closed Season on Insectivorous Birds. A closed season on migratory insectivorous birds shall con- tinue to Dec. 31, 1913, and each year thereafter shall begin Jan. 1 and continue to Dec. 31, both dates inclusive, provided that nothing in this regulation shall be construed to prevent the issue of permits for collecting such birds for scientific purposes in accordance with the laws and regulations in force in the respective states and territories and the District of Columbia; and provided further that the closed season on reedbirds or ricebirds in Delaware, Maryland, and Distirct of Columbia, Virginia and South Carolina shall begin Nov. 1 and end Aug. 31 next following, both dates inclusive. 29 Regulation 4. Five-year Closed Season on Certain Game Birds. A closed season shall continue until Sept. 1, 1918, on the following migratory game birds: Band-tailed pigeons, little brown, sand-hill, and whooping cranes, swans, curlew, and all shore birds except the black-breasted and golden plover, Wil- son or jack snipe, woodcock, and the greater and the lesser yellow-legs. A closed season shall also continue until Sept. 1, 1918, on the wood duck in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Wisconsin; on rail in California and Vermont; and on wood- cock in Illinois and Missouri. Regulation 5. Closed Season on Certain Navigable Rivers. A closed season shall continue between Jan. 1 and Oct 31, both dates inclusive, of each year, on all migratory birds pass- ing over or at rest on any of the waters of the main stream of the following navigable rivers: The Mississippi river be- tween New Orleans and Minneapolis; the Ohio river between its mouth and Pittsburgh; and the Missouri river between its mouth and Bismarck, N. D. ; and on the killing or capture of any such birds on or over the shores of any of said rivers, or at any point within the lim.its aforesaid, from any boat, raft, or other device, floating or otherwise, in or on any such waters. Regulation 6. Zones. The following zones for the protection of migratory game and insectivorous birds are hereby established: Zone No. 1 — The breeding zone, comprising states lying wholly or in part north of latitude 40 degrees and the Ohio river and including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mas- sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jer- sey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington —25 states. 30 Zone No. 2— The wintering zone, comprising states lying wholly or in part south of latitude 40 degrees and the Ohio river and including Delaware, Maryland, the District of Colum- bia, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah — 23 states and the District of Columbia. Regulation 7. Construction. For the purposes of regulation 8 and 9 each period of time therein prescribed as a closed season shall be construed to include the first day and to exclude the last day thereof. Regulation 8. Closed Season in Zone No. 1. Closed seasons in zone 1 shall be as follows: Waterfowl— The closed season of waterfowl shall be be- tween Dec. 16 and Sept. 1 next following, except as follows: Exceptions: In Massachusetts the closed season shall be between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15. In Minnesota and North Dakota the closed season shall be between Dec. 10 and Sept. 7. In South Dakota the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Sept 10. In New York, other than on Long Island, and in Oregon the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Sept. 16. In New Hampshire, Long Island, New Jersey and Washing- ton the closed season shall be between Jan. 16 and Oct. 1. Rails — The closed season on rails, coots, and gallinules shall be between Dec. 1 and Sept 1 next following, except as fol- lows: Exceptions: In Massachusetts and Rhode Island the closed season shall be between Dec. 1 and Aug. 1. In New York and on Long Island the closed season shall be betwean Dec. 1 and Sept. 16; and On rails in California and Vermont the closed season shall De until Sept. 1, 1918. 31 Woodcock — The closed season on woodcock shall be be- tween Dec. 1 and Oct 1 next following, except as follows: Exceptions: In Maine and Vermont the closed season shall be between Dec. 1 and Sept 15. In Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey the closed season shall be between Dec. 1 and Oct 10. In Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and on Long Island the closed season shall be between Dec. 1 and Oct. 15; and In Illinois and Missouri the closed season shall be until Sept. 1, 1918. Shore Birds — The closed season on black-breasted and gold- en plover, jack-snipe or Wilson snipe, and greater or lesser yellowlegs shall be between Dec. 16 and Sept. 1 next following, except as follows: Exceptions: In Maine, Massachusetts, and on Long Island the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Aug. 1. In Minnesota and North Dakota the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Sept. 7. In South Dakota the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Sept. 10. In New York, other than Long Island and in Oregon the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Sept. 16; and In New Hampshire and Washington the closed season shall be between Dec. 16 and Oct. 1. The regulations concerning the closed season in Zone No. 2, or in the states where the birds winter are also published, but are omitted here as not of general interest to northern hunters. 32 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.' THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. AUGUST, 1913 Number 8 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of thit organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON. Treas., care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul. Minn. GEORGE AKERSON, Editor. State Capitol, Saint Paul. Minnesota Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 21, 1912. CONTENTS Thoughts on Various Things .... 3 A Wonderland in Minnesota .... 5 One Railway and Forest Protection . . . 16 How Minnesota Waters are restocked with Fish . 20 The Reclamation of the Wet Lands . . 25 Forestry Exhibit at State Fair . . . .29 The Summer Forest .... 30 1 Thoughts on Various Things —Editorial Comment s MINNESOTA THE MECCA OF THE CANOEIST. GO where he will, the canoeist can find no land equal to Northern Minnesota. Maine, long the Mecca of the canoeist, cannot offer half the opportunities that the North Star state offers. The provinces of Canada, some of them more like Minnesota, cannot excel in the maze of lakes and river. The Far West has no place where the canoe- ist will find himself as satisfied as in Northern Minnesota. The canoe trips to be taken in the north half of the state are as varied as they are numbered. The hundreds of streams run- ning through the most beautiful lakes in Artierica offer to the man who loves to paddle a canoe unlimited pleasures. Wher- ever he may wish to paddle his bark, there he can find the fish biting. No region offers such possibilities for fishing. Scenery! The Adirondacks do not equal certain portions of Northeastern Minnesota. Some people are under the im- pression that there are no high places in Minnesota, that all of the land, even the timbered portions, is rolling. In St. Louis county the hills are worthy of the name of mountains in many places and are exceedingly picturesque. The state forest service has prepared a map of canoe routes. Information regarding routes can be obtained from the rail- roads. Guides are obtainable at many points. Come to North- ern Minnesota if you want real sport, you canoeist. If you come once, you will not let another summer go by without returning for similar experiences. WHAT ONE RAILROAD IS DOING. The work that the Canadian Pacific railroad is doing for forest protection excites the admiration of everyone. Here is a giant railroad corporation realizing that it owes it to itself to protect the timber. Few railroads have realized what for- est fires meant to them in the way of lost revenue. The Canadian Pacific does not believe in burning up one of the great sources of its revenues and for that reason is paying partic- ular attention to the cause of forest preservation. It is an example to be followed by the American lines. THE GOVERNMENT RULES FOR PROTECTION OF MIGRATORY BIRDS. In our last issue we published a digest of the new govern- ment rules for the protection of migratory birds. Sportsmen, who have studied these new regulations, have expressed themselves as highly pleased with the work of the Biological Survey. "The Biological Survey has drawn these regulations after a most careful study of all the various species of game birds, their migratory habits, time of flight and breeding, and times of appearance in various states," says Field and Stream, in commenting upon the new rules. "These regulations undoubt- edly do the greatest good to the greatest number, which is in this case the entire population of the United States, and, as drawn, they give the wild life a fair chance against the 25 million American citizens who are more or less interested in taking game for sport during the hunting season." "Such beneficial results have invariably followed the enact- ment of the non-sale of game laws that we confidently predict that the federal control of the migratory bird situation will be soon visible to every citizen in the land and that our birds will reappear in localities where for the last seventeen years they have been so scarce as to be, to all intents and purposes, extinct," concludes Field and Stream. Minnesota has a particular interest in migratory birds, for across this state, north and south, for 400 miles, twice each year travel hosts of wild fowl and millions of song birds. Be- cause of our situation we are visited by a great variety of bird life — birds of the Great Lakes region, birds of the eastern hardwood region, of the pineries of the plains and of the far north. The new rule means much to the birds and the people of Minnesota. 1 A Wonderland in Minnesota By Charles F. Stuart s (Note. — Mr. Stuart, a member of the editorial staff of the Minneapolis Tribune, accompanied two members of the game and fish commission and several wardens on a recent canoe trip throug-h the Superior national forest and the game preserve. His account emphasizes clearly that Minnesota is the canoeist's paradise.) BEHOLD in Minnesota, shunted aside, untraveled, trail- less, ignored, mostly virgin to the foot of man, a mil- lion and a half acres of nature's wildest beauties, truly blushing unseen and wasting their loveliness while restless America hies itself by tourist sleeper and special train to press agented nature wonders of distant fields. Who has not heard of the snow-clad Alps, never referred to without the descriptive adjectives, the Yellowstone, the Glacier park, the grand canyon? And who has heard of the game and forest preserves of Northeastern Minnesota, that great expanse of wild lakes and rivers and swaying pines which lies for scores of miles northeast from Ely, Minn.? The superior forest and game preserve, this great region is called by those few who know that it exists. Lakes Almost Numberless. In this vast district there iare lakes which never have so much as graced a map. There are creeks alive with brook tfout, and rivers teeming with pike, which are uncharted. There are woodlands which careless survivors have included in their maps as waterways. Some of the lakes are honored by names. Other await the nature lover who will find his camp site on their shores and christen them. This immense preserve takes in the northern part of St. Louis county and most of Cook and Lake counties. Along the Superior shore line there are settlements, but when the last mine is bidden farewell at Winton all civilization is left behind. Plenty of Company. Excepting for an occasional pioneer woodsman, the canoeist sees no more of his kind, but he lacks not for company. The deer stand in the rushes along the shores of lake and river and watch him paddle by. Partridges sit on the rocks at the verge of the pine forests and inspect his strange craft with much curiosity. Moose watch him with wonder and in many instances with some resentment. The traveler may often, especially at this time of the year, paddle up close to his highness, the Bull Moose, before he consents to wade out of the water where he has been freeing himself from flies, and grant right of way to the intruders. There were three canoe loads of human freight and pro- vender for the same in the game and fish commission excur- sion which paddled away from the piers back of the sawmill at Winton on a Sunday morning not long ago. The canoes took it easy the first day. A gasoline launch towed them down Fall lake six miles to the first portage, and after the portage a couple of hours' paddle carried the canoes to Pipestone Rapids. An Enthusiastic Kansan. It was here that the party met the only other tourists en- countered on their long trip. Dr. Haviland Holes, civic service commissioner of Kansas City, Kan., and a friend paddled in toward night bound on much the same trip the commission planned but the Kansans were going to take it easier. That night Dr. Haviland expressed himself as delighted with the little he had seen of the country, and astounded at the number of lakes and rivers which the map showed to lie beyond. It was some second day trip that the state commission party took, considering that three of the party were not entirely in training. Up the Pipestone the route lay for six miles and then came the first nasty portage. This portage was taken to avoid a long distance around through the waters of what is known as "The Basswood." 6 The regular trail was missed, the leader taking instead a moose trail. It led straight into a swamp but the leader kept on going until up to his waist in a swamp. But there was clear water beyond and the rest of the party "followed the leader" straight in and dumped the canoes where they could be poled out into clear water. One of Nature's Kings. It was worth while, this, for while the party stood there a young buck deer came down to the water's edge directly across a narrow bay and eyed proceedings with considerable interest. He was only a hundred yards away but apparently did not know anything about gunpowder. As the boats pushed through the reeds, he tossed that stub of a tail of his skyward and rambled back into his home country. Farthest North Is Reached. The trio of canoes had made their farthest northern point and here swung off to the southeast, headed for Fraser lake. The attraction held out there was the lake trout fishing, though warning was given that July was a poor time of year to catch these fellows. In weight they run from a couple of pounds up indefinitely, stories te'ng tcld f 20 end £0 po ;nd 3rs Noon saw the canoes on the fair shore of Ensign lake and afternoon witnessed the crossing of several small lakes which were so full of small mouth bass that they could be seen as the canoes skirted the shore lines. Slate lake was reached about midafternoon, a beautiful body of water with shores of high rock every inch of the way. Then came portages, a couple more small bass lakes which the map makers had neglected to put in, and the party was in Lake Thomas, in the southeasterly end of which they were to find as wondrous a single piece of nature's work as the journey was to reveal. One of Nature's Wonders. Two islands lie side by side and the passage is between. The shore line of each island is of rock, rising perpendicularly 8 from the water. On top of these rocks pines have found root, only nature knowing how. The sides of this water thorough- fare is as straight as if an engineer had laid them out. From the rocks the pines tower to considerable height, their branches reaching over to form an arch. A Water Boulevard. For all the world this thoroughfare looks like a water boulevard, and one would expect to see a traffic police- man step out at the farther end to take a look for a speeder. This thoroughfare leads into the lower end of the lake, from which a branch leads into Fraser. There was no success in lake trout fishing in Fraser. Spring and fall are counted the proper seasons for these big and gamey fellows. They make their homes deep in the waters of the lakes, from 100 to 200 feet of line being neces- sary to bring the bait within range of their noses. But here again the Northern pike, which are everywhere in this coun- try, supplied the occasional thrill. The homeward route for a little way followed the back track through Fraser, the gut into Thomas, the superlatively beautiful water boulevard and out in Thomas proper, where the canoes left the outward bound route and swung south to the worst portage of the trip. Hard Mile of Travel. From the shores of Lake Thomas the portage started straight up in the air, or nearly so. What purported to be a path led up the side of the cliff. It was tough work carrying canoes and heavy packs up this ascent and just as tough on the canoe carriers going down the other side, where, at the bottom, the travelers found themselves in dense underbrush. Through this they forced their way to another young moun- tainside and climbed it. For a distance the indistinct trail led along the ridges and then dropped down almost straight into a swamp, where it was a case of wade to a creek which led into Lake Alice. But it is worth it, this mile of tortuous portage. For Lake 9 Alice stands out as a bright diamond among all the myriad of lakes the commission viewed. Camp that night was made on an island in Lake Alice more because the beauties held the tourists there than because anyone was worn out, for not much distance had been cov- ered that day. The next morning saw the slip over the waters of Alice to the mouth of the Kawishiwi river, pronounced by the English speaking as "Cashaway." In Indian the name means Long Rapids. Word was given, as the mouth of the river was reached that the party was in the moose country at last, and might expect to see these big fellows at any minute. First Moose Is Sighted. It was near noon that day when the first moose were sighted. They were in a small creek which flows into a lake through which the river passes about 10 miles from its mouth. Two canoes passed by without seeing these moose, two cows. All three canoes passed within an eighth of a mile of them. Two black objects in the stream attracted one man's at- tention. They did not move and the canoe passed on, but the man who had sighted them insisted on backing water. Once more off the mouth of the creek one of the cows stirred a bit and the signal was given to call back the other canoes. A bit of thicket was placed between the canoes and the moose and, the wind happening to be right, the canoes sneaked up. Two canoes stopped at the thicket but the other with the photograph in the bow made around a point and started up the creek. The two canoes were halted within 150 feet of the cows. The other rounded the point and crept up within 75 feet and then one man, keen on not missing a thing, climbed out of his canoe and attempted to sneak across the land to the creek which would put him some 25 feet nearer. He tripped in the bushes and went down with a crash. The cows heard, threw up their heads, and stalked rather slowly and majestically up the side of the creek and disappeared. Like as not their calves were close by. 10 Plenty of Moose. But there were plenty of others, half an hour later a big bull was sighted as he stalked out of the woods into the lake. Ankle and then knee deep came this bull, evidently about four years old. The deer flies were bothering him, that was plain, for he kept shaking himself. Farther out he waded and the canoes crept down the bank to get between him and shore. Whenever he was not looking the paddle flew and when he looked up the paddles stopped in midwater or mid- air, wherever they happened to be. The sight and hearing of the moose is bad. At this time of year a skilled paddler can creep right up to him and slap him on the back — if he cares so to do. Coming up to him against the wind the paddler need but remain as a statue when the moose looks and paddle when he is not looking. The motion of the advancing canoe does not alarm him pro- viding the figure in the canoe does not move. But there was no necessity for cutting this moose off from the shore. He was determined to get rid of those flies. He waded out to swimming depth and then struck out for the other shore. The canoes spurted after him, the moose evi- dently unaware of the chase. Flies are Bothersome. When the moose struck the other shore which was not a great way off, he seemed satisfied with everything but his ears. Evidently the flies were in there and before taking to the other bank he was bound to be rid of them. Down went the antlers into the water, ears buried deep. If there were flies in there it was up to them to hop off and swim. Up came the head and down again it went. The second time up he saw the canoes within 75 feet of him. No, he did not leap high in the air and dash away. On the contrary he surveyed them, majestically, a glint of anger in his eye. Evidently the intrusion was not welcome. So he was photographed. Then he tossed his head and waded slowly 12 An Enimently Respectable Moose Posing Unaware For His Picture. and haughtily ashore stopped when ankle deep in water to fling back another glance of defiance. Half a dozen other moose were "shot" with the camera that afternoon. Some "took" and some didn't. It was Interest- ing sport, this business of paddling up to a moose and, just about the time he was making up his mind whether to charge or grant right of way, to snap his picture. Toward night so many were seen that unless they were pretty close the party did not attempt to paddle into shooting range. Bull Moose Is Indignant. The next day put some more "pep" into this sport, for while not so many moose were seen, one supplied some excitement. The river narrowed down. There were rapids ahead. A glance convinced the wardens that they need not portage, they would shoot them. At the foot of the rapids there is a sharp turn to the right. 13 A canoe shot through the white waters, darted safely past the rocks and at the bottom, shot with the current to the right. Directly around that corner a young bull moose was dis- porting himself in the waters. The first canoe would have whacked into his hindquarters had not the stern's man thrown the bow to one side. In utter astonishment the moose looked up. The canoe was 50 feet behind. Scarcely had the moose recovered his poise than another canoe shot past his hind quarters, just grazing him. The astonished paddlers could have slapped him with a paddle going by. Only they didn't. Probably they were as much surprised as the moose. There was no shouting back a warn- ing. The rapids would drown the voice easily. The moose champed the waters in some indignation and, as final insult, a third canoe rounded the sharp corner and went flying past his hind quarters. Then he did kick around some though he made no attempt to charge. By the time the third canoe had passed him, but before he, combined with the rapids, had ceased to stir up the waters, the firfist canoe to pass had snapped the big fel- low as he showed his displeasure. Ducks Are Everywhere. This fellow was the last of the moose seen. Deer were sighted often now, and there were ducks all along the river and lake shores, though this is not an ideal duck country. It was common to see two or three settings of young ducks trying to fly over the waters ahead of the canoes. Tiring, the ducklings would dive for it and come up back of the canoes. The sixth night brought the canoeists into Farm lake and then into White Iron, about five miles from Ely. A mile away from where the canoes made their final landings is a mine and telephone, which brought the automobile from Ely. One Railway and Forest Protection FOREST protection should be the concern of not only gov- ernments but of the railroads. Every destructive fire in a forest region means almost as much loss to the rail- road running through that territory as it does to the owner of the land. A railroad makes every effort to conserve its sources of revenue. Many roads have, however, overlooked one of the great sources of revenues, namely, the forests. While the railroads in the United States have been exceed- ingly remiss in this connection the Canadian Pacific railway has set an example not only to the railroads of the American continent but to the governments. It has gone very far in its study of the preservation of forests. Work of C. P. R. Outlined. George Bury, vice president of the Canadian Pacific rail- way, speaking at the recent Canadian forestry convention in Winnipeg, outlined the work of the railroad is doing along these lines: "The Canadian Pacific railway, outside of the government of Germany, has probably made the most elaborate study of the preservation of forests of any organization in the world," he said. "The privately owned forests of Germany are nur- tured with all the care that highly educated forest experts can give, and that is what our company is doing by having the forest tracts it owns guarded and patrolled by the most elab- orate system that can be suggested. Twofold Purposes in Study. "Study of the natural resources of the country has been made by this company with a twofold purpose: to estimate the amount of traffic that may be derived from year to year .irj the territory adjacent to the line and what production can 16 A Fire Break in Beltrami County be made from the timber and still preserve it to such an extent that 100 years hence forestry preservation and timber production will be so advanced that the yield and revenue will be greater in the same territory than today. Precautions that are Taken. "Railways have been charged in the past with starting many of the forest fires. A story often told soon comes to be believed by .most of the people. Let us see what we have done to minimize the starting of fires from our locomotives. We have cleared the right of way as closely as possible, and all slashings from this clearing are disposed of before the clearing gangs leave the work, so that no possible precaution is left undone. The most modern and approved spark arrest- ers have been adopted for use on our locomotives; waste water of the locomotive is run through the ash pan so that no live coals are dumped. But the greatest advance in forest protection has been the adoption of oil as fuel in the heavily timbered mountain sections. Locomotives on two of the mountain divisions burn oil exclusively and those on divisions 17 west of those two central divisons are being equipped as rapidly as possible. This is the most advanced step taken for the prevention of forest fires and the reduction to a min- imum of danger from locomotives. "As oil is not produced in the country there has been some criticism of the company from the fact that no labor receives the initial benefit of its production, but the preservation of the timber tracts seems to us of more consequence to the country as a whole than a sentiment about the production of fuel. Not Burning Up Revenue. "Taking the transportation of a country as one of the great- est of its assets it cannot therefore be charged that the set- ting of fires by locomotives is due to carelessness, for that would be burning up one of the greatest sources of revenue." The vice president of the Canadian Pacific pointed out that most of the fires in Canada were caused either on the logging railroads, by careless settlers or campers, open burners of sawmills, etc. He said that a comparison of the number of fires along the logging lines and standard lines showed that a big percentage of the fires were on the former. Revenue Derived From Timbered Lands. "It has been estimated that the revenue derived by a rail- way from the production of one acre of heavily timbered land is equal to the accumulated traffic of one acre of agricul- tural land for 80 years," continued Mr. Bury. "You will thus see what the preservation of forests adjacent to its lines means to a railroad. The opening of timber tracts by a rail- way is followed by an influx of trappers, prospectors, sur- veyors and settlers, each intent upon his own interests and without the restraint of organized authority. Prospectors im- patient to follow up their discoveries, loggers cutting the vir- gin timber and homesteaders clearing the land for the plow, have all been responsible for the starting of fires. But long before railways, prospectors or surveyors traversed the coun- try, fires were set by natives to drive out the game. Modern thought and a policy of construction instead of destruction 18 has supplanted the native's idea and also the primitive lum- berman's that the lumber areas would last as long as people now living demanded it, and that nature would supply an alternative. Man must assist nature in supplying the alter- native, and this is being done by forest preservation. How C. P. R. Guards Its Lands. "I would now call your attention to what we are doing for the protection of our own timber tracts in British Columbia. In the Cranbrook district we have some 543,486 acres in 12 tie reserves. On these reserve mounted patrols have been established ; on three of them trails are being cut out to make them easier of access; and on four of them telephone com- munication is being established. I might also mention that on the largest of these reserves the operation of burning the logging slash was carried out with great success during the month of May. "These facts should convince you that in the practice of progressive forestry methods the Canadian Pacific Railway Company is really in advance of the provincial authorities who make the forest laws for it to observe." • The Minnesota Forest Service has just published a two color canoe map of northeastern Minnesota, ivith portages and principal routes marked. Copies will be furnished free to anyone con- templating a vacation trip in that region. Address The Forester, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. 19 1 How Minnesota Waters are Restocked with Fish $ THOSE interested in fishing are perhaps aware of the fact that the state is engaged in the business of restocking many of the waters with fish. Just how this is done is, however, a mystery to even those interested. Last year it cost the state something like three cents for every thousand wall-eyed pike fry planted in the lakes and rivers of the state. And it cost the state about five cents each — not a thousand, but each — for every bass fry. An inquiry as to the reason for this radical difference in cost would indicate somewhat the future of Minnesota as a recreation grounds for fishermen. The reason for the dif- ference lies in the construction of the fish themselves. How Pike Spawn. It is easy tb reproduce the pike and plant them wherever there is demand. For example, next spring, probably in the middle of April, a force of wardens will go to Prairie Portage. There, below the dam, there will be thrown out nets to catch wall eyes which at that time will be there by the thou- sand. The females stick pretty close to the side of the river and the males stand guard in the deeper and faster running water in the middle of the stream. Were nature to take her course, the female would rest until ready to part from her spawn. At the propitious time she would swim to deep water, the spawn slipping from her. And at the same moment the males would dart to meet her, perhaps half a dozen of them. And as the spawn left the female the males would release their fertilizer. There, in the midst of that swift running stream, directly below the leaping waterfalls, the hazardous miracle of repro- duction would occur. Those eggs reached by the male would be fertilized. But fish culture experts say that not five per cent of the eggs are fertilized. The other 95 goes to waste. 20 "Muskies" Caught in Cass Lake Station to be Established. But the state game and fish commission does not propose that nature shall take her course at Prairie Portage next spring. Nets will be thrown out and the females caught before the spawn leaves them. A warden will pick up a female and run his thumb and forefinger down her belly, squeezing the sides together. If the eggs are ripe the spawn will shoot forth into cans which the commission has handy. This is called "stripping" a pike. There is no difficulty in extracting the eggs when they are ripe. If the fish is not ripe it is tossed into a giant live box and kept a few days while the work continues. Fish in the live box are tested every twelve hours to see if they are ready to strip. As fast as a female is stripped she is tossed back into the water. Large females, weighing 10 and 12 pounds, have been known to die from this process of relieving them from spawn, but Bradley says the four, five and six-pound pike do not suffer the least inconvenience. The males are stripped in much the same manner. 21 Baby Fish Born, These eggs are placed in cans with mud in them. After a certain period the mud is washed away, a serum applied and the eggs go to the state hatchery. In two or three weeks each egg shows a black speck which soon chips through the shell like a young chicken coming through the egg. This is the fry. It grows fast. In a short time these black specks are fry so large that they are trying to eat each other. Awful cannibals these fish are. Before they get a good chance to devour each other they are shipped away for planting. The fish train carries them out, sportsmen and farmers meeting the train wherever it goes and carrying the fry to the lakes where they want them. In three or four years those eggs which were stripped from the female are pike over the 14-inch minimum allowed by law and the fisherman is catching them. The commission figures that 60 per cent of the wall-eyed pike spawn taken from the females hatches into fry. This is 12 times more than by the hazardous method devised by nature. But with the bass there is a different story to tell. The female bass refuses to yield the spawn as does the wall-eyed pike. Scientists have tried in this state, in every state where it has appealed to the government that fish con- servation and multiplication is a wise policy, to seek some means for removing the spawn from the female bass, but universally they have failed. The only way to stock one lake with bass fry is to rob some other district of its bass fry. The state has tried raising bass, but results have shown that a full grown bass of the eatable size, a bass big enough to strike with vigor sufficient to give the fisherman a thrill, costs the state about $1 each. Such is the result shown by the Glenwood hatchery. Buys Baby. Fish. The bass fry the state does get, it buys, for the most part. It is supposed to come from land-locked puddles along the 22 Where the Trout Leap banks of'the Mississippi river above Wabasha. In the spring the water is rather high and the bass go down toward shore to spawn. By the time the fry peck their way through the egg shells the water has receded and the fry finds himself in a land-locked pool, separated from the river by some stretch of dry land which, naturally, he cannot walk over. That is where the bass fry are supposed to come from, but there is a well-founded suspicion that the men who make a business of catching these fry do not confine themselves to the land-locked pools, but cast their nets into the river proper, much to the anger of the people at Wabasha where the bass fishing always has been splendid. The fry are shipped to the hatchery in St. Paul and from there to the various lakes, but so few of them are caught that the state cannot nearly meet the demand for the fry of this popular and gamey fish. 23 Grapples Hard to Get. It is the same story with the crappie. The spawn cannot be taken from the mother. Of course, it is easier to get crappie fry than bass fry for there are thousands of lakes in the state where the crappies are almost as plentiful as the drops of water. Also there is no such demand for crappie fry as for bass fry for the fisherman does love to snare that gamey bass, and he considers crappie fishing somewhat be- neath his skill and dignity. But the time may come when the crappie will be scarce in lakes where he now abounds for the state has found no way to assist nature in reproducing his kind. With brook trout, most palatable of fish, artificial aid to reproduction is as easy as with the wall-eyed pike. The female yields up the spawn readily and the commission each year collects a large quantity of eggs, hatches them, and ships the fry to a thousand streams. This peep into man's attempts to improve on nature may easily give the fisherman an insight into the future of Min- nesota waters. Wall-eyed pike and brook trout will always abound, but the bass must be religiously conserved. In a lesser degree, this is true also of the crappie. A THRILLING ESCAPE. Newspaper reports from International Falls state that Clyde Buell of Minneapolis, a university student employed by a lumber company, was rescued from drowning, by catching hold of the antlers of a big bull moose. The reports say that young Buell ^vas out on a raft of logs when one of the logs on which he was standing broke away. He was carried down the stream for quite a ways before he saw Mr. Moose swimming. According to the reports he was safely towed to shore. Many unusual things hap- pen in the north country. This was one of them if the newspaper report is correct. 24 1 The Reclamation of the Wet Lands I RECLAIMING the wet lands in Minnesota is one of the most important works that has been undertaken. Mil- lions of dollars worth of property has been added as a result of the drainage work accomplished during the past decade. Originally there were in Minnesota in its natural state over 10,000,000 acres of so-called swamp land. Fully 95 per cent of this land was such that it could be easily and cheap-ly drained. Fully 60 per cent of this land was either open marsh, meadow or swamp sparsely timbered. Three-fifths of Area Drained. The state has already drained about 6,000,000 acres of this land. The average cost per acre has been $1.80. For this small sum per acre, the land has become available for agri- cultural purposes. There are still 4,000,000 acres of land that could be easily drained and made available for agricultural purposes. Every dollar invested in the work of reclaiming wet lands has so far netted a return of from five to eight dollars an acre. This fact, alone indicates the wisdom of continuing at all costs the work of draining the swamp lands. Good Quality of Soil. Much of the wet land area has a rich, black muck or vege- table fold top soil, with a. clay subsoil. When it has been drained it has become exceedingly productive. A trip through regions that have been drained is enough to convince anyone of the importance of this great work. The results of the work are to be seen in many places in Northern Minnesota. The productiveness of this type of soil is shown to perhaps the best advantage at Island, Minn., where the big Hartley farm is located. Mr. Hartley has drained hundreds of acres. On the reclaimed areas he has raised the most wonderful of vegetables and grains. Truly this indicates that the work is worth while. 25 A Quiet Nook Results Have Been Remarkable. Even when the soil is of a peaty nature, the results have been remarkable. Owing to the fact that the surface slopes with very few exceptions of the swamp areas of the state are very favorable for cheap and effectual drainage, the water from the lakes and swamps keep up a continual percolation working down to lower levels. The result of this is that the peat seldom gets dry enough to burn. This percolation is responsible for giving the soil musk .and peaty soils a suffi- cient content of lime for all kinds of plant growth. On some of the swamp areas of Northern Minnesota, there is a surface slope as much as 10 feet to the mile sometimes. A slope of three to four feet is said by the drainage engineers to be quite common. A Conspicuous Example. The Hartley farm at Island, Minn., is, as has been stated, one. of the conspicuous examples of effectual draining. It was veritably carved out of the great Floodwood swamp. It cost about two dollars per acre to drain this land. The 26 cost of clearing the land was low, that is from three to ten dollars an acre. The amount realized from the timber cleared cut down the cost considerably. The Island farm, exclusive of buildings, is now worth more than $60 an acre. It pays to drain the wet lands! Whenever plans have been made for the draining of the land, land values have jumped. Land in and near the Flood- wood swamp have jumped from twelve to twenty dollars an acre since plans were drawn for the reclaiming of the balance of the land. Land Values Increase. The Gun Lake swamp in Aitkin county, was offered for about three dollars and a half an acre before construction of the state ditch. The ditch has been completed and the land is now worth from sixteen to twenty dollars an acre. Many other examples could be sighted of the increase in values of the land. The fact is so obvious, however, that it hardly needs emphasizing. In one county in Northern Minnesota where the state owns 18,000 acres of rich, open prairie land, the increase profit to the state will be enormous. A ditch has already been completed and the land is being drained. Roads are being constructed on the section lines. The state drainage commission says that the cost of draining this land is about one dollar and seventy cents an acre. The state auditor esti- mates that the land will be sold as high as twenty-five dollars an acre. This would mean a return to the state treasury of $450,000 for an investment of $30,600. Continuance of Work Important. The importance of carrying on the work of reclaiming the wet lands cannot be over estimated. It is a work that is not only netting the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased revenues, but is opening up a new empire for the settlers who are tired of working soil that is worn out. Here a virgin soil is to be found that has been enriched because of being under water for a long period. 27 Little Vermillion River Below Loon Lake Let the work of reclaiming the wet lands in Minnesota go on. It is a great work, one of the greatest that this great state has undertaken. To those who push the task to its successful finish will go the everlasting glory of having given to man untold riches. The members of the Minnesota Forest Association can do no more important work than getting others to join the association. "Get one more member." Do your part of the work that way. We need more members. The time will soon be at hand when we shall need the help of every one interested in the cause of for- estry. This is the time to start things moving. J. H. Foster, of the U. S. Forest 'Service, Washington, D. C., is inspecting the co-operative work of State Forest Service. Minnesota receives under the Week's law $10,000 yearly, for the protection of important water sheds of the state. About twenty- five federal patrolmen are on duty this summer, working under the direction of the state rangers. 23 8 Forestry Exhibit at State Fair s The Forest Service will have an exhibit at the state fair in September. It is planned to show the needs of the state: first, in more complete use of forest resources; second, in plant- ing of forest trees on farms, and third, the work of brush dis- posal or the cleaning up of the woods to prevent forest fires. There are bountiful supplies of certain kinds of woods in the state, which are at present but little used. There is also much land covered with pine stumps. If good markets can be developed for these kinds of timber and the stumps, where settlers can dispose of them for enough money to pay for cleaning land, it will obviously be a big benefit to he state. This the Forest Service is going to try to help along by dis- plays at the fair, which will indicate the kinds of such raw material available in Minnesota, together with certain profit- able uses to which they can and ought to be put. The value of more 'extensive planting will be advocated by means of model farm with and without well- arranged wood- lots and wind breaks. An attempt will be made to show the contrasting conditions which prevail. In connection there will be large charts showing graphically the advantages of well planned farm planting. Uncared for logging slash is the greatest single fire menace in the woods. Its solution is a great problem. The value of proper disposal of slash will be represented in a miniature forest In addition to the main feature indicated a few minor details are outlined. The College of Forestry plan to demonstrate the preserva- tion of fence posts. Another feature of the College's exhibit will be a model nursery, such as might be maintained on a farm. While the two departments will not exhibit together they will co-operate in getting up displays. These exhibits ought to prove attractive to all fair visitors who are interested in the development of Minnesota. 29 THE SUMMER FOREST By Victor Shaw (Reprinted From Field and Stream) A spicy tangle of spruce and fir, A haze of green against the blue, With drowsy pools 'neath drooping ferns, That jewel the slopes of waving grass, Where wild bees drone on busy wing; And wood doves coo in the purple shade Where festooned creepers twine and cling; And in the thicket and sunny glen, On mossy banks of chattering streams, By sedgy margins of swamp and lake, Where golden lances gleam and shake, Soft breezes whisper in velvet ears The timid wood folk's summer dreams. 30 "Forest Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth." THE NORTH WOODS Volume ll. SEPTEMBER, 1913 Number 9 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Mcmber.'hip Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of th \t organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance. should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treas , care State Forester's Office, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. GEORGE AKERSON, Editor, State Capitol, Saint Paul, Minnesota Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 21, 1912. CONTENTS Things in General . . . . . . 4 The Nimrod in Minnesota . . . . .7 Reflections ........ 17 The Forestry Exhibit at the State Fair . . .18 State and Federal Co-operation .... 23 Transforming Northern Minnesota . . . .26 The Vampire Woodsman ..... 28 How Federal Forest Receipts are Apportioned . 30 Fruit Raising in Northern Minnesota . . 32 rtemen oudkt to care with fire and ako'w othei'5 Kowtobe c^rcfal. $ Things in General — Editorial Comment & ® A Bulding for Forestry at the Fair. THERE is one thing that the great Minnesota state fair lacks. It is a building devoted exclusively to the in- terests of forestry and the exhibition of the forest re- sources of the state. For years the state fair has had no adequate exhibit of the forest resources. This year for the first time, there was an exhibit that could be called satisfac- tory. Other departments of the state, the highway commission for example, have large and roomy exhibits. Their work is shown off to good advantage. Visitors to the state's expo- sition go home knowing more of what the state is doing along those particular lines. Rapid strides have been made in the forest service during the past two or three years. It is safe to say that only a small part of the people of the state know what has been and what is being dene. One of the best methods of bringing this work to the attention of the citizens is by having an exhibit at the one place where the people of Minnesota gather every year to see the progress made. The attendance figures at the fair this last year broke all records for state fairs through- out the country. It indicates that in Minnesota the people go to the fair to see what is being done. The exhibit of the state forest service this year was one to arouse pride in the heart of every loyal citizen who visited it. It was well gotten up and proved to be a big attraction. The one question invariably asked was, "Why isn't there a whole building devoted to forestry?" Surely no other department of the state could have the opportunities for getting up a more attractive exhibit. A building in which the various woods, could be placed, the work of the state forest service shown, etc., would undoubt- edly become an institution at the fair that would attract thousands. The state fair board will be asked to assist in getting a building for future years. In the meantime preparations should be begun at once for next year's exhibit. It will be well for all of those interested in this subject to be thinking of suggestions for the exhibit next year. The state forest service was fortunate this year in getting the co-operation of many business firms interested in for- estry. It naturally appreciated this spirit of co-operation. A building for forestry at the state fair! This then will be our slogan until such a structure graces the state's expo- sition grounds. A Protest. THE Minnesota Sportsman's Association is up in arms at the new United States game law which prohibits the shooting of ducks before sunrise and after sunset. The following letter from R. P. Odell, one of the officers of the association, addressed to Congressman George R. Smith, explains itself: "I wish to call your attention to the new United States game law and protest against that section which prohibits shooting before sunrise and after sunset. The sportsmen of this state, and their names are legion, each and every one of them will violate this law, not only with impunity but with a loaded gun. "An enactment which has a clause which everybody will violate makes a farce of the whole enactment. I will defy the United States to get a conviction in this state for the violation of this clause. "I wish that you would send me a copy of the act. From what I have been told and what I have read, the rest of the act is all right. You know that the sportsmen of Minnesota will protect the birds, and do all in their power to aid the government in the enforcement of this act, save and except the part of it which prohibits the shooting and killing of ducks and geese before sunrise and after sunset, and when I write you I am writing as one of the sportsmen of Minnesota. You know, and I know, that ducks only fly after sunset, and you get your best shooting with the strong Minnesota light that follows sunset. "In order to save the act and make it enforceable in all its details it should be amended before October 1 or it will go down as a dead letter as far as Minnesota is concerned." $ SOLITUDE By Robert H. Davis (Reprinted From Field and Stream) 1 IBID farewell to the city and give in exchange for its stone temples the silent mountains; for its rivers of humanity, the streams that flow through the green valleys; for its lamp-posts, the hemlock, spruce and pine; for its dusty lin- dens upon the boulevards, the shimmering, zephyr-swept maples; for its man-made monuments, the rough-hewn bould- ers on every hillside; for its voices, the whispering echoes of the forest; for its avenues, the open road winding over the hills into the deep of the woodland; for its greetings I ex- change the song of birds; for its churches, the cathedral of the trees; for its fame and applause — SOLITUDE. CJ3 The Nimrod in Minnesota $ DURING every season of the year Minnesota proves to the world that it is the paradise for the man who loves the out-of-doors. The sportsmen find within the borders of the North Star State everything they desire. At this season of the year, when the ducks begin their flight southward and the chicken have reached maturity, the sports- man finds Minnesota the "land of opportunity." Many Non-residents come. Thousands of non-residents who come here at no other time of the year have already invaded the state. A record for the sale of non-resident hunting licenses was made the first week of this month. For the next two months they will come, these nimrods, from all parts of the middle West. They will scatter to every part of the state. The Northern counties will get their share. Best Partridge Country. When the partridge and quail season opens on October 1, even more of these nimrods will invade the Northern woods. The best partridge country is in the timbered regions north of Pine City and east of the Mississippi river, Quail is found in Central and Southeastern Minnesota. Excellent Shooting all Fall. There is every indication that there will be excellent shoot- ing all of this fall. Hunters have already reported splendid luck in chicken and duck shooting. Conditions were favorable last winter. The end of the sea- son in 1912 still saw many chicken, partridges, and quail. The nesting season was fairly dry, so everything pointed to a good season this year. 7 Chicken Hunting Better This Year. Reports received by the daily papers from their correspond- ents all over the state indicate that the chicken and partridge shooting will be about 25 per cent better than it was a year ago. Chicken hunters have already attested to this fact. The duck hunting, say these sportsmen, is about the same as it was last year. There will be about as much quail in the creek bottoms as there was a year ago, they say. Chicken in the North. The prairies adjacent to the Red river are holding their own as the best chicken country in the state. However, the chicken have come east and in the cleared lands in the cut- over regions many sharp-tailed grouse are to be found. The chickens have also reappeared in the southern portions of the state. Such are found in all parts of the state. Daily newspapers have been kept informed by their cor- respondents relative to the prospects in the various towns. The following conditions were reported, to one of the daily papers. This list is not complete. What there is of it, how- ever, was furnished by reputable correspondents. It is ap- pended hereto with the hope that it may help some Nimrod who is planning to get out into the open and "bag some game." The following repqrts take in stations along the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific and the Soo Line, the three principal roads in Northern Minnesota: Along the Great Northern. Hancock, Minn. — Reports of fine prospects for chicken shooting this season. One good hotel. Livery $5 a day. No dogs. Norcross, Minn. — Furnishes good shooting each year. This season more chickens and • ducks than in 1912. One good hotel. Boats at lakes. Livery $5 a day. Good guides. Nu- merous sloughs and lakes. Maynard, Minn. — Reports chicken plentiful, but shooting forbidden on most farms. Hasty, Minn. — Reports better shooting on ducks, partridge and rabbits. One livery. No hotel. Two lakes. Tilden Junction, Minn. — Fair shooting on ducks and chicken. Good livery and auto. Guides and dogs. Rustad, Minn. — Reports chicken plentiful, but no hotel and no livery. Clara City, Minn. — Reports but few ducks as sloughs have been drained, but some chickens. One hotel. Livery reason- able. Litchfield, Minn. — Reports good shooting towards end of October, when the big northern flight of ducks come down. Hotel and livery. Foley, Minn. — Reports somewhat better prospects than 1912. Good number of chicken and quail. Some few deer. Two hotels. Boats on nearby lakes. Reasonable livery and good auto. Alberta, Minn. — Reports better shooting in prospect. Ducks plenty, some chickens. Several lakes. Livery $5 a day. Guides available with trained dogs. One hotel. Coleraine, Minn.: — Reports always good hunting in this sec- tion. Plenty of ducks, chicken and partridge, numerous deer and some moose. Livery and auto service, good hotels. One hunting resort open in fall. Neilsville, Minn. — Reports more chicken than in many years. One hotel. No guides. Erskine, Minn. — Reports very good prospects for chicken, partridge and ducks. Several lakes nearby. Two hotels. Boats available. Livery and auto reasonable. Nickerson, Minn. — Reports splendid deer hunting, last year 176 shipped out; plenty this season. Also grouse, quail and rabbits. One hotel. No livery. Braham, Minn. — Reports but few chickens and farmers post- ing "no trespass" signs. Holloway, Minn. — Reports that shooting on chicken will irpprove 25 per cent this season. One hotel and good livery, $3 a day. No dogs. 10 Sauk Center, Minn. — Offers good duck and partridge shoot- ing. Hotel, livery and auto service. Ward Springs resort open in fall for hunters. Morris, Minn. — Reports the prospects for duck shooting good and chickens plentiful. Two high class hotels, livery and auto service. Cottonwood, Minn. — Reports that duck shooting should be 40 per cent better than in 1912. Two lakes, hotel and livery. Dorset, Minn. — Reports excellent prospects on ducks and chickens very plentiful. Camp Recreation is open for hunting season, but four miles from station. Excellent accommoda- tions. Kandiyohi, Minn. — Offers duck shooting that is good and chicken shooting fair. One of the best of the nearer points. Hotel and livery. Benson, Minn. — Reports good chicken shooting, but nearly all farms are posted against chicken shooting. Ogilvie, Minn.— Reports good prospects for ducks, chickens and deer. Hotel, livery and guides with dogs. Along the Northern Pacific. Battle Lake, Minn. — Says prospects about the same as 1912, fair number chickens, ducks and partridge. Livery rates $3 per day. Auto livery rates $15 a day. No dogs. Fergus Falls, Minn. — Reports fair prospects on ducks, chickens plentiful. Livery $6 a day. Auto $15 a day. No dogs to hire. Motley, Minn. — Reports better prospects than 1912 on chicken and partridge. Good livery $5 a day. Auto $10 a day. James Francisco, guides with dog at $5 a day. Sauk Center, Minn. — Reports fair amount of small game, but most of the farms are posted. Perham, Minn. — Reports plenty of ducks and partridge. Good livery and auto. Guide and boat $4 a day. Dugdale, Minn. — Reports prospects good on ducks and chickens, with fully 20 per cent more game than in 1912. Good livery and several competent guids. 11 Detroit, Minn. — Reports hunting prospects for chickens, ducks and partridges good, chicken crop being best in a num- ber of years. Livery rates for team and driver $5 a day. Auto livery rates about $15 per day. Bemidji, Minn. — Reports prospects on partridge, chickens, rabbits, deer and moose some better than 1912. Livery rates $5 per day of ten hours. Auto livery at $2 an hour. Lake Park, Minn. — Reports better shooting prospects than 1912. Chickens and ducks plentiful. Livery rates $4 a day. Auto livery at 15 cents a mile. Guides and dogs available. Little Falls, Minn. — Reports prospects much better than 1912 for chicken and duck shooting. Auto livery at $6," $8 and $10 a day. Several guides with good dogs can be hired very reasonably. , McGregor, Minn. — Reports prospects fine for chicken, par- tridge and ducks. Livery at $5 a day. No auto. Hunting grounds near station. Frazee, Minn. — Reports prospects same as 1912. Ducks and partridge near by. No dogs. Livery $5 a day. Auto $7 to $10. Aitkin, Minn, — Reports prospects better than 1912. Chicken, partridge, ducks and deer everywhere around station. Good livery. Auto 20 cents a mile. No dogs. Deerwood, Minn. — Reports better partridge shooting than in many years. Good livery. No guides. Pine City, Minn. — Reports some chicken hunting, but not plentiful; also partridge, rabbit and squirrels. No dogs to hire. Auto and horse livery very reasonable. Chisago City, Minn. — Reports game very scarce. A few ducks, squirrels and rabbits. Livery $4 a day. North Branch, M inn,— Reports game is scarce. Chickens same as 1912. Livery, $3.*50. Auto, $10 a day. Forest Lake, Minn, — Reports more ducks and chickens than last season. Livery at $2 to $3 a day. Auto 20 cents a mile. Gimmell, Minn. — Reports better hunting prospects, an abun- dance of deer, also partridge and grouse. Hunting close to station and no livery necessary. Plenty of good guides. 13 Walker, Minn. — Reports duck shooting should be as good as 1912. No chickens. Fair number partridges. Launches, $5 per day and up. Guides, $3 a day. Late shooting for blue-bills on Leech lake very good. , Pine River, Minn. — Reports shooting prospects better than 1912. Deer, bear and small game plenty. Livery rates, $4 a day. Autos at $8 to $10 a day. Guides in nearby camps charge $3 a day and expenses. International Falls. — Reports all kinds of game plentiful. Reasonable livery, but no autos. Guides hard to secure. Iron River, Wis. — Reports hunting prospects as good or bet- ter'than 1912. Partridges and. rabbits plenty. Some grouse. Good deer hunting. Guides, $2.50 a day. Livery, $4 a day. Autos, $10 a day. Along the Soo. Alexandria, Minn. — Has several hotels with accommoda- tions above average, good livery, also auto service. Ducks and chickens in vicinity, but good shooting is ten to fifteen miles from town. Dent, Minn.— Has one hotel, livery and auto service. Ducks, chicken and partridge plentiful. Only a few miles to Dead lake, one of the best duck shooting lakes in Western Minnesota. Dead lake resorts open in fall. Mahnomen, Minn. — Is recommended as an exceptional point for those desiring to hunt sloughs for mallards. Several ho- tels, livery, guides and dogs. Brooten, Minn. — Now has two good hotels, livery, good guides, and is located in a fair territory for both ducks and chicken. It is only 100 miles away. Hoffman, Minn. — Has hotel and livery, is located near sev- eral lakes and surrounded by sloughs. An excellent place for ducks and chicken. Elbow Lake, Minn.— A favorite point for* St. Paul hunters. Has two hotels, livery and good guides. Is within a few miles of Pomme de Terre, Christina, Pelican and other famous duck shooting lakes. 14 Wendell, Minn. — A small place, with two twenty-room hotels and one livery. Is located in one of the best sections of Minnesota for chickens. Excellent reports have been received by a number of the sportsmen from points along the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul line. Hector, Bird Island, Olivia, Renville, Montevideo, Watson, Appleton and Ortonville will all be good for chicken shooting. Up the branch line to Fargo are two splendid points, Graceville and Wheaton, where plenty of chickens are usually found, and for ducks Wheaton is one of the best places in the state. At Wheaton there are several hunting lodges that are pre- pared to care for a large number of hunters. They have plenty of boats and good guides." The steel towers that support electric pozuer transmission lines are being increasingly used by forest rangers as fire-lookout sta- tions on national forests. With the harnessing of the mountain streams a network of these lines is gradually being woven over the forests and in the absence of other convenient lookouts, the rangers find the steel towers helpful in their fire patrol work. In the open yellozv pine forests of Washington and Oregon a collapsible plow is being used in digging fire lines to stop surface fires. The plow can be dismantled and folded into a compact? form, so that it can be packed on horseback, and weighs only 40 pounds. When in use, one man with a horse can do the ivork of 20 or more men working with shovels. . A conservation movement has been started in China, said to be richer in natural resources than any other nation. The Chi- nese use the word "conservancy" instead of conservation. One of their plans for the Hwai river contemplates dredging and til- lage together to control floods. 15 * REFLECTIONS By C. A. Laflin $ UNDER the blue, over the blue, Only the wake of the swift canoe, In purling whiteness breaks and breaks, Over the turquoise nameless lakes, Under the blue and over the blue, Woods of the North, I long for you. Over the green and under the green, The white clouds lift o'er the woodland's rim, And the call of a loon the echoes sound, From rock-bound shores rebound, resound. Over the green and under the green, Woods of the North, of you I dream. Over the red and under the red, And the sweet, cool smell of the balsam bed, The fire shines on the waters dark, And not a sound 'till the meadow lark Rouses us to the road ahead, Woods of the North, those days are fled. 17 s The Forestry Exhibit at the State Fair s (4 TT 7 ELL, why haven't we seen these things before?" \ \ "Why isn't there a whole building devoted to the exhibition of the forest resources of the state?" "Why is it that more prominence isn't given to this exhibit, one of the best on the grounds?" * * * These were only some of the questions which fair visitors asked after they had viewed the exhibit of the Minnesota Forest Service at this year's fair. For the first time in the history of the Minnesota state fair, the greatest of all state fairs, there was an exhibit of the forest resources of Minne- sota. In former years some of the counties have attempted in a small way to show the forest resources of their respective sections of the state. The agricultural college, too, has tried to show this phase of the state's natural resources. The exhibit this year, however, was the first one devoted exclu- sively to forestry. Exhibit an Educational One. Thousands of people visited the exhibit every day during the six days of the fair. They went away better informed as to what Minnesota is doing. The display was educational in that it furnished object lessons in tree raising, the benefits derived from it, etc. Many farmers, interested only in prairie forestry, sought information on the best ways to plant trees for wind-breaks, etc. A Real Object Lesson. One of the features of the exhibit was a Northern Minne- sota farm in miniature. There was a small house, 18 by 16 inches. The barn and other farm buildings were in propor- tion. In the rear of the buildings was some winter stripped 18 A few v/ailors to the Forest Service Ex] timber. Still further back was some non-agricultural land. It needed no explanation to prove the land to be unprofitable. Around the house and barns were the snow drifts that in- evitably make life miserable on an unprotected place. The scene was suggestive of all the hardships of the pioneer life where preparation has not yet been made to meet the storm king. A few sheep huddled closely together near the drifts of snow indicated the misery that even the animals endure. Next to this miniature farm, was another, supposed to be the same one after it has been transformed. On the non- agricultural land was to be found white elm and white spruce. Instead of being the "sorry" looking, unprofitable tract, it was one that was a credit and a source of profit. Instead of the yard filred with snow drifts and the cattle huddled in one corner, an entirely different scene was pre- sented. The snow was there but not in drifts. Paths were laid out and everything was in order. The wind-break was shown to be responsible for the change. It was an object lesson that many farmers pondered over. "That certainly shows what a change a good wind-break will mean on my own place if I put it in on the north side," said one man from Western Minnesota. "I have been think- ing about it for a long time. This is enough to make me want to go right home now and start putting in the trees." Our Great Wealth Indicated. The great wealth that Minnesota possesses in the great forests of poplar, birch and black ash, that have as yet been practically untouched, was clearly set forth in the section of the exhibit devoted to these woods and the uses that can be made of them. Few people realize the utilitarian values of these woods. Barrels and barrel staves, excelsior, ceiling, buckets, and even interior furnishings, can be made from the poplar. It was a surprise to many of the visitors, even those from the North country, to learn that the woods could be put to so many uses. The black ash used for buckets, barrel staves, and interior finishings, was also exhibited. The uses to which the birch can be put, namely, veneers, flooring, 20 spools, tooth picks, etc., rounded out this part of the exhibit. Lumbering men from Southern and Western Minnesota were unaware, many of them, that there was any possibility of Minnesota furnishing these products. What Northern Minnesota offers to the hunter of game was well exemplified in the exhibit of skins of the fur-bearing animals. Beautiful specimens of skins were artistically ar- ranged. The sportsmen found here an indication of what Northern Minnesota had for him. There were several large moose heads. Pictures of the North country,— the "land of the sky blue waters," — were everywhere in evidence. Some remarkable views of Kettle river and the Rainy lake region attracted much attention. Examples of Fire Protection. Another object lesson, striking in nature, was shown in the bit of lumbering woods of Northern Minnesota at one end of the space devoted to the exhibit. This was the imminent danger from fire when slashings are not properly taken care of. With the slashings scattered every possible way and the logs lying among them, it was apparent that the danger of the forest fire is ever present. The work of clearing away the slashings and planting seed trees was shown. The difference was apparent. With the slashings cleared away and the seed trees in their place, the danger of fire had been reduced materially. Those in charge of the exhibit heard only praise for the display and for the manner in which it was conducted. Peo- ple of all types, the regular fair crowds, came to the exhibit. Many, no doubt, were attracted to it, by the fragrant odor of the white spruce trees. Commenting on this, one Minne- apolis paper said: "The forestry exhibit at the state fair may be smelled from afar, for the fragrance of the white spruce trees surrounds it and wise is the fair visitor who follows his nose to one of the most interesting places at the grounds, which is under the direction of William T. Cox, state forester, and his assistants, A. F. Oppel and P. C. Records, department inspectors. 21 s State and Federal Co-operation Prevents Forest Fires l REPORTS of forest fires from the states with which the federal government is co-operating show that there has been a general lack of unusual fire danger this year. This is not taken to mean that there have not been a great many fires, but that an efficient fire-fighting force has been ade- quate. Only two states, Massachusetts and Maine, have thus far found it necessary, because of extra serious fire hazard, to call upon the emergency provisions of their agreements with the federal government. Maine Employed Extra Men. Maine has found it necessary to employ extra men over and above the normal allowance provided in its agreement. This any state may do under the terms of the agreement up to a certain fixed maximum, on the initiative of the state officer in charge of forest protection. He must, however, sat- isfactorily establish the existence of unusual hazard before the extra men will be paid. The forester at Washington has the further right under a serious emergency to waive this maximum provision, within the limits of the funds available, and authorize the state to employ any number of additional men that may seem necessary. Peculiar Emergency in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts this emergency has been of a somewhat different sort. Normal conditions of fire hazard, upon which are based all the agreements of the federal government with the states, in Massachusetts call for a distinct dry spring and fall fire season. Fire protection work may thus largely be discontinued during the midsummer months. However, be- cause of long drouths, there has been practically no let-up in the fire danger to the present. A shortage of funds was im- 23 minent, but relief was secured by an amendment to the agree- ment, approved by the secretary of agriculture, by which the federal government expends $500 more and the state $1,000 more. Under any conditions, the law requires the state to spend as much money as the federal government. In the usual summer, the state spends on an average three dollars to the federal government's one; New York will expend at least ten dollars. The government, however, will not neces- sarily adhere to the ratio established with a state confronted by an exceptional fire menace. In such emergencies it will help as far as its funds go in accordance with the needs of the situation. Manufacturers of artificial limbs are seeking substitutes for English willow, used because of its combined lightness and strength. It is claimed that the Port Orford cedar of the Pacific Coast will prove equally serviceable. The buffalo herd on the Wichita national forest, Oklahoma, now numbers 48, 10 calves having been born this year. When the buffalo -were introduced on the Wichita .in 1907 there zee re 15 head. The lands burned over during the terrible fires on the Idaho national forests in 1910 are now largely covered with a thick growth of young tree seedlings, by natural reseeding. It is said that 90,000,000 broom handles are used annually in the United States; one for each man, woman, and child. 24 A Trout Brook in Northern Minnesota * Transforming Northern Minnesota By W. Kilby, Baudette «) 'V X sary to wear knee-high rubber boots if you wished to travel dry-shod along this road!" "Yes, I do; and then if you were not very careful you stepped into a hole and got wet anyway." The foregoing is a sample of the conversation I have heard lately while traveling the highways formed by the dirt dumped from the drainage ditches now being constructed in the north- ern end of the state. We have for some time past so got the habit, whenever occasion offered, of bemoaning the roadless condition of the country that we are, on this subject at any rate, becoming confirmed pessimists. Let us forget for a while about those roads we haven't, and consider those we have and those we shall have in the future. Without wishing to appear irreligious, I might quote: "Count your roads and ditches, Count them one by one; And then it will surprise you What the law has done." These roads and ditches may not appear very extensive when scattered through such large counties as Beltrami and Koochiching, which possess a total of about four and one-half million acres. But the fact cannot be gainsaid that hundreds of miles of traversible roads will be built in the next few years where at present there are only moose and deer trails. And when we have these highways, will the money expended in their construction be well invested? There is no surer in- vestment today than in the land of Northern Minnesota. For years, all that country lying north of Red Lake had been characterized as practically worthless swamp; but every shovel turned up by the dredges contradicts such an asser- tion and reveals the fact that here is a truly wonderful soil, in many places a black vegetable loam three and more feet 26 in depth with a clay subsoil. And when we also consider that there are nearly six thousand vacant homesteads in Bel- trami and over eight hundred thousand acres of state land for sale in Koochiching county, practically all of which is val- uable agricultural land, some idea of the wonderful possibili- ties is revealed. The early settlers who had temporarily left their homesteads are returning with the advent of roads. I have frequently heard it mentioned that one of the effects of these ditches will be to kill all timber such as cedar, tama- rack or black spruce. This in my opinion is entirely erroneous, as although these species require a wet location, too much water is as harmful if not more so than the scarcity of it. You find only stunted tamarack in the wet places, and if the moisture is excessive tree growth is conspicuously absent. I am. heartily in sympathy with any legitimate action that will tend to secure more and better roads, but let us not in our zeal to obtain these roads advertise our truly wonderful country as being confronted with an almost hopeless task of ever securing passable roads. While not favoring misrepre- sentation, I am optimistic enough to encourage settlers to locate in Northern Minnesota, as it is only a short time until a country possessing such wonderful soil will have all the roads and ditches required for its healthy development. An organization of scientists who are engaged in the study of forest insects has recently been formed in Washington. Pencil manufacturers arc buying uh old red cedar fence rails, in Tennessee and southward, to be made into lead pencils. Washington stands first in lumber production, with Louisiana second. 27 ft The Vampire Woodsman By Hans Wachsmuth (With Apologies to Kipling] % A FOOL there was and he thought it divine — (Even as you and I) To wantonly waste his Virgin Pine — (As a matter of fact he committed a crime), But the fool he thought he was doing fine — (Even as you and I). Oh, the woods we waste and the goods we waste — And the work of our head and hand, Brings us no profit, glory or fame, And contemptuous reproach will cling to our name In the future throughout the land. A fool there was who with never a thought — (Even as you and I), Wilfully wasted what cannot be bought, And vainly pursuing the fortune he sought, Devastation and dire destruction wrought, (Even as you and I). Oh, the toil we lost and the spoil we lost— And not even worldly gain Rewarded the efforts of feverish haste With which we have laid our forests waste, And plodded and planned in vain. The fool stripped himself when he stripped his land, (Even as you and I), Which he might have foreseen, could he but understand That God, Himself, our forests planned, Which none can rebuild with a magic wand, (Not even as you and I). But it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame, That grips with the force of a vise, It's coming to know that we could not have failed In fame and fortune, had we only curtailed Our output and asked the price. « How Federal Forest Service Receipts Are Apportioned s A CIRCULAR just issued by the federal forest service calls attention to the various laws under which more than a third of all national forest receipts go to the benefit of the states in which the forests are situated, for schools and roads. In 1912 the amount of money thus made available for state purposes totaled about $750,000. The re- port does not show the amounts due from the receipts of the fiscal year which closed June 30, 1913. Including these, the states' share of national forest funds since the laws were passed has aggregated over $3,000,000. These facts are set forth, according to the forest service, because a popular impression still exists that all money re- ceived by the government from timber sales, grazing fees, water-power permits, etc., is permanently taken out of the states where it is paid and goes into the national treasury to meet the general expenses of the government. This idea is said to prevail, to some extent, even among actual forest users in the national forest states, where the division of receipts with the states has been going on for years. The circular states that part of the gross receipts of the national forests was first made available for schools and roads when the agricultural appropriation act of June 30, 1906, directed the secretary of the treasury to pay over to the state or territory in which any forest reserve was situated ten per cent of all money received during the fiscal year from such reserve. The money was to be expended by the state or territorial legislature for the benefit of public schools .and roads in the counties in which the forest reserve lay. This legislation was recommended by the forest service because of the recognized burden imposed locally where national for- ests operate to prevent much land from becoming taxable. In 1908 the amount to be paid to the states was increased to 25 per cent, and a proviso of the earlier act that no more should be paid to a county than 40 per cent of its total income 30 from other sources was eliminated. Since this proviso was removed, some of the counties' receipts from national forest \lands have equalled their income from all other sources. In August, 1912, the agricultural appropriation act for the year made available an additional 10 per cent of the money received from national forests to build and maintain roads and trails within national forests for the benefit of the public, in the states from, which these proceeds are derived. This 10 per cent "road item," as it is called, is expended by the secre- tary of agriculture, who may, according to the act, "whenever practicable in the construction and maintenance of such roads, secure the co-operation or aid of the proper state or terri- torial authorities in the furtherance of any system of high- ways of which such roads may be made a part." The total amount expended under this provision from the receipts of the fiscal year 1912 is $207,295. This was apportioned among the states as follows: Alaska $4,675, Arizona $24,645, Ar- kansas $2,283, California $24,821, Colorado $21,503, Florida $981, Idaho $23,809, Kansas $489, Michigan $2, Minnesota $503, Montana $23,926, Nebraska $1,630, Nevada $6,034, New Mexico $11,850, North Dakota $28, OKlahoma, $351, Oregon $17,023, South Dakota $4,226, Utah $13,504, Washington $12,758, Wyo- ming $12,254. The Weeks law of March 1, 1911, providing for the acquisi- tion of lands in the Appalachians, provides that five per cent of moneys received from each national forest into which the lands acquired are divided, be turned over to the state for its public schools and roads. New Mexico and Arizona, besides the sums before mentioned, are entitled to approximately 11 per cent of the gross proceeds of all national forests in those states in return for the state school sections within national forests. This provision is embodied in the act of June 20, 1910, authorizing the admission of the two new states. 31 ® Fruit Raising in Northern Minnesota ® THE practicability of fruit raising in Northern Minnesota is set forth in the following from "The Pine Knot," Clo- quet, Minn. It shows what is being done in a small way near Cloquet. "Although the raising of fruit is something which has been neglected, by the farmers in general in and around Cloquet, it is a product which has been demonstrated and proven that can be successfully raised. We have a number of examples here in the city of what can be done in this line and a visit to these small orchards would convince a person that al- though this part of Minnesota is not necessarily known and has net been advocated as a fruit country, there are many varieties of small fruit which thrive well. Apples as a rule can be raised and will ripen. Other fruits are cherries, plums, and most all kinds of berries. And when it comes to crab apples no trouble would be experienced in raising them in large quantities. There are various kinds of crab apples which will thrive in this country and ripen nicely. "The farmers of this neighborhood should devote more time and acreage to the raising of the*se hardy fruits. While to a great many it would seem a slow and unprofitable process, it has been demonstrated that apple and the other fruit trees will bear in about three years. If sufficient acreage was plant- ed to fruit there is no doubt but that it would prove profitable and it would at least result in a crop sufficient for home con- sumption." 32 "Fores! Schools the Foundation of Forest Wealth.' THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. OCTOBER, 1913 Number 10 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of that organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treas.. care State Forester's Office, State CapitoJ. St. Paul, Minn. Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 21, 1912. CONTENTS Things in General ...... 3 Enter: The Small Saw Mill . . . . .6 Studying Minnesota's Wild Life . . . 11 The Forestry Club at the University . . .16 The Lamps o' the Camps — Poem . . . 18 National Forests as Recreation Grounds . . 20 A New Empire in the North . . . . 24 An Appeal to the U. S. Government . . .29 Canoe Song — Poem 32 1 Things in General —Editorial Comment $ Preserving the Wild Life. THE problem of non-agricultural lands in Minnesota is an important one. The people of Minnesota should be studying the question from every angle. Careful con- sideration of the matter will show the wisdom of passing the constitutional amendment to be submitted to the people at the next general election providing for the setting aside of non- agricultural lands for state purposes. It would be folly to try to raise anything on these lands ex- cept trees. Everyone recognizes the necessity of saving the great forests. The question of water sheds, the preservation of the lumber industry, — these things, 'convince people of the necessity of preserving the forests. One Real Reason. Another reason has been emphasized this past summer by reason of a university expedition in northeastern Minnesota. An account of the work of this expedition appears in this issue of The North Woods. The illustrations are pictures taken on that expedition. The expedition was planned for the purpose of studying Minnesota's wild life. Professor Johnson, in charge of the party, emphasizes the necessity of giving the nonagricultural lands over to forestry purposes when he says that only by so doing can the wild life of Minnesota be pre- served. It is surprising to know that much of the wild life is be- coming extinct. A certain species is liable to decrease with hardly any warning. The decrease in the number of beaver is an example. Surely it is worth while preserving the wild life. This can best be done by preserving the forests. The turning over of state nonagricultural lands for forestry pur- poses will be a help in the preservation of Minnesota's wild life. Notices of Logging Operations. Before many weeks have passed there will be on file at the office of the state forester complete descriptions of the lands on which timber is going to be cut this coming winter. This information the lumber companies are now required by law to send to the forester. The law requires that a notice giving the legal description of the lands must be posted at every log- ging camp. In addition a copy of the notice must be sent to the state forester. With this information in hand the forest rangers will know just where cutting is goin on. Advice regarding slash disposal can be given immediately by the ranger. In many cases it is most important that the slash be removed at once. The forest ranger can see that this is done now that he will have the in- formation regarding the cutting in his hands. The state forester and his assistants say that it is a source of gratification to them to have the logging companies co-oper- ate as they are doing. These notices are coming in and are being filed. So far there has been no "kick." The lumber companies are showing that they are willing to co-operate in this matter. Co-operation in such matters means less fire in the woods. Get One More Member. The Minnesota Forestry Association ought to have more members. There are hundreds of persons in the state inter- ested in the cause of forestry that do not know what the for- estry association is. These people have never seen this maga- zine. The forestry problems in the state will be solved quicker if more people are taking an active interest. Every member of the association can go out and get others. One member got twenty-five others last month. Another sent in applications for twelve memberships. If everyone interested will take it upon himself to get one more member the forestry association will soon be booming. Let us make the association a "live wire" in the state, charged full of enthusiasm to help the work of forestry along. Rapids on the Isabel— Lake County 1 Enter: The Small Saw Mill $3 THE old fashioned, large saw mill is passing in Minne- sota. No one questions this fact although there is much misinformation published regarding the rapidity of the passing. While it is true that the large saw mill is going, it is also true that small saw mill is taking its place. Minnesota will never be without saw mills, government reports to the con- trary notwithstanding. The small saw mill is coming rapidly. Misinformation Often Published. Every once in a while statistics are prepared by some bureau or other in Washington showing that the lumbering industry in Minnesota is on a rapid decline. Some of these figures actually try to show that within a few years there will be no more cutting in this state. The falsity of such deductions is clearly demonstrated to anyone who will but make a serious study of the increased amount of ties, poles, posts, mining timber and pulp wood that is being cut. The mines in northeastern Minnesota take a tremendous amount of lumber, for instance. This is all being supplied. Every year there is an increased demand for this kind of timber. Yet Minnesota is able to supply it. Then there is a northern Minnesota vast forests of poplar and other woods. Every year sees more of this cut. The smaller saw mill is cutting it. The large saw mills may be closing down but the small saw mills are finding more than they can do. As capital is brought into the country there will be more of these small saw mills and more of these woods cut. Fewer Men are Employed. There are, without question, fewer men employed in the saw mills than there were years ago. But that fact ought not to worry the people of Minnesota. It doesn't mean that the saw mill is pasisng. Figures recently prepared by the bureau of labor in Wash- ington indicate that Minnesota has fallen from sixth to fif- teenth place in the roll of states with respect to the number of employees in the lumber industry, including, of course, the millwork and furniture industry. Southern States Gained. Louisiana is first in the roll of states and Washington is second. The following states all showed gains in the number of employees: Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Vir- ginia, and West Virginia. It is a significant fact that the most substantial gains are recorded in the states south of the Mason and Dixon line. The figures published by the bureau of labor are particularly interesting because they give the wage statistics in complete form. The figures are compared with those in years pre- vious. It is a source of gratification that the wages paid in Minnesota are higher on the general average than those paid in most of the states in the Union. In some cases only one state is ahead of Minnesota in the wages paid to the men. While the number of men employed may have decreased ma- terially the wages paid has certainly increased. A comparison of the figures will prove of interest to every- one interested in one of Minnesota's chief industries. In eight Minnesota mills, 108 carriagemen in 1910 worked 60 hours a week at an average wage of 29.66 cents an hour; in 1911 121 received 29.84 cents an hour. In 1912 30 doggers received an average of 23.13 cents an hour; 62 edgermen 30.99 cents an hour; and 1,269 laborers 21.99 cents an hour, as compared with 21.42 in 1911, and 21.25 in 1910. Wages Well Up. In 1912 49 planer feeders received 22.56 cents an hour; 40 band sawyers 69.63 cents an hour, a slight decrease from 7 1911, when they averaged 70.06 cents an hour, but still the highest wages paid that craft in any state except Arkansas and Louisiana. Seven gang sawyers in Minnesota mills aver- age 37.64 cents an hour, a wage only exceeded in Texas. In Minnesota 13 resaw sawyers averaged 29.82 cents an hour, a wag€ only excelled in Oregon and 84 setters received 32.99 cents, than which no average wage higher was reported from any state. In Minnesota 29 trimmer operators received 26.55 cents, a wage only exceeded in the three Pacific coast states. Mill Work Shows Gain. In mill work, under which the bureau classifies the manu- facture of sash, doors, blinds, frames, fixtures and trim, 174 bench hands in nine Minnesota factories reporting for 1912 received an average of 31.7 cents for 59.2 hours per week. An almost constant gain in the wage scale is shown since 1907 when two mills reported 45 bench hands receiving 23.71 cents for 59.6 hours. This fell off in 1908 to 23.53 and in 1909 to 22.51, but in 1910 seven mills reported 190 bench hands re- ceiving 24.96 cents for 59.8 hours, and in 1911 nine mills re» ported 198 bench hands receiving 25.69 cents for 60 hours. In such mills in Minnesota, male laborers in 1907 received 17.53 cents which fell off in 1908 to 16.68 and in 1909 to 16.52 but in 1910 it rose to 17.68, and 1911 to 18.22 and in 1912 169 such laborers are reported receiving 18.33 cents for 59.6 hours a week. Machine hands averaged in Minnesota 22.14 in 1907; and 21.84 in 1908 but rose in 1909 to 22.18, in 1910 to 22.63; in 1911 to 22.81, and in 1912 255 such hands are reported receiving 25.27 cents an hour. The furniture industry in Minnesota has not risen to the magnitude which dignifies it with separate recognition in his bulletin, less than 1,700 employes all told being engaged in it. Those who are in the best position to know say that the furniture industry is bound to gain. The fact that so much wood that is just coming into use is to be found in northern Minnesota leads them to predict that the day is near at hand when the saw mills will be buzzing faster than ever. 8 Minnesota is Coming Back. With poplar and other woods easily obtainable it is without question true that the furniture industry will come into its own in this state. There is still a great deal of cutting in the state. The statistics do not tell the whole story. The fact is that there are fewer men employed, — Fewer by far, — and it is also true that there in not as much cutting as there was formerly. But the cutting has not decreased as has the number of men em- ployed. Fewer men can do the work that it took many to perform heretofore. That accounts in some respects to the decrease. Minnesota is "coming back" as a lumbering state. It is coming into its own as a state with lumbering as one of its chief industries. The large sawmill may be passing. The newer type is rapidly taking its place. Cadillac, Mich., is reported to be the foremost city in the country for varied and close utilisation of forest products. More than one-fourth of all the sheep in the eleven states near- est the Pacific coast are graced on the national forests. The national forests contain water pozvers with an aggregate estimated capacity of 12,000,000 horse-power, available for use under permit from the secretary of agriculture. Much of the piling, wharf material, and lock gates of the Panama canal are made of greenheart, said to be the most dur- able zvood known for these purposes, which comes mainly from British Guiana. Two million trees will be planted on the national forests in tdh, Nevada, and southern Idaho during 1914. 9 jjjjjM $ Studying Minnesota's Wild Life $ NO state in the Union offers a better opportunity for the study of wild life than does Minnesota. In this state the wild life is still in its natural state. True, some of the species of the animal and bird life is rapidly becoming extinct, — faster sometimes than we think, — but nevertheless the opportunities are still unexcelled. Surveys Are Made. Realizing this fact a party, headed by Mr. Charles E. Johnson of the state university, has gone into Northeastern Minnesota for two summers to make a serious study and survey of the situation. James Ford Bell of Minneapolis, naturalist and sportsm'an, has been largely responsible for the two expeditions of research in that he has been the main financial backer. His interest in the state university and in Minnesota has been evidenced in many ways heretofore. The wonderful caribou collection at the university is a gift from Mrj Bell. He has gladly given of his means to make possible the survey of birds and mammals in Northern Minnesota. Northeastern Lake Region Visited. Two summers have been spent in the lake region in Lake county in Northeastern Minnesota. The object, as expressed by Professor Johnson, has been to make a "collection of nat- ural history specimens — birds and mammals — and to make a survey of the conditions under which they live." Comprehen- sive and definite information on Minnesota animal life was sought. This information was gathered in a scientific manner. The specimens collected on both trips, — and there were many of them, — are to be used in the classes at the univer- sity. The specimens will be placed in the museum at the state institution. Besides gathering the specimens, one of the chief objects of the trip was to get a collection of photographs. To this end, the party was equipped with cameras 'and during this last summer a moving picture machine was also used. 11 Studying a Specimen Party Starts at Ely, Minn. During the summer of 1912, the party spent 11 weeks in the lake region and during this last summer five weeks were spent. On both trips the start was made from Ely. From Ely the party went to White Iron lake by canoe down the North Kawishiwi river.j The first camp was pitched on the portage to Clear lake, that is on the south bank of the North Kawishiwi river. Three weeks were spent here. About 100 specimens of mammals and birds were collected. The route then took the party southward to the south branch of the Kawishiwi river. Three more weeks were spent here and 50 specimens were collected. 12 Family of Moose Obtained. The specimens collected included a family of moose. These moose will be mounted for the museum as will a group of deer and all of the other specimens. The specimens included everything from moose down to mice. A large number of flying squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, weasels, mink, wood- chucks, etc., were collected. The bird life was not neglected. Specimens of hooded mer- gansers, American mergansers with young, owls, — great horned variety especially, — hawk, woodpeckers, warblers, sparrows, etc., were brought back. In all 21 species of birds and 15 species of mammals were collected last summer. These form, of course, only a small part of the collection. Photographs were taken of moose, deer, great blue heron in their nest, etc. A heron rookery was discovered on the first expedition. It was found on the North Kawishiwi. Lake Isabel Most Outlying Point. The last main camp was on the lower Isabel river above Lake Bald Eagle. While there were the three main camps temporary camps were put up away from these main stopping places. The most outlying point reached was Lake Isabel. The party was continually on the lookout for evidences of the beaver. This animal has been decreasing in numbers. Some colonies were found on the Isabel river. Moving Pictures a Big Feature. One of the most interesting things accomplished by the party during this past summer was the taking of moving pic- tures of some of Minnesota's wild animals. Several success- ful films are the result of these efforts. One film shows a big bull moose swimming.^ It is said by those who have seen it to be a remarkable reproduction. Motion pictures were also taken of families of moose, cows and calves, and individual cows. 13 The "Research" Expedition had Lots of Equipment The moving pictures were also used on the bird life, — the blue hercn and the mergansers, for instance. The mergan- sers, commonly known as the fish duck, proved particularly interesting for this work. Views of camp life, portaging, rapids, etc., typical of the wild part of the state where the camps were pitched were obtained. Those who Made up the Party. During the first summer the party consisted of Professor Johnson, Harold Hanson, his assistant, and a taxidermist from the Field Museum in Chicago. Before the summer ended the taxidermist was obliged to leave the party. This last summer the party consisted of Professor Johnson, Harold Hanson, and Roy N. Chapman, the two latter assistants in the biology de- partment at the university. 14 Work to be Continued. The work will undoubtedly be continued in Northern Min- nesota. So much has been accomplished during these first two summers and so much more remains to be done, that it is of the utmost importance that it be continued. "Much has been accomplished," said Professor Johnson, speaking of the results of the trii3s. "However, there is still much more that we can do. "The university and the state owes a gre'at debt of grati- tude to Mr. Bell for making this all possible." Forest Service Policy. The preservation of the wild life in northern Minnesota is one of the chief aims of the state forest service. The work accomplished by the university party and also by Professor D. D. Lange, of St. Paul, has been just the thing desired by the forest service. One of the policies of those most inter- ested in the wild life is that non-agricultural lands should be kept for the growing of trees. By preserving these lands for forestry purposes the wild life of this state will be preserved. The forest is the home of most of the wild life. "So much of the land we visited is fit for nothing but the raising of trees" said Professor Johnson. "It is essentially non-agricultural. It is well to have it remain so. It will make for the preservation of Minnesota's wild life." The sentiments expressed by Professor Johnson state, in effect,. the policy of the state forest service on this question. The western forestry and conservation association will hold its annual conference about December 75. This year it will meet at Vancouver, B. C., and T^/// t/ive its main consideration to the problem of forest fire prevention and control. The railroads of the i'niled States use about 150,000,000 wood- en ties each year. 15 $ THE FORESTRY CLUB AT THE UNIVERSITY $ THE school year of 1913-14 will be one of the best that the Forestry Club at the State University has ever expe- rienced.* Such is the prediction of the officers of the organization and those who have watched the club since its infancy. The indi- cations already point to a fulfillment of the prophecy. The Forestry Club is so bound up with the department of forestry at the university that the history of one is, in some re- spects, the history of the other. During the time that Theo- dore Roosevelt was president forestry departments in all of the schools of the country were popular. Emphasis .was placed on the subject of forestry and there was a consequent stimulus to men to take it up as a life work. There Was a Slump in Interest. When President Taft came into office first there was a slump in the interest shown in forestry. This slump, was reflected in all of the forestry schools in America. The interest went down to its lowest ebb. This slump reached its climax last year, according to those best in a position to know. Director E. G. Cheyney at the University predicted that the slump had reached its climax last year. The revival of interest this year proves that he was correct. Fifty Per Cent Increase. There has been an increase of 50 per cent in the enrollment in the forestry department and a consequent increase in the membership of the Forestry Club. So far this year the club has held several enthusiastic meet- ings. The fact that there are greater numbers and that more interest is being shown has added new life to the organization. Numbers 'beget enthusiasm. At all of the meetings there have been talks of an exceptional nature. 16 Forest Expert Gives Talk. Raphael Zon, sylvicultural expert in the United States for- est service, spoke at the first meeting. He pointed out the fact that the field for foresters was gradually broadening. Where once it had been restricted to the work the federal and state governments were doing it was now taking in the pri- vate industries. He said that while the government itself would employ 60 men every year, the private industries would be demanding many times that numebr. Three industries will always need trained men along forestry lines, namely, furni- ture, cooperage and wood pulp industries, according to Mr. Zon. The work that the federal government is doing along in the sylvicultural department was also touched upon by Mr. Zon. He said that four of the eight men in charge of sylvi- cultural experiment stations were graduates of the University of Minnesota. Director Cheyney Talks. On October 9, Director Cheyney gave a talk along similar lines. He emphasized the fact that the industries needed men trained in forestry. The present officers of the Forestry Club are: President, P. C. Records; vice president, George Lindeberg; secretary, John Waterman; treasurer, Sam Graham. Club Building Possible. An indication of the new life in the club is shown by the fact that the men expect to have their lot, — where ultimately they hope to build a club house, — paid for by the end of the coming year. There are rumblings of the possibilities of a new club house within the very near future. Suffice it to say that the men in the Forestry Club are keeping their ears glued closely to the ground listening for these rumblings. With a building of its own at the university, the Forestry Club will take a stronger place as one of the regular institu- tions. It deserves such a place. 17 s The Lamps O' The Camps (Reprinted from "Sports Afield") s The lamps o' the camps are burning, For dusk the forest fills. Men from the trails are returning Through woods and plains and hills; The coffee-pot in the lodge is hot, And the heart of the hunter thrills. The lamps o' the camps are gleaming- Over the glistening snow. In the shack the rays are beaming From hearth to rafters low; The trapper sighs as smoke rings rise And his happy face is aglow. The lamps o' the camps are greeting Men o' the rods and reels, When the summer day is fleeting And mist o'er the water steals; The smudge before the cabin door Peace to the happy angler seals. The lamps o' the camps are burning — The dwellers free from care. The man o' the city is yearning For life in the open air. Why linger and dream of field and stream When the open road leads there? 18 1 National Forests as Recreation Grounds By Henry S. Graves, U. S. Forest Service. S (The people of Minnesota are just beginning to appreciate what 11 pleasure ground Northern Minnesota really holds. '1 he fact that the superior National Forest is one of the most attractive regions in the state makes the following account written by the chief foresler and sent out by The Survey Press bureau particularly interesting It tells what the government is doing to protect the national forests and of its efforts to be of service to campers.) THE national forests include all the principal mountain regions between the Great Plains and the Pacific, from the Mexican to the Canadian line. They are the natural playgrounds and summer resorts of a large part of the coun- try. Their scenic beauties and natural wonders not only at- tract tourists from the East but also bring many from over- seas, while the big-game hunter finds in them the principal hunting grounds which the advance of settlement has left in a state of natural wilderness. Their streams are full of trout which are an attraction to fishermen, while campers and berry-pickers by the thousand journey every year into Uncle Sam's great woodlots. 5CO,OCO Go to Forests. It is estimated that well on toward half a million people enter the national forests annually for recreation purposes. Principally owing to the attraction furnished by Pike's Peak, the Colorado forests take the lead in popularity, with 150,000 visitors. California has over 100,000, of whom half are cred- ited to the Angeles, covering the San Bernardino Mountains, which rise so attractively above the low-lying and densely peopled Los Angeles plains. The Tahoe, Sierra and Sequoia national forests are also popular resorts for Californians. Arizona, Oregon, Idaho and Montana are other states in which recreation use of the forests is heavy. The use of the national forests as recreation grounds is in- creasing steadily. As local resorts they will be frequented more and more largely, while their notable features will also attract larger numbers from a distance as the means of ac- cess and provisions for comfort multiply. There is no better place for application of the motto "See America First" than on the national forests. 20 The administration and protection of these forests is in the hands of the Forest Service of the Department of Agri- culture, and is conducted not only with a view to the utiliza- tion of their economic resources but also to make them serve the public in every possible way. By protecting them from fire the government does much to make them enjoyable by visitors, for without their covering of trees the beauty and attractiveness of the mountains would be largely lost. Great burns make unattractive and depressing scenery. Further, they are often the cause of the drying up of streams and of erosion, which make muddy waters and fills mountain lakes with sediment. Protects Fish and Game. The forest service works in co-operation with state author- ities to protect game and fish and to restock streams and lakes with trout. It also employs hunters to keep down the predatory animals such as wolves, lynxes, and mountain lions, which prey on the big game as well as on the millions of sheep and cattle that feed on the national forest range, in some regions it is working in co-operation with state au- thorities and the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture to reintroduce elk and other kinds of big game. An important part of the work of the forest service is the construction of trails, bridges, and roads to make access easier into the remoter parts of the forests. Where the in- flux of visitors is heavy regular camping places are often es- tablished, and signs are placed along the way indicating the distance to the next camping place or where water may be found. Another provision for the needs of summer visitors is made through the reservation of forage for their saddle and pack horses. A system of visitors' registers is main- tained on some forests, at the forest ranger's headquarters, so that those who care to record their movements can be readily found in case a message from outside is to be con- veyed to them. When timber sales are made the cutting areas are so located as to prevent unsightliness in the neigh- borhood of lake shores, traveled roads, and other places where protection of scenery is especially desirable. 21 Distinction Between Forest and "Park." The national parks of the West are generally in the same regions as the national forests, which often surround them, but they are under the charge not of the forest service, but of the Department of the Interior. There are also various national monuments which have been set aside by presiden- tial proclamation to protect "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scien- tific interest;" some of these are under the jurisdiction of the forest service, some of the Department of the Interior, and some of the War department. The main distinction between a national park and a national forest is that, while the latter is created primarily for conservation of economic resources, the first is created for esthetic purposes and recreation use. Legislation providing for the more systematic care of na- tional parks has been before congress in the form of a bill to establish a Bureau of National Parks in the Department of the Interior. National parks are given greater legal safe- guards than those which apply on national forests, and there is a strong feeling that full protection of the public in their use and enjoyment calls for a better organized system for their administration. Provides Camping Grounds. There are many notable natural wonders and scenic at- tractions in the national forests which might well be segre- gated into national parks, care being taken to discriminate between lands valuable primarily for economic use and those on which such use should be made subordinate. Where the need exists, however, for merely local recreation grounds the forest service provides for such needs through reservation of public camping grounds and the issuing of special use per- mits for occupancy of land upon which summer camps, cabins, cottages, and boathouses may be erected. Similar provision is made for hotels. Great care has been taken to see that adequate recreation facilities are provided for the public and to prevent monopoly of the best places by a few persons, either to the shutting out of the many or with the possibility of a toll being levied upon them by the holders of an exclusive privilege. 22 s The New Empire in the North By Professor D. D. Lange S TO the good motto of "See America First," the citizens of Minnesota, might well add: "See Minnesota First," for many regions and many beauties of our North Star Empire are almost entirely unknown. The scenery along the Minnesota, the St. Croix and the Mississippi surpasses that of the song legend-famed Rhine and Hudson, and more fertile soil and richer mines than in Minnesota cannot be found anywhere on earth. But there is one practically unknown region of about 30,000 square miles, containing millions of acres of agricultural lands as fertile as those of our Southern counties, and the famous Red river valley. It embraces the counties of Beltrami, Koo- chiching, Itasca, Clearwater, Cass and St. Louis. Area Is Large. The area is more than three times as large as Massachu- setts, twice as large as Switzerland and half as large as Eng- land. I have just spent about two months in this region, traveling by boat, by canoe, by wagon and on foot; and was very much impressed by its immense undeveloped resources. The least known district embraces the counties of Beltrami, Itasca and Koochiching, the very counties in which the soil is most productive. Unfortunately this region is supposed even by many Minnesotans to be a big swamp and it has thus far only one railroad, the Minnesota & International, trav- ersing it from south to north, and none at all running east and west north of Red lake. But One Railroad. Only the section directly tributary to the thriving town of Bemidji is well opened by railroads. 24 From the town of Kelliher one can travel due north fifty miles to the international boundary and from International Falls one may travel directly west for nearly 100 miles with- out crossing a railroad track. The truth about this region is that in the ordinary sense of the word it is not a swamp at all; it is a region where nature has not had time to develop a natural drainage. In other words, the streams have not yet had time enough to cut their channels, own drainage ditches. A Decided Slope. Practically all the land, although quite level, has a decided slope, either toward Red lake and Red river or toward Rainy river and Lake of the Woods. Nearly all of the three counties named last were once cov- ered by the great glacial lake Agazzis, of which Red lake and Lake of the Woods are remnants. In this great glacial lake the subsoil, now a rich crumbly clay, was deposited as a fine lake mud. This subsoil has now been enriched by a black vegetable muck, making an ideal soil for all kinds of crops. Near the towns of Baudette and Spooner several fields of clover will produce a fine second crop. On the place of Mr. Sorenson, four miles north of Baudette, I saw the best garden crops I have ever seen in Minnesota. I saw fields of wheat, oats, speltz, corn and potatoes that promised as rich a yield as any in the state, and in the gar- dens the tomatoes were just getting ripe. Warm Climate. Besides the fertility of soil I was not a little surprised at the warm climate. The region lies only from 1,100 to 1,200 feet above sea level, and over a considerable area the growth of vegetation is stimulated by the moist, warm winds from the Lake of the Woods, a very considerable body of warm water, covering an area of about 1,600 square miles. 25 Farmed in 1810. The Chippewa Indians discovered the agricultural possi- bilities of the region a long time ago. I know from some old records that John Tanner, a Chippewa squaw man, raised forty sacks of corn on garden in Lake of the Woods and sold it to a fur trader about 1810, during a canoe trip on Lake of the Woods I found large Chippewa gardens growing excellent corn, potatoes and vegetables sixty miles north of the Minne- sota line. Wild fruit, such a plums, chokecherries, raspberries, high- bush cranberries and hazelnuts grow in great abundance. At the mouth of Rainy river I found one of the curiosities of the trip. Walking about in the pasture of a squaw man I noticed some small trees that looked like wild hazel; but they grew to a height of fourteen feet and the stems were as thick as my wrist. Not until I had picked a handful of hazelnuts was I quite satisfied that the big bushes were actually wild hazel. Hazel Switches. From my boyhood school days I well remember the master using hazel switches for the purpose of arousing industry and inspiration in lazy boys; but from this hazel bush I cut a club big enough to make a good weapon of defense against a bear. The hazel club may be seen by anyone doubting the story. A climate and a soil that will grow wild hazel of that size will some day produce abundant crops, berries and apples. As to the Swamp. But I must return to the myth of the country being a swam.p. Near the streams the land is high and dry and only needs to be cleared like any other wooded land. The Cana- dian side of Rainy river is closely settled for seventy-five miles from International Falls to Baudette. The farms were all laid out a mile long and with a river frontage of a quarter of a mile. Away from the streams, the forest trees, the moss and low growth simply hold the water on the gentle slope. 26 Need Roads. So the land does need ditches and roads, and these are be- ing put in. I saw a number of these ditches and in all of them the water runs with a rapid current and even cuts into the bank. The country also needs more railroads, and more roads. In building the roads the state should not be niggardly, for some of the best land is now too difficult of access and new homesteaders are too poor to build good roads through these dense forests and over the undrained areas. Not Expensive. Railroad building is not expensive in the region. There are almost no heavy grades to be overcome and the peat or muck is seldom over three feet thick. That region contains im- mense valuable supplies of spruce, tamarack, cedar, balsam, poplar and birch, for which there is now no market. If a settler clears away any of this valuable timber he has to burn it to get it out of the way. It's a Myth. In conclusion let me report: The great Minnesota swamp is a myth. The region is an empire of wonderful fertility and- great forest wealth; but nature has not had time to cut her natural drainage ditches through the forest. She is at work doing it now, but we cannot wait for her slow process, so we must run the streams ourselves and build roads and railroads. By doing that we shall add 10,000 square miles of the most productive farms to the noble domain of Minnesota. One other thing I must mention which the country needs: Protection from forest fires. The great fire of Baudette and Spooner has taught us a severe lesson, and on the whole set- tlers, towns, railroads and lumber companies are now will- ingly assisting in the effective work of the Minnesota forest service of preventing these indescribable wasteful fires. 27 $ An Appeal to the U. s. Government $ REPRESENTATIVES from commercial clubs in Koochi- ching, Beltrami, Pennington and Roseau counties met .in Baudette recently to frame a formal request to the United States government. The resquest is in the form of a petition and asks the government's aid in providing roads, fire protection and drainage on the unentered Chippewa lands on the ceded Red lake reservation in Beltrami, Koochiching, Clearwater, Marshall, Pennington and Roseau counties. It is stated that Representative Steenerson and Lindbergh have declared themselves in hearty accord with the plan of aiding the homesteaders. Congressmen Steenerson, Lind- bergh, Manahan and United States Senators Nelson and Clapp will all be asked to lend their aid. The resolutions, — framed by Miss Annie Shelland, E. C. Middleton, H. Roberstad and W. C. Kilby — follow: WHEREAS, there are approximately 1,500,000 acres of un- entered lands on the ceded portion of the Red Lake Reserva- tion, in the State of Minnesota, and another 500,000 acres held by settlers under the various federal Homestead Acts; and, WHEREAS, there is no adequate way of getting to these lands in order to settle the same, or bring in provisions or medical aid, or take .produce to market; and, WHEREAS, the land is rich and productive, bears quan- tities of valuable growing timber and is in much demand, but not accessible; and, WHEREAS, the United States should make every reason- able effort to retain settlers already located on these home- stead lands, and extend inducements in the form of roads, fire-breaks and drainage to stimulate immigration; and, WHEREAS, the Chippewa Indians, the United States gov- ernment and the State of Minnesota have lost, and are losing, 29 much money because these lands are not opened; and the development of all Northern Minnesota is thereby retarded; and, WHEREAS, such improvements as have been made on these government lands are entirely the result of the labor and money of settlers; and, WHEREAS, under present conditions, by reason of the al- ready heavy bonded indebtedness of the various counties in which these government lands are located, it will not be pos- sible to establish drainage ditches and roads on the lands where they are most needed, and thus afford fire protection to the settlers; and, WHEREAS, the United States government is the owner of all these unentered lands, and, as such, should justly bear the financial burden of their improvement; BE IT RESOLVED, That the delegates here present from the commercial clubs of International Falls, Koochiching county; Roseau, Roosevelt and Warroad, Roseau county; Thief River Falls, Pennington county; and Spooner and Bau- dette, Beltrami county, in joint meeting assembled declare it to be their unanimous desire that Representatives Steen- erson, Lindbergh and Manahan, and Senators Clap and Nel- son, of the Congress of the United States, exert every effort to procure an appropriation by that Congress to aid in the improvement by means of roads, fire protection and drainage of unentered Chippewa lands on the ceded Red Lake Reser- vation in Beltrami, Koochiching, Clearwater, Marshall, Pen- nington and Roseau counties, in the State of Minnesota; and to that end, a bill be introduced in both house of the Congress providing for an appropriation of fifty cents (50c) per acre on all this ceded land to cover such improvement expense, to be expended under the supervision of the Land Division of the Department of the Interior. Adopted October 2, 1913. 30 CANOE SONG By Samuel Alexander White. (Reprinted from "Sports Afield) Oh! it's Northward Ho! where the paddle drives And the sweating tump-line packs, With an outland lease on our care-free lives And the dunnage bags on our backs. Has the tempest split in your deafened ear, As it tore the crags apart? Has the deep night called with its thrill and fear? Has the rapid hissed in your heart? If you've heard the call of the Northland wide, How your fierce, free blood will sing! — How your bark will leap with its pulse as guide To the winds where white waters spring! While the rivers smoke in the morning glare, While they reek in sunset dyes, There are magic lures in the open air — There are wondrous things for the eyes. So it's Northward Ho! where the paddle drives And the sweating tump-line packs, With an outland lease on our care-free lives And the dunnage bags on our backs! 32 "Forest Schools the Foundation of ForesT: Wealth.1 THE NORTH WOODS Volume II. NOVEMBER, 1913 Number I 1 A Recorder and Promoter of the Forestry Movement in Minnesota. OFFICIAL BULLETIN OF THE MINNESOTA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION AND THE STATE FOREST SERVICE. Published Monthly for members of the Minnesota Forestry Association Annual Membership Fee $1.00. This includes membership in the Minnesota Horticultural Society, entitling every such member to all privileges of that organization as well as the Forestry Association. Remittance should be made payable to PHIL H. HANSON, Treas., care State Forester's Office, State Capitol. St. Paul, Minn. Entered as Second Class Matter, September 14, 1912, at the Post Office at St Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 24, 1912. CONTENTS The Fire Losses of 1913 ..... 3 Publicity — The Key to the Situation ... 6 Thrifty Minnesota . . . . . . 11 The Big Subject at the Conservation Congress . 1 5 A Need For Trained Men . . . . 19 Chinese Republic Studies U. S. Forest Methods 20 Itasca Park — Minnesota's Playground . . .21 A Compliment to the Service .... 25 The Forest Products Laboratory . . . .26 The Horticultural Society Meeting ... 29 The Old Trapper Soliloquizes . . . .30 s The 1913 Fire Losses $ WITH the fire season for this year almost at an end, — the snow is beginning to fall in many parts of the forest regions, — the time has come for taking stock of the losses that were caused in 1913 from the "Red Dragon of the Woods." The toll during the year was comparatively heavy, due in the main to the dry season of last spring. The comparison of one year with another so far as fire losses are concerned is not necessarily profitable nor just. The effectiveness of organized firework is not tested by the amount of the fire loss so much as by the sureness of oper- ation when the fire does come. Like Block Signals on Railroads. A Western forester of note has said: "Organized firework is like block signals on railroads; its efficiency is measured by its sureness of operation whether emergency comes 'or not, and it is hard to say to what extent luck or preparation pre- vents disaster." The point is that a forest service force must be prepared when the "Red Dragon" does start on a rampage. The demon did start on a rampage last April but he was curbed before he got very far. 216 Fires So Far This Year. So far this year there has been a total of 216 fires reported. The acreage burned over has been approximately 51,000 acres. Nearly half of these fires occurred during the month of April when 94 were reporte.d About four-fifths of the acreage was burned during this unlucky month, or about 41,100 acres. It was very dry during April and the fires sprang up all over. The diligence of the forest rangers kept them down. One ranger in St. Louis county had 17 fires in one afternoon in his district. Losses Were $94,500. The losses so far this year have amounted to approximately $94,500. The merchantable timber damaged has been esti- mated at $19,000, the young growth or reproduction at $5,500 and the buildings, hay and property at $70,000. The property loss was particularly high due to the burn- ing of several cedar yards. In one district alone the property loss was more than $50,000. Although there were several big fires reported during the month of June, the loses since May 1 have been very small, so small that the peo-ple of Minnesota can go to the Thanks- giving services and "render thanks" that the "Dragon of the Woods" has not been out of his lair since April. If it were not for that one month the losses this year would be smaller than those of any previous year in the last ten. Last year the total number of fires was 345, the acreage burned over, 18,927, and the total damage $22,754.91. The figures for either of the last two years are most encouraging when the tremendous losses of 1908 and 1910 are taken into consideration. In 1908, 405,748 acres were burned over and in 1910, 1,051,333 acres were burned. In 1909 the year be- tween the acreage burned was 45,690. Forest Service Was "Ready." The most encouraging thing about the statistics for this past year, — figures that are now being prepared, — is that the forest service was "ready" when the dry season rolled around and that despite the fact that fires were springing up on every side the rangers were ready for them and were able to down them. With 17 fires in one afternoon a ranger has to keep his head with him. Those rangers whose districts were infested with many fires during last spring are indeed to be congratulated for the efficient work they accomplished in keeping the losses down to the minimum. That the losses were not much larger was due to the close guard kept by the rangers. Rapid Progress Being Made. The state forest service is making rapid progress. This is evidenced by the fact that it was "ready" to meet the emer- gencies that arose. More money is needed to carry on the work, however. Legislators, all of them anxious to expend the state's money in the wisest possible manner, will do well to consider the necessity of going the full length in protect- ing the forest regions. Losses During Last Decade. During the past 11 years the forest fires have cost Minne- sota more than $4,000,000, according to figures prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture and the State Forestry Bureau. This covers only the loss in merchantable timber, etc. The loss in wages to the laborers cannot be estimated. The more merchantable timber that remains standing waiting for the cutting, just that much more wages will there be for the men employed in the lumber industry. How important it is to preserve the forests, looking at it from this one standpoint alone! "Thanksgiving." With the exception of one month the fire losses in Minne- sota during 1913 have been small. The doxology may well be sung at Thanksgiving time. To secure a merit badge in forestry, boy scouts are required, among other things, to identify twenty-five kinds of trees. One of the principal by-products of the national forests of Japan is furnished by mushrooms, which have yielded in one year a revenue of a million dollars. Articles of clothing from wood fiber arc being made in Europe. The material for a suit costs about fifty cents. Clothing made of this material, ho-icevcr, cannot be washed. Q Publicity -The Key To The Situation $j & IS publicity a necessity? In forestry work, for example, is it necessary to pay such attention to the publicity fea- tures? These questions csn be answered by simply saying "Pub- licity is the key to the entire situation." Publicity means giving the facts of the forestry work to the public, making known the needs, telling of the work accomplished, and edu- cating the people to help themselves. The People Are Always Fair. The American people are extremely fair when it comes to caring for their natural resources, when it comes to protect- ing the forests, and when it comes to the question of preserv- ing them for the use of future generations while at the same time getting the best possible use out of them for the present generations. Oftentimes workers become discouraged with state legisla- tures because the latter do not "wake up" and appropriate all the money necessary for a certain cause, — the prevention of forest fires, for example. These workers do not realize at such times that while they are filled to the brim with their subject that the legislators do not realize the grave necessity and do not appreciate what the problem really means. Legislators Reflect Sentiment. Legislators, those in Minnesota as well as every other state in the Union, reflect to a large degree, the sentiment of their constituencies. If a certain locality is alive with a partic- ular subject for legislation it is "ten to one" that the legisla- tor representing that district will be working for that piece of legislation. He cannot afford to do otherwise. Once in a great while there is a legislator who is serving some one other .than the rank and file in his district. Such legislators are 6 few and far between and it can be safely said that in Min- nesota they have been particularly "few and far between." Why, then, don't they wake up to the fact that one of the greatest problems in the state is that of forestry? It is easy to ask this question. It is just as easy to answer it after a little thought. The legislators do not "wake up" because the people themselves have not fully realized what is needed. After the disastrous fires at Baudette and Spooner a few years ago the people of Minnesota were thoroughly aroused. They felt the need of more adequate forest protection. The people, feeling this need, impressed it upon the minds of the legislators and the result was that the Minnesota state forest service was established. It took big fires, — terrible loss of human life, etc., — to "wake up" the people. When the people were awakened, the legislature "got busy." Whenever the people are awakened the legislature will "get busy." The lawmakers are merely servants of the peo- ple. Hew then can the people of Minnesota be "awakened" so that action will follow? The answer is "Publicity." A Campaign of Education. Publicity means above all a campaign of education. A campaign of education must be far reaching. It must be an everlasting "pounding away" until the facts have sunk in deep. Out on the Pacific coast the Western Forestry and Con- servation Association has shown what a campaign of pub- licity means. Every known method of educating the public has been tried there, from the ordinary means of giving lec- tures in schools to the pasting of stickers warning against fires on match boxes. And the campaign has been effective. The people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, etc., know that there is "something doing," that someone is spreading the gospel of prevention. Many things are needed in Minnesota. For instance, the con- stitutional amendment providing for the setting aside of non- agricultural state lands for forestry purposes ought to be passed. It never will be passed unless the people of the state are acquainted with the absolute necessity of taking action at this time. Many other things are needed. The state forest service needs added appropriations. These things can be accomplished through the medium of publicity. More than immediate needs, such as laws, appropriations, etc., is the inculcation of ideas of prevention and care in the minds of the citizens of the state. Most of the forest fires are caused through carelessness. If the citizens of the state are taught to think of prevention every day of their lives, then the fire losses will decrease until they are almost neg- ligible. A campaign of education is needed in Minnesota. And it is needed right now. How then can this be brought about? Newspapers Always Willing. The newspapers of the state, — the city and the country papers, — are ever ready to help a good cause. News of what is being accomplished and what is needed will always receive attention if the matter is brought to the attention of the papers. The country press will shortly be furnished with bulletins affecting many phases of the forestry subjects. The rangers, the men who know the country editors, will do well to call upon those editors and explain to them the necessity of publishing forestry news. The schools are the centers where information can best be disseminated. Talks in the schools, literature passed out to the students, etc., will always be a help. These things will be planned on an extensive scale and co-operation is asked. If everyone interested in forestry will hoid himself ready to discuss the subject at all times, — if he will talk to schools, etc., — he will be aiding a great deal in the campaign of edu- cation. Forestry Building at the Fair. A forestry building at the state fair would aid materially. The question of having a permanent structure at the fair will bear thinking about. Thousands upon thousands of persons would get their first inkling of the work done and the possibilities for greater work if such a building adorned 8 the "greatest state fair in America." This point can be talked about and discussed. If that is done, before long it will be- come not a possibility but a certainty. The North Woods will always be used as a medium for sending out necessary information. But it will do little good if it does not reach more than a select clientele. The Minne- sota Forestry Association ought to have more members. This is another thing that bears talking about. A campaign of the use of posters, stickers, etc., is being considered. This, too, will help. Use the Key. Publicity is the key to the situation. The need is to use the key. Using the key means enlisting the support of every city and country paper in the state, the support of "the farm papers and magazines, the support of the public men and school men, etc. It means talking about the subject, "living it," if you will. ... If the whole state is alive to the subject, the legislature will bow to the will of the majority and the end will be accom- plished. One of the largest and most valuable timber trees of the coun- try is the tulip tree, knozvn to lumbermen as yelloiv poplar. It is related to the magnolias, but is the only tree of its kind in the world. The largest tree in the United States is said to be the "Mother of the Forest," a giant redwood in the Calaveras big tree grove in California. It is supposed to contain 140,619 board feet of lumber. There are, however, many claimants for the honor of being the "largest tree" and the "oldest tree" and these claims, according to foresters, cannot always be verified. Siam exports about nine million dollars worth of teak a year. 9 I ; • i! In the North Land & Thrifty Minnesota (An Editorial In The New York Evening Post) $ A little more than 50 years ago, a constitutional conven- tion met in St. Paul to frame an instrument of govern- ment for the new state of Minnesota. It was long before the word "conservation" had become a political shib- boleth; but the leaders of the convention made shift to ad- vocate such a policy without it. Through the influence, among others, of Alexander Ram- sey, first governor of the territory, provision was inserted in the constitution establishing a central fund from the proceeds of the sale of public lands granted by the United States for the use of schools. The income from this fund was to be distributed among the townships in proportion to the number of pupils they had between the ages of 5 and 21. No land was to be disposed of except by public sale. This was the initial step in a policy of public thrift which it would be hard to parallel, in our own history at least. By itself, however, it would have been altogether insuffi- cient to attain the truly magnificent results which have been the reward of the effort thus auspiciously begun. The states- men of the new comm.onwealth not only adhered faithfully to the injunction laid upon them by the constitution which they had framed, but they added laws in accordance with its spirit, for the purpose of enhancing the advantages it contemplated. One of the first and most important of these was the im- posing of a minimum price for state lands. In his message of 1861, Governor Ramsey pointed out the choice that lay be- fore the state as to "whether these vast estates, consecrated to the noblest aspirations of a free people, shall be hus- banded with a wise and statesmanlike economy, or squan- dered with a blind improvidence." He decried a "selfish eagerness for premature results." In consequence, the legislature fixed a minimum of $5 an acre for farm lands and $7 for timber lands. But the great step rame in 1863, when it was further enacted that the tim- 11 her should be sold at public sale, separately from the land, which might be disposed of later. Here luck stepped in to bestow upon these pioneer con- servationists a rich treasure of which they had not dreamed. Underneath large tracts of these timber lands lay deposits of iron ore, all undiscovered. Had the usual policy of dispos- ing of the land along with the timber been followed, this great source of wealth would have gone into the hands of individuals. As it was, it has been reserved for the state. Even so, Minnesota owes much to the refusal of State Auditor Braden to sell lands in the iron range at the mini- mum price fixed in 1863. Believing that the law should be amended so as to retain all mineral rights for the state, he stopped sales of such lands, and in the end the legislature passed a law providing for the leasing of ore areas, and nam- ing a royalty of 25 cents a ton on ore mined under these leases. It has been since felt that this sum is too small, and the law has been repealed, with the result that leasing of ore lands has ended. The state believes that there is no need of haste, and that a suitable royalty can be fixed when the demand for these lands becomes insistent. It would be a mistake to suppose that Minnesota has been absolutely faultless in her administration of public lands. One exception was made to the policy of a permanent fund, when some "salt spring" lands were turned over to the state university, to supply, by their sale, money for a geological and natural history survey of the state. Over $300,000 of principal went in this way. Another loss was of the pro- ceeds from the sale of 500,000 acres of land which the people, by direct vote, took out of the permanent fund and devoted to payment of bonds that an early legislature had repudiated. With all deductions, however, the record of the state is unique. Newspaper readers are becoming accustomed to in- credible estimates of the income of Minnesota and the Uni- versity of Minnesota from these ore lands so fortunately re- served. But conservative figures are wonderful enough. To be appreciated, they must be placed beside those of other states. 12 Iowa has sold all but 200 acres of the 6,000,000 granted her. Never having had a minimum price limit, she has as a fund from the proceeds of their sale somewhat less than $5,000,000. Wisconsin is in much the same class. Michigan, with 9,000,000 acres, all gone, has nearly $6,000,000 from them. Illinois, with about as many acres to dispose of as Iowa, and none left, has a paltry million from them in her treasury. Turn to Minnesota. Of the imperial domain of more than 8,0'00,000 acres granted to her, she still has over 2,000,000 acres, and those of the richest; and what she has sold has yielded her the sum of $30,000,000 in the form of a perma- nent fund, upon which she receives an average of 4 per cent interest. Equally interesting is the record of the states which have been wise enough to profit by her example. North Dakota, with a total acreage of 3,000,000, of which more than half remains unsold, has $9,000,000 in her treasury — over twice as much as Iowa or Wisconsin, which have stripped themselves bare of a far larger heritage. South Dakota has done even better, for with 3,000,000 acres left of her original 3,500,000, she has a fund of $12,000,000. Minnesota expects $1,000,000 this year, merely from her ore royalties on lands leased before the repeal of the royalty law. •Auditors' estimates of her ultimate receipts from the sale of all lands have steadily mounted until now the figure is $200,- 00:0;000. Each of the Dakotas looks forward to a total fund of $50,000,000. Oils distilled from tlie needles of spruce and fir irees are being used to scent petroleum floor oils which ore sometimes objection- able on account of their odor. The average area administered by a ranger on the federal for- ests of the United States is about 100,000 acres. In Germany the area administered by a man of equivalent work is about 700 acres. 13 His Honor— 1 he Moose 1 The Big Subject at the Conservation Congress $ THE forestry problem was perhaps the most important subject discussed at this year's session of the Na- tional Conservation Congress held in Washington, D. C., this month. More than ordinary emphasis was placed on the forestry phase. The forestry committee of the con- gress and its ten sub-committees prepared reports of in- vestigations that have been going on for the past year. Many Problems to be Solved. These reports will undoubtedly be of vast benefit in the solution of many perplexing problems. The question of for- est taxation, a troublesome one for years, received attention as did all of the others that have been bothering those directly concerned in the general subject. The contribution these investigations will make to forest conservation and scientific lumbering can hardly be esti- mated. Some of the important conclusions will be published in The North Woods at a later date. The Official "Call." Regarding the forestry feature of the convention the official "call" had the following to say: "Protection of our forests and our waterways is the great conservation issue before us today. Our forests and our water powers are at stake. "Within the next few months, the fight for the protection of our forests and our waterways will be in the Congress of the United States and in state Legislatures. Now is the time for all persons who believe in conservation to get together and speak in no uncertain terms on these questions. "Conservation originated with forestry. It took form through plans for the protection of the nation's waterways. 15 'ihese two ideas suggested the first conservation meeting, the Conference of Governors at the White House, five years ago. Now facing the greatest contest this movement has known — the fight to save our forests and our water powers to the people — the Congress comes back to the seat of the nation's government to hold its meeting this year. "The Congress is to be devoted largely to forest conser- vation, because of the national importance of the subject in its many phases. Public interest is involved, because upon the proper solution of the various problems depends the cost of the wood without which our civilization would decline; the perpetuation of the timber supply; the development of hydro-electric power; the utilization of non-agricultural lands; the availability of water for irrigation; the preservation of forest areas for health and recreation, and many other de- velopments essential alike to every citizen from the lumber- man to the man who owns neither a tree nor a foot of land. "Here are some of the reasons why the Congress puts for- estry foremost at this year's meeting: Forest fires continue to destroy lives by hundreds and tangible assets averaging upwards of fifty million dollars annually, and do incalculable damage to soil, water, and young growth. Forest insects destroy enough timber every year to finance the construction program of the navy. Floods follow forest denudation, and the disasters of this year can be traced in part, at least, to non-forested water- sheds. We are using three times as much timber as grows each year, and worst of all are utilizing only forty to seventy per cent of each tree cut down; while the fire destroys the equiv- alent of each year's new growth. The tax laws in most states do not recognize forests as a crop to be perpetuated, but act to destroy the timber re- sources for the enrichment of the present to the poverty of the future. The preservation treatment of timber is a potent factor in conservation, since it reduces the consumption and makes inferior species available. At present about 20 per cent of 16 the cross-ties, but less than one-third of 1 per cent of the lumber used, is treated. Despite the obvious public need, there is strong opposition to the development of a safe national forest policy. While the future is not secure, definite progress has been made in the following ways: Forest fire associations among timberland owners, by pub- licity and systematic organization, are materially reducing forest fire losses. The federal government controls, on the national forests, about one-fifth of the standing timber, and by proper utiliza- tion and protection makes it a present asset and a perpetual resource. A majority of the forested states have organizations which are doing effective work in forest protection and education. Two states, Pennsylvania and Louisiana, have this year enacted forest taxation laws based on correct principles, and other states are agitating similar legislation. While intensive forest management, on the European plan, has not been applied on private holdings, the lumbermen are slowly realizing that their business is furthered by co*-oper- ation with public interests. Forestry and lumbering are re- ceiving mutual recognition, which will make for forest con- servation under the combined stimulus of education and eco- nomic development. There is fairly well defined public interest in forest con- servation, but it must be stipulated to the point of forcing necessary reforms. "The National Conservation Congress seeks, through edu- cation and investigation, to establish a sound forest policy, both in the broad national aspects and in essential details, and to support and strengthen the progressive forest work now being done. The forestry committee, through its sub- committees and affiliation with the American Forestry Asso- ciation, has unequaled facilities for effective investigation, and wide publicity and education. With your help it desires to do more and do it better." 17 Mature Red Pine Killed by Lightning— Five Trees Killed Formed an Opening in Middle of Forest— A Few Red Pine Seedlings Came up— Itasca County. A Need For Trained Men {4~"T^HE lumber industry needs men trained in the prob- 1 lems of forestry. It can use young men who are specifically trained to handle the many problems that face the men in the lumber business. For every young man who is so trained there will be an opening. Lumbermen realize that men who are technically trained are an asset to their business." The above statement was made to the members of the Forestry Club of the university on Nov. 13, by A. A. D. Rahn of Minneapolis. Mr. Rahn, schooled in the university of prac- tical experience, brought a message of encouragement to the students studying forestry. He said that those who were trained need not depend on the government, federal or state, to give them positions when they were through. A Messaqe of Encouragement. "A big field is opening for you young men," he said. "The lumber industry needs you. If you are willing to start at the bottom and work up you will reach the top quicker than will the men who have not had the opportunity for training that you have had. "Those of us who are engaged in the lumber industry real- ize what foresters can bring to us. We need them. Scientific lumbering is bound up closely with forestry. If you can serve as scientific lumbermen you need not worry about getting positions when you are through. "Private industry will offer even a bigger field than will government work as the time goes on. Don't let anyone tell you that there is no field for men trained in forestry. The government field may be limited, — perhaps is, — but the wider field offered by private industry can take all now being trained and hundreds more." 1 Chinese Republic Studies U. S. Forest Methods s DAVID Z. T. YUI, formerly secretary of the vice president of the Chinese republic, is now traveling in this country to learn modern methods for adoption in China. He is at present in charge of the lecture board of the Chinese Y. M. C. A., which is in close touch with the new government and is aiding in putting into effect an educational campaign for the citizenship of the republic. While in Washington recently, Mr. Yui s